The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-14 00:00:00

THE SUN LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY l4, 1848.

GRAVESEND. FEB. 11.—The Issbella, Ray, from
Newcastle, is ashore on the Coal House Point.
AlEvecassEY, FEB. 9.—A quantity of orange s anti
wreck leave been passed, off the Start, by the Arab,
Gowing, arrived here.
BIDEFORD, FZB. 11.—The Con2ord, Dundalk to Car-
diff, has put in hero leaky, and pumping up cargo,
(eats.)

MARKET NEWS.--(THIS DAY.)

CORN EXCHANGE-MONDAY.

The arrivals of Wheat, Barley, Malt, Beans, Peas, and
Flour up to our market las; week, coastwise, were on a
very limited scale ; but those of Oats wore somewhat on
the increase. From Ireland and Scotland they were
mostly confined to a few cargoes of Oats. From abroad
the importations were by no means heavy—viz., 6,858
gm of What, 110 ditto of Barley, 1,268 ditto of Oats,
4,000 ditto of Beans, 270 ditto of Peas, 7,103 ditto of
Linseed, 60 ditto of Rapeseed, 310 ditto of Indian Corn,
697 sacks and 155 barrels of Flour. From Essex,
Kent, Cambridgeshire, &c., a very scanty supply of
Wheat of home produce was received up to our market
today by water carriage, and that per railway was
very small. Notwithstanding the show of samples of
both red and white was scanty, and the attendance of
buyers moderate, the demand was far from active. The
♦ery finest parcels of both red and white were mostly
disposed of at prices fully equal to those paid on Mon-
day last; bat the middling and inferior kinds were
heavy, at in some instances a reduction in the quota-
tions of is per quarter. Most of the Wheats were
greatly out of condition. The quantity of foreign
Wheat on offer was not very large. Really fine
samples moved off steadily, at late rates. In all
other qualities exceedingly little business was
transacted, at almost nominal currencies. Al-
though the supply of Barley was small, it proved
quite adequate to meet the wants of the trade, who pur-
chased with extreme caution, at about last week's
figures. In Malt very few sales were concluded. The
trade must be considered very dull, at barely stationary
prices. A few ships have arrived from Ireland, since
Saturday, laden with oats, yet the supply of that article
was. by no means large. Only the best parcels com-
manded any attention—the inferior kinds being a
mere drug. In prices we have no change to notice.
Beans commanded scarcely any attention, and late rates
were not maintained for inferior foreign. In Peas next
to nothing was doing. Indian Corn, Meal, and Rye
Flour were easier to purchase. Fine Flour supported
previous rates, but the secondary sorts were somewhat
cheaper.

CITRBENCT PER IMPERIAL MEASURE.
Wheat—Essex & Kent, Bait—Chevalier •- • • 59s te 60s
Red. .•.. •• •• 45s to 545 Oats Yorkshire and
Ditte,White, New 488 58s Lincolneh., Feed. 2118 22.
Norfolk and Lin- Potato .•• . • ..... 258 261
eeln, Red..... 455 488 Youghal and Cork,
Ditto, White Os its Black ..• 16s 19E
Irish, Red ...... •• —s Cork, white... 185 22s
Ditto, White...... —s —s Scotch, Feed. .... 24s 26s
Rys—Old ....• •• . 325 35s Beans—Tick .•• • • .... 348 sOs
Pigeons .........• 348 411 s
:ahoy—Orinding 27. Els Peas—Grey .. •• • . 425 415
Malting ......... 272 31s Maple ..• •• • . 425 455
Chevalier .... ..• 238 35s White... •• 425 445
Malt—Suffolk and Nor- 80i1er5.........451 485
f01k... ....... 565 6/3s Flour—Towa-rnade... 445 4s,
Brown 464 545 Suffolk •••• • . • . 375 418
Xhigstan aad Ware 575 595 Stockta & Norfolk 37s 41s
ammErrxxx.D.
Notwithstanding the weather has become mild for the
season, the Rotterdam steamers have not yet re-com-
menced running; berme, the imports of live stock into
Lonion last week were small, viz., about 40 Beasts, 200
Sheep, and 20 Calves, chiefly from Noordwyk and Sche
venengen. At Hull, &c., scarcely any arrivals have
taken place; but we understand that large supplies
are ready in Holland for shipment to our
markets. Their quality is represented as good.
One or two vessels having arrived since Saturday,
the number of foreign stock in the market this morning
Were on the increase, viz. about 180 Beasts, 300 Sheep,
and 20 Calves. The Oxen and Cows met a very dull
inquiry, on somewhat easier terms, but the Sheep and
Calves produced rather more money,
From these quarters whence the principal portion of
our Bullock supplies are usually derived at this
period of the year, the arrivals of Beasts fresh
up to-day were seasonably good, and of full average
quality. Although the attendance of buyers was large,
the Beef trade, owing to the unfavourable state of
the weather, for slaughtering, was in a very sluggish
state, at a decline in the quotation paid on this day
sennight of quite 2d per 81b. The highest figure for the
best Scots being 4s 6d per 81b, and a total clearance was
not effected. The receipts from Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex,
and Cambridgeshire comprised about 1,000 Scots and
short horns; front the western and midland counties,
1,200 Hereords, runts, Devons, Irish beasts, &c.; from
other parts of England, 700 of various breeds; and from
Scotland, 210 horned and polled Scots. With Sheep we
were very scantily supplied; indeed, the supply of that
description of stock appears to be falling
Off every week. As might be expected
the Mutton trade was brisk, and the prices advanced
horn 2d to, in some instances, 4d per 81bs. A clearance
Was effected at an early hour. The primest old Downs
produced 5s id per 81bs. Calves were in short supply,
and steady request at full prices. In Pigs only a mode-
?ate business was doing, yet last week's currencies were
supported.

Per Ms. to sink the offal.
• s. 1. te s. d. I. 1. to s. d.
Inferior Boasts... .. 3 4 3 6 Second quality ditto 4 4 4 8
Iscond quality .... 3 311 Coarse-wsolled ditto 410 3 2
Phase large Oxes•• 4• 4 4 SouthdewnWetker i 4 5 6
Phi. Scots •• •• •• 4 4 4 6 Dittesuteftheweel
e cease Calves 4 4 3• Large flogs •. 4• 4 6
I'th/canna' ditto .. 6 2 5 6 Small Porkers •• •• 4 I 5 0
hack-1163 Calves —2O 021 Quarter old Pigs ..20 28 0
Inferior Skeels .. 3 4 0 Lambs ••••• • .• • • • •

SUPPLY AT MARKET.
Beasts.
3,339 I Sheep. I Calves. I Pigs.
13.260 263
211'71‘174sALTB AND 1,71113-Dr2.711.6.2.1e.
The supplies of country-killed Meat received up to
these taarkets during the past week, by railway, have
been moderately good, and those on offer slaughtered in
the metropolis may be considered seasonably extensive,
with the exception of those of Mutton. Generally speak-
ing, the demand has been far from active ; nevertheless,
no change of moment has taken place in the quotations.
acunoly any foreign Meat has been on show.
At pee "acme by the Carcase.
s. i. to s. i. s. d. to s. 4.
3 2 3 4 Matted, Mined!' •• 3 6 3 8
-- middling .... 3 4 3 S middling.. 310 4 2
primelarge •• 3 6 I t Prime •••• 4 4 4 4
--- prime small .. 3 111 4 S Perk. 1arge........ 3 g 4 6
4 9 3 4I- small ........ 4 1 11 2
Leab. Os Od to es id.
31071.017GZ NOP MARKET.

We have again to report a steady sale for most kinds
of Hops of last year's growth at full prices; otherwise
the demand is in a very sluggish state. The supply of
Hops is fully equal to the wants of the dealers. New
Hops—Sussex pockets, 2115 s to 2/ 6s; Weald of Kent
ditto, 21 18s t• 31 lOs; Mid and East Kent ditto, 3/ 6s
to 6/ lOs per owt.

BOROUGH AND SPITAMPIZILDS.
Higher prices have been again asked, and in some
instances obtained, for Potatoes; although the supply is
b 7 110 means small. However, we may observe that
some of our quotations are almost nominal. About 100
tons have been received from Antwerp, and 5 tons from
°port°. York Regent's, 160 s to 180 s ; Wisbeach ditto,
lime to 150 s; ditto, Blues, 120 s to 130 s; Kent am! Essex
Regent's, 160 s to 170 s; ditto, Shaw's, 150 s to 160 s;
ditto, Kidneys 140 s to 170 s ; ditto, Blues, 130 s to
150 s per ton.
WOOL.
The public sales of wool, which commenced daY, and will be continued almost daily tillthe Bth
PrOxi
140, have been largely attended by buyers. The
uiddings have been very brisk. Fine wools hare pro-
duced 2d, other qualities from id to lid per lb., more
money than at the previous auctions. Scarcely any of
Parcels have been withdrawn, and not a few of the
cgs have been purchased for the French and Belgian
kttrkets. In the private market next to nothing is
goi ug, but higher rates are generally demanded. Last
;eel( the imports consisted of 650 bales from Sydney,
95 bales from Launceston, 236 bales from Constun-
tuuple, 50 bales from Alexandria, 215 bales from Bom-
ua7, and 20 bales from Calcutta.

TALLOW.
Notwithstanding the very high prices paid for Tallow
since Monday last, both on the spot and for forward
lelivery, viz., from' 53s 6d to 54s per cwt, the deliveries
have been good. The large quantity brought to auction
" Friday has somewhat checked the demand, and the
,totainal top price for Russian to-day is 53s 6d per cwt.
Vlwn Tallow Zs 6d to 541 per cwt net cash; Rough
at, 3s per Bibs.

Two of the guards on the Eastern Counties Railway
were frozen to death, during the night, in the late severe
*ember. —Norfolk Chronicle.
ACCIDENT AND LOSS or Lirr_—Wo
'egret to have to announce another of those dreadful
a'ecidents which are, unfortunately, of so frequent occur-
rebus in constructing lines of railway. It is well known
t
moat of our readers that for a length of time past
tuff road across the Wicket, near the Midland Station,
141 been partly occupied by a quantity of scaffolding
avuteeted with the works of the Sheffield, Manchester,
,cl Lincolnshire Railway. On Thursday morning, at
bas o'clock, 40 or 50 yards of the scaffolding en the
right hand aide of the road going down the Wicket fell
with a tremendous crash, burying beneath it five men
er) were working at the foundation below. A partial
th earance was immediately effected, when it was found
st 0,1:10 of the poor men, named Reuben Knowles, was
*rally smashed to pieces. He was quite dead, and his
acngled body was conveyed to the Station Inn, close by.
he remaining four men were conveyed to the infirmary
2Peedily as possible, all of them being very much
rlated. One of them is so much injured, that there
cui."l,2.h°Pe whatever of his recovery. On making in-
-6'4—J on the spot, we were unable to learn any immediate
ug° which led to the awful calamity. Since writing
m
above another of the sufferers has expired, and the re-
she ",!11,
.t three are left in a very precarious state.—
i-xu'cut.
Iris
I.Jty
held SUICIDE.—Last Saturday
Mr. Mills
an inouest at the Angel Inn, High-street, High•
ate,
on Emily Richards, aged 18, a fine looking young
Atizzian, respectably connected, and late barmaid at the
she'gel Inn. The decased, who lived seven months atthe
ee"is b ,
latterly very depressed. Friday evening
ewent to Hampstead, and purchased two phials of
the
uhossential oil of almonds, returning at four o'clock,
tumbler, she retired to her bedroom, emptied the phials into
and quaffed off the deadly poison. She thened
i~'urabler t the phials in the drawer of her looking-glass, and
upon the bacon stand. After which she
stretchedad herself upon her bed, where she was found
mist two
boars afterwards. Mrs. Fenner, deceased's
bitterein' gave her moat excellent character, and wept
deatr Y during
her evidence. Verdict—" Deceased
state°Yed hereelf, but there was no evidence of her
ri,, Of mind at the time."
yes-illa_ 4_ Weather is very dull, and extremely damp.
ierday the Clyde was very
°4lstor much flooded. The ba
lutbd very low, and the streets this morning are de-
Witkrun.--/Vorth British Mail ci Thursday.

THE NATIONAL DEFENCES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Six,—As steam has now deprived England of its
former insular security, it becomes necessary to con-
sider how far, as a semi-continental state, her means
of defence will bear a comparison with those of neigh-
bouring nations. This comparison, when made, is
certainly more striking than satisfactory, for while
France has an army 350,000 strong, and a national
guard numbering nearly a million, Prussia a standing
army of about 300,000 men, with every male inha-
bitant trained to arms, and Austria a regular army of
about 400,000, the force at present in all England
does not exceed 10,000 men, of whom scarcely more
than one-half would be immediately available to meet
an enemy at any given point. Almost any one of the
smaller German duchies could therefore show a more re-
spectable defensive force than England. The passage of
the Channel by means of steam-boats can scarcely in
the present day be considered so difficult as was the pas-
sage of the Rhine, and of many other rivers which were
crossed by the French army in the face of an enemy,
during the last war, without that means of convey-
ance. The Prussian Government might at any
moment of danger remove the bridges of boats which
cross the Rhine, but the steam-vessels which will at
some future day bridge thelEnglish Channel, may lie
safely in French harbours until they are required.
The passage of the Channel may, therefore, by the
aid of such means, be considered easier than that of
the Rhine, and England consequently more open than
Prussia to invasion by France. If such is the case,
the means of defence prepared by each country are
ludicrously at variance, and the writer believes that
the adoption of the Prussian system of general mili-
tary training would be popular, and as useful to the
people of England, both physically and morally, as it
has been to those of Prussia, while it would at the
same time render us almost invincible as a nation, and
that by strictly constitutional means.
Were not the subject one requiring serious conside-
ration, it would be somewhat amusing to observe the
number of untenable arguments which have been
lately brought forward by the advocates of " national
defencelessness."

Mr. Cobden, for instance, reposes his confidence on
the pacific disposition of the French people, though
the whole history of Europel for several centuries
past, more than sufficiently proves an extremely op-
posite tendency on their part.
His next reliance is on the omnipotence of free trade
as an angel of peace, though no nation of Europe has
hitherto reciprocated our advances in that direction,
and the principle is therefore inoperative, and though
Christianity itself has for above eighteen centuries
failed to bring peace among men.
Some persons believe that the wealth of England
will protect her under all circumstances, whereas her
wealth is really the lure, and unless it be judiciously
employed in creating defences while there is yet time,
has no defensive property in itself. Others trust to
the moral and political influence which this
country possesses in Europe, without sufficiently
considering that as soon as war is declared
those influences cease, and that nations are not chival-
rous enough to rush to the defence of other nations,
more particularly of such as ought to be quite capable
of defending themselves. Some persons profess to
believe that there are no points along our coast at
which an enemy could effect a landing, though all
who choose to make inquiries on this subject will
find that every county abounds in such places.
England has herself landed troops at the Texel, and
in Egypt, in the face of an enemy's force, without
any difficulty, and with small loss.
Many trust entirely to our navy for defence as in
days of yore, without considering the change which
steam has effected, in respect to the efficiency of our
" wooden walls," and, as though a squadron possessed
the marvellous gift of übiquity. Even in former
times our nary fell far short of this gift, for the
French force under La Hoche, was, before landing
in Ireland, buffetted about for three weeks, without
being seen by either of two fleets, which we had on
the look out for it. _ _ .

It also remains to be proved whether, considering
the great improvements effected in the French navy
of late years, ours may prove as superior in power as
formerly, and it would be the extreme of rashness to
expose the safety of a great empire to the chance, or
accident, of our fleet] meeting that of the enemy,
even supposing the result of the encounter to be less
uncertain than such matters ever must be.

With such persons as believe that an undisciplined
body of men could resist the progress of a regular
French army on land, it would only be a waste of
words to argue this question.
By consulting Alison's History of Europe, they
will find that during the whole course of the last war,
thereiwas no instance, unless in the Tyrol, and partially
in Spain, of the French arms being effectually resisted
by any such levy en masse. There are probably in
London about 300,000 men capable of bearing arms,
yet it may with entire respect to them be stated, that
unless previously disciplined, any general would
prefer 20,000 regular troops to that whole number,
for either offensive or defensive warfare.

In England we especially love peace, domestic
comfort, and the pursuit of wealth, whereas
in France the idols of a large proportion
of the people are war, glory, and conquest, and this
innate difference of disposition is not sufficiently con-
sidered by our countrymen, who argue from their own
feelings against the probability of a war. With every
respect for the French people as the bravest, most
polished nation of the Continent, it is impossible to
conceal from ourselves that their tastes and feelings
incline to war, and, above all, to a war with Eng-
land. All our compatriots who have resided much
among them admit this fact, and however much we
may deplore the feeling, it is imperatively necessary
that we should be prepared against its consequences.
Some of the German journals have lately expressed
an opinion, which may at least be considered impar-
tial, that the next European war will, in all probabi-
lity, arise from the defenceless state of England en-
couraging our neighbours to snatch at a temporary
advantage, and I believe that the possession of
London for even a month would give more general
joy in France than the conquest of half
the Continent. The one would be a new
pleasure, the other a mere repetition of an old
one. Once possessed of London, I would respect-
fully request Mr. Cobden, as an economist, to con-
sider whether a smaller ransom than a hundred
millions, and the cession of our East Indian posses-
sions would suffice to purchase our deliverance. Mr.
C. Speaks of our exciting jealousy in Franc* by any
preparation, and should our armaments ever be raised
to as high a level as hers, there might then exist
some reasonable grounds for such a feeling, but in
our present state of defencelessness, as compared with
every other country of Europe, we are certainly
entitled to a monopoly of the feeling of jealousy, and
Mr. Cobden should be an enemy to all monopolies.
It is from a sincere and anxious desire for the preser-
vation of peace, and as being the most likely means for
the prevention of war, that the writer hopes to see
the defences of the country, both naval and military, as
well as that of the militia force, placed at once upon such
a footing as shall at least discourage, if not prevent,
aggression. The French budget for the present year
certainly shows a slight reduction in both the mili-
tary and naval estimates, but it must not be for-
gotten that the Chamber of Deputies passed three
years ago an extraordinary and special vote, equal to
3,700,000/. sterling, for the purpose of build•
ing ninety-three new war-steamers, a considerable
number of which are now in progress.
England has generally been overtaken by war in an
unprepared state, and has suffered reverses in conse-
quence. An opinion is now, however, prevalent, that
within a few days after the next declaration of hos-
tilities, she may have to encounter a French army on
her own soil ; the necessity for preparation is there-
fore much more imminent than in former days. The
English Government is not very fikay either to
provoke or declare war, but it cannot prevent that of
France from doing :so, and it is generally admitted
that even within the last eight years the two countries
have been three times on the verge of hostilities.
Should the Prince de Joinville happen to possess
any influonce with his brother the future Regent, it
is highly probable that such an event cannot be long
retarded.
Sir William Molesworth and Mr. Cobden have
declared their disbelief of any hostile feeling towards
this country on the part of France ; but if neither
Admiral Lalandes' letter addressed to the Minister
of France, proposing to destroy the English fleet, and
afterwards embark troops at Toulon for the invasion
of England, nor the Prince de Joinville's pamphlet
pointing out how by means of a fleet of steam
frigates a blow might be " struck at the heart
of England" if neither the revealment of Admiral
Bowles in regard to the contemplated destruc-
tion of Portsmouth, nor the plan laid before
Louis Philippe by his generals for the capture of
London, can satisfy their minds on this point, it seems
doubtful whether any evidence shortfof the appear-
ance of a French army at Charing Cross, could do so.
It could scarcely be inferred from all these threaten-
ing 3 that England has for above thirty years acted in
the most friendly spirit towards France, that the
Duke of Wellington advocated her interests in the
Congress of European states, and the English Go-
vernment long supported the policy of the present
French dynasty in Belgium, in Spain, and elsewhere,
generally to its own disadvantage; while a hundred
thousand of our countrymen evince their regard for
the French by constantly residing among them.
In conclusion, it may be stated that though the
English people care little who may sit on the thrones
of Spain, Portugal, or Naples, and would not tolerate
a war having any such unnational objects in view, yet the
defence of their own soil is a vital, and a sacred cause
for which their energies and their means may always
be relied on by any Government.
I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
Feb. 12th, 1848. IL C.

TO THE SECiti:ARY OF THE

BRADFORD REFOrtAI ASSOCIATION.

Sir,—On Monday the 7th the Second Reading of
the Bill for the Removal of the Jewish Disabilities
came on. It was opposed, as was said by Mr. Sheil,
by all the arguments which in 1829 would have been
brought against the emancipation of the Catholics,
with alterations to suit the case. It was urged that
there was no need to emancipate the Jews, because
there was no danger of an insurrection ; that though
too few to be dangerous in the field, they were too
many to be safe in the House of Commons; and that
if Jews were admitted to Parliament, the country
would cease to be one in which none but Christians had
seats in the Legislature. On the other side,
progress was made in bringing forward the principle,
on which this battle will probably be finally won,
that the oath or declaration of allegiance administered
according to the rules admitted in the courts of jus-
tice, is the only test which ought to be required of
any man born under the British crown, in his progress
to any office of trust his countrymen may choose to
elect him to. In this manner we should get rid of
the disgraceful farrago, of cursing this thing and
damning that, while the whole of what is substantially
intended is included in the recognition of the existing
government contained in the declaration of allegiance.
' On Tuesday the debate was expected to be re-
sumed ; but it was prevented by Mr. Anstey's bring-
ing forward forty questions preparatory to the im-
peachment of the Ministers ; which, being supported
by neither side of the House, led to a speedy evacua-
tion of the benches, and the House was counted out
at half-past seven.
On Wednesday, the debate of importance was on
the New Zealand Bill. What is doing on this sub-
ject, though now in little, is very likely to give a
colour to the world. It contains no less than the
question, whether England shall make herself the pa-
troness of the uncivilized branches of the human
family, in opposition to the system for enslaving
them set up on the other side of the Atlantic. In
New Zealand is a native race, holding to the British
who have landed on their shores so precisely the rela-
tion which our painted ancestors bore to the Romans,
that it might almost be concluded the intention was
to bring ancient Rome, like Tyre and Sidon, in judg-
ment against us, in case of failure in the duties the
position imposes. Of indomitable courage, intelligent
in the highest degree, desirous of European arts and
knowledge to the greatest extent which without a
miracle is compatible with the habits of uncivilized
life in the existing generation, it seems admitted by
acclamation on both sides of the House of Commons,
that they are to be taken into partnership and form
one more element in the somewhat variegated mass
whence springs the true-born Englishman. A more
interesting spectacle has hardly been presented in the
world—if only crooked interests can be prevented
from spoiling it. A treaty a few years ago was
made with the native inhabitants, called the treaty of
Waitangi ; the purport of which was, that the natives
accepted and acknowledged the sovereignty of the
Queen of England, on condition of their property in
all lands in their possession being recognised and
secured to them. There seem to be parties who
admit that some of this was clap-trap, and that the
natives had only an imperfect comprehension of what
it was they made over, and a still less complete ac-
quaintance with the degree in which, in the eyes of a
sharp practitioner, they had secured to themselves
what they intended in return. As is the nature of
companies, the New Zealand Company is the sharp
practitioner. It now raises the plea, that by the treaty
the New Zealanders abandoned their claim to all the
country except what they are found holding for a
beneficial use according to European notions ; and
in fact represents, that it would be useless for the
Company to proceed, unless it may have lands
in partibus infidelium for nothing. A war
is going on in New Zealand, of which, though
silence is preserved on the subject, this dispute may
be suspected to be the cause. What is known is,
that the Bishop of New Zealand protested against the
proceedings taken against the native population in
respect of the interpretation of the treaty, and that
the Methodist missionaries, men trustworthy in the
highest degree both from their general habits and
their particular position in the country concerned,
have joined in the protest. This of course is un-
popular in some quarters. But who shall say, that
when the mild light of antiquity has been shed over
the scene, the act of the Bishop of New Zealand,
with a little aid from the imagination of the painter,
shall not figure on the walls of some New Zealand
House of Commons, like the deeds of those
old- world saints, who whether perfect or not according
to our ideas of theological perfection, raised in their
day the meek standard of Christianity as a barrier be-
tween the oppressor and the oppressed ? What is a
bishop for, or at all events why is he clothed in
purple and made to walk among princes, if it is not
that he may on occasion form an element in the po-
litical machine, and bring the influence of his
peaceful habits and cooler head into the transactions
of mankind ?

The immediate question before the House is a re-
markable one, and greatly in want of light. A con-
stitution had been forwarded to New Zealand, con-
taining, among other things, the introduction of
something like our municipal bodies at home.
This constitution the governor on his own
responsibility has prayed to suspend for
five years. A suspicious appearance on first
view ; and yet there is reason on the whole to
believe that the governor is a sincere man, and com-
petent to comprehend his position and its conse-
quences. His objection to the introduction of the
constitution now, appears to be that in some way it
will tend to the exclusion of the native constituency.
What this way is, like everything else, is not made
clear. But it seems possible that it may be con-
nected with the existing war, and the belief that
when it is ended, the introduction of the natives
to the exercise of political rights will be more
favourably proceeded with. One instance of sincerity
on the part of the governor is worthy of remark.
A New Zealander, if he lives cleanly like a gen-
tleman, is to be a town-councillor as well as anybody
else ; but it was stipulated that town-councillors must
read and write. On this the governor represents,
that numbers of the leading New Zealanders read and
write, but not English; and that it would be very
hard to exclude them for want of knowledge of the
tongues. This certainly looks as if it might be
trusted.

The case therefore appears to be this. The New
Zealand Company wants to see an interminable series
of wars in New Zealand, which doubtless you and I
are to pay for, in order that it may enjoy the
privilege of taking the New Zealanders' lands for
nothing. Not, it may be, the lands they
are using for cultivation, but lands to which
they conceive they have a title, and which title they
believe to have been secured to them by treaty. The
New Zealanders have genius enough to know, that
they can have no general security for lands at
all, if their titles are to be submitted to a white man's
jury to decide whether the land was in beneficial oc-
cupation or not. Fancy a race of powerful foreigners
landing on the coast of England or Scotland, and
proposing to refer to a jury of their own, whether
the Duke of Athol had a beneficial occupation, or the
preserves of Mr. Coke of Norfolk were his by the law
of nations. It is clear that this would be the way
to ensure a war to the knife. Of this war, therefore,
it is advisable, in the case of New Zealand, to count
the cost. How many blankets would it cost
to buy up honestly the claims of the natives to such
lands as the Company may from time to time be
able to be make good use of; seeing that it has been
acknowledged in Parliament that the New Zealanders
are very ready to sell, and the lowness of the price
accepted must be in proportion to the smallness of
the actual utilities derived from the lands P And
how many blankets, with men in them, some to live
and some to be buried, will it cost you and me or
whoever may be the payers, if the whim of the New
Zealand Company for a crusade against the lands of
the infidels is to be given way to ?
The spirit of both sides of the House of Commons
is admirable. The .Colonial Secretary, there seems
reason to fear, is not at present equal to the circum-
stances, and therefore should be corroborated. To
which nothing can tend so much as a generous
attention on the part of the public. The Govern-
ment in the House of Commons, too, appeared to
labour under some confusion of ideas, between the fic-
tion of kw by which all land is held to be vested in the
Queen, and the question of proprietary rights. Is
there to be civil war in New Zealand till every na-
tive Duke of Athol admits the utility of the fiction of
law aforesaid, he all the time fighting for a perfectly
distinct object, to wit, preventing the lands he has
been accustomed to think his own or his tribe's, from
being adjudicated to be the Company's for defect of
beneficial occupation
But these questions will fine down, if the public
will only attend to them. Knowing from expe-
rience in a colony myself, how easy it is to secure
the confidence of uncivilised men by a little justice
and a little kindness, I hope to be excused if I hare
been prolix on this subject.
On the same day a circumstance occurred, not
actually extending to the House of Commons, but
meant to do so in its results ; a procession of seamen
to petition the Queen for the preservation of the
Navigation Laws. According to the Protectionist
newspapers, this is hut the beginning of sorrows; for
the silk-weavers, the curriers, the boot-makers, the
glove-makers, are invited to do the like. Everybody
is to ask to rob everybody ; and it remains to be seen
what everybody will say to it in the end.
On Thursday Lord Morpeth brought in the Bill
for promoting the Public Health. We bury the dead
within our great towns, till the dead and the living
rot together; and we close windows by a window-
tax, in order to keep out fresh air and shut the
cholera in. A Bill that says nothing on these points,
is like the play of Hamlet with the part of hamlet
omitted.
On the same night was a debate upon the Tea

Duties, on a demand for documents OR China by Mr.
Cardwell. It appears settled without resource, that
there is no possibility of laying the tea duties m ith-
out taxing the pour at two or three times the rate of
the rich. What a howl this would raise if it was
proposed for the wealthy classes! But if three or four
millions of tea duties must be levied at this rate on
the poor, does it not form a reason why an income or
Property Tax should be levied on the rich at two or
three times the rate on the poor ? The idea never
occurred to me before; therefore it may be new to
somebody besides.
On Friday the debate was resumed on the Bill
for the removal of Jewish Disabilities. The
speech of the night was by the Member for
Southampton, Mr. Cockburn, Q.C. The rem-
nant of the fire-and-faggot party, sorely re-
duced when, instead of roasting a Jew, they are
confined to trying to keep him out of Parliament,
advanced their usual insolent pretence to being the
only Christians in the House, and appeared impene-
trable to the fact that it is the Christian feeling of the
Country which is demanding justice to the Jew. At
•ne in the morning the second reading was carried by
277 against 204. The majority does not appear to be
considered large ; and it is probable there must be
more of it yet, before the robbery in the name of
Christ is at an end. The petitioners for, are six
times those against ; but still it would be well to
move.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant,
T. PERRONET THOMPSON.
Blackheath, London, Feb. 12, 1848.

RECENT DISCOVERIES IN ELEC-

TRICITY.
[ln the:Literary Gazette of the sth instant, tie find
the following synopsis of a very remarkable paper
recently laid before the Royal Society; and we would
particularly direct to it the attention of our readers,
as it appears to us to be the announcement of one of
the most extraordinary discoveries yet made in elec-
tricity. Those who are at all familiar with the sub
ject must be already aware that, for a very consider-
able time past, philosophy has been baffled in its re-
searches as to the actual cause of lightning. The
immortal Franklin had demonstrated the identity of
that sublime phenomenon and electricity, but the
manner in which such enormous volumes of electricity
were first generated, and then discharged, has hitherto
remained an almost inscrutable enigma. One hypo-
thesis after another has been advanced, but one after
another they have proved ineffectual in resolving this
magnificent mystery. Some philosophers have attri-
buted the phenomenon to a spark, and others to an
explosion, and the matter has long been vainly
investigated by such men as Mr. Roberts, as Mr.
Sturgeon, of the Military College at Addiscombe, as
Mr. Walker, the editor of the Electrical Magazine,
and as Mr. Snow Harris, the distinguished practical
electrician, whose lightning conductors have been
very generally and successfully adopted in the navy
of Great Britain. At length the proximate cause of
the enormous electrical discharges called lightning
seems to us to have been definitively discovered. The
discoverer—Mr. Isham Baggs—has added another
great truth to those lately established and promul-
gated by Professor Faraday. He has, to our thinking,
solved one of the noblest problems of Nature, and has
proved, upon those august principles of philosophy
which were first maintained by Lord Bacon—that the
phenomenon of lightning is an explosion analogous
to that of a Leyden jar, the intensity being derived
from a consecutive arrangement of positive and
negative elements, an arrangement which has been
carefully noticed by Mr. Crosse as that existing in a
thunder-cloud. According to the report which we
here transcribe from the columns of our contempo-
rary the Literary Gazette, it would appear that the
opinion of Mr. Baggs has been fully corroborated by
his subsequent investigations.—En. Sun.]
ROYAL SOCIETY, JOE. 13.—The Marquis of
Northampton, President, in the chair.—" On the
Disruptive Discharge of accumulated Electricity,
and the Proximate Cause of Lightning," I_3y Mr.
Isham Baggs; communicated by Mr. S. Hunter
Christie, Secretary to the Royal Society. The author
proposes to inquire into the principal causes of the
violent and disruptive union of opposite electricities
which constitutes the electric discharge and to
apply the knowledge thus gained to the expla-
nation of natural phenomena, and the further
proof of the identity of frictional and voltaic electri-
cities. He describes two instruments which he em-
ployed for the purpose of regulating the discharges of
a Leyden jar, or battery, by adjusting with precision
the distances between two brass balls, forming a
communication between the inner and outer coatings ;
allowing of their being charged only to a limited
degree of intensity, by carrying off all the electricity
beyond that extent ; and thus guarding the glass from
the danger of fracture from an excess of charge. He
is led to the conclusion, that with a given dialectric,
such as glass, the limit to the intensity of the charge
it can receive varies directly as the cube of its thick-
ness, being in the compound ratio of the resistance it
presents to the discharge, which is simply as
the thickness, and of the square of the
distance of the two charged surfaces, such
being the law of electric action. When a
number of insulated Leyden jars, arranged
in a consecutive series by connecting the outer coat-
ing of each with the inner coating of the next, is
charged by means of an electrical machine, the ten.
sion of the charge diminishes in each jar as they
follow in the series, that of the terminal jar being
exceedingly small. On the other hand, when each
jar has been charged separately in the same
manner and to an equal extent, and then
quickly arranged in a series, the jars not touching
one another, but the knobs connected with the
inner coating of each jar, after the first being
placed at a certain distance from the outer coating
of the preceding jar, which in such an arrange-
ment is charged with an electricity of an opposite
kind to that of the knob adjacent to it, the author
feund that the tension of the electricities was greatly
augmented, giving rise to violent explosions when-
ever a discharge occurred. He considers a battery
thus constituted as bearing the same relation to a
single Leyden jar as the voltaic pile does to a single
galvanic circle; and as affording in like manner the
means of exalting, to any assignable degree, the
electric tension. Adopting the views of Mr. Crosse
as to the constitution of a thunder-cloud, namely, that
it is formed of a number of concentric zones of elec-
tricity, alternately positive and negative, the central
one having the highest intensity, and the tension
diminishing in the successive zones surrounding the
innermost, till it became :inappreciable in the one
most remote; the author considers this condition of
the cloud to be analogous to that of the battery above
described, and the phenomena of the former to receive
complete illustration from the experimental
_results
obtained with the latter.