The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-19 00:00:00

Q' UtiTiltAl Int

LONDON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1844.

A meeting of the freeholders, landowners, and te-
nants' of Somersetshire, was held at Bridgewater on
Friday, on a requisition to the High Sheriff, for the
purpose of opposing the machinations of the League.
They met to curse COBDEN and BRIGHT, and Earl
.FiTzwIELIAM, and Earl SPENCER, and the Marquis
of WESTMINSTER, and the inhabitants of every large
and influential town in the United Kingdom, and the
scene ended like that between the King of Mono and
the prophet BALAAII—they " altogether blessed them
three times." Great preparations had been made for
this demonstration ; the people gathered far and near,
to the number of five thousand ; the leading men
of the country mustered in great numbers ; the

parsons, of course, were among the mot'ey crowd
but the voice of monopoly was raised in vain, and
common sense and justice prevailed. The High
Sheriff had the honesty and courage to remain to the
last, and put a question to the vote, which he knew
would be against his party. He did not, like some
others, dissolve the meeting, and retire to some hole
and corner to pass resolutions ; he listened to the
speeches on both sides, and, like a man of honour,
gave a fair decision. The speeches we will not ad-
vert to separately, though, from the strange mixture
of blind prejudice, ignorance, and political animosity,
on the one hand, and sound reasoning, and clear
views on the other, they form a fit subject for corn-
ment. We will leave our readers to judge for them-
selves. One fact is evident from this meeting, that
the labours of the Anti-Corn-law League have taken
effect in quarters where but two years ago any
attempt to make an impression would have been re-
garded as an act of madness. We do not speak of the
farm-labourers and the small tenants, but of men
holding large property, and tenants renting land
from 5001. to 1,0001. a year. Even these men begin
to see that there is no safety for them under the
present ambiguous system. The declaration of Sir
ROBERT PEEL has left things precisely as they were.
No man will yet take a lease ; tile-draining and all
other draining is at a dead stand ; farm-steads will
remain in the same dilapidated state, and landlords
and tenants will alike wait till the League have ob-
tained their object, or a compromise take place which
will as lure all those interested that the question is
definitively settled. All these county meetings, for
the purpose of cheering on the Minister, are
vain exhibitions; they are what WELLINGTON
called them, " a farce ;" they settle nothing, they
argue nothing ; they merely display the ignorance,
bigotry, and selfishness of a particular class, and
make all men of knowledge and experience wonder
that fOr the last two hundred years (we will not go
farther back) the Houses of Parliament, in other
words, the destiny of this empire, has been under the
control of such a race. Much has been done within the
last fourteen years. Some of the most obnoxious mono-
polies and most wicked class laws have been abolished,
but no thanks to the performers in the farce. They
were to a man against them, and they will be against
every similar improvement till the voice of the
country and the spread of intelligence compels them
to yield. Sir ROBERT PEEL knows that well, and he
is only biding his time. Still, however, this delay
is sadly ruinous to the country, not to speak
of our foreign relations, and especially those with the
United States, which the sliding-scale renders every
year of less value ; not more than two-thirds of Eng-
land is under cultivation, and in general that is of the
most expensive and rude description. Why ? Be-
cause no tenant has any security for his outlay. This
subject has been well treated by Sir HARRY VERNEY,
formerly Member for Buckingham, in a letter addressed
to the farmers of Buckinghamshire, and published
by RIDGWAY. He is, we believe, a large landholder
himself, and may therefore be taken as an authority.
Nothing, he says, but an assurance of a permanency
of tenure, will enable farmers to reap the fruit of
any capital they may embark in the cul-
tivation of the soil. And what man will
embark capital in farming under the present
corn-laws ? He would as soon trust it to
the repudiating Yankees, or to the insol-
vent Spaniards. "Is it right," says Sir HARRY
" that, with our rapidly increasing population, such a
state of things should remain ? Is it right that such
a system should be persevered in, that prevents, or,
at any rate, that has not forwarded and effected, to
the extent that the country demands, an augments.
tion of produce ? Look at the bad condition of farm-
houses and buildings in many parts of the country.
See how constantly four or even five horses are used in
a plough, when two would suffice ; and consider
that whole districts are cultivated with very small
return, although cultivated at an expense unnecessa-
rily great. Why are manure heaps left in the field,
where they lose their richness and fertilising qua-
lities ? 'Why is the refuse from the farm-yard and
dwelling-house allowed to escape into the common
ditches, and to produce a rank crop of noxious
weeds, instead of adding to the richness of the
land? Why do we see ponderous four-horse wag-
gons doing work, for which two horses with light
carts are sufficient ? Why is farming expensive in
particulars, in which cheaper cultivation would bring
more produce ? And why is there such unwilling-
ness to expend capital, where that capital would give
an ample return ? The answer, I believe, is, imper-
fect farming encouraged by unwise legislation."

The monopolists anxious, as it would seem, to make
up for lost time, are at length beginning to bestir
themselves in right earnest. At a meeting which
took place at the Duke of RICHMOND'S on Saturday,
it was resolved that vigorous measures should imme-
diately be taken to counteract the agitation of the
Anti-Corn-law League, with which view a proposal
was made, and agreed to, for the formation of a
" Metropolitan Society for the Protection of British
Agriculture," of which his Grace of RICHMOND was
to be president, and his congenial Grace of Buck
vice-president. There was a goodly exhibition
of Lords at this meeting, and country Baronets were
as numerous as prize oxen at a Christmas cattle-show ;
moreover, there was a stray Colonel or two, and a
pretty considerable drove of M.P.s, among whom
BUSFEILD FERRAND—the celebrated discoverer of
mares' nests—was not the least conspicuous. We
infer from this numerous attendance of monopolists
that the squad are bent on doing great things in the
way of agitation, and are determined on the point
that, whether willingly or unwillingly, Sir ROBERT
PEEL shall be made as desperate an Anti-Free-trader
as themselves. As the Herald, which announces the
meeting, is considerate enough to spare the speeches
—an act of generous forbearance on our Contem-
porary's part for which we can never be suffi-
ciently grateful—we can only form a guess as
to their temper and import; they were pro-
bably violent enough, and the arguments trite
and hacknied to a degree bordering on the
miraculous ; peradventure also there was some small
bullying manifested in them, intended for the express
solace and edification of the Premier, whom, we greatly
fear, the monopolists do not hold in the most exalted
reverence as a political apostle. Be this, however, as
it may, they are resolved, it is evident, to make him
their mouth-piece in Parliament ; to set him up as
their scare-crow to frighten away the Leaguers from
the corn-fields ; and wring from his timidity
what they despair of obtaining from his con-
viction. Well, let them do so. They are perfectly
welcome to make what use they please of Sir R.
PEEL, for we are quite sure that—notoriously vacil-
lating and inconsistent as the whole kingdom knows
him to be—he can do them no great good, but, on
the contrary, can only serve as a sort of wet blanket
to damp their ardour. Besides, they will not have
him long among them. Let but two bad harvests
follow in succession—let but another fierce cry of
distress come up from the manufacturing districts—
and away will go the Velocipede Premier—
off like a shot in the direction of free
trade—and though the monopolists may bawl
out " Stop thief !" till they are hoarse, they
will never be able to catch himl in his exceeding
hurry to throw himself into the outstretched arms of
the affectionate and forgiving Member for Stockport.
Trust to Sir ROBERT PEEL ! Rely on him for con-
tinuous and lasting support ! The monopolists may
just as well trust to the steadiness of an April day ; or
believe in the truth of an epitaph which re-
cords the virtues of some defunct Saint, who swin-
dled his creditors six days in the week, and
got as drunk as a lord on the seventh. The Pre-
mier is one of those accommodating statesmen
whose favourite maxim it is to be strong on the
strongest side, and cry " Long life to the Conqueror,"
no matter whether he be the devil himself. He is
not one to play a losing game, or volunteer to head a
Forlorn Hope. The idol of his worship—the goddess
of his love, is Expediency. Just now, he is all for
the monopolists, because he sees that the current of
Parliamentary opinion runs in that direction, and
that a hurricane is getting up among the landholders;
but let circumstances change, and we shall
find him—as we observed just now—openly
siding with the Leaguers. Meanwhile, as a set• off
to the new " Metropolitan Protection Society," with
the Duke of RICHMOND at its head and Mr. FsalcaND
at its tail, we may adduce the admirable letter ad-
dressed by the Duke of SUTHERLAND--a nobleman
whose political influence is not less remarkable than
his political sagacity to his agent at Dun-

robin, wherein his Grace emphatically re-
marks :—" My own feeling is in favour of
the free current of national industry —of un-
fettered commerce—of purchase and sale gene-
rally—without excepting any trade on which the
sustenance of the people depends." While we have
such intelligent and influential men as the Duke of
SUTHERLAND, Lord WESTMINSTER, and Lord
SPENCER on our side, we need not, in the long run,
greatly fear the opposition of the " Metropolitan
Protection Society," even though it be honoured by
the support of Sir R. PEEL.

It is some time since we called the attention of our
readers to the unseemly and contumacious conduct of
the incumbent of a large parish in Hertfordshire—
not very far from Ware—in persisting, against the
remonstrances of the great majority of his parish-
ioners, and the repeated intervention of the church-
wardens, in some of those obsolete mummeries which
the Tractarian disciples of Dr. Pussy's school uphold
with such insane, but offensive pertinacity. We
advisedly apply the old ecclesiastical censure of " con-
tumacy" to such preposterous deportment in any
clergyman of the Established Church, albeit exhibited
to laymen. It involves an insult, and it professes
an indifference (on the part of the officiating
minister) to the prejudices, as he calls them—to the
opinions, as they entitle them—of his congregation,
not to be tolerated by the members of that Reformed
Anglican Church, whose clergy should respect in its
laity the same hostility to all mere ceremonial worship,
which, after all, is the great charter of their own re-
cognised status, in separation from the see of Rome.
Incessant genuflexions and theatrical obeisances—the
revival of long-forgotten observances at the altar or
in the reading-desk—strange and absurd, or supere-
rogatory gesticulation, recruited and equipped from
the most dusty of the canons, or the most obliterated
directions of the Rubric ;—these, it is true, are forms,
morally and religiously speaking, of utter indifference.
But to insist on their practice—to " Romanize," even
to the furniture and dressing of the Com-
munion-table—to display, in the most remarkable
manner, the least conciliatory pretensions of the elder
" High Church," in acts bespeaking a sort of diviner
nature and condition for the minister than that of 1113
auditors ;—all these are symptomatic of a studied
desire, in a section of our own Church, once more
to assert pretensions of infallible superiority in its
clergy, which the good sense of the English people
had long ago indignantly discarded. We must now
refer, with sorrow, to a new ebullition of this PUSEY
mania, which is vexing the suburban orthodoxy of a
parish in Essex—namely, Great Ilford.

The minister of Great Ilford, like him of whom
we wrote formerly, has the happiness to acknowledge
the Bishop of LONDON for his diocesan. The corre-
spondence between this Diocesan and the church-
wardens of Great Ilford is a curiosity in its
way ; and, on the part both of Prelate and
parson, is marked, emphatically enough, by the true
" superbia prelatica " of those times, the return of
which both of them so fondly desiderate ; for the
sleek and pharisaical Bishop of LONDON must be con-
tent to be adjudged a Puseyite, since he so manifestly
affects, on all occasions, their colours and their cause !
Not that we mean to affirm the competency of the
Right. Rev. Lord of Fulham House to adopt, even
in this controversial warfare, a course which he can
hold without trimming. It was amusing, some three
or four years ago, to observe the desperate munificence
he found himself irresistibly propelled into, by the
sarcastic epistle of the Rev. SIDNEY SMITH, in which
the Prebendary read to the Bishop his memorable
homily, touching the disingenuousness of denouncing
the " large incomes of Deans and Chapters" as fitting
objects for new appropriation, whilst preserving
a religious silence in respect of the sacred
revenues of opulent bishoprics. To stifle the
laughter of the public at detected inconsistency, the
Right Rev. Prelate, as it seemed to us, diffused his
subscriptiveness over twenty or thirty church en-
dowment and church-building propositons, at one
and the same time ; yet, a few months afterwards, he
was engaged in another epistolary squabble with Dr.
FIUME, of Hanwell, about the Doctor's right to sink
gravel-pits, on his copyhold, without a sort of
Peter's-pence payment to the Ecclesiastical manor
Lord—" CHARLES LONDON." At present, how-
ever, the Bishop, clearly enough, abets our Pu-
seyite parson. In December last, he apprised the
churchwardens that he had been informed by the
Rev. FOLLIOTT BAUGH, that a vestry meeting of the
"parishioners of Great Ilford has been summoned for
the purpose of considering the question of the side
table placed within the rails at the eastern end of the
church, the determination of which rests with them-
selves, as churchwardens, subject to his Lordship's
directions."

He requested that they would take no steps for the
removal of such table till he had had time to make
all necessary previous inquiries, and to further in-
struct them. At a subsequent meeting, summoned
to consider this letter, and at which the Rev. Mr.
BAUGH himself presided, that Reverend Gentleman
" admitted that he had informed the Bishop that it
was only a faction of his parishioners who had got up
this opposition to the present mode of performing
Divine service at Great Ilford." On the veracity of
this information, we shall offer a word presently.
Certain resolutions being agreed to before the close of
this meeting, they were communicated in due form by
the churchwardens to the Bishop of LONDON. The
Bishop, in his reply, admits that he had learned
that the offensive alterations (turning the aspect of
the reading desk, and setting up a slab, or " table of
credence," at the altar place), although effected twelve
months before with the knowledge of the then church-
warden, had been so made " without his express
permission." Yet his Lordship adds, in defiance of
the respectful requests of a populous parish, and very
large congregation, "As no objection was made
at the time, I do not think it necessary now
to authorise the removal of the slab, or the re-
storation of the reading-desk to its original form."
This was consistent to be sure ! The reading-desk
had been deliberately turned, so as to indulge more
than three-fourths of Mr. BAUGH'S parishioners with
the sight of his back instead of his face, at prayers.
The Right Rev. Bishop could do no less than rump
the remonstrating churchwardens. The most amus-
ing pretension is to come, and we hasten to make
room for it. " -With respect to the other parts of the
resolutions, I will content myself with expressing my
regret that the concession which Mr. BAUGII has
made to the wishes of the Select Vestry, in discon-
tinuing the weekly offertory, has not been met by
them in a kinder spirit."
" Concesion," truly ! The withdrawal of an offensive,
impertinent observance, calculated to insult all sincere
Churchmen, by challenging associations and recol-
lections connected with the worst usages of sangui-
nary superstition and priestly intolerance. But perhaps
our readers may imagine that, after all, the Puseyite
practices in which the incumbent of Great Ilford in-
dulged were harmless as to consequences. They
may be thinking of his assurances to his Bishop,
that the remonstrants composed only a " faction of his
parishioners." Alas ! our experience of Puseyite
doctrine, Puseyite clergy, and Puseyite corres-
pondence, have impressed us with no lofty notion of
their love of truth or accuracy. Now, what is the
testimony of the report from whence we have ex-
tracted the facts of this case ? That the very large
congregation which used to attend Great Ilford
Church has diminished, in consequence of the Rev.
Gentleman's caprices, to an attendance of 40 or 50
persons only, for some time past ; and that very re-
cently it consisted of but nine people ! What a
fine prospect for the " unity and welfare" of that
Church whereof it is just possible that the spiritual
humility of the Right Reverend Bishop not seldom
contemplates the possibility of his becoming, at some
future day, the ecclesiastical head—afforded by the
progress of the innovations which his Lordship thus
sanctions, and the coincident defection of outraged
flocks from the pastors who adopt them!

The "Fifth Annual Report" of the Registrar-Ge-
neral of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in England,
dated 14th August, 1843, brings under the notice of
the public some remarkable contributions to these
important branches of statistical inquiry. The whole
of the annual abstracts which it comprises are for the
year 1841; prepared (as we collect) with reference
to the Population Census, which was taken about the
middle of that year. The first division of the docu-
ment before us is appropriated to a comparison of
marriages, births, and deaths ; a statement of mar-
riages of 100,000, living in eleven divisions of the

kingdom ; and of marriages solemnized in each of the
four quarters of the year, respectively ; also of re-
marriages, marriages of minors, and of persons mar-
ried who wrote their names. The other divisions
relate to births, deaths( and their decrease), life tables,
and health of towns. These are followed by tables of
marriages, births and deaths in the several counties of
England (in 1841), distinguishing males and females,
and by other documents and correspondence having re-
lation to the same physical statistics of districts and
towns.

We have no room to-day for some results to which
we had intended to call attention, among those which
are arranged under the returns from the 324 statis-
tical districts into which England is divided for the
general purposes of this registry. In the meantime,
however, we shall quote the following passage, as
suggesting an important modification in the, of late,
generally received doctrine that the duration of life is
ceteris paribus, in a very high degree greater in
women than in men. The degree in which the
difference has been overrated appears to remount to
the age of the ingenious but defective calculations of
the older economists, made in times when there
existed so few authenticated data, and those data so
ill combined, on which to found the theory of those
calculations; and to the first attempt of BUFFON, and
other naturalists, prior to the better instructed
efforts of the savans who succeeded them, to estimate
the vie probable of our species, under given
conditions of social life, in its existing forms.
Yet the reformation of the tables of our Life
Assurance Offices, founded on this assumption of the
superior longevity of women, and the consequent re-
duction of premiums in their favour, is but of com-
paratively modern introduction. To show how the
assumed excess may be demonstrated, Mr. GRAHAM
has prepared a table of which he says—
" The Expectation of Life' in the annexed table
was calculated separately for ' males," females,' and
persons' At first the expectation of fe-

male lives is more by two years than that of males ;
at twenty, it is 40.81 years, that of males being
20.02; during the whole period of life, after the first
year, the dffference in the expectation does not exceed
1.17 year. This difference is important ; but the
table disposes of the highly exaggerated opinions as
to the superior vitality of the female sex derived from
partial observation. I am informed that the lives of
females assured are not longer than those of males,
which might have been expected, as, at Assurance
offices, their state of health is less strictly investigated.''
In some highly interesting valculations, which ap-
pear to have been most carefully conducted, and to be
very fairly set out by Mr. GRAHAM, he points out a
few remarkably falsified conclusions, which had been
previously arrived at by the late Mr. RICKMAN and
by Mr. FINLmsoN, (the calculator of the Government
Annuity Tables,) and the Commissioners for conduct-
ing the last Irish Census. We advert especially to
an extraordinary misapprehension of Mr. RICKMAN
as to the minor waste of human life in the population
of Liverpool ; and to a similar error on the part of
the Commissioners as to the differences of duration of
life between the Irish and English people. But we
must postpone the very interesting illustrations we
have selected, under these heads, to a future oppor-
tunity.

The intelligence from Madrid, which is to the 11th
instant, adds little to that which we have extracted
from the Paris papers. The disarmament of the
National Guards was taking place generally through-
out the provinces, and met with very little resistance.
At Seville two battalions refused to give up their
arms ; but whether tlfey were ultimately successful
is not stated. A number of Deputies, of what is
called the " old majority," had presented an address
to the QUEEN, expressing their devotion to the
Throne. The QUEEN thanked the Cortes thus repre-
sented (in other words, the Rump Cortes), for their
support, and praised the energy of the Government.
The same party also moved an address to Queen
CHRISTINA, thanking her for returning to Spain.
They should also have voted a similar ad-
dress to Louis PHILIPPE. Accounts from
Murcia state that the insurgents of Carthagena had
retired from Murcia, carrying off all the public
moneys, together with large sums exacted from the
wealthy inhabitants of the place. The QUEEN'S
troops occupied it on the Bth.
At Madrid the Three per Cents. were done at 29
5-16 at 60 days, and 281 for cash, and the Five per
Cents. at 201 at 60 days.

The ?loniteur of Saturday contains the following
telegraphic dispatch from Spain :

"The Queen's troops entered Murcia on the Bth, amid the
acclamations of the people. The authorities had resumed
their functions. General Roncali was, on the evening of the
7th, at St. Jean d'Alicant, with a part of his division. The
rest of his force was at Aspe. An insurrectional movement
has just broken out in Portugal near the Spanish frontier."
We give the dispatch as it appears, but at the same
time place little confidence in any statements, except
mere facts, which cannot be long concealed ; for the
Liberal press in Spain is so completely put down, and
the Post-office so controlled by the Government, that
no impartial intelligence can be expected from that
country. The home intelligence in the Paris
papers is not of much importance. It appears
from what took place in the Chamber of De-
puties, on Thursday, that more money and
more men are wanted for Algeria. On that day
Marshal SOULT presented a Bill demanding a credit
of 7,673,589 f., as a complement destined for the pay
and other expenses of 15,000 men to be added to
the army in Africa, of which the effective force was
to be 75,000. The Noble Marshal, in his prefatory
observations, remarked that when the Chambers had
fixed on 60,000 men as the number of troops in
Algeria, it had been with the understanding that, if a
larger force were required to strengthen and conso-
lidate their conquest, the number of troops
should be increased. It was now certain that 75,000
men would be necessary for the coming year, and the
Government, therefore, without hesitation, applied for
the required addition of men.
Most of the papers advert to the conviction
of Mr. O'CoNNELL, and to the debate on the state
of Ireland in the House of Commons. On
the former subject the Paris Globe says—" The
verdict has not in the least surprised us. It is clear
that the agitator raised masses of the people, orga-
nised them, represented to them that the English
Government was their enemy, and thus prepared all
the elements of civil war. O'CoNNeLn, therefore, is
justly condemnedl,, and his acquittal would have been
an annulment of all the laws of order by which the
British empire is ruled. Nevertheless, two grand
questions still t'emain open ; first, whether Ireland
has not good grounds of complaint—and next, whe-
ther England has done nothing to deserve reproach.
The agitator had a perfect right to proclaim the griefs
of Ireland, although he had no right to raise the
country, and org,,arnise the means of creating a civil
war. Ireland has every right to complain of the
manner in which she has been treated by England.'
But even the Opposition journals express little sym-
pathy for the tra;wersers. Mr. O'Cororeni. very pro-
perly declined the aid of M. LEDRU ROLLIN and his
party, and for thmt they cannot forgive him. In ad-
verting to the speech of Lord J. RUSSELL, the
Journal des Debats says—
" The speech of tire leader of the Opposition was such as
might have been expected from him—simple, firm, and oc-
casionally full of irony and bitterness. He attacked, for he
could not do otherwise, the two great evils of Ireland—the
exclusive supremacy .of the Protestant Church, and the con-
nexion between tenaizt and landlord ; but on those two poi
he could not specify -or determine any remedy. 1\ or is lie
more explicit when he speaks of the kind of social war going
on between those whi ) possess and those who cultivate the
land. All, in fact, tha t he says is, that he is obliged to ac-
knowledge that for oic, profound, so inveterate, so ancient an
evil, he knows ofno. direct remedy."
The following piece of information appears in the
Journal de Havre-, and we have little doubt will prove
Trove too true.:—." The Elizabeth whaler has arrived
in ninety days froni Otaheite, brings intelligence that
the French, on Pr etence of some infraction of the
treaty, by which it agreed to afford protection to that
island, had deposei 1 Queen POMARE. The French
Rear-Admiral nu. -.PETIT THOURS had taken posses-
sion of Otaheite in the name of the King of the
FIIENCI!, and the national flag was hoisted in token
of sovereignty."
The Journal des. Chemins de Fer, in contradiction
to the statement of the Journal des Travaux Publics,
which we have alr wady given, says that the superior
commission on ra'ilroads, appointed by the Govern-
ment, has decided on recommending that there shall
be two branches Ito the coast from the northern line
at Amiens, viz.- - -to Boulogne by Abbeville, and to
Calais by Arras- Our Contemporary adds, that the

commission recommends a direct branch from Lille
to Dunkirk.

The French Funds on Saturday continued firm,
the Three per Cents. closing at 82f. 40c., and the
Fives at 125 f. 65c.
THE BOURSESATuunits, FEB. 17. _

First

Highest Lowest

Last

Price. Price. Price. Price.
French Five per Cents. •••• 125 65 .. 125 70 .. 125 65 .. 125 65

Four:and-a-Half..

112 50 .. 112 50

112 50 •• 112 50

Three per Cents..... 82 40 •. 82 40 .. 82 40 - • 82 40
Bank of France.. ..... ..3277 50 ..3277 50 ..3277 50 ..3277 50
Laffltte Bank, I,ooof. Sharesllos ..1105 ..1105 ..1105
5,000 f. Sharesso72 50 ..5072 50 ..5072 50 ••5072 50
Belgian Bank ..• • • • • • • • •• • • 670 .. 670 .. 670 • • 670

1841 ..•......1080 ••1080 ..1080 ..1080
Belgian Fives, 1840 .• • 109 k .. 109 i .• 1091 • • 109;
1842 • • 1101 .. 1101 .. 1101 .. 1101
Dutch Two-anti-a-Half .• •• . 561 • . 561 . • 561 • • 561
Spanish Active •.•• • • • ..... 31 •• 31 .• 31 .. 31
Passive .• •.•••• • • • • 51 • • 51 . • 51 .. 51
Portuguese Five per Cents•• 434 .• 45 434 ••
.441.

Neapolitan lO3 25 .. 104 .. 103 25 .. 10375
Roman lO6l .. 1061 • . 1061 • • 1061

RAILWAY SHARES.

Versailles, L.B. .... 177 50 -• 177 50 . • 173 75 • • 175

Rouen • . • • • • • • • • .

... .. 822 50 .. 825

- 822 50 •• 825

Rouen to Havre.
Orleans .............

Strasburg to Bale ..... 241 25 .. 242 50 .• 241 25 .. 242 50
Montpellier to Cette
Avignon to Marseilles— . • . • 750 • . 750 745 • . 745

RAILWAY SHARES, FOR THE ACCOUNT.

St. Germain

810

- 820

810

- 810

11.13.• . •• • • ...... 347 50 .. 347 50 • . 345 .. 345
L. 8.•...•.
Rouen • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • 825 .. 826 50 .• 825 .. 82G 25

Rouen to Havre••
Orleans • ..... .• •• • • 840 .. 840 .• 830 • • 835

Strasburg to I3ale•..••.•••• 241 25 .• 242 50 241 25 .. 242 50
Avignon to Marseilles• ••• • • 750 .. 750 • • 740.. .. 740
Montpellier to Cette 450 .. 455 .• 450 455

Summonses were issued on Saturday to the Cabinet
Ministers to attend a Cabinet Council, this day, at the
Foreign-office, Downing-street. All the members of
the Cabinet are expected to attend the Council this
afternoon.
ACTIONS FOR PENALTIES ON GAMING DISCONTINUING
BlLL.—This Bill (brought down from the Lords on the
10th inst.) is entitled " An Act to discontinue certain
actions under the provision of several Statutes for the
prevention of excessive gaming, and to prevent, for the
future, the bringing of such actions." The preamble
recites the enactments of 9th Anne, c. 14; see. 2 (" an
Act for the better preventing of excessive and deceitful
gaming)" also, the provisions of 16th Car. 11., c. 7, and
of 10th Will. 111., c. 11; and the Ist clause is to the
effect that " Proceedings commenced by common in-
formers for penalties incurred by playing at, or betting
on certain games, shall be discontinued on application
to the Court, or a Judge." 2. The same as to similar
provisions under the Irish Acts. 3. No proceedings
to be commenced by any common informer, under
any of the above provisions after the passing of
this Act. 4. Actions not to be brought without
the consent of the Attorney-General. 5. Limits
the duration of the Act to the space of three
months next ensuing the passing thereof ; and nothing
herein contained to extend to authorising the staying
or discontinuing any proceedings which may be com-
menced after the lapse of such three months. The
schedule referred to in this Act, as recapitulating the
games in respect of which qui tam actions (founded on
the statute of Anne, prohibiting all persons from playing
or betting thereat, for any sum amounting in the whole
to more than 10/.) have recently been brought, or
threatened to be brought, comprehends the several
games following:—Horse-races, foot-races, boat-races,
regattas, rowing, sailing, coursing, and fencing matches,
golf, wrestling matches, cricket, tennis, fives, racquets,
bowls, quoits, curling, putting-stone.

AMERICAN NEWS.

EXPRESS FROM LIVERPOOL.
ARRIVAL OF THE BRITANNIA.

LIVERPOOL, SUNDAY EVENING.

At half-past eight o'clock this evening, we had the
satisfaction to hear the report of guns at the mouth of
the Mersey, announcing the approach of the Royal
mail-steamer, Britannia, which had been expected
for four days past, and respecting which some anxiety
had begun to be felt.
We are happy to say that the detention of the
Britannia was owing to circumstances arising before
she left Halifax, from whence she did not take her
departure until the 7th inst., making the voyage to
Liverpool in a little over 11 days.

One of the most severe frosts ever known set in at
Boston, on the 27th ultimo, which very soon entirely
stopped the navigation of the harbour, as well as
greatly impeded the arrival of the inland mails, so
much so, that the mails south of New York were eight
or nine days past due, and from that city to Boston,
only the expresses came through, and those
occupied a considerably longer time than usual,
a canal of six or seven miles in length had to be cut
through the ice, to enable the steamer to get out.
The authorities in Boston behaved in a very spirited
manner, which shows they are justly proud of the
very beautiful vessels which make their harbour
their port of destination ; and, knowing the import-
ance of dispatch, a public meeting was held, and a
subscription entered into by the merchants to defray
the cost of the labour necessary to cut through the ice.
It was, however, the 3d inst. before the Britannia
could start, and between Boston and Halifax she ex-
perienced very severe and squally weather, so as to
prevent her reaching that port until the 6th instant,
and on the latter part of that day the fog was so
thick that. Captain Hewitt did not think it prudent
to go to sea until next day, when it cleared off.
The news by this arrival is of but little import-
ance. There has been no proceedings in Congress of
interest here. The cotton market was rather quiet,
but prices were sustained; the rate of exchange had
advanced to 1094. Business generally was in a favour-
able state on the 31st at New York. Owing to the
unfavourable state of the weather, the Britannia brings
news only three days later than the last packet.

INSURRECTION IN PORTUGAL.
LISBON, TUESDAY, FEB. 13.

We have advices from Lisbon by the Lady Mary
Wood steamer, to the 13th inst. The 60 dragoons,
who had revolted at Torres Novas, had proceeded
to Castello Branco, the chief town of the pro-
vince of Lower Beira, about eighty miles from Lis-
bon, and had there gained over another detach-
ment of the same regiment of Dragoons, 40 in
number, and 400 men, with their officers, of the
12th Regiment of Infantry. The insurgents were
therefore 500 strong, but the revolt was purely
military, and from no part of the kingdom had
the slightest echo arisen. The insurrecsion was then
ten days in existence, and not a town or village in all
Portugal had pronounced against the Government.
The insurgents, in fact, were treated by the people
everywhere with profound indifference.
Baron Leiria, with his column of all arms, bad
arrived at Abrantes, within a few leagues of Cas-
tello Branco, and troops were likewise marching
against the insurgents from Estremoz and Chaves.
A crisis must speedily ensue, and there seemed to
be little doubt that the insurgents would in a few days
be compelled to retreat across the Spanish frontier.
Count Boinfim had failed in his attempt to produce
insurrection in the garrison of Elvas.

Other arrests had been made at Lisbon, including
some leading Opposition Deputies.
Even at Castello Branco the people took no part in
the insurrection, and the telegraph announced tran-
quillity in every direction.—Times.