The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 27, 1868.

changes the; at once arrest attention and awaken
curiosity, we naturally turn to contemplate the
" situation," as it is called, and there is much in
this clirange that is of a novel and at least of
a peon) jar character. It must be regarded as a
step in the work of progress that for once the
monotony of aristocratic rule has been broken,
and tht%t a plain Mr. is the only prefix
to the name of our new Premier. Since
the days oil Mr. PITT there has been no parallel to
this, and in many respects it is an advantageous
change. It has been the fashion of late in certain
quarters to animadvert upon the folly and incon-
sistency of the country being always governed by
lords and their immediate connections. Now, at
Least, a new order of things has obtained the as-
cendancy, and it remains to be seen how it will be
accepted. England is to be ruled by a com-
moner ; a man who has made his own
way up the steep hill of fortune is
to sit down in the high places which have
been too often exclusively held sacred to the use of
those born in the purple. Let us see, then, how he
is received and what support and encouragement he
meets with. We consider that on all accounts Mr.
DISRAELI deserves fair play, and should have it.
He has worked his way in Parliament from a name-
less member to being the leader of the House, and
the most popular partp chief it has had for this
generation. lie has personal influence that Mr.
GLADSTONE, Sir ROBERT PEEL, and Lord RUSSELL
never shared, and a more lasting power than
Lord PALMERSTON himself commanded, for he was
occasionally fitful. The Press, we are glad to see,
has given Mr. DISRAELI a cordial welcome, and
done honour alike to itself and him in so doing. In
fact it has vied with his own colleagues in the evi-
dence of generous support and unshaken confidence.
this is as it should be, and reflects credit on all
parties. It is always a characteristic of Englishmen
to have fair play given to all, and both as a tried
servant of the Crown and an able member of Par-
liament the new Prime Minister possesses powerful
claims on our regard and sympathy. When
the Ministers have got into regular working order,
and the public can judge of its intentions, and Par-
liament estimate its ability, then so much leniency
cannot be shown; but just now, on every account,
it is desirable that all other considerations should
yield to those of giving the new state of things a
chance, and the new Prime Minister the fitting op-
portunity of displaying his powers and developing
his resources. If Mr. DISRAELI does not suc-
ceed, let it not be said that his failure
was due to any want of fair play on

the part of any one in Parliament, the Press,
or the country. We feel, however, no necessity
to entertain so gloomy a view of the future pros-
pects of the Cabinet, and would rather indulge
in the confident hope that Mr. DISRAELI, as Prime
Minister, will enjoy the same success he has won
in literature, in politics, and in society in general.
He is the most brilliant statesman of our day, and
why should not we all be proud of one who has
done so much for his country, and reflects so
much real honour on our institutions ? It is not
too much at this unusual combination of affairs to
expect that literary jealousy will be put aside,
and political bitterness be forgotten, in order that
'he nobler and better sentiments of both may unit e
in welcoming one who has been no carpet knight,
but fought his way with zeal and indomitable per-
severance. There is something very inspiriting in
success, and this dull work-a-day world does not
often witness so signal an instance of it as is
afforded in the career of him who to-day reaches
the culmination of political power in waiting on
his SOVEREIGN as First Minister of the Crown.

Mr. BRIGHT has not of late "given us many
speeches about America. Whether he is not alto-
gether satisfied with the illustrations which the
United States afford just now of the beneficial
effects of his favourite institutions, or whether he
has had more pressing subjects of interest to en-
gross his attention at home, it is certain that his
recent addresses have been less often seasoned
with a reference to the great Western Republic ;
and among the mznifold sins with which he is in
the habit of charging his countrymen, he has not
placed our offences toward our transatlantic
kinsfolk in quite so prominent a position.
Last evening, however, in accepting the presi-
dency of a crowded assembly in St. James's Hall,
gathered for the express purpose of listening to a
lecture on America by the Rev. NEIVIIAN HALL,
Mr. BRIGHT pledged himself, as it were, to return
to his old subject. From the substance of the
speech which he delivered prior to the lecture of the
evening, we may infer that his sentiments have
undergone little change, and that even the startling
events of the last year or two in the United States
have been powerless to move the convictions of the
hon. member for Birmingham. The change which
has come over the spirit of the American people
themselves, now that the excitement and dis-
turbance of the war is over, and men
have shown themselves in their true light,
has not reached Mr. BRIGHT. The experience of
the effects produced by the unchecked predominance
of the anti-South party in Congress has not modi-
fied his theories. Mr. BRIGHT takes up the subject
in just the same strain as of old. We are all of us
profoundly ignorant on every subject connected
with America and the Americans. Notwithstand-
ing the immense amount of correspondence and
communication going on between the two countries,
the incessant action of the telegraph which keeps
men in new York end London completely an
fait with the daily incidents in other capitals ;
notwithstanding the large circulation which
American books and newspapers have in
England, and English books and newspapers
in America ; the frequency of international visits
and business trips, and other excuses for crossing
the broad Atlantic—in spite of all these means of
obtaining information Mr. BRIGHT holds that, as a
rule, we English are profoundly ignorant of every-
thing concerning America. If this be so, and the
ignorance is so dangerous as he believes it to be,
there is little hope in the future for what is to en-
lighten us ? We have tried all the ordinary methods
of obtaining a pretty accurate estimate of a country
and a population ; we are familiar with their poli-
tics, their literature, their orators ; the arrival
of the mails is a constant source of interest,
while the commercial and financial relations
between the two countries are intimate and exten-
sive. But all this is unavailing. We are ignorant,
and the ignorance is eminently productive of
danger. The most instructed classes in other re-
spects are the worst informed on this particular
point, and what little they do know is altogether
wrong, so that it is worse than nothing. At the
time of the war, as might be supposed, this lack of
knowledge was painfully manifest ; and what was
worse, not only our understandings, but our feel-
ings were in fault, and the "rich and powerful
classes, in the greatest struggle of modern times,
where the case was more decidedly pronounced and
clearer than in any other struggle to which they could
point in history, gave their voice and sympathy
to the very worst cause in which brave men ever
took up arms." Mr. BRIGHT goes further, and tells
us what would have been the result bad we been

more discerning or more instructed. The two
countries, he says, would have been as one as if
there was not a drop of ocean between them. They 1
would have been one nation in sympathy—they
would have been a great guarantee for freedom
and civilisation in the world. That Mr. BRIGHT
should stand before an English audience and de-
liberately use this language, when he and his
hearers alike know the vehemence and the
bitterness of those internal dissensions which
are distracting the United States from
one end to the other, is a striking instance of that
wilful blindness and obstinate adhesion to theories
rather than to facts which he is so prompt to con-
demn in other men. England and America would,
forsooth, have been " one nation in sympathy" on a
point which America herself is divided upon. The
freedom and civilisation which our united efforts
would have secured to the world at large, would,
we presume, have been on the STEVENS-and-ASHLEY
principle of the substitution of military for civil
law, the suppression of civil courts, the silencing of
minorities, the representation of half the coun-
try in a professedly National Assembly. Americans
themselves would be the first to acknowledge that
their country is in a state of disturbance and divi-
sion which forbids the idea of unity on any point.
Time, we may hope, will bring about changes for
the better ; and the English people who, in spite of
Mr. BRIGHT, have watched their progress with the
deepest interest and attention, will rejoice to see
tranquillity and prosperity once more flourishing in
the States ; but, as matters now stand, the condition
of America itself proves that the main body of edu-
cated Englishmen were right in their conviction at
the time of the war, that slavery once disposed
of the United States would have flourished better
and been happier as two Republics than as one.
Mr. BRIGHT says that the Americans feel we did
not treat them in that generous manner they had a
right to expect from those whom their fathers came
from. But he forgets that they were only repeating
the old story. Their fathers went forth from Eng-
land, and England could not see why their sons
should refuse to allow the Confederates to go forth
from them. Democracy, said Mr. FORSTER, in the
course of the evening, now to all intents and purposes
exists in this country, but in America we are rapidly
getting to actual despotism, so that the similarity
we would trace between the two is no longer per-
ceptible. Mr. BRIGHT goes back to all the old
grievances in the old set form, as if after the fashion
of the BOURBONS he had " learned nothing and
forgotten nothing" in the last seven years. Hap-
pily for England and America they have both
learned a great deal in that time, though from less
wilful and one-sided teachers.

In another part of our impression will be found
the report of the 27th meeting of the Provident
Clerks' Benevolent Fund. We have for many
years endeavoured to impress upon our readers the
claims of this admirable institution to the support
of the charitable. There is one feature alone
which ought to plead in its favour in these
days of lavish expenditure and confused
accounts. It is that of every shilling received
on account of the institution elevenpence goes to
the objects for which it was designed—viz., the aged
and infirm among the clerks and the widows of
clerks, the expense of conducting the business of
the fund being almost nominal. We sincerely trust,
too, that among the noble legacies to charities, of
which we frequently read, the cause of the Provi-
dent Clerks' Fund will henceforth be prominent.

LATEST INTELL LGEN OE.

(REU'rER'S TELEGRAMS.)

------

PRUSSIA.

BERLIN, Feb. 27.

A semi-offieial denial has been given to the
statement that Baron Von Werther, the Prussian
Minister at Vienna, had received special instruc-
tions to request explanations of the Austrian
Cabinet in reference to the late events at Hietzing,
and to ask formally for redress.

*.......... .M.

AUSTRIA.

VIENNA, Feb. 27.

In to-day's sitting of the Lower House of the
Reichsrath, the President of the Ministry introduced
a bill relative to the abolition of the Council of
State.

The Minister of Justice also presented a bill on
the disciplinary treatment of the Judges, and their
obligation to take the oath of allegiance to the
Empire.

TURKEY.
CoNsTANTINOPLE, Feb. 26.

The English barque Accola, Captain Pearson,
from Shields, was run down on Sunday night by
the Egyptian steamer Dahlies in the Sea of Mar-
mora. The captain and a portion of the crew were
saved, but the remainder perished.

FRANCE.
BOURSE, Feb. 26.—Three o'clock.—The market
closed as follows :

41 per Cent.
End of month —
3 per Cent
End of month 6B 65
Credit Mobilier 233 75
End of month 226 25
Credit Foncier 1475
End of month 1383 75
RAILWA:

Bank Shares 3020
ItOan Loan
End of month— 43 40
Mexican Loan
Do. Bonds
Spanish Throes 38
Home Debt
Deferred —
.Ys.

Account.
Orleans ... 890
Northern
Lyons and Mediterranean

Southern..... 5521
Western
Eastern

Sardinian
Austrian 560
Lombard 385

North of Spain 75
Saragossa,
Roman 45

THE DISTRESS IN PRUSSIA.--According to the
information furnished by the Queen of Prussia herself, the
sum produced by the sales in the bazaar held in the Royal
Palace amounted to 600,000 thalers, which are to bo distri-
buted immediately amongst the indigent of the eastern
provinces:
OBTAINING MONEY BY FALSE PRETENCES.-
Yesterday, at Poole, John Howard and Matilda Howard,
the former an architect, lately in business in London, were
brought up on remand on several charges of obtaining
money by fa'se pretences. The offences were committed
in August, 1866, and the male prisoner, in ono case, ob-
tained a cheque-book and £55 ss. from the National Pro-
vincial Banking Company. There were also four charges
of forgery committed on the London and County Bank, in
1864. The female prisoner was apprehended while attempt
ing to cash a cheque. They were, on the application of
Mr. Mullins, transferred to Bow-street.
[Atomarisiomr.]—Du Barry s Delicious Health Restoring
Revalenta Arabica Food, which contains three times the
nourishment of the best meat, saves fifty times its cost in other
remedies, restores perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs,
healthy liver, refreshing sleep, functional regularity, and energy
to the most disordered or enfeebled, removing
speedily stud
effectually indigestion (dyspepsia), habitual constipation,
diarrhoea, hemorrhoids, liver complaints, flatulency, nervous,
ness, biliousness, fevers, sore throats, catarrhs, colds, influenza
noises in the head and ears, rheumatism, gout, impurities, erup-
tions, hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplessness, acidity, pal-
pitation, heartburn, headache, debility, dropsy, cramps, spasms,
nausea, and sickness, sinking fits, coughs, asthma, bronchitis,
incipient consumption, scrofula, tightness of the chest, pains at
the pit of the stomach, between the shoulders, &c. We quote a
few out of 63,000 cures :—The Pope's health restored by Du
Barry's Food.—Cure No. 68,413. " Rome, July '2l, 1866.—The
health of the Holy Father is excellent, especially since, aban
doning all other remedies, he has confined himself entirely to
Du Barry's Revalenta Arabiea, Food, of which he consumes a
plateful at every meal. It has produced a surprisingly bench
cial effect on his health, and his Holiness cannot praise this
excellent food too highly."—From the "Gazette du Midi," July
23. Cure No. 49,832.—" Of fifty years' indescribable agony from
dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency,
spasms, sickness at the stomach, and vomiting." Maria Joly,
Wortham, Ling, near Diss, Norfolk.—Cure No. 47,121.—Mi5s
Elizabeth Jacobs, of Nazing Vicarage, Waltham Cross, Herts,
of extreme nervousness, indigestion, gatherings, low spirits,
and nervous fancies. Important Caution.—Beware of the many
unsavoury and more than sloppy imitations to which, without
authority, Baron Liebig's name is most audaciously attached
ln tine at is. lid.; 1 lb., 2s 9d.; 2 lbs., 4s. Gd,; 5 lbs. lls.;
121b5., 225.; 24 lbs., 40s.—BARRY Do BARRY and Co., No. 77,
Regent-street, London; also Fortnum and Mason, 132, Piccadilly;
and at 61, Gracechurch-street; 4, Cheapside; 63, 150, and 21/8,
Oxford-street 330 Strand; avid all grocers 114 chemists.

UOLcitESkOIiDENCE FROM PARIS.

trnou OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.T.

PARIS, WEDNESDAY*, Feb, 20.

The scene at the close of the Corps Ltislatif on Mon-
nay has produced a profound impression on the excitable
Parisians. There were cries not reported in the Moniteur,
not given in the official eompte-rendu, but they pass now
as current as the coin of the empire. In a word, the sitting
was closed by turning off the gas in the Chamber. This
took place while M. Peretan was calling out for the elec-
tion of a fresh President. The public cheered the Oppo-
sition by cries of Mire la. Gauche 1 and then re-
tired slowly, only in fact as they were ordered
to move on. The deputies remained behind
in the lobbies, in small, excited groups, discussing the
rules and precedents by which the closing of the sitting
should be determined. After this scene in the Chambers
a Council of Ministers was held at the Tuileries.
The sudden closing of the Chamber has raised the fol-
lowing question : Can the President close a sitting without
previously consulting the Chamber? This is not a matter
of form, nor an unimportant point. What occurred in the
Kervtnen affair might happen where the gravest subjects
were being discussed ; and if the President may close the
sitting by vacating his scat, the Chamber will no longer be
master of its own deliberations.

The discussion of the Press Law has already occupied
twenty-three sittings of the Corps Ldgislatif. Forty-
four deputies out of 283 have taken part in the discussion,
and to that number must be added four Ministers and one
Councillor of State. Eight articles remain to be settled,
and a number of amendments to be considered. It is
fifteen years since the French Chambers had a subject
equally troublesome.
Several new press prosecutions have been commenced
within the last few days in the provinces.
It is twenty years to-day since Liberty, Equality, and
Fraternity were proclaimed in the French capital by the
Provisional Government, and the inhabitants were sum-
moned to meet the members at "the Column of July " to
inaugurate "the grand date when liberty was reconquered."
The Eastern question has been the subject of several
diplomatic interviews between M. de Moustier, Lord
Lyons, Prince Metternich, and Count Goltz. It is
believed, however, that the warlike rumours from the
Principalities have been enormously exaggerated.
It is reported here that the meeting of the German
Customs Parliament will take place on the 16th of
March. The meeting will be closely watched by the
French. Some persons attribute all the haste with which
military preparations are being pushed forward to the
desire of the Emperor to exert a moral pressure on the
German States, so as to prevent any close political union.
The nomination of the Prussian Minister at Carlsruhe,
Baron Berger, as commandant of the forces of Baden,
excites comment.

A contemporary observes that never since 1848 has there
been such a scene in the French Chamber as that which
ensued on the last sitting before the Carnival holidays.
After the ordinary business had been despatched, M.
Havin rose to read the verdict of the jury of honour in the
Kerv4guen case. The verdict declared that the charges
against the Siecle and the Opinion Nationale of accepting
Prussian subsidies were inventions. The President, to
shield the supporters of the Government and prevent the
verdict being read, closed the sitting. The Right
followed him. The Left, frantic with anger, kept
their places, and declared that the sittings were not closed.
The galleries shouted ; the members shouted. " Let us
name another President," cried M. Pelletan ; "President
Sauzet ran away in the same manner in '48." (" Vive la
Gauche" from the galleries.) In the midst of it all the
gas was turned out ; the legislators and the public groped
their way out of the House, and the sitting was really
closed by the man at the meter. The allusion to '4B was
ominous; the violent scenes in the Chamber at that time
were the birth throes of a new order of things.

According to an official statement, the victims of famine
in Algeria amount to 19,874 persons.

The treaty which Prussia has just made with the United
States is an important concession to American demands.
Henceforward a North German who emigrates to the
States at the age of 19 and remains abroad five years will
escape the conscription, whereas if he stayed at home a
few months longer he would be liable, and if he entered
the army he would he compelled to remain twelve years in
the country. These stipulations are regarded in Berlin as
exceedingly liberal, and Prussia is evidently on very good
terms with the United States.

The Prussian Government has ordered a 0-inch breech-
loading gun from Sir William Armstrong, the powers of
which are to be tested side by side with Prussian cannon
of the same calibre, but different make.
The Carnival amusements at Florence this year have
fallen fiat, without eliciting any marks of sympathy from
the populace. Perhaps the dearness of food and the
excessive inconvenience of the paper money, which are
felt throughout the entire peninsula, may account for
this.

The Daily News correspondent in Abyssinia relates a
singular piece of news from Magdala. It is that Theo-
dore has determined to settle the quarrel by war. To this
resolution he is said to have come in consequence of assu-
rances of assistance from the übiquitous Fenians ! The
same correspondent reports the apprehension of a spy of
Theodore's in the English camp. He was to be sent on to
Ategerat under a cavalry guard to be tried by court-mar-
tial. There was no doubt that the man would be hanged
at once. The latest intelligence from Zoula is
very satisfactory. The sappers had struck water on
the line of railway three miles from the camp,
and the supply promised to be lasting. From the same
place we learn that 800 camels purchased at Berbera
were expected shortly. It appears that a good many
camels have been lost through eating the poisonous
oleander plant.
A parliamentary paper has just appeared containing
correspondence on the Abyssinian Convent at Jerusalem.
It seems that it is a common saying at Jerusalem that
formerly the Abyssinians enjoyed the protection of the
British Government, and then they were able to worship,
but now they have been discharged from that protection,
the Copts have gained all by money, and deprived the
Abyssinians of their place of worship.
The rumours as to the probable Cabinet which Mr.
Disraeli hopes to present for her Majesty's approval are so
numerous and in many respects so conflicting and contra-
dictory, that very few certainties are to be got out of them.
At present the certainties appear to be these : That Mr.
Disraeli will not retain the Chancellorship of the Exche-
quer ; that his successor in this high post will be Mr. Ward
Hunt, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury and M. P. for
North Northamptonshire ; that Lord Chelmsford will be
succeeded on the woolsack by Lord Cairns ; and that
Lord Cairns will be succeeded in the Court of Chancery
Appeal by the most eminent equity lawyer on the bench,
Sir William Page Wood.

Beyond this all is conjecture. There is an evident de-
sire that the Earl of Carnarvon, Lord Cranborne, and
General Peel should join the Government, and it is hinted
that, as Lord Stanley will not at present leave the
House of Commons, Mr. Disraeli will offer Lord Cran-
borne a peerage, with the leadership of the House of
Lords. The noble viscount would be of material assist-
ance in the Upper House ; able as Lord Chancellor
Cairns undoubtedly is, it is not the custom of the occupant
of the woolsack to ri-
.11 into every party fight, but, as a
rule, he reserves himself for great occasions. The Earl of
Malmesbury, Sir John Pakington, and Mr. Gathorne
Hardy are said to be recalcitrant because Mr. Disraeli
and Lord Stanley hold opinions on the Irish question to
which the more Conservative section of the party refuse to
commit themselves.

It has been stated that Lord Derby's resignation was
fastened, if not actually caused, by a decision adopted at
a recent Cabinet Council in regard to the Irish question.
The Ministers, it seems, had made up their minds to pro-
mise some measure in relation to the Irish Church whiel,
it was hoped, might disarm the opposition of moderate
Liberals. Something distinct and considerable was to be
announced, and Lord Mayo hoped to be able.to speak at
an early period of the debate on Mr. Maguire's motion,
in order to make the announcement. The intention was,
of course, telegraphed to Lord Derby ; and the report is,
that his lordship, though not individually opposed to the
concessions recommended, felt that the difficulty and
labour of carrying on a new struggle alike with his own
followers and his opponents would be too severe for his
present state of health, and so made up his mind at once
to resign his office. The determination took his own
colleagues by surprise.
- - -

- - -
The rumours as to the Cabinet being about to adopt a
decided policy on the Irish Church question are scarcely
consistent with the acceptance by Lord Cairns of the Great
Seal. When, as Sir Hugh Cairns, he was a member of
the House of Commons, he represented Belfast, an ultra
Orange constituency, and he was one of the most pro-
nounced Orangemen in the House. By entering a Cabinet
pledged to carry out extensive reforms in the Irish Church
Lord Cairns would falsify the whole of the professions of
his public life.

Mr. Disraeli, the Premier-elect, was in early life articled
to Messrs. Swain, Stephew, and Maples, solicitors, of
Frederick's-place, Old Jewry, in the City of London. He
however threw up his articles before their expiration, and
took to literature. From literature he passed to politics,
and now fulfils the destiny which he marked out for him-
self when he wac introduced to Lord Melbourne more than
thirty years ago. " What do you expect to be ?" said
Lord Melbourne to the young politician. " Prime
Minister of England !" was the prompt reply. It is said
that when Sir Robert Peel took office in 1841 he refused
an Under• Secretaryship of State to the present First topo
of the Treasury.

PROVIDENT CLERKS' BENEVOLENT
FUND.

The twenty-seventh annual general meeting of
the members of this fund was held last evening at
the London Tavern—Mr. John Abel Smith, M.P.,
in the chair.

The SECRETARY (Mr. Linford) read the follow-
ing annual report :
The board of directors have the pleasure to present to
the members and friends of the Benevolent Fund their
27th annual report. The income of the past year was—
from subscriptions and donations, £1,724 12s. 6d. ; from
interest on investments, £1,448 10s. ld.—total, £3,173
2s. 7d. Pursuant to the resolution of the annual general
meeting, held on the 27th February last, 12 annuitants,
viz., 3 clerks and 9 widows of clerks, were elected on the
30th May, whose annuities amounted to £275 per
annum. There are now upon the fund ninety-five an-
nuitants—viz., eighteen clerks and seventy-seven widows,
who aro receiving collectively £l,BBO per annum.
One female annuitant has died during the year, and the
board have felt it to be their duty to suspend the payment
of an annuity granted to a clerk, his means of support
being considerably in excess of those stated to the board.
In anticipation of the sum about to accrue to the fund
from the bonus of the Life-office, the board feel justified in
recommending that seven additional annuities be granted ;
the proportion of clerks and widows being left to the dis-
cretion of the board. A resolution to this effect will be
submitted to the meeting. The EMU of £216 has been
awarded in gratuities during the past year. The members
will have learnt froeu thenotices issued, convening a special
meeting, that the board are desirous to carry out the sugges-
t ons made at last annual general meeting with reference
to the voting powers of members of the Fund. They
have also endeavoured to make some improvement in the
system of voting, which will be submitted for the consi-
deration of the members at the special general meeting to
be held immediately on the termination of the present
meeting. The Board have observed with regret, that
among the numerous testamentary bequests made on be-
half of charitable institutions this fund has been entirely
overlooked. A very large proportion of the wealth thu s
bequeathed has been acquired by the successful pursuit of
commerce, and it may fairly be hoped that some small
portion will be devoted to the necessitous among a body
to whose industry and intelligence the commercial classes
aro so largely indebted. _ _ _

The CHAIRMAN said he had again the pleasant
duty of asking those present to adopt and receive
the report, which he doubted not would meet with
their very general approval. It was satisfactory to
find their fund creeping up, and also that it had so
gradually prospered, that, before long, they might
anticipate that the interest arising from it would be
sufficient to pay all their annuities—a state of things
which very few.of them, a few years ago, never ven-
tured to anticipate. (Cheers.) A sure hopo was also
held out to them of an important and considerable
addition to the fund from the bonus they were
about to receive from the parent society ; what the
amount would be he could not announce, but he felt
certain he might say that it would be something
considerable. (Cheers.) He was sure the meeting
would share with him the pleasure and delight the
announcement the directors had made in their re-
port—namely, that in May next the number of
annuitants to be elected would make up the total of
over 100 persons receiving benefits from this fund,
and that all had reason to bless the day when an at-
tempt was made to mitigate some of the misfortunes
to which clerks and their widows were exposed.
(Cheers.) He felt it would be a source of happiness
to all to think that they had been instrumental in
helping those who had the strongest claims upon
their assistance. He would now ask those present,
and who had heard the gratifying report read, to
hold up their hand in favour of its adoption.
(Cheers.)
The motion having been seconded, it was put to
the meeting and carried unanimously.
Mr. JONES (the chairman of the board of direc-
tors) said it now became his privilege and pleasure
to move that an addition be made to their an-
nuitants. The resolution he had to submit
to them was, that on the 28th of May
next seven additional annuitants should be placed
upon the list, it being left to the board to determine
how many should be clerks and how many widows.
Nothing could give him greater pleasure than to
move the addition of a goodly number to their an-
nuitants, and he could not express adequately the
pride he felt at the position at which their fund
had now arrived. The chairman had alluded to
the sum they would receive in July from
the bonus, and although he could not an-
nounce the exact sum, he thought he might
safely say that it would be upwards of £3,000.
(Cheers.) The two societies—the Provident Clerks'
Life Assurance and the Benevolent Fund worked
well together ; both did good to each other ; and
the success that had hitherto attended their opera-
tions would, he hoped, still continue, and thus oue
society could not go on prosperously without benefit
arising to the other. (Cheers.) The board in all they
did were invariably guided by prudence, and it was
a principle with them to give that only which they
could safely pay, and thus one great object secured
was that those who did receive their annuities were
certain to continue to do so as long as they lived.
(Cheers.)
Mr. DAWSON had the greatest gratification in
seconding the proposition.
The CHAIRMAN said that before he put the re-
solution he should like to inform them what they
had done during the twenty-seven years they had
been in existence, and he doubted not they would
be as pleased to hear it as he was to read it to them.
During the time he had mentioned the direc-
tors had granted as many as 2,200 loans, making
in the aggregate £44,000, of which sum £4,000
was still outstanding. The losses had been al-
most nil. They had given away in gratuities
to reduced members £3,308, and since 1840 had
paid to 137 annuitants £17,297. The annual pay-
ment under this item was now £l,BBO. It would
only be going over the ground again to say what
pleasure such a state of things must produce,
and how well the directors must have worked
to accomplish such singularly successful results. He
now asked the meeting to approve their conduct—
(cheers) —and, anticipating the pleasure they would
have in May next, he, with some confidence, asked
the meeting to adopt the resolutions which bad been
submitted to them.
The resolution was carried unanimously.

Mr. JEFFS moved a vote of thanks to their trea-
surer, John Abel Smith, Esq., and their trustees,
Thomas Baring, Esq., R. W.Crawford, Esq., Thom-
son llankey, Esq., and Baron L. de Rothschild.
Ile was sure he need say nothing in favour of the
first name mentioned in the resolution, as it was
that of one of their kindliest and most affectionate
friends. (Cheers.) lie was one who had taken
the greatest interest in the Benevolent Fund, and
its sister the Provident Clerks' Life Assuranc e
Society, and his name would go down to posterity
in connection with them. (Cheers.) Their true
and generous friend (the chairman) had not con-
fined his assistance to the Benevolent and
Life Societies, but he had rendered them
the greatest assistance in the establishment of the
Guarantee Society by his exertions in assisting
them to procure their act of Parliament, under
which they were enabled to guarantee clerks for the
Government offices. Their power to do so, by
direction of the Treasury, had appeared in the London
Gazette, and now he thought such a matter could
not be too widely known, as it would doubtless
lead to a large accession of business. With
respect to the other names mentioned in
the resolution they were too well known and
respected to require one word of eulogy from him,
and although neither of the gentlemen were present,
they showed by their absence they had the greatest
confidence in the directors.

Mr. COLEMAN seconded the motion, and in doing
so expressed the gratification of seeing their chair-
man still holding the position he had done ever since
the year 1840. (Cheers.) Since their establish-
ment they had had but one move amongst their
trustees, and he hoped that many years would
yet have to elapse before they saw another. (Loud
cheers.)
The resolution was carried unanimously.
The CHAIRMAN thanked the meeting very heartily
for their cordial recognition of his services. With
respect to the trustees, they all occupied such pro-
minent positions that he was not surprised at their
absence. Ile knew, however, in their early days
they took the liveliest interest in their affairs ; they
were not only very constant in their attendance
but were minute, he might almost say unpleasantly
minute--(laughter)--in looking into all matters con

nected with societies, and he well recollected passing
a very close cross-examination at the hands of their
firm friend, Mr. Baring. (Laughter.) He was
grateful that his life had been spared to enable him
to preside either at 25 or 26 of their annual meet-
ings—(cheers)—and he trusted in Providence yet to
grant him health and strength to take part in their
proceedings for some time yet to come. (Cheers.)
Mr. PRI3IET moved, and Mr. MINTON seconded
a vote of thanks to the auditors ; and Mr. PILCHER
moved, and Mr. REYNOLDS secon led, a vote of
thanks to their medical officers, the latter gentle•
man remarking that it could not be to 3 generally
known that the members of this fund had the piivi-
lege of receiving the best medical assistance gra-
tuitously.

Mr. KEIGHLEY then moved a resolution that a
committee be appointed of 24 members, to take
into consideration the desirability of extending the
benefits to be derived from the funds of the asso-
ciation by adding thereto a building society.
Mr. CHRISTIAN seconded the motion.
Mr. WANsEY, the solicitor, said a building
society was not within the scope of the rules.
The CHAIRMAN said he thought it would be most
unwise to connect a building society with this in-
stitution, but he saw no reason why a well con-
ducted building society could not be established
externally by clerks who desired to have houses.
Mr. KEIGHLEY then said he would amend the
resolution by striking out the words relating to the
building society.

Mr. LLOYD moved, as an amendment, that the
best thanks of the members were due to the board
for their able management of the fund. He said
that this was, in his view, the proper way to meet
such a proposal. Had the previous speaker sug-
gested a conference with the board, in order to de-
vise some means for enlarging the scope of the Fund,
although he should not have supported such
a proposal, being of opinion that they had
quite enough to do in providing for
the present claimants, the proposal would at
anyrate have been unobjectionable; but when it was
proposed that an outside committee should be ap-
pointed to legislate on such a subject, he thought it
in the highest degree uncourteous and ungrateful to
the directors, who had so ably and so successfully
conducted this Fund, and whose services to it were
gratuitous. He therefore hoped the chairman would
not allow the
,resolution to be put. Mr. Lloyd's
remarks were received with loud and unanimous
c heering.
The CHAIRMAN put the amendment to the meet-
ing, when it was carried almost unanimously, there
being only two hands held up for it.
The meeting was then made special, to consider
the rules relating to voting for candidates for the
annuities, and au alteration was made, altering the
present mode of voting, which was found to operate
in soma respects unequally, and giving more
votes to insurers in proportion to the amount of
their insurance.

The proceedings terminated with a cordial vote
of thanks to the chairman.

„traar,
ttroe
curt

HEIR MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, Feb. 26.

'lke Queen drove out yesterday afternoon, ac-
companied by Princess Louise, and attended by the
1) uchess of Athele.

Prince Leopold went out. attended by Mr. Duck-
worth.

Her Majesty went out this morning, accompanied
by Princess Louise.

Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales
drove out, attended by the Countess of Morton.

71IE CORONERSHIP FOR WEST
MIDDLESEX.

There is now no doubt that the validity of Dr. Dip -
lock's election to the post of coroner will be tested.
The proper legal steps have already been taken to
try the question in the proper place. The mode in
which the recent election was conducted has shown
how eminently unsatisfactory is the composition of
the list of " freeholders" by whose voice the coroner
is chosen. The sheriff had no power to remove any
votes from the list, although he may have been well
aware that they were improper ones. If this be so,
it follows that unlimited bribery and corruption of
the worst kind can be perpetrated without fear, in
the interest of any and every candidate. The duty
of the sheriff at Brantford on Monday last was
merely ministerial. He dealt solely and simply with
the written words before him, and, merely casting
us up the votes, declared that Dr. Diplock had been
given 21 more than Dr. Hardwicke. Objections were
taken by Dr. Hardwicke to a very considerable
number of votes : firstly, those of watermen, 223 of
whom polled for Dinlock and 73 for Hardwicke.
Mr. Everfield, who is the proprietor of the Thames
ferries in the division of West Middlesex, contends
that he alone has the right to vote on them, and
that the watermen have no claim whatever in re-
spect of their barge or boat work. Secondly, the
holders of graves to the extent of nearly 400 per-
sons, polled ; it is contended these have no right
to vote, since they are not possessed of " freeholds."
272 graves from Kensall-green and Brompton Ceme-
teries polled for Diplock and 100 for Hardwicke.
The illegality of the vote is said to be more clear in
the case of the graves in Ealing and Hanwell Ceme-
teries, 39 of whom voted for Diplock, and 12 for
Hardwicke. If the whole of these votes on the two
sides be disallowed, Hardwicke would have a large
majority. It is further stated that Diplock has a
lot of people who polled as watermen, " who do not
live in the district," amply sufficient to reverse the
majority, and that if real freeholders alone are
taken into account—that is to say, omitting
" graves" and watermen—the majority for Hard-
wicke is 300. Hitherto, the question at present is
dispute has not been brought into court. At the
election for the coroner for Central Middlesex,
when Dr. Lankester defeated Mr. Lewis, both can-
didates polled perpetuity graves, but in that case
Dr. Lankester's majority was so great that Mr.
Lewis saw it was useless to press for a scrutiny',
and so the question whether graves and watermen
are really entitled to vote was not settled. Nothing
can more strongly show the necessity of making
some immediate alteration in the mode of elec-
tion for coronerships. In the first place, those en-
titled to vote should be registered, and a proper
scrutiny should be provided at a less costly risk
than that which at present obtains. It is only in
this way that public interests can be secured.