The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 26, 1857.

the magazine- and the lives of those immediately
round if." Secondly, on the 511 November, 1854
—" for having joined the officers of the Grena-
dier Guards at the B .ttle of Lakerman, and
assisted in defending the colours of that regiment,
when hard pressed at the Sandbag Battery."
Thirdly, on the 18-,,h June, 1855—for " having
volunteered to lead the ladder party at the assault
on the Redan, and for carrying the first
ladder until wounded." Honour to the gallant
young sailor—the brave scion of a house already
great in the annals of his country.. Captain
WILLIAM PEEL'S case, however, although conspicu-
ous, is not—let it be understood at once—in
any way exceptional. We have simply particularised
his name in the first instance, because it is a name
already dear to the hearts of Englishmen, and
because the claims of the young commander hap-
pen at the same time to be threefold I If he
was brave, he was brave simply among the brave.
His prowess, heroic as it was, was a prowess in
which be shares the glory with many worthy com-
petitors. Take the first of these evidences of his
pluck. He was not alone in it. There was
Lieutenant Lucas (also of the Ruyal Navy), who,
in the Baltic, no less coolly and heroically
took up a live shell and threw it overboard !
And there was Private WHEATLEY (of the Ist
Battalion of the Rifle Brigade) who, in like man-
ner,* picked up a live shell and threw it over the
parapet of the trenches before Sebastopol I Both
being rewarded for the deed of daring with a Vic-
toria Cross I Or take the " second" of Captain
WILLIAM PEEL'S claims for the cross—his volun-
teered participation iu the deadly struggle at In-
kerrnan. Was he not accompanied—. does not
the London Gazette tell us immediately afterwards
that he was accompanied to the field of bat le on
the sth of November by a young mi idy (EDWARD
DANIELS), acting as his aide-de-camp ? While
in regard to his third claim, in regard to his
volunteered share in the perilous attack
upon the Redan on the 18th of June—was he not
attended thither by that same midshipman as his
aide-de-camp ?—the young middy " tying a tour-
, niquet on his (Captain Run's) arm on the glacis
of the Redan, whilst exposed to a very beavy
fire !" Was there not, for example, on that aame
18th of June, at the Redan, the brave Lieutenant
JOHN KNOX, of the Rifle Brigade (2d battalion),
who, not only volunteered for the ladder-party,
but " behaved admirably, remaining upon tlie
field until twice wounded." Lieutenant KNox
having previously risen from the ranks, winning
fortune at the point of his sword, when, as a Ser-
geant in the Scots Fusiliers, he showed himself
" conspicuous in reforming the ranks of the
Guards at the battle of the Alma," on the
memorable 21st of September It
It appears almost invidious, however, to par-
ticularise any of the names inscribed upon this glo-
rious catalogue—taking them even in a manner
hap-hazard for the mere purpose of illustration.
Not a single one among these recipients of the
VICTORIA CROSS but has nobly earned the glory
and the privilege of wearing it.

excited the national disgust and indignation,
for that was (as Sir G. C. LEWIS asserts)
a more accident, of which he emphatically dc-
clared he would scorn to take advantage. But
th Lt respecting the tea duties originated in his
own answers, and if these were so framed as to
deceive the parties he must be held responsible
for the consequences. We therefore sin-
cerely hope that Mr. GLADSTONE'S resolution
may be affirmed, and that the House will refuse
to grant any addition to the rates chargeable
by the Customs Duties Act of 1855 on the ar-
ticles of tea and sugar.

But should that just and salutary proposition
be rejected there can be no doubt that Lord jomr
RUSSELL'S amendment will be a vast improve-
ment on the course indicated by the Chancellor
of the Exchequer. The loss to the revenue will
be comparatively trifling ! No less than
1,640,0001. will be levied on tea more
than could be raised under the existing
law. This is a handsome dividend even on the
sum asked by Sir G. C. Lewis. It is true that
less will be received during the present year.
But he has still to receive a moiety of the war
Income Tax of 16d. in the pound, and has been
able to indicate a considerable surplus during the
coming year, while it will give him a large amount
in 1859, when the Treasury will be very weak,
there being every reason, as we have already
pointed eut, to fear a serious deficiency. To the
importers and dealers it will be a vast boon,
affording them an opportunity of getting out of a
considerable portion of the losses they may other-
wise sustain. The duty at Is. 4d. will,
for the present year, only occasion as extra
payment of 184,5001. more than would be levied
under the Act of 1855, and although 778,000/.
additional will be received in each of the follow-
ing years, the parties will have ample time to
make arrangements for the reduction of their
stocks, or such other course as they may deem
advisable. Besides, as we recently explained, the
public will receive an immediate benefit when sd.
per lb. is taken away. The retail dealers must
give the benefit of at least 4d. thereof to them,
while two successive falls of 21. per lb. would not
be noticed, save so far as empty assurances of an
improved quality were concerned. On every
ground, then, we trust that Lord Jolor RUSSELL'S
amendment may be carried should the Chancellor
of the Exchequer refuse the slight concession de-
manded. Every professing Liberal should give
it an earnest and hearty support on the
merits. We fear, however, that plea does
not receive much attention just at present
in the representative branch of the Legislature.
The interests of party have greater weight with
the quasi independent members than the welfare
and prosperity of the people.

"Read and you will learn," was the advice re-
peatedly given by the mother of Sir W. JONES to
the incipient philosopher in the days of his boy-
hood. " Have you read my book," was the
surly question with which, according to report,
the late Dr. ABERNETHY frequently accosted his
patients. Well, we have obeyed Sir GEORGE
CORNEWALL Lzwrs—we have read his report as
he told us ; wh•tit we learned is another question.
Elaborate enough it is, in all consciencP, and re-
quires us to calculate with him to thirds and
ninths of a penny to six hundred and sixty
sevenths and thousandths, and t me) thousands
of the value of the property ; but we must
decline to trouble our readers with what
they will as surely skip as they do thirds and
ninths, and much more than that, of a Budget
:speech. Business men and practical men do not
value their taxes like actuaries; they have a much
more rough and ready way of deciding on these
incidences, their unfairness, and on where the
shoe pinches. An actuary could ran a pin into
us and prove to demonstration that it did not
affect a milli,in'.h part of the superficies of our
body, but if he did not pull it out faster than he
put it in, be would run the risk of seeing much
more than a millionth part of his own skin black
and blue.

* Several other dauntless f,ll)cvs distinguished them
selves at different times, it should be here remarked, in
precisely the same manner by throwing live shells over
the parapets : among others rewarded for this deed of
daring by investiture with the Victoria Cross, being
Privates I\l`Corrie, Strong, Lyons, Coffey, and Sergeant
Ablett.
± It is observable that this brave s. flier—who bad
already, as we have seen, won his commission as lieu•
tenant in her MAJESTY'S Army, by his distinguished gal-
lantry on the heights of the Alma—has never yet re-
ceived the wilt merited recompenco of his daring as a
volunteer (as one of the ladder party) in that " forlorn
hope" the attack of the 18. h of June upon the Roden.
A. recompense (his captaincy) to which he was none the
less entitled by the circumstance of his losing an arm
upon the occasion.

Lr,l d JOHN RUSSELL gave notice on Tuesday
that ho would, in the Committee of Ways and
Means, move an amendment to the proposition of
the Chancellor of the Exchequer respecting tea,
that the duty should be ls. 4d. per lb. for the
year 1857, and continue the same for the two
following years. This was the compromise sug-
gested at the meeting of the importers and
dealers in t3a, and brought by the deputation
therefrom under the consideration of Sir G. C.
Litwrs. The Right Hon. Gentleman at the time
seemed favourably disposed t)wards it. BuF, as
it is impossible to say what'course he may ul
mately adopt, it is right that the question should
be placed in such a form, that the opinion of the
House may be taken thereon, in the event of Mr.
GLaDSTONE's resolution that " The House
will not grant any addition t 3 . the rates
chargeable by the Customs' Duties Act of
1855 on the articles of Oa and sugar," being re-

We were somewhat amused, by the bye, at the
facility with which Sir G. C. LEWIS'S attorney
could argue from values of property when his ob-
ject was to maintain a tax ; and the uttsr impos-
sibility of reasoning on such a basis, when the
question is one of applying an Income Tax to
precarious and permanent incomes. Least of all
could we find in the report any conclusive grounds
for his flourish in the House on the 13th of this
month, when he somewhat pompously declared,
" that it is a duty which falls exclusively on realised
property, for which reason it ought to receive
the support of those gentlemen who wish to trans-
fer all taxation to realised property ; that is a
duty which adapts itself with singular felicity to
the circumstances of the taxpayer, which is
heaviest when the insurance is lightest, and lightest
tehen the insurance is heaviest So
far as he could judge, he believed it to be one of
the list duties which ought to be relinquished."
Now, we must think, the elaborate report of
the Chancellor of the Exchequer's advocate fails
in all the important points which are regarded by
the public. It is a tax on realised property, it is
true—but only on a comparatively small portion
of realised property, and a portion of it which has
the most reasonable claims to exemption.
Goods, the most costly subject of fire insurance,
are a kind of property of somewhat precarious
value ; but omitting that consideration, it should
be borne in mind that they are but a part of the
realised property of the country, and a part, by
its very nature, especially liable to all kinds of
risks and contingencies. This property pays
largely already to the direct times of the country
through bill and receipt and postage stamps, as
by its being constantly changing hands it is more
obnoxious to those charges than other kinds of
real property. We should think it pays its full
proportion, and more than its proportion in that
way.

jetted.

We have already explained that the duties on
tea and sugar are two of the most objectionable,
in every point of view, that could be adopted.
They are the chief domestic comforts of the la-
bouring population—indeed they may be classed
amongst the necessaries of life. Theypromote a taste
for quiet family enjoyment, and constitute the best
antidote to the seductions of the beer shops and
gin palaces. The retention of a high scale is there-
fore of a very demoralising character, and there is
perhaps no fiscal charge which the philanthropist
wou!cl more urgently desire to see either altoge-
ther repealed or greatly reduced in amount. If
the duties were greatly diminished there can be
no doutt that the consumption would increase
in an inverse ratio. The truth of the proposition
has been confirmed by experience in every case
where the experiment was tried. But we have
additional evidence in favour of tea—for it is
found that in the Channel Islands the amount
required is more than double what it is in this
country, while in Amtralia the demand per
head is more than quadrupled. The reduction
to Is. per lb. would therefore by no means
occasion a proportionate loss to the revenue—
ands
t no
as every additional lb. of tea used would
te x
i r extra
re-
quire 41bs. of sugar, to say nothing of r
e hqu
supply of dumplings, pudding, s
argument to show that a similar result would fol-
low with respect to " the Corn of the Tropics !,,
But, in addition to these powerful reasons
against a retrograde policy in the matter of
indirect taxation, the Ministerial faith is pledged
to the importers and dealers in ba. Not only
had the question been disposed of in 1853, but
when it became essential, in consequence of the
exigencies of the war, to disturb the arrange-
ment then entered into, a specific time Wi
plain,
clearly and distinctly fixed by Parliament
when the
reduced duties should come into
operation. To make assurance doubly sure
a
to the straightforward
Chancellori interrogatory t eorftahtso
winch received an answer so satisfactory
dressedyExiwenhaeseqvueerry:
respect that the parties interested had no hesitation
in acting upon the supposed authentic information,
entering into extensive contracts and largely it t-
pcttifogging quibble ,
creasing their stocks. It is a " • •
of the most despicable description to assert tha t •
in consequence of the answer being couched in. a tax which now hazardous property escapes ? The
ambiguous terms, the Financial Minister is
LOW grass partiality of the tax dooms it to follow the
justified in repudiating the honourable under- GLADSTONE Income Tax.
st tnding, and victimising those who reposed eon- There is another very pretty epigrammatic
fidence in his assertions. It is far worse than i statement, relative to the tax falling heavily•or
that respecting the Income Tax, which so strongly ( lightly, in most fairly discriminated proportions.

But there is one grand distinction between two
classes of property, that of being combustible or
incombustible, which surely ought to exempt the
latter from Government charges, founded upon
the very circumstance which makes it a more
hazardous kind of property. Our Chancellor's
advocate himself gives us estimates of the value
of incombustible property—which, omitting the
Funds, and much other property not liable to
damage by Fire, amounts to the enormous total
of two thousand seven hundred and fifty millions
of property which pays no duty at al'. If this
property paid the same duty to Government as
that which is exposed to the risk of combustion,
it would realise the enormous sum of nearly
4,500,0001. ; and, were all property included, it
would not be less than about 7,000,000/. per
annum 1 Can any ingenuiky of any Edinburgh
reviewer, aided by all the report-writers in the
world, convince the public that property in its
nature hazardous should for that very reason pay

It has only the slight disadvantage of being
uAerly false. Confounding in their minds the
difference between the value of the property and
the sale of the premium, the reporter and his
master tell us that the tax adjusts itself in beau-
tiful proportions to the value of the property ;
the truth being, that if a man's property be so
risky that he pays three guineas per cent. to the
llnsurance-office, he still pays as much as if he
paid the office but Is. 6d. per cent. Of course
the duty is less relatively to the premium, but
relatively to the property it is a greater hardship.
The owner of a first-class house who pays is. 61.
is surely better off, and
premium, plus 3s. duty,
feels the tax less than the man who has to pay
three guineas before he pays the duty. Beautiful
adjustment of incidence, certainly, which the
more a man has to pay for a guarantee of his 1001.
worth of property, leaves him the same duty to
pay as if the office had charged him the lowest
rate. One hundred pounds of property, worth
three guineas less because of its risky quality,
must pay the same duty as 1001. worth, worth
only ls. 6d. less from the same cause. Surely,
equity would demand that, when the insurance
and duty together would be above the lowest rate,
4s. 6d., the duty should fall till no one, on the
whole, paid more than 4.. 6d.
We have not space just now to notice some
minor errors, especially that of overlooking the
payment of insurance by the same goods, in all
their stages of manufacture, till they are entirely
consumed. But it will seem to many readers
almost incredible that the Chancellor of the Ex-
' chequer's report attempts to persuade us that the
Fire duty is, in no peculiar sense, a tax on pru-
dence ; it is as obviously so as the GLADSTONE
Income Tax is a tax on conscientiousness. Few,
if any other taxes, are paid on what the payer
feels to be so peculiarly an act of prudence. In-
deed almost all his other prudential acts save him
from taxes. If, to meet the wants of a rising
family, he keeps neither horses, carriages, nor
n d
of fire,
rates
dogs, he escapes assessed taxes. If he takes a
cheaper house for the same reason, he pays lower
thouseionof
d theuty a
self-denial saves a tax. But, if he denies himself
theavce
, ment steps in and mulcts him on the average one
hundred per cent. for that act of prudence ! No
some shillings or pounds from prudent considera-
tion hazards
forthwith almost
every
Go t
Govern-
, of.
sophistry, not even should Mr. GLADSTONE him-
self come to Sir G. C. LEWIS'S help, will ever
I persuade any insurer that Government does not
1 by the Fire Duty levy a tax on his prudence.

LATEST NEWS.

AMERICA.
(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
LIVERPOOL, THURSDAY MORN/NG.
The Cunard steamer Alps is in the river, with
he New York mails of the 14th instant.

WRECK OF THE PENINSULAR
STEAMER MADRID.
We have received the following communicaticn
from the office of the Peninsular and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company :

"FEB. 26.

"A telegraphic message has been received here
this morning to the effect that the steamer
Madrid, conveying the outward Peninsular mails
of the 17th, struck on a rock at the entrance of
the port of Vigo on the 20th inst. All on board
were saved.
"No further particulars are known."

The Paris correspondent of the Times (second
edition) says :

"On the Persian question I can only add that,
as I am informed, the articles of the proposed
convention with England specify that the latter
Power shall henceforth be treated as the most
favoured nation, that is, as Russia, with.respect
to commercial advantages ; and, moreover, that
she shall have a right to found an establish-
ment in the isle of Karrak and another in Or-
muz. These conditions would appear to be
independent of the evacuation of Herat by the
Persians, and the abandonment of Bushire
by the English. The English Government had
demanded the right to appoint a Consul at
Balfrush, a port of the Mazanderan on the Caspian
Sea, but the Persian Envoy alleged that the existing
treaties with Russia contain a clause prohibiting
foreign diplomat;c agents from residing on the
shores of that sea, and no other foreign Power has
an agent there. But she may enjoy the right of
having Consuls on several specified points in the
interior of Persia, and on the shore of the Per-
sian Gulf. If the conditions to be submitted to
the English Government be accepted, Feruk Khan
will probably go to London, merely for the ratifi-
cation of the treaty between us and Persia."

TRIESTE, FEB. 25.

Accounts from Hong Kong, of the 15th of
January, state that a numerous Chinese fleet had
attacked the English squadron, and subsequently
retired in good order under the forts of Canton.
Admiral Seymour had disembarked troops and
burnt the greater part of the suburbs of Canton.
Tho fleet belonging to the Chinese rebels had
formed a junction with that of the imperialists at
Whampoa.

Perhaps one of the most singular arguments
alleged in favour of the duty, is, that it is quite
satisfactory to those who collect it. The offices
receive about 5 per cent. for performing that
duty ; and it is not matter of surprise, therefore,
that they should desire its cbntinuance. In a
large office it goes far towards paying the office
expenses. A still stronger reason, however, is,
that it is to some extent a check on competition.
It is practically found as disadvantageous to a
new office as beneficial to an old one. This the
Reporter himself plainly states. Most duties are
in this way found to cause a partial monopoly in
any manufacture, and hence it is rarely the case
that the manufacturers themselves desire their
repeal. The Reporter adverts to the tendency of in-
surance to encourage arson, and observes that it
may not therefore be a saving to the community
as a whole ; he forgets that it equally discourages
incendiarism, since the incendiary has no spite
against an office. The remark is, however, but
an illustration of the determination of the Re-
porter to make out his casa even by self-contra_
dictory arguinent3. We have little doubt that
the law in respect to arson in its bearing on in-
surance might be much improved. Many a claim
would be forfeited if the insurer had t ) remove all
fair grounds of suspicion. The legal evidence of
arson may be wanting in many cases, where a
jury would say that a man ought not to be paid
till he gave better proof of innocence.

MADRID, FEB. 21.

The decree for the reduction of some public
salaries, and the abolition of others, is gazetted,
and is to take effect in May next.
Gonzales Bravo has left for London.

FRANCE.

PARIS, WEDNESDAY EVENING.

The Debuts thus replies to au article in the
Univers deploring the principle of equality which
forms the basis of French legislation in matters of
hereditary transmission of property :
'The Legislative Corps, it is known, is engaged in
examining a bill which confers on Marshal Pelissier an
hereditary pension of 100,000 fr. If we allude to this
bill it is iu order to applaud the sentiment which bestows
on the conqueror of Sebastopol a reward for services
rendered to France. But we owe a reply to the obser-
vations made on this subject by the Univers. The
great prize pie of equality before the law, °fa quality
before justice, which that journal dislikes, is the
key-stone of modern society, of the society founded
by the French revolution. To demand the restora-
tion of ancient privileges, of the ancient inequality, is
to ex ict the destruction of the society in which we live ;
it is tantamount to levelling the tree planted by our
fathers in the night of the 4th of August, 1789. We
are inspired with no democratical prejudice ; we feel
no inclination for the brutal and blind equality which
only results in the dissolution of social bonds and in
an absolute levelling. But without disguising the im-
perfections and weak sides of society such as the revolu-
tion and the civil code have made it, we preler it im-
mensely to the society of the ancien r6gitne,' to the so.
ciety founded on the right at primogeniture, the right of
male succession, &c. We are aware that a society consti-
tuted on the principle of civil equality is more difficult to
govern than a society founded on privileges and on bie-
rarchiosl distinctions. The right of primogeniture, we
admit, possesse'l certain advantages both for individuals
and for society • but the said advantages belong to the
same order of ideas as those now invoked in the great
American rep' lie in defence of slavery. Slaves are so
happy t is the saying beyond the Atlantic ; younger sons
and seas were so happy! say the partisans of the right
of primogeniture and the admirers of the middle ages.
We are only very slightly affected with this happi-
ness an 1 with similar advantages. We accept and
we regard the principle of civil equality as an im-
mense progress of reason, justice, and humanity, as
a conquest which is equally profitable to the mate-
rial prosperity and to the personal dignify of mankind.
Happily, this principle is now an institution which de-
fends and maintains itself by its own strength, and
which will not be pr judiced by the puerile declamations
of the Univers. The whole world comprehends the
variety of those reactionary pretensions and utopias
which have for aim to resuscitate laws, customs, insti-
tutions, and a whole society dead and buried some 60 years
ago. What would become d the principles of 'B9, guaran-
teed by the existing constitution, were all the reactionary
interpretations, all Vie arbitrary distinctions which are
daily offered, to be accepted The world is now swarm-
ing with individuals who have the pretension to
correct and modify the programme of 'B9. The Univers
would fain deprive it of the principle of equality ; others
would retrench all liberty. The revolution is thus ex-
posed to two fires, and is menaced with the fate of the
individual in the fable, who, between his young and his
elderly wives, lost alike his grey and black hairs. The
result is easily to be foreseen ; were care not taken, the
whole programme would vanish, and the revolution
would be entirely despoiled. What we seek and desire
is the integrity of the programme ; we do not distinguish
equality from liberty ; we have ever defended, and Ne
shall continue to defend, with all our power those two
grand principles, without distinguishing one from the
other, or without sacrificing the first to the second'
Tile Union cottains the following reflections on'
the triumph of the Palmerston Cabinet in the divi-
sion on the budget.
‘,‘ Notwithstanding the imposing majority which has
been obtained by the English Cabinet, clear-minded in-
dividuals will still question the duration of the adminis•
tration headed by Lord Palmerston. We will not enter
into conjectures which may appear hazardous. We will
confine ourselves to stating that, in our opinion, the
skirmish on the motion of Mr. Disraeli will neither prove
to be the most terrible nor most decisive of the trials re-
served for the British Cabinet. Other straggles await it ;
other dangers menace it on a ground purely .political.
It has only entered the arena where various oppositions
are prepared to engage it ; all depends on the attitude
of its competitors, and, in particular, on that of the frac-
tion of Tories."

HOLT, NORFOLK-RABBITS AGAIN !

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sin,—Generally the minds of persons, however tyran-
nically inclined, are acted upon by public opinion, but in
" The great Holt Rabbit Case," the craniums of those
'who shoal I be influenced appear too thick for public
opinion to have any effect upon.
It will hardly be credited that, after so strong and
general expression of disgust by the press in this case,
another prosecution could have taken place ; but it
is, nevertheless, the fact. John Hagon, one of the men
imprisoned for the last case of alleged trespass, has re-
ceived another summons this morning, and will appear
beforo the magistrates on Saturday next.
The informer is servant to George Barker, E,q., and
the summons is signed by W. Hamilton Pemberton,
E3q., of Holt Hall. The man will be defended. How
the magistrates will act remains to be seen.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
A VOICE FOR THE POOR.
Feb. 25, 1857.

The Marquis of Exeter arrived in town on Monday
from Burghley, near Stamford.
The Countess of Jersey is expected in town on Mon-
day from Middleton Park. His lordship and the rest of
the family are expected on Wednesday.
The Earl and Countess of Caithness have arrived at
their residence in Hill-street for the season.
Lord and Lady Eiward Thynne have left town for
Hampshire, where they will remain till after Easter.
Lady Wallscourt and the Hon. Misses. Blake have
taken a house in St. James's-place, late the residence of
the Earl of Sandwich.

The Baron and Baroness Riso have left the Clarendon
for Paris.

Lady O'llanel and Miss O'llara have arrived in town
for the season.

Lady Bdresford has left Parid for her residence al
Versailles.

Lord Normanby gave a grand ball on the 17ch at F1o•
rence. The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess and their
family honoured his Excellency with their presence on
the occasion.

Baron de Bourqueney, ambassador of France at the
Court of Vienna, according to a letter from Vienna
of the 19th, in the Borsenhalle of Hamburg, applied fur
and obtained a leave of absence.
The marriage of the Archduke Ferdinand-Maximilian
with the Princess Charlotte of Belgium will becelebrated
at Milan in the mouth of June, and the Archduke
Francis Charles and the Archduchess Sophia, the
parents of the bridegroom, intend to be present at the
ceremony.

At the meeting of proprietors of the English, Scot-
tish, and Australian Chartered Bank yesterday, a divi-
dend at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum was declared,
free of income tax.
The dividend declared by the Submarine Telegraph
Company yesterday at their meeting was at the rate of
7 per cent, per annum.
The first annual meeting of the shareholders of the
Bank of Egypt is caged for the 24th of March. That of
the Ottoman Bank shareholders is expected to be shortly
convened.

BOURSE, Feb. 25.—The following were the last
quotations :
Cash. th c. End of Month.
ali per Cents
3 per Cents ZO 70 25
New Loan —

Mr. H. Berkeley, M.P., will bring the subject of the
ballot before the House of Commons after Easter.
Mr. S. Warren MA'., has given notice of his inten-
tion to bring a bill before the .House of Commons after
Easter, to empower the House of Commons and its com-
mittees to take evidence upon oath.
Mr. Heywood has paired with Sir B. Burrell until the
3d of March.

Bank Shares
90
Belgian Fives .. Spanish Threes __
Piedmontese (5) ...... 91 --Home Debt
___.
RAILWAYS—FOR CASH.

tr. c. I r c
Orleans 1,410 Western
Northern 945 Strasburg
Lyons 1,425 New Ditto
Mediterranean 1,820 Grand Central
Lyons Geneva
Cette

CANTON CORRESPONDENCE.—There were issued yes-
terday correspondence relative to the entrance into Can-
ton (1850-1855), and further correspondence relative to
the operations in the Canton River.
It appears that another small dividend is about to be
announced to the creditors of Messrs. Whitmore, Wells,
and Co., bankers of Lumbard-street. This firm failed
about 20 years ago, with liabilities to the extent of
350,0001. Dividends to the amount of 15s. or 16i. in
the pound have already been paid.
It is estimated that the shipments of specie by the
Peninsular and Or:ental steamer for India and China en
the 4tti will be about 750,000/., principally silver, a con-
siderable quantity being engaged for Shanghai.
A petition against the return of Mr. Weguelin, for
Southampton, will be presented to the House of Com-
mons to-morrow evening.
An imperial ukave just issued at St. Petersburg allows
the importation of foreign salt into Bessarabia during
the present year.

PARLIAM&NTARY BILLS. Mr. Whiteside's two bills
for the reform of the Irish Court of Chancery, as regards
the titles of purchasers and the appointment of regii•
trars, were issued yesterday.
The efforts to awe the Royal Mail steamer Tyne
have ben resumed, and she was on Monday morning
h tilled ten feet astern. It is to be hoped that with
wore water next tide the result will be succeesfal.

place on pretext of the deames3 of food. In virtue
of the state of siege all the inhabiiarits hld i-e-n
ordered t 3 give up their arms, unekr pain of being
brought to trial before a military tritamal. It is
stated in a ministerial organ that tle number of
vessels about to be sent by the government aga,mst
Mexico is, including transports for 10,000 men, to
be between 20 and 30. " The country," says this
journal, " may be assured that the national honour
shall receive complete satisfaction."

The Opinione of Turin of the 231 status that the
Austrian Government has given orders to refine
passports for Turin daring the Carnival.

The _Risorgimento of Turin of the 22.1 mentions a
rumour current at Florence to the effect that the
Grand Duke is about to urant an amnesty, from the
operation of which MM. Guerazzi, Montanelli,
Pigli, and Montazio alone are to be excluded.

The Count de Chambord arrived at Parma on the
20th, on a visit to his august sister and royal
nephews.

SINGULAR DELUSION.—Mr. Spooner has got into his
head the curious notion, and nothing apparently will
ever get it out again, that he is an Apostle Spooner.—
Punch.
The session of the Danish Chaml-er3 closed on the 23d
inst. The Grand Council of the kingdom (R;ge Ran, )
will be convokei in March.
THE LATE GAROTTE ROBBERY NEAR BIRKENHEAD.—
Thomas Begley, an oyster seller having a stall near St.
John's-market, Liverpool, has been committed for trial
at the next Chester assizes, charged with being concerned
in the garotte robbery and attempt at murder committed
on Mr. Henry Saxby, a young medical student at Rock
Ferry, near Liverpool, on the 14th of January last.
THE SUPPOSED POISONING BY LOCUST NUTS.—Yes-
terday Mr. N't akley concluded the adjourned inquest on
the boy whose death was attributed to eating some
"locust nuts," a fruit recently imported from Eapt.
It appeared on analysis that the fruit is not poi-
sonoui, and the jury returned a verdict of death from
natural causes,

BANKERS' RETURNS.—A. second supplement to the
London Gazette of Tuesday, published yesterday evening,
contains a copy of bankers' returns, made in pursuance
of the Act 7th and Bth Victoria, giving the names of all
the partners and shareholders in the various banking
firms in London. The list occupies 150 pages of the
Gazette.

EMIGRATION TO THE WESTERN CONTINENT.—LIVER-
roma, Wednesday.—The screw steam ship; North
American, Cap'. Grange, for Portland, and the Kan-
garoo, Capt. Jeffrey, for New York, sailed to-lay, the
former at noon, with the Canadis i mails, 84 passengers,
and a full cargo of merchandise ; and the latter with a
small mail, 246 passengers, and a moderate, but valuable
cargo.

At the Southampton Dock Company's meeting yes-
terday a dividend at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum
was declared. It was mentioned that the gross earnings
last year exceeded those of 1855 by 1,7371.
TRADE ACCOUNTS.—The return fir January, 1857,
was issued yesterday. The exports shop, an increase
of 1,000,0001. over the corresponding month of 1856.
Some additional particulars have been introduced into
the return, such as distinguishing the countries whence
the principal articles are imported, and to which British
productions are exported.
DENSE FOG.—Yesterday morning a fog of density
unusual at this advanced period of the season came over
the metropolis, suspending for the time ali occupations
for which artificial light was not available. Shortly
after noon the fog suddenly cleared off, and the remainder
of the day was light and clear.
Advices received at Lloyd's yesterday from Constan-
tinople, dated the 11th inst., state that boisterous weather
bad been experienced, which had interrupted navigation.
The French steamer from Marseilles was over due two
days, and other trading vessels were also out of time.
THE REV. W. SINCLAIR.—The Rev. W. Sinclair
cl ised his labours in connection with St. Geerge's
Church, Leeds, on Sunday morning last, after discharg-
ing the duties of the incumbency for upwards of 19 years.
On the following morning the rev, gentleman was ente:-
tained in the Wellington Hall by a large number of his
friends, and was presented with a cheque for 500 guineas,
and an elegant silver tea and coffee service.
THE SILENT SHELL.—A. puff in the corner of a newt-
paper, pretending to be a critical paragraph, commences
withithe statement following :—" The narrative of Ad-
miral Napier's Baltic campaign has burst upon the poli-
tical and naval world like a bombshell." Yes ; very
much like one of those bombshells which the gallant Ad-
miral poured into Cronstadt The explosion has made
a wonderfully small noise.--Punch.
THE RECrortY OF ST. GILES'S.—On Tuesday the Rev.
A. W. Thorold, late Curate of Trinity Church, Maryle-
bone, who has been appoieted by the Lord Chancellor
to the Rectory of St. tiles'e-in-the-Fiel Is, in succession
to Dr. Bickersteth, Bishop of Ripon, formally read
himself in, having been inducted by authority of the
Bishop of London, on the previous day.
REPRESENTATION OF THE CITY OF GLASGOW.—The
writ for the election of another member for the city of
Glasgow, in room of Mr. John Macgregor, was received
by the Sheriff of Lanarkshire yesterday, and the nomi-
nation will probably take place early next week. Two
candidates have been already proposed—viz., Mr.
Walter Buchanan, of Stiaadon, and Mr. Humphrey E.
Crum Ewing. Both are Liberals. The Lord Provost
is chairman of Mr. Buchanan's committee. It is thought
probable that Mr. Ewing will decline the honour in the
circa rust inces.

CRUELTY TO CHILDREN.—We stated in The Sun of
Friday that an inquest had been held at Dawlish, Devon-
shire, on the body of a girl, aged 14, who was alleged to
have died through the it -treatment which she received
from her father, a shoemaker named Newberry. The
coroner's jury did not consider the evidence sufficient to
justify them in returning a verdict of manslaughter, but
requested the coroner, Mr. W. A. Cocker, to censure
Newberry for his brutal conduct to the poor child. Since
then the magistrates for the division have caused him to
be apprehended, and on Saturday after hearing evidence,
they committed him for trial at the ensuing assizes on
the charge of manslaughter.
ETON COLLEGE AQUATICS. —The boating season usu-
ally commences on St. David's day, but in consequence
of the let of March falling on Sunday, and the tri:Jl.4
taking place at the college on Monday, in which many
of the aquatics are corn petitors, Tuesday, the 31 prox.
has been fixed for the several craft to take the water, on
which day it is expected eight long boats will be
launched. The rafts laid up in ordinary during the win-
ter months have already been placed in their respective
positions, off Goodman's, Searle's, and Tolladay's. Cap
tarn Baring's eight have been out daily during the week,
in the Victory.

THE GUARDS —On Monday and Tuesday next the
following changes of quarters of the Foot Guards will
take place :—The 24 Battalion of Coldstreain Guards,
which have been doing duty at Windsor Castll since July
last, will march from the Sheet-street Barracks, under
command of Colonel Cocks, for Wellington Barracks,
London. The 31 Battalion of Grenadier Guards, under
the command of Captain C. Alexander, will march from
the Wellington Barracks to rtlieve the Coldstream at
Windsor ; and the Ist Battalion of Coldstream will
leave the Tower for the camp at Aldershot, under the
command of Colonel Lord F. Paulet, Dr. Skelton,
battalion surgeon of the\ Coldstream Guard• is lying
dangerously ill at the Sheet-street Barracks, Windsor.
THE CRIMEAN COMMISSIONERS.—At the meeting of
'the E linburgh Town Council on Tuesday the Lord
Provost moved, "That the Coancil resolve to present a
petition to the House of Commons, praying them to
take measures for marking the sense which the public
entertain of the important services rendered to the
country by Sir John M`Nelll and Colonel Tulloch, in
their inquiry into the causes of the disasters that befel
our troops in the Crimea, and in the valuable report
submitted by them to Government." His lord-
ship remarked that the zeal, intelligence, ability, and
intrepidity displayed by the commissioners in the Cri-
mea had been universally acknowledged and appreciated
throughout the country, while their services had been
most beneficial to the army, and what they had to re-
quest of their representatives in Parliament was that
they should take some steps whereby the names of the
o m Tule si oners should go down to posterity as benefac-
tors of their country, and that they should show that
such labours and services as theirs would always com-
mand the gratitude of their fell >w-countrymen. The
motion was unanimously and cordially approved.

THE CRIMEAN ARMY —Some returns just published
give the following details respecting the army in the
Crimea. It appears that the total number of cavalry
who joined the army in the East amounted to 4.819,
of whom 386 were killed or wounded ; the R., yai
Artillery to 7,032, of whom 794 were killed or
wounded ; the Sappers and Miners to 403, of whom
140 were killed and wounded ; and the total infantry to
43,276, of whom 13,297 were killed or wounded. Thus,
the general total of all arms was 55,530, and of these
14,631 were killed or wounded. A. separate return
shows that up to the Ist of June, 1856, 2,755 officers
and men (Including 157 officers) were killed in the
Crimea, and that 515 officers, 579 non-commissioned
officers, and 10,782 men were wounded. Of the
wounded 86 officers, 85 non-commissioned officers, and
1,848 men died; while 147 officers, 574 non-commissioned
officers, and 15,320 men died from sickness, and 1,137
non-commissioned officers and 13,531 men were invalided
at the end of the war. 2,627 horses were lost, of which
401 were killed.

Ts BMAILS. SOIITHAMPTON, Wednesday. The
United States mail steamship Hermann, Captain Hig-
gins, sailed hence to-lay with the German Frenoh, and
English mall for New York, 60 passengers, $lO,OOO in
specie, and about' 400 tens of cargo. A very handsome
silver snuffbox has been presented to captain Higgins by
the six captains of the new European and American
Company's steamships who went across to Bremen ii
the Hermann a fortnight since "in remembrance," as the
inscription states, "of a happy cruise in his ship, and
admiration of his qualities as a sa,l,ir and a gentleman."
The Hamburg and Brazilian Company's steamship,
Petropolis, Captain Gcele, sailed this afternoon for Lis-
bon, Pernambuco, Bahia, and Rio Janeiro, with about
70 passengers, 80,0001. in specie, and a valuable cargo,
in all about 900 tons, of English, French, and German
merc!iandise. Among the passengers are 26 sisters of
Mercy, of whom 10 are des fined for Rio, 10 for Bahia,
and six fur Pernambuco), and two priests. The Petrc-
polis has about 1,800 tons of coals on board, and will
roceed, without taking in coal at any intermediate sta-
tion, to Rio. The Belgian Transatlantic Royal yjail
Company's steamship BAgique, Captain M. S. Trautn
8.R.N., left here on Tuesday afternoon, on her second
30 i
zI
ure
dB
voyage to-New York, with the Belgian
sengers from this poit. and near 100 from Antwerp, and
a full general cargo. The Spat.ish screw steafill,
e
celona, Captain Brunets, gaol for Hamburg on