The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-30 00:00:00

COWES, ISLE OF WIGHT.
CHURCH-RATES OR NO CHURCH-RATES.
Pursuant to an " Admonition end Injunction" from
the Rev. Joseph Cotton Wigram, Areht'eacon of Win-
chertcr, a vestry of the garish of Northwood (in which
the town of Wekt Cowes is situated) was held in the
Parish Church on TbursOay last, and was numerously
attended.

The chair used to bo regularly taken by the Rector,
but in this instance neither the Rector nor Curate at-
tended, and a layman was voted to the chair.
The admonition 'gated, " Thst at a visitation held on
the 25th of July last, the Archdeacon admonished the
several parties concerned of till following defects, which
he enjoined them to repair, and to return a certificate
that the sathe bad been done accordingly before the Ist
of January next
"1. The wall, &cr, of the church-yard to be repaired.
"2. A drain to be dug round the church wall to
drain it.

1 "3. The roof of the tower, with all timbers beneath
it, as described in the specifications prefixed, to be
thoroughly repaired.
" 4. New oak sills to the windows, &c.
" 5. The Bible to be repaired or renewed.
" G. The churchwardens' instructions to be attained
and observed."
Two or three attempts have been before made to
make a rate to pay certain expenses incurred, and to
effect certain repairs, but adjournments have always
been carried, and thus virtually the rate has been refused.
The Rector and his parishioners are at issue about the
tithes, which have been increased from about 500%. per
annum to about 7504; and not the poorest cottager's
garden is allowed to escape untithed. The Dissenters
muster, and move adjournments which the members of
the Church that attend the vestries (principally agricul-
turists) do not oppose, and the ediSce is fast going to
ruin.

On the churchwardens being requested to state what
it would cost to effect the repairs, &c., ordered by the
Archdeacon, they could not tell, nor what amount of
rate they wanted. Ooe thought one shilling, another a
two-shilling rate, but, it appears, suspecting that they
should not obtain a rate at all, they had not troubled
themselves wich any calculations.
One of the parishioners then moved the adjournment
of the question until the Easter vestry.
This being too pointed an opposition to the Arch-
deacon's order to du his bidding by the Ist of January,
it was arranged to adjourn the vestry sine die. It now
remains to be seen what the Rector and the Archdeacon
will do next.

CHOLERA AND QUARANTINE.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sia,—l am so obtuse -headed that I cannot for the
life of me comprehend the reasoning which declares
the cholera to be not contagious, and which abolishes
(quarantine. Mercantile interests are certainly of very
high importance, but life is more important still, and
I consider that the probability of the cholera spread-
ing is, to say the least, rendered much greater without
quarantine than with it.
There was no cholera in Hull until a ship from
Hamburgh took it there. There wes none in Leith
until the same event occurred; and, supposing the
poor sailor whose death was reported yesterday had
remained on board the Ganges, at Sheerness—would
he not have been alive now ? Had the assistance
which he rendered in towing the Justitia nothing to
do with his death from cholera ? The cholera is in-
deed a mysterious disease, and they go too far who
say it cannot be propagated by contagion.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Boston, Lincolnshire. M. It. C. S.

THE ET-ROYAL FAMILY OF FRANCE.--OR Satur-
day her Majesty and his Royal Highness Prince Albert
went to Claremont from Windsor Castle to visit the ex-
King Louis Philippe and his amiable consort, the Queen
of the Belgians, and the members of the ex-Royal
Family now assembled at that royal residence. The
family circle comprises the Duke and Duchess de Ne-
mours, the Duke and Duchess d'Aumale, and Prince
and Princess de Joinville, and their youthful children.
The visit of the Queen and Prince Albert was of the
most private character, the maids of honour to the
Queen and the usual equerries alone accompanying her
Majesty. On the royal carriage reaching the entrance
of the mansion, Louis Philippe, the Duke de Nemoura,
the Queen of the Belgians, and the several members of
the exiled family came forth to receive her Majesty and
her Royal Consort. Her Majesty and Prince Albert
remained nearly three hours, and partook of luncheon
while at Claremont. The Queen of the Belgians
shortly returns to Brussels. The health of the ex-
Queen of France is delicate, but Louis Philippe and all
the members of his family are enjoying uninterrupted
health, and apparently good spirits, considering their
fallen state.
POLISH BALL AT GUILDHALL.—It was, we under-
stand, erroneously stated in the report of the proceedings
of the committee of that entertainment, which appeared
in our impressiou of Saturday last, that some few months
ago 700 Poles were receiving weekly allowances from
the Treasury—it should be some few years ago.
Various towns having already presented petitions
for the application of the Public Health Act to their
1 respective localities, the General Board of Health have
appointed four civil engineers to be superintending in-
spectors, to commence the preliminary inquiries pro
scribed by the Act. The gentlemen selected to fulfil the
responsible duties of the office are Messrs. George
Thomas Clark, Edward Cresy, Robert Rawlinson, and
William Ranger. Mr. Clark has served much in Eng-
land and in India, where he has been engaged in drainage
works. Mr. Cresy is the author of the " Encycloptedia
of Civil Engineering," and gave valuable evidence be-
fore the Metropolitan Sanitary Commission. Mr. Raw-
linson, formerly engineer to the Bridgewater Trust, hasbeen employed in works of sanitary improvement in
several of the northern towns. Mr. Ranger has directed
drainage works in Essex, and is lecturer on civil en-
gineering at the royal engineer establishment at Chat-
ham, and at the Putney College.—Observer.
A DANGEROUS AiTSTAKII.—On Monday last a
collier, workingin the Pentrefelen pit, near Llangafelah,
nearly met his death under the. following singular cir-
.oeftrfoonogd
fcourmhsitsan cir-
cumstances.
meals—amongH e had
other things
brought
wlthahipmo taosfugpopold
tea—that " which
with
but not inebri-
ates."
In faamsimouisiarpl a
potns he had with him a more danger-
ousates. ' a pound and a half of powder—not the
companion,
tea called gunpowder—but good rock powder, used for
blasting purposes. At the usual hour for the meal the
canny man took up the pot and set it on the fire. It
was the pot of powder, not tea. The result may easily
be imagined—an explosion, which burnt the man and a
boy, and five who were at the time in a shed near the
works with. Portunately the injuries received by the
sufferers, though severe, are not such as to endanger
their lives—a circumstance which they owe, in great
part, to the shed being open, and the roof, wo believe,
partly uncovered.— IV elohnian.
Lord John Russell is at his lodge, Richmond Park,
whence be comes to town daily to attend to business.
The Baron Rothschild arrived in London on Sa-
turday afternoon by the steam-ship Triton, from Ostend.
Vicountess Moncorvo has returned to town from
Brighton. The Noble Viscount is expected to return
from Lisbon in the course of next month, to resume his
diplomatic duties at the British court.
The Countess of Darnley and the Ladies Bligh
have within the last week left Cowes, Isle of Wight, for
Sandgate, Kent.

KBNDAL.-EXPLOSION OP POWDER MILLS.--011
Thursday morning last, about four o'clock, the three
powder mills at Sedgewick, near Kendal, were totally
destroyed by an explosion; the report was heard at a
distance of forty miles, and mistaken for thunder. For-
tunately no person was present, so that no lives were
lost; tho mills were the property of Messrs. Wakefield,
of Kendal.—Lancaster Gazette.

MELANCHOLY SUICIDE OF CAPTAIN SWYNEY, OF
THE 63D REGINENT.-011 Saturday morning this un-
fortunate gentleman destroyed himself in his apartment,
No. 8, Cecil-street, Strand. He had for a long time past
been given to acts of excessive intemperance, which had
brought on delirium tremens. He was lately observed to
be in a most excited state, in consequence of which a
gentleman residing in the house had anxiously watched
his movements. Being left alone, however, for a few
minutes, he locked the door of his room. It was imme-
diately forced open, and the deceased was found lying on
the floor with a severe wound in his side. A regimental
sword was lying by him, the point of which was covered
with blood. To have effected his object he must have
placed the handle of the sword on the ground and forced
himself forward upon its point. A surgeon was sent for•
but the unfortunate gentleman expired before his arrival.
SUCCESS OF SHEEP VACCINATION.—At tbe Launclitch
Association meeting, on Wednesday, Mr. H. over9d
reported that the experiment he bad tried in vaccinating
sheep, on account of the disease to which they are at
present subjected, was crowned with complete success.
DECAY OF STONE.—We regret to say that the
work of the French Church, St. Martin's-le-Grand, the
New Hall, Lincoln's-inn, and the New. Houses of Par.
liament, is in a state of rapid decomposition.
r What have
the architects and builders been about?—.Trade Protec-
tion Circular.

AURORA BOREALIS.—This beautiful phenomenon
has been very visible several evenings during the pass
week.—Manch ea ter Courier.

ilia expressly declare such companies to be " joint-
' stock" companies for unilfrtakings of a public nature.
Moreover, the Act itself is, I believe, generally held
to have been declaratory of the common law in so far
as regards the illegality of the practices there prohi-
bited, and has on that ground been frequently ex-
tended to relative transactions of a similar kind,
though not expressly named in the Act.—l am, Sir,
A LAWYER.

October 25, 1848.
[We gladly give insertion to our correspondent's
second letter. It would indeed be a matter of the
deepest importance to railway proprietors generally
if the view he entertains were correct. We fear,
however, that it is " too good to be true," and that
the:Stock-Jobbing Act does not apply to the sale
of :railway shares—for the reason that we have
already stated—namely, that it is a stock that
has been created subsequently to the passing
of that Act, and that when it re-
ceived the legislative . sanction there was -
no
" ejusdem genera" in existence. And our
stock
correspondent, as " a lawyer," must be well aware of
the well known rule of law, which renders a statute
inapplicable to circumstances, that have arisen since
its enactment. We have also a distinct recollection
of a decision of one of the superior Courts, " That
railway shares were not within the statute, although
at this moment we cannot immediately refer to it.--
ED. Sun.