The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-26 00:00:00

RAILWAY SHARES.

Versailles, R.B 345 340 ... 342 50... 342 50
L. 8... 170 ... 175 ... 162 50... 171 25
Rouen
Rouen t. Havre 665 ... 665 ... 663 75... 663 75
Orleans.
Strasburg to Bale.-- 231 25... 231 25... 231 25... 231 25
Avignon to Marseilles 697 50... 700 . . 697 50... 697 50
RAILWAY SHARES, FOR THE ACCOUNT.

St. Germain 827 50... 827 50... 827 50 .. 827 50
Versailles, L.B. 176 25... 176 25... 170 ... 172 50
Roues
Rouen to Havre 663 75... 663 75... 663 75 .. 663 75
Orleans 867 50... 867 50... 862 50... 862 50
Strasburg to Bale 231 25... 231 25... 231 25... 231 25
Avignon to Marseille, 695 700 ... 695 .. 698.75

THE LORD CHANCELLOR.
The following notice was posted on the door of the
Court of Chancery on Wednesday :

" Jan. 24.

" The Lord Chancellor will not sit to-day."
We understand that the Noble and Learned Lord is
suffering under a slight attack of lumbago, but it is
expected he will be able to resume his official duties in
a day or two.

INDIA Housz.—On Wednesday a ballot was taken at
the East India-house for the election of a director in the room
of William Stanley Clarke, Esq., deceased. At six o'clock, the
glasses were closed and delivered to the scrutineers; who re-
ported that the election had fallen on Major James Oliphant.
The Hon. John Stuart Wortley, M.P., accom-
panied by Lady Georgiana and his eldest son, made a
tour of the manufacturing towns of the West Riding,
last week, during his stay in the neighbourhood of Leeds,
and was the guest of William Beckett, Esq., M.P., at
Kirkstall Grange.
DEATH OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR WILLIAM
JOHNSTON, K.C.B.—Lieutenant-General Sir William
Johnston, K.C.8., Colonel of the 68th Regiment, expired
on Tuesday last, at Southampton, in the 72d year of his
age. In the published records of the 68th Regiment we
find that Sir William entered the army as Ensign on the
3d of June, 1791 ; embarked for Toulon in 1793, and
was present at the action of the heights when General
O'Hara was made prisoner. He subsequently served in
Corsica, and was present at the capture of Bastia and
Calvi, in which affair he was wounded. He became a
Lieutenant on the 7th of January, 1794, and Captain on
the 4th of April of the following year. He accompanied
the expedition to Tuscany in 1797, attained the rank of
Major on the 27th of February, 1800, and served in the
expedition against the Danish and West India islands in
1801, and in the Wakheren expedition. He attained
the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on the 25th of April,
1808, and commanded the 68th at the siege of Flushing
in the following year. He received a medal and two
clasps for Salamanca, Vittoria, and Orthes ; in the
battle of Vittoria he was severely wounded. By the
demise of this distinguished officer, another regiment,
the 68th, is placed at the disposal of the Commander-in-
Chief.

MEPHAM, THE INNOCENT CONVICT.—This young
man, who, it will be remembered, was transported about
two years since for an alleged attack on Mr. Killick, of
Weavering-street, but whose innocence has been proved,
and a free pardon having been dispatched for him, ar-
rived in Maidstone, in good health, on Monday last, to
the great joy of his friends. He was sent to Hobart
Town, and from thence about sixty miles into the bush,
to a place called the Cascades, clearing land, with other
convicts, where his work continued from half-past five
in the morning till six at night in the summer, with half
an hour for breakfast and an hour for dinner. He re-
mained at this work for about twelve months. The first
intimation which he received of his pardon having been
granted, was by a paragraph, which Mr. Carr, a super-
intendent of convicts, inclosed to him in a letter, and
which had been cut out from some English newspaper.
He did not receive the official letter till a considerable
time afterwards, namely, on the 2d of August, within a
week of which date the authorities had provided a free
passage home for him in the Eudora, which reached Eng-
land on Monday last. A considerable sum has been sub-
scribed for him, with which it is intended to set him up
n some small way of business.=Maidstone Gazette.

THE SECRET PASSION.—The numerous readers of
works of imagination will, we have no doubt, learn with more
than ordinary gratification that the author of those truly original
productions, " Shakspeare and His Friends," and " The
Youth of Shakspeare,' has prepared for them an entertainment
of the most attractive kind, in a novel just published, with the
title of " The Secret Passion ;" in which will be found a story
of very singular interest, varied in a raanner altogether new to
the novel reader, with the most striking delineations of those
important agents in thegreat drama of life, the moral feelings,
both under merely physical influences, and in co-operat ion with
the highest intellectual cultivation. This work may be char..
acterised as a romantic and picturesque study from human life,
coloured with the glowing hues of passion and poetry, and is cal-
culated, we think, to make a lasting impression on the public
mind.

TILE GENERAL CITY OF LONDON PENSION SO-
CIETY.—A festivity yesterday was held at the London
Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, emanating from the Direc-
tors, Committee, and supporters of the Society, for the
purpose of presenting to their secretary, Mr. H. F.
Richardson, a testimonial in honour of and to record
his services on behalf of the charity. About 40 gen-
tlemen, including the principal officers of the charity,
partook of a most sumptuous entertainment, provided
by Messrs. Bathe and Breach. The bill of fare was ad-
mirable, and the wines perfection. The testimonial,
which was, preseßted in due form and appropriate
terms, consisted of a magnificent and richly-chased
centre ornament, the base of which was in burnished
silver. From the base, supported by the trunk of the
acanthus, rested the figure of Charity, with her attri-
butes. Surmounted by these rested a vase bearing the
exotics which art had, at this season, brought to a sem-
blance of perfection. The base of the pedestal was
comprised, of three compartments. In the first were
engraved the armorial bearings of the individual ho-
noured, Mr. H. F. Richardson ; in the second was a
highly complimentary inscription ; and in the last com-
partment of the tripod was a memorial of the presen-
tation, and the names of the committee and subscribers.
Mr. H. F. Richardson, on the presentation of the tes-
timonial, acknowledged the compliment in feeling and
appropriate terms. The evening was spent in the utmost
hilarity and good feeling, both of the latter being ma-
terially aided by the vocal efforts of Messrs. Bruton and
Martin.

In the report which appeared in The Sun on Tues-
day, stating that 30 donations had been received on the
previous day at Marlborough-street Police-court—it
should have been " applications for relief ;" and with
reference to the letters delivered to the Magistrate,
none came by post, nor were supposed by him to contain
any contribution.
DROWNING Or A LIGHTERMAN IN TUB THAMES.
—On Wednesday morning, at eleven, Mr. Baker held
an inquest at the Ship, High-street, Wapping, on view of
the body of George Ellis, a lighterman. It appeared that
deceased, on Tuesday morning, about three o'clock, was
rowing a barge, laden with loam, the property of Mr.
Braggs, Wapping, from Limehouse-reach to Wapping,
and that the same morning the barge was found without
the deceased, at a short distance from Mr. Bragg's, the
oars being placed loose on the barge. Deceased was soon
after found by Sergeant Mostyn, N 4, Thames-police, in
the mud off the Thames Tunnel pier. There being no
evidence to show how the deceased got in the water, the
jury returned a verdict of " Found drowned."
PROET AND WILLIAMS.—The lad Mepham, of
whose return we gave an account above, reports that he
saw Frost the day before he received his pardon. He
was at the Cascade station, about 60 miles from Hobart
Town, in the bush, and acted as school-master, on which
Williams
account he was frombrlaeabkourhiisnletghebyfoaretsrtsee.
v had the m exemptisf srtune to
falling on. him, three days before Mepham left. Jones
wits employed as a constable to watch the working party
in the bush. He told Mepham on the eve of his depar-
ture that he would give ten thousand pounds if ho had it
to change places with him.—Maidatone Journal.
RURAL POLICE.—The grand jury at Retford Quar-
ter Sessions, just held, complained of the serious expense to the
ratepayers of the rural police, aa4 the paltry protocutitas they
brought for trial.