The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-12 00:00:00

lONIAN BANK.

The annual meeting of the proprietors of this bank
took place yesterday, at the company's offices in Great
Winchester-street. Oliver Farrer, Esq., took the chair
„shortly after one o'clock.
The directors that went out by rotation were re-elected,
after which
The SECRETARY read the report of the chairman and
directors, which showed that the affairs of the bank
were in a most flourishing condition, and that after
meeting all the heavy demands that had been
made upon them, in consequence of the late
znonetary crisis, they were enabled to continue the
usual dividend of six per cent., and add a sum of
2,5,111. Ss. 10d, to the reserved fund.

The report, utter a snort discussion, was unanimously
adopted, and a vote of ehanks was carried by acclama-
tion to the chairman and directors for their excellent
tnanaiement of the affairs of the bank.
The CHAIRMAN, in returning thanks, stated that in
two of the islands, Zante and Cephalonia, a considerable
run had taken place upon the bank for specie, but he
was happy to say that that. run had been most promptly
met by the bank, and that confidence had been re-
stored.—(Cheer;.) lie was happy also to add
that the greatest alacrity had been shown in those
islands as well as Corfu, by the principal inhabitants, in
exchanging their specie for the notes of the bank.
Thanks having been carried unanimously to the Secre-
tary, for his great exertions on behalf of the company,
she meeting separated.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.
AFTERNOON SITTING.
Mr. WEST brought the question of the repeal of the
union before the delegates by proposing a resolution
the following effect :—" That the Assembly declare i°
ts
deliberate conviction that the so called union between
Great Britain and Ireland vats unjust in principle, inas-
much as it abrogated the right of selfgovernment, and
kad multiplied English taxation and Irish grievances
they desire that the commissioners sent to the country
by the Executive should be requested to advocate the
repeal oft
the union, and on all occasions to fraternize
with Irishmen."
Mr. KYDD seconded the motion, which, after cons
deratde discussion, was unanimously agreed to.
The Assembly then adliurned.

ELECTION COMMITTEES.
LONGFORD.
The Longford Election Committee re-assembled yester-
day raornino• ; Mr. Bouverie in the chair.
The whore of the day wus taken up with the argu-
rnenta of counsel relative to the power of the Committee
to re-open the register.
At the close of the arguments' the Committee ad-
journed their decision till to m.,rrovw.

RXILWAY COMMITTEES.
GROUP V.
CIitSTER AND HOLYHEAD.
This Committee re-assembled yesterday morning ; Sir
Robert Peel in the chair.
The Committee passed the preamble to this Bill.
'Nearly the whole of the day was occupied in con-
3idering the clan,es, but eventually the whole of them
were agreed -to, and the Chairman was instructed to
report .tho Bill to the House;
SWIM-WESTERN (PURCHASE OF STEAM-
BOATS).
Mr. AUSTIN then opened the case for this Bill, and
afterwards called Mr. Tite, the architect, and Mr.
Locke-, the enginoery to prove that it would be a great
oflvantage and convenience to the public if the South-
Western Company were allowed to establish on their
own responsibiiity a fleet of steam vessels to ply between
Southampton and Havre.
The chse had not closed whon the Committee ad-
journed.

GROUP XIV.
r. Eliot Yorke in the chair.
EXETEg, YEOVIL, AND DORCHESTER.
The objections to the subscription enntracts of the
South-Western Company having failed, the Committee
&aired the preamble to be proved.
The clauses having been agreed ti, the Chairman was
instructed to report the Bill to the House.
NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.
Mr. MEREWETEIEB. then proce( ded to open the case
for. the promoters. at the Bill. Tne object of the Bill
wes to authorise the construction of three deviations, at
Casterton, and Sudburgh. These deviations

-
would effect a considerable saving both in distance and
expenditure.
The Bil was opposed by Mr. HoPE, on behalf of the
Lancaster and Callisle Railway Company.
The case had not cloed when the Committee ad-
journed.

WAVENEY VALLEY AND GREAT
YARMOUTH RAILWAY.
A meeting of the shareholders in this company, as
well as in the Waveney Valley and Great Yarmouth,
and also in the Norfolk (Waveney Line), was called
for one o'clock yesterday, at the London Tavern. -
Wilshere, Esq, took the chair at the appointed time.
The CHAIRMAN stated that no arrangement had yet
been made with the Norfolk Company (now amalga-
mated with the Eastern Counties), but that the directors
expected an offer would be made by the Eastern Coun-
ties in the course of the next three weeks. The
directors considered that the prospects of the company
were more satisfactory now than they had been for
some time past. He begged, therefore, to move the
adjournment of the meeting for four weeks, in order that
the negotiations now going on might be brought to ma-

turity.
A motion to that effect was then adopted, and the
meeting separated.

KILLARNEY AND VALENTIA
RAILWAY.
LThe adjourned meeting of this company was held yester-
day at twelve o'clock, at the offices of the Corn Ex
change-buildings ; R. Spooner, Esq., M.P., ithe chair
The report and accounts, abstracts of which
being
have
already appeared, were approved of, the accounts
rendered subject to the approval of auditors, who were
appointed at the meeting.
The retiring directors were re-elected.

BIRMINGHAM AND
and Oxford
XFORD
The propri grnoon at the King's
Junction Arms,
in Railwaypa 1 ace_ym
J,
tLo-rNs UNCTION RBAirtfiWn Ah—nim.
Palace-yard, adjournment from
' Purstuhaevvs in the chair.
last week; Mr. William 31,a_t following resolution:—" It
yesterdayntattoe
MY. PAYTON moved tanreate
petitions have been pre-
appearing that two
Oxford Junction Railway Company
Birmingham and
conferring additional powers on the
rented to the House soefpCommons in the name of the
Company, with reference to an
12thof November, 1846, for the pur-
chase of the
aGgraeiantt.tw,t,heestoßrinll
iftoarawc
ay
agreement
of the Birmingham and Oxford Junction.
Birtningiam, Wolverhampton and Dudley Reil-
and the
resolved that Messrs. Dobrie, Colmore, and Beal
way,
chase by them
be, and they are hereby directed to appear on both or
either of such peti
counsel and agents to appear on behalf of
this tions as may be advised by counsel,
in support of both or either of the said
e°tY'ore the Committees of the houses of
gild
dt companyridttionaesnn3dPbCommons, and that no other persons do ap-
pear for, or represent, this company upon the said peti-
tions, or either of them, before any such Committees."
The motion having been seconded by Mr. PAGET,
The CHAIRMAN said a similar resolution was pro-
posed at a former meeting when Mr. Muntz, the Chair-
man of the company, declined to put it; upon that pre-
cedent he should decline to put this one.
A PROPRIETOII asked the Chairman if he had any
objection to enter into an explanation of any other
rea,ons he might have for not putting the resolution.
The CHAIRMAN said he had much rather not.
Mr. PAYTON then put the resolution himself, and de-
clared it to be unanimously carried.
ad-
journed thetill
or
to-morrow
utlr (thisi day).aY•roN, the meeting then

FRANCE.
The following is a report of the proceedings in the
National Assembly on Wednesday :
At twelve o'clock M. Buchez, the President, took the
chair.
M. Seaard, who first ascended the tribune, reminded
the Assembly that, on the previous day, it had adopted
the proposition of Citizen Dolmas to the effect of appoint-
ing an Executive Committee of five members. In the in-
terval reports were circulated, and that morning he had
heard in the Hall of Conferences, that some members of
the Provisional Government whose names had been in-
scribed on that " list of conciliation," had manifested a
desire not to accept those functions should their col-
leagues not be chosen from amongst its members, or
should certain names remain inscribed on it. He had
been requested by a number of representatives to wait
upon the members of the Provisional Government who
were said to have expressed that opinion, and he had the
satisfaction to announce to the Assembly that they had
made no such declaration.
M. Martin de Strasbourg next rose, and stated that
the venerable Dupont de l'Eure had just told him, and
authorised him to inform the Assembly, that it was im-
possible for him to acept a seat in the Government.
This declaration excited loud murmurs, and several
members observet; that, having rejected the resignation
of Beranger, they had an equal right to reject that of
M. Dupont de l'Eure.
When silence was restored, M. Beaumont ran up to
the tribune and said, that he could not understand the
possibility of excluding the venerable founder of the
Republic from the Executive Committee.
M. Berryer observed that the omnipotence of the As-
sembly was compromised by a discussion of proper
names. Its vote should not depend on the will of any
of its members, or be influenced by lotteries. The re-
volution had sufficiently revealed the men entitled to the
confidence of the country, and their names should not be
oalloted at the tribune.;
M. Jean Renaud replied that there were no lotteries
in the Assembly, and that one of the lists alluded to had
been prepared by 150 members.
M. Barbes then rose and moved that each represen-
tative should proclaim aloud the candidates in whose
favour he voted. This proposition, however, was re-
jected by the Assembly, not more than twenty members
having supported it.
A ballot then commenced, which gave the following
result:—
Number of Voters ..• ... 794
Absolute majority ••• ... 398
Arago... ••• ••• ... 725
Garnier Pages ••• •• ••• 715
Marie ... ••• ••• ••• 702
Lamartine ... ••• ••• 643
Ledru Rollin ••• ••• ... 453
The five members having obtained the required ma-
jority were proclaimed members of the Executive
Committee.
M. Wolloski next ascended the tribune, and pro-
posed the immediate appointment of a committee charged
A ith devising measures for the improvement of the
condition of the labouring classes.
M. tVollowski afterwards announced that in the morn-
irg of that day the delegates of Posen, Cracow, and
Gallicia had waited upon him with an address, for-
warded by the Polish patriots to the National Assembly,
in which they described their sufferings, and demanded
the assistance of France. lie trusted that the Assembly
would invite the Executive Committee to take into con•
sideration the prayer of the memorialists. He en-
treated, moreover, the Assembly to address, without
delay, an appeal to the German nation and (he Frankfort
Diet to join France in resuscitating ancient Poland.
M. Doucoux, who spoke next, supported the prayer of
the Polish patriots. The French Revolution, he said,
should be humanitaire as well as political, and he
thought that the Assembly should prepare an address to
the whole world, in which it would express its determi-
nation to uphold everywhere the principles of which it
had asserted the triumph in France.
zk. Member asked M. Lamartine if he saw any incon-
venience in giving the Assembly any information he had
received from
.his diplomatic agents on the situation of
Italy, or if he preferred that the Assembly should fix a
day to hear those explanations.
M. Lamartine replied that he was ready to give those
explanations, if the Member insisted, but that it would
he preferable to appoint a day for the purpose. He,
however, would state beforehand that when the co-
eperation of France was necessary to Italy it should not
be denied, and the Member need not apprehend that the
events
It
er:ts.m i, ,o,f,,u,iisls Minister
ofan La
1831 should occur again in 1848.
r_ionday next was fixed to hear those explanations.
cthbeonurroasnd Progress.etopropose the appointment
a pr,;j
nPtemu,pni n t
o showed
such
athat
nthere, was
and nth()
the
necessity
propositionfor
wt ha ea
utonainniqmu‘ into
, The C ambr th,
decided to appoint a commission
iearh:l
adjourned at six the state of the working classes, and
t-

COMNIERCE AND Ikii:',,,lt.
MAN CRESTE— -----7-7'--"--11, ,-, t„.
transmitted b .
;VIACBrEuRRE,OF
Secretary
Palmerston,
ecretary of
m my
etrheee di-
rectors following memorial
rectors of the Manchester was
State for
Viscount Palmerston on Thursdayhamber of Co
press
' To the Right Hon. the Lard Viscount last'----
m.P., her Majesty's Principal
Foreign Affairs, &c. &c.
erothe_reTe
I.alisitdyoluarnumfeamctourrieasliasttaldliensicrheeectsit;irn:er 0 f
" The Memorial of the Directors of the Chamber
your Lordship th.- ir extreme anxiety
tutiPe:nSbC°: positionl:a. in which British commerce to the neanir;g
at this moment, placed, in consequence of the unceforertt-a:
nate hostilities which have arisen between
States o:: the German Confederation and the king
dom of Denmark. That your memorialists heard
with great satisfaction a short time ago, that the
mediation of the British Government in this quarrel
had been sought and conceded, but subsequent occur-
rences have so obscured the hopes of an earlyd
e pacifixc iteca-
d,
tiun which the promptitute of you
that they now consider it their ditty respectfully to place
before your Lordship the baneful effect which this un-
happy war has already had upon the commerce of this
district, and the fearful consrquences which they appre-
hend from a protracted continuance
er of it.
th e Thatimypoort-
ur
memorialists have no wish to exaggae
ance of the British commerce to the river Elbe, but
they believe that that trade absorbs of the gross
hosiequantity,
y
er cent
of cotton yarns exported, about 33i per cent.; r.
;
about 1514 per cent.; woollen yarns, about 48 p
woollen goods, exported in yards, about l4i to 13
per cent. ; ditto, in pieces, about 22 per cent. ;
whilst
at the same time Hamburgh constitutes a
necessary vent for an immense value of the pro-
duce of foreign countries out of Europe, which,
tospe
although such' i produce
countries, b be
our
navigation-laws
i oßritish s
turbidgood s
exported to h
importedtornbisesehherfn e Great Britain. 'The direct trade
fu
ore, a large share of the employment of
our operatives, but you
eiemate, in their present haste,
do not venture to
the extent to which that
en
r at this instant, and the
ted by the indirect trade;
employment is further af
both, however, are destroyed-
shipping employed in the
lag hostilities ; and thus has as
idle, by the exist-
prom?. amount of depression
been, added to that which nous unhappy circura•

stances had so long gathered around us, that your
memorialists cannot contemplate an extended duration
of it without
grave apprehension of most appalling
consequences, both to the well-being of our long-
suffering and patient people, and perhaps
to the peace of the district. Impressed with these
sentiments, your memorialists humbly but urgently
pray that, notwithstanding. adverse circumstances, your
Lordship may continue, %vith your accustomed zeal and
energy, that peaceful mediation which was in the first in-
stance so promptly granted; and that your Lordship may
not be deterred by difficulties from endeavouring to re-
store to the belligerents that state of peace and quiet
which is not less grateful to feelings of humanity than
necessary to the progress of iadustry and civilization."
—Manchester Guardian.

THE PORTFOLIO.
(From Punch.)

46 1. "VISCOUNT PUMICEiTONE TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE
ENGLISH AMBASSADOR AT CONSTANTINOPLE.
Esteemed Sir—l have to desire that you will wait
on the Grand Vizier and convey to his Excellency the
sentiments which actuate this Government with regard
to the present position of the Ottoman empire.
"You will state to the Grand Vizier that the line of
politics pursued by the Sultan can by no means meet
with the approval of this country. Reforms are needed
in the administration and in the religion of the Ottoman
empire, the adoption of which you will urge with all the
energy in your power.

" The spectacle of a Sultan surrounded by at least
500 wives is odious to Europe, and unworthy of the
present age of civilization. Her Majesty's Government
blushes to have to acknowledge, post after post, the
birth of princes and princesses f the family of Abdul
Medjeed ; and, as England has not the slightest pre-
tensions to control the actions of any state with which
she is in alliance, you will point out to the Government
of the Porte thgt his Imperial Highness is at perfect
liberty to select any one of his wives which be may
prefer, but he must send back to their parents the re-
maining 499.
" The religion at present professed by the Sovereign
of the Turkish empire, and by a considerable portion of
his subjects, is, you will have the goodness to inform
the Grand Imaum, an exploded superstition, and an in-
sult to the civilization of Europe. It must no longer
be allowed to exist in this quarter of the globe,
"You will therefore request his Excellency, on the
part of this Government, to subscribe the Thirty-nine
Articles as soon as may be ; and also, at his earliest
convenience, to learn the Catechism. The Mollah of
Exeter, an English Bishop, will go out to conciliate the
Turkish clergy, and will be Patriarch of Constantinople.
" Further reforms will be the subject of future com-
munications. Among these you may mention our de-
sire that the Turkish Government should establish gas-
lamps, trial by jury, weekly and Sunday newspapers,
Harvey sauce, two Legislative Chambers, and the 101.
qualification for voting.

" I am, &c.,
"PUMICESTONE, Downing-street.
"To IL E. Sir G. Goosoquill."

" IL-FROM THE GRAND VIZIER TO H. E. THE ENGLISH

AMBASSADOR.
"In the name of Allah I The Grand Vizier has re-
ceived the chaplet of roses from the paradise of Down-
ing-street. The eloquence of Pumicestone sings out
like a nightingale from amongst the flowers. It is
sweet to listen to his music.
" But the nightingale, though sweet, is melancholy;
and who does not know that there are thorns in roses?
They have pricked the fingers of the Grand Vizier. The
notes of the British bulbul have made the Padishah sad
in spirit.
"Why should he part with any of his wives? Let
him who has too many sew them in a sack. The chil-
dren of the Father of the Faithful will not be so costly
to his country as are many of the rosbuds of the Joy-
gardens of Pimlico.
" The Exeter Mufti shall be welcome to the holy men
of Constantinople. If Pumicestone Pacha will change
his religion, the Grand Vizier will be baptized. If the
English Mollah is constant, why should the Turkish
Imaum be a renegade? Let them come and each have
his say. It they brawl and quarrel too much, let either
be accommodated with a bastinado.

"In respect of the other reforms proposed by Britan-
nic wisdom, the Grand Vizier will respectfully ask—Are
Britons the only possessors of beards? 'Who is it that
rules in his own house?—ls it the lord of the house, or
his neighbour? Pumicestone is a sage, but we too have
sages.
" Once, in the gardens of delight, overhanging the
Bosphorus, the young prince Shukoor Khandee, son of
the Light of the Universe, found the egg of a peacock,
which he took to the Sultana Valide, the mother of the
sovereign. Look, 0 Grandmother,' said Prince Shu
koor, this outer surface that you see is what they call
a shell. Within the shell is a white slimy fluid, within
the white a yellow yolk. I prick the head of the shell
with a pin; I place it to my lips, and suck in, and lo! I
withdraw the yolk and the white from the shell, and
they slip down my own throat.'
" 0, wise in thine own conceit!' the Princess an-
swered. ' Dost thou teach thy father's mother how eggs
are eaten? Lot I knew how to suck them before thou
camest into the world!' And, clapping her hands for
Meerour, the chief of the eunuchs, she bade him apply
the bamboo to the Prince Shukoo r.
" Do we not also know how to suck eggs, 0, Ambas-
sador? So write to Pumicestone Pacha, and bid him to
operate on his own henroosts.
" To the British Minister."

"KABOB PACHA.

"111.-PROM VISCOUNT PUMICESTONE TO 11. E. LORD
TAPEWORM, OF ST. PEIERSDURGII.
" You will have the goodness to communicate to
11. E. Count Grogenoff the opinions of this Government
upon some late acts of Russian policy. They by no
means meet with the approval of her B. Majesty's

advisers.
" The treatment of Poland can never be looked upon
by this country but with feelings of indignation and pity.
You will urge upon the councils of his Imperial Majesty
the instant necessity of changing his method of adminis-
tering the affairs of that unhappy portion of his empire.
" You will recommeed H. I. M. immediately to re-
cognise the independence of the Circassian tribes, and
to send to Schamyl Bey his order of St. Nepomuk of
the first class.
" It is the desire of this Government that trial by jury
should be immediately established throughout all the
Hussies, especially in the Calmuck provinces of the em-
pire. The Tartars on the Cbinese border imperatively
require slate-roofed houses, with thorough drains, and
gas and water laid on. It would be advisable to have a
Methodist meeting-house in their villages, and that the
English system of pauper relief should be adopted
throughout the Russian empire.
" We would suggest to H. I. M. that a window-tax
would be an advantageous impost to levy on the Cossacks
of the Ukraine, and that a water-rate on the Don and
Volga might conduce to the increase of his revenue.
"The uniform of the Preobajinski Regiment cannot
but be highly displeasing to her Majesty's Government;
the yellow coatee and pink breeches of that corps
neither harmonize with the silver helmet nor the green
morocco boots which they wear. A great and august
authority on military costume in England is anxious
that changes should take place in this particular cou-
sonant to the spirit of the times and the advance of
freedom.
"The cut of the Emperor's whiskers had been viewed
in this country with the deepest grief. Instead of
growing them over the cheek. bone, you will have the
goodness to suggest to his Imperial Majesty the ne-
cessity of altering their direction ; a portrait of a dis-
tinguished military officer is sent out for this purpose, to
which his Imperial Majesty is earnestly invited to give
his attention.
"The usage of the knout is not viewed by this coun-
try with pleasure; nor the practice of eating tallow-can-
dles, in which some of the subjects of his Imperial Ma-
jesty fatally indulge. It will be as well to abolish the
knout, and to retrain from making use of dips in the
manner described.
" the dinner hour of the Court of St. Petersburgh
might be advantageously changed; the censorship of
the press ought to be abolished; the serfs ought to be
repiesented in Parliament; the fares of the droskies in
St. Petersburgh diminished. Gas should be laid down
in Siberia; the Empress's maids of honour reduced in
number; London porter, missionary meetings, new po-
licemen, and daily papers should be established in all the
principal towns of the empire;_ and it is very desirable
that the middle classes of St. Petersburgh and Moscow
should eat shoulders of mutton and baked potatoes on
Sunday, instead of their present unwholesome meal of
fish-oil and hemp-brandy.
" You will communicate to the above purport with the
Government of his Imperial Majesty.
" PUMICESTONE.
" To H. E. Lord Tapeworm."

" IV.-7ROH THE RUSSIAN MINISTER TO THE ENGLISH
AMBASSADOR. .

" I have the honour to acknowledge the reception of
your Excellency's letter, containing the proposal of his
Excellency, Milor Pumicestone, for the better regulation
that
of this empire.
" 11. L M. is profoundly touched by the interest which
11. E. deigns to take in the affairs of Russia. H. M. is
charmedtie by the modesty of a philanthropy so universal.
soon permit him°Peg
sl :0 re is no doubt but the English empire is at present
happywill most
that its statesmen have time to consider what
__ conduce to the welfare of other countries, and
all the rest of the '
the English
" H. I. M. w?..lrlomtny, world cannot do better than let
manage for themselves.
" 11' I. NI. h
in the English that the state of the country will
esires to know when flogging will cease
the
nln,
timea to abolish the use of the knout, and at
affairs of his empirea
^t,t fail to have a Chamber of Peers
convinced that hereditasr
Commons for the regulation of the
soon as his Imperial mind is
and a Chamber
meanwhile
yeawisdom of necessity belongs
to the nobility ; in th,e
finnndd councillors nwhile he is content to select
without the noise and trouble of
as pure as Mr. Attwood
other questions
ehliescouwonnsS:heneactaen;
into reforms of his
's agreeable
and as wise as Colonel Stiitherprs.
" His Majesty will not enter into h
ylinte.rested in
which are touched upon in hi,s Ebextct.oerileelaehnacoi
things, he
letter ; but his Majesty cannot enter•
own states at this moment, so deeply
the affairs of Ireland—which
wishes to see tranquil.
" As soon as that country is quiet and industrious,
his Majesty pledges himself that he will withdraw his
, Warsaw; that he will grant free
rebellion and inculcate the murder
of the Government authorities. But inord thePum mean-
while, his Imperial Majesty suhmits to Lice-
' garrisons
tn o s preachfrt'lll a
stone, that it is possible that even English institu-
me people who com-
tions are not suitable to all countries; that even
against English laws there are so
plain, and would rebel; and that his Imperial Majesty
feels himself strong enough for the present to manage