The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-16 00:00:00

A.WI,E-7--wGENCE

CHANCERY.—(THIS DAY.)
The Lord Chancellor, after disposing of the lunatic
iPetitions on his paper, proceeded to hear the further
utneets in the part-heard appeal of Pudby v. The
nc,,ln Water Workr, which occupied the Court the
for morning.. His Lordship rose at an early hour,
o.‘r the purposo of attending the House of Lords to pro- Parliament.

itOLLS' COURT.—(THIS DAY.)
jlhe blaster of the RollF, after disposing of the re-
ar 4 rig cause petitions, proceeded to hear the further
litill"nts in the part-heard case of Valiance v.
She morning.
which occupied the Court the remainder ol
VICE

.c.-CHANCERY.—(THIS DAY.)
(Before the VICE-CHANCELLOR Of ENGLAND.)
The
,SCARESBRECK V BRELMERSDALE.
Pie further arguments in Viis part heard case °cell-
the Coupt the whole morning.
TY3,f ;re the VicL-Chancellor KNIGHT BRUCE.)
btt ." Court was occupied the whole day with hearing
tikr
fut., uPt petitions, none of which possessed the slightest
ire of interest.
rpefore the Vice-Chancellor Wronaar.)
Itteri
?Flour sat in his private room to-day, in conse-
div or the inclement state of the weather, and after
st)orng of the case " In Re Loppington Parish," which
K 4.7 the paper fir judgment oa a question of costs,
bekrCed to heartha the further arguments in the part-
e case of M'Calment v. Rankin, which occupied
%II
C the remainder of the morning.
-A MON PLEAS.—(THIS DAY.)

(Sittings in Banco.)
"lid's DOOGOOD V. ROSE.
".1 was an action tried btf,re Lord .
Chief Justice
the
o et the last sittings for London, in which
one of the daily
etrall_, Mr. Doogood, a repotr,terreeupon
r 601, the amount
c2f ep7:lnjournals, soughth
rtt to bwiern alleged to xie teen agreed by the defend-
deit„ his Paid to the plaintiff on the defendant appren-
the " art and
tilYst°o.'„" son to the plaintiff,. to le,arrhn(re
ilieet`Y of a short-band
work
was also a
tart r Meruit count for and labour done on the
1414 the plaintiff in teaching the
. de'endaet's son the
tit, 4hort-hand writicg. The verdict at the trial was
414 f,n• the def °dant, and this morning -
lilir• ,ergearit 13TLEs, on the part of the plamtdiff
lhote t° the Court for a rule calling upon the defendant it3o
new trial, or
ellase why there should not be a
e.
th
P'Ski ere should not be judgment non obstante vTerhe
eal)eer whY there should not be a repleader..
the
4011,0 s set out that there was an agreement in
PI
t • trig Words (intera'ia) entered into between the
4,,
of the
eiot.,poo he defendant's son entering the service .
_ff
44t1 .14:--" It was agreed by and between the pliant'
pQitled the defendant that they, the plaintiff and the cle-
und one John Rose, the son of the defendant,
‘OII-; at the • ' f easonable time, then next
expiration o a r
deli 11gt tu k A as their act and deed, and
Vet a o anu execute 4hip a U
for
theal and reasonable indenture of
apprentice-
:44l` purpose binding as an appreet.ce . the 'it's -mil Rose to the plaintiff in the way of the pier; ett..t „sttiri profession orp business." The Learned S i
1444 'a 1; -°4ttnded that it was the business of thsedefendan
tendered an indenture of apprenticeship, inui-
tit)! a..,0 IttBt
;the plaintiff was always ready and willing
i-t/ 4 eV
it, plaintiff
quote i several precedents in point from
s_stie°,l,'• lie subeeitted that this was a case in which
7011 d,"„act, riot been done to Mr. Doogood, who had
`lll,,sittienr'vetl• by the verdict of the jury, of the corn-
* The '1- ..-- which in justice he ought to have received.
AI • --elan c e
said—Looking at the
hats wl,e, CHIEF JUSTICE
he ~,Tt. a the declaration was framed,
what right
trti,heio,,r 41'44 t• bring this action on tee ground of
haleh CadradY And willing to execute the indenture, of
,In' tivee--Iless and willingness he did not allege he
jdge) t-h 4 the defendant notice? He (the Learned
i',"ltsliearlVlt there was no reason for arresting the
eel meat tetitat this ground, or for granting a new trial in
it
refusedB erdict being against evidence.
_e
_. .
a cordingiy.
.t,Ce- t
4
QUER.—(THIS DAY.)
I niefAre, (Sittings in Banco.)
titPl,l,4laetie -t.s•N AND ANOTHER V. REEVES.
t sql4ll -a vas tried befire the Lord Chief Baron, at
°tie •d •
Ate 'l'l4 the last sittings when a verdict was
tae
,! the pi . Ito
te' olaa alma for 21/.
ee had plaielzl now moved on affidavits for a rule, calling
44 'Ad, —tiff to show cause why a new trial should not
eh, . The
___ .
debt, and was brought by
aoxatetiffs ' Action was in
the 1. kid let who are printers, to recover 384 25., for
!lii:_vatoideTaour done in printing some prospectutTs for
_1441,67 Southern,Eastern and Northern . . Railway
ttiZtor,
6Th
the defendant was a provisional
tti47) the eue particulars of demand conta•ned two
tertlltsteri trkat being on the Bth of September, 1845, and
or eeld "a 28th. The first meeting of the company
eteti °LI th 12 h • defendant was not
Isliee t• bathe t, at which the
I ,4 40attended the next meeting, on the 16th,
kt rder
ttle e e was given for the prospectuses. On the
erlb def,e‘3uested his name to ha withdrawn, and
lig,: iteoa": was that he was not liable for
4147:eatioti
...subsequen toe was
date. The present
itto,:tl that "as founded upoi affidavits, one of which
et ,:t of
th: witness named Collins, who was the pro-
-1410 the dePlPlttli, and whose evidence tended to
trititerthv
~,,,e.tedant's liability was a person utterly
th --, oelief This ' • •
0,0 titB4,
_, • is person said, at the trial, he
it4l. 14 ‘.,,,t the Bollivian Government, and had lost
4„ eo,„ renivav 8
'II. Purattio ' .
p iliation., but it appeared that he
teik,9 'lllho ,
_a g his agency in Whitecross-streot Pri-
eeec t 3,
_4ete_ rned Counsel stated that it might seem
"'Re%
of th while applying for a_ new trial, as the
4 YftAtid 4 Zoeed the amount of Ow yerclict, but

-
2 t,

SOUTHWARK.-(THIS DAY.)
James Lansdowne was brought before Mr. A'Beckett
charged with breaking into a dwelling-house in Harrow-
street, Southvark, and stealing a copper boiler.
Delany Palm, constable 100 M, said that about seven
o'clock last evening he saw the prisoner and another
man loitering about some empty hove; in Harrow-
strett. He watched and saw them try several doors,
but perceiving that witness was looking after them they
ran away. About five minutes afterwards he
passed one of the houses in Harrow-street, when
be heard a cracking noise, which induced him to
go is the rear. When he got there he
found that the door was open, and on entering he en-
countered the prisoner, and pulled him out of the house,
when another constable came up and secured him.
Witness searched him, and found a bunch of skeleton
keys on him, and close by where he first encountered
him he found a copper boiler placed in a basket ready
to be removed. The boiler had e-n taken from the
back kitchen. After they had conveyed the prisoner to
the police-station, witness and his brother constable
searched the prisoner's lodgings, and discovered a splen-
did roult tie table, balls, dice, and all the implements used
in a gambling house.
James Thomson, a painter, sad he was at work Tat
evening in the house, in Harrow-street, and left every-
thing safe at five o'clock. The copper was then fixed
in the back k

Mr. A'BECKETT asked who the gambling apparatus
belonged to ? The prisoner replied hilxpe'f and a man
named 11111, but they had not used them fur some time.
As fur the housebreaking, he fJund the door open and
went in.
Mr. APBEcrKETT commit'ed him f,r trial.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT,

HOUSE OF LORDS.
(THIS DAY.)
Parliament was again prorogued to-day to Thurs-
day, the 31st of the present month, when it will meet
for the dispatch of business.
Shortly after two o'clock the Lord Chancellor,
the Marquis of Breadalbane, and Lord Campbell took
their seats below the Throne, robed as Lords Commis-
sioners, fir the purpose of proroguing Parliament.
On their Lordships taking their seats Mr. Pul-
man, the Yeoman Usher of the seats,
Rod,
was commanded by them to summon the Commons
to the bar to hear the Commission for proroguing
the Parliament read.

Shortly afterwards Mr. Henry Ley, attended by
several of the officeri of the House of Commons, ap-
peared at the bar. The only Member present that
we noticed was Sir B. Hall, who looked ex-
tremely ill.
The commission for proroguing the Parliament
having been read by Mr. Shaw Lefevere, the clerk
at the table,

The LORD CLIANCELLOR, in her Majesty's name,
and by her Majesty's command, prorogued the
Parliament to Thursday, the 31st instant, to
be then and there holden for the dispatch of public
business.

Several ladies were present.
Since the last prorogation the two frescoes of "Jus-
tice," and " Henry V. submitting to Chief-Justice Gas-
coigne," have been finished, and considerably increase
the effective appearance of the House. Added to
which, the new reporters' gallery, which projects
considerably farther than the old one into the House,
has been completed, and to our notion, instead of de-
teriorating, adds to the effect of the interior of the
building.
Besides the Commissioners there was not a Peer
present.

COURT CIRCULAR.
WINDSOR, TUESDAY.
The Queen and his Royal Highness Prince Albert
drove to Frogmore this morning. The Hon. Miss
Cavendish, Colonel Hon. R. Boyle, Lord Charles
Fitzroy, Colonel F. H. Saymour, and Mr. Birch,
were in attendance upon her Majesty and his Royal
Highness.

Prince Albert, with the gentlemen in attendance,
enjoyed the diversion of skating on the ornamental
water in Frogmore grounds.
Her Majesty and her Royal Highness the Duchess
of Kent were present.
Their Royal Highnesses the Princess Royal and
the Princess Alice took walking exercise in the Slopes
and Windsor Park.

The royal dinner party this evening included
her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, Lady
Fanny Howard, Baroness de Spetb, the Marchioness
of Normanby, and Colonel Hon. C. B. and Mrs.
Phipps.

Mr. Miurice Cross (Dublin), Secretary to the
Commissioners of National Education in Ireland, had
an interview with the Right Hon. Henry Labouchere
yesterday at the office of the Board of Trade.

- The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lady Mary
Wood arrived in Downing--treet yesterday evening
from their residence, Hickleton Hall, near Doncaster.
The Judicial Cimmittee of the Privy Council, be-
fore whom the appeal, "Gorham v. the Bishop of
Exeter," was argued, had a private meeting yesterday
at the Privy Council-oflice. There were present
Lord Campbell, the Master of the Rolls, the Vice-
Chancellor Knight Bruce, Mr. Baron Parke, the
Chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall, and the Judge
of the Admiralty Court. The Archbishops of Canter-
bury and York and the Bishop of London were also
present.

THE GENERAL POLLUTION OF RIVERS.-It is not
twenty years since sea-going vessels sent only up to
Vauxhall at ebb tide for sea store; and the Thames
water was accutmted the best in the world for the pur-
pose. Now the state of the river renders it hardly eli-
gible at Twickenham. As the community has increased,
so have habitations; and the smallest tributary of the
Thames is, according to its volume, hardly less vitiated
than the great confluent tcrrent. From first to last no
care bath up to this day been taken to preserve for the
people the purity of that element which was evidently
intended by the Creator to be the healing nutriment of
his creatures. To preserve the quality of the main trunk,
it is first necessary to guard the tributary conduits; and
this cannot be done without diverting from the natural
fall (the course of rivers) all pollutions of what kind
soover, nor without enacting municipal laws for the regu-
lative of all porno and dralna&e,'-',builder,

BAIL COURT.-(TIIIS DAY.)
(Before Mr. Justice ERLE.)
Sir B. Marshall took the oath upon his appoi►,tment
as Admiral of Vie Fleet.
Mr. Justice Erie, after hearing two or three motions
involv.ng no point of interest, sat at nisi prius, and dis-
posed of 6erezal underended cause?.

BOW-STREET.—(THIS DAY.)
Two men, nem e 1 Johnson and Williams, were charged
V 4 before Mr. Jardine under the following suspicious cir•
cumstarxes:—
It appeared from the evidence of Police-constable
Pritchard, 137 A, that about seven o'clock last evening,
he was on duty in plain clothes, and while in Cannon-
row, Parliament-street, he saw the two prisoners lurking
about. He watched them, and soon after o ards the eon-
/ stable on the beat passed, and the two prisoners tope-
! rated. As soon as the constable was out of sight, the
prisoners returned, rind Johnson pulled out a key and
was in the act of opening the street-door of a house,
when witness took him into custody. Williams made
his escape, and Johns ,n was remove' to the station-
house, where he was search, d, and a quantity c f lucifer-
, matches were found upon him, also some wax, and the
key. About twelve o'clock, a female came to the police-
station with some blanket., and said they were for a
person who was locked up. She did not know his name,
and from her peculiar Lebaviour, Inspector Otway
directed the witness to watch her. The blankets were
refused to be taken in, and she le ft with them in her
possession. The constable followed her over West-
minster-bridge, and through a number of dark
streets, until she reached a house in Webber-
row, Lambeth. She knocked at the door, which was
immediately opened by the prisoner Williams, who re-
ceived her into the passage, and closed the door. The
constable approached the door, and was able to see into
the passage by means of two panes of glass ovJr the
door, which acted as a fan-light. the constable
knocked at the door, and the prisoner Williams instantly
ran down stair-, and concealed himself in a closet in the
kitchen. The door was opened by the woman, and the
constable took the prisoner into custody. There were
several men and women in the house, who were well
known to the police as suspicious characters.
Inspector Otway said, the house which the prisoners
attempted to enter was an empty one, and it led to the
backs of the houses in Parliament-stree`.
The prisoners denied all knowledge of each other, and
Inspector Otway said, if they were remande I, he could
prove that they had both been convicted, and had only
recently been liberated from gaol.
Mr. JA RDINE then remanded the prisoners until Fr
day next.

MARLBRO--STREET-(THIS DAY.)
A COOL DEFENCE.—Thomas Webb was brought be-
fore Mr. Hardwick, charged with having stolen a pair of
trousers:value 65., the property of Mr. W. Sealy, clothier,
Totenharc-court-road.
George Baker, a shopman in the employ of the pro-
secutor, deposed that about seven o'clock on the previ-
ous night he was in his master's shop, when a man
came and told him that a boy had stolen a pair of
trousers from the shop door. Witness ran out, and saw
the prisoner running towards Francis-street with the
trowsers producei under his arm. He pursued him, and
after a sharp chase succeeded in overtaking the prisoner
who immediately threw the trousers away. A man
picked them up, and afterwards gave them to witness.
A constable at that moment came up and took the pri-
soner to the station.
The prisone-, in defence, said the weather was cold,
he was in rags, and seeing a comfortable pair of trousers
hanging at prosecutor's door, he thought he might as
well take them.
Mr. HARDWICK committed him f trial

MANSION-HOUSE.—Last evening a splendid dinner
was given by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress to his
civic brethren and their ladies. Covers were were laid
for 70. Amongst the guests we noticed—Lord John
Russell, M.P. ; Mr. J. Masterman, M.P., and Miss
Stone; Lord Mayor of York and Miss Wilkinsor,
Mayor of Stafford, Si; John and Lady Key, Sir W. and
Miss Magnay, Sir George and Lady Carroll, Sir James
Duke, M.P., and Mrs. Hill; Mr. Alderman Farebrother
andr,the Misses Farebrother, Mr. Alderman Humphery,
M.P., and Mrs. Humphery, Mr. Alderman Gibbs, Mr.
Alderman Hooper and MY. Hooper, Mr. Alderman
Musgrove and Mrs. Musgrove, Mr. Alderman Moon and
Miss Moan, Mr. Alderman Carden and Mrs. Carden,
Mr. Sheriff Lawrence and Mrs. .Lawrence, Mr. Sheriff
Nicoll and (his sister) My. Allen, the Commissioner of
Police, Mr. C. Pearson, 1'.1'.; Mr. Under-Sheriff Mil-
lard and Mrs. Millard, Mr. Under-Sheriff Wire and Mrs.
Wire, the Rev. Charles Marshall (chaplain to the Lord
Mayor) and Mrs. Marshall, Mr. W. D. Staring, and
Mr. 15. H. Stone. After the dinner a magnificent ball
was given in the Egyptian-hall to about 500 gue,,,,ti, who
had been previously invited. Supper was served in the
old ball-room at twelve o'clock, and Cie company sera-
rat,:al at a late hour et' the meriting.
TUB REPEALED NAVIGATION' LAWS.—IMPORTA—
TION OF EAST ,INDIA. PF.ODUCE.—A vessel arrived at St.
Katherine DA!ks, f.-om Rotterdam,ha 3 brought an entire
cargo cf rattar, comprising 18,237 bundles of the article.
These rattans are doubtless of East India produce, and
would, under the laws of navigation recently in force,
have been inadmissible tojueinttreyo,mbeuitnatorefonroewe, under
ethne
Repeal -
titledtoAthefe wprhiiveihleghe,asalthough imported from Europe.
Another vessel has, we find, also arrived in the same
docks from Rotterdam, laden entirely with the same
description of merchandise, comprising 15,794 bundles
of the article.

The 'Lyre letters speak of business being active
in the marktits, but cotton and coffee were the tso arti-
cles chiefly attracting fittsptiO.

the fact was that the result of this case might make the HAYMA.RKET THEATRE.
d(fendlntli4hle for other claim, amounting to 3,0004 On the love of a high-born leelv fir her serf, Mr,
The CounT fare ito grant a rule, thinidng that the Sheridan Knowles founded one cf the most beautiful
affidavits were not strong enough, on the ground of stir-
lonfohis_drames.,.Lo,ve: an,d!, the
Charlespat of trheu.
prize; but they wished it to be understood that their de-
Ay
hasw crceteu by su ..
cision would not prejudice any subsequent andication to )
tnat ever seen the play can irget fir r Countess
the Court in respect (1 other actions of a similar nature 4
ago rat the defendant. of Dtp 11'i-et-born enstcin ? On the love of a 11'-born lady
for her serving-man Mr. Buckstone has founded one 1
of the most lively and bustling of ccniedies, Leap
Year, and again is the heroine created by Mrs. Charles
Kean, with equal taste, equal grace, equal feeling,
equal propriety, and equal effect ; her Mrs. Flora
Fiowerdew is as perfect a specimen of the highest
order of comedy as is her Countess of Eppenstein of
tragedy. Having written Married Life, in which
no lovers are introduced, Single Life, in which
none but lovers are introduced, and in which every
male who figures in the piece, be he gentle-
man or serving-man, pops the question to
some fair damsel, with whom he eventually
pairs off, Mr. Buckstone in Leap Year reverses the
plot of Single Life, for in his new comedy the ladies
pop the question to the gentlemen, and all are at the
end paired off, save an old bachelor, who is in every
sense of the word the odd man of the piece. Mr.
Buckstone's own account of his comedy is as fol-
lows :—" This comedy was suggested by an extract
from an old volume dated 1601, and entitled An
Act to amend the Laws of Courtship and Matri-
monie.' Albeit it is now become part of the com-
mon law in regard to the social relations of life, that
as often as every Bissextile year cloth return, the
ladyes have the sole privilege of making love unto the
men, which they doe either by wordes or lookes as
unto them seemeth proper; and no man will be en-
titled to the benefit of clergy, who cloth refuse to
accept the offer of a lady, or who doth in any wise
treat her proposal with neglect or contumely.' We
know no particulars relating to the " old vo-
lume" alluded to by Mr. Buckstone, but we trust that
if from its pages he can gather hints for the construc-
tion of another comedy as amusing as that which was
produced here last evening, under the title of Leap Year,
or the Ladies' Privilege, he will by no cacaos suffer
that said old volume to quit his possession.
' At the opening of the comedy we find a certain rich
young widow, Mrs. Flora Flowerdew (Mrs. Charles
Kean) who is obliged, ere three days expire, to take
unto herself a husband on pain of forfeiting the
whole of the wealth which she has inherited from her
husband, for such are the terms of his will. A warm-
hearted Irish girl, Miss Sally O'Leary (Mrs. Fitz-
william), is residing with her, and is indefatigable in
her endeavours to provide suitors to please her, but
Mrs. Flowerdew frankly acknowledges that she has
never been in lore, that she will not marry unless
she can love, and that she is determined to sacrifice
her fortune rather than give her' hand where she
cannot give her heart. A variety of suitors are
introduced, among others Captain Mouser (admirably
acted by Selby) a foolish foppish officer in the army,
whose father had been an attorney, and who on being
rejected brings in a regular bill of costs and charges
against the widow, the taxing of which by Miss
O'Leary creates much farcical fun; Mr. Dimple (Mr.
Buckstone) a vulgar " gent, " cousin to the widow,
who being taken into the house on trial threatens to
dismiss all the servants and ends by coming home at
night very, very drunk, :indeed, and is in conse-
quence summarily ejected ; and a very ner-
vous old gentleman, Sir Soloman Solus (Mr.
Keeley), who offers his services to save the
property by marrying the widow, being perfectly
willing to part from her at the church door, and
never see her again, his only object being to contract
some matrimonial alliance by which he may free him-
self from the advances of Miss Desperate (Mrs. W.
Clifford), who having been told by an astrologer that
unless she shall be married before she shall have com-
pleted her 49th year, she will not live to see her 50:h
birthday, has fixed upon poor Sir Solomon to save
her from her doom, and persecuted him accordingly.
These are in turn rejected. The widow, however, loves,
loves without at first being aware cf it, loves
ardently, devotedly loves her own footman,
William Walker (Mr. Charles Kean). Walker has
been taken into her service without a character, and !
it is evident that his mind and his education are both !
above the common order; it would also appear, from
divers poetical quotations in which he indulges,
which were always aptly introduced and exquisitely
recited by Mr. Charles Kean, that he cherishes a
hopeless passion for his mistress, but he never abates!one
jot or tittle of that deep respect which is her due as his
mistress, and only manifests his regard by a thousand
little attentions to her comfort and pleasure; neatly-
mended pens are always laid on her writing-
desk, choice flowers are carefully placed
within her reach, and her favourite books
are always placed ready for her perusal. It is therefore,
natural that she should take an interest in this servant,
natural, toe, that when others find fault with him
she should defend him ; and it is not until in a mere
spirit of banter her Irish friend alludes to her pre-
ference for the shoulder knot that she becomes aware
of the real state of her heart. She at first rejects
the idea of the possibility of her being in love with
Walker as an absurdity which she attempts to laugh
off, but her passion is too strong to permit her to
continue long in this state of self-deception, and she
at length becomes fully aware of the true state of her
position. The acting of Mrs. Charles Kean in this
scene was perfection ; never has the conflict be-
tween pride and love been more exquisitely
delineated. She determines to make Miss
O'Leary her confidante, has commenced her
confession, which, however, her pride will
not permit her to finish, and, bursting into a fit
of hysterical laughter, she declares she has been
quizzing all the while, and abruptly quits the room.
She then sends for Walker, and orders him to quit
the house instantly ; not to reply, but to go. He
suspects the cause, but restrains his feelings ; yet
throws such tenderness into his manner of bidding
her adieu, that it is evident even to her, not-
withstanding his outward show of respect, that
her passion is returned. In the meanwhile the
next heir becomes clamorous for the pro-
perty, but one day is left for her in
which to decide, and he refuses all compromise,
declaring he will have all or none. She now avows
to her friend her love fur Walker, and Miss O'Leary
asks why does she not marry him ? At first she re-
volts at the idea of such a mesalliance, but her argu-
ments being overruled by the warm-hearted Irish
girl, she says that the thing is impossible, because
she cannot propose to -Walker, and she is very sure
Walker would never propose to her. Miss O'Leary
provides a remedy ; she reminds her that it is leap
year, and in order to show how matters ought to be
managed, she herself proposes to Mr. Dimple, and
is accepted. 'Walker, who has come for his box,
is forthwith ordered up into the drawing-room by
Miss O'Leary, who, taking Dimple with her, quits
the room, and leaves the lovers (we may now call
them so) alone. Here was a position full of danger
and difficulty, the lady is to propose marriage to her
own footman ; and in any other hands than those
of Mr. and 'Mrs. Charles Kean, these dangers and
these difficulties would not have been overcome ; but
so admirably was the scene acted by both,
so full of natural grace and modesty was the acting of
Mrs. Charles Kean in making the avowal, and so true
to nature was the manner in which, the avowal made,
she at once rushes away, leaving her lover as though
she were afraid both of him and of herself, that this the
most dangerous was also the most triumphant scene of
the piece. This serving man proves, however, to be
no serving man at all; he is the heir, the person who re-
fused all compromise, and who has adopted this disguise
in order to study the character of the young widow.
All the others are paired off except Sir Solomon, who is
surprised to find that by a stratagem concocted by
Mrs. Crisp (Mrs. Keeley), the widow's lady's maid,
Miss Desperate has been palmed off upon the fortune-
hunting Captain Mouser. The piece was very strongly
cast, Mrs. Keeley taking a small soubrette part, and
Clark making the most buttony, lisping, and laugh-
able of page'. At the conclusion there was a loud
call for the principal performers, and the curtain again
drew up on the final tableau, after which the comedy
was announced by Buckstone for repetition every
evening, amidst the enthusiastic applause of a house
crowded to excess in every part.

LITERATURE.
THE Al`-:GLO-SAXON: No. V.
Toe Anglo- Sqxon having completed the first year
of his existence as a quarterly, commences the year
1850 as a mmthly. The pre,sent number, albeit
occasionally disfigured by affectations (as are all the
publications cf the Young England school), is ou the
whole admirable, ard eminently calculated to esta-
blish amity and good-will among all Anglo-Saxons,
an object which the writers in this periodical have
deeply at heart. We particularly admire the friendly
feeling displayed towards our transatlantic Anglo-
Saxon brethren, with whom we would fain see an
enduring entente cordiale established. An alliance
between England and the United States is the most
natural, as well as the most profitable, alliance that
either country could enter into. We are delighted to
find that the Anglo-Saxon takes up the defsnee of
that honour to the Anglo-Saxon race, Sir James
Brooke, against those psuedo-humanitarian calumiators
who seem to imagine that " ev:l speaking, lying, and
slandering," are all fair, provided the person slandered
has the mitifortune t o be a white, and that "picking
and stealing" are positively virtuous, provided the
pickers and stealers be blessed with a black skin, from
which emanates a scent more strong than agreeable.
We extract the following from this admirable
paper :
" Among t.:e calumnies which have been spread, we
must mention one, which is the most scandalous as it is
the most false. It has been said that Sir Janes Brooke
has attacked these pirat3s fa. the Government reward,
whereas it must be well known that the reward is only
given t the officers and men employed in her Majesty's
service. The great expense cf the expedition is at the
Raja's private cog, and so far from his deriving any
benefit from the slain or the captured, we know, on the
best authority, that to save bloodshed, the Baja paid the
full Slave-market price of the captives who were rescued
alive in the conflict. Moreover, his first act was to restore
all the prisoners, without retaining hostages, to their
homes and to their families, with the assurance that, in
all peaceful and lass fal pursuits, they would ever find in
him a f.iend an a protector. One 'Ado child was found
among the cal tives, deserted in the boat; this, with some
others, was car( fully provided for, and placed under the
care of Mr. M'Dougall, the wife cf the excellent mis-
sionary at Sarawak. having p I-formed these gratifying
deeds of mercy, Sir James, with all the officers of the
fleet, the resident.,, and many c f the natives, proceeded to
lay the foundation beam of the first Christian church in
Borneo, the erection of which the Raja has promoted
and encouraged with all his heart. The Rev. F. T.
M.'Dougall, who bad been educated as a physician, was
most diligent in his attendance upon the sick and the
wounded, who had returned from the expedition, and 1
we subjoin Mr. M'Dougall's account of the ceremony of
laying tbc foundation of the church:—
"
" Sarawak, Aug. 28, 1849.
This has been a happy day to me, as it has pleased
God to allow u., after many delays and difficulties, pub-
lieiy to lay the foundation of our church. At one o'clock
the Raja and suite, and all the naval officers, in full dress,
together with all the English residents, assembled at the
Mission; and we then went in procession to Church-hill,
where the workmen's shed was dressed with evergreens
and the flags of the Albatross ; and the foundation
sleeper, an uncommonly beavy block of ironwood, slung
over the trench into whichit was to be lowered by the
Raja. It was a delightful service to me: may God
prosper our work! We put all the Victoria coins we
could collect into the heart of the sleeper, and over that
was nailed the inscription, to be replaced, if need be, by
any more suitable one the committee may suggest.'
" Mr. M'Dougall also expresses his trust that the
day is not far dist int when our wild people, like the New
Zealanders, whom I fancy they much resemble, will be-
' come a most interesting and powerful Christian nation;'
and he further observes, this last expedition up the
Rejang and Sarebas has, as I anticipated, gone far to
soipoenn
aammoong most e
thex
tribes
te asi ye
of tihnotei roetsetriinogr, fieldnho
whose
oo tnhoem Ableirsa-
and wealth seem to be, from what has now been heard
and seen cf them, far greater than was bef ire imagined.'"
We cannot close this notice without calling the
attention of the public to the exquisite beauty of the
type with which the Angle-Saxon is printed. As a
specimen of typography. the present number is perfect.
It is illustrated by a lithograph of the monument
proposed to be erected to Alfred, at Vantage, and by
an engraving from Mr. Blaikley's large historical
picture of Alfred the Great dividing his loaf with the
beggar.

BRADSHAW'S GENERAL RAILWAY DI-
RECTORY, SHAREHOLDERS' GUIDE,
MANUAL, and ALMANACK for 1850.
This useful work, which may be considered as par
excellence the Railway Annual, contains complete
lists of the directors, engineers, secretaries, and prin-
cipal officers of all the railways in the kingdom, of the
amalgamations and leases of lines, with the rent and
tolls of the same, together with the guaranteed stocks,
and dividend or interest payable by each line of rail-
way, Under the head of " Shareholders' Manual"
we find an elaborate account, carefully compiled by
Mr. John Er:wards, of the Manchester Stock
Exchange, showing the rise, progress, and present
position of railways of the United Kingdom, in-
cluding
those established in British possessions
land dependencies abroad, and also of such foreign
railways as have been most known in this coun
try. Every railway shareholder, and every one
intending to invest money in railways, should study
attentively Bradshaw's Railway Directory. It is
illustrated by a map of Great Britain, with all the.
lines of railway laid down.

WEBSTER'S ROYAL RED BOOK for

January, 1850.
This is the most perfect Court and Finhionfible
Guide that has ever appeared. The " Street Guide"
is very comprehensive, and the alphabetical list of
names full and complete. The improvements in-
troduced into the Red Book of 1849 are continued in
the edition for 1850. The work is printed in a clear
type and is got up in an elegant manner.

DIAMOND DUST.
(From Eliza Cook's Journal.)
Mate-ial objects become so eltwimd with the Oren-
tens
our joys, and whose tranquil beaufes have soothel our
sorrows, eamnoarY; the seenel Om have witnessed
speet so like t'_:a°, ,old and valued
friends, that the pang c.f separation from them amouits
to agony. i
d Remorse h
uer rr s
the echo cf a lost virtue.
an a
stsre
Those who cry the It:Aulest have generally least to sell.
Gue:t3 are oft-in invit2cl to witness he ostTnta'ion of
the ho: t.
The poet yearning aft•-r sympathy may at least eojoy
one consolation—tao thought Pat many kindred spirits,
ei tho eh u n
unknown. to
ea him, know and love him, and parti-
pwe i his sentur t..
There is no rea!ady more severe than habitual dis-
content.

NEW REFORM BILL.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,—I send you annexed a copy of a letter I have
addressed to the editor of the Inquirer, occasioned by
his remarks'on a new Reform Bill in his paper of the
12th instant, and if you think it worth a place in
your more extended publication I shall feel obliged
by your inserting it when convenient.
I am, Sir, yours respectfully,
Thorne, Jan. 15, 1850. W. WRIGIITSON.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE INQUIRER.
" Sir,—l have read the excellent remarks in your
eading article of the 12th instant, on a New Reform
Bill, but I do not think that a five-pounds occupation
franchise would materially improve the constituency.
If you refer to my letter which you were kind
enough to insert in your paper of the 25th of
August last, you will there see an intellectual quali-
fication pointed out, which would bring within the
pale of the Constitution all the parties referred to by
you, as soon as they had attained their majority, and
could show, by going through a simple and welt-de-
tined educational test, the probability that they were
capable of exercising a sound discretion in the elec-
tion of a Member of Parliament. A five-pounds
occupation qualification would, I think, do nothing of
the kind. We don't want the property qualification
lowering, but the intellectual qualification raising,
for the greatest dunce in the kingdom, if he be not
quite insane, may now vote if he happens to possess
40s. a year in freehold property. Bat let every man
(not being a pauper nor convicted of crime) who can
work out correctly rule-tf-three questions in arithme-
tic have a vote, and you may then safely do away
with all other qualifications; and by this simple
means the constituency would be greatly improved
not only in intellectual strength but moral worth, a
vast impetus would be given to self-culture (the best
of all culture), and no one could reasonably complain
For want of universal suffrage, as ignorance and crime
would be the only disqualifying causes.
"‘ Then, indeed, the absence of a vote would be
regarded as a shame and a disgrace, not to the Legis-
lature, but to the individual who, by his own default,
was excluded from the privileges belonging to his
fellow-men. There would be but little difficulty in
applying the test and bringing the system into opera-
ion. It would also possess this recommendation,
that it would contain within itself the elements fur
the future extension of the suffrage as occasion
should arise. It would be perfectly safe, for a higher
qualification could scarcely be suggested, and it
would be satisfactory to the great body of the work-
ing classes, whose discontent and dissatisfaction at
their present condition is fraught with the utmost
danger to the community in general.'*
" And to prevent the new franchise from being un-
satisfactory or troublesome to the voters at present on
the register, I would suggest that they should all
continue on the register during the remainder of
their lives, whether they part from their present
qualification or not ; but that all new candidates for
the elective franchise should be examined by the
rule-of-three test, and then that they also, when once
on the register should remain there for life.
" This plan has been submitted to one of the most
eminent and influential reformers of the present day,
who in reply said--' I know no better test for the
franchise than that which you point out, hut do not
doubt, if proposed, we should find as many objections
is there are to the plan proposed by Mr. Hume.
For my own part, impoifect as our proposition is, I
do not think it would be wise to abandon it, unless
we could see our way to carry a better.'
" I have long considered the test I propose the
best adapted to improve the electoral body ; I li ive
never beard a sound objection advanced against it,
.ttiel as I think the adoption of it would benefit the
nation, I shall be much obliged if you can find room

ARGYLE ROOMS.
Festivities and dancing
go hand in hand at this
period of the year, and there is no room for wonder,
therefore, that this attractive and elegant resort is
now considered in the zenith of its popularity. Not
a night passes but its Promenade and galleries are
thronged with gaily attired votaries of Terpischore,
who rattle through quadrilles, waltzes, and polkas
with a gusto and energy
that warms and enlivens the
coldest and dullest of mankind. La dense hitherto
has been considered
amusement peculiar to our
volatile Gallic neighbours, but nothing is so catching
as dancing, and with the rapid intercommunication
that now exists between the two nation., it is by no
means surprising if that is one of the many habits we
have recently imported from the continent. It is,
however, only right that rational and healthy tastes
should be readily encouraged, and since " tripping it
on the light fantastic toe," which certainly partakes
of that character, has become so general amongst the
middle and loweral asses of society, it is the duty of
all who have it in their power to support those
esta-
blishments where this pastime can be indulged in
hich are the best regulated and the most appro-
priately managed. Now any one who has ever
paid a visit to the rooms must have been struck
with the strict decorum that is always enforced,
while the urbanity and polite feeling and attention of
those whose task it is to conduct the ceremonies,
must have been no less worthy of his remark; nor is
mere dancing the sole attraction, inasmuch as music
of the highest order is plentifully provided for the
entertainment of those who, like the Chinese, think
dancing a labour to be performed by servants, and
prefer looking on to the labour it demands. M.
Laurent, junior's, skill and ability as a musical con-
ductor is well known and appreciated in the metro-
polis. Ile is second only to Jullien in his style, and
to the lover of orchestrial music, or the devotee of
la danse, we say, go to the Argyle Rooms.

The annual soiree of the Whittington Club and
ME,ropolitan Athenaeum took place last evening, and
was most numerously attended. The proceerlinga were
opened by a brief and appropriate address from the
Preiident, Mr. C. Lusbington, M.P. After an excellent
selection of musk', in which Miss Rainforth, Miss Anne
Homer, and other favourite performers displayed their
thill, and an interval devoted to the inspection of the
picture 3 and various works t f art with which the upper
rooms were crowded, dancing commenced, at eleven
o'clock ; and, altheudi, freon their number, somewhat
straitened for room even in that capacious salon, the
votaries of Terpsichore were, at the period of our ee-
parture, doing ample justice to the strains of Putnain's
band. This escMent and increasing institution already
!mint 07ti sixteen hundere 1 members, and will, doubiles,
from the admirable arrangements of the establishment,
and its happy and unities-) combination of literary and
scientific
and merited success which its friends instruction with social enjoynlint, ola!aia tlitv,
permanent
and supporters anticipate. The announcement of
the re-election of Mr. Lushingt )ri t) the presidency
for the ensuing yt a- vas received with extreme approba-
tion. His devotion ti the interests of the institution was
on the present occasion more conspicuous than thst of
the vice-president.,, none of whom attended to support
him, in consequence (we suppose) of the inclement state
ef t'.e weather. The Whittingtonians deserve success
in their career of social areelioratior, and they have our
best wishes fur its attairment. As a proof of their good
and thriving domestic arrangement, it may be mentioned
that the profits to the general fund resulting from the
dining and refreshment department amounted on the
lass quarter to 2004

`Or tt,is letter in your paper.
" I am, Sir, yours respectfully,
" W. WRIGHTSON.
" Thorne, Yorkshire, Jan. 14, 1850."
* The Sun Newspaper, July 11, 1849.

THE METROPOLITAN COMMISSION OF SEWERS.—
Yesterday a court was appointed to be held fur the pur-
pose rf making a district sewers rate on the Ranelagh
district. After waling fur an hour, however, the num-
ber cf comreisioners required by the Act cf Parliament
t) attend could not be nnistercd, and in conaecinence the
court Was adjouratti till Friday neat.

ADDRESS PRESENTED TO MR.
BUCKINGHAM AT ALLOA.
At the close of Mr. Buckingham's course of lec-
tures at Alloa, on the evening of Thursday, the 20th
December, 1849, and in the presence of a large
number of his friends and admirers, the following
Address was proposed, in the name of the committee
of management, by the Rev. P. M'Dowall, and una-
nimously and cordially adopted by the meeting, in the
United Presbyterian Church at Alloc.
"TO JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM, EF.Q.
" Honoured Sir,—At the conclusion of this, your
third course of lectures, delivered in Alloa during
three successive seasons, to large and deeply inte-
rested audiences, we beg leave to express to you our
gratitude for the valuable information which we have
received, and for the high intellectual enjoyment
which we have experienced during each of these
three courses, from the commencement to the close.
" It is interesting to sit at the feet of a traveller
who has visited many foreign lands, it is peculiarly
interesting to sit at the feet of of one who has perhaps
seen more of the surface of the globe which we in-
habit than any man now living.
" Some travellers, who have seen much, want
powers of observatior. But Providence has blessed
you with the rare talent of collecting and treasuring
up rich stores of information, regarding almost every
object, and every event coming in your way, that
could interest and instruct your fellow-men.
" Some travellers can collect information, though
they cannot communicate what they have collected.
But all of us here present, and thousands elsewhere,
can testify to the admirable talent for description,
and that natural easy eloquence, which gives all your
hearers almost as vivid an impression as if they had
been fellow-travellers along with yourself.
" Some travellers, who can both observe and com-
municate, are tempted to confine their information
to themselves. But you have felt it to be the en-
joyment of your heart, as you have made it the work
of many laborious years, to spend your strength for
the instruction and moral elevation of your fellow-
creatures.
" In these courses of lectures, embracing, as they
have done, so many momentous topics connected with
political economy and the science of government, it
was to be expected that your opinions would not, in
every point, coincide with the opinions of some of
your hearers. But even the few, who sometimes
were conscious of diversity of sentiment, could not
but admire the manly frankness with which your
views were stated, and the gentlemanly good feeling
which rendered it impossible for even the most
sensitive to take offence,
" We do not profess, Honoured Sir, to be ignorant
of your eventful and useful history. As the friend of
Eastern India and its countless population, we have
observed your self-sacrificing exertions to promote
good government in that vast and important depen-
dency of the, British empire—exertions which were
praised by statesmen when they were in opposition,
but which have been forgotten by the same statesmen
now that they are in power.
"As a Member of the British Senate, in two seve-
ral Parliaments, we have admired Sour successful
efforts in originating and promoting many impor-
tant measures of moral and economical reform.
And as a philanthropist, in the important depart-
ments of education, and temperance, and peace, and
enlightened human freedom, we have been de-
lighted with your laborious exertions—through the
press in your ,voluminous writings, and by the
platform in your admirable lectures—to enlighten the
human mind, to improve the human heart, and to
increase the aggregate amount of human happiness.
"We are aware that, like many other philanthro-
pisti before you, who were in advance of the age, it
hss been your lot to labour long for the benefit of
mankind, with very little patronage from the power-
ful, and with much pecuniary loss to yourself. But
you enjoy the divine satisfaction of doing good; and
as you have already witnessed many of the blessed
fruits of your labours, so you may cherish the joyful
assurance, that the precious seeds of wisdom and
morality which you have sown so extensively over the
surface of society, shall, in due time, through the
blessing of a bounteous Heaven, produce an abundant
and happy harvest.
"As you have intimated that this is likely to be
your last public visit to Alloa, it is with much sin-
cere regret that we have now to pronounce to you,
Honoured Sir, the painful word—FArtsweee! To
the respect and veneration which we cannot but che-
rish for you as an instructor, we feel that your fre-
quent visits, and your familiar intercourse, have war-
ranted us in adding the confidence and affection of
friendship. Although we should not be honoured
with another visit, we shall continue to take a deep
and an increasing interest in your benevolent and
self-denying labours ; and we can assure you, dear
Sir, that if our warmest wishes are gratified, your
life will be long, and useful, and happy.
"It is our earnest and united prayer, that Ged
may spare you, and strengthen you to labour for
many years to come, fur the illumination of this
world's ignorance, and fe. the rnitigetion of this
world's misery ; and after your earthly labours shall
have come to a close, may you, with your dear part-
ner in life, and your beloved family, be admitted at
last, through the grace of our Divine Itt.deerner, to
that • better country,' from which ignorance and mi-
sery—and sin, the cause of both—shall be for ever
excluded.
S.gned, in the name and by the appointment of
the meeting,
"WILLIAM FRASER) Minister, Chairman.'

I atr, Sir, your obedient servant,
Bruton-street, Jan. 15. C. E. SCOTT,

TO TRH EDITOR OF THE MORNING CHRONICLE.
Sir,—When Mr. Greener assures me that his pro-
fessional report on Sir Claude Scott's gun-barrel was
published without his knowledge, it would be unbe-
coming in me to disbelieve his assertion, or to doubt
his word, by requiring the proof he says he possesses.
I, therefore, claim equal credence when I assure him
that Messrs. Deane were not directly er indirectly
cognizant of the contents of my letter, or of my inten-
tion to write in their defence when I first sent it for
publication. You may suppose the then not a little
pleased when a pamphlet subsequently reached rre,
entitled " George and John Deane's defence of them-
selves and their guns, from charges brought against
both by the Company of Guntnakers and others. In
this they allege great ill-will towards them, thus jus-
tifying and disposing of the " bold imputation " lam
charged with.
It would seem that I have lessened Mr. Greener's
consequenee, having " transposed Evans and Clive
into the position held by himself and Mr. Greenfield."
Unknown to every party in Birmingham, where, to
the best of my recollection, I never passed an hour in
my life, I could but. suppose them to be nulli se-
cundus." Colonel Hawker is really answerable for
this slur; it was from his letter I gleaned the names
of Clive and Evans for perfect workmanship ; with
such a testimonial in their favour they can go on and
prosper, for they want none other.
I cannot so easily part with Mr. Greener's profes-
; sional report denouncing this barrel as of " spurious
composition," although published without his know-
' ledge. It is not what is or what is not the best
metal to be used, the real question being—Did
Deane employ a cheap manufacturer, or the reverse ?
If the former, he is guilty ; if the latter, then, as
stated in my first letter, Purday, Lancaster, and
others are liable to a similar catastrophe. I pin him
to his own words, "spurious composition," and proof
of this must not be evaded by a treatise on "lami-
nated steel." Why Mr. Greener well knows, which
I did not until recently, who the manufacturer of
this barrel is. He denies the charge. The barrel
itself (I am told) denies it. Has he not, and is he
not, employing him at this very moment P I can tell
the sporting world that he stands unrivalled, and is
employed by all the first gunmakers of this metro-
polis. Why, then, continue insinuations as to the in-
feriority of Deane's materials, unless it be to support
high prices and to annihilate low ones ? I plead guilty
to the charge of " bias ;" show me the man without
one. I have a " bias " for fair competition, I have
a " bias" for the best article at the lowest price, for
Adams, Deane's manager, because he supplies it.
The trade are well aware that he knows his business,
and would perhaps gladly see him anywhere rather
than where he is : discharge him and my " bias" for
Deane ceases. I have no " bias" for hint on the
score of intimacy or self-interest, for I never enter
the shop more than three or four times in a year,
and then just before the shooting season commences.
This equally applies to Deane, whom I have rarely
seen there.
I come now to the most extraordinary part of Mr.
Greener's letter, Can he be serious when he says,
"It does not necessarily follow that because a
vacuum (I call it a space) exists between the cartridge
and the charge of powder, that a barrel must burst ?
Well-made barrels (here a hit at Deane) will admit
of very great space, and yet not burst ; two charges
of powder can be exploded in an ordinary sized bar-
rel, the bore effectually stopped with a steel plug
leaving no vent for this enormous force but by
bursting the barrel, or by escaping by the
small orifice in the nipple, like steam from
a safety valve." Will any gentleman like to
try his gun, made of the " laminated steel" he boasts
of, with a large space between the charges, or with a
steel plunger at the bore, to see if the powder will's
come out harmless at the 'Apple ? It any one be bold
enough, let me recommend him to be first supplied
with a pump for the exhaustion of atmospheric air,
or woe betide him. What Air. Greener's ofject is in
publishing such a statement, I cannot imagine.
" Mr. -Urquhart forgets that to injudicious reduction
in the barrel the accident was attributed." Attributed
by whom ? By Mr. Greener's unsupported testi-
mony, broadly contradicted by Messrs. Deane. It
was not attributed to " reduction" so much as to
" spurious composition." With their defence in my
hand, I see no reason to retract my " panegyric," or
one expression in my first letter, designated an " in-
congruous effusior, ' which with more propriety
should be called a " disagreeable one." Henceforth
I must refer objectors to MEssrs. Deane, who must be
their own spokesmen, for I will neither write nor
answer any more letters. Having passed the meri-
dian of life, it is with myself only that I am disposed
to enter into controversy; I therefore bid all those
whose names I have brought forward firewell. If, in
the pursuit of fair play I have damaged any, it has
been unintentional ; if I have bonefitted any, it is,
Mr. Editor, through your instrumentality, and you
are entitled to share the pleasure.
I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
W. A. URQUHART.

Ley ton, Essex, Jan. 14

TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING CHRONICLE.
S'r,—Seeing in your journal, of the 12th instant,
a letter signed by a person of the name of Greener,
of Birmingham, alleging that no danger can accrue
from a vacuum between the powder and shot bring
left in a gun-barrel—nay, that the muzzle may be
stopped up with a steel plug, and the barrel loaded
with a double charge of powder without a chance of
bursting—l trust you will not permit so insane a
statement to pass uncontradicted, lest a false security
might thereby be engendered, and the sporting
public find too late they had trusted to one of the
most dangerous delusions ever put forth.
What the writer's motive may be for such a st.Ae-
ment—whether from the most lamentable ignorance
or a more questionable object, I cannot pretend to
guess; the fatal issue would he the same.
Allow me, then—ovith a view to give a fist con-
tradiction to so disastrous a theory—to lay before you
the result of a series of experiments made some
years ago by a friend who had the misfortune to
very seriously injure his hand by the bursting of one
of Joseph Manton's guns.
The cause of the accident became at the time a
subject of investigation, as my friend had neglected to
pass his ramrod into the left barrel, after having re-
peatedly discharged the right, and concluded it to
have arisen from the formation of a vacuum.
The experiments were as follow :
Exp. I. The sound barrel was loaded with an ordi-
nary charge of powder and shot with the usual wad-
ding, and a thick pasteboard wadding placed in the
barrel three inches from the muzzle. On discharging,
it burst open from the wadding two inches ttiwn-
wards, the pasteboard wad not having been displacet.i.
Exp. 2. The fractured part was then sawn off, aid
the barrel loaded as before—the pasteboard wad again
placed three inches from the muzzle. On discharging,
it again burst, about three inches down from he
wadding.
Exp. 3. The broken part again sawn off, and
loaded as before, the pasteboard wad placed as in the
former trials. On discharging, the wad was blown
out, and no fracture took place; but on reloading,
and placing two wads instead of one three inches from
the muzzle, the barrel again burst about three inches
down.

Exp, 4. Tne broken part sawn off as before; but
now it did not burst until the third shot, and
three
wads had been placed three inches from the muzzle •
when again about three inches more was fractured,
but the wads not disturbed.
Thus, Sir, you see that a gun of the best manu-
facturer known at that time was burst four times suc-
cessively, by only placing from one to three paste-
hoard wads within a few inches of the muzzle. Whbt,
then, becomes of the monstrous assertion of your
Birmingham correspondent, of there being no danger
in a vacuum, and equally unscientific and ridiculous
addition, that the explosive force would pass through
the hole of the nipple ?
If the Jives of sportsmen are to be placed in the
most imminent
peril by the assertions of ignorant or
interested individunlF, it is high time that men of
science should tale the matter up, and show the
dangerous fallacy of giving the slightest credence to
their assertions.

I beg, in conclusion, to say that I am prepared,
when required, to produce full proofs of the experi-
ments above detailed ; and am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
Gloucester-place, Jau. 14. T. GRIFFIN.

[The article headed " Guns with Steel Barrels,"
which appeared in The Sun of Monday, was copied
from the Times.—En. Sun.]

Dispatches were received yesterday at the Colonial-
office from the Governor of the Filikind laws,

STEEL BARREL. CONTRO VERSY.
TO THE _EDITOR OP THE SUIV.
SIR,—As the subject of steel barrels and excessive
reduction after proof has occasioned so much contra-
dictory discussion, I consider it but just and fair to
all parties interested to give the public the oppor-
tunity of forming their own opinions by actual in-
spection of the burst barrels, which are, as nearly as
possible, in the same state as immediately after the
accident. They have been sent to Mr. Witton, 82,
Old Broad-street, City, with directions to show them,
with the reports of Mr. Greener and the Gunmakers'
Company, and the defence of Messrs. Deane, to all
persons who may wish to examine them. Messrs.
Deane are in error in stating I said " the right barrel
had been fired several times," and hence a vacuum
was caused in the left ; the fact being the latter only
had been last discharged, and re'oaded carefully, five
minutes before it burst with a double shot.
With the evidence of the barrels themselves, and
the different statements before them, the public will
be able to decide on their merits, and do justice to
all parties.

ENSUING-
Before the strife of the ensuing session has ctually
commenced we are tempted to offer a few a
suggese
Lions upon the method cf transacting business in the
two Houses, the adoption of which might exercise a
favourable influence upon the character as well as the
amount of business actually performed, when we
come to review the history of the session some six
months hence. We do not now make the slightest
pretension to having discovered any patent system of
law-making, by which six months cm be made to do
the work of a whole year. The recommendations we
have to offer are but two in number, and we have
never Jost an opportunity for a long while past of
pressing them very earnestly upon public attention,
atw whenever v r
sotp pcourrtsunnry y
golatin'ecrte)din
all tl
wmhuns t evidenta nn .
takeb*l
otefretsnt
ei
Houses, matters,
that t
there
ainsd
anin
enthoermpouroscedeidspinrog!
portion between the amount of business per_formed at the commencement and at the close of
a session. This disproportion is so great that it
has passed into a proverb—almost into a jest. It
will be remembered that some time back the Lower
House took this matter into its serious consideration,
and endeavoured to find out if some remedy could not
be devised for what was felt on all sides to be an un-
doubted evil. A Committee was appointed, before
which the most competent witnesses to offer suggeae
tions were examined—the Speaker of the House of
Commons, distinguished Members of the Fh
American Chambers and others ; and finally a renc
r and
eport e
present
was presented, in which certain changes in th
manner of conducting debates in England were fa-
vourably spoken of. But when the matter came to be considered in full House, there was found to be SO
great a disinclination to meddle with established
usages and time-honoured forms that the old license
of debate was left undisturbed. It was stated at the
time that a kind of public opinion was growing up in
the House which would prove sufficient to con-
trol the tendency of Honourable Gentlemen to
indulge in flights of oratory, whether their prompt-
ing motive might be a whiff of vanity or a
spirit of faction. Certainly a change for the better
was perceptible last session,
.and if it be only
persevered in much irrelevant matter may be omitted
from the laborious compilation of Hansard. As far
as better economy of time in the House of Commons
is concerned, the remedy must be left to the discre-
tion of the Members, acting as they do under a kind
of mutual control. But there is a second change of
a more directly practical kind which might prove of
eminent benefit in easing one. half of the Legislature,
who have more work on their bands than they can
accomplish, by throwing the superabundant portion
on the other half, the members of which are sitting
with their hands before them during the first two-
thirds of
.the Parliamentary session. The House of
Commons has far too much, the House of Lords far
too little, business brought before it until the session is
just drawing to a close. As matters stand at present
the English Legislature is in the position of a racing-
boat which should only pull the four oars of the
stroke-side until the goal was in sight, and then ship
these to paddle in as it best might with the bow-
oars. Vcrlust is wanted is a steady and uniform
stroke throughout. The Parliamentary usage for
some time past appears to have become almost estab-
lished in favour of letting the great bulk of Bills take
their initiative in the Commons. Now, for many
purposes, perhaps for all purposes asking patient and
deliberate investigation, where the privileges of the
Commons are not concerned, the Peers have great
advantages over any body of popular representatives.
They approach questions in a calm and judicial spirit,
almost impossible of attainment in an assembly the
members of which are exposed to the disturbing in-
fluence of the political questions of the day. The law
officers of the Crown in the Lower House are so ab-
sorbed in the occupations arising out of their public
functions, as well as in the necessary discharge of
their duties to their clients, that they cannot is fair-
ness be charged with the additional responsibility of
originating and carrying through sweeping changes in
the statute-book, such as the bankrupt code of last
session. Other working lawyers who may happen to
be Members of the House are there rather with a
view to their own professional advancement than
from any loftier motives ; besides, they too have their
own private practice to attend to. The lay Mem-
bers, again, are too much under the influence of poli-
tical feelings to give themselves up readily to investi-
gations rather of a scientific and abstract character
than of immediate reference to the more exciting
questions of the day. But we need not confine the
questions which should take their initiative in the
Lords solely to points of legal reform. Wherever
there is occasion to grapple with a huge mass of dis-
connected facts, and to deduce from them practical
conclusions and recommendations, the House of
Lords may, with all propriety, be intrusted with the
working of the questions. There are plenty of men to
be found ainon,i‘t the Peers who are to the full as
shrewd as any of their fellow-subjectF. The advan-
tages cf official experience are, at least, all on their
side. Not only would such a change as the one we
recommend be for the public interest—the great
end and object of ail political machinery—and of
great ease to the other brbnch of the Legislature,
but it would also infuse stability into the House of
Peery, and conciliate for it that kind of respect which
is always given to an institution which is efficiently
working for the public good. If it were the object
of a G ,vernmentstu liouNlv, but by covert means, to aim brow at the politica) existence rf the Peerage,
we know of no more efficient method to accomplish
the end than to leave them without further occupa-
tion than to give a fermi assert to the Bills and
measures tent up to them from the Commons. We
are far from insinuating that such an 'elea has ever
crossed the mind of a First Minister, but if Slit,L
the practical effect of his policy, it comes much to
the same thing in the end. We trust that during the
next session some better order may be taken in this
matter, for it is one of greet national importance,
whether we consider the immediate dispatch of public
business, or the ultimate preservation of the balance
of a Constitution which, take it all in all, has worked
well, whilst every other country in Europe has under-
gone the greatest vicissitudes of fortune.—Times.

THE WEATHER AND THE PARKS.
The frost continues with unabated severity, and
there seems every prospect of its enduring for some
considerable time longer. The theremometer at the
Royal Humane Society's receiving-house, Hyde-park,
which on Monday night stood at 25 5 F., fell towards
the morning to 24, but as the day advanced the mer-
cury rose to 27, and continued at that point till after
sunset, when it again receded to 25, which was the
indication at half•past seven last evening. The
wind, which on Monday night was chiefly eastward,
with a southerly bearing, continued to blow, until a
late hour in the morning, with great violence, and
accompanied at intervals with drifts of sleet, or snow.
Towards evening, the wind having veered more
northerly, its violence somewhat abate. 3. The baro-
meter yesterday afternoon, in Hyde-pail stood at 29
30. The ice on the S .rpentine was 5 inchesin thickness,
but on the long water in Kesnington•gardens it was
three-quarters ofan inch thicker, whilst in the R,:gent's-
park it had obtained a solidity of six inches—in fact,
in St. James's-park, as well as the foregoing, the ice
has acquired sufficient strength in all parts to admit
of the full enjoyment of skating and sliding, and even
promenading, without any apprehension of danger
from immersion, the only exception being near the
bridge over the Serpentine River in Hyde-park. At
that spur, during the night of Monday, a temi.estuous
gale produced an explosion beneath the ice close to
the arches, which shivered the frozen surface into
small pieces, opening a dear way tort, ff.e;: in width,
and extending the whole breathe of the river. The
explosion was uceompanied will a report. siveilar to
a salvo of artilh ry, and fortuntely, not tceurring in
the, day time, was not attended with d sastrous re-
sults. With a view to prevent any petsun from ven-
turitg to this Mr. Superintendent Williams had
eieeeg barriers placed tier,. ss ee river, on both sides
of the bridg-', with the wu buards, marked "Dan-
g rous," and eAt no from irnmer-
si.m oceufeed. LE,:-neo were ,lso idoevo Lire to warn
Lite skaters Lot to venture witl:n the boundary.

DISS PIIILUARMONIC SOCIEM—The thirteenth
auniverrary of this society was coleb:ated at the Crown
Commercial Inn, Diss, on Wednesday, the 9th instant,
under the able presidency of Mr. ThomaT Farrel.
Nearly forty members and friends were pre'ent on the
occasion, including sere! al of the most influential gen-
th:men of the town. Aft.-r the usual 103 al wails, over-
cu.i g111%5 aT)cl songs followed c itll) other in rapid suc-
cession, , amongst the pi,ee, that most cl armed the
ear may Le noticed the spit tel overtures to 7
Massaneello, Caliph of Bagdad, Figaro, Si.c
performed in a wannerla,tiauhLieghallyld creditable
pianofirte.
connected with the society, whose ' -w
h. ie h' a ?era;
to the an Wears
egorts il ere ably
ser'.iices of Mr.
Grey at the
supported by the 1 LI
The numerous instrumental
and vocal pelf )rinanees
coit ! c unequivocal ;Lillis of
approval feum the company, amongst whom Vie gi eate.t
unanimity and good feeling prevaqed throe h t 1 g ou tie
evening. The dinner r vidid f .ti
the grLotest credit our I:11,e ,;(ivv, or _ itii!, 0: :el iibi;.)ll,l P
illm.ta
r; hose ample providync2 I f ever , . •c ' and luXuriltni the season wit,' the bul,j,.ct i 1,7' Iremaik at luxury
table, and fully maintained the charact-r for variety
and profusion acquit el for these annual dinners by the
worthy predecessor of the present host.
SEWERS Re.rr.—A public meeting was I eld on
Monday tvening, at the Priory Arms, Priory-rear+, for
t e purr o,e c f celib rairg alt, the mode most advie-
able to ba adopted towards attaining a principle of per-
fect equality of rateage with regard to the sewers rso,
the inhabitants of the parish of Lambeth believing suffi-
cient reason exists as t ) their being exorbitantly rated
as compared with other di:tricts under the:control c-f the
Metropolitan Ctmm;ssionere. A resolution was unani-
mously i assA that a deputat'on le firmed far the pur-
pose of making further inquiries in the said districts
where the alleged disparity is suid to exist, and report
thereon, for which purpose the meeting was adjourned,
preparatory to wailing on tho Conuaiasionera.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OF EXCHEQUER, Jan. 15.
(Sittings in Middlesex, at Prins, in Hilary
Term, before Mr. Baron RoLPE and Commen
Juries.)