The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-30 00:00:00

circumstances call fop special, exception, the improved
outfall for his drainage having been afforded, if neces-
sary, by the more general operations of the Board of
Works), is extremely valuable. It enables each person
to get rid of the extraordinary expense that would be
occasioned by unnecessary inspectors; besides, if all
that is to be done could only be effected through the
board, great delays would necessarily be occasioned.
It would be impossible for any public body, no matter
how zealous and efficient, to do everything. No staff
could be procured sufficiently numerous for the
arduous duties that would thus be cast upon it. The
labourer too will be more active and less inclined to
attempt any tricks when working under his employer's
eye. There will be a better feeling between them, a
better relationship of master and servant, than if he
were to be entirely under the control of a public
officer. It will appear more as if the work was
afforded by the landowner, and that he is consequently
entitled to a greater degree of gratitude than if
the works were directed and the wages paid by a
stranger.

The Ist and 2d Will. IV., chap. 33, sec. 32,
amended by 9th Vic. 1., sec. 6, by which loans may
be made to individuals to enable them to effect the
improvement of their estates for themselves by drainage,
reclaiming waste lands, or other works of substantial
improvement, is the foundation of the new regulations;
and advances will be made to proprietors who comply
with the conditions therein contained, and who can
obtain from a competent person, approved of by the
Board of Works, the certificate of increased value to
be given to the land so improved, as prescribed by
that Act. There were several stipulations unneces-
sarily disadvantageous to the borrower, which pre-
vented the great advantages that would otherwise have
been obtained from its adoption. These disadvan-
tages may be stated to be-Ist, the time within which
the whole amount of such advance should be repaid;
2dly, the high rate of interest payable thereon ; 3dly,
the great increase in the value of the lands that
should, to justify an advance, be consequent on the
improvements to be thereby effected; and 4thly, the
contract with two sufficient securities, to be approved
of by the Commissioners, for the execution of the
work within a time not exceeding seven years, to be
fixed by the Commissioners. The two first of these
difficulties will be entirely removed by the Bill pro-
posed to be brought in by the Government. By the
former Act the whole amount should be repaid
within three years after the work would be completed,
with interest thereon in the meanwhile at a rate of
not less than five per centum per annum, payable half-
yearly, as the Commissioners should fix and appoint.
It is intended to adopt the principle of the 9th and
10th, Victoria, cap. 101, as to repayment by equal
half-yearly instalments of 3/ ss. each, distributed
over a period of twenty-two years, with a power of
redemption as provided in the Act, unless the bor-
rowers should themselves desire that a shorter period
should be fixed. The time will, therefore, be extended
from ten years, at the outside, to twenty-two years,
and the interest in every case be reduced to 3i per
cent., in place of a minimum of 5 per cent., which
might be increased by the board. Provision will
also be made for apportioning, on the various parties
who will derive benefit from the improvements, a pro-
portionate contribution towards the repayment of the
loan—the whole being payable to tht Government by
the proprietor of the land drained or improved, and
the contribution on the part of the occupier being
in the shape of increased rent to the pro-
prietor. These are just and equitable provi-
sions, against which no possible objection can
fairly be raised. The interest on the loans made to the
Board of Works for drainage to be executed by them
under the 5 and 6 Vic., c. 89; 8 and 9 Vic., c. 69;
and 9 Vic., c. 4, will be repayable by half-yearly in-
stalments, according to an award of the Commis-
sioners, with interest at the rate of 4 per cent. We
do not see clearly the reason of the distinction as to
the rates of interest to be thus charged, or why an
additional one-half per cent. per annum should be
charged on the money advanced to the board ; per-
haps it may be that grants may be made by the
board, as sanctioned by the 1 and 2 Will. IV., c. 33,
which are to be met by the increased rate of interest.
If this be so it will in some degree account fur the
difference. We are not aware of any remedy being
proposed for the third and fourth difficulties which
interfere with the loan ; 10 per cent. is a large in-
crease in value to be required as an essential to .a
loan. The Act is proposed as much for the purpose
of affording employment to the labourer as of yield-
ing extraordinary profit to the proprietor, and
we think that if a permanent improvement
of even 5 per cent. could be obtained by
the expenditure, that it would be highly beneficial for
all parties, and quite sufficient to justify the advance. ,
The powers about to be taken are certainly of an ex-
tensive character, hut it was necessary to provide
ample means for the recovery of the large advances
that are to be made. We are sure that they will not
be abused by the Government, and cases may arise
in which, by taking the property out of the hands of an
-mbarrassed and heavily encumbered proprietor, much
service may be done to the country. We shall here-
after examine these powers more fully than our space
at present permits.

Madrid papers of the 22d have been received.

A royal decree , proroguing the Cortes from the
25th, the day originally fixed for its meeting, to
the 31st, is published in the Gaceta. The QUEEN'S
Speech, which will be very short, has been already
arranged by the Ministers.

The Clamor Publico states that a Carlist insurrec-
tion is on the eve of breaking out in .Navarre. Car-
list bands have appeared in considerable force in Ca-
talonia, and have excited so much uneasiness, that
he Captain- General has felt it necessary himself to
take the field against them.
MADRID BOLSA, DEC. 22.—The Three per Cents.
were done, on the 22d at 33} for cash ; the Four per
Cents. at 21; the Five per Cents. at 21 ; the Coupons,
t 19 ; the Vales, at 8 ; the Debt without Interest,
at 61.

We have received the Paris papers of Monday
In the course of an article on the affairs of Cracow
All the incidents of the affair the National ,says—"
lead us to believe that M. GUIZOT was not aware of
what was about to happen, but that the irresponsible
power at Paris (the KING) was not ignorant of it."
It would appear from the revelations which have
taken place at Toulon, that the French naval officers
are in a very demoralised state. We extract the
following account of the transaction to which we
allude from the Constitutionnel:—

" An ensign (midshipman) of the navy, M. Besson,
was lately tried by a court-martial at Toulon for striking
his superior, and acquitted, the members of the court
having divided, four against four. Captain Lavasseur,
.vho acted as reporter on the occasion, submitted various
considerations, which we deem important- to notice in
the interest of our navy. It appears certain that the
discipline is not as rigorously observed as it should be
by ttie officers of the fleet, and M. Levasseur declared
that the latter generally evinced little respect for their
,uperiors, particularly when ashore. We have been
ikewise assured that their orders and acts are the object
unpleasant criticism, and the commanders, aware of
this, are, to a certain degree, kept in check. We have
seen superior officers, whose authority was actually
paralyzed by the certainty that their acts and orders
would be made the subject of a malevolent and sar-
donic scrutiny by those who surrounded them. At sea.
in particular, the necessity of union should be under
stood by all. It is not a purely material obedience the
country expects from the corps of officers of the navy,
in which it places so much confidence and hope; it is a
devoted and cordial obedience, without which nothing
great can be achieved. The English officers, less well-
informed than ours (I), are remarkable for their anxious
and, we may say, sympathetic submission to the orders
of their chiefs.. This would suffice, on certain occasions,
to secure to them an advantage over us. We accord-
ingly trust that the reflections of M. Levasseur will not be
lost, and that they will inspire-with sentiments of mutual
benevolence men who share the same dangers."

These papers contain fearful accounts of the
ravages causei by a dreadful hurricane on the night
of the 22d. The neighbourhoods of Bordeaux and
Toulouse suffered greatly. There have been several
shipwrecks along the west coast of France.
The Bey of Torus was to sail for Marseilles on
the 24th.

The French Money and Share-markets, influenced
by the rise of prices in London on Saturday, evinced
much firmness for some time after the commencement
of business on Monday. Towards the close, how-
ever, a decline took place, the only reasons stated for
which were the renewed report that the KING was
ill, and that the firm DE ROTHSCHILD, Brothers,
had demanded of the Bank of France 20,000,000 in
ingots, lodged by that house some time since.

The Three per Cents. closed on the Paris Bourse, on
Monday, at 80f. 80e. ; the Five per Cents., 118 f. 75c. ; the
°Hsi= Railroad Shares, 1,207 f. 50c.; mp, 927 f. 50c,;

Havre, 690 f. • Great Northern, 655 f. ; -Avignon, 887 f. 50c. ;
Vierzon, 617 f. 50c. ; Bordeaux, 571 f. 25c. ; Troyes and Mon-
tereau, 3401. ; Bas:e, 220 f.; Dieppe, 3601. ; Paris and Stras-
burg, 4881 75c. ; Tours and Nantes, 492 f. 50c. ' • Paris and
Lyons, 5151. ; Lyons and Avignon, 485 f. ; Bordeaux and
Cette, 455 f. ; Spanish Three per Cents., 384 ; Ditto Do..
mestic Debt, 323/.
MAusEILLzs, DEC. 23.—Marseilles and Avignon, 8851.;
Northern, 645 f.

BUSINESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, DECZNIMER 29.
Boulogne and Amiens, 16314—Dutch Rhenish, 4%—East
Indian, 1/2 Luxembourg, %—Northern of France Consti-
tuted,..ll—Paris and Orleans, 49—Rouen and Havre, 2614.

COLLEGE OF PRECEPTORS.
(THIS DAY.)
The first half-yearly general meeting of the members
of this institution was held shortly after twelve o'clock
this day, at the Freemasons' Tavern. The object of the
College is simply to test the competence of persons
about to undertake the business of instruction, and to
award them a diploma of their competency in the various
branches of education when proved to the satisfac-
tion of the Council, or a body of qualified examiners
to be appointed by them.
The tests for the ensuing year in the branches of edu-
cation on which the preceptors will be examined are thus
specified in the syllabus :
"Lower Commercial Test—Reading. writing, English
grammar, geography, the elements of arithmetic, and
English history.
" Higher Commercial Test—The First Commercial
Test to their fullest extent; and in book-keeping (single
and double entry), English composition, practical geo-
metry, with its application to land surveying and arti-
ficers' work, and in commercial history, or the elements
of political economy.
" Lower Classical Test—On the works of the follow-
ing authors, viz.:—Caesar, Sallust, and the JEneid and
Eclogues of Virgil; with Latin composition; and Roman
and Grecian history.
" Higher Classical Test—Latin and Greek prose and
verse composition ; the history of classical literature;
and ,at least one prose writer and one poet in each
language.
"Lower Mathematical Test—Four books of Euclid,
the elements of algebra, and the elements of plane tri-
gonometry.
" Higher Mathematical Test—Candidates will be ex-
amined by papers selected from the Cambridge Questions
• for Honours, or others suited to test the knowledge pos-
sessed 1).) the candidates, of the higher departments of
the mathematics, and of their application.
"Foreign Languages, &c.—ln the modern and oriental
languages, or in any departments of knowledge not pre-
viously enumerated, will be examined in the theory and
practice of these languages and departments of know-
ledge."

There was a numerous attendance. IL Stein Turrell,
Esq., of Brighton, occupied the chair.
The CHAIRMAN said as those present were acquainted
with the object of the meeting, and as they had testified
the interest which they felt in it by the numbers in
which they attended, he should not detain them with
any observations, but at once proceed to call upon the
Secretary to read the report which had been framed for
presentation to the meeting.
The Secretary (Mr J. Parker) then read the report,which
was somewhat voluminous. It set forth that during the
brief but eventful period of the existence of the institu-
tion, it had given energy to an inert mass which, they
anticipated, if rightly directed, would elevate
the character of the preceptor, by placing him in a more
'independent and elevated position than the profession had
hitherto occupied in this or in any other country. It
went on to say that its promoters had had to contend
with great opposition, they had been ridiculed and ma-
ligned, but relying upon the integrity of their cause they
had succeeded in establishing the institution on a firm
basis, and had induced many of the most eminent mem-
bers of the profession to join it, and they had also suc-
ceeded in obtaining the support of persons of influence
in other ranks of life. Two objections had been raised
against the college; first, it had been stated in some of
the provincial papers that the movement was an anti-
church one. This was wholly untrue, in fact
several members of the Church had enrolled
their names, and some of them occupied seats
in the council. They had no intention of interfering
with the religious sentiments of its members, because
they believed any religious distinction would deprive
those who were Dissenters of a valuable privilege, and
would, moreover, be entirely opposed to the catholicity
of the institution. The second objection was equally
erroneous, neetely, that the object of the college was to
force education into the hands of its members, and that
by the skid of penal enactments it would prevent any one
opening a school without being a member. Their object
was to establish a high standard of education, and to
impress the credentials of those found competent with
the authority of a college incorporated by royal charter,
and not to prevent any one from teaching with-
out its authority. The examiners, who were gentlemen of
eminence, had offered their services for the ensuing exa-
mination gratis. A deputation had waited on Lord John
Russell, who recognised the importance of the cause, and
promised to give the matter his best consideration. They
had received a great accession of members. Last month
upwards of two hundred became members. The fun: :s
hitherto had been equal to the expenditure, which had
up to that time been great, in consequence of the cost
of making the objects of the college more public. After
the discharge of all obligations, yesterday morning a
balance of 501. remained, but with subscriptions not yet
received, it might be taken at 100/. The council recom-
mended the establishment of an Assurance Society and
Provident Benefit Association in connexion with the
college, but wished to defer any decisive steps with re-
spect to it until the next meeting. The number of mem-
bers was 450, and the number of local secretaries 68.
The report was received with loud cheers, and was
unanimously adepted.
Mr. FREEMAN, of Enfield, proposed rescinding that
portion of the 10th rule which limited the admission of
principals of schoois, without ballot or examination,
until June, 1847. and the substitution of the Ist of
January. lie urged in support of the alteration that i 4
the time remained open until June, numbers of unquali-
fied persons would pay the guinea subscription, and
swamp the scholastic mind of the institution, but after
having obtained admission they would perhaps discon-
tinue their contributions, thinking they had obtained the
qualification cheaply. Those rejected would have a
right of appeal to the next meeting, whose decision
should be binding.
The Rev. Dr. STODDART seconded the proposition,
and availed himself of the opportunity to state that he
had recently received a letter from one of the most dis-
tinguished masters in the High School of Edinburgh,
stating that means were being taken to establish a simi-
lar college in Edinburgh.
The motion was carried unanimously.
Various alterations in the rules were proposed by the
Rey. Dr. WILSON, and seconded by Mr. GOODACRE of
Nottingham.
The Rev. Mr. WALKER. of Maidstone, proposed that
the following titles should be awarded to those found
competent in the various branches :—M. C. P. (Member
of the College of Preceptors) first and second class—
A.C.P. (Associate of the College of Preceptors) to pro-
ficients in foreign languages, &c., and the highest title to
those proficient in the native languages.
The Rev. Dr. WILSON, in proposing a vote of thanks to
the chairman and secretary, said, the welfare of the
empire depended upon the success of such
an institution as this, because men must be
instructed before they could comprehend the doctrines
of revelation, and the nature of the moral relations. It
was, therefore, incumbent upon them to join hand and
heart in a work of so much importance. Their objects
were entirely disinterested—wholly free from selfishness
—the grand object they had in view was to elevate the
profession and to bind them together for
their common good.—(Loud cheers.) Let them
remember that Aristotle was only a schoolmaster,
and that his highest boast was to have taught Alexander
the Great.—(Cheers.) Hitherto, the interests of educa-
tion, and of those engaged in its promulgation would
not be neglected in this country, because its teachers
would lapse into professional existence, like the apothe-
cary and the lawyer. They would become a fourth
profession.—(Cheers.) It would compel a man to stand
upon his own legs, and if he was unfitted for the task
he undertook, society would not support him. The meet-
ing, and the unanimity which had characterised it, would
be a great stimulus to the local secretaries to promote a
knowledge of the valuable nature of the college.—
(Hear, hear.) Dr. W. Barrow suggested many years
ago
,that books should be printed under the. superin-
tendence of a council of schoolmasters for general use in
the schools of the college. The present books were
inefficient and costly, but if proper books were prepared
in the way suggested, he (Dr. Wilson) anticipated that
a surplus would be created from the sale, which would
go a great way to relieve the widows and orphans of
teachers. —(Loud cheers.) A large income might be
realised. For instance, they might have a grammar
of their own. It was true they might not improve the
Eton grammar, but they might compile one which would
redound to their credit, and it as well as other books
would produce a large revenue. Then the establish-
ment of an assurance, or benefit institution, would enable
young men who only contributed a few pounds a year to
accumulate a large fund for future exigencies, and if he
wanted money in order to get married, or to speculate
in railways— (Loud laughter)—he might obtain it from
such an institution.
Mr. WHARTON, of Brighton, seconded the motion, and
descanted upon the generous feeling and unanimity of
the meeting.
The Rev. Dr. STODDART, in putting the motion,
which was carried by acclamation, stated that they in-
tended to hold a public meeting in January, in order to
explain the objects of the college ; and a dinner would
also take place in the same month.—(Cheers.)
Mr. COLEDIAN, of Sandgate, Kent, stated that he pre-
sided over a meeting recently held at Ashford, which
pledged itself to support the college. He hoped
similar meetings would be held throughout the whole
country.—(Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN returned thanks for himself and Mr.
Parker, and the meeting broke up.

THE IRON TRADE.—Our Birmingham Correspond-
ent says—" It is now understood, in well-informed
quarters, that ;ft the forthcoming quarterly meeting of
ironmasters no advance on present prices will be pro.
posed. The demand for rails and chairs is such as would
Justify an advance, but as that would be immediately
followed by a strike among the miners, if their wages
were not materially increased, and as it would have the
effect of crushing many of the small manufacturers,
whose profits are already reduced to the lowest point by
the high cost of the raw material, it is deemed most ad-
visable to let things remain as they are. Coals have
again advanced a shilling a ton."
Sir Henry Fetherstonhaugh, Bart., late of Up
Park, Sussex, has left the whole of his estates, real and
personal, to his relict, Lady Fetherstonhaugh. The per-
sonalty and funded property was estimated at 30,0001.
Ile lied to the adrauted age of 92.