The Sun.
London, England, 1840-08-01 00:00:00

TH E SUN LONDON, SATURDA AUGUST l, 1840,

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

(THIS DAY.)

110 USE OF COMMONS.

Tire SPEAKEI: took the Chair at Twelve o'Cloek.

Mr. MUNTZ presented a petition from the legal pro-
fession of Birmingham, praying that the Courts cf Law
m;aht be removed to some more convenient place than
Westminster.

Tile Population Bill was read a third time and passed.
The Administration of Just ( Birmingham) Bill wan
read a second time ; to be committed on Monday.
The Highway Rates Bill was read a second time; to
be committed on Monday.
The Militia Ballots Suspension Bill was reported, and
the Bill ordered to be engrossed.
The Report of the Militia Pay Bill was also brought up.
The House went into Committee on the Consolidated
Fund Bill, when the appropriation clause was introduced.
The House resumed—the Report to be further consi-
dered on Monday.
The Exchequer Balls Bill also went through Committee ;
to he reported on Monday.
The Postage Bill was recommitted.
Mr. THORNE LY hoped there was nothing in the
Bill to restrict merchants from sending letters by private
ships.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
the law would not be altered that respect by the present
Bill.

Clauses up to were agreed to.
On clause 7, which related to the transmission of letters
by ships, being read,
TH ORN E L Y said, it was extremely inconvenient
to the merchants that letters were not allowed to be col-

lected to be sent by ship, -unless they were previously
passed through the Post-office, and instanced the case of
the President steam-ship, which was about to sail that day
from Liverpool to New York.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was
quite ready to give every facility to the public, but he
could not give up the power of prohibiting the collection
of letters, as it had been found extremely detrimental to
the revenue when the postage was much higher.
Mr. WARBURTON was satisfied with the explana-
tion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, u iderstanding
that although he retained the power, he did not intend
to interfere with the present system of sending letters
by ships.
Mr. THORNELY was anxious that every letter sbould
pass through the Post-office, but the case be wished to
put was where a vessel was about to sail at twelve
o'clock at night and the Post-office was shut at eight in
the evening, it would be a great convenience to
i the mer-
chants if they were allowed to send their letters n, bound
up, to the latest hour, and he hoped there would be no ob-
tion to that.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER

thought there would be no objection to that arrangement.
So long as the Post-off.ce could do the business he
thought no other parties ought to be allowed to collect
letters, but he would permit merchants to avail themselves
of the latest hour for sending these letters on board.

Tha clause was then agreed to.
Clauses to 21 were agreed to.
Mr. BA INES asked whether it would not be an advan-
tage if licensed vendors in Post-office stamps, on purchas-
ing and paying for a number of stamps, should have the
same allowance as the Government distributors.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
he had the matter under consideration.

The clause was then, with clauses to 39, agreed to.
Mr. WARBURTON hoped the Government would
give some assurance they had under consideration the sub-
ject of the registration of letters.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
that by means of money orders small sums might be trans-
mitted by post with perfect security. The subject of the
registration of letters was now under the consideration of
the Government, and he hoped to be aule to carry some
plan of registration into effect.
The clause was then agreed to.
On the next clause being proposed, extending the
allowed weight from 6oz. to 320 z for Parliamentary peti-
tions sent by post, _ .

Captain PECHELL expressed his approbation of the
provision. He also wished to know whether it was intend-

cd to make any alteration in the stamped covers.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
there was an alteration of that sort in contemplation.
The clause was then agreed to.
The remaining clauses were agreed to with some verbal
amendments.

Mr. WARBURTON could not allow the Bill to pass
through without returning his thanks to his Right Hon.
Friend for having produced so unexceptionaole a measure.
lie would take that opportunity of alluding to the Post-
office returns of the number of letters, which he considered
most satisfactory. He had never been one of those who
'had calculated upon a quadruple and quintuple increase
of letters, although he felt convinced that in three or four
years the amount of revenue received from the Post-office
would be quite equal to what it had been before the altera-
tion. From these returns it appeared that the number
of letters sent by the London postage, amounted previous
to the alteration to 12,000,000!. yearly, and that since the
alteration it amounted to 23,000,0001., so that in the Lon-
don postage they had increased nearly in the proportion
in which the rates had been reduced ; the average charge

on each letter according to the old rate was 2d.—and one-
third of a penny per letter, it was now Id., and some al-
lowance, in addition, ought to be made fur double and

;reble letters, the number of which he believed to be con-

sicierable.

The number of letters in the London Post had

increased in the proportion of 12 to 23, and if the
revenue received from it were taken into account,
it would appear that the revenue already received
from the London Post was equal to what it had
been under the old rates. The annual amount of General

Post letters, including ship letters and packet letters, had
been estimated by the Post-office Committee at
75,000,000. The annual amount at present was
127,000,000 ; therefore the increase fell little short of
what had taken place in the London Post ; and if they
estimated the amount of revenue, taking in the charges
for double and treble letters, he considered the result to
be most satisfactory. From the returns he saw a progres-
sive increase : in February the number of letters was
3,000,000 a week, and on the 22,1 of June the number
amounted to 3,365,000. From that, therefore, it would
appear that there was a regular progressive increase every
week. Nothing could be more satisfactory than
the returns, and it was his firm belief that at
no very distant period the returns would show
as great an income as was derived under the old system of
the Post-office.--(Hear, hear.) He believed, as to the
moral effects of the measure, and also as to the revenue,
the public were
.likely to reap considerable benefit. He
had no doubt that that time twelvemonth he should see
the same progressive increase had taken place during the
current year. He therefore renewed the thanks he had
before returned to her Majesty's Ministers for the benefits
they had conferred upon the country and the public in the
alterations they had made in the Post-cffice.—( Hear.)
The House then resumed, and the Bill was ordered to
be reported on Monday.
A Message from the House of Lords brought up the
Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Bill, the London and
Greenwich Railway, and several other Bills.
On the motion of Lord MORPETH, the Lords'
Amendrn,:nts to the Municipal Corporations (Ireland)
Billiwere ordered to be printed, and taken into considers.
tion on Monday.
The Dublin Police Bill went through Committee, and
the report was ordered to be received on Monday.
ECCLESIASTICAL COURT BILL.

Lord J. RUSSELL moved that the House resolve it-
self into a Committee on the Ecclesiastical Courts (No.
1.) Bill.
Dr. NICHOL L, before the House went into Com-
mittee on the Bill, felt bound to call its attention to the
present situation of ~he individual who had been the cause
of the introduction of the Bill. A rate had been made by

the vestry—it had been paid by the great mass of the inha-
bitants of the town in which Mr, Thorogood resided, in
which there were a great number of Dissenters ; none of
whom, he believed, with the exception of Mr. Thoro-
good, had refused the payment of the rate. There was
no question as to the validity of the rate, but Mr. Thoro.
good chose to refuse its payment, and for so doing he
was summoned before the Magistrates, who had the power
to summon any party for the non-payment of Church-rates,
provided the validity of the rate had not been disputed in
any Ecclesiastical Court. Now what was the conduct of
Mr. Thorogood before the Magistrates? He did not set
up any conscientious ground or scruple to the payment of
the rate, but he appeared before the Magistrates with a
solemn written protest, drawn out in a legal form, giving
the Magistrates notice that he intended to dispute the
legality of the rate. Such being the case the Magistrates
said they had no further jurisdiction in the matter, that Mr.
Thorogood having diaputed the validity of the rate his goods
could not be distrained,; and the only remedy was against his
person. Mr. Thorogood having instituted proceedings in
the Ecclesiastical Court, he was summoned there, and
when there he did not dispute the rate on the ground of its
b, ing invalid. He refused absolutely to appear, and then
he was necessarily declared in contempt, the signiticavit
was returned to the Court of Chancery, and he was
taken into custody. He m'ght have appealed to the Chan-
cellor, or to the Court of Queen's Bench, had there
been anything irregular, but he had done neither. He
was then confessedly in legal custody. He was
brought there perhaps by bad advice, or perhaps from
conscientious feelings, but he was in the difficulty—he had
means to pay all costs, but both he and his friends refused
to pay the legal fees, and he (Dr. Nicholl) was not pre-
pared to allow him to ride over the law by discharging
him without his doing so. It was, therefore, that be pre-
ferred his own Bill to that introduced by the Noble Lord.
The same state of things would again arise—he would be
declared again in contempt, and would be again sent to
prison. That would be the natural consequence of the
Noble Lord's Bill, whereas his (Dr. Nicholl's) Bill would
give hint the right he formerly possessed, of having his
goods seques:ered instead of having his person taken into
Le`itody. His objection to the Noble Lord's Bill was, that
it gave an unconditional discharge to the individual in ques-
tion, and that it threw upon the prosecutors the odium cf
refusing tee assent to that discharge. He would go fur-
ther, and say Chet there was no remedy against an obsti-
nate person who prefeeeed remaining in gaol to peying the
rate or submitting, i-ea',:ing his unfortunate family to
starve. He thought, ender all the circumstances, that his
if the House viewed it in that light, they, wood
Bill a better one than thet of thepioLle 4prdt and he
assent to the einendment.
Lord J. RUSSELL said he certainly had no wish to
complain of the conduct of the lion. and Learned Gen-
tleman for taking the view of the quese!on which he (Dr.
Nicholl) had ,done. )-le thought he had acted pi:lies:oy fair
in bringing before the Hoese his view of the eubjt et, and
stating the grounds on which lie resisted it, without any
vexatious oppositi.en to this Bill. With regard to the
question itself, howateer, be could net say the arguenent of
the Hon. and Learned Gentlennen hid convinced losi the
his ( Dr. Nicholl's) Bill was the prefirele ,on.e lit this
Witieuut going into the law of the case, or into the crigival
Facts of the case of John Thorogood, he wished to state to
I the House what he considered to be tae present state of the

. „.
question as respected that House. The House in general
had been of opinion that after John Thorogood had been
upwards of eighteen months in confinement, being com-
mitted for contempt, it was the better way, not only
with regard to humanity towards the individual, but
with a view to the general question, that he should now
be. discharged from prison. This .he thought was the
opinion generally entertained.—( Hear, hear, hcar.) It
was not an opinion at all involving any question as to the
propriety of the conduct of John Thorogood, still less of
the view which that individual had taken of Church-rates.
of the law respecting them, or his duty towards that law.
—( Hear, hear.) Such being the opinion of the House,
the question was in what manner this discharge should be
effected. He (Lord J. Russell) certainly was of opinon
with the Attorney. General, that that discharge might have
taken place under the present state of the law with
the consent of the prosecutor, without introducing any Bill
into Parliament. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman was
not in the House at the time he had stated that opinion,
which had been concurred in by another Hon. Member,
and the Hon. and Learned Gentleman appeared to be of a
different opinion, and he (Lord J. Russell) was afraid the
Hon. and Learned Member for the Tower Hamlets (Sir
S. Lushinrzton) concurred with him, and he therefore ap-
prebended, ii they separated without passing a Bill on
the subject, that when that Learned Judge came to decide
on the question, he would decide that he had not power to
act in the manner in wnich it was supposed by the Hone
he might act under the present circumstances. It was
expedient, if they wished that John Thorogood should be
discharged, that a Bill should be introduced for that pur-
pose. Then they came to the manner in which that Bill
should be framed. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman
proposed a Bill which allowed his discharge, but at the
same time provided that his goods, and even lands, ies
necessary, might be taken to find payment of the original
debt, and of the costs of the suit ; arid, la fact, the whole
atrangement amounted to this, that if that were not
done he might be recommitted under the Bill. He
(Lord John Russell) would not argue whether the Bill was
not right as a general remedy on the subject, and what he
had stated at the commencement of the Session did not
differ very widely from the view of the Hon. and Learned
Gentleman. But this was raising an important question,
which at that period of the session, with the opinions
which had been expressed on the subject of Church-rates,
there was no reason to expect the House would concur in.
It certainly was his opinion, when he had said he
thought a remedy against the goods might be
a eufficient. ternedy for this question of Church-rates;
but it was undoubtedly denied that such a remedy would
be sufficient, as it was obvious, on the face of it,

that it was a remedy that would not answer
the purpose of those who thought they ought
not to pay Church-rates, and would not, 1, ore than
in the ease of the Quakers, relieve such persons further
than from being obliged personally to consent to their
payment. That state of the law would, be thought,
be more simple than the law at present
but that being so much a matter of dispute, he certainly
wished some way should be devised for procuring the dis-
charge of this individual without raising that question
on which, in the present state of the Session,
he was hardly prepared to enter, even were
he prepared to go so far as the lion. and Learned Gen-
tleman. Be thought raising a question of this kind at
such a time, and deciding, in fact, on the whole
question of Church-retes, was a more important
matter of legislation than they were able to do.
With regard to Church-rates under 101 , it was pro-
posed by the Bon. and Learned Gentleman's Bill,
that the person who refused to pay should go before a
Magistrate, and if he allowed the validity of the
rate it should be levied against his goods ;
but if he appealed against it, he should go
before the Ecclesiastical Court, and if they decided against
him the rate should be levied, as in the fast irvtance.
Therefore in either case the person rated was liable
to pay, and if so, the Bill decided the w'aole ques-
tion of Church-rates. Now his ( Lord John Russell's)
Bill was of a much more simple nature, and without enter-

ing into the technical objections which might be made to
it, he thought it the one which it was most advisable, on
general grounds, the House should adopt.—( Hear,
hear, hear.) It provided that, after a person
who bad been committed for contempt had been in prison
a considerable time, if it should appear to the Judge there
swheoruel d con sufficientsent
to groundsithe for
shouldhis d
bi sec tdi
sreghea,ragnedd the
aonce.t other partyrh e
Hjustice
of Gentleman said this didil nit satisfy :the.
of the case, and that a person who had originally refused
to pay Church-rates, if discharged without such payment,
should either discharge the rate, or be liable to be
again taken up and put in prison.—(hear, hear.)
His ( Lord John Russell's) answer to that was, that in a
case of that sort, be thought there were not persons who
would resist, or, if they dial, he thought it would be con-
sidered better not to run the process after them so far;
fur the vied cation of the law seemed to him
to be ofttimes better maintained by taking no further notice
of such offenders. This conduct was never followed by
Sir Robert Walpole, who, when a Member of that House,
had made an almost treasonable speech.—said " I know that
Hon. Gentleman wishes to be committed to the Tower,
but I shall do no such thing."—( Laughter.) Prosecu-
tions of ths kind often made the whole import-
ance of the person thus prosecuted, and seeing
that this matter had lasted long enough, and being as
he was for the coutinuancc of payments which were ne-
cessary for the maintenance of the law, he said in a case
of this kind they were much more likely to maintain the
law by taking the speediest mode of discharging
this individual than continuing to clifo-ce payment. Ile
therefore thought his Bill preferable to that of the
Honourable and Learned Gentleman, the remedy pro-
posed in it being the speediest.—( Hear, hear, hear.)
Mr. WA RBURTON said that the Bill could not but
be acceptable to those who,like the Hon. and Learned Gen-
tleman opposite, were desirous of enforcing the law, for
it was much easier to enforce a law by a moderate penalty,
than by the atrocious punishment which the present law
inflicted. He agreed with the Hon. and Learned Mem-
ber that there should be power to discharge the defendant
whenever the prosecutor assented. But he (Nlr. War-
burton) would suggest that the provho should be, that the
defendant should be discharged upon application to the
Court, unless the prosecutor appeared to oppose the dis-
charge.
Mr. BA INES said that the Bill of the Honourable and
Learned Gentleman ( Dr. Nicholl—No. 2) would place
such persons as John Thorogood in a worse condition than
they were et present. But he thought that the Bill of the
Noble Lord, with the amendment suggested by his Honour-
able Friend (Mr. Warburton) would be in a great measure
satisfactory.
Mr. E6TCOUIZT objected to the Bill of the Noble
Lord (No. 1) being made a permanent measure, applicable
to all persons who chose to be contumacious. If the Bill
were limited to the case of John Thorogood, that limits-
thin would greatly tend to remove his objections to the
measure.

Lord J. RUSSELL—Then you should have a new
Bill every year.
Mr. ESTCOURT proceeded to object to the late pe-
riod of the Session at which a measure of such importance
intended to be a perpetual law of the land, was introduced.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL would ask, could

there be any objection to give the Ecclesiastical Courts
the power to discharge a contumacious person from cus-
tody, with the consent of the prosecutor ? His own ob-
jection to the Bill was, that it was unnecessary ; for he
was of opinion that the Ecclesiastical Courts had the
power already, in common with the Courts of Law, of
discharging a person who was in custody for contempi.
However, as the Honourable and Learned Gentlemen
opposite, and the Courts themselves, were of opinion
that they had not that power, he was desirous that
the Bill of his Noble Friend should pass. According
to the analogies of the law, Thorogood had been long
enough in pi icon to satisfy the debt. If he had been in
prison only twelve months fur a debt of 201., the Court of
Law, front which the process had issued, would discharge
him, on a simple motion in Court to that effect. He
therefore thought that there could be nothing to apprehend
from now discharging John Thcrogood, leaving all her
Majesty's subjects still liable to the tax, which he so much
deprecated.
The amendment was then negatived without a division.
The Bill (No.;1.) then passed through Committee, and
was ordered to be reported on Monday.
The Bill No 2. (Dr. Nichols) was withdrawn.
Lord J. RUSSELL then moved that on Monday next,
and during the remainder of the Session, the House pro-
ceed with public business at Four o'Clock, immediately
after private business.—Agreed to.
Lord MOR PETH brought up the Report of the Com-
mittee on the Drainage Bill (Ireland).
The House adjourned at Half-past Two o'Clock.

LAWSUIT AGAINST THE QUEEN I-II is
freely mentioned at the Clubs, that King Ernest of Hanover
has claimed a diamond or diamonds of the Queen of England,
to the amount of fifty thousand, as his property, and that being
refused, he has had recourse to a court of law . if a proceed•.
dig so wanton be taken, her Majesty will be driven to adopt
measures which she and her 111 Misters recoiled from before,
though urged to it by the force of public opinion.—Caledonian
Mercury.
DREADFUL ACCIDENT AT MOSTYN COL-
Linar.--Loss or EIGHT Lives.—On Tuesday morning a
violent explosion of fire- damp took place at one of the pits. The
explosion was so powerful that large lumps of coal were thrown
up from the bottom of the pit to the surface, a height of 130
yards, and at the same time an overpowering sulphurous smell
• issued from it. It is impossible to ascertain the cause of the
accident. One young man rushed through the fiery torrent
below, over the bodies of his unfortunate companions, without
sustaining much injury. Eight corpses have been brought up ;
and one man and a boy are in a most dangerous situation, they
having been burnt most dreadfully. Five more have been most
seriously injured. A fortnight ago two others were burnt to
death in the same manner, one of whom left eight children and
a widow on the point of confinement. In consequence of these
dreadful accidents five destitute women have suddenly become
widows, and thirty small children bereft of their fathers.—
Macclesfield Courier.

LONDON BRIDGE APPROACHES.-THE NEW
STREET FROM LOTIIBURY TO THE POt,T-OFFICE.—The fol-
lowing is a Statement of the claims and the amount of the
verdicts of the Juries (a settlement in Court) in the several
compensation cases laid before the Recorder and Special Juries
on the 16th, 17th, and 18th days of July at Guildhall. The
property is principally in Cateaton-street and the immediate
neighbourlood.
Names.

Claims. Verdicts.
X. X. s.
Heatbfield 2,780 850 0
Barber and Howse
Vrecholtl, tato ...... ,
Jobbit and Co • 2,000 0
Kipling and Tay10r........ 7,330 2,600 0
John and Sydney Smith ...
Smith, Chemist about 1,000 583 0
Norris and Johnson, Queenhithe 3,323 862 IS
---- -

40,355 22,104 15
Another attempt is to be made to get a church-
rate in Rochdale, the pro-rate party having called a vestry for
the purpose.
, it is strongly rtloloorec,i that the Fier. Dr, Wad-
a.netan is to be the nevi, heat} of Thtrhan4.
is
anon of Chichester.

COWES-ISLE OF WIGHT.

(FROM OT:R OWN COF.Rii?PONDENT.)
Jets 31.—The Countess of Durham, with her son, and
the Ladies Emily, Mary, and Ellie^ Lambton, with Earl
and Countess Grey, and Mr. Pormnbv, embarked at ten
• this morning in the Beresford steamer, f,r Scuthampton.
They are expected to remain in town till Monday, when
they viii proceed to Lambton Castle.
Greatly to the credit of the inhabitants of Cowes, curio-
sity did not indLce one of them to intrude on the privacy
wiiheci to be observed by the ladies on leaving the Lodge ;
indeed nothing can exceed the feeling of respect univer-
sally expressed whenever the name of Lady Durham is
mentioned, and it is earnestly hoped that her anxiety and
anxious watching of Lord Durham during his illness, and
the shock of his death, may not injure her health.

SECOND EDITION.

THE FUNDS-(CLOSING PRICES.

BRITISH FUNDS.

13a nk Stock
3 per Cent. Red 904 Ditto Bonds
3 per Cent Cons ...... .. 90i Ditto Old Annuities
31 per Cent Red........ 98L Ditto New Annuities —
New 3,12- per Cent
New 5 per Cent ...
Long Annuities to expire Ditto Small 24 pm
Jan. 1860
Oct. 1859... l3i India Stock for Acct...
Jan. 1860 — Consols for Acct 9Ol
FOREIGN FUNDS.
Austrian, 5 per cent... Portuguese, 5 per cent.
Belgian, 5 per cent lOl Ditto, New Ditto 34
13razilian Bonds... .. .. Prussian, 5 per cent....
BuenosAyres, 6 per cent Russian, 5 per cent. ...
Chilian, 6 per cent — Ditto, Metallic
Colombian, 6 percent... Spanish, 5 per cent 231,
Ditto, 1824
Danish, 3 per cent. ... 79 French,s per cent...ll2f. 50c.
Greek, 1825, spercent. Exchange ..
Mexican, 5 per cent.... French, 3 per cent —f. —c.
Ditto, 6 per cent, 1825. 28i Dutch, 21 per eent 5ll.
Peruvian, 1825, 6 per ct. Ditto, 5 per cent..... 101 i
SHARES.
Birmingham and Derby Railway
Great Western Railway
Ditto New Shares. .
London and Brighton Railway
London and Blackwall Railway
London and Birmingham Railway ... 167
Ditto Quarter Shares
Ditto New Shares
London and South Western Railway ... 57
Manchester and Birmingham Railway ..
North Midland Railway
Ditto New Shares 33
South Eastern v.:..d !'ewer 6l

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS

FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
(From the Globe.)
The French papers are full of violent invective
against England and the other Three Powers, for hav-
ing signed a convention with Turkey to which France
is not a party ; but they omit to tell us that France had
positively, and upon full deliberation, refused to be a
party to the very arrangement which that treaty is un•
derstood to be intended to carry into effect. Whose
Exult, then, is it that France is not a party to the treaty ?
Why, it is the fault of France herself—and of France
alone. At first sight it might be inferred from the vio-
lence of the French papers, that France is going to de-
clare war against the four Powers ; but we never shall
believe that such a thing can be, till we see it happen ;
and indeed a closer attention to the French papers will
show that there is no likelihood of such an event. All I

the French papers choose to assume that the treaty is
something hostile to France, and will lead to an attack
upon France ; but that is a complete delusion. The
treaty is not levelled against France—it is meant to ac-
complish purposes which even France herself professes
to approve, and cannot lead to war with France, un-
less France herself chooses wantonly to make war on
account of it. We are convinced, therefore, that when
o>ur good neighbours at Paris come to reflect a little
more calmly on the matter, they will see that their
anger and alarms are without any just cause, and they
will return to their former state of tranquillity and good
humour ; and as nobody dreams of attacking them, they
will leave off threatening to attack other people.
(From the Courier.)
Who has not seen the improvident and indeed very
foolish Albert writhing under the fangs of the emerald
coloured " Bottle Imp ?" A man who has witnessed
the spectacle with any degree of interest, will find no
sort of difficulty in splitting Herr Albert into as many
pieces as the component parts of what is ludicrously
termed Queen Victoria's Cabinet, and then to con-
template them under the gripe of O'Connell, the men-
dicant hero of the Emerald Isle. We say that there is
nothing in this sort of sport of the imagination, inas-
much as upon a closer examination it will be found that
the picture is not exactly ideal. O'Connell, twisting
about at his pleasure the half-dozen or dozen miserable
Herren Albert of the Melbourne Administration, might
be a good subject for that excellent artist who chooses
to call himself by the letters H.B. ; and what is more,
there would be conveyed an indisputable trath in the
picture.

(From the Standard.)
The Irish Municipal Corporations Bill was last night
read a third time and passed in the House of Lords. It,
or any other Bill which shall give to the Romanist party
a triumph, however barren, will be of course ac-
cepted by the House of Commons. The triumph,
however, will not be a barren one. " The execrable
measure'—we use the very description of some who
voted for it last night—will give to the Romanist faction
legalised conventions in all the great towns of Ire-
land ; a fulcrum which they well know how to
employ for the dismemberment of the empire.
As was well said by the Bishop of Exeter in
the solemn protest which concluded the melancholy
work "It will not and it cannot come to good." We
will add that it ought not. The desertion of the
Protestants of Ireland merits punishment, and if
we may judge by the past, it will be
punished as it deserves to be. There were
proposed some amendments of more or less
importance, ell of which were carried without
ditfieulty.• One of the amendments exhibits in a
stroag. and very painful 'light the different degrees of
interestitaken id matters that concern individuals con
ncc-tvd With party leadera, and'inatters'iliat"only affect
the humbler members of a party. A clause had.been
introduced into the Bill empowering, the, Lord Lieut-
tenant ef Ireland to appoint the holding of sessions at
his discretion. This clause appears to be in principle
unobjectionable. The Crown, we know, has, and occa-
sionally exercises, the power to appoint the sittings of
the Judges of the Courts in Westminster Hall, and
even to send the Judges into the country by a Special
Commission. It is a sufficient guard against the abuse
of this power, that its exercise is questionable in Par-
liament, as of course the exercise of the power proposed
to be given to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland would
necessarily be. Nevertheless, Lord Lyndhurst last
night proposed, and successfully proposed, to withhold
the power in question by omitting the clause conferring

. _
it, basing his proposition on the ground that the clause
was specially directed against the present Recorder of
Dublin.

THE ARCHIMEDES STEAMER.

(From the Brighton Gazelle.)
On Thursday last this vessel, which is propelled by
an adaptation of the screw somewhat similar to that in-
vented for the purpose of raising water by the great
philosopher of ancient Greece, whose name she bears,
arrived off Brighton, whence she proceeded the next
day to Shoreham harbour. Her visit to Brighton was
occasioned by her being chartered by Mr. Harris, (who
has for some time resided in West house. Portland
place,) to convey him and his family to Oporto. A
considerable number of persons were admitted on
board the vessel on Friday and Saturday ; and we now
present our readers, from ocular inspection, with a brief
description of the vessel and of the new propeller which
has been so ingeniously substituted for the comparatively
cumbrous invention of paddle-wheels.
The Archimedes is a three-masted schooner, with
raking masts, of the burden of 240 tons, and drawing
ten feet and a half water; and with the exception of
the chimney, there is perhaps nothing in the appear-
ance of the ship to indicate that she is anything
more than a sailing vessel. Her dimensions are—Length
over all, 12.5 feet ; between perpendicular, 107 feet ;
extreme breadth, 26} feet ; depth of hold, 13 feet.
Her propeller is the invention of Mr. F. P. Smith
(who has been on board the Archimedes during her
voyage), and it is put in motion by one of Rennie's
engines, of eighty-horse power. At low water as the
vessel lay in harbour, an aperture about six feet square
was observed in the dead-wood in front of the rudder,
and immediately above the keel. Through the centre
of this aperture runs an iron shaft 30 feet long, which,
passing through a stuffing-box used for the purpose of
preventing the admission of water into the hold of the
vessel, and under the floor of the cabin, is connected
with the machinery. Around the shaft in the above
aperture, and consequently open to the sea, is placed
the screw, by the revolution of which in the water
the vessel is propelled in an opposite direction, the
screw in fact, from being entirely under water,
acting as a paddle during the whole revolution, instead
of in a small portion only of the revolution, as is the
case in the common paddles. The propeller originally
consisted of one complete turn of a spiral ; but, in order
to economize the space, this has given way to a two-
threaded screw, having two half turns placed opposite to
each other. The diameter of the screw is five feet nine
inches, and the length four feet two inches. With the
engines working at their full power, the propeller
would make 180 revolutions in a minute ; but we are
informed that the greatest number she has yet made is
132, the engines having never made more than 60-horse
power. The experiments already made with the Ar-
chimedes have been subject to the disadvantages which,
in almost every case, attend the adaptation to practical
purposes of a new invention. Her speed, however,
may be now fairly estimated at nine knots an hour with
sail alone,* and 91 knots an hour with steam alone. She
has made the passage from Dover to Calais in one hour
and 41 minutes, and from. Calais to Dover in one hour

and 35 minutes. In a strosg wind and a heavy seas the
power of carrying sail and the possessiott of a propeller
continually immersed are always effective, and must
give a decided superiority to vessels fitted with the
screw, since on such occasions the common steamer
often buries one of her paddle-wheels so deeply as to be
injurious to her speed, while the other is working in to
air. We are informed that in a casual trial oci the- North
Foreland with one of heK 2friajesty' steamers, when it
was blowing a strong gale with considerable sea running,
the steamer labouring heavily was found to have no
chance with the Archimedes, which made her voya!“,
with comparative ease and comfort,
Trials have been made of the Archint c7des by officers
of rank and elfperience in'the navy, some of them prae-
tieqUaitited "with the management of steam ves.,
tel.; iacludiuf, Vzcc-Admiral Sir Robert OtwN,l Lieut.

John Allan Wright (of her Majesty's cutter Speedy),
' the Hon. Admir, Fleming, Captain Evans, Commander
Burridge, and Licuie-e.. ant Commander W. Crispin, (ot
her Majesty's steamer Vulcan), who all report most
favourably of the merits of the invention.
Among the princil advantages which the new pro-
i penes affortls are tl/ese :—that in rivers and harbours
the Archimedes On be put. about in twice her own
length ; she can be stopped as quickly as any other
steamer, and goes equally fast ahead or astern, though
not built to contend with river boats, either by her
draught of water or by the form of her bottom (she
having been constructed for a sailing and seagoing
craft) ; she has been found, with engines not fully effect-
ive, to be eqeal in speed to any of them ; boats going
along,side incur no more risk than in boarding a sailing
vessel ; the swell, so dangerous to small craft in rivers,
and so injurious to the banks, is not caused by the Ar-
chimedes; her wake is distinguished by no more ripple
than that of any vessel under sail ; she can thread her
way through obstacles, between which the projection of
paddle-boxes prevents an ordinary steamer from ven-
turing, and she can enter locks and canals from which
the other would be excluded ; she can lie close along-
side other vessels or quays for the discharge of her
cargo, or the embarkation or landing of passengers, with-
out being prevented by those cumbrous appendages,
But it is as a powerful auxiliary to sea-going vessels,
by enabling them to make head against adverse winds
and currents, and in calms, that the screw propeller
grounds its chief claims to attention. The power being
seated where it cannot be injured will enable the seaman
to give his ship way, even if dismasted, or unable from
the fury of the wind to show any canvass—will allow her
head to be kept to the wind, and by the rapidity with
which the vessel answers the helm, at the very instant
of putting the screw in motion, will facilitate various
operations, which will be obvious to the seaman. By a
simple contrivance the propeller may be connected with
the machinery, or disconnected from it, in the short
space of two minutes ; and the screw is not found to
offer any sensible resistance to the progress of the vessel
when going by the aid of sails alone.
Another most important advantage is that the vessel
would admit of guns being placed on the broadside,
which in the common steamers is prevented by the large
space occupied by the paddle-boxes ; and the propeller
being placed out of reach of an enemy's shot, would
enable the vessel to be used in naval warfare, which
with the paddle-boxes could not be the case, owing to
the facility with which the present vessels could be dis-
abled.

The Archimedes left the harbour with her passengers
on Monday afternoon, for Oporto.
* The utmcst speed of her Majesty's swiftest Post-office
packets on the Dover station is ten knots an hour, under
the most favourable circumstances of smooth water, and
using sail and steam.

MILITARY PUNISHMENTS.—On Thursday
morning the military in St. George's Barracks, St. James's-
park, were called out on parade to witness the revolting sight
of the punishment of two privates of the Ist battalion of Scotch
Fusilier Guards, who had been sentenced to receive 290 lashes
each for insubordination. It will be remembered that a short
time since one of the sentries was charged with being drunk on
duty, and on the supposition that he was so, the officer ordered
him to the guard-house, where he expired, and it was after-
wards proved that the unfortunate man had died from exhaus-
tion alone. It appears that two or three days after the melan-
choly occurrence alluded to, one of the privates of the above
corps returned ir.toxicated to the barra-tks, and the sergeant
duty ordered another private, named Sutliffe, to convey him
to the guard •room : thishe refused to do,and commenced violently
abusing the sergeant. The drunken man joined in the abuse, and
refused to go to the guard- room,and it became necessary to turn out
the guard, who placed them both in confinement, and they
were tried by a general Court-martial. After the usual pre-
liminaries yesterday, Sutliffe was tied to the halberts, and the
degrading and disgusting punishment was commenced. The
shrieks and groans of the wretched man as he underwent the
torture are described to be appalling, and were but partially
drowned by the drums. The sentence being carried into full
effect the poor fallow was taken to the Military Hospital. The
other culprit, who was the main cause of this soul-harrowing
exhibition (but whose name the reporter could not obtain),
then stepped up with great hardihood and indifference, and
having thrown up his cap twirling in the air, undressed him-
self while the sentence was being read. He received the pu-
nishment with scarcely a moan. On being taken down, an
overcoat being about to be put over his bleeding and mangled
back, he refused it, and walked to the hospital.
LOW TEMPERATURE OF JULY.—At the latter
part of the month of April the thermometei ranged in the sun
between 96 and 114 degrees of Fahrenheit ; and since the
first day of the present month, although the sun is at a much
greater altitude, the range has been between 69 and S 7.
NIGER EXPEDITION.—The first steam-boat for
this expedition was launched from North Birkenhead, on Sa-
turday week, and appears, from her model and general ap-
pearance, admirably adapted for the purpose for which she has
been built. In a few weeks she is expected to be ready for
sea. The two other steamers for the same expedition are also
in a forward state.—Liverpool Albion.
FESTIVITY AT MULGRAVE CASTLE.
Thursday last, the 23d of July, the day on which Lord Mul-
grave came of age, a dinner was provided for the tenantry and
tradesmen, families, and their who have have been employed
under the Noble 'Marquis and the Marchioness of Normanby.
Thomas Watson, Esq., of Whitby, presided as Chairman. In
the evening there were tea and supper for all who wished to
partake, and as much wine and punch as could he drank, and
yet, with all the abundance, we must say we never before wit-
nessed so much decorum and so little drunkenness on such an
occasion. In the evening there was a ball, which was every-
thing to the younger branches of families, and thus ended a
day long to be remembered by all who had the honour cf being
present.— York Courant.
In Moscow, the young ladies who are candidates
for matrimony range themselves along the side-walks in lines,
decked out in fine dresses and jewels, and the beaus pass along
and make a sort of military review.