The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-11 00:00:00

Adair, Hugh E.

Bass, M. T. KerSliw, James Scully, Francis
Blake, M. J. King, I'. J. Somers, J. P.
Blewitt, R. J. Lawless, Cecil Sullivan, Michael
Brotherton, J. M'Cullagh, W. T. Tenison, E. K.
Butler, P. S. Magan, W. H. Thornely, Thomas
Devereux, J. T. Meagher, Thomas Wakley, T.
Forster, Matthew Pechell, Sir G. Williams, John
Gibson, T. M. Pilkington, James Wood, W. P.
Goold, Wnydham Power, Dr.
Grace, 0. 1). Power, Nicholas
Greens, John Reynolds, John
lley worth, Lawrence Roche, E. B.

TELLIES.
Anstey, T. C.

Fagan, William

MAJORITY-NOES, 175.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS.

(From the Totes and Proceedings of the House of Commons.)
NOTICES GIVEN AT TIIE PRIVATE BILL OFFICE.
The undernamed Bills are appointed to be read a second
time on Wednesday, Feb. 12 :
London and Blackwall Railway (Branch to Haydon-square,
Whitechapel, &c.)
Birmingham Improvement.
London and Blackwall Railway (Extension of Time for the
Widening, &c.)
South Staffordshire Railway (Branches to join the Birming-
ham, Wolverhampton, and Stour Valley Railway, kc.)
South Wales Railway (No. 2).
Killarney Junction Railway.
Ulster Canal and Union Railway.
Dublin, Dundrum. and Rathfarnham Railway.
East Lancashire Railway.
Perth Petty and Market Customs Amendment.
Wicklow Harbour.
Liverpool Docks (Alteration of Management, &c.)
St. Helen's Improvement.
Second reading for Thursday, Feb. 13 :
South Staffordshire Railway (Extension to Burton-upon-
Trent, &c.)

THE THURGOLAND MURDER.
This inquiry, extending over three days, was brought
,o a close on Saturday evening. The only additional
facts were the finding of some bullets, which formed part
of a number which a man named Simpson had cast for
the prisoner in December last, and which he had received
as the reward for his trouble for so doing; these, on being
compared with the slug found in the head of the
deceit:cid, were found to be similar in size and weight.
_A: ,
constable named White, of Barnsley, also stated the sub-
stance b
stance of a conversation which ensued between thei_
prisoner and himself on Thursday last. The
Ptihe
soner at that time made various inquiries
constable as to the nature of the evidence
him, and whether the constable thouot,
he was committed to York, he
would be against
He further inquired if the constable ever remembered
a case of persons having s
'offered death without
supposing
sufficient evidence being
he had ever known
of a similar charge of o
adduced of persons having
seen them do the deed;
whethere brother shooting another;
and, further, if he ever knew any person charged
with
and, i
f wilful
so, where were
These
[' goff with transportation;
who were transported for
singular queries evidently
murder getting
personse
life usually sent to.
show that the mind of the prisoner when he put them
washe balancing
t
the possible sequence of the charge. At
over of the evidence the prisoner was brought
he room and the whole of the evidence read
in his presence. He appeared to pay great at-
intot conclusion
at-
tention to the evidence of each witness, and at its
termination remarked that many of the statements therein
contained were wrong. He entered into a variety of
explanations of a minor character respecting the pos-
sess of the gun and its being stolen out of the
engine-house on the night of the murder; but he stu-
diously avoided any mention of his own movements
after leavieg work at six o'clock up to his return home
early on the following morning. Neither did he give
any explanation of his singular dialogue with the con-
stable. The coroner having summed up, the jury were
locked up to consider their verdict, and after delibe-
rating fur three-quarters of ha hour made the following
return:—" We tind a verdict of wilful murder against
sumo person or reruns unknown. We, however, con-

As regarded the cost of patents, evidence was quotad
to show that the present cost could only be advocated, on
the presumption of its being a sort of check to the p'-
tenting of useless inventions, and this it was shown not
to have effected, but that it ad rather acted as a bar to
the introduction of useful improvements. This was
proved by statistical facts showing the number of inven-
tions patented in foreign countries, from which Great
Britain derived no benefit.
The disadvantages arising from the necessity of ob-
taining distinct patents, for the three kingdoms, were
strongly insisted on, and the impossibility of satisfactorily
establishing an international patent-right was clearly
proved.

- With respect to the duration of patent grants, it was
shown, that if the term of the grant was sufficient to
induce inventors to bring forward their discoveries, the
desired object of granting patents was obtained; and the
burden of most of the insufficiencies of the actual term,
of fourteen years, devolved on those who advocated a
further extension.
From this inquiry it was concluded--
That the rights of inventors to the fiuita of their
labours were based on the same grounds as those of
artists and literary men.
That the proper period for their recognition was when
a patent was applied for.
That au inventor had no moral right to more than a
limited interest in his discovery.
That priority of invention should not of necessity
confer a legal right to a patent; but that it was to the
inventor who first claimed a patent (supposing there to
be more than one), that the privilege should be granted.
That the definition in the Act of James 1., of what
was a patentable invention, was amply sufficient, and
therefore required no amendment.
That• the present tax on patents_ had proved a serious
check to the development of invention, without con-
ferring any corresponding advantage.
That the recognition of the rights of inventors in
Great Britain, by the grant of three distinct patents,
tended to narrow the application of their ingenuity to
one division of the United Kingdom.
That inventions should be protected by one grant in
the United Kingdom; and that any attempt at inter-
national arrangement would be impracticable.
That the existing term of patents required no ex-
tension.
And that patents should no: be renewable at the
option of the patentee.
The discussion was commenced, and being adjourned
until the next meeting, will bo then reported.
A model of a self-acting siding stop for railways, de-
signed by Mr. Charles Button Gregory, M. Inst. C. E.,
was exhibited and explained.
The stop consisted of a block of wood shod with iron,
and either turning or falling across the rail. A counter
weight retained it when down in the iron chairs on each
side of the rail, and being connected with the switch by
a wire-rope and two bell cranks, both must be moved
simultaneously. When the switch was set for the main
line, the counter weight kept the stop on the rail, and
closed the siding, but when the switch was set for the
siding, the weight was drawn up, and the block turned
over, so as to leave the rail clear, thus leaving the siding
uninterrupted. It was explained that by the same ar-
rangement a block might be made to move sideways, or
to slide transversely across the rail. The use of this atop
involved no extra labour, as it was worked simulta-
neously with the switch; it was very cheap and simple
in its construction, not costing more than 31., and was
not liable to derangement. It had been made for the
Bristol and Exeter Railway, by Mr. Hennett, of Bridge-
water, and was found to act well in practice.
It was announced from the chair that the discussion on
Mr. Newton's paper would be resumed at the next
meeting.
_ _

At the monthly ballot the following candidates were
duly elected: Messrs. W. Hartree, J. D, Rigby, and T.
Waterman, as associates.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

Captain Beechey, who has been on the northern coast en-
ceavouring to reconcile the seamen to the observances of the
provisions of the New Mercantile Marine Act, and to settle
disputes between the seamen and the shipowners, has returned
to the Admiralty.
The statement of the terms under which Mr. Cook, late
master-commander of the Admiralty yacht, Black Eagle,
has accepted his new appointment under the Board of Ord-
nance, is incorrectly given.
Arrogant, 46-gun frigate, Captain R. S. Robinson, calls at
Plymouth for a few hours, on her way for Spithead to Lisbon,
to join Commodore Martin's squadron.
Athol store-ship, Lieut.-Commander Pearce, calls at Ply-
mouth on her way from Spithead to Ascension.
Avon steam-tender, Second Master Veitch, returned to
Devonport, from the eastern ports, on Sunday.
Hercules store-ship, Master-Commander Fulton, arrived at
Queenstown on Friday, to embark troops for the Mediter-
ranean.
Meander, 44, Captain the Hon. Henry Keppel, is likely to
bring home a large freight of specie from the Pacific. She
is expected at Spithead about the end of May.
Penguin, 6, Commander Etheridge, was mustered, in-
spected, and paid advance, at Devonport, on Saturday, by
Commodore Lord John Hay, and sailed on Sunday morning
for the coast of Africa.
Rochester lighter, Ludwicks master, sailed from Devon-
port, with stores, for Chatham, on Saturday.
Sampson steam-frigate, Capt. T. L. Jones, on embarking
Sir Emerson Tennent and suite at Devonport, is ordered $0
keep her tender, the Bloodhound steam-vessel, company un-
til she arrives at Madeira; she will then dispatch the Blood-
hound to Sierra Leone, and will proceed thence direct to St.
Helena, where she will land the Governor, and then return
The. bottom of
Commander-in-Chief of the coast of Africa.
to Ascension, and report herself to Commodore Fanshawe, the
the Bloodhound having been coated, and
morning.
Admiral tj3
dry, she was taken out of No. 5 Dock
it wi 1 yesterdaybe remembered,
Admiral De Is Suisse,
com-
manded in chief the French arrival at Porta-
Intarhe"."boaw 1"
boatswain held
French, is appointed '•
h with the late King of the I ice-
mout
Board, in place of Admiral Hu
President of the Admiralty
indr squadron on
itst.
harbour,.l"r breach
Hugan
admitted to retirement.
court-martial
to-morrow on board
receiving-ship twain of her
Majesty's
l'oaTsstourn,
of discipline.
n stem-frigate Birkenhead has been brought down
The fro tlpfeAVri-ctory
moorings to take in coals. She wil' b
e from her
eon:inns-
sioned to-morrow by Mr. Robert Salmond, Master (1838), for
special service. Mr. Salmond will command the Birkenhead.
Ile is late of the Vengeance, 84, and Retribution steam-
frigate, and is one of the most skilful and able masters in the
British navy,
The Wellington arrived at Spithead this morning to em-
bark mails and passengers for Port Philip. We have private letters from the squadron of Commodore
Wyvill, the Commander-in• Chief on the Cape of Good Hope
station, which state that the Fox, 42, Commodore Lambert,
arrived at Simon's Bay, from England, on the3d of December.
She would sail thence in a few days for Trincomalee. Lieute-
nant-General Sir Harry Smith, K.C.8., the Governor of the
Cape Colony, embarked, with 500 men of the 73d Regiment
and a body of artillery, on the sth of December for the
mouth of the Buffalo, disturbances having again broken out
among the Kafirs. The Castor, 36, Commodore Wyvill,
had been absent from Simon's Bay ten months in the Noe-
zambique, but had been unsuccessful in cruising. T_la
Orestes, 14, Commander Hawkes, was in Simon's Bay refit-
loon 10 Com-
ting, on the sth of December ; aril the Pante.
cruising, together
mender Parker, was in the Mozambique,
with the Dee steam-vessel.
Towphalul

A PPOIN TMENTS.
WOOLWICH, FEB. 10.— Chief Engineer—Charles Pemba-
ton, to the Birkenhead steam-troop-ship, at Portsmouth.
T. H. Spence, to the Birkenhead.
Assistant-Engineers—Joshua C. Robinson, James Morris,
Benjamin Greetham, George. Kitchingman, James Stnart.
and Charles Makey, to the Birkenhead.
Masters'-Assistants —William C. Buck, to the Fisgard flag-
ship,
elnodfiateht:tion.
Fisgard,
lwickh'reshfield (1847), to the Victory flag-ship,
sliip,atW
Clerks—Johnoo
ceiving-ship, at Malta, to the Cumberland, 70 flag-ship,
at Portsmouth; John 11. DufFell (1850), to the Ceylon re..
mthoendW,
and now
Commander of the Birkenhead, left Woolwich today for
Portsmouth.
fitting
Masterat Chatham
Robert
sf oari

---
CHESTEit AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY.—We hare
reason to believe that the past half-year's working of tlis lino
is of a very promising character.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.
(William Cubitt, Esq., President in the chair.)
On Tuesday last the paper read was "An In into
the nature of Patent Law protection, with a view to the
better appreciation and security of the Rights of In-
ventors," by Mr. A. V. Newton.
The object being rather to elicit facie, with a view to
forming a basis for some legislative amelioration of the
patent laws, than to detail the anomalies and. incon-
veniences of the present system; the paper only touelied
on such points of the actual practice of granting patents,
as were conceived to be bad in Principle, and omitted,
almost entirely, the cumbrous and antiquated machinery
still employed in effecting the grants. •
The policy of granting any patents at all was diecussed,
with the view of ascertaining whether, under certain
circumstances, such protection to inventors had 'not
proved detrimental to the interests of the manufacturers;
and in considering this point, it was necessary totextunine
the relation of inventions to other creations of the mind;
—as literary and artistic productions, whose right to
protection had been universally admitted. If then, it
was argued, a literary composition, a picture, a statue, a
decoration, or an invention, be equally the production of
the exertion of human intellect, all must be equallyzen-
titled to protection. The Copyright Act bad secured to
and the designer, the benefits
resulting ar
ullittienrgfy mromathe the
ir
m artist,ena
l labours, and the patent law
should be rendered so simple as to afford similar protec-
tion to the boni-fide inventor.
The period at which the protection of a patent should
commence was next considered. The Copyright Act
t
availed the author, or the artist, from the time his work
assumed a tangible shape; but protection for an inven-
tion only commenced with the date of the patent. Now,
no two precisely similar literary, or artistic works had
ever been produced; but numerous instances might be
adduced of improvements in the useful arts havlngbien
repeatedly and simultaneously re-invented. This was
natural, as the peculiar wants of the period induced 'the
exertion of similar talents in the same directim Thy
merit of the inventor, then, appeared to be kin.,
stalling of time and therefore it was only just to the
publici that a limit should be assigned to the existent*
of the inventor's interest is his discoveries.
As swards& the person to whom protection aboald be
granted, supposing that several applications were simul-
taneously made for a patent, for an identical invention, it
was held. that the first applicant for a patent, in the
absence of all fraud, or collusion, should have the grant
made to him; but that no claim should be entertained
without the setting forth of the real inventor's name in
the title.
The Act of James the First, as to the definition of
what was a patentable invention, was examined, and was
shown to be satisfactory, and that its vagueness con-
stituted its great merit.