The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-24 00:00:00

CONTINENTAL LINES.

The works on the Boulogne and Amiens line, be-
tween the latter town and Abbeville, have been com-
mended. Mr. Love, who was employed on the Rouen
railway, has just been appointed to the Boulogne line
as engineer, and is about to urge on the works at
that end. The statutes of this company have at last
been sent from the hands of the Minister of Public
Works to the Council of State. The company which
had been formed for constructing a railroad between
Rouen and Caen, has came to an understanding with
the Rouen Railroad Company, which has agreed
to carry out the undertaking. When the line is exe-
cuted, the intercourse between Paris and the capital
of Lower Normandy will be most direct and satis-
factory.—The Strasburg and Bale Company are at
present getting surveys made of the ground between
Sarrebruck and Sarrebourg. The intention is to
construct a branch line from the former place to the
main trunk, in order to bring the produce of its coal
mines into Alsace. As these mines at present supply
to the manufacturing establi▪
shments of the Ilaut and
Bas Rhin, the carriage of this article would tend to
materially increase the receipts of the company.—
The Courrier de Lyons announces that the Minister
of Public Works has definitively adopted the line
of the valley of the Oze as the route which the Paris
and Lyons line is to take.—The works of the Tours
and Nantes line are to commence immediately in
the department of the Loi▪
re-Inferieure. A credit
of 600,000 f. had been already advanced to the head
engineer, by the State, and a second one of
800,000 f. has just been given from the budget of 1846.
—The Central Railroad Company, although not yet
legally authorised, is busy in preparing its stock.
Five locomotives for the transport. of goods have been
ordered from MM. Schneider, Freres, of Creuzot, and
a similar number for passengers, from MM. J. J.
Meyer, of Mulhauscn. It is the last-named engine-
makers who have received orders from the Govern-
, ments of Baden and Bavaria, and also, it is said, from

' Austria.—A meeting of the Chamber of Commerce
of Cherbourg was held a few days hack, for the pur-
pose of considering what line would prove most advis-
able for a railroad communication between Cherbourg
and Paris. Some persons having recommended Alen-
con as the best intermediate town (with a branch to
the Rennes line), and others Caen (to join the Rouen
line), the meeting eventually declared in favour of
the latter. The line by Alencon was rejected because
it increased the distance considerably, and, conse-
quently, would be snore expensive in carriage of goods
and passengers; and because the traffic with Rouen
was far greater than with Alencon. The vicinity of
.Alenc;on to the coal districts of the Loire did not
seem to the meeting of sufficient weight to counter-
balance the other points in favour of the snore direct
line, and resolutions were accordingly passed in
favour of the line by Caen and Rouen.—The Direc-
tors of the Marseilles and Avignon Railroad Com-
pany have sent in to the Minister of Public Works a
tender for the execution and working of the line from
Avignon to Lyons. The capital of the intended
Company is provisionally fixed at eighty millions of
francs, divided into 160,000 of 500 f. each. The Di-
rectors of the Marseilles and Avignon line being of
opinion that, from the advantageous influence which
both the lines ought reciprocally to exercise on each
other, it will be useful to concentrate the two Com-
panies as much as possible, have decided that the
above capital shall be distributed at the rate of two
shares for one to the subscribers of the Marseilles and
Avignon Company of August 8, 1843, and two shares
for one to the present Shareholders of the said Com-
pany. Such persons as still hold the original shares
may increase their rights, and will have the faculty
of receiving four shares fur one. Each subscriber is to
pay in the twentieth part of his subscription.
DIEPPE AND PARIS.---Three different surveys for
lines have been made by this Company, viz.—the
mountain, the tunnel, and the valley lines. The
longest is 43 miles; the shortest 36.

MONTPELLIER AND NISMES.—This line was opened
on the 9ch inst.

BERLIN.—The Berlin line direct to Konigsberg
will cost 36,000,000 thalers, or 5,000,000/. sterling.
The Austrian Government has resolved to extend
the Great Northern line to Bochnia.
It is said that the Prussian Government has resolved
to impose a tax on the gross receipts of the various
lines, and to look upon time bargains in foreign
shares as upon dealings in Spanish bonds, i. e., as
illegal.

GAME FOR THE MILLION.
(From Punch.)
We have received the following letter from a Duke
who preserves his game for the benefit of his fellow-
creatures. We think we ought to charge it as an ad-
vertisement ; but as we give it free insertion, we trust
that the Stamp-office will also view it with an eye of
tenderness :
" Mr. Punch,—l address you, as through you I can
most readily get at the world at large. I beg to offer to
the middling and working classes a prime assortment of
game, at the following low charges ; having resolved—
although a peer of the realm—to compete with any
poulterer, whoever he may be, in the moderate price of
my articles : s. d.
" A prime hare 2 6
" A pheasant 3 0

" Partridges (the brace) .... 2 3
" These charges will, I trust, be received as an over-
whelming evidence of my desire to meet the distresses
of the poor, and to bring game down to the lowest ca-
pacity of pocket. lam honestly enabled to put in the
above articles at the prices affixed—as the animals cost
me scarcely anything for keep—they being principally
fed upon the wheat, oats, and barley, of my tenant-
farmers.—l remain your obedient servant,
" NORMANBLOOD.
"P.S.—The highest price given for hare-skins."

HISTORY OF A COINER.
(From the Leicester Chronicle.)
We have mentioned in our Town-hall police re-
port, for Monday last, the committal of the woman
Mulhern, alias Lockwood, on a charge of coining and
uttering counterfeit coin ; and we now proceed to give
some particulars of her truly eventful history, with
which Mr. Powell, the solicitor to the Mint, has
obligingly furnished us.
The first that is known of her is as the wife of a
soldier serving under Sir John Moore in Spain, and
whom she " followed to the field"—trudging along
with the army and its gallant leader through its
long and remarkable retreat, till the battle
of Corunna. After this she was with the army
under " the Duke," in Portugal, and during the
whole of the Peninsular war, whether merely as
a camp-follower, or with her husband, is not
known ; but he is supposed to have been killed in
some one of the many engagements that took place,
and she to have consoled herself with another, if not
many more. In one engagement with the enemy, the
sergeant-major of the regiment she followed was
killed by a shot; on which (while it is imagined the
engagement still continued) she contrived to get at
the body, and rifle the dead man's " kit" of its con-
tents. Among these were his marriage and other
certificates, which she carefully concealed and pre-
served for after use. On returning home she passed
herself off as the widow of this sergeant-major, in
order to obtain a pension ' • and afterwards, on a nurse's
place in Chelsea Hospital becoming vacant, she ap-
plied for and obtained it, also as the sergeant-major's
widow ; having all the necessary documents, she was
enabled to answer every question, and her identity
was never doubted. But, when she had been com-
fortably located here for some time, the real widow
came home! Her application for a pension, its denial
on the ground that the widow was already provided
for, and the real widow's reiterated assertions that she
was the widow, caused an investigation by the late
Sir Charles Grant. The result was, that Biddy was
turned adrift on the " wide wide world," and was lost
sight of for several years. ller first reappearance was
in the character of a coiner, as which she was tried
and convicted in 1828, and sentenced to a year's im-
prisonment. In 1834 she was again tried ; but this
time under the name of Lockwood, and in company
with her second husband, whose real name, however,
was Stafford, and who was a very skilful mason
by trade. He was convicted, and she was then ac-
quitted, as being his wife, and supposed to be acting
under his direction. In 1836 she was con-
victed at Aylesbury for coining, and she then
said she was 55 years of age. She was again tried
for the same offence at Warwick, in 1838, but ac-
quitted, owing to insufficiency of evidence; and in July
of the same year she was again tried, and this time in
connexion with a woman named Perceval, the offence
being the same. Lockwood (prisoner) got eighteen
months' imprisonment, and her companion twelve
months. From that time till the present apprehension
of Mrs. Mulhern, alias Lockwood, &c., Mr. Powell
had almost entirely lost sight of her ; sometimes he
thought he recognised her business talent in the dif-
ferent cases forwarded to him, but was not able to
follow out the clue. In the answers she now gave to
the questions contained in the " Descriptive Paper,"
prisoner had in almost every case given false state-
ments, not wishing doubtless.to renew her acquaint-
ance with the Mint solicitor; and when confronted
with him, she stoutly denied all previous knowledge
of Mr. Powell, till he mentioned one or two "pas-
sages" in her life, when she said, "Ah
told you that tale."
In 1828, Lockwood (her husband) was convicted
at the Surrey assizes of coining, &c., and sentenced
to one year's imprisonment. In 1833 he was con-
victed at Warwick, and sentenced to six months' im-
prisonment. The following year he was tried and
convicted at Stafford, and sent to gaol for one year.
For the next three years little or nothing was heard
of him; but in 1838 he was tried at Warwick, where
he got three months' imprisonment; and in January,
1839, he was tried at Gloucester, and sentenced to a
year's imprisonment. Lastly, he was apprehended at
Abingdon in the following, or the year after that,
with a woman of the name of Harriet Thompson—
whom he had taken to supply the place of his wife,
on her being sent to prison for eighteen months
and on the 25th of January he was transported for
life, and she (Thompson) was imprisoned for two
years. Ann Lockwood, if we recollect aright, was
not actually aware of her husband's fate till she saw
Mr. Powell in Leicester gaol. At the expiration of
her term a subscription was raised to enable the
woman Thompson to follow her " husband" to Syd-
ney, and she arrived there safely. In October last
the governor of Abingdon gaol had received a letter
from her, stating that " James " (Lockwood or
Thompson) was regularly employed by the chief
builders at Sydney, and at good wages ; while she
had also obtained profitable employment. He,
it
seems, is very clever as a workman in Gothic
archi-
tecture, and at cutting out grotesque heads and other
ornaments for churches.

INDISPOSITION OF MR. COAIMISSIONEE BULLOCK.—
On Wednesday information was received at the Sheriffs'
Court-office of the severe indisposition of Mr. Com-
missioner Bullock, the Judge of the Sheriffs' Court. In
consequence, the trials appointed to have taken place yes-
terday are postponed until the next Court day, in Fe
' bruary next.

Thinking the above may bc interesting to you,
for the information of the public, I am, Sir your
faithful servant, GEORGE WANSEY., Sec.
3, Moorgate-street, London, Jan. 22, 1845.
(Copy.) 3, Moorgate-street, London, Jan. 21, 18.1,
Sir,—The City of London Mercantile Committee-
on Postage have great satisfaction in forwarding to
you a copy of resolutions passed by them in March
last, accompanied by a cheque for 10,0001., part of the
amount raised in carrying out the object therein re-
ferred to.

The Committee reserve, till a future opportunity,
the pleasure of making a more public presentation of
the fruits of their labours, as in many parts of the
kingdom the efforts of their friends are yet incom-
plete, and as they hope to add considerably to the
amount already subscribed by continuing their exer-
tions.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant,
GEORGE LARPENT, Chairman.
Rowland Hill, Esq.
At a meeting of " the City of London 'Mercantile
Committee on Postage," held at the Jerusalem
Coffee-house, Cornhill, on Tuesday, March 12,
1844, Sir George Larpent, Bart., in the chair, the
following resolutions were unanimously adopted :
" 1. That this Committee, observing a general
feeling to exist that the important services rendered
by Mr. Rowland Hill are deserving of remuneration,
do take the necessary measures to accomplish that
object.

-"
2. That a public subscription be raised for Mr.
Rowland Hill, the author of the ' Penny Postage,' as
a testimonial to his ingenuity and perseverance in
having devised a scheme of legislation upon this im-
portant subject, which is so well calculated to give
increased facilities to our internal trade, and to pro-
duce so many beneficial results to the general inter-
course of society. (Signed)
" G. LARPENT, Chairman and Treasurer."
(Copy) London, Jan. 21, 1845.
Sir,—l have the honour to acknowledge the re-
ceipt of your letter of this day's date, enclosing a
copy of resolutions passed by the City of London
Mercantile Committee on Postage in March last,
together with a cheque for 10,C00/.
As the Committee intimate their intention at some
future period of making a public presentation of the
fruits of their labours, I would respectfully request
permission to defer till such time all attempt to ex-
press my obligations to themselves (my fellow-
labourers in the cause of Post-office improvement),
and the feelings of pride and gratitude with which I
accept so splendid a proof of the sympathy and appro-
bation of my countrymen.—l have the honour to be,
Sir, your most obedient humble servant,
Sir G. Larpent, Bart., &c. ROWLAND HILL.

THE FRENCH CHAMBER OF

DEPUTIES.

If we were not actual witnesses, through our daily
reports, of the debate which is now going on in the
Chamber of Deputies, such a proceeding would ap-
pear altogether incredible and impracticable in a grave
legislative assembly. The avidity of the speeches, the
deficiency of truth or interest in the well-worn
themes, the rambling character of the debate, and the
inconclusive arguments of the speakers sufficiently
disclose the extraordinary fact that all this talking is,
in reality, about nothing at all. It so happens, for
the misfortune of aspirants for Parliamentary fame on
either side of the Chamber, that there is no one topic
of general policy to be more fully elucidated by Mi-
nisterial statements, or combated by anti-Ministerial
arguments. The only two events which have given
rise to questions of any political interest since the
prorogation in August last are long since terminated
and disposed of ; a great deal will unquestionably be
said about them, but nothing more can be either done
or undone. The Government will, of course, be cen-
sured by one party and applauded by the other; but
the questions on which these demonstrations will
be made to rest are happily defunct. Morocco
and Otaheite are for the present consigned to the
tender keeping of the Annual Register for 1844 ; and
we trust it will not be in the power of angry factions
to revive any portion of the irritation produced last
autumn by the occurrences themselves. As the peace
of Europe survived the reality of that shock, we pre-
sume that it will not be affected by the echo of a re-
port : and we hold it to be beyond the reach of
eloquence or ingenuity to impart a fresh interest to
the past details of these subjects. To make the ab-
stract character of this discussion still more pro-
minent, it appears that the only question which the
Chamber professes seriously to entertain is the pro
and the con of what is termed the English alliance.
But, as was very ably put by the Duke de Brozlie
in his temperate and masterly speech on the
address in the other Chamber, it happens that as
there is not at the present moment any serious
question of European policy which calls for the
military or diplomatic interference of foreign
Powers—as, in fact, the whole machinery of inter-
national relations is at a stand-still, except as far
as private interests are concerned, there is, in fact, no
such thing as an alliance, in the proper meaning of
the word. The experience we have had on some
former occasions of the fidelity of France to the con-
ventions in which she has taken a part may, or may
not encourage us, whenever an occasion shall arise,
to seek for her co-operation in preference to that of
other nations, or other nations may think fit to asso-
ciate themselves with England and France. But it is
preposterous, at a moment when no human being can
predict when such an occasion will occur, or of what
nature it will he, to pledge ourselves to the mainte-
nance of an abstract principle, which will be shattered
in an instant when it is opposed by a positive conflict
•of interests. We are perfectly willing, and even
anxious, to remain on the best terms with France,
and we appreciate at its just value the fortunate posi-
tion of our own country, which enables it to main-
tain the relations of an equally good understanding
with both the great sections of Continental States ;
but we esteem ourselves no less fortunate
that no impending danger or public agita•
tion compels us to take part at the pre-
sent moment with the one against the other.
As far, then, as the English alliance is concerned, the
conflict in the Chamber of Deputies is a mere fight
of shadows ; for the politics of the world are not
governed by general propositions, but by the exi-
gencies of each case and the rules of public duty. All
this debate, which will probably last a fortnight,
and occupy the Chamber till the fifth week of the
session has slipped away, is but the empty prelude to
one act of importance. Is the present Administration
to remain at the head of affairs? or is it to make way
for a long Ministerial interregnum, filled up by plots
and counter-plots of every kind, and terminated by
the accession to office of a heterogenous cabal, who
will strive to ape the policy of the men they have
defeated? The vote on the Address will decide the
matter for the 'present; and, although the result is
still very uncertain, the adherents of the Government
are far more confident of success than its opponents,
and the balance seems to incline in favour of its con-
tinuance in office.—Times.

THE CHARGE AGAINST DR. PENFOLD.—On Sun-
day morning Dr. Billfold took occasion to advert in his
sermon to the recent charge brought against him in the
Marylebone vestry, which he had so satisfactorily re-
futed. He took his text from the 24th chapter of the
Acts of the Apostles, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th
verses—" And herein do I exercise myself, to have al-
ways a conscience void of offence towards God and to-
wards man. Now, after many years, I come to bring
alms to my nation, and offerings. Whereupon certain
Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither
with multitude nor with tumult, who ought to have been
here before thee, and object, if they had aught against
me. Or else let these here say, if they have found any
evil doing in me while I stood before the council." The
Rev. Gentleman, with great feeling, made several strong
allusions to the painful position in which he had been
placed, and his address appeared to produce great effect
upon his hearers.
FATAL ACCIDENT AT ASTLET'S AMPHITHEATRE.--
On Monday evening last a fatal accident occurred on the
stage of this theatre to one of the supernumeraries,
named William Blake, aged 38. The pantomime of
Johnny Gilpin was in the course of performance, and in
representingaJew,s
bom eineglootnhee,slsvheroep,toa
number one o f its
of
scenes
supernumeraries,
deceased
be seen making purchases within. As each came out a
trick was played upon him by the Clown (Barry) and
the Pantaloon (Bradbury) holding a rope, which crossed
the door, and which tripped up each purchaser at his
exit. The deceased did not make his calculation for an
easy fall, and in consequence tumbled violently over,
and fell fiat with great force on the stage. The fall forced
the metallic part of a truss that ho wore into the lower
part of the abdomen, causing internal injuries, of which
de ceased died on Wednesday at his residence, Plea-
sant-place, High-street, Lambeth, leaving a widow and
seven young children unprovided for.

"I NEW MERCHANT SEAMEN'S ACT'
Since the Act to amend and consolidate the laws
rs lating to merchant seamen, and for keeping a re-
gi of seamen, has come into operation, a great-
lit imber of foreigners have applied to the registrar or
th e port of London for register tickets, which have
ha ?n in every case refused, the new law only autho-
fit ing the registrar to register seamen being subjects
of . her Majesty. It is pei haps not generally known
-the t foreign seamen comprise about one-fifteenth of
our mercantile marine, and the new law has placed
the.i in a very awkward position. They cannot
obeain register tickets from the office, and masters of
p 5 must not take them to sea without one, believinF,
if tt; hey do, that they are liable to heavy penalties. This
belief is founded in error. The 2d section of the 7th
an l Bth Victoria, cap. 112, enacts that no master
sL 11 carry to sea any seaman being a subject of her
Nig..,:esty until he shall have first obtained his register
t:•icke t, which he is authorised to retain until the ter-
mination of the voyage. The 4th section imposes a
pet rainy of 101. on any master of a ship carrying out
roes any seaman being a subject of ler
without, first obtaining his register ticket. The
20.11 section enacts that any person being a sub-
.; ec t of her Majesty, intending to serve on
las wd any ship, shall provide himself with a re-
gister ticket ; and for that purpose to apply per-
son ally at the General Register and Record-office of
Se~ ;men in Londorrr or the custom-houses of the
several outports of the United Kingdom. It will be
seat), therefore, that the .new Merchant Seamen's Act
only applies to subjects alter Majesty, and that there
is ,nothing to prevent the hiring of foreigners as here-
to& ire. On 1\ ednesday two foreigners applied to Mr.
Tiro derip, at the Thames Police-curt, for a summons
ag,,L.lst the registrar of British seamen for refusing to
registrar them. One of the applicants stated that he
„cm a ~ eaman, that he was born at Hamburgh, and
had hen,' for twenty-nine years sailing in English
;hips. A. great part of that time had been spent in
the service'
of the East India Company • he haa mar-
,ll wife, by whom he had five childt:en,
ried an nigh,
and when he tivs:
s ashore he lived with her in London.-
The last Britith ship he sailed in was the barque
Newton, Captain Dixon, and that gentleman had
furnished him with a flattering testimonial of good
conduct, sobriety, and stt,adiness. He had applied to
the registrar to send him a ticket, which he refused to
do, because he was not a British subject, but be con-
sidered himself a British seaman to all intents and
purposes, and had adopted England as his country. He
had obtained a ship which was about to sail from
London to Sydney, but the master would not take him
unless he was registered and would produce his ticket..
A Swedish seamen next applied to the magistrate, and:
his case was a stronger one than the last. He had
been away from his native country for forty-six years,
and had served in the Royal Navy of Great Britain for
thirty years, and in English merchant-ships for sixteen
more, and considered he was entitled to a register
ticket. Without one he could not obtain another
berth, and as to returning to the land of his birth,
where he knew no one, it was quite out of the ques-
tion. Mr. Broderip did not think he had any power
to interfere. The only question was, whether the .
applicants were British subjects or denizens. Mr.
Symons, the chief clerk, and author of the work,
" The Law relating to Merchant Seamen," said the
Magistrate could not interfere with the registrar of
British seamen, who was an officer under the control
of the Lords of the Admiralty, and that he had no
power to issue tickets to those who were not subjects
of her Majesty. The applicants seemed very much
troubled at the answer to their applications, and said
they must starve, if no ship-masters would engage
them. The desire of foreign seamen to register under
the new law is very great—the pay in the British
service is greater, and the supply of provisions Imre
ample, than can be obtained in any foreign vessels. It
is a well-known fact that many foreigners, who have
been acting as seamen in British ships for many years,
have registered themselves as subjects of her Majesty,
and obtained their tickets.