The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-22 00:00:00

Ta.M.T.OW.

This market may be considered very firm, and prices are
looking upward. We know that 51s 6d was paid for 150
casks of fine Y. C. in one parcel, and sellers are now asking
525. For January February, and March, the price is 52s to
52s 6d. In new Y. C. Tallow for the last three months of
next year, 45s Ed has been paid in several instances during
the past week. Town Tallow 51s net cash.

STATE or TRADE.—The continual advance in the
price of cotton is beginning to be felt by the handloom
weavers of Wigan ; several of the manufacturers having,
during the past week, stopped their gingham weavers, from
inability to obtain an advance on cloth in the market
commensurate with the advance of cotton yarns for the
manufacture of those fabrics. Diaper weavers are in a
similar situation, and there are loud complaints of wait-
ing of work. S -me consultations, we are informed, have
been hold amongst the miliowuers re)pecting working
short time, but as some of them have a supply of cotton on
hand to last them fc,r a few months to come, they don't
seem inclined to agree to the proposal at present. The cry
against the cotton and corn speculators for causing an
artificial scarcity for the sake of exorbitant gain, is be-
coming more vehement, and some public movement to
induce Parliament to notice their practices is talked of.
We of course do not suppose Parliament would inter-
fere.— Pre.ston Chronicle.
Cuitrous CIECUMSTANCE.—On Monday morning
last, about eight o'clock, Mr. Robert Cornthwaite, of the
Bolton railway station, discovered a sparrow frozen last
to the rails, about one hundred yards from the station.
He got up to the bird, and was examining how it was
held fast, when its frequent flutterings extricated it, and
it escaped, leaving clear marks of its feet on the rails.—
Preston Chronicle.
MILITARY COURTS-MARTlAL.—Saturday morning
a general court-martial assembled at Portman-street
barracks, composed of the officers of the Brigade of
Guards, with Colonel Sir Ord Honeyman, of the 2d
Battalion Grenadier Guards, as President, when private
J. Buckley, of No. 4 company 2d Battalion Coldstream
Guards, was brought to trial for highly insubordinate
conduct, and striking Sergeant Hadlam, of the Cold-
stream Guards, when in the execution of his duty. The
finding of the court and its proceedings will not be made
known until the court-martial is finally approved of by
her Majesty and his Grace the Commander-in-Chief.
Onthe same morning e
theproceedings
totfaiai
Battalion
G
districtren ad court-
martialier
Guards, on the Military Parade, Tower of Lon-
we r exa o
readr
C
don, on private J. Orton, of No. 5 conaPanY,
who had been tried for decertion. The ourt
sentenced the prisoner to undergo three months' im-
prisonment, with hard labour , at the Military Prison,
Chatham. On the same morning, the 2d battalion of
Coldstream Guards, stationed at the Portman-street
barracks, were assembled in square, to hear the minutes
of a court-martial read on Lance-Sergeant Spencer and
Corporal Reeve, of that battalion, who have been tried
by a district courtzmartial for neglect of duty, by allow-
ing a prisoner under their charge to get drunk. The
evidence having been heard for and against the prisoners,
the court came to the following decision—that Lance-
Sergeant Spencer was not guilty, who was therefore
acquitted; and Corporal Reeve was found guilty, and
sentenced to be reduced to the rank and pay of a private

soldier.
DARING BURGLARIES.—On Sunday morning, about
seven o'clock, a daring burglary was discovered to have
been committed on the premises of Mr. Joseph Mappin,
dressing-case maker and cutler, of 15, Fore-street, City.
The shop had been left securely fastened at nine o'clock
the previous evening, and on Sunday it was discovered
plundered of a great portion of the contents, consisting
of dressing-cases, cutlery, surgical instruments, and pearl
and ivory, &c., valued at 4001. The shop of Mr. Robin-
son, tailor, 15, Bow-lane, Cheapside, wits also stripped
of a quantity of cloth, &c., valued at 1501. These rob-
beries are supposed to have been effected by means of
skeleton keys.
MONEY ORDER OFFICES, ALDERIGATE-STREET.
On Saturday notice was given that the building, recently
erected in Aldersgate-street, nearly opposite the General
-Post•office, intended as a grand central money office, will
be opened for business on the sth of January. The
offices are capacious and light, fitted in the same way as
a bankinghouse, every attention being paid to the ac •
commodgion of the public.

.THE WEST INDIAN MAIL.
The Royal Mail steam-packet Forth, C. M. Chapman
commander, arrived at Southampton on Sunday morn-
ing, at nine :o'clock, bringing thirteen passengers and
mails of the following dates:—From Demerara, Nov.
19; Tobago and Trinidad, 20; B. rbadoes, 24; Grenada
and St. Vincent, 26 ; St. _Lucia, Martinique, Domi-
nica, and Guadeloupe, 27; Antigua, Mo.itserrat, Nevis,
and St. Kitt's, 28; Tortola, 29; St. Thomas's, 30; St.
Jago de Cuba, 19; Jamaica, 23; Jacmel, 25; and
Porto Rico, 27.
She also brings, on freight-810 dollars on merchants'
account, 2,723 oz. gold dust, 991. Is. British coin, 400
francs in gol,l, and 1,697` oz. of silver. Cargo-2
cases of cigars (Havannah), 38 serons of sarsaparilla,
5 serons of indigo, 2 serons of hides, 113 serons of
tobacco, 14 tierces, 12 barrels, and 4 half-barrels of
coffee, 1 tierce, 8 half-tierces, and 35 barrels of ginger,
125 cases of succades, 40 kegs of succades, 8 cases of
tortoiseshell, 1 tierce of beeswax, and 30 packages and
parcels.
The Forth had a fine passage home, excepting on
leaving St. Thomas's, when she experienced a atrong
headwind and heavy sea. At the time of her leaving
that island the Royal Mail Company's ship Clyde was
in the Gulf of Mexico, the Dee was on her passage from
Grenada to Jamaica, the Teviot on the Spanish Main,
the Trent had sailed from Havannah to Jamaica, the
Eagle to Porto Rico and Grenada, and the Reindeer
was at Demerara.
We learn also, that her Majesty's ship Imaum was at
Port Royal, her Majesty's ship Pickle was on her
voyage to the Bahamas, and her Majesty's steamer
Vesuvius to Barbadoes ; her Majesty's ship Thunder
was fitting at Bermuda, preparatory to proceeding on
survey at Antigua.
The following Spanish men-of-war were lying at St.
Jago de Cuba :—the ship Soborano, the steamer Con-
greso, and the schooners Teresetal and Isabel 11.
Merchant Shipping—The British barque Ellen Simp.
son, the brig Alderman Pirie (Captain Gardiner died at
sea), and barque Helen Hardy.
British shipping at Kingston, Jamaica, Nov. 23:
The Superior, of London ; the Elizabeth, of Newport ;
the Alice Haviland,. of Liverpool; the Union, of Bremen;
and the Grange, of Glasgow.
The Forth exchanged colours with the Isabella, from
Liverpool, outward bound, on the morning of the 18th,
and in the afternoon with the Providence, lat. at noon
48deg., lon. 10deg. 40m.
M. de Fabron, a passenger from Guadeloupe, has been
delegated to advance the money for compensation on the
emancipation of the negro population in the French
Islands.
The news from the other islands is unimportant, ex-
cepting the favourable reports generally as to the grow-
ing crops. The 48th Regiment at Jamaica and the 71st
at Barbadoes have received orders for Cork, and the
Vengeance and Belleisle are expected out to take them.
We have our usual file of Jamaica papers by the
Forth, by which we learn that the House of Assembly
bad been opened by the Lieuteettnt-Govcrnor, in the
absence of his Excellency Sir Charles Grey. There is
like to be a brisk session. A Bill has been brought in
for reducing all the salaries of public officers, including
the clergy. The subject of proposing an income-tax
had been suggested. The agitation on the Sugar Duties
Bill was kept up, numerous meetings had been held in
different localities, and the following resolutions had
been agreed to by the House of Assembly :
"1. That the policy pursued by the Imperial Parlia-
ment towards the West India colonies has been most de-
trimental to the interests of property ; and the Sugar
Duties Act, passed last session, by which they are to be
subjected to an unequal struggle with slave-cultivating
and slave-trafficking countries, must tend to complete
their ruin, and exhibit a flagrant violation of national
faith, consistency, and honour.
"2. That with a limited protection to their produce,
and that fair measure of support from the parent state,
in procuring free African labourers, which they had a
right to expect, the British emancipated colonies might,
in a few years, have been restored to prosperity, and
rendered capable not only of producing, as they for-
merly did, more sugar than England could consume, but
of competing successfully with slave sugars in the general
market of the world, when protection should have ceased
to operate in their favour.
"3. That by withholding that assistance, and preci-
pitately withdrawing protection in our yet infant state of
freedom, the enormous sacrifices made for benefiting the
African race will not only have been made in vain, but
lead to the aggravation of their misery. Sugar cultiva-
tion must and will be extended in slave-cultivating coun-
cries as it declines in the free ; while freedom, fostered
and encouraged, would far - more efficiently have
secured to England the object for which she endangers
her own colonies, rivets the chains of slavery,
and compromises her character in the cause of humanity.
" 4. That although the colonists have painfully felt
that the diminution of more than 1,500,000 of annual
exports, and that the scantiness of productive labour, are
mainly traceable to imperial policy, yet they feel more
deeply still, that the recent imperial policy, which tends
to foster the increase and to prolong the duration of
slavery in foreign countries, has destroyed all moral
value of the exercise of the imperial will in 1833, in re-
spect to the natural rights of man, and has weakened the
veneration of the colonists for the moral character, here-
tofore high, of the mother country.
" 5. That, in the now reduced state of the colony,
the prospective benefits of free trade will afford no ade-
quate compensation for the protection so hastily with-
drawn, and more especially when those principles are
but partially applied to our relief; irnprtant restrictions
being still maintained to our prejudice for the protection
of influential interests in the rarent state.
"6. That, urged by the British Government, and
actuated by our sincere dezire to make successful the
great national measure of negro emancipation, we have.
amidst accumulating difficulties, largely increased the
public burdens of the island to provide the costly estab-
lishments rendered necessary by the change in our
social systi m.

r MORTALITY IN THE ARMY AND
)
NAVY.
The numbers of those who perish in battle, or "after-
wards from wounds, is small compared to those who die
from other causes. During the last three years of the
Peninsular war, the total number of deaths in the army
amounted annually to about 16 per cent. of the whole
force. Of these only 4 per cent. died in battle, or of
wounds which proved fatal soon after. The number of
men sick in hospital usually averaged about one-fourth
of the whole. In less than three years and a half, out of
a force the average strength of which was 61,500 men,
nearly 34,000 died, and of these only one-fourth fell by
the sword ; and this enormous mortality occurred among
a body of men, all of whom, a short time previously,
must have been in the healthiest vigour of youth or
prime of manhood ; so that it required the annual sa-
crifice of 6,400 able-bodied men, to keep in the field a
working force of less than 50,000 men ! If such was
the amount of suffering and waste of life, when every
expedient was adopted that foresight could suggest to
provide proper food and raiment, and every other attain-
able comfort both in sickness and in health, what must
it be when these precautions are neglected ? Of such
neglect and its terrible and execrable consequences,
Napoleon's campaign of 1812 and 1813 afford memor-
able examples. From want of proper supplies alone,
the French troops perished literally by hundreds of
thousands ! There is a remarkable difference between
our land and sea services. The Channel fleet, which
consisted of 24 sail of the line, with frigates, &c., on its
return to Torbay, in September, 1800, after a four
months' cruise, sent only sixteen men to hospital. The
average mortality in the years 1810, 1811, and 1812 was
only 31 per cent., since 1830 it has not been more
than 1.4 per cent., which is less than the general average
among men of the same age on shore.—Quarterly
Review, 1846.

THE AMERICAN RIFLE.—From the sounding name
of " American Rifle," the reader will expect to partake
of a rich treat in the description of the various peculiari-
ties attached to them, but we regret that the treat can-
not be realised. The American rifle is only great in
fame. There is no science displayed in the construc-
tion, which it not to be met with in every part of Europe;
they have every degree of spiral that has ever been re-
commended, every variety of groove, and every size of
bore—from 16 to the lb. to 140 to the lb.—every variety
of length end every weight. In truth, the celebrity they
have obtained is not for any perfection in their arms, for
a vast majority of those they have are the commonest
"Brummagem rubbish," made with no attention to
science, but only for profit. No, the truth is, the Ame
deans use the rifle more, probably, than any nation in
the world. They are more expert generally in their
shooting practice, and this has done everything for them,
and not the merit of their rifles. We have seen American
rifle barrels which were far from straight, and far from
being correctly rifled, yet they shoot well. Why! Be.
cause the bore is very small, the barrel burning powder
sufficient to give a high velocity up to 100 yards, and,
as we have already remarked, accuracy at short distances
is the American rule of perfection. Occasionally the
back woodsman may venture a long range, but in a vast
majority of cases the balls used are so small as to be per-
fectly useless a greater distances than 150 yards. To
write a long article on the American rifles would be but a
repetition of previous matter, as they have no established
rule or principle, save in their military arms, and here
uniformity is necessary, and the display of scientific princi-
ples in these is not very apparent. The military rifle is
2 feet 9 inches long, carries a ball 30 to the lb. The
rifling is different from any used in Europe. The
grooves are 14 in number, with 7 projections more pro-
minent than the others, an arrangement very objection-
able, as it is clear these " projections" must either grip
the ball so as to indent it, or to allow the extra cuts to
be of no use E or if not gripping it, why have so many
" furrows and lands ?" two sizes remind us of cutting
a file with half the teeth higher than the other half.
The rifle, as a whole, is a handy weapon, but with the
" old plan" of a " hook main spring" and " tumbler," it
is what we may designate as a very nice " tool" for a
gentleman's amusement, certainly not a military weapon
as it ought to be. It is very near akin to the Prussian
rifle, will shoot well at 200 yards, but no further.—
Greener's Science of Gunnery,
BEET-ROOT AND BREAD.—The Right Hon. T. F.
Kennedy, Paymaster of Civil Services in Ireland, has ad-
dressed a public letter to Mr. Labouchere, drawing at-
tention to the fact that beet-root and flour, mixed in
equal proportions, make excellent nutritious bread. We
have had the experiment tried, by rasping down a red
beet-root, and mixing with it an equal quantity of flour ;
and we find that the dough rises well, bakes well, arid
forms a loaf very similar to good brown bread in taste
and appearance. We regard this as an important dis-
covery ; because there is no crop which can be so
readily introduced into Irish cultivation as the best, and
its varieties, because no crop will yield a larger return,
and because an abundant supply of seed may be had of it
from France. We have long since shown the great value
of a beat crop, in point of nutrition ; that in fact it
ranks higher than any known plant which is cultivable.
But there was always the difficulty of how to consume
it, for men would find it a poor diet by itself, and
the present circumstances of Ireland are not snch as to
justify the introduction of produce which can become
food for rns n only after having been transformed into
pegs and oxen. The discovery, however, in Germany, of
the facility with which it may be combined with bread,
removes the difficulty, and places beet incontestably at
the head of the new articles which should be introduced
into Irish husbandry. In its relation to potatoes, beet
stands as 1,020 to 433, if its nutritive quality is con-
sidered ; and as 8,330 to 3,480 in regard to utilisable
produce of all kinds. It is still to be determined what
kind of beet could be best cultivated for this purpose.
Red beet produces brown bread ; white sugar beet
would probably yield a white bread, and of still better
quality ; Mangold Wurzel wo have ascertained to form
bread of inferior quality, but still eateable enough.—
Gardener's Chronicle.
HINTS FOR PIANISTS. Have your pianoforte
tuned at least four times a year, by an experienced
tuner ; if you allow it to go too long without tuning, it
usually becomes flat, and troubles a tuner to get it to
stay at concert pitch, especially in the country. Never
place the instrument against an outside wall, or in a
cold or damp roma, particularly in a country house :
there is no greater enemy to a pianoforte than damp.
Close the instrument immediately after you practice ;
by leaving it open dust fixes on the sound board, and
corrodes the movements, and if in a damp room the
strings soon rust. Should the pianoforte stand near or
opposite to a window, guard, if possible, against its being
opened, especially on a wet or damp day ; and when
the sun is on the window draw the blind down. Avoid
utting metallic or other articles on or in the pianoforte,
such things frequently cause unpleasant vibrations and
sometimes injure the instrument. The more equal the
temperature of the room, and the less the soft pedal is
tiled, the better the piano will stand in tune.—lllusical
WRECKING.—Four men have recently been con-
victed at Stratton, in the penalty of 201. each, or three
months' imprisonment, with hard labour, in default of
immediate payment, for plundering from the wreck of
the Eliza of Liverpool, driven on shore in the parish of
Kilkhampton, in the gale of the 21st October last. The
parties, with seven.' others, were proceeded against on
the complaint of Mr. J. S. James, Lloyds' agent for the
district, who expressed his determination, by every
means in his power, to bring to punishment those who
offended the law, giving occasion for the opinion enter-
tained as to the habits of our countrymer, , and attach-
ing so much discredit to us as a county. One of the
parties, whose position in life and circumstances should
have taught him to set a better example, paid the penalty,
rather than undergo the disgrace of the treadmill ;
the
other three were committed to gaol.—West Briton.
The Count d'Abrantes, who was sent by the Go-
vernment of Brazil to conclude a treaty aft Berlin with
the German Customs Union, has embarked for Rio de
Janeiro, having been unable, it is said, to agree upon
the bases of a treaty.
AN UNENVIABLE SITUATION.—About three
o'clock on Thursday morning, the policeman on duty in
Croxtetle road, near the Tanneries, heard a noise in a
new building. He got a light, and on searching found a
man naked lying down and drunk. He said his name
was Ryan, that he came from Warwick, and that he
supposed he was going to bed, but where he had un-
dressed himself he could not tell. Every search was
made for his clothes, but they could not be found. The
poor fellow was clothed in a policeman's topcoat, and
conveyed to his lodgings in Thomas-street. Daylight
discovered his clothes lying in a field near the spot.—
Liverpool Journal.
THE EXTENSIVE FIRE IN DRURY-LANE ON
SATURDAY MORNING.—The following is a report of the
damage:—Mr. Noblett's factory and contents nearly de-
stroyed, with two upper floors of the front house and
the roof—insured in the Westminster Fire office;-Messrs.
Kendall and Son, wholesale shoemakers, Nu. 25, roof
burned off—stock insured in the same office, and the
building in the Royal Exchange; Mr. Durieu, oil and co-
lourman, No. 23, back premises and stock damaged, and
part of front roof burned off—insured in the Imperial
Fire- office. Several other buildings have also been
damaged to some extent by fire, water, and removal of
goods.
THE LOCOMOTIVE ESTABLISHMENT AT ASHFORD.
—There can be no doubt that the approaching comple-
tion of the Paris line to the coast will materially increase
the traffic of the South-Eastern Railway. It is not alone
or this increase of traffic that the company are, by the
erection of an immense locomotive establishment at
Ashford, preparing. The North Kent line to Gray-

"7. That, now cast -off by the Governfuent which
pressed those changes upon ni with an impatience and
recklessness, justified only by its avowed abhorrence of
slavery, and with little hope of returning prosperity, it
becomes the p sinful tan imperative duty of the House,
in justice to the public creditor, to the owners of pro
perty, and to the labouring population (for all must
suffer together), to reduce the whole of the island estab-
lishments commensurately with the diminished and
diminishing means of its impoverished inhabitants.
" 8. That at the period of the passing of the Emanci-
pation Act, the Government held out to us the most
solemn assurances of assistance and protection, to secure
a successful issue to that great measure of philanthropy.
If that course of policy is now to be abandoned—if we
are now to be inv, Iced in a ruinous competition with
slavehelding foreigners—if -.her—Majesty's Government
are now of opinion that the protection and assistance
which alone can avert our destruction are incompatible
with the national interests, it will then only remain for
us, in the face of the nation and of the world, to demand
of Parliament that equitable compensation so which as
British subjects we are clearly entitled.
" 9. That a committee be appointed to draw up a re-
monstrance and petition to the Queen in terms of these
resolutions, faithfully setting forth the depressed condi-
tion and hopeless prospects of the colony, and humbly
praying her Majesty to direct her Ministers to review
their proceedings, and grant us relief."
Jamaica papers announce the arrival of the Indus at
Port Royal, from St. Ilelena, with 340 emancipated
Africans, captured by her Majesty's brig Waterwitch on
the coast of Africa, and chartered to Jamaica as free
immigrants.

MURDER AND SUPPOSED
SUICIDE.
Between the hours of 10 and 11 yesterday mornin
two boys, who obtain a living by dredging
along theg, water side, whilst passing along the bed of the river
nearly opposite to Waterloo dock, found a human body
firmly embedded in the mud ; on towing it near they dis-
covered that it was the body of a female, with a child tied
round her waist by means of a piece of rope yarn. The
arms of the woman were both pressed round the neck of
the child, leaving one to suppose that in the agonies of
death she was firmly pressing the little innocent to her
breast. The two bodies were immediately removed to
the vaults of St. John's Church, in the Waterloo-road,
where a more minute examination was made. It was
there found that the child was of the male sex, apparently
about fourteen months old, the female seemed to be
between 33 and 36 years of age. The latter was dressed
in an old black stuff gown, black stockings, and side lace
up boots. The rest of the apparel appeared very old and
ragged. The child, a fine-looking boy, wore (to all ap-
pearance) a black frock, long worsted socks and callico
under clothing. The dress of the two denoted extreme
poverty.

Tax FOREIGN MAILS.—The following notice,
fixing the dates on which the foreign mails will be made
up in London to be forwarded rid Southampton Mar-
smiles, Liverpool, and Falmouth, and the dates on which
the return packets will be due at the said ports, was
issued on Saturday at the General Post-office :—" Ma.
dein+, British West Indies, &e.—The mails for Madeira,
the British and foreign colonies in the Wet Indies (ex-
cept Honduras, Bermuda, and the Havannah), and Vene-
zuela, will be made up on the morning of the 2d of January
and evening of the 16th ; Mexico, Honduras, and Havan-
nah, on the morning of the 2d only ; Bermuda, San Juan
de Nicaragua, New Granada, Chili, and Peru, on the even-
ing of the 16th only, rid Southampton ; mails due on the
7th and the 22d at Southampton. Mediterranean, India,
&c.—The mails for Gibraltar, Malta, Greece, the lonian
Islands, Egypt, Aden, Ceylon, India, Hong-Kong, and china, will be made up on the evening of the 2d and morning of the 20th, to be forwarded rid Southampton.
By the fortnightly closed mail to the Mediterranean,
Egypt, India, &c., via Marseilles, on The evenings of
the 7th and 23d. British North America, &c.—The
mail for Bermuda, British North America, and the
United States, will be made up on the evening of the
4th, to be forwarded by the Hibernia steamer rid Liver-
pool ; Cambria due on the 15th. Madeira, Brazils,
&c.—The mail for Madeira, Brazil, and Buenos Ayres,
Will be made up on the evening of the 4th, rid Falmouth;
her Majesty's brig Crane due the 27th. New South
Wale; &c:.-:-Th_e mail for Sydney, New South Wales,
on
Abensaitadraleiau, van Diemen',
Land, and New Zealand, will
the evening of the 31st, to be forwarded
by the rn ia)thil sailing-Packet el: i Gravesend. France,
Sic.—The°rnaill ance and Belgium are made up
every evening at the ,
andGeneralOstend
Post-office and forwarded
via Dover, caw.
y Wednesday
des(dSundays excepted) ; due
daily. Holland. ever
and Saturday morn-
ing ; due Wednesdays and Thursdays, every Tuesday and Friday evGeneinntigrZrutees. Tuesdays and
Hamburgh,
Saturdays, forwarded by the
Company's peels eta from the Thatnies."B lan
NaVjgati°ll
The Ministers are leaving town for the holidays
Lord Grey, for Bo wood Park, on a visit to Lord " -..:
downer- Lord John Russell, for Woburn Abbey
the.
.
rest of the Duke of Bedford; Lord Clarendon, the
cellor of the Exchequer, and the other members of the
Cabinet, for different country seats.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE

Ind will require a very large carrying stock. The im-
mensity of the river passenger traffic to and fro between
London and this town, is too notorious to need particular
remark. Experience teaches us that a great portion of
this will inevitably pass over the South-Eastern Rail-
way. The directors are looking forward to the con-
struction of the stock necessary to work such a traffic.
The ground on which the works at Ashford are being
erected was originally a hollow, the surface rising
in the direction of the railway (east and west), and to
the south. This hollow has been filled up level with
the rail. The works consist of a large engine shed, a
repairing shop, smiths' and boiler shops and tender
sheds. The engine shed, which is for the accommoda-
tien of 16 loeornotives, with their tenders, is 208 feet 9,
by 63 feet, parallel with the railway. Four lines of rail
extend longitudinally through the whole length of the
building. The repairing shop has room for 15 engines
and tenders. The length of the building is 395 feet by
45. Attached to the front of this building is to be a
stationary engine of 25 horse power, for driving the
works. A tranverse crane will move on iron rails, lon-
gitudinally along the shop. It will be capable of' lifting
20 tons at its centre. To the south, and parallel with
the repairing shop, is the smithy. This will contain 20
fires. It is 176 feet long by 45 wide, and 28 high.
These and other buildings comprise about one-half of
the works that the South Eastern Company intend to
carry out simultaneously with the construction of their
new lines.—.Kent Herald.

PORTSMOUTH, DEC. 19.—The Penelope steam-frigate,
Captain Gifford, had the adjustment of her compasses
completed yesterday. She has bent sails, and is now
nearly ready for sea.
The Royal yacht Victoria and Albert was hauled down
from her moorings alongside the jetty yesterday, prepara-
tory to being docked to-morrow. In consequence of the
frequent and long excursions which her Majesty now
every season takes to sea, and the increase of the Royal
Family, the accommodations of the yacht, as originally con-
structed, have been found insufficient for the Royal Family;
her present docking is, therefore, not from any break
down in her machinery or steerage apparatus, nor from
any of those other causes or ills which ships of a certain
construction are alleged to be heir to, but merely for the
purpose of having the nursery and store-rooms, and such
other offices as may contribute to good lodging and living,
enlarged.

The Resistance troop-ship, Commander Lowe, will be
ready for sea about the 30th inst.

The Cyclops steam-frigate, Captain Lapidge, left
yesterday at 3 p.m., for Sheerness, with supernumera-
ries. If her defects are found considerable, she will be
paid off. __ _

A plan, which was laid before the late Board of
Admiralty, and which, having been submitted to and
approved by the present Board for organising all the
workmen in Plymouth, Chatham, Pembroke, Sheerness,
and this dockyard, into brigades, to be drilled a certain
number of days in each year to the exercise of great
guns and small arms, will' be submitted to Parliament
next session. The artisans will be instructed in the
naval great gun exercise (we are told) in ships to be
brought alongside the several dockyards, armed with
guns of the largest calibre, and in the land artillery
practice in the various batteries contiguous to each port.
The first instructions will be given by gunnery lieu
tenants and naval gunners, the second course of instruc-
tion by artillery officers and men connected with the
corps. The drill is not to interfere with the works in
progress in the dockyards, but take place in the summer
months for an hour or so before or after the working
hours in the dockyard. Each man to be paid extra when
on drill. By these means it is expected that an avail-
able force of 5,000 men will be raised for the defence of
the different arsenals in the event of an emergency. We
are also informed that there is to be an increase of the
Royal Marine force, to the extent of about 1,500 men,
or about ten additional companies. The number of
Royal Marine cadets in the Excellent are also to be in-
creased from 15 to 20, at the commencement of the en-
suing year. Orders have already been received by the
Colonel Commanding the Royal Artillery in this garri-
son to exercise the dockyard artisans in the great gun
practice.
The committee appointed to examine the fortifications
and defences of the naval arsenals, consisting of Captain
Sir Thomas Hastings, RN., the late Colonel Sir George
Hoste, RE., and Lieutenant-Colonel Mercer, RA..
among other reforms in the defences of the island of
Portsea, recommend that the works at Hilsea should be
put in a proper defensive condition, and that an officer
and detachment of artillery should be placed therein to
keep them so. In pursuance of this recommendation
the clearance of lines; ditches, &c., has been commenced,
and a formidable redoubt and barracks are being con-
structed on the south-east end of the glacis, close to the
Brighton and Chichester Extension Railway. This bat-
tery will be constructed so as to sweep the greater part
of the harbour of Langston, and the streams which flow
into it from Emsworth, and entirely protect the entrance
into Portsmouth harbour from Post-bridge. Lieutenant
Tylden, R.A., is the officer who has been appointed to
superintend the construction of this fort.
WOOLWICH, DEc. 19.—The Rhadamanthus steam-
vessel, Master Commander Aylen, having had her de-
fects made good, will leave Woolwich for Greenhithe on
Monday next, to have her compasses adjusted, and then
proceed to Plymouth for further orders.
The Centaur steam-frigate has her steam up to day,
for the purpose of being taken round to Portsmouth to be
made ready for sea, and commissioned at the port.

LLOYD'S SHIPPING.
LONDON, DEC. 21.—Wind this day at noon, W.S.W.,
moderate breeze, and thick weather. It has blown heavily
with much rain during the night and this morning.
OFF ST. ALBAN'S HEAD, DEC. 17.—Windhound, Notting,
Monte Video, for Antwerp.
OFF TILE START, DEC. 17.—Lanark, St. John's, New
Brunswick, for London.
PORT MADOC, DEC. 16.—Arrd. Royal William, Quebec.
SHIELDS, DEC. I9.—Wind W. to W.S.W., light. —Sid.
18th, Westmorland, Suez and Bombay.
HARTLEPOOL, DEC. 19.—Wind W.S.W.—SId. Thetis,
White, St. Thomas. The Agenoria, of Shields, on shore 11th
inst., has been condemned; materials saved.
YARMOUTH, DEC. 18.—An oar marked "T. A. London,
N. 5.," with a rudder and. tiller, &c., came ashore near here
yesterday.
LIVERPOOL, DEC. 19.—The Farewell, from New York to
this port, was abandoned on the 27th alt., lat. 40, lon. 56,
with nine feet water in her hold, and pumps choked ; crew
taken off by the Sheffield arrived here. The Sir Isaac Lyon
Goldsmid, from St. Jagode, Cuba, to Swansea, with two men
dead and three laid up with fever, was spoken on the 13th
ult., lat. 40, lon. 64, by the Niagara, Russell, arrived here.
The 574, from Quebec to Swansea, has been wrecked on
Anticoste ; crew and horses saved. 20th. A vessel's mast,
erperolicular in the water, with a gilt ball on the masthead,
was passed on the 12th inst., lat. 48, lon. 21, by the Isabella,
Robb, arrived here. The Clifford has been spoken at sea,
dismasted.
DIAL, DEC. 19.—Wicd W.S.W. to N.W. moderate.-20.
W.sAV , fresh.—Arrd. 20, Mary Sparks, Bushby, China;
Duchess of Buccleugh, Collier,Calcutta; Greenlaw, Johnson,
Calcutta; Japan, Tinte, Mauriiius: Caroline, Hughes, Mau-
ritius; Isabella Blyth, Paddle, Mauritius; Tweed, Walker,
Cape Coast Castle; Clipper, Africa; Jessy, M‘Gills, Callao,
for Shields; Vrebona, Vandycke, Valparaiso for Hamburgh ;
Swan, Blanchard. Havannah ; Robert G. Shaw, Dunbar,
New Orleans; Hardee, Soul!, New Orleans, for Bremen;
European, New Orleans, for Bremen ; Queen Victoria,
Charleston, for Hull; Othello, Honduras; Camillus, Spragge,
Demerara; Ruby, May, St. Kitts; Roland, Steengraffi., New
York, and sailed for Antwerp; Lanarkshire, Turner, New
York ; Eclipse, St. John's for Ipswich ; George, Quebec;
Planter, Chester, Quebec. Arrd. from the River, Thomas
Arbuthnot, Thompson, Port Philip; Kingston, Harwood,
Adelaide, South Australia ; Mountstewart Elphinston, Thom-
son, Sydney, New South Wales; Thomas King, Sobbins,
Sydney, New South Wales; Amelia Mulholland, Wilkinson,
Mauritius; St. Vincent's Planter, Ryan, Sierra Leone.
Arrd. from the River and sailed, Mountain Maid, Robertson,'
Cape of Good Hope. Put back, Alexander, for Havannali.
Scansottot:Gir, DEC. 19.—The Trent, Melvin, from Lynn
to Sunderland, came on shore near here to-day, and is ex-
pected to be a total wreck.
RAMSGATE, DEC. 19.—The Walter, from London to Fal-
mouth, which got on the main near Shingle End, 17th inst.,
has been got off, and has arrived here.
PutratEm, DEC. 18.—About 121 barrels of flour have been
washed on shore near Portinllaen, supposed to be from the
Zebra, wrecked on the Skerries.
PETERHEAD, DEC. 17.—The Progress, Webster, from Riga
to Londonderry, put in here to-day, leaky, and with pump
choked. and it is expected will have to discharge.
LYTHAM, DEC. 19.—The Lennah, M•Gechan, from Liver-
pool to Ballina, struck on a bank near Blackpool this
morning, and was run on shore at this port, nearly full of
water. Cargo discharging in a very damaged state.
YARMOUTH, DEC. 20.—The headr :il of a vessel, with the
name Mansfield in yellow Roman lettprs upon a black ground,
and two small pieces of a clinker-KUM boat, painted green
inside, were picked up, 18th inst, off Winterton.
OFF PENZANCE, DEC. 17.—Elizabeth, Newby, London, for
Liverpool; leaky.

'ETTER STEALING by a SOLDIER
SUNDERLAND, SATURDAY, Dec. O.—Yesterday Fre-
derick Loyd Sims, a private in the 30th Regiment, a
depot of which is now stationed at Sunderland Barracks,
was brought before Joseph Simpson and John Scott,
Esqrs., two of the magistrates for this borough, charged
with stealing a letter containing a cheque on the Branch
Bank of England at Newcastle for the payment of 261.
The case excited considerable interest, from the circum-
stance of Sims being respectably connected, and having
obtained a local literary fame by the publication of a
volume of poetry, which have been lately very favour-
ably reviewed by the Sunderland and Newcastle news-
papers.
From the evidence adduced in the case, it appeared
that Sims was the person sent to the Sunderland Post-
office for the letters addressed to the (Akers and soldiers
of the depOt. On Wednesday, the 18th of November, a
letter was forwarded by Captain Macdonald, the pay-
master of the regiment, through the Newcastle post-
office, to Captain Heard, the commanding officer at Sun-
derland barracks, in which he inclosed a cheque on the
above-mentioned bank for the payment of 261. This
letter ought to have reached Captain Heard on the fol-
lowing morning, but it was never received by him; and
after much inquiry, Sims, the letter-carrier, was sus-
pected and taken Into custody, Whilst at the station
house he made a written confession, for the purpose, as
he says, of " preventing innocent parties coming under
suspicion, and in token of contrition and reparation for
the wrong he had done to others." In this docu-
ment he states that he was induced to commit the
offence by being involved in debts which preyed
upon his mind. He presented the cheque himself
at the bank in Newcastle, and receivad 261. in gold;
he endorsed the cheque in the name of Barker,
and sent 5/. by a Pest-office order to a friend in London.
The most extraordinary part of his statement is, that he
put 201. of the money in a purse, which he placed under
his pillow on the night after his return from Newcastle,
and it was stolen while be slept.
This part of his story was corroborated by a comrade
called before the magistrate yesterday, who deposed that
on the 20th of November he met the prisoner in the can-
teen. The latter charged him with having stolen the
money from under his pillaw, and offered to accept half
of it to say nothing about the matter, intimating that
with this money he would leave the country.
Sims declined making any statement before the magis-
trates, and was fully committed to take his trial at tt.aw
next Durham assizes.

ORSHIP • ST-----REET.....0-14 Friday last Mr. Bingham
made some observations upon the misconduct attribu',;ed
to William Cotton, the discharged soldier of the 22d
Regiment. The facts of his case are, as we are informed,
as follows :—He was enlisted on the 14th of December,
1835, at the age of 16 8.12 years, and was discharged on
the 11th of June, 1844. His claim to a pension was for-
feited by three convictions of desertion, viz., on the 18th
of May, 1837, the 31st of January, 1888, and the 26th
of December of the same year. Ile was besides cot 'fined
in prison for another crime, from the 11th of November
to the 18th of December, 1837. His wound was rec eived
from the firelock of one of the guard at Sukkur, on an
alarm of an attack at night, when a sentinel on his post,
in February, 1843.
BRISTOL SUGAR-MARKET, DEC. 18.--A steady
business has been done this week at former rates, and the
market has closed with a firmer appearance. The re-
fiued market is also more animated, and rather dearer.
The Judges have at length declared their decision,
ai visitors of the Inns of Court, on the Inner Te.mple
Benchquestion. It is, that Queen's Counsel have- no
legal right to the office of bencher, but that the mode of
election pursued at the Inner Temple is improper, rind
ought to be abolished. In other words, the benchers
have dose a wrong thing, though they had a legal right
to do it ; which is precisely what we have mainttilMO from the first—From a Correspondent.

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 22, 1846

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
VICE- CHANCERY COURT, Dec. 21.
VINCENT V. HUNTER.
This was a cross bill filed by. Sir Francis Vincent for
the purpose of discharging an order that had been ob-
tained by the defendant on the 15th of December, 1846.
The facts were as follows:—The defendant it his suit al-
leged that the plaintiff owed him the sum of 2,0001., for
which he agreed to give a mortgage on his estate to that
amount to a person named Leigh, the defendant,
Hunter, being indebted over 1,9001. to him, Leigh. A
power of sale was given with the mortgage, and the
money not being paid, the estate was put up to sale, and
purchased by Hunter. The plaintiff in the present suit
alleged that he was abroad at the time of the sale, that
ha never granted the mortgage, but that the defendant
agreed to raise 2,0001. fqr him, out of which he only
received 137/. 10s., a picture valued at 1,2001., a bill of ex-
charge, which was dishonoured, and a bill of costs which
was never received, and therefore that the sale was
fraudulent.
His HONOUR deferred making any order on the
matter for the present.
COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, Dec. 21.
MITCHELL V. MOORE. -- LIABILITY OF PROVISL,NAL
DIRECTORS.
This was action brought by Mr. Mitchell, the adver-
tising agent, residing in Red Lion-court, Fleet-street, to
recover the sum of 1,040/ for advertisements inserted on
behalf of the Great Western Extension (Atmospheric)
Railway Company, of which the defendant, Major
Moore, was a provisional committeeman.
Mr. Cockburn, Mr. Watson, and Mr. Barstow were
for the plaintiff; Mr. Crowder and Mr. Montague Smith
for the defence.
Mr. COCKBURN said this was an action to recover for
work and labour done in advertising the prospectus and
other documents of the company in question, in the
London and country newspapers, commencing on the tth
of September last year. He would prove that the orders
were given, and that at the time Major Moore was an
acting member of the committee, he having been put on
the direction at his own request, and prior to the issuing
of the prospectus. the Learned Gentleman concluded
by calliss his witnesses.
Mr. Henry Owen, the Company's solicitor, Mr. Few,
Mr. Alpine, and Mr. Hill,. parties connected with the
origin of the company, were severally examined in refe-
rence to its commencement and the issuing of the pro
spectus. Mr. Brooke teas the projectorof the scheme,and the
company was provisionally registered in the latter end of
August. Ou the 3d of September, on application to
Major Moore, he consented by letter to be a provisional
director, and on the 4th (the day following) the pro-
spectus was issued. That document was given by the
solicitor to the plaintiff to be advertised in
the usual way. The defendant subsequently at-
tepeled two meetings, and took part in the
proceedings, though no special orders for anything
were given by him. The company continued in opera
tion till December, when it broke up.
In the cress-examination of these witnesses it was ad-
mitted that subsequently a second letter had been received
from the defendant, intimating a conditional withdrawal
from the company, making it to depend on the continu-
ance of a certain party on the directory.
The insertion of the prospectus and other announce-
mentos of the company, by the plaintiff, in the newspapers,
was also proved.
This was the case for the plaintiff.
Mr. CROWDER submitted, on the authority of the di ci-
sions of the Court of Exchequer in " Reynell v. Lewis,"
and " Wilde a. Hopkins," that the plaintiff should be
nonsuited. The proof of liability in the present case
was less at least than in the first one cited.
His LORDSHIP thought that the facts ought to be sub-
mitted to the jury, and their opinions taken before any
ulterior proceedings.
Mr. CROWDER then addressed the jury for the defence,
and contended that no proof of any contract, direct or
implied, on the part of defendant, had been given.
The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, in summing up, said the
case before the jury was one involving the liability of
certain parties called provisional directors ; and the
question they had to consider was, whether the defendant
in the present action had requested his nama to be
placed in the list of the provisional directors of the
Great Western Extension (Atmospheric) Railway
Company, and whether, in so doing, he be-
came liable to the expenses subsequently in•
curred in the formation of the company. If it were
held that the function of a provisional committee was
the superintending and carrying out the formation of a
company, and if it was satisfactorily proved that any
particular director had consented to be on the same, he
was clearly of opinion no proof of a specific order for
any particular kind of work was necessary, the general
powers of the committee being sufficient for that purpose.
With regard to this function of the provisional com-
mittee, he was of opinion that it was a question for the
jury in each particular case. The function of a provi-
sional committee appeared to be the carrying out and
formation of a particular company; therefore, on this
head, he would ask the jury the question, " Does a person
who gives his consent to be one of such a committee
engage to do all things which are necessary for the
formation of such a company ?" If they (the jury)
thought so—if, from their knowledge of business and
the nature of such undertakings, they considered this
to be the true function of such a committee—if they were
satisfied that the defendant had requested and allowed
himself to be placed on it, then they must find a verdict
for the plaintiff. The Learned Judge then went through
the facts adduced in evidence in support of the main
question left to the jury. In conclusion, if they con-
sidered that the business of a provisional committee
was to do all things necessary for the formation of a
company, and were satisfied the defendant had given his
authority to be on such a committee, then they must
find a verdict for the plaintiff; but, should they not hold
this to be the function of a provisional committee, the
verdict must be for the defendant. In taking the former
view of the question, they would have to consider how
far it was affected by the alleged withdrawal of the de-
fendant—the letter respecting which had not been pro-
duced, having been lost.
The jury, after an absence of a quarter of an hour,
returned a verdict for the defendant.
COURT

OF EXCHEQUER, Dec. 21.
stEnTost V. CANROUX.
This action was brought to recover back the sum of
3551., paid by one, Mr. Thomas Leeo•o the National Loan
Fund Association, in consideration of two annuities, one
immediate and one deferred, to be paid by the society
to him. Mr. Lee shortly after died intestate, and the
present action was brought by the plaintiff, the adminis-
trator to his property, to obtain repayment of the money,
on the ground that he was of unsound mind at the period
of entering into the contract.
In support of the plaintiff's case, seem' witnesses
were called to prove the insanity of Mr. Lee. One of
the witnesses (s solicitor) stated that he was of opinion
he was of unsound mind, because he lent several sums
of money to poor persons without sufficient security, at
the rate of 5 per cent. Another stated that he
had a most voracious appetite, and that he ass
at times very desponding, and at others con-
siderably elated by the suoeess of his business.
S,veral other incidents, such as the purchase of cheap
brooches, and of a waistcoat which did not fit him,
were also brought forward to substantiate the in-
sanity. The medical adviser was called, who stated
that, in his opinion, deceased was affected with pa-
ralysis of the brain, and that it was not competent to
discharge its functions. After his decease no post-
mortem examination had been made. Another medi-
cal gentleman (Dr Goulding Bird) was called, who
stated that he had had considerable experience in
the treatment of persons affected with insanity, and, in
his opinion, deceased was what would be called a lunatic.
He was not mad upon one point, as is the case in per-
Sons afflicted with monomania ; he had lost the use
of his reasoning faculties altogether, and it was his
opinion that the disease had for some period been
making insidious advances upon the deceased, and' was
not induced by any sudden attack of phrenetis, or af-
fection of the brain.
Mr. WHATELEY, on the part of the defendant, con-
tended that, from all the evidence which bad been laid
before the jury then, no case could possibly be made.
The conduct of the deceased had been precisely that of
a sane person, and with reference to the evidence of the
medical gentlemen, nothing could be gathered which
would at all go to show that the deceased was, at the
time of entering into the agreement with the company,
of unsound mind.
The substance of the evidence called on the part of the
defendant, went to show that the deceased person had
uniformly been in the habit of transacting business for
himself; without the slightest suspicion of his being an
officeuct b
y from
en.
insane
Ip.eTrsucEst.
sic
ER,
the charge of any imipnreoepprilyet,yazinqutithteeidr tehoend
tering into an agreement, with the deceased, but if it
was proved that the deceased was insane at the time of
entering into the agreement the company would be
bound to repay the sums, and although it might be hard
upon the office it would be still more so upon the rela-
tives of the deceased.
The LORD CHIEF BARON, in summing up, said that
the present action was one of the most important that he
had ever been connected with, either professionally or
judicially, and he should simply take the opinion of the
jury upon two points: first, whether the deceased was in
a sound state of mind at the period of his entering into
the contract, and, secondly, whether the agreement was
perfectly fair and proper in itself. It would certainly
involve an enormous amount of litigation and confusion
if the every-day transactions of life were to be entered
into in that state of uncertainty which a kind of post
mortem investigation into the character of the contractor
would necessarily produce. He merely threw out this
suggestion in order that the subject might be more fully
discussed elsewhere.
The jury retired, and after a short absence, returned
the following verdict:—" We find for the plaintiff; that
Thomas Lee was of unsound mind at the time of the
transaction, and we find that the transaction was a bona
fide one on the part of the office at the time of its
being entered into ; that the • office had no notice
of the condition of the deceased at the time ; and
that there was nothing in his manner to lead the office
to consider him of unsound mind, and that the trans-
action was an ordinary business-like affair, such as a
person in the position of the deceased would enter into."
Damages 3551. 6s. 2d.
Leave was given to the defendant to move to set the
verdict aside.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, Dec. 21.
The
v. Court was engaged all the morning with a case,
Young Ivimey, respecting the infringement of a patent,
but the particulars were of no interest except to the
parties zoneerned.

MEETING OF PARLIADIENT.—At the Privy Council
held at Windsor Castle on Saturday afternoon, a procla-
mation was ordered to be issued, directing Parliament to
assemble for the dispatch of business, on Tuesday, the
19th of January next.

CENIRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
SENTENCES AND RESULTS.
Subjoined are the principal sentences as finally fixed,
after the termination of the session :
Sentence of death recorded against—James Denny,
aged. 43, for setting fire to a house, persons residing
therein.