The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-24 00:00:00

E. R. FOSTER, Resident Director.
ANDREW FRANCIS, Secretary.

CPARDIAN FI

ASSURINCE

No. 11, Lombard.
DIREC
PRAXCIS HART DYKE,
ItENRY HULSE BEREN'
u,,0,h11 Dixon Esq.
.."!tW. ISt. I'. Farquhar, Bart.
;It' Walter R. Farquhar, P.
JahnlTankey, Esq.. M-P•
Harvey, Esq.
(.-111 G. Hubbard, Esq.
.17,?rg0 Johnstone, Esq.
L
.0111. t Labonehere Esq.
oeb, ESq.

RE AND LIFE
cr_)NIPANY,

•xtrect, London.

!TORS.

, Esq., Chairman.
Esq., Deputy-Chairman.
Atewart Marjoribanks, Esq.
John Martin, Esq., %I.P.
Rowland Niitchell, Esq.
James Morris, Esq.
Henry Norman, Esq.
Henry R. Reynolds, ESQ.
John Thornton, Esq.
James Tulloeh. Esq.
Henry Vigne, Esq.

w. • AUDITORS.
I,_ Robarts, Esq. I Henry Sykes Thornton. Esq.
°Wls Lloyd, jun., Esq. 1 John Henry Smith, Esq.
GeOrge Keys, Esq., Secretary.
h_tpi,„„ ,i, Samuel Brown, Esq., Actuary.
'Ate fl'; IPA.RTN•fI,`IT Under the provisions of an Act of Par-
Vrit-oraTi3tas ,rticitil:Q otininnq nowiii,ol , 144 l''''' 'hi' Company.— otters to future insurers Four-fifths of
Division, or a Low Rate of Premium
ti fuePnrotits.
kl.llZ,,:ext division or Profits will he declared in June, 1860, when
14 QlrTell)ating Policies which shall have subsisted at least one year
. At eniati, 1859, will be allowed to share in the Profits.
't*ErBfoe nYe divisions of Profits made by this Company, the total
.. At elßomises
thecaadd to the Policies have ex ceed•al 913.00
il4,24,:rn"ittnas, 1854, ssurances in force amounted t 0 upwards
n." 141 20' n'Ill• 1 the Income from the Lite Branch in 1854 was more
I_aram.s.r"),.• ; and the Life Assurance Fund (independent of the
...3011/;? ,'apital) exceeded 1,700,000/.
"qh d w.::(1N RISKS.—The Extra Premiums required for the East
'lllto,l-` Indies, the British Colonies, and the northern parts of the
141„, ~tate.
Of America have been materially reduced.
vroittl ALID LIVES ---P;rsons who are not in such sound health as
key h enable them 'to. insure' their Lives at the Tabular Premiums,
1,0,,T. their es insured at Extra Premiums.
Vided'ir 8 granted on Life Policies to the extent of their
values, pro-
et Policies shall have been effected a sufficient time to have
Agsteitn each case a value not under 501.
-I'4 eco-IENITS OF POLICIES.—WrItton Notices of, received
14-h-“Ntered,' '
tbkl;`,•:,4lAL PEES paid by the Company, and no charge will be
IC .vr l'olicY Stamps.
d tae i
;re at Lady-
-43, 3 hereby given, that Fire Policies which exp
NI
Rsk nbe renewed withirillfteen days at this •,(11,e, or with r.
N°.
I ' ' .of Pall • or with the
trip"„, . St. James s•street, co, . rrr all— • ,
"'id ", 1 agents throughout the kingdom, Otherwise they bnonl.
tossti caused by Explosion of Gas are admitted by this Company.

RA.D. 1720.
°-YA L EMCHANGE ASSURANCE
(Zit CORPORATION,
Ahllahed by Charter of his Majesty George the First).
• For SEA, FIRE, LIFE, and ANNUITIES.
OFFICES—ROYAL EXCHANGE, LONDON.
BRANCH OFFICE-29, PALL-MALL.
Ootayius Wigram, Esq., Governor.
Sir
ark,: siLußbabroolcaiNEasro:: b
Bart.. teputy-Grnoverrnor.

lie, •
ttith-‘3'l33.lnbrid e, Esq. -
Charles John Manning, Esq.
acji-44 S. P. Cgs.lvertLEsq• Hon. John T. Leslie Melville.
.ile,„.(lrrett
Esq. Esq. Henry Nelson, Esq.
,A,4,4":.4, er Colvin, Edward Howley Palmer. Esq.
W, 111.:-,,,`L Raxwell Daniel, Esq. Sir John Henry Pelly, Bart.
414' Nvidson Rsq. E.
Alexander P. Prevost, Esq.
tivertl';* ruce,'F Abraham George Roharts, Esq
'...'4Therl'e WM. Gresuiliell, Esq Charles Robinson, Esq.
illb„."Madeus Heath Esq • William Soltau, Esq.
-4144441eCci.tTe„
_esitl. aor7 told bgb' son , EEss q. . Thomas Tooke, Esq.
William Wallace, Esq.
i..tfolland, ERN Charles Baring Young, Esq.
ti
_MEDICAL REF ERSE. —Samuel Sony, Esq., F.R.S.
1414('Mse?',„ The usual fifteen days allowed for payment of Fire Pre-
,, lisitttamag due at Lady-day will expire on the 9th April.
"tatio„ and LIFE ASSURANCES may be effected with this Cor-
i In th"e.,°4 advantageous terms.
4DroAh'ire nepartment assurances are granted with participation
lower Premium. without such participation.
Ilst follewi
hiti.p:eemicwilrgotAbsle hor3wr th Argo BONUSES dec'ared up to the
sitbhe large BONUSE' dec!ared up to the
r 1815, on liritith T'artiiipating Policies of fourteen
s's--......."1ng, for tlioensum of 1,0001. each.

DIRECTORS.

---.........._-___T-s, tor the sum of I,Utiu6. eacn.
Re
A"lien Addition Further Per Cent. Per Cent.
"miturea. Made in Addition Total no* annum on the
........5..... 1848. in Addition on the 'urn Premium
1855. Assured. paid
--__
---- —__ -- ---.
30 X X X
35 102 112 214 1'53 59'3
.
40 . 106 115 221 1.64 541
45 113 121 234 167 50'5
ao 121 128 149 1.78 4`x•2
65 135 140 275 1'95 430
60 149 154 303 2'16 39'9
~,,_ 166 174 349 2 43 37'2

1--Ptclho ent reductions have been made in the Premiums payable
Der Sons who preferred that form of Bonus.
_Any Lture division of Profit will take place every Five Years.
"tnt not exceeding 15,0001. may be insured en one life.
'T(3°r.ik..Poration affords to the Assured
liabiZat Partldpatlon in PrAits—with exemption from the
`"es or partnership.
ties rate of Bonus equal to the average returns of Mutual Soda-
With the guarantee of a large inv sled Capital Stock.
ofilne advantages of modern practice—with the security of an
4e—Lee whose resources 41.1111 Century and a-half have been to Led by the experience of
ROYAL EXCHANGE, LONDON.
JOHN- A. HIGHAM. Actuary and Secretary.

F HOWARD, Surgeon-Dentist, 52, Fleet-
NIN street, has introduced an entirely new desc"iptlon of A
IitTI-
ree,I"TEETH, fixed without springs, wires, or ligatures. They so
545 o Y resemble the natural teeth as not to he disOuguished from
ty l'inai by the closest observer: they will never change colour or
4413 ' Ild will be found very superior to any teeth ever before used.
rata thud does not require the extraction of rosts, or any painful
mar °n. and will support and preserve teeth that are loose, and is
tklarerd to restore articu'ation and mastication. Decayed teeth
"fto f...,,
"Al ten and useful In mastication.--52, Fleet-street. At
till 11 YO.

MONSTER MORTAR.—LIVERPOOL, March 22.—Messrs.
George Forrester and the eminent engineers, have
completed the manufacture of a monster mortar for her
Maj.-sty's Government, capable of throwing a shell 18
inches in diameter. This immense piece of ordnance
was east at the Vauxhall Foundry from charcoal pig
iron, received from the :Royal Arsenal, at Woolwich, 0,
production of the Briti.h colony at Nova Scotia, from
the mines of the Acadian Iron Company there, and is,
therefore, very important, as developing a new brand
of our colonial industry, which may prove of great ser-
vice both for warlike purposes and the arts of peace
The weight of the casting was of the enormous (pant&
of 25 tons, and the weight, as complete, is 14i tons.
The length is 7 feet 6 inches, the diameter 3 feet
9 inches, the bore 18 inches, and the diameter acros
the trunnions is 6 feet 7 inches, the diameter of tb.
trunnions being 18 inches. The mortar will pas
through the town on Monday, on its way to the Royal
Arsenal, at Woolwich.

The Lightning has arrived at Liverpool, with
advices from Melbourne to the 28th of December.
She brings 12,000 ounces of gold dust.
The.Gipsy Bride hence had arrived out on the
26th of December.

The Schoenberg is reported to have been wrecked
off Cape Ocway. Passengers and crew swell.

The Red Jacket has arrived out.
The political advices are unimportant.

The Legislative Council of New South Wales bad
been prorogued.
The demand for money was not active, and but
few transactions had taken place. In consequence
of large speculations in breadstuff's, tobacco, spirits,
wine, (ITC., there wax considerably more animation
throughout the various markets.
The grain and flour markets quiet ; the price of
flour was 361. for firsts, 281. for seconds.

In Hobart Town the decline iu breadstuffs was
progressing. Price of gold, 3/. 143. Gd.
The ship Blackwall for London, has 88,000
ounces of gold on freight. She left on the 13th of
December.

The Red Jacket, for Liverpool, was intended to
leave on the 18th of January. _ .

Through the courtesy of Messrs. Baines and Co.
we have received our correspondent's letter via
Cork :

" Melbourne, Dec. 25.

"Having heard that in consequence of some 9
damage which the Lightning had sustained at sea
a survey had been held upon her, and that she
might be detained for some days, I wrote by the
Blackwell, advertised to sail on the 22d inst. ; but,
as the Lightning will sail to-morrow morning, and,
as the B'eeikwall is still in port, I shall rewrite an
account of recent events, and my letter by the
Blackwell may, probably, be put into the fire.
"By the James Baines (25th of November) and
the Emma (10th of December) T have already put
you in possession of the leading events connected
with the throes and travail of what the official
members call responsible Government. The Con-
stitutional Act passed here is now, as you know,
the schedule of an act of Parliament, and therefore
is parcel thereof,' and to be ' read therewith.' By
the sth section of the act the Governor is directed
to proclaim it within one month after a copy shall
have been received in the colony, and it is to ' take
effect from the day of such proclamation.' But
the last section of the schedule bill enacts that 'the
foregoing provisions of this act shall have no force
or effect until (among other things) the entire
management of the waste lands of the Crown and
the proceeds thereof shall he vested in the Legis-
lature of the said colony.' This section is recited
in the preamble of the act of Parliament, and an
interpretation clause' in the act explains the word
'Legislature' to mean the new Legislature called
into existence by the new act. This Legislature
cannot have its birth until the present Council
shall have passed an electoral act.
" The present or rather late officers of the Go-
vernment—for we have an interregnum—chose to
act upon the first section, and to hold that the new
constitution came into force and effect on the 23d
of November ; but the representative members
considered that the affirmative word of the fifth
section were merely .directory, and they were en-
tirely overridden by the negative words of the last
section, which were enactive and imperative, and
that the full-blown constitution could not come
into operation until such a legislature was in exist-
enee as to satisfy the interpretation clause of the
new act, the only body that could take the ' entire
Control and management of the waste lands of the
Crown and the proceeds thereof.'
" Entertaining these views, after the official gen-
tlemen had gone through a sort of pantomime of
resigning their offices and receiving new commis-
sions, being sworn in anew on the 30th of Novem•
ber, the representative members met together and
framed a set of resolutions, a copy of which I have
already Sent you, together with the Governor's
minute. These resolutions were moved on the 4th
of December by Dr. Greeves, one of the city mem-
bers, were debated two days, but were lost, the
Government having a majority of one.
"This may be deemed the commencement of an
organised oppowtion.
"On the 18th, in pursuance of a previous notice,
Mr. William Nicholson, member for the metropoli-
tan county of North Bourke, moved a resolution
in favour of the ballot. This motion was not made
in concert with the representative members gene
rally, and there was no need whatever for treating
it as a question to try the strength of the Govern-
ment ; but Mr. Haines, the Chief Secretary, an-
nounced that the members of the Government were
unanimously opposed to it, and anti-ballot was un-
derstood to be a Government principle. The sub-
ject was debated on two consecutive evenings, and
was carried by a majority of ,33 to 25—a very
majority, when it is considered that the Govern-
ment has the power of appointing 22 members of
the House, of whom 11 may be officials, and it has
actually exercised that power to the extent of ap-
pointing 18, though some of their nominees voted
for the ballot.

"On Thursday, the 20th, Mr. Haines announced
to the house that he and his colleagues had tendered
their resignations, and that they only held office
until their successors could bo appointed ; and on
the following day Mr. William Nicholson, the
mover of the ballot resolution, was 'sent for.' The
morning papers found no difficulty in making a
programme of a Ministry founded on fact, or rather
on the position occupied by certain names in the
public mind.
"The work which Mr. Nicholson has to perform
is one of considerable difficulty. In the first place,
not one of the men he must take have had any ex-
pectation of being suddenly called upon to make a
Ministry. Their opposition has not been conducted
like that of men who, being for a time, by a turn
of the wheel of fortune, out, have ever present to
their minds the probability or possibility of being
again in. Again, only one on the opposition side
has had experience in office of a Ministerial charac-
ter—namely, Mr. Chapman. But then, on the
other hand, the experience of the official party is
not great, except that of Mr. Stawell, the Attor-
ney-General, and some of them have turned out
failures. Some of the Opposition, however, hav-
ing been accustomed to wield very extensive affairs
of business will soon find that affairs of State are
not more difficult. Another difficulty is that Mr.
O'Shanassy, Dr. Greevcs, and Mr. Fawkner, who
have acted with the representative members, voted
against the ballot. They are said to be greatly
mortified by the result, and with the exception,
perhaps, of Dr. Greeves, will do all they can to
damage Mr. Nicholson's Administration.
" And now let me introduce you to a peculiar
phase of social and political life in our colonies.
Mr. Nicholson is, perhaps, the very best man in
that house to command respect for his administra-
tion. His integrity is spotless ; he is endowed with
common sense in no ordinary degree, and he has
that administrative capacity which the architects
of a commercial fortune cannot be destitute of.
He has an appropriate command of good mother
English, uttered with a not unpleasing Cumber-
land accent. Although ho commenced life as a
grocer, it would be very difficult to select from
the PSG members of the House a man so well en-
titled to the confidence of the House and the coun-
try—and he has it.
" If the Ministerial defeat had taken place on
the resolutions, the member sent for would most
likely have been O'Shanassy, and he, like Nichol-
son, is a colonial phenomenon of not unfrequent
occurrence. He is a man of considerable ability,
good power of speaking, and untiring industry.
He is in, easy circumstances—the results of a small
shop, between a slop-shop and a millinery shop, in
Melbourne. This he keeps up still, managed, I
believe, by some of his family ; whereas, Mr. Ni-
cholson has exchanged the shop for the counting-
house and the craft of the merchant. Now, what
I wish to point out is that these men are estimated
for their personal qualifications, and none but a
few boobies ever think of the shop, except as a
for‘m‘ Nat°iotlininogf
source of credit.
understood
otho-ed
sunads sto
this afternoon that all Mr. Nicholson's difficulties
hastl) e been Ministry,
w was
had vanished into thin air, and that to-morrow he
will be prepared to submit his list to Sir Charles
Hallam, who has been very ill for some days, but
is now better. The Government have had seven
public officers in' the house—naraely, the Chief
Secretary, the Treasurer, the Attorney-General,
the rSolicitor-General, the Chief Commissioner of
Trade and Customs, the Commissioner of Crown
Lands and Surveyor-General, and the Commis-
sioner of Public Works. Of these Captain Clarke
(formerly Denison's private secretary), Surveyor-
General, and alsO Commissioner of Crown Lands,
is, it is reported, willing to retain his office of Sur-
veyor-General, and to leave his Parliamentary
functions to the Commissioners of Crown Lands.
The Colonial Engineer and Commissioner of Public
Works, Captain Paisley, will do the like ; and the

following is believed to constitute the Ministerial
list :
Colonial Secretary—W. Nicholson.
Treasurer—Goodman.
Attorney-General—Chapman.
SolicitorGeneral---Molesworth (?)
Trade and Ciistimas—M`Culloch. -
Crown Lands and Survey-L.-Dr.% :Greeves (or
Millar) and Captain Clarke.
Public Works—Millar (or Dr. GreeVes) and Cap 7
tain Pasley.
" The policy of this Ministry will probably be to
pass an elector al act, and an act against bribery,
and then dissolve and issue the new writs as soon
las possible. Measures of any importance, especially
such as involve the expenditure of mongy% ought to
be left to the more perfectly- representative Legis-
lature. A portion of the present Council was elc cted.
when the population of the colony was under 80.,000;
another portion when it was about 150,000 ; the
members for the diggings alone represent the new
state of things. The population must now be at
least 320,000.
" I hope you will not consider the above to be
too large a dose of local politics. Oar colonial
vanity makes us believe that details connected with
our inauguration of a newpoJonial system ought to
interest the metropollrlif nearly half. a hundred
colonies and dependencies.
" I ought to add that the interpretation put by
the law officers of the Crown in Sydney upon
clauses of the New South Wales Constitution, ex-
actly similar to those upon whiah I have commented,
coincides with that of our Opposition,' and not
with that of the late law officers of the Crown.

" The supply of gold keeps up, and, as quartz-
crushing machinery improves, the quantity is likely
rather to increase than diminish. The following
statement of the receipts by escort and exports is
from Mr. weekly account, and is complete
up to last Saturday :
" ' The escorts have brought from •

Oza.
Ballarat, including Geelong.. 20,211
Moo ntAleianderand Bendigo 15,436
The Ovens
Fiery Creek
Maryborough
111lIvor 954
Daisy-hill
Avoca

-- Org.
Amount this week
Gold shipped in 1855 .
Per Rajah of Sarawak to Calcutta
Ajax to London
Steamers to Sydney

2,534,233
Or, 105 tons, 11 cwt. 3 qrs. 111 b. 1 oz. at 803—£10,136,932
" Exchange on London.—a-aughts afgainbt gold
purchased at 2 per cent. discount.
" Freight.•-4d. per oz., delivered at the bullion-
office, 133,1,1 c of England, London.'

"On the 31st of last month there was a very
destructive fire at Ballarat. It originated in an
inn, which it destroyed, with the Adelphi and se-
veral other buildings, mostly of wood. Unfortu-
nately, several lives were lost, You have most
likely had particulars from the newspapers.
" On the 16th and 17th instant, a calamity not
less destructive of life and property occurred in a
heavy flood, of which the fallowing is the news-
paper account :

" ' On the evening of the former day, and again on li
the latter, a thunderstorm was followed by a tremendous
shower of hailstones as large as marbles, and by a deluge
of rain. The gullies were soon flooded by to,rents, and
the ordinary channels (roved quite insufficient to carry
off the water ; houses and stows were carried away ;
the deep shafts, sunk With much toil and at great ex-
pense, were filled to the brim and bad their works un
dermined, and piles of washing stuff were swept away.
The destruction of property consequent on this flood is
estimated at 120,0001. By this visitation, too, there
was a lamentable loss of life, six persons having been
drowned on the evening of the 16th. The severity of
this calamity, it is stated, would have been much dimi-
nished had proper precautions been taken to provide for
the unimpeded flow of the water by its natural channels.
The necessity of the erection of Ballarat into a munici-
pal
ity is obvious fronatwo events. Measures
might then be taken fez: mi sting-the effect of such
occurrence 4, if they mould not ein a great measure pre-
vented.' ''