The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-15 00:00:00

MEETING OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC

BISHOPS.
Dunux, Nov. 12.—The annual synod of the Roman
Catholic Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland commenced
this day at the Presbytery, Marlborough-street. On
account of the importance of the business to come before
them, the attendance was much fuller than usual. One
of the first subjects hat will engage the attention of the
Prelates is the Charitable Bequests Act. It is stated
that an important communication from Rome is to be
laid before the meeting.
Amongst the Prelates in attendance were the follow-
ing :—The Moat Rev. Dr. Crony, Primate ; the Most
Rev. Dr. Murray, the Most Rev. Dr. Slattery, the Most
Rev. Dr. M'Hale, the Right Rev. Dr. Cantwell, Right
Rev. Dr. Keating, Right Rev. Dr. Kinsella, Right Rer.
Dr. M'Nally, Right Rev, Dr. Browne, Elphin ; Right
Rev. Dr. Feeny, Right Rev. Dr. O'Donnell, Galway;
Right Rev. Dr. Higgins, Right Rev. Dr. M'Nicholas,
Right Rev. Dr. Denvir, Right Rev. Dr. Browne, Kil-
more ; Right Rev. Dr. Ryan.
ANOTHER MURDER IN CLARE.
• A letter was received in town this day, stating that
the land steward of the late Arthur Gloster, Esq., whose
assassination was announced last" w,iek, was murdered
near Kilkishen, on Sunday night last.
The Clare Journal, of yesterday, contains the follow-
ing :
" THE MURDER OF MR. GLOSTER.—The magistrates
of the district in which the late Mr. Gloster was mur-
dered have called a meeting of the magistrates and gentry
on Thursday next, at. Quin Petty Sessions-house, to
consider such measures as may appear most conducive to
the ends of justice, in promoting the discovery of the
perpetrators of that diabolical murder.' A requisition
is in course of signature to the Lieutenant of the county,
to call a meeting of the magistrates at the County Court-
house, to divise measures for the same etrectkit the ma-
gistrates of Bunratty have so promptly cast together
of' the gentry of their division of the county. It was cur-
rently reported here yesterday' that a gentleman was
fired at and wounded in the arm, in the neighbourhood
of Broadford. We could not find out that there was any
good foundation for the report."
RAILWAY FROM DUBLIN TO WEXFORD.
Mr. Brunel, engineer of the Great Western Railway,
has arrived in town to complete the survey of the atmos-
pheric line from Dalkey to Wexford.
THE REVISION OF THE DUBLIN JURY LIST.
In the course of the revision before the Recorder yes-
terday,
Edward Clarke, Esq., of Stephen's-green, claimed ex-
emption from serving, on the ground of his being an
attorney.
' Mr. CLEMENTS—Were you not objected to on that
ground ;Ist
Mr. year
did you not then insist upon
being put on P—l
Mr. CLEMENTS—Yott b.
year ?—I was.
occeeded ?—Yes.
Mr. CLEMENTS—You were oi2 O'Connell's jury ? Yes.
Mr. CLEMENTS—IS it to your pi'ofe!sional skill the
public are indebted for the special pleaaiDg on the bane
paper ?—I cannot say.
Mr. CLEMENTS—Now, Sir, may I ask you wiW.'efore
it is that you, a retired attorney, seek for exemption rie:-,
while under identical!), similar circumstances last year
you pressed and insisted upon being on the panel.
Mr. Clarke—The fact of it is, I got quite enough ofit.
The RECORDER ruled that, not being an attorney ac-
tually practising, his name should remain on the list.
Mr. CLEMENTS (addressing Mr. Clarke)—And, for
my part, I have no objection to you, Sir ; for, after the
lesson that was read to you in the House of Lords, I
don't think you'll be likely to find such a verdict again
during your life.—(Laughter.)
At the adjournment the list of Andrew's parish had not
been gone through ; but all those who presented them-
selves from other parishes were duly attended to, and ad-
mitted or rejected.
NEW HIGH SHERIFFS FOR IRELAND.
The following is the official list returned by the judges
to the Lord-Lieutenant, who is to select dne name for
each district :

DUBLIN CASTLE, NOVEMBER, 1844.—Names of gentle-
men returned by the Judges of Assize to serve the office
of High Sheriff for the ensuing year.
Antrim—James Leslie, John White, John Thompson,
Esqs.
Armagh—Viscount Newry, Thomas Morris Jones,
Maxwell Cross, Esqs.

Carlow—Robert La Touche, Robert Doyne, Jun.,
Philip Newton, Esqs.
County of the Town of Carrickfergus—Stewart Dunn,
John Legg, Hill Wilson, Esqs.
Cavan—The Earl of Bective, Anthony O'Reilly, Henry
Theophilus Clements, Esqs.
Clare—Edward Fitzgerald, Hugh Palliser Hickman,
Michael Finucane, Esqs.
Cork—The Hon. Hayes St. Leger, James H. Smith
Barry, Edward Deane Freeman, Esqs.
Cork City—James Morough,ffilliam Coppinger, Ho-
ratio Townsend, Esqs. •
Donegal—Lord George A. Hill, George Young, Wm.
Fenwick, Esqs.
Down—Hugh Montgomery, William Keown, Richard
B. Blackiston Houston, Esqs.
Drogheda Town—James Gernon, St. George Smyth,
William Cairnes, Esp.
Dublin—Hon. Edward Preston, Hon. Edward Law-
less, Thomas Thompson, Esq.
County of the City of Dublin—Arthur Guinness,
Thomas Crosthwaite, Alexander Boyle, Esqs.
Fermanagh—William Archdall, John Richardson, J.
Neterville Blake, Esqs.
Galway—Denis Kirwan, Esq., Sir James Fitzgerald
Ross Mahon, Bart., Christopher St. George, Esq.
Galway Town—Patrick M. Lynch, Lachlan M'Lach-
lan, Michael Browne, Esqs.
Kerry—Christopher Galway, Wilson Gun, William
Talbot Crosbie, Escis.
Kildare—Lord William Fitzgerald, Edward H. Cole,
William Palmer, Esqs,
Kilkenny—Charles Hely, James Sandford Lane,
Chambre Ponsonby, Esqs.
Kilkenny City—Clayton Savage, John M'Craitb, Mi-
chael Cahill, Esqs.
King's County—Richard Warburton, Henry Peel
L'Estrange, J un., Guy Atkinson, Esqs.
Leitrim—Edward King Tennison, Guy Lloyd, Loftus
Anthony Tottenham, Esqs.
Limerick—Edward Cripps Villiers, William Barring-
ton, Edward Croker, Esqs.
Limerick City—Michael Gavin, Henry Watson, Wil-
liam Roche, Esqs.
Londonderry CitK
Bart., John Bari!' eresford, Leslie Alexander, Esqs.
Longford—George Lefroy, Francis Edgeworth, Wm.
Ledwith, Esqs. and County—Sir Harvey Bruce,
Louth—Frederick J. Foster, Lewis Upton, George.
Macartney, Esqs.
Mayo—Thomas S. Carter, Charles Kirwan, Henry
Wm. Knox, Esqs.
Killeen, James Waller, Henry Codding-
ton,Esqs:

Monaghan—Samuel It. Bayley Evatt, Andrew Allen
Murray, Thomas Oriel Forster, Esqs.
Queen's County—The lion. H. G. F. Walker, Chidl4
Coote, Horace Roehfort, Esqs.
Roscommon—Sir Gilbert King, Bart., John Fitagerald
Grace, Garret O'Moore, Esqs.
Sligo—Edward Joshua Cooper, Philip Percoval, John
W. King, Esqs.

-
Tipperary—John Bayley, Esq., Lieut.-Colonel Wm.
Purefoy, John Trant, Esq.
Tyrone—George d'Arcy, Francis Geryais, Richard
Lloyd, Esqs.
Waterford—John Bowen Gumbledon, John Henry
Keane, Simon Bagge, Ems.
Waterford City—Jacob Penrose, Thomas Sheppard,
Wm. Smith Sewell Doyle, Esas.
Westmeath—Hon. L. H. King Harman, Sir Francis
Hopkins, Bart., James Howard Fetherston, Esq.
Wexford— Patrick Walter Redmond, Harry Alcock,
Edw4rd Westby Nunn, EEqs.
VVlow—Robert Archibald Gun Cunningham, Wm.
W. Firawilliam Hume, Charles Tottenham. Esqs.

occupied with " notices" for Railway
some others of greater interest ere
not unlikely to escape observation. The New
LOCAL LE&ISLATION.—The Gazette of Tuesday
extends to the extraordinary length of seven sheets, and
for enlargement and amendment
Prrie'd by their charter, and for the
further and other powers, rights,
Bisilallsm;oleonntgirewlyhich,
Zealand
by the Company."
granting
ot'
hn
ep apnoy‘
to
oea
rr se
them tcoo
conferred
of
"
and privileges ;"and also " for regulation of the con-
at
Bhp
iepl
tl csaorl
areotn
oy
bmto e e
nap
tnri
projects
ineee
dta_one for
for erecting a
Not-
tingham.vSeeyvienr ga
l of
I nl acTnl ohdsesur re ine
new bridge over the Floating Harbour in Bristol ; for
enabling the London and Birmingham Company to raise
more capital : for the improvement of the harbours of
Harwich and Lowestoffe (in connexion with railways) ;
for regulating further the police of Birmingham ; for
giving small debt courts to Devonshire ; for the further
improvement of Bridgewater, Newcastle, &c. Among
the plans connected with the metropolis, may be men-
tioned that for forming an embankment along the
Thames from Vauxhall to Battersea. New streets are
also projected from Westminster to Pimlico (abolishing
the " Almonries" and other low places in Westminster),
and from Lothbury to London-wall (with some " colon-
nades"), and other minor improvements...
RAILWAYS IN PRUSSIA.—The following return
shows the progress of the Rhenish Railway :
Passengers. Goods, Receipts,
quintals. dollars.
In August 1844 ... ............ 47,579 313,226 67,245
In August 1843 ............... 35,617 102,437 42,537

Difrerence in favour of 1844.•• 11,962 210,789 24.70E4
The first eight months of 1844 248,039 1,829,142 347,065
1843 185,894 588,629 193,848

iPle4s Pesth 'ltso3'i 7
the
Ibt:dtreetpenencedetini ftalyyouorf "otht. leBm4 4a.i.n.
r, 204m0 ,
front ier of Austria and to Debreezin, there will be also
cons tructed branithes to Comorn, Arad, Groswardein,
trgankline f 1
and liiacomaz. The works from Pesth to the Austrian
fronta.er are to be undertaken simultaneously with those
to Do, breezin.--Rui/tray Chronicle.

PARLIAMENTARY SESSIONAL
PAPERS.
SELECT COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF
COMMONS ON BRITISH SHIPPING.—
(No. 54.5. 11. C.)
One of the most important points to which the
evidence of the witnesses examined was directed (as
we remarked in a former article on the Shipping In-
terest, and its prospects), regarded—
" Reciprocity Trollies," and one of the main causes
assigned by them for the depression in the value of
shipping property which has been for many years
taking place. This evidence applied to them under
five principal heads :-1. Generally ; 2. Their injurious
effect upon British Shipping ; 3. How far observed by
Foreign Powers ; 4. No effect to be attributed to the
Treaties—whether or not they ought to be further
carried out; 5. Whether the Government could have
avoided entering into them. These are all of them
important matters in relation to the existing aspect of
our shipping interest. Mr. Hall, of London, having
observed that "no duties have been taken off ships
excepting under the reciprocity treaties"—and having
answered affirmatively to the question, " Whether he
would have similar treaties for the reduction of duties
on goods ?" proceeds—" I have no doubt they would
be met in a similar spirit on the Continent. When
the first reciprocity treaty was proposed in—this
country it was with Holland. M. Pagel was Minister
here. Mr. Huskisson was at the Board of Trade ;
and when M. Fagel represented to him that it was
impossible for Holland to enter into a reciprocity
treaty with this country, having the Navigation Act
In favour of British shipping, Mr. Huskisson said—
" That is the fundamental law of this country, but
we have no objection to your passing a similar Act to
protect your own." But M. Fagel replied, " Those
very items in the importation of which you protect-
British shipping are the very articles which we are
exporting. Let us put a similar number of articles in
our Navigation Acts, and we are ready to meet you."
Mr. Geo. F. Young thus speaks to their injurious
effect upon British shipping and upon the freights, as
exemplified by both the North American and Baltic
timber trades :—" The stipulation under which Ame-
rican ships were placed, strictly speaking, on the
principle of reciprocity, was long antecedent to the
passing of the Reciprocity Duties Bill : it was part
of our concurrence in the treaty of peace after the
last war with America. That was followed out in-
the case of the American trade, by the loss to the
British shipping of a great proportion of the direct
carrying trade between the United States and this
country, which ever since has been continued to be
engrossed in a very large degree by American ship-
ping. 1 am hardly prepared to say whether this
degree is increasing at the present moment; I am
inclined to think it is not—the importations both in
American and English ships having increased ; and
I am not aware whether the proportions of that
increase are in favour of American or British ton-
nage.
lowed in t;;,:' trade with those countries with which
we have made treaties of reciprocity ; but as I con-
sider those treaties iz9w to form part of the per-
manent policy of this coantry, I regard the system
in no other light than as .a cause of permanent
pressure from foreign competiaon upon British
tonnage in certain trades, which do; rives it of a
great portion of the navigation in those trades, and
causes a re-action upon other branches of maritime
commerce which I will take the liberty of illustrat-
ing. In the great article of timber the competing
produce of the British Colonies or North America
and the Baltic are so newly adjusted in price, in the
British market, that a very small variation will
transfer the demand from the one article to a corre-
sponding production of the other part of the world:
and thus, the Baltic timber being now, in a great
degree, imported in Baltic ships at a low rate of
freight, which the cheapness of production and navi-
gation enables them to accept, drives the British
shipowner, engaging in the same trade, to take the
same rate of freight in that trade, inasmuch as there
cannot be two prices for the same commodity in
the same market. This re• acts upon the American
trade by preventing any rise in the freight of
American timber ; because any such rise would in-
crease the cost of American timber in this market,
and induce the consumers, in preference to paying
that rate, at once to have recourse to the Baltic
timber. Thus, I consider this particular alteration of
our navigation system to be a cause of permanent
pressure upon British tonnage. This, being in ope-
ration, has during the last few years been greatly
aided by the concurrence of a variety of other cir-
cumstances leading to the same result. Among the
most prominent, I have no hesitation in saying, is the
over-production of ships. But I hope I shall be al-
lowed to explain why I have arrived at the conclu-
sion that that over-production has not been the result
of any improvident act on the part of the British
shipowners, but is almost wholly, if not entirely, the
consequence of the freedom of admission of North
American colonial-built ships to the privilege of
British registry." The same witness proceeds to ex-
press a strong opinion that no further competition of
foreign shipping should be admitted ; but that these in-
jurious effects of reciprocity treaties should operate as a
warning against future errors of the same nature;
especially, seeing that all the countries with which
we have contracted these treaties can navigate more
cheaply than ourselves. Mr. Somes concurs in the
views of Mr. Young as to the disastrous influence of
the reciprocity treaties on British shipping. He
holds that no further infringement upon the present
protection of that interest should be allowed ; and
that the same cause injuriously affects all other
trades. Mr. Chapman thinks that these treaties have
diverted shipping from some branches of commerce
into others, and thus proved an active cause of com-
petition ; but Mr. Tanner, allowing that they are a
cause of the depression complained of, remarks that in
1839 and 1840 our shipping was in a comparatively
flourishing state.
It is important to notice, on this last point, the dis-
crepancy between the unqualified evidence to depres-
sion for the last five years, given by Messrs. Young,
Somes, &c.
On the depression of freights, Mr. Anderson says,
that though it was partly owing, during the last
three years, to the generally bad state of trade, it was
mainly attributable to the operation of these treaties ;
and that it was particularly in the interval from
1826 to 1829 that this effect began to be felt, allowing
for the action of the general distress then prevalent
throughout the kingdom. The same cause, he states,
had largely operated to produce all the main fluctua-
tions experienced by the shipping interest since 1820.
The fact of our being, as to the northern ports of
Europe, an importing, rather than an exporting,
country, makes the system of reciprocity disadvan-
tageous to us.
We are disposed to attach the more value to the
evidence of this gentleman, on account of the great
candour and sound sense with which the whole bearings
of reciprocity treaties, and, incidentally, of " discri-
minating duties," are set forth in the following
answers to questions (2,004 to 2,036):—
At the time of the reciprocity treaties, would it
have been a very great detriment to our shipping if
heavy discriminating duties had been imp9sed in
foreign parts ?—No : I do not think it would.
Will you explain how that could have failed to
operate to the detriment of British shipping ?—I am
giving my opinion by what occurred in Dantzic; at
the port of Dantzic the duties were very heavy.
There were double charges on British shipping at one
time before the reciprocity treaties, and Dantzic lost
all its trade, and was reduced to a state of beggary,
and the ships were laid up and rotting, in conse-
quence of their laying on higher duties than the
neighbouring ports.
The result was to drive our shipping out of Dantzic ?
—We had Memel to go to.
Suppose they had adopted the same principle in
Memel ?--We should have gone to Prussia.
Suppose they had done the same thing everywhere.
Suppose those foreign Powers determined to retaliate
our Navigation Laws at that time, and had inflicted
severe discriminating duties in foreign ports, would
that have been no detriment to British shipping ?
No. We should have had to go to the British
Colonies, and to the southern ports of the United
States for timber. That would have been a great
detriment to the country, generally, as it would have
raised the price of timber.
You speak of having a resource in a trade with the
United States ?—Yes.

Ard'you not aware that the United States were
among the very first Powers to commence that retalia-
tion ?—I know that very well. The United States
were the first Power with whom we had the
treaty of reciprocity in 1814.
Was not that treaty in consequence of a determina-
tion of the Americans to inflict heavy discriminating
duties in retaliation for the Navigation Laws ?—I do
not remember. I know the date of the treaty from
having since referred to it ; but at that time I was
at sea.
If that were so, would not the course adopted by
the United States' Government have operated very
much to the detriment of British shipping ?—lf our

Government had imposed countervailing discriminating
duties on their shipping, which would have been a fair
retaliation, we should have been pretty much in the same
situation as before.
The retaliation was on the. side of the Americans :
we had discriminating duties betiire the Americans
imposed duties by way of retaliation ?—I do not
know anything about what the tonnage duties were
on ships in 1814.
We had under our Navigation Laws, at that time,
discriminating tonnage duties in our ports ?—I am not
aware that we had before 1824.
That was the principle of the Navigation Laws ?
I don't think there were any discriminating tonnage
duties on foreign shipping in 1824, previous to the en-
tering into those treaties.
Was it not one of the main provisions of the Navi-
gation Laws that a higher tonnage duty should be
placed on foreign vessels than on British ?—lt was
not a duty on shipping : it was a per centage upon
the duty on foreign imports : upon the goods, not
upon the shipping.
The duty, whether imposed upon the tonnage, or
upon the goods, was a discriminating duty upon fo-
reign shipping ?—Certainly ; upon goods imported in
foreign shipping.
Which was intended to operate to the disadvantage
of foreign shipping in our ports ?—lt was intended to
operate to the advantage of British shipping, in pre-
ference to the shipping of foreign countries.
That being the case, if the American Government
adopted the same system by way of retaliation against
us, do not you think that that must have operated to
the detriment of our shipping interest?—lf the Ame-
rican Government had imposed no other or higher du-
ties upon the merchandise of this country, imported
into the United States, than this country imposed
upon the goods of America, imported in America❑
ships into this country, it would have been perfectly
fair, and there would- have been no disadvantage ex-
cept a rise of price in the two countries.
In that case, how should we have been better off by
maintaining the discriminating duty than by that
duty being dispensed with on each side ; that is, had
there been mutual concession instead of mutual re-
taliation ?—There is no other difference as to America
than that which existed in the way of duties. The
question, as to America, I would not consider as
placed on the same footing as the question with re-
ference to those countries which can navigate so much
cheaper than British shipping can ; for we can navi-
gate with the Americans very fairly, and there can be
no objection to putting the shipping on the same footing.
The question is not whether we can compete with
those countries upon an equal footing, but whether,
under the circumstances of the case, we might not be
placed in a position of quite as much disadvantage
with reference to them as we are by the reciprocity
treaties ?—With America, I think, we might.
Supposing that, in our trade with the Baltic, by a
process of retaliation, the discriminating duties had
been made to press equally both in the foreign ports
and in the ports of this country, how should we have
stood in a better position as to competition with the
shipping of those countries than under the reciprocity
treaties ?—The protecting duties on British shipping
were not on the ship, but on the merchandise. Then
if the Prussians, or the other countries, had imposed a
similar duty on goods imported in our ships it would
have amounted to next to nothing; their imports from
this country being so small compared with the ex-
ports from their country to this, it would not have
had so injurious an effect.
That may be true supposing the protecting duties
confined to goods ?—That was the case in this country
previous to the treaties being made.
But the intentions of the Prussian Government were
not to confine them to goods ?—I am aware that they
were not.

Assuming that the intention of the Prussian Go-
vernment was this—to enact laws which should ac-
complish as effective a discrimination in their ports,
between their own shipping as ours, as we had esta-
blished in our ports between our shipping and theirs—
what should you say then That it was a very un-
fair thing to do. I merely put it upon this ground,
that I think, in common fairness, between the coun-
tries, the trade should be so regulated as that the sub-
jects of both countries, taking into consideration their
relative situations and their liability to expenses, over
which they can have no elittrol, should be placed in
the same situation as to the benefit to be derived from
trade.

What power have we of giving effect to any
such arguments as those you have mentioned in the
case of foreign countries I—We have no power but
that which the Americans resort to, of non-inter-
course.

In your opinion it would -be detrimental to the
shipping interest of this country if all other coun-
tries adopted the principle of our own Naviga-
tion Laws ; namely, to prevent our having any inter-
course with them in our own ships ?—lt would be
difficult, no doubt, for this- country to contend with
the whole world combined against her, which is a
state of things, however, very unlikely to occur, con-
sidering what has been the course pursued by this
country towards others. _ _ _

If You followed out your own principle of those
Navigation Laws, and imposed such duties as would
prevent any competition with you, supposing other
countries to pursue the same principle with respect to
you, would the shipping of this country be then on a
better footing than it is at present ?—That is an ab-
stract question, which I cannot very well answer.
But we never did that. The discriminating duties
imposed by us in favour of British shipping were to
so small an amount that one reason for abrogating that
protection was, that the amount was so small as to
render it not worth preserving.
Do not you attribute much of the evil you complain
of to the abrogation of those laws ?—Yes.
A large portion of it ?—Yes, and I will give a
reason for my opinion in that respect. Although the
amount was small, and not extending to the amount
of difference which existed in the cost of navigation
between foreign countries and ours, it was 5 per cent.
upon the import duty, and when the duty was 2/. 15s.
a load, it amounted to 2s. 9d. a load on timber. Though
that was not enough to make up for the difference in
the expenses of navigation, it was enough to give us
a preference in our own market, and enable us to get,
perhaps, ls. to Is. Gd. a load freight for timber more
than foreign ships.
Have not you the protection of double lights and
pilotage?—Those were taken off by the treaties with
each foreign country respectively.
Notwithstanding all, have you not beaten foreigners
since 1824 in point of tonnage?—Certainly not in
profit.
Have you not in point of tonnage ?—I don't think
we have.

Suppose that those Foreign Governments had suc-
ceeded in accomplishing their avowed object of
making a complete retaliation, and of placing our
ships in their ports at as great a disadvantage in point
of competition with their own as their ships were
placed at in our ports, would you not, then, be in
precisely the same situation with respect to competi-
tion as you are now, with the additional disadvantage
of restrictions upon trade ?-45 they had so nicely
calculated tho difference as to produce the same effect
as is now produced, I do not see that any great dif-
ference would have teen the result. The only differ-
ence would have been that the infliction would have
been by the Foreign Governments instead of by our
own. On the third point-I,llv far these treaties
have been observed, by Foreign towers,—great dif-
ference of opinion prevails. Mr. Curving has no
reason to believe that British shipping in foreign ports
is not on a footing with other foreign ships, and Mr.
Hall inclines strongly to confirm this statement. On
the other hand, Mr. Straker shows that the reci-
procity treaties are not fairly carried out by reason of
the vexatious r9gulations of foreign ports. This wit-
ness further suggests that, as the intention of the
treaties is thus defeated by some foreign states, it
would be only fair tol restrict the privilege of
bonding to cargoes brought in British ships, which
would be an equivalent to their restrictions.
In our next notice of this " Report," we shall give
from the Appendix a list of the countries with which
treaties of reciprocity, with regard to shipping, have
been entered into, and the dates of such treaties.

At an annual meeting of the Birmingham Law
Society, held on the 19th ult., the following resolution
was passed :—" It having been notified that certain soli-
citors in this town have sent in written tenders, com-
peting for employment by a building club, and on a
scale of charges greatly below those legally authorised,
this meeting feels it necessary to express its severe con-
demnation of such condiel;arderogatory to the honour
of the legal profession, and calculated to endanger the
interests of the public and the security of property,
and to direct that this resolution be printed and sent to
all the solicitors in Birmingham.—Birmingham. Gazette.
Such was the devastation of the floods at Kilkenny,
by high tide and continued rains, as to sweep the streets
like a deluge, rising several feet in the houses, and car-
rying away furniture, beside corn, flax, and potatoes in
the country. The city was a complete river for some
hours, and the inmates of small houses only escaped by
climbing to the roofs. There has been a lamentable loss
of property.— Corh Examiner,

LAWYERS OUTWITTED.
Birmingham has been this week visited by two
gentlemen, who have added another to the many im-
proved modes of swindling, and, considering the
" subjects" which they selected to operate upon, they
are certainly entitled to a patent for the discovery
It appears that a few days ago a stranger, of gentle-
manly exterior and address, about 60 years of age,
and having the appearance of being blind, went to the
office of a respectable solicitor, accompanied by a
youth, who acted as his guide. On being ushered
up stairs and seated in the solicitor's room, he pre-
sented his card, bearing the name of " Mr. Charles
Rice," and proceeded to say that he had called for the
purpose of obtaining a little professional advice rela-
tive to the best mode of recovering some 601. from 3
person named Joliffe, who resided at Aston-road.
The money had been owing him for a long time
past, and having extended every conceivable indul-
gence to the gentleman, who was a man of property,
he really felt the painful necessity of taking proceed-
ings. The solicitor, of course, sympathised with his
new client, took the necessary instructions, and pro-
mised to write instantly to Mr. Joliffe; Mr. Rice
very considerately observing, that as he was a stran-
ger, and this being their first transaction, he felt the
propriety of requesting the solicitor to accept his ac-
customed fee for the intended application to Mr. Joliffe.
Not having the least doubt of the respectability of
his client, the legal gentleman as promptly de-
clined the liberal offer, being quite satisfied
with the honour of enrolling the stran-
ger's name amongst his clients. Mr. Rice
then lefr, and, according to promise, Mr. Joliffe was
written to, and in the course of the evening that gen-
tleman waited upon the solicitor, acknowledged the
receipt of his letter, regretted very much the neces-
sity which his old friend Mr. Rice had been under
to adopt such measures, and hoped a few days' indul-
gence would be extended, when he would most cer-
tainly pay all he owed. The solicitor, quite satisfied
with the result of the interview, was about quietly to
touch his bell for another client, Rhea Mr. Joliffe,
apparently overcome by the polite attention and in-
dulgence he had received, put his hand in his pocket,
and tendered a guinea, as some recompense for the
trouble he had occasioned ; a " consideration " which
was, of course, declined, and Mr. Joliffe left the office.
On the following day Mr. Rice, accompanied by his
juvenile guide, again called at the office of the soli-
citor, and was so well pleased at the result of the ap-
plication, that he at once proposed to commit the
management of his affair into the solicitor's hands.
With this view he produced a large posting bill, an-
nouncing the sale of "a very desirable estate," only
one hour and-a-half's journey from London, in " a
delightful situation," lately the property of Frederick
Augustus Rice, Esq., deceased. The sale was an-
nounced under the authority of Mr. IVinstanley,
the auctioneer, to come off, without reserve, at
the Crown Inn, Aylesbury, on the 30th instant.
Amongst the valuable effects to be put up
for sale, was a "commodious residence," entitled
" Bed-hill Farm," presenting, to quote the lan-
guage of the announcement, "a most attractive
retreat for a London tradesman, desirous of combin-
ing a pleasant residence with profitable and agreeable
rural occupation." Mr. Winstanley was also in-
structed to sell about 300 lots of well-made furniture,
460 ounces of plate, 37 dozen of excellent wines, with
live and dead stock, farming implements, &c., parti-
culars of which were to be had on the premises, of
the auctioneer, and of Mr. C. Rice, " sole legatee,
41, Great Brook-street, Birmingham." The agency.
of this important and profitable transaction was at
once accepted by the solicitor, upon which Mr. Rice
said he could immediately put the deed of the pro-
perty in his possession, but that on coming down from
London he stopped at Coventry, where he left the•
documents with a gentleman who kindly lent him 201.;
as he happened, however, to have only eight sove-
reigns about him, the balance was freely advanced by
cheque by the solicitor. Mr. Rice, extremely thank-
ful for tho prompt arrangement of his pecuniary diffi-
culties, speedily left the office, and it is F.eedless to
say had the cheque forthwith converted into cash, for-
getting, in his anxiety to arrange his affairs, to send
for the deed, or to return to the offices of his obliging
legal friend. 'The solicitor next day, suspecting all was
not right, made some inquiries, and discovered that two
other solicitors had been favoured with the stranger's
patronage, and prevailed upon to advance 201. each
upon the deed of Red-hill Farm. Information was
given to the police, when it was discovered that seve-
ral tradesmen had been swindled in a similar man-
ner, and, amongst others, Mr. Morley, hairdresser, of
Union-street. Mr. Rice called upon him, and after
many inquiries relative to the most improved mode of
wig making, submitted his head for measurement, and
gave an order for a very superior article. Money was
no object; a good fit, the newest style, and appro-
priate colour, were the main considerations ; and if
the article combined all these qualities, a guinea extra
would be cheerfully paid. Mr. Rice, in the meantime,
purchased a guard-chain and other articles, to the
amount of about 21., and in a day or two after called,
and tendered in payment of the order a promissory-
note for 71., purporting it to be from his tenant, Mr.
Joliffe, of the Aston-road. He said he did not wish
to run so small a note into his bank, and as it would
be due in a few days, it would, he presumed, suit Mr.
Morley to hand him the balance. Having ascertained
that the gentleman banked at Mr. Moilliett's, he
made inquiries at that establishment, and was informed
that Mr. Rice had a large sum deposited. He then
accepted the note, and handed over the balance to his
customer. In a few days after the articles were sent
home to the gentleman's address, when it was found
that be had decamped, leaving Mr. Morley in posses-
sion of the yet undue promissory note. Finding his
customer had absconded, he went to Mr. Moilliett's,
to make inquiries relative to the " deposit," and was
informed that the Mr. Rice referred to had with-
drawn 3001. from the bank the day before, and that
he had been made the victim of an accomplished-
swindler. It is scarcely necessary to add, that
neither Mr. Rice nor his accomplice has since been
heard of.—Birmingham Journal.

DREADFUL ACCIDENT FROM A NEW EXPLOSIVE
SIIELL.—On Tuesday last, about three P.M., a dreadful
accident occurred on Wimbledon-common to a man of
the name of James Taylor, an old soldier, while assist-
ing Dr. Ryan, of the Royal Polytechnic Institution, in a
series of experiments on a new explosive shell, the in-
vention of Mr. Buckingham. The shell is one of a
peculiar construction, having no fusee, and resembling
in its external character the common cannon ball. The
inventor, however, professes to have so perfect a control
over the missile that by merely changing the position of
the shell, as it is placed in the gun, it may be made to
explode 1,2, 3, or even 15 minutes after it has been
fired ; or it may be made to explode almost as it leaves
the orifice of the cannon. Four or five dozen of these
shells were fired during the morning under the direction
of Dr. Ryan, who had been retained professionally to
watch the results. Two of the shells, which ought to
have exploded each a few minutes after leaving the gun,
having remained quiet upwards of two hours, it was sup-
posed that a failure had occurred ; and although Mr.
Buckingham had repeatedly, asserted that he could so
arrange his machinery as to keep the shell quiescent 24
hours, and then allow it to explode, yet, as the shells in
question had not been so charged, no suspicion of any
danger occurred to the mind of any of tho spectators.
However, the dreadful result proves that, either the in-
ventor had by mistake employed one of his long-timed
shells, or some error had occurred in the arrangement
of the charge. Dr. Ryan had left the ground only a
very short time to return to town, when Mr. Bucking-
ham and James Taylor proceeded to remove the exploded
shells. One of these had been already in the hands
of two or three persons, when Taylor took it for the pur-
pose of washing the earth off its surface. lle was in the
act of stooping when the shell burst, carrying away both
the poor fellow's hands, and wounding him most dread-
fully in the legs. A portion of the shell entered the
right cheek, carrying away the lower jaw, and then
passing out on the side of the neck ; yet, strange to say,
without injuring the carotid artery. Tourniquets were
immediately applied to the arms and legs, and with all
speed the sufferer was conveyed to St. George's Hospi-
tal, where he arrived, as might be expected, in a state of
collapse Ile rallied, however, in the course of the even-
ing, and Mr. Tatham proceeded to remove the remaining
fragments of the horribly fractured jawbone, and after-
wards performed amputation on both arms, just below
the elbow. Notwithstanding these injuries, Taylor is
perfectly sensible, and some faint hopes are entertained
of his recovery, a result hardly to be desired in his mu-
tilated s'a'e. Dr. Ryan had himself examined the shell
hefore liaving the ground, being perfectly convinced that
it was a failure ; his feelings, therefore, may be well
imagined, when, in two hours afterwards, he saw Taylor
in the accident ward of St. George's, an evidence of his
own providential escape.
SOCIETY or ARTS. —At the meeting of the Society on
dnesday, an interesting paper by Mr. Milton, on 131 t ish
and foreign honey, and the management of bees, was
read, and the thanks of the society were unanimously
awarded to him. After this a model of the Grenior
Mobile, or rotatory granary was produced, and a short
paper, explanatory of its objects, was read by Mr.
%Vhishaw, the secretary. The machine, which is in-
tended to preserve corn, was exhibited at the meeting of
the British Association for this year. It consists of a
hollow cylinder composed of wire gauze and timber, so
constructed as to admit the air, and divided within into
several compartments for the reception of the grain. At
one end is a vane connected with a tube, by which the
air admitted through the wire gauze is carried off, and
a free current preserved. The whole machine revolves
upon an axis, and receives its motion by a slight manual
exertion. Thus the corn within is shifted at pleasure
hnea.
prroeas
(s, tnetr,
abArtihoeussimple motion
method, and
fosi?rmameesn'hhtieanetgil olinink,:tdeecacodoffmoe coffee
decomposition, destruction by vermin, and
all other casualties to which grain in store is subject,
as alleged by the arc,inventor, more effectually pre-
vented. This machine
is already extensively in use in
France, and it is said there is one at Brest capable of
holding 800 quarters. The expense of erecting one is
estimated at about V. for every quarter of wheat it is
capable of containing. The thanks of the society were
then voted to Mr. Birmingham, by whom the model was
exhibited, and the meeting was adjourned to Wednesday
next.

We can state, from authority, that the anxiously
wished for Brevet will take place in January next.--
Limerick Chronicle.

V;