The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-18 00:00:00

THE CHARGE OF CORRUPTION AGAIITSx

IRISH MEMBERS.

This committee sat again yesterday.
Mr. Francis Scully, M.P. for Tipperary, appeared in
the witness-box, by permission of the chairman, and
stated that he had just seen in the morning papers a
statement made on the previous day by Dr. Gray, re-
flecting upon his oharaeter and honour as a member of
Parliament, and that he had come there to declare to
the committee that that statement was not only utterly
false, but that it was a base and wilful calumny. There
was no arbitration whatever on the subject of his vote
on the 13th of February, 1851. Mr. Sadleir never
pressed him one way or the other, nor had witness any,
conversation with Dr. Gray as umpire. No conversation
whatever took place in the lobby that night between
ness and ai:y person whatever on the subject of the vote
ho was to give, nor did he recollect having any such
conversation with any one on any previous night. He
had no kind of hesitation in voting against the Mi-
nistry, and there was no foundation whatever fir what
Dr. Gray said. The whole statement was perfectly
untrue.

Mr. Lucas said, that after the debate in the House of
Commons on the sqbject of the sale of places by Irish
members, Mr. John Bail, M.P. for Carlow, crossed
over to him in the house, and complained of having
been charged with expressing a disbelief in the existence
of such practices. He said that he did not believe it
with regard to members of the present Parliament, but
that with reference to two members of a former Parlia-
ment such practices were perfectly notorious.
In answer to Mr Butt's questions with reference to
expressions that had been' attributed to the late Mr.
Sheil,
Mr. Lucas said that it was Mr. Ford, solicitor, of
Dublin, who stated that at a dinner party there, on
gentleman saying that Lord John Russell would never
again get the support of any Catholic member of the
House of Commons, Mr. Sheil replied, " Pooh, --
(naming an official of the Treasury) holds the Irish mem-
bers in the hollow of his hand."

After a clearance of the room, Mr. Lucas was per-
mitted to go into a history of Mr. Keogh, and to pro-
ceed to give evidence in support of the charge he made
against that gentleman on a former day of having
made promises and taken oaths which were deliber-
ately broken. In the first place he 'would show, that
at the very time Mr. Keogh was making promises
pledging himself to an indefatigable opposition to
the present Government, or any other Government
containing a Peelite element, a Cabinet Minister was con-
tributing to his return to Parliament. Witness then put in
a letter, dated March,lBs3, from Mr. Edmund O'Flaherty,
to Mr. Richard Swift, M.P., begging him to join in a sub-
scription to defray Mr. Keogh's election expenses. To
this letter was att iched a list of subscriptions already re-
ceived, viz , Mr. Sidney Herbert, 1001. ; Lord Arundel,
501.; Mr. Vincent Scully, 501.; Mr. Ingram, 501.; Mr.
Charles To wneley, 50/. ; Mr. John Sadleir, 501. Wit-
ness then put in a copy of the Tablet of the 23d o
August, 1851, containing a report of a speech made by
Mr. Keogh at a meeting held a few days before at
the Rotunda at Dublin for thg formation of the
Defence Association, in which he recommended, amid
loud cheers, that no terms whatever should be
made with any Minister or Government until the
Ecclesiastical Titles Bill was repealed, and the Roman
Catholic was placed on equal terms with his fel-
low-subjects. Mr. Lucas understood th it recommenda-
tion, made in so solemn a manner in the hearing of a
great public meeting, to amount to a promise that Mr.
Keogh would follow a similar course himself. Mr.
Lucas was proceeding to other promises, when exception
was taken by an hon. member to the mode of proceeding,
and the room was cleared.

Before the doors were re-opened it was announced
that the Speaker was at prayers, and the committee
adjourned to Tuesday, at 12.

A MAN ACCIDYINTALLY POISONED IN DRURY-LANE.—
This morning, between twelve and one o'clock, Dennis
Riley, aged 44 years, was admitted into Rose Ward,
King's College Hospital, under the following circum-
stances unfortunate man went to work at a
chemist's in Drury-lane, and, seeing a slice of bread and
butter on a plate in the cellar, ate it. The bread, which
iiad a quantity of arsenic on it, had been placed there
for the purpose of destroying rats. Tire' poor man was
shortly seized with violent pains, when he confessed to
taking the bread. Mr. A. Plyne, house surgeon, used
the stomach-pump and other antidotes, but the unfortu-
nate sufferer is not expected to outave the day.
PRUSSIAN LOAN.—Tha particulars of the proposed
new Prussian loan are expected to appear in a day or
two. Its amount seeihs likely to be about 2,000,0001.,
and it will be contracted entirely at home.
ST. PETERSBURG.—The St. Petersburg letters are to
the 7th, when the rate of exchange was 37d. They
contain no remark of importance, except that all.the
merchants of the place now feel certain of war.

DEMAND FOR GOLD.—There was a diminution in the
demand for gold for the Continent to-day, and the
amount withdrawn from the Bank is understood not to
have been largo.
FOREIGN RATES OF EXCHANGE.—The accounts of the
rate of exchange at Paris describe no alteration, bub
there was rather less dispth.ition to offer bills. Money,
however, is still very scarce there, the general charge
being 5 per cent. The arrivals of gold have caused a
considerable accumulation at the Mint, and consequently
the period required for the process of coinage is now 33
days. The sum supposed to be on hand is about 1,300,000/.
The rates of exchange from Hamburgh and Amsterdam
continue to show a tendency to improvement. The last
prices from the Paris Bourse yesterday evening showed
a further decline. From Vienna, also, the report is
extremely unfavourable, as if some new and sud ten
cause of distrust had transpired this morning. The
funds had fallen, and the quotation of exchange on Lon-
don was 13, a rise of between 2 and 3 per cent. having
thus taken place within two days.
THE OVERLAND MAIL VIA MARSEILLES.—We are glad
to hear that arrangements have been in .de by which the
public will not in future be kept in expectation of the
letters from India via Marseilles so long after the au'
nutinceinent from Trieste that the mail had arrived at
Alexandria. The Peninsular and Oriental Company have
determined to have a spare vessel at Alexandria, so that on
the arrival of the mail it may be shipped off immediately to
Malta, and thus get to England via Marseilles, in most
cases, afe w hours only aftert.le announcement of thearrival
of the Trieste telegraph. By the rapid steaming of the
Himalaya from Aiexandria to Malta, thence by the Va-
letta or Vectis to Marsedles, with ordinary despatch
from Marseilles to London, we should get the letters de-
livered in London within the short time of 160 hours.

The Himalaya, it is stated, from Malta, has gOilenplto
Alexandria to wait far the next mail from India. If there
be anything like favourable circumstances, such as oc-
curred to the Vectis this time from Malta, the sea being
as, smooth as glass, we may expect the most rapid
despatch of the mail viii Malta and Marseilles ever yet
achieved.

THE MAILS.—SOUTHAMPTON, Friday, March
17.—
The gigantic new iron steam-ship Atrato, Captain
Woolley, of 3,465 tons and 800-hone power, just com-
pleted by Messrs. Caird and Co., of Glasgow, for the
service of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, took
her departure this afternoon with the West India,
Pacific, and Central American mails, in charge of Lieu-
tenant Latouche, R.N., Admiralty agent. The per-
formancei of this noble ship during her first voyage
will be looked forward to with considerable interest by
nautical men, inasmuch as she is the largest paddle-
wheel steamer Lyet built. Ou her offical trial trip
on Saturday last she averaged nearly 14 knots, or
over 16i statute miles, an hour. The Atrato takes out
40 passengers, among whom are the Bishop of Do-
minica, tne Hon. C. Forbes, Commander Morrish,
R.N., and on freight a large cargo of French and conti-
nental merchandise, and specie value 20,0001. sterling.
The next mails from the West Indies and Pacific will
probably be brought home by the steamer Trent, expected
to arrive about the 19th or 20th inst. The Peninsular
and Oriental Steam Navigation Company's ship Madrid,
Captain G. Bradshaw, sailed at 2 p.m. to-day with the
mails for Vigo, Oporto, Lisbon, Cadiz, and Gibraltar,
17 passengers. a large cargo of general merchancise and
specie value 14,4001., for Lisbon and Gibraltar, The
Indus, Captain Soy, will leave on Monday, the 20th
inst. for Gibraltar, Malta, and Alexandria, taking out
the East India, China, and Mediterranean mails. The
Rajah (daily expected from the Levant) will sail on the
27th inst. for Gibraltar, Malta, Smyrna, and Constan-
tinople.
BENEVOLENT SOCIETY OF ST. PATRICK.—On the day
which all Irishmen regard with peculiar reverence, this
charity for the education and clothing of 500 poor
Irish children in the metropolis fitly holds its annual
dinner. No more appropriate use can be made of the anni-
versary of the patron saint of Ireland than thus to set it
apart for a work of beneficence which is so much
required. The dinner, which took place last night
at the London Tavern,
was presided. over by the
Earl of Donoughmore, and amone the company pre-
sent were Mr. Napier, M.P., Mr. Whiteside, M.P., Sir
C. Roney, Colonel Dunne, M.P., and Mr. Russell, M.P.
There was not so numerous an attendance of Irish-
men on the occasion as might have been expected, and the
noble chairman, in the course of the evening, referred
rather pointedly to the support which the Scotch and
Welsh charities in London received as compared with
the Benevolent Seciety of St. Patrick. He also expressed
a hope that, as Ireland was now entering a career of ma-
terial
prosperity, the grounds afferded for such ma-
favourable coteparitions might be removed, and that the
destitute children of Irish parents; in the metropolis
might soon be lodged and fed as well as clothed and
educated. In the meantime, it is satisfactory to know
that the benefits of the institution can be so well illus-
trated se they were last night by the large number of
healthy, iutelligent-looking, well-clad boys and girls,
who, when dinner was over, went in procession round
the dining hall. The secretary 'announced during the
evening subscriptions to he amount of 6001.
Civil. SERVICE APPOINTIIENTS. Ordnance Depart-
ment, Pall-mall—The Hon. Adolphus Vereker has been
appointed to the Store Account Office, consequent on
the superannuation of Mr. Hope. Mr. Aylmer Howard
Tynte H. Somerset has been appointed to a clerkship in
the secretary's office. Mr. Pierce has been appointed to
a clerkship in the Store Acceent Office. The Treasury,
Whitehall. —Mr. Herbert Harley Murray and Mr.
S A. Blackwood have been appointed to the com-
missariat department of the Treasury, about to pro-
ceed to Turkey. Two temporary clerkships are vacant.
Admiralty, Somerset-house. Mr. G. C. Edwards, of
the chief engineer's office, Portsmouth Dockyard, has
been appointed to a clerkship in the accountant generals
department, Somerset House. Home-office.—Mr. John
Spencer Percival, extra clerk, has been appointed to a
permanent clerkship, vice H. Maling, resigned. Mr.
Stewart Hobhouse has been appointed a clerk to the
Home-office.—Civil Service Gazette.
THE :EXODUS.—The last mail from America brought
heavy remittances for the purpose of taking out persona
residing in the town of Galway to their relatives in the
United States.