The Sun.
London, England, 1846-01-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 27, 1846.

RAILWAY LEGISLATION.

Sir R. PEEL then rose to call the attention of the
house to the number of railway plans, and to suggest
to the House w hat the Government considered the
best method of dealing with railway legislation.
Considering the serious difficulties of the subject, he
thought it best to move for a Select Committee to con-
sider the subject, the Government being ready to suggest
to the Committee what they considered the best method
to be pursued. In 1844,48 Railway Bills passed. In 1845
188 Railway Bills received the sanction of Parliament;
and a capital of fifty millions was authorised to be raised,
extending over a period of three years. Within the hut
two years there had been sanctioned the levy of a
sum of nearly seventy millions for railway prole cts.
132e3d,0f000r ,roaoiolwi.,asynpdulrBp4oBse,
sl,OOO
The s 0001 would hav to
be rai
Tiih4..us, in 1846, a sum of twenty. six millions
"of c
um 2 3 ,540,0001
to be applied in one year for railway
a large drain on the capital o pthuerposes was
During the present year the number of Englishcro:nl
railway
plans deposited were 606, of Scotch, 121, and of llrisay
Irish
88. Many were rival schemes, and many others could
not be proceeded with, but the number which would be
brought forward would far exceed the number brought
forward at any former period. They involved the con-
struction of 20,687 miles of new railway,
requiring a capital of 350,000,0001. sterling.
It would be impossible to appropriate such an amount of
capital without the greatest inconvenience. It was,
therefore, necessary to lay down regulations for the
guidance of railway legislation. He bad the greatest
objection to the interference of legialation with pri-

vate enterprise. After making every deduction
for failures, he thought that there would be such a num-
ber of plans that it would be impossible for Parliament
to consider the whole of them. It was also a matter of
consideration whether it was for the public advantage to
devote so large an amount of capital to the pro-
motion of railway enterprise at once. The
consequence of the serious competition would be
that the estimates for those railways would be ex-
ceeded. He greatly doubted whether the power of the
House would enable them to make proper inquiries into
each scheme, and whether it would be for the public
advantage to create such a great demand for labour, and
such a great division of capital. That, however, was for
the consideration of the Committee. A map had been
prepared showing the proposed lines, and the different
schemes had been classified under proper heads. These
would be laid before the Committee. They had been
classified into direct metropolitan lines—lines required
for public purposes, and lines for defence or coast lines.
He trusted the House would agree to the appointam-nt
of a Committee to report from time to time, and that
the matter would be left in their hands. The Right
Hon. Baronet concluded by moving for the appointment
of the Committee.

Mr. GISBORNE was not satisfied as to the grounds on
which the Committee was moved for. The House would
not be in a position to decide without better information;
besides, what was to be done with regard to the
standing orders ?
Sir H. PEEL did not consider it necessary to propose
any alteration in the standing orders, for he hoped the
Committee would make an early report.

Sir G. GREY thought it would be better to suspend
proceedings before the Standing Orders' Committee
until this Committee should have made its report. He
thought it would be desirable to refer the investigation,
as to matters of fact, such as traffic-tables, to some
tribunal out of the House, reserving to the House the
power of coming to a final adjudication.
Sir R. Iricus believed it physically impossible for the
Members of that House to give proper attention to these
Bills. lie thought that an ambulatory tribunal should be
appointed to investigate facts.
Mr. C. BULLER considered that some better tribunal
should be appointed than a Parliamentary Committee for
the consideration of railway matters. All influence was
taken away from local Members, and Parliament, by the
present system, delegated its authority to a Committee,
by the decision of which it was not bound. Why should
not the same authority for inquiry be delegated to
a commission? In that case an inquiry would be suffi-
cient, and it was preposterous that there should be two
inquiries into facts before two Committees of two
Houses. It was a waste of time for each House to go
through that same process of inquiry into the same
facts. It would be much better that one inquiry should
be out of the House by a commission. After a
Member had served upon a railway Committee, and
he acquired some knowledge of the subject, he
was turned loose upon society, and other Mem-
bers employed who had again to learn their
business. A commission, composed of mon au fait
in railway matters, would get through the busi-
ness in one third of the time. The House was now de-
prived of the advantage of the reports of the Board of
Trade as to engineering matters. The objection to the
Board of Trade was, that they could not inquire into
other matters ; and he thought it would be much better
to transfer those inquiries to a commission out of the
House ; and if the salaries of those commissioners were
to he paid by the promoters of railway Bills, he thought
those promoters would be glad to accede to such a propo-
sition as a measure of economy.
Col. SIBTEORP thought all commissions jobs, and he
proposed that to avoid improper expenditure of public
money, these commissions, if appointed, should be paid
by the job, and not by the day.
Mr. HUDSON suggested to the Right Hon. Baronet that
there were two ordeals through which these railway pro-
jects ought to pass, before they were submitted to the
Committee which he proposed. It should first be ascer-
tained that they had made the necessary deposits, and
secondly, that they were in a condition to comply with
the standing orders.—(Hear, bear.) He was not under the
same alarm as the Right Hon. Baronet as to the diffi-
culty of making the necessary deposits. Wherever lines
were required for the public he doubted not but the
money would be found to complete them, provided the
money was not sent abroad to purchase South
American bonds or foreign grain.—(Loud cheers.)
He thought there were defects in the composition of the
Railway Committees of the House ; but he had alway
respected their decisions, and was prepared to abide by
them. lie was quite certain that the business might be
7nVr1:7.1%/iAltr.
the a• faetinn c.f 1,,--
cso_,;atulated the House in having
secured the services of the Right Hon Member for Sun-
derland. He considered the Committee proposed to be
one of the most impartial ever appointed by the House.
He thought all portions of the empire should be fairly
represented in that Committee, and he complained that
there were not a sufficient number of Scotch Members
in that Committee. The only Scotch Member repre-
senting a large constituency was the Hon. Member for
Dumfries. He thought a record ought to be made up,
which should be final, as far as all future proceedings
went, and which would enable both Houses to arrive
more easily at a correct decision.
Mr. C. RUSSELL expressed his cordial concurrence in
the motion for the appointment of the Committee. The
object of that Committee he understood to be to con-
sider whether it might not be possible to postpone some
of these measures, and to lay down some principle of
selection, so as to enable them to decide what schemes
were eatitled to priority.

Lord J. RUSSELL thought that the Ministry ought to
state what would, in their opinion, be the inconveniences
attending the construction of so many lines of railway,
and what limits ought to be placed on railway specula_
lation. They ought to propose a plan, to be inquired
into by the Committee, as the question was too great to
be intrusted to any Select Committee composed of a
small number of Members of the House.

The House was subsequently addressed by Mr. H.
Hinde, Mr. P. M. Stewart, Mr. Plumptre, Mr. Ricardo,
the Earl of Lincoln, Mr. Labouchere, Mr. Morrison, Sir
R. Peel, and several other Hon. Members.

After which the Committee was appointed.
Sir T. FREMANTLE obtained leave to bring in a Bill
for a vote of 50,000/. for the extension of public works
in Ireland.

The orders of the day being disposed of, the House
adjourned at Nine o'clock.

COMMERCIAL POLICY.

Sir ROBERT PEEL will positively bring forward his
new COMMERCIAL POLICY Tins (TUESDAY) EVEN-
ING), ar.d we shall give a full Report of his
Speech, in the Third Edition of The Sun, on that
most important subject.

On Friday the House of Commons solemnly per-
formed the farce of unanimously passing the following
resolution :

Resolved,—That it is a high infringement of the liberties
and privileges of the Commons of the United Kingdom, fur
any Lord of Parliament, or other Peer or Prelate, not being
a Peer of Ireland at the time elected, and not having declined
to serve fur any county, city, or borough of Great Britain,
to concern himself in the election of Members to serve for
the Commons in Parliament, except only any Peer of Ire.
land, at such elections in Great Britain respectively, where
such Peer shall appear as a candidate, or by himself, or any
others, be proposed to be elected ; or for any Lord-Lieutenant
or Governor of any county to avail himself of any authority
derived from his commission, to influence the election of any
Member to serve for the Commons in Parliament.

The day before sixteen gentlemen had appeared at
the table of the same House, and been inaugurated as
Members, nine of whom (we believe we are even under-
stating the number) would never hare been
there to be inaugurated, but for the inter-
ference of Peers. The Duke of RICHMOND
had sent Lord ARTHUR LENNOX there from Chi-
chester, and Lord WARWICK, Sir CHARLES DOUGLAS
from Warwick; Lord BATHURST had had something
to say to Mr. CRIPPS'S re election for Warwick; Lord
HOPETOUN had sent Mr. BAILLIE from Linlithgowshire,
and Lord HERTFORD Sir HORACE SEYMOUR from An-
trim; Lord ALFRED CHURCHILL for Woodstock, Lord
BROOKE for South Warwickshire, and Colonel HALL for
Buckingham,—is it not notorious as noon-day that
in each case the Duke of MARLBOROUGH, Lord
WARWICK, and the Duke of BUCKINGHAM, has done
it all ? And Mr. HALszY, the new Member for
Hertfordshire can himself best tell to how many Noble
Lords he is indebted for the honour of his seat in Parlia-
ment. We undertake to say that Lord SALISBURY,
Lord ESSEX, and Lord VERULAM are of the number.
As Mr. WILLIAMS, the only Member who ventured to
say a word against the passing of the above absurd reso-
lution, truly said, "In any county where there were
three or four Peers possessing large estates, every one
knew that they always carried the elections." And yet
it is, forsooth, "a high infringement of the liberties and
privileges of the Commons," for a Peer to concern him-
self in elections !

The day before, also, new writs had been moved for
Selkirkshire, Newark, Bute, East Sussex, and Midhurst,
where every one can name the Peers who in each case
R ill return the next Member. The Duke of BuccLEucif
will send some one el-e, as he bef.re s,nt Mr. PRINGLE
for Selkirk.hire ; Lord Burr; has allowed Mr. WORTLEY
to becume Judge-Advocato-General, and will return laim

again for Buteshire ; Lord EGMONT named his man a
month ago for Medhurst ; all the Peers of East Sussex
will have their say about the new Member, and the Duke
of RicustoND, from the west, and Lord• Lieutenant of
the county to boot, will have his finger in the pie ; and
as for Newark, Mr. GLADSTONE, determined to let the
world know that the Duke of NEWCASTLE, and nothing
else, had turned him out, wrote a second letter for the
express purpose of having this understood ; and, turned
out from Newark by one Peer, be hopes to be allowed
to come in for Ripon by another Peer, but cannot yet
procure his consent.
The House of Commons clearly does not effect the
object of prohibiting interference of Peers in elections
by passing a resolution against it. Does it, can it, in-
crease the respect of the public towards itself by passing
resolutions which are daily and openly violated ?

Mr. liumE's motion for a return of the amount of
legacy duty paid on personal property during the last
year, we trust, was not made without some useful pur-
pose. The vast sums brought into the Treasury by this
obnoxious and most unjust tax are matters of notoriety,
and there is little occasion, therefore, for laying them be-
fore the public. The remedy is the thing wanted—a reduc-
tion of the legacy duty, and an equable extension of it to
all kinds of property. If any proofs were required of
the gross partiality of those aristocratic legislators who
have so long ruled the destinies of the country, and of
the extreme care which they have taken of them-
selves, while they have loaded others with burdens too
grievous to be borne, this tax alone would suffice.
All entailed property is exempted from the legacy duty
—the finest estates in the kingdom, possessed by
men who ought to be the first in wealth as well as in
rank, and who become occupants of princely domains
without any labour or any merit of their own, pay not
one farthing, while the property accumulated by hard-
working tradesmen and by professional men, whose
relatives had to pay large sums for their education, and
who had to struggle many a day before they could make
even a competency, is taxed at the death of the owner at
rates varying from one to ten per cent. Children pay
one per cent., independent of probate duty, on succeeding
to what in reality is their own property. Brothers
are robbed of 31. of every 100/. ; more distant relations
cannot touch these legacies till the tax-gatherer has cut
off 3/. or 6/. ; and if a person wishes to leave to a friend
who happened to belong to neither of these classes
1,0001., the Government, before that sum reaches the
legatee, reduces it to 900/. In a few years or days, per-
haps, this remnant may be again operated upon, and re-
duced another ten per cent., while the heirs of entailed
estates walk into their baronial halls scot-free. No
impost, even made by a selfish Legislature, is more
cruel than this, and in these times let us hope its
iniquity requires only to be shown to be removed. It is
most unequal in its operations, it is most oppressive, it
takes advantage of death to seize upon a man's property,
and the Government, like an unfeeling and grasping
undertaker, considers every act of robbery fair as soon
as life is departed from the body. When Sir IL PEEL
makes his grand financial statement, and points out the
peculiar burdens to which land is subject, the represen-
tatives of boroughs, the professed friends of the middle
and working classes can reply to them, and adduce far
more grievous burdens inflicted upon that class which
forms the strength of the nation, which carries on her
trade, improves her manufactures, and daily increases
her wealth. The working classes, in fact, are compelled
to contribute nearly the whole of the taxes ; the drones
are comparatively exempt ; they are active only in de-
vising schemes of robbery, and when these
are found out, and their unjust gains are to be cut off, or
simply reduced, they assume the airs of honest men, and
cry out for compensation. This class legislation has
lasted too long. The reformed House of Commons, how-
ever, is resolved that it shall " cease to exist," and if
they are only properly supported by the people, they
will yet effect the greatest of all reforms—remodel the
whole system of taxation, and allow no parties, to what-
ever order they belong, to claim exemptions.

A letter which appears in a Toulon journal, dated
" Hospital of Setif, January 10," states that the losses
sustained by the division under General LEVASSEUR
the 3d are estimated at 420 dead. It adds, "A barrack
has been converted into a temporary hospital by order of
General LEVASSEUR ; the fort of Galbois has been ap-
propriated to the same use, and at the moment I write
twelve physicians have arrived from Constantine. It is
expected that we shall have in all eight hundred dead,
and a still greater number with hands and feet frozen."
The following letter from one of the persons on board
the Papin steamer, which was lost off Maaagan, appears
in the illoniSeur

Whenever there is anything radically unsound in a
Legislature, circumstances are incessantly arising to
enforce upon the popular mind the actual existence and
the pernicious consequences of the blemish, and, at the
same moment, to demonstrate the necessity for its re-
moval. Agitation in its regard may be utterly neglected
—whatever is inimical to its continuance may remain
voiceless for a considerable period—direct allusions
to its malign influences may be absolutely unheard
of ; still, its days of exposure are fixed, its ultimate
annihilation is inevitable. The longer the gangrene is
permitted to fester and rankle in the social or political
system, the more indubitable is its eradication in the
UUCII LA (lc.- kalif ui gwIIC; ci_fnueti.eu all Kt with the more
petty adjudications of the realm, and the more enlarged
principles of its government. It is in extracting these va-
rious flaws that Parliament is mainly occupied during each
successive session, and notwithstanding all their previ-
ous labours, the malady is far from being thoroughly
extirpated. Various measures have been adopted with
this intention—the lunar caustic of a new act has at one
time been applied to the infected spot—at another the
lawgivers have attempted to purge away the impurity
by modifying some previous enactment—and yet, in
spite of all these judicious and wholesome endeavours,
the evil still continues unallayed. Not the most
unimportant among these—because the most associated
with one of our greatest privileges, and with what, as
Englishmen, we may actually denominate one of our
greatest birthrights, namely, the " Trial by Jury"—is
that baneful and somewhat despotic severity which is
maintained towards jurymen—even under circumstances
which would decidedly justify a departure from the
established regulations. Our attention has been recently
directed to this particular grievance, from facts which
transpired on Wednesday last at Mullingar, in West-
meath, upon the special commission appointed to examine
a man called BRYAN SEERY on a charge of attempting
the assassination of Sir F. HopKres. The occurrences
to which we allude are merely a repetition of what has
taken place a thousand and yet a thousand times before:
they must be familiar to persons who can parade only a
three y ears' experience. Every one is acquainted with some
narration of a jury confined for several hours together,
without the slightest nourishment, in consequence of not
arriving at any unanimous decision. Many aggravating
circumstances, however, connected with a similar occur-
rence at the examination in Mullingar already men-
tioned, render the case in question more intolerable and
glaringly unjust than anything of the same nature within
our memory. In a trial of the most vital importance—in-
volving at the same moment the safety of one individual
from assassination, and the guilt or innocence of another
individual for a crime of the most heinous description—
twelve gentlemen, two of them in a very serious state of
indisposition, are shut up in a " room, more like a
dungeon than anything else," for six and-thirty hours.
Besiies which hardship, be it remembered, the unfortu-
nate jurymen are entirely deprived, during that interval,
of all food, or fire, or rest—deprivations which materially
heightened the indisposition of the two gentlemen
already in extremely ill-health, insomuch so that a phy-
sician, who was at length called in at the instance of the
Chief Justice, uttered his decided opinion that "further
confinement might endanger their lives." Not till
this announcement were these twelve gentlemen
liberated from their strange thraldom, or allowed to
partake of any sustenance: the imprisonment having
originated of course from a difference of opinion, ten
taking one view of the matter, and two the reverse.
Assuredly this system is morally unhealthy; it originates
in a most mistaken policy, and tends rather to inter-
fere with the accurate developement of justice than in
any manner to expedite its arrangement. No more
sagacious means couldbe devised whereby the judgment of
a jurymen might be tampered with, and biassed beyond
the limits of truth. It is absolutely holding out a re-
compense to all who will defer their conceptions to those
of the majority; it is the most fallacious species of inge-
nuity ever attempted. Under its peculiar influences, none
but a thoroughly conscientious man can persist in follow-
ing thedictates of his right reason, whenever his conclu-
sions are at variance with those of his fellow jurymen
A greater act of magnanimity can scarcely be conceived
than that of an individual, enervated by disease, and
greeted with the remonstrances of eleven irritated com-
panions, still maintaining the validity of his arguments
and the accuracy of his deductions notwithstanding
the encroachments of severe cold and violent hunger.
Yet, according to present enactments a juryman is pre-
cisely in this position : a flavourous dinner is at his disposal
if he will permit his mind to be warped by the coincid-
ing voices of his neighbours ; while, for contrary beha-
viour, for a persistence in his original inferences, be is re-
warded with an empty apartment, a pitcher of water,
and a coal-less hearth. The vision which our ances-
tors must have cast over the vistas of futurity,
in instituting these regulations, must have been singu-
larly oblique. It savours overmuch of melting down
the gold of truth into the alloy of lying and injustice.
The plan is both futile and pernicious to the uttermost
degree; it requires to be rooted out and destroyed.

" We left Mazagan on the 23d, and arrived in the roads
of Gibraltar on the 25th, which town we quitted the follow-
; ing day on board a French steamer, which brought us to
Toulon. When we were on the point of sail:ng fr, m
Gibraltar the crew of the Flamer saluted with three cheers
the unfortunate sufferers who had received so generous
and cordial an hospitality from the English flag.
• Luc cap! esmion in o'er profound
reconnaissance towards the noble Commander, Postle,
as well as to the officers and brave crew under his
command. We were treated by them like brothers.
The English sailors shared with ours their clothing, their
beds, and victuals. As to myself, I was received into the
captain's cabin, and I was on his part the object of the
mo't marked attentions. When I arrived on board I was in
a meat suffering state, and for 36 hours nothing could exceed
the care and attention bestowed upon me by the surgeon of
the Flamer, and it is to him I owe the commencement of
my return to health. I cannot terminate my letter without
equally offering the testimony of our lively gratitude to-
wards Captain Salomon, the officers and crew of the Castor.
We met with that sympathy whichwe ought to expect at the
hands of our countrymen."
"A letter from Berne announces the primitive assemblies
are convoked for the Ist February, in order to come to a de-
cision whether they do or do not concur in the last resolu-
tions of the Grand Council, on the question of a revision of
the Constitution."
The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris Bourse, on Friday,
at 83r. ; the Five per Cents. 121 f. 50c ; the Orleans Railroad
Shares, 1,257 f. 50c. ; Rouen, 1.022f..50c. ; Havre, 737 L 50c. ; Avignon,
982 f. 50c. ; Vierzon, 707 f 50c.; Bordeaux, 64" f. ; Boulogne, 550 i. ;
Troyes and Montereau, 460 f. ; Basle, 255 E; Great Northern, 7551' ;
Fampoux, 505 f.; Belgian Two-and-a-Half per Cents., 5714 ; Spanish
Three per Cents., 38% ; Spanish Passives, 6y.;,.
The following are the quotations for other lines :
Paris and Lyons, definitive, 625 f. ; the Paris and Strasburg, defini-
tive, 549 f. ; Tours and Nantes, definitive, 572 f. 50c. ; Lyons and
Avignon (Talabot), 511 f. 25c. ; ditto (Lecointe), 507 E; ditto (Corn.
pagnie Meridionale), 503 f. 50c. ; Bordeaux and Cetto (Mackenzie),
502 f. 50c. ;' ditto (Espeleta), 507 f. 50c. ; Charleroi (Kysaens), 495 f. ;
Caen (Delarnarre), 502 f. 50c.
MARSEILLES, JAN. 19.—Marseilles and Avignon, 965 f.
Lions, JAN. 21.--Paris and Rouen, 1,025 f.
The Paris papers of Saturday have since been re-
ceived. In the Chamber of Deputies another division
had taken place on Friday, but the question is of little or
no interest to the English reader. An attack was made
by M. FEUILLADE CHANOIN against the Keeper of the
Seals, for having violated the law in regard
to the Council of State, by the appointment
of a greater number of officers, called .Maitre
des Requ€tes, than the -law allowed. The
Keeper of the Seals, in his defence, showed that he acted
from motives of kindness to individuals who, deprived
of their situations, were yet held by the terms of the
law to have a right of promotion according as vacan-
cies fell in, and appealed to the Chamber
whether, supposing, which he did not admit,
that he had strained the law upon the side cf
benevolence, he had not acted with perfect
good faith. M. VITET, the Chairman of the Committee
of Address, protested against the petty line of warfare
adopted by the Opposition, but they persisted in their
amendment which was, that after the words " The ac-
cord of the great. Powers," there should be added, "the
sincere execution of the laws." On a division there
were for the amendment, 181 ; against it, 206 ; majority,
25 for Ministers.

The Speech of the Queen of ENGLAND, at the open-
ing of Parliament, was received in Paris on Friday, and
had a favourable effect on the Funds. On Saturday the
market closed as follows :—Three per Cents. for Cash,
831. 25c., for Account, 83f. 45c. ; Five per Cents. for
Cash, 121 f. 85c., for Account, 121 f. 90c. ; Bank of
France Shares, 3,3751.; Neapolitan, 100 f. 50c.; Spanish
Threes, 39; Spanish Fives, 371. New Loan not quoted.
The share-market has remained nearly the same. For
cash Paris and Orleans left off at 1,260 f.; Paris and
Rouen, 1,027 f. 50c. ; Rouen and Havre, 7371. 50c. ;
Avignon, 980 ; Vierzon, 706 f. 25c. ; Strasburg and
Bale, 255 ; Boulogne and Amiens, 550 ; Northern,
757 f. 50c. ; Bordeaux, 645 f.

In the French Chamber of Deputies the first division on
the Address took place on an amendment made by M.
ODILON BARROT which certainly was very harmless of
itself, but implied a censure on Ministers. It was drawn
up:in these words:—" It is necessary that good faith and
impartiality should preside over all the acts of the Ad-
ministration, in order to restore to the public power that
moral authority which should accompany it." The

Definitives have receded. Lyons offered at 621 f. 25c. ;
Tours and Nantes, 571 f. 25c. ; Strasburgh, 548; and
Lyons and Avignon, 565.

We have intelligence from Madrid to the 17th. The
discussion in the Chamber of Deputies was still going on,
but excited no interest. The papers announce the death
of CALATRAVA, who became President of the Counci
after the mysterious affair of La Granja.

On the Bourse the Three per Cents. closed at 33 13
6 at GO days ; the Five per Cents., at 24 at 60 days.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, JAN. 24.
Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Ceti* (Mackenzie's), 2—Ditto (Es_
pieta's), 2—Demerara, 2% —Dutch Rhenish, 774 —East Indian, I s;‘
—Great Northern or France Constituted, lay„ —Great Indian
Pe-
ninsular, % —Great Western Bengal, I—Jamaiea South Midland
Junetion, 5 - Luxembourg, 2% —Namur and Liege, 3%—Paris and
Lyons (Laffitte's), 234 —West Flanders, 53g.

Lord Mahon has tendered his resignation of his
office of Secretary to the Board of Control, but keeps it
back, at Sir Robert Peel's request, till after the an-
nouncement of the Ministerial measures. It is ru-
moured that the reasoili, why a new writ has not yet
been moved for Ripon is that Lord De Grey's support of
the Ministry is not yet certain ; and the seat is not
therefore, yet at Mr. Gladstone's service. ,
It is said that Mr. Goldemid, of the Chancery Bar,
and son of Sir Isaac Lyon Golds:rad, will offer himself
for Brig,hton, in conjunction with Captain Pechell, at the
next election. Mr. Goldsmid is a Jew, and if elected
could not sit ; but the return of a Jow by a large and
enlightened constituency like Brighton,-could hardly fail ,
to settle the question of Jewish emancipation.

amendment was intended as an attack on the Cabinet %lONE'? anti COMMERCIAL NEWS
for some irregular election proceedings countenanced by
one of the Prefects, and the Government accepted it as
such, denying, of course, all participation in the alleged
corruption. A division took place, when there were for the
amendment 166, and against it 208, giving the Ministers a
majority of 42. The only interesting feature of the dis
cussion was a brief speech from that amusing
orator M. LEDRU ROLLIN, in which he denounced, and
perhaps he is not far wrong, M. Timm for corruption
at home and abasement abroad. He is, perhaps, equally
correct in his views of M. BARROT'S reform principles.
The speech is given as follows :—" M. TRIERS," said
he, " called his speech a diatribe. Ile (M. LEDRU
ROLLIN) had only given facts. If M. Tumas' history
was nothing but a diatribe, the fault was that gentle.
man's and not his. M. ODILON BARROT had called his
observations clamours.—(Cries of Enough, enough,'
from the Left.) You have spoken (continued the Hon.
Deputy, addressing M. ODILON BARROT), you have
spoken of reform, but where is your reform ? Where
are your plans ?—(Renewed cries of Enough,' Di-
vide.') What will your coalition produce ? What did
your former one produce, unless the present Ministry ?
Take care, you have already voted the Regency Bill ;
you have voted the fortifications - you will be carried
away far. I warn you of the danger; I am more your
friend than M. TRlERS.—(Renewed marks of disappro-
bation.) Yes, there has been corruption at home and
abasement abroad, but what else is that than the system
of M. TRIERS? M. TRIERS, when Minister, in like
manner did all he could to influence the elections—also
made us follow in the wake of England.'—(Loud cries
of Divide, divide,' amidst which the Hon. Deputy
thought fit to descend from the tribune.") The Presse
thus characterises the discussion on electoral corrup-
tion :—" Although the sitting of Thursday lasted longer
than any previous sitting (it ended at half-past seven
o'clock), we shall only say a few words on the subject.
In our opinion, nearly the whole of the debates were
wretched, puerile, and unworthy of an assembly of poli-
ticians and grave men. Electoral corruption was again
introduced, and the Opposition indulged in innumerable
recriminations, and adduced thousands of facts, which
were instantly met with irrefutable contradictions. Many
proper names and microscopic details supplied the nu-
merous speeches delivered on the occasion. It is not
our intention to revert to the matter ; it was quite
enough that it occupied during upwards of five hours the
time of one of our two legislative assemblies."
The misunderstanding between the French Consul at
Hayti, and the President, General PIERROT, still remains
unsettled according to accounts received from Port-au-
Prince, of the Bth December. The intelligence
gives some additional details. On the sth Cap-
tain LARTIGUE, in command of the French station
at that island, not being able to obtain satisfaction
for the insult offered to the French Consul, took up
his station with the Thetis frigate and Hussard brig
at a short distance from the town, and made pre-
parations to open a cannonade. At the solicitation of
the inhabitants he consented to suspend his fire
for three days, in order to allow them time to represent
the matter to President PIERROT, who was at the
moment in the north of the island. He sent at the same
time the Styx steamer for the Griffon, which was
cruising along the coast, in order that he might have a
larger force at his disposal, and have more authority to
insist on a full reparation. Up to the Bth the President
had refused absolutely to give any satisfaction, and M.
LEVASSEUR, the Consul-General, deemed it necessary to
send in his ultimatum-15,000 gourds of indemnity, and
a salute of twenty-one guns. M. LEVASSEUR, at the
same time, was preparing to take up his residence on
board the Thetis. It was hoped that these demonstra-
tions would induce the President to make the concessions
demanded.

(From The Sun of last Night.)
The sales of Cotton at Liverpool on Saturday were 4,000
bales, all to the trade. The market was steady, and full '
prices were obtained.
The following interesting particulars relative to cotton
were received this morning from New York :
" Much of the firmness here has arisen from our small
stock, and the high rates ruling at all the southern ports,
and, in some measure, to the continued very unsatisfactory
state of our relations with England as respects the Oregoit
question; some additional firmness also may be attributed to
the light receipts at New Orleans, Mobile, and Apalachicola,
in consequence of the lowness of the water at those ports,
and to smaller estimates of the crop gaining currency there.
A great disparity will be observed between our rates here,
and those current at Liverpool at last dates ; and also with
those existing here at this date last year, which, however,
proved our lowest point of the season. We then quoted fair'
Uplands, five and five-eighths to five and three-quarters;
freight, three eighths of a penny; and exchange, ten to ten
and a quarter. The sales for the week ending 20th instant,
were 4,500 bales—for the week ending 27th instant, 2,500
bales—since, 800 bales.
" The movement of this staple in this country, this season,
compared with the previous two, have bees as annexed :
Bales.
Receipts at ports of the U. S. since Sept. 1, 1845 587 370
do do do same period last year 692 287
do do do year before 620 019
Exports from U. S. since Sept. 1, 1845
do do same period last year ..
do do do year before 241 664
" It will be observed that the receipts of this season have
been less than in either of the two previous seasons, while the
exports have been about seventy thousand bales less than
last, and one hundred thousand bales less than the previous
year. The receipts at this port since the Ist instant have
been 22,000 bales; exports, 10,110 bales; taken by ship-
ment, 14,000 bales; taken on speculation, 1,000 bales ; stock
in city, 18,300 bales ; and amount on sale, 5,000 bales.
"The crop estimates have undergone some modification since
the present month set in, the weather being extremely un-
favourable for getting the balance out of the fields. We now
find but few putting the total at over 2,300,000 bales, while
holders and those favouring the shortest estimate are count-
ing on not exceeding 2,200,000 bales. At this port the esti-
mates are from 450 to 500,000 bales."

The Money Market is comparatively easy this morn-
ing. It is known in well-informed circles that full and
almost entire preparations have been made for the necessary
deposit of cash with the Accountant-General for all railway
projects that really are in a position to go before Parliament
with any chance of obtaining Rills in the course of the
present session. The measpres to be proposed to the Heuse
of Commons to-night by Sir Robert Peel upon this topic are
looked for with deep anxiety, That new arrangements for
the conducting of the numerous projects to be submitted are
required, is admitted upon all hands; but how this is to be
done so as to consult the convenience, and we may add the
health of the Members of the Legislature, is at present a
secret.

There has been an improvement in Consols and other public
securities of very nearly one-half per cent. The premium
upon Exchequer bills also looks very firm, and money is
easy. For the Account Consols advanced from 943/4 to 95%,
for immediate transfer, from 94 to 943/4 ; the Three .and a-
Quarter per Cents. from 961/2 to 97; and the Reduced Three
per Cents. from 944 to 951%. The premium upon India
Bonds has reached 28s. ; India Stock has advanced from 253
to 258. The market is altogether very buoyant.
Net many bargains were made in the Foreign Stocks to-
day. Brazilian Bonds were quoted at 82%; Peruvian at 41 ;
the Five per Cent. Portuguese at 78 ; the Deferred Spanish
at 17 ; the Dutch Two-and.a-Half per Cents. at 60%, and
the Four per Cents. Certificates at 94% N.
The Railway Share Market is firm for all good lines, but
business is not very animated.

ONE CLOSING
BRITISH FUNDS. O'CLOCK. PRICES.
Bank Stock •.. . .. 207 20634 206
Three per Cent. Annuities , . .. 94 y, 951 953(
Three per Cent. Consols Annuities 94% % 9414
New Three-and-a-Quarter per Cent. Anns. 96%% 97 96%
Long Annuities, Expire Jan. 5, 1860 •10% 10 7-16
India Stock .. • • - .. 258 258
India Bonds, 1,0001. .. • • .. 28 28
Ditto, under 1,000/. .. 28
South Sea Stock .. • • • • • •
Ditto, New Annuities .. 93% 93%
Consuls for Account .. 94% 95% 95 94%
Exchequer Bills. I%d. 114 d.
1,0001. .... 19 21 pm. .21
5001... V 19 21 pm. '2l
Ditto, Small .... 19 21 pm. 11
ONE CLOSING
FOREIGN FUNDS. O'CLOCK. PRICES.
Brazilian Bonds, 5 per Cent .. 82% 8214
Mexican Bonds, 1837, 5 per Cent • 3034
Peruvian Bonds, 6 per Cent. .. .. 41 40
Portuguese Bonds, 5 per Cent .. 7g 78
Spanish Bonds, 5 per Cent
Ditto, for the Account .. 2814
Ditto, Passive Bonds .. 6%
Ditto, Deferred .. .. 17 17
Dividends on the above payable in London.
Dutch Two-and-a-Half per Cent .. 60 59% 6014 60%
Ditto, 4 per Cent. Certificates .. 9414 %
PRICES OF BUSINESS CLOSING
DONE AT
RAILWAY SHARES. PAID. PRICES
ONE O'CLOCK.
Birmingham and Oxford Junction 2 .... 33.4 3....
Bristol and Exeter .. .. 70 .... ..........
Buckinghamshire .. 425. .... % p .....
Caledonian .. .. 10 .... 141,4 %•••• • • • •
Ditto New .. 234.••. 4 3%
Ditto Extension 2% .... 3% ........
Cornwall .. .. 5
Direct Manchester (Remington's) 1%
Direct Manchester (Rastrick's) .. 5i4 .... 4
Direct Northern .. 2% .... 214%
Dublin and Galway .. .. 4 .... 374
Eastern Counties .. .. 141. 16s. .... 22% 22
East Lincolnshire .. • • .. 1% • •
Edinburgh and Glasgow .. 50 • 76
Ditto -14 Shares .. 12 . .....
Ditto New 5i Shares.. 714 .... 1214 .
Exeter, Yeovil, and Dorchester .. 23, .... 2ii
Goole, Doncast., and Sheffield, &c. 425..... 140474 p
Grand Union (Nottingh. & Lynn)
i 1%.... 1% ..
0.r.50.t smwirvn 11..recat, "--;• . :100 ... • ..
Ditto, New .. 5 .... 3234
Great Western .. 85 .. ..160
Ditto, Quarter Shares .. .. 5 .... 19% .....
Hull and Selby .. .. 50 ....
Ditto, Halt hares .. • • • • 7 .... 2634 27
pswich, Norwich, and Yarmouth 2 .. • • 11a
Lancaster and Carlisle .. .. 30 52% .
Leicester and Birminghani 225. .... par ..........
Leicester and Bedford • • .. 225. .... % p......
Leicester, Tamworth, &e. 425. %
Liverpool and Leeds Direct .. 2% .... 2% ..
Liverp., Manch., & Newe. Junct. 2%
.....
London and Birmingham .. ..100 .. .. 221 223....
Ditto Thirds .. .. • 16 5034
Ditto Fifths .. '.. • - 2 .... 24%,
London and Birmingham Kxtens. 1%.... 1
London and Black wall .. 161. 13s. 4d. 9
London and Brighton .. . • • • 50 .... 67% %
London and Croydon .. 131. 15s. 9d. 2234 .
London and South-Western.. 411. 6s. 10d. 78
Ditto, New .. .. • • .. 734.... 18
London and York .. .. • • .. 2% .... 4% %14
London, Warwick, & Kiddermins. 214 .... 2 %
London, Salisbury, and Yeovil .. 234 .... 2%
Lynn and Ely 5 614
Manchester and Leeds.. .. 82
Ditto, Fifths .. 1 ........
Manchester and Birmingham .. 40 .... 77 78
Manchester, Buxton, & Matlock 425..... 134 % p
Manchester and Southampton .. 2 .... 3 2%
Midland .. .. • • .. .. 100 ....152
Ditto, New .. .. 12 .... 28% •• • •
Ditto, Birmingham and Derby 100..121
Newcastle and Darlington Junct. 25 .... 59 ••.. • • • •
Ditto, New, Brandling 28 .... 53 ••• • - •
Newcastle and Berwick .. 10 2134 28%
Newark, Sheffield, and Boston .. 2%.... 2% •. • • ••• • •
North British .. 1734.... 2434 25% •• • •
IDitte, Half Shares .. 834 . • 734
Ditto, Carlisle Extension .. 1% .... 334 3• ••• • • -
Dalkeith .. 25 .... 29 •
Ditto, ditto .. .. 5 .... 6
North Kent and Direct Dover .. 234 .... 234 ••• • • • ....
Nortil Staffordshire '• . 425. .... 3% % 4 p....
NO Wales .• • • • • 334 •• • • 4 ••••• • • • • •
Norwich and Brandon Is .... 24% .
Northmpton,Banbury,&Chelthm. 2 .... 2% ..........
Oxfd.,Woreester,& Wolverhmptn. 1234 .. 1534 16
Portsmouth Direct .. • • - • 3% .... 4% 5
Rugby and Huntingdon .• .. 2
Scottish Central .. .. • • • • 734 .. .. 14%
Shrewsbury and Birmingham • It 3 ....
Shropshire Union .. 49.. p....
South Midland .. 425. 2% p
South Eastern and Dovor 8,8
Ditto, New (iss. at 321.) No. 1. 15 193¢
.: ••• • • Toi,
Do., New (do. 3151 6s. Bd.) lO ...13%.. • • • • • 1311
Do., New (do) . • No. 4. 214 3% 31 ••• • ••
•
South Wales .. 2i. ,•• •• .
/.2 • • • • .
alt
Tean and Dove Valley.. „ 1 „ 3%
Trent Valley 14
8 .... 21 -
Vale of Neath 2034 ...... 2034
Warwickshire and London S• •••• 42 s%
• • P % P
Welsh Midland -
Wexford, Waterford, & Valentia 1%
Wilts, Somerset, and Southampton 1% .. •• • ys
Wilts, Somerset, and Weymouth 234
Worcester and South Wales .. 425. 3434 die ~ 34 dis•
Yarmouth and Norwich .. .. 20 .... 2614 26%
York and Carlisle .. .
York and Lancaster ~ • , 2%.... • • 1%
York and Nortk Midland .. 50 .... ••••• • • • • •
Ditto, Extension .. 15 .... 38 39 ........ 39
FOREIGN RAILWAYS.

Ceylon.. .. .
Dutch Rhenish .

.. .. .. 5 .... 81,6 • ...... ...

12►,fr
24
174 p
_lqi

3234
160
20

1%
52%
par
P
% P
2%
3%
223

13i p
152
28%
121

1%
144
3%
% P
2% r

East Indian .. .. .. .. .. ss. .... 1 ?,4 ....... ... I%
Grt. North. of France Constituted b .... 14%.......... 14%
Great Western Bengal • • • • 53. ••• . .......... Ts
Lyons and Asr:gnon .. .. • . 2 .... 2%. 2
Luxembourg A

Mauritius .. .. .. .. .. 1 ....
Namur and Liegs .. . • .. 4 .. . . 37i. . . . 3%
Paris and Strasbourg (Ganneron's) 2 .... 2% .......... 2%
Rouen and Havre .. .. .. •. 18 .... —•-••.. .. • • 27. %

Sambre and Aibugo

West Flanders

.. .. .. G .... b~ .........

4 b?~ ........

MINES

Real del Monte, Unregistered .. -17- .... 4

JOINT-STOCK BANKS.
National Provincial of England 35 .. • • 35% ex cliv .... 3634
~.,

ADDRESS FROM THE INHABI-
TANTS OF WINDSOR TO HIS ROYAL HIGH-
NESS PRINCE ALBERT.

The following is a copy of the address (agreed to at a
vestry meeting, held on Thursday last,) to his Royal High-
ness Prince Albert, moved by Mr. Blunt, and seconded by
Mr. Alderman Snowden, on the subject of his Royal High-
ness's liberality in voluntarily contributing towards the relief
of the poor of Windsor :
“ TO, HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE ALBERT OF SAXE COBURG
AND GOTHA,
" May it please your Royal Highness,—We, the under-
signed inhabitants of the parish of New Windsor, in ap-
proaching your Royal Highness, beg to assure your Royal
Highness of our profound respect and attachment for the
person of your Royal Highness, and trust that, by the
blessing of Divine Providence, your Royal Highness may
long be spared as the consort of our beloved Sovereign.
" We feel it incumbent upon us, in now addressing your
Royal Highness, to express our unfeigned regret that, at
the recent vestry meetings for this parish, any uncourteous
allusions should have been made in reference to your Royal
Highness, and we can confidently assure your Royal Highness
that the observations referred to meet with no sympathy from
the inhabitants generally of this loyal borough.
" On the part of the parish, we beg to return your Royal
Highness our sincere and grateful acknowledgments for the
spontaneous generosity of your Royal Highness, in graciously
and beneficently contributing towards the parochial funds
of the parish, when your Royal Highness was not, by the
laws of the country, in any way chargeable with the pay-
ment thereof.

" Be feel confident that your Royal Highness will ever
entertain a kind and gracious feeling towards the inhabitants
of this borough, which has for centuries been the abode of
the sovereigns of this great country.
" We have the honour to subscribe ourselves, Sir, your
Royal HiglinesYs most obedient, devoted, and very humble
servants." [Here follow the signatures.]

Mention has been made of the advent of the Brussels
company and of a German. troupe. We believe that the
coming over of the clever arts of M. Charles Hansens has
been abandoned, but negotiations are pending for th
tonics.