The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-31 00:00:00

or 400 bales of hemp, and a quantity of flour. They
continued to take in cargo at night, and about ten o'clock
a candle fell from its place and immediately communi-
cated to a bale of hemp in the hold. Great efforts were
made to stop the progress of the fire, but they were un-
availing.
" Meanwhile the officers of the Tobacco Plant, which
was alongside, rendered all the assistance possible in
removing the furniture of the burning boat, while the
flames were confined below.
" Finding all efforts fruitless, the magnificent steamer
was cut adrift, and soon was a mass of flame. She
again grounded near the place of the first disaster, and
there burned to near the water's edge.
" It is estimated that about 5,000 sacks of grain were
still. on shore, and the Tobacco Plant had some 200 bales
of hemp on her deck. The cattle on the guards of the
boat all escaped, and made their way to the shore.
" Still as the boat was very heavily freighted—pro-
bably to the extent of 700 or 800 tons—the loss of cargo
must be very great. The loss of the boat is equally
severe. She wa.s a splendid vessel, finished as a passenger
boat, and intended for the cotton trade.
" She was worth, it is supposed, 20,000 dollars, and
there was insurance only to the amount of 8,000 dollars.
Captain Brenham was the principal, if not the sole owner.
" We cannot hear cf the loss of any lives, but the deck
passengers, of whom there were a great many, lost
everything which they possessed. They were taken on
board the Tobacco Plant, and brought to this city, and
yet remain on her."

THE SHRAPNEL SHELL.

The following is tLe petition of Mr. Henry Needham
Scrope Shrapnel (son of the late General Shrapnel, the
inventor of the Shrapnel Shell), presented to the House
of Commons on the 14th of May, by Mr. T. S. Dun-
combe
" The humble petition of Henry Needham Scrope
Shrapnel, of Midway Manor House, near Bradford,
in the county of Wilts, now residing at Lodge,
Gosport, in the county of Rants, Esq., late of her
Majesty's 3d Regiment of Foot Gum ds, now Cap-
tain in the 2d Regiment of Somerset Militia,
" Showeth,—That your petitioner is the eldest son
and heir-at-law of the late Lieutenant-General Shrapnel,
the inventor of the celebrated Shrapnel shell.
"That General Shrapnel, the father ofyour petitioner,
entered the Royal Artillery on the 9th of July, 1779, at
the age of twenty-one, and was ordered abroad, where
he distinguished himself. That he served in Newfound-
land in 1780 82, where he was thanked in public orders
by Colonel Sir Robert Pringle, for a quick method of
fixing an 8-inch howitzer, whereby much good service
was rendered.
" That your petitioner's father served at Gibraltar
and in Hollz.snd, and the seige of Dunkirk, under Sir
William Congreve; subsequently to Swan Island, Bar-
badocs, St. Vincent's, Daminice, Antigua, and various
other places abroad, at all of which he acquitted him-
self with ere dit.
"That the father of your petitioner was also the in-
ventor of the tangient slide, which has brought our
artillery to its present perfection, by the accuracy with
which the range can by its means be ascertained; anti is
now generally in use both in the artillery of army a:.d
navy.
" That General Shrapnel, your petitioner's father,
was likewise the proposer of hollow shot.
" That the Shrapnel shell, invented by your peti-
tioner's father, is a discovery allowed by the most illus -
trious of the British commanders to have contributed
greatly towards most of the splendid victories gained by
the British troops on the continent of Europe and East
Indies during the last forty years and upwards, and that
the effect of the shell has been to extend the destructive
power of musketry, and with much greater effect.
" That General Shrapnel, your petitioner's father,
had the honour of making experiments before his late
Majesty King George the Third and great number of
officers. *
" Its importance to the nation being admitted by his
Grace the Duke of Wellington and other distinguished
military and naval officers.
"In Portugal, the campaign of 1808, the Boarl of
Ordnance in August supplied Col. Robe with the shell,
who thus expresses himself:—` Your shot is the ad-
miration of the whole army; I should not do my duty
to the service were I not to attribute our good fortune
to the use of that weapon. I told Sir Arthur Wellesley
I meant to write you, and asked if it may be with his
concurrence. His answer
,was, yen may say anything
you please; you cannot say too much.'
" That the decisive advantages from the use of the
shell, which in those splendid achievements distin-
guished the British arms—the storming of Gusnee, at
the battle of the Kyber Pass, Jellalabad, during the
Burmese war, and Affghanistan—are.fully testified by
those distinguished officers, Lord Keane, Sir A. Camp-
bell, Sir W. Nott, Major General Pollock, Sir Robert
Sale, Lord Gough, and Sir Harry Smith.
"That your petitioner is fully persuaded that the
applicability of his late father, General Shrapnel's, in-
vention to all the purposes of marine warfare, has like-
wise been fully estattishe:l.
" That your petitioner's father, during a period of
nearly fifty years, in bringing by long serve es of scientific
experiments the invention to perfection, is prepared to
show that his late father expended upwards of sixteen
thousand three hundred and sixty pounds. Your peti-
tioner's father never received a grant of public money,
although other individuals who have deserved well of
their country have invariably had their services acknow-
ledged, and with commensurate honours and rewards,
anti those who have used this new weapon have titles,
honours, rewards.
" That General Shrapnel, your petitioner's late father,
mentioned the well-known fact, as your petitioner is
prepared to prove—that so fully sensible was the late
Emperor Napoleon of the immense value and importance
of the Shrapnel shell, in the various operations of war,
that in the month of September, 1813, he caused a com-
munication through a confidential quarter to be made to
your petitioner's father, intimating that a certain large
sum of one million pounds sterling should be placed to
your petitioner's father'S account if he would disclose
the secret of the invention—a proposal he, your peti-
tioner's father, indignantly rejected.
"That in 1814, after repeated urgent representations to
the Government, a pension of one thousand two hundred
pounds, in lieu of three hundred end sixty-five pounds
per annum, which was previously allowed to your peti-
tioner's father for improvement in artillery, was tardily
granted to your petitioner's father ; therefore, only in
amount eight hundred and thirty-five pounds, the three
hundred and sixty-five pounds being withdrawn.
" The first time your petitioner's father felt this,
your petitioner believes, was in regard of a claim of five
thousand pounds which your petitioner's father had on
the Honourable East India Company, the amount of a
settled per centage upon shells with which the Company
had been furnished, of which sum, as also all future
emolument, your petitioner's father was deprived, except
a small annuity of two. hundred pounds per annum.
" The 9th of October, 1806, Major Cunningham, the
East India Company's inspector, intimated officially to
your petitioner's late father that it was proposed to grant
him ten per cent. on the amount of all shells, which the
major suggested, a plan for continuing the benefit to the
general's heir upon the general's decease ; but this ar-
rangement was not afterwards carried out and com-
pleted, by which the general lost an income of several
thousands per annum, and all this by the Ordnance
Board of the day.
"It appears that the East India Company for the term
of seven years was to allow your petitioner's late father
twenty-five pounds per 1,000 shells supplied or to be
supplied ; but this, through the Board of Ordnance, was
discontinued.
" The Duke of Wellington, for national policy,
deemed that the invention of the shell should not be
made public—suggesting that a patent should be taken
out, without entering up the specification. The East
India directors succeeded in getting what they required;
but the new founder, not understanding the niceties at-
tending the manufacture of the shell, unusual num-
bers of the shell burst, and in consequence they (the
Company) returned to your petitioner's late father and
the Carron Company.
" When 200,000 shells had been supplied to the East
India Company your petitioner's late father applied for
payment of the per centage, amounting to five thousand
pounds, which was refused, and the Board of Ordnance
denied, though the Company admitted, the original con-
tract ; and the Board denied your petitioner's late
father, in a despotic style, the power to restrict them as
your petitioner's father had been granted a pension for
the same.
" Thus was the East India Company's claim settled at
once—not according to reason and justice, which was
unhappily the case a few years ago by high-minded
authority—by' cancelling a debt of five thousand pounds.
" That the injurious contraction put on the increased
pension of eight hundred and thirty-five pounds—not one
thousand two hundred pounds—has been the cause of
the East India Company withdrawing their payments to
your petitioner's late father, though August 9th, 1816,
they ordered a supply of 52,000 and 84,000, offering the
usual per centage, amounting to three thousand four
hundred pounds, with reduced per centage, your peti-
tioner's late father did not accede to.
" The pension seems to have shut out your petitioner's
late father, and deprived him of appointments which he,
your petitioner's father, by his rank and lengthened
services and seniority would have been entitled to, of
treble the amount.
" Your petitioner's late father addressed Sir Hussey
Vivian, Master-General of Ordnance, stating that the
pension of one thousand two hundred pounds was in lieu
of several grants, and in reply draws the inference that
the one thousand two hundred a year, being in lieu of
several other sums, could never be considered as one
thousand two hundred pounds for shells.
" Your petitioner, on behalf of his father, asserts
that, had he made no invention, he would have succeeded
to an income of one thousand and sixty-two pounds,
without being previously an inspector of artillery, of
which your petitioner's father had an assurance, and
which is only one hundred and thirty-seven pounds
short of the pension of one thousand two hundred
pounds ; and yet his income was considerably less than
the other commandants : so by the pension of 1,200/.,
and a bar to promotion 1,062/., 1371. 10s., your peti-
tioner's late father's rank, stading, and long services
of upwards of half a century.
" That your petitioner's late father, during his 62
years' service, obtained an income equal to the other
commandants, though not one of them ever invented any
invention ever heard of ; and he, your petitioner's late
father, would, as a matter of course, receive not only
appointments to seniority, but ample income, and by
which your petitioner's late father would have saved
sixteen thousand three hundred and sixty pounds for the
benefit of his family.
" That your petitioner's late father suffered the fol-
lowing act of grievous injustice:--Your petitioner's late
father was a senior in the artillery branch of the service
to Lord Bloomfield by two years ; and it is a well-
known rule that no officer in artillery should be put
over the head of a superior officer, yet in consequence of
Lord Bloomfield being an aide to George the Fourth was
appointed in 1823 ; and Lord Bloomfield succeeded Sir
should
d 1 havel4Le beenodo ;
f :thaenhdo, horse, battalion, bcaotntsaecilioune,neeveh,ich placed him,
Lord Bloomfield, at the bead of that distinguished branch
of the profession, where your petitioner's late father
a r petitioner'sitthousand
and wasseven hundred
between the horse and fooloss
artillery of four thousand and
twenty-seven pounds five shillings to the day of his
death. Yet Lord Bloomfield bears testimony to your
petitioner's late father's superior abilities and science ;
also
de poivuendd s
ft o
the yo
additional
dio naf l fourpay
father,
and further adds, ' Your royal shell contains one hun-
dred and sixty-six carbine balls—those thrown with the
velocity of one thousand feet a second; think of the
destruction, and shudder.'
"Let the united voices of the army and navy speak
its value to the inventor and his country of the Shrapnel
shell ; the smallest profit or per-centage for so many
years on the millions of shells which have been manu-
facturedadn for the honourable Board of Ordnance
East India Company for upwards of forty years ; and
and when your petitioner's late father communicated to
Government the secret, foreseen how they would have
acted, would have legally secured to himself a patent,
as advised by Earl Moira ; and it is against services
and claims like the foregoing that a pension, said to be
one thousand two hundred a year, but which was a loss
to your petitioner's late father, General Shrapnel, of
three hundred and sixty-five pounds per annum.
Grace the
tehDerukefoereo,f Wellingtonis reward to the
so ample
generouslyanwdhifcrhankihiys

MONEY and COMMERCIAL NEWS.
Domestic affairs throughout the Union are in a pros-
perous condition. The greatest activity pervades all
classes of business, and the demand for provisions abroad
has given employment to alt the shipping of the coun-
try. The news of an advance in the price of grain, by
the last steamer, has strengthened our markets, and al-
though the canals and lakes are fairly opened, prices
have gone down but little. Immense quantities of flour
and grain are pouring into the sea board, through the
lakes and canals, and we shall soon have such a supply
must materially reduce the prices.
Cotton is firmer since the arrival of the last steamer ;
prices rarge from 11c. to 14c. The stock market is
comparatively dull, foreign exchanges still advancing.
Our farmers are putting in plentiful seed for the next
harvest, but the spring has not been favourable. Winter
wheat, in many sectioas of the Western States, has
been frost-killed ; also in the South, and fruit orchards
have suffered severely, especially the peach. A de-
structive worm has appeared in the cotton fields of Ala-
bama, and elsewhere doing great damage, so much that
many planters have countermanded their orders for ropes
and bagging. The tobacco plant has also suffered from
the ravages of worms. Yet appearances favour a
general good harvest of staples throughout. the Union.
The stock market was bouyant at the first board, but
1.11 off at the second board, with considerable sales.
Treasury sold at 5 per cent. premium, with large de-
mand. It is said that the Secretary will want no more
money until July, which will give takers of Treasury
Notes a chance to place them without embarrassment.
The Exchange market closed heavy for the steamer
at 7 per cent. for sterling. The supply exceeded the de-
mand. Francs are less plenty, and steady at 5.321- to
5.30. Other Continental bills were dull. Sterling at the
close was about 4 per cent. lower than yesterday.
In freights there is considerable activity, and rates
are firm. To Liverpool considerable engagements of
flour were made at 35., and some grain at 10d. A vessel
was taken for Glasgow, and another for the Mediter-
ranean, on private terms.
ASHES.-There have been sees of about 300 bbls.
Pots at 5 dolls., and 60 do. Pearls at 6 50, the first bill
out. The tendency of Pots is upward, and there were
rumours of sales at 5 124.
FLOUR AND MEAL-The demand continues to be
large for future delivery and on the spot, and the market
is very firm. The sales in loco reach 7,000 or 8,000
bbls. at 7 811 to 7 871-, goad parcels bringing 7 87. i with-
out much difficulty. There was a large demand for the
East, and prices were well sustained to the close. The
receipts to-day were about 10,000 bbls. To arrive, the
demand is very good, and rates continue to advance. The
transactions would be larger, but for the limited supply
offering. The sales reach 20,000 bbls, including 10,000
in all May, at 7 50 to 7 75 ; 6,000 ditto in June, at 7 25
to 7 37i, and over 2,000 or 3,000, by 15th July, at 7 25.
a. sale of fancy Western was made at 8 dolls. to arrive.
The market closed at the higher rates. In Southern
there is nothing doing, excepting small parcels George-
town, to arrive, at 8 12i. to 8 25. The stock here is used
up. The market for Meal is steady, with sales 2,500 to
3,000 bbls, at 473t0 4 81-1, mostly 475. Of Rye Flour,
500 bbls sold at 5 25, which is an advance.
The first parcel of Flour direct from Buffalo, 500
bbls., was received to-day, by Messrs. John B. Wright
and Co.
GRAIN.-The demand for Wheat to arrive continues
to be good, and the sales reach 25,600 bush. Ohio, in
June, at 162; to 165 ; 3,500 do. next week, at 170, and
10,000 do. Genesee, at 171 cts. in all June. For Corn
there was a good demand, at steady rates. Of Yellow,
in loco and to arrive, some 30,000 to 35,000 bush. sold
at 94 to 96 ; 5,000 do. Mixed, at 92 to 94, and to ar-
rivein June 5,000 State Yellow, at 80c ; 25,009 do.
Western, in June, at 85 to 90e., and 30,000 in July
and August, at 823. to 85c. Of Barley, 1,000 bushels
sold at 70c. Rye was in firm inquiry, with sales 7,000
to 8,000 bushels at 101 to 103 c. The receipts of Corn
were 30,000 bushels. Oats were in large inquiry, at
50 at 51e.
PROVISIONS.-There is some inquiry for Old Pork,
and the market is steady, especially for Prime. Sales
800 brls., at 13 dolls. 121 c. for Prime ; 15 dolls. for
Mess. New is nominally 16 dolls, and 13 dolls. 50c. In
Beef the sales are moderate. Prime is 8 dolls. 75c. to
9 dolls. 25c. Mess, 11 dolls. 75c. to 12 dolls. 50c. nomi-
nally and rather heavy. A sale of Bacon was made, but
we could not learn the particulars. A sale of 165 tcs.
Cana's Shoulders was made at 7e., and 150 brls. good
Pickled Hams at 9e. The market is firm for Pickled
Meats. Lard is quiet. 100 brls. sold at 91c. ; and a lot
of good kegs was offered at 10c. No change in Butter
and Cheese.
TEAS.-The catalogue offered to-day was a good one,
and contained a larger proportion of high priced Teas
than any offered this season. Grocers held back, and
the high grades sold at about 2 cents. decline on previous
sales. The common grades fully sustained the market.
The catalogue was nearly all sold.
G ROCERIES. --The market is rather quiet, but with-
out marked change. Porto Rico and Cuba Sugars are
one-eight cent. lower within two or three days. Coffee
is dull. Of Molasses, a cargo of Cardenas sold for Ca-
nada at 21 cents. Small sales New Orleans at 35 cents.,
Porto Rico 32c. to 32kc.
FISH.-We note sales of Dry Cod to some extent, at
3 dolls. 90c., and of herring 2,500 to 3,000 boxes, at
100 cts for Scale, 60c. for No. 1, and 35c. for No. 2.
WHISILEY.-The market is a little stiffer, with sales
of 300 or 400 bbls. at 28ic. to 281 e. Drudge is held at
29 cents.
OILS.-There is considerable excitement in English
Linseed, and we note sales 15,000 gallons at 61c. to ar-
rive, and 61c. to 63c, on the spot. City American held
at 68c. Country is nominally 60c. Of whale oil, 600
bbls. selected sold to the trade at 34c. to 35c. cash.

THE , SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MA-Y 31, 1847.

declared your petitioner's late father so justly entitled
for his ingenuity and science ?
"It may seem surprising your petitioner's late father
silently submitted to such wrongs ; but he appealed
again and again as an officer in the service of his
country, to be considered subordinate to the authorities
upon whom every officer, whatever may be his rank, is
dependent, and the favourable opinion of the Duke of
Wellington. he, your petitioner's late father abstained
from bringing his claims before the public.
" Thus was your petitioner's late father deterred by
the purest motives from following the judicious advice of
friends, and whom, his Grace of Wellington was Prime
Minister, on application, said more should be done, as a
national reward.

Resting on these hopes, that fearful the acceptance of
the luckless ;pension. That when your petitioner en-
tered the army, though your petitioner's father could
have procured a commission for him, but being asked by
Lord Hill whether he wished it without purchase or
purchase, he preferred the latter, which he did with his
own private funds.

" That your petitioner's late father being desirous of
some honour, laid the same before his late Majesty King
William the Fourth, which was favourably received, as
appears by Sir Herbert Taylor's letter, written by the
King's command, but in consequence of his Majesty's
death was unhappily frustrated.
"That your petitioner's late father departed this life
on the third March, one thousand eight hundred and
forty-two, at the advanced age of eighty-four years,
after having zealously and unremittingly served his
country for the long space of sixty-two years and up-
wards.

" That your petitioner's late father's widow, the
mother of petitioner, only receives a pension of one
hundred and twenty pounds per annum, while the widow
of Sir W. Congreve receives four hundred pounds, a
general of less standing by twenty years than your peti-
tioner's father ; beyond this, who has the honour of a
baronetcy. Even the ordinary personal distinction of a
knight of the commander of the Bath never conferred
upon him.

"That your Petitioners father left debts to a consider.
able amount at his death, occasioned by the invention of
the shell, and its perfection ; and that your petitioner,
out of respect to his father, and in fall confidence the
claims of his father would be recognised, mortgaged his
life interest in the family estate, in order to assist in
discharging the said debts.
That a totally opposite construction was put upon the
pension of one thousand two hundred a year by the
Ordnance authorities of that day ; for this infliction was
of the one thousand two, hundred per annum pension
without the knowledge of General Shrapnel, your peti-
tioner's late father, which seems to invest the honour-
able Board of Ordnance with extraordinary rights,
powers, and authorities, as not in any way having bar-
tered his (your Petitioner's) father's right or forfeiture
of the debt of the East India Company, or his continuing
to supply the East India Company with shells. Thus
was eight hundred and thirty-five pounds set against for
life of a debt of five thousand pounds. Could your pe-
titioner's late father have seen the possibility of loss,
privations, and disadvantages, which this increased, or
no pension at all, your petitioner's late father would have
never acceptc d it.
" That your petitioner's late father's request to strike
the balance between your petitioner's late father and his
country, without any further notice of unjust propor-
tion, Lord Bloomfield being his junior and promoted
over his head, he your petitioner's father, sustained a
lowa thereby of four thousand pounds. Then the heavy
expense of money out of pocket, sixteen thousand three
hundred and sixty pounds, then the one thousand equi-
valent to fourteen thousand pounds, and lastly the two
claims of five thousand pounds, &c., per cent. of five
thousand pounds, se that the actual state of the case
stands—
To balance ... £54,360.

Expenditure ...
Lord Bloomfield
East India Company
Ditto, future per-centage •••
though you may say 100,0001.
Interest ... ... ...

... £16,360
... 4,000
... 5,000
... 5,000

10,000

£54,360
By balance due to petitioner's father, 54,3601.
"The pension taken at one thousand two hundred
pounds, instead of three' hundred and sixty-five pounds,
less or out of income, could not be called a reward, for
had the losses been reimbursed it would have been better
your petitioner's late father bad not invented the shell,
which would at least have saved the above sum for his
family.
" With a duo appreciation of the Duke of Wellinton's
value of your petitioner's late father's invention, declared
him to be entitled to a very ample reward for his inge-
nuity and science ; that the shells had happily achieved
long services of the most brilliant victories in every
quarter of the inhabitable globe. Question—has the
country shown a proper sense of gratitude for the ser-
vices of your petitioner's late father ? Your peti-
tioner, therefore, appeals to the various statements bo
fore made, and the numerous testimonial of the most
illustrious commanders by land and sea, and courts in-
vestigation, and challenges contradiction for a decided
answer in the negative to this inquiry.
"That your petitioner is the sole depository of the
secret of his late father's invention.

That your petitioner begs leave to subjoin, for the
information of your Honourable House, that from the
strong testimonials, whereby the efficacy of the Shrapnel
shell, and the immense advantages derived from it in
the conflicts of fifty-seven battles with the enemy.
Witness the united testimony of a Wellington, Gough,
a Harry Smith, and hosts of heroes who emblazon the
roll.

"The pure, disinterested motives which induced
your petitioner's late father to abstain from pressing his
claims upon the Government and Legislature, and,
finally, to content himself with bequeathing them to his
family, have already been illustrated and explained.
"That if your petitioner's late father had, as agreed
upon with the Honourable Board of Ordnance and
the East India Company, received the per-centage of
five per cent. upon the whole quantity of shells made
and delivered during the war, your petitioners late
father would have been in receipt of from six hundred
thousand pounds to seven hundred thousand pounds
sterling.

"That our present happy enjoyment of peace may in
a great measure be attributed in Europe and Asia, but
particularly in Asia, to the Shrapnel shell; peace so
highly esteemed and valued by all nations. Yet it is
but fair to remark, that it is still more likely to be kept
through the Shrapnel shell from the circumstance of
the destruction which the Shrapnel shell dealt upon
our enemies, who will not dare again to face the Shrap-
nel shell.

" That your petitioner begs to refer your Honourable
House to a pamphlet, wherein all your petitioner's late
father's testimonials, and every particular, are stated in
all the transactions between him and the Board of Ord-
nance and the East India Company, are related and
explained. •
" Your petitioner therefore humbly prays your Ho-
nourable House will be pleased to take your petitioner's
case into consideration, and to grant your petitioner
such relief in the premises as to your Honourable House
shall seem meet.

" And your petitioner will ever pray, &c.,
" HENRY NEEDHAM SCROPE SHRAPNEL.'

WESTMINSTER HOSPITAL.

The anniversary of the Westminster Hospital was
celebrated on Saturday by the usual annual dinner,
which took place in Willis's-rooms, St. James's. The
chair was taken by B. B. Cabbell, Esq., M P., beside
whom there were present Lord Sandell, M.P., Sir
Charles Burrell, M.P., Dr. Buckland, Mr. C. Lushing-

ton, Colonel T. Wood, M.P., Mr. C. Cochrane, Mr. W,
P. Wood, General Reeve, Mr. Sergeant Storks, Mr. G
Henderson, Recorder of Liverpool, &c.
. .

After the usual loyal toasts had been given,
The CHAIRMAN alluded to the loss which the charity
had sustained by the lamented death of the late Duke
of Northumberland, and proposed the " Health of the
Dowager Duchess of Northumberland and the Ladies
Patronesses of the Hospital."
The CHAIRMAN next proposed the " Health of the
Duke of Northumberland, president of the Hospital,"
and remarked that members of that noble family had
presided over the institution since its commencement,
upwards of a century ago.
In proposing "Prosperity to the Westminster Hos-
pital,' the CHAIRMAN stated that this was the 126th
anniversary of the charity, and that Paris, with less
than half the population of London, had double
the number of beds for the sick that where to be
found in this metropolis. A great number of patients
had, however, been sent to the St. George's Hospital, by
which means the usefulness of this charity had been im-
paired. The Chairman added, that it must be a subject
of regret that so valuable an institution as this, which
was within a stone's throw of the Houses of Legislature,
and in a poor and densely peopled district, should have
its usefulness limited by want of funds.
Lord SANDON proposed the health of the Honourable
Chairman as a liberal supporter of the public charities of
the metropolis.
Mr. B. 13. CAI3BELL returned thanks.
The CHAIRMAN then proposed the health of the Dean
of Westminster and the Clergy.
The DEAN of WESTMINSTER acknowledged the com-
pliment, and remarked, that hospitals of this kind in other
countries were not maintained by private charity, but by
the nation. He regarded it as a great national distinc-
tion, that this magnificent establishment was supported
by voluntary subscriptions.
Sir C. BURRELL proposed the health of the Rector and
other Clergy of St. Margaret's, to which
The Rev. J. COPE acknowledged the toast.
Several other toasts having been given, the proceed
ings terminated.

The Hosiery Manufacture continues in a stagnant
state. The wrought hose hands are in a better condi-
tion, as regards employment, than those who make slop
goods. A feeling has again revived, that the rotary
frames, which now work with tolerable facility, will
ultimately supersede those worked by the hand, con-
siderable improvements having been made in their con-
struction. The emigration and exportation of workmen
and frames to the United States has been much checked
by the late Act of Congress, requiring masters of ships
to give security that their passengers shall not become
chargeable to the States.—/Vottinghane Review.
BRISTOL SUGAR MARKET, MAY 28.—The offices
have been very freely supplied with samples from the
late arrivals, and there being a steady demand both for
the refiners and grocers, the transactions since our last
report have been, to a fair extent, at about previous
prices.—Bristol Mercury.
Many of the potato fields in the Highlands aban-
doned in despair, when the stems blackened and died,
have, on being turned up, yielded a considerable supply
of sound potatoes,