The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-02 00:00:00

THE Strxt_LONDON2 TUESDAY El JANUARY 2, 1844.

ONTINUED.)

CANADIAN POLITICS.
The following is Mr. Lafontaine's note to Sir Charles
Metcalfe, relative to the resignation of the late Cabinet:
" Mr. Lafontaine, in compliance with the request of
the Governor-General, and in_behalf of himself and his
late colleagues, who have felt it to be their duty to tender
their resignation of office, states, for his Excellency's
information, the substance of the information which they
propose to offer in their places in Parliament.
" They have avowedly taken office upon the principle
of-responsibility to the representatives of the people in
Parliament, and with a full recognition on their parts
of the following resolutions introduced into the Legisla-
tive Assembly, with the knowledge and sanction of her
seMapiteesmbty'esr, Brlep4rels:e—ntative in the province, on the 3d of
" ' That the head of the Executive Government of the
province, being within the limits of his government, the
representative of the Sovereign is responsible to the
Imperial authority alone, but that nevertheless the ma-
nagement of our local affairs can only be conducted by
him by and with the assistance, counsel, and intbrina-
tion of subordinate officers in the province; and that, in
order to preserve between the different branches of the
provincial Parliament that harmony which is essential to
the peace, welfare, and good governthent of the province,
the chief advisers of the representative of the Sovereign,
constituting a provincial administration under him,
ought to be men possessed of the confidence of the re-
presentatives of the people; thus affording a guarantee,
that the well understood wishes and interests of the peo-
ple, which our gracious Sovereign has declared shall be
the rule cf the provincial Government, will on all occa-
sions be faithfully represented and advocated.'
" They have lately understood that his Excellency
took a widely different view of the position, duties, and
responsibilities of the Executive Council from that under
which they accepted office, and through which they have
been enabled to conduct the Parliamentary business of
the Government, sustained by a large majority of the
popular branch of the Legislature.
"Had the difference of opinion between his Excel-
lency and themselves, and, as they have reason to be-
lieve, between his Excellency and the Parliament and
the people of Canada generally, been merely theoretical,
the members of the late Executive Council might and
would have felt it to be their duty to avoid every possi-
bility of collision which might have a tendency to dis-
turb the tranquil and amicable relations which apparently
subsisted between the Executive Government and the
provincial Parliaments ; but that difference of opinion
has led not merely to appointments to office against their
advice, but to appointments and proposals to make ap-
pointments, of which they were not informed in any
manner until all opportunity of offering advice respect.
ing them had passed by, and to a determination on the
part of his Excellency to reserve for the expression of
her Majesty's pleasure thereon, a Bill introduced into
the provincial Parliameitt, with his Excellency's know-
ledge and consent, as a Government measure, w ithout
an opportunity being given to the members of the Exe-
cutive Council to state the probability of such a reserva-
tion. They, therefore, felt themselves in the anomalous
position of being, according to their own avowals and
solemn public pledges, responsible for all the acts of the
Executive Government to Parliament, and at the same
time not only without the opportunity of offering advice
respecting those acts, but without the knowledge of their
existence until informed of them from private and un-
official sources.
" When the members of the late'Executive Council
offered their humble remonstrance to his Excellency on
this condition of public affairs, his Excellency not only
frankly explained the difference of opinion existing be-
tween him and the Council, but stated that from the time
of his arrival in tie country he had observed an antagon-
ism between him and them on the subject, and, notwith-
standing that the members of the Council repeatedly and
distinctly explained to his Excellency that they considered
him free to act contrary to their advice, and only claimed
an opportunity of giving such advice, and of knowing
before others his Excellency's intentions, his Excellency
did not in any manner remove the impression left upon
their minds, by his avowal that there was an antagonism
between him and them, and a want of that cordiality and
confidence which would enable them in their respective
stations to carry on public business to the satisfaction of
his Excellency or of the country. The want of t his cor-
diality and confidence had already becoMe a matter of
public rumour, and public opinion not only extended it
to acts upon which there were apparent grounds for dif-
ference of opinion, but to all measures of Government
involving political principles. His Excellency, on the one
hand, was supposed to be coerced by his Council into a
course of policy which he did not approve of, and the
Council were made liable to the accusation of assuming
the tone and position of responsible advisers of the Go-
vernment, without, in fact, asserting the right of being:
consulted thereupon.
" While his Excellency disclaimed any intentions of
altering the course of administration of public affairs
which he found on his arrival in Canada, he did not dis-
guise his opinion, that those affairs would be more satis-
factorily managed by and through the Governor himself
without any necessity of concord amongst the members
of the Executive Council, or obligation on their part to
defend or support in Parliament the acts of the Govern-
ment. To this opinion of his Excellency, as one of
theory, the members of the Executive Council might not
have objected, but when on Saturday last they discovered
that it was the real ground of all their diftirences with
his Excellency, and of the want of confidence and cor-
diality between his Excellency and the Council since his
arrival, they felt it impossible to continue to serve her
Majesty as executive councillors for the affairs of this
province, consistently with their duty to her Majesty or
to his Excellency, or with their public and oft-repeated
pledges in the provincial Parliament, if his Excellency
should see fit to act upon his opinion of their functions
and responsibilities.
" Daly's Hotel, Nov. 27, 1843."
To this his Excellency replied :
" The Governor observes with regret, in the explana-
tion which the gentlemen who have resigned their seats
in the Executive Council propose to offer in their places
in Parliament, a total omission of the circumstances
which lie regards as forming the real grounds of their
resignation ; and as this omission may have proceeded
from their not considering themselves at liberty to dis-
close those circumstances, it becomes necessary that he
should state them.
" On Friday Mr. Lafontaine and Mr. Baldwin came to
the Government-house, and, after some other matters of
business and some preliniinary remarks as to the cause
of their proceeding, demanded of the Governor- General
that he should agree to make no appointment,
and no offer of an appointment, without pre-
viously taking the advice of the Council; that the
lists of candidates should in every instance be laid before
the Council ; that they should recommend any others at
discretion, and that the Governor-General in deciding,
after taking their advice, should not make any appoint-
inent prejudicial to their influence. In other words, that
the patronage of the Crown should be surrendered to the
Council for the purchase of Parliamentary support ;
for, if the demand did not mean that it meant nothing,
as it cannot be imagined that the mere form of taking
advice without regarding it was the process contem-
plated. •
"The Governor-General replied, that lie would not
make any such stipulation, and could not degrade the
character of his office nor violate his duty by such a sur-
render of the prerogative of the Crown.

tangled by the hind-legs, and could not relieve him-
self. At breakfast, I mentioned the circumstance of
Maida's distress. And did you relieve him ?'—' I
did not think it at all safe, as he holds me at a grudge.'
' Good heavens !' exclaimed Sir Walter, ' the poor
brute's legs may be broken.'—' Do not be alarmed ;
I sent Tam Purdie to his relief.' And soon after the
dog made his appearance, much fatigued, and the skin
peeled from his hind legs."

DUBLIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE.
This Magazine is one of the most carefully
conducted of the Monthly tribe, and usually
contains one or more articles of more than ordi-
nary interest. We" have here not less than three,
•which are well worthy the reader's attention.
The first is a glowing sketch of the gatherings of
the Marshals and Generals of France at Bona-
parte's private residence in Paris, just previous
to the memorable movement which gained him
the Consulate ; the second is an account of Egypt
and its capital, Cairo, with incidental notices of
the memorable battles of the Nile and Alex-
andria; and the third, the most entertaining of
all, is a copious memoir of the late Dr. Maginn,
evidently from the pen of one who knew him
well. The portrait of the Doctor, which is pre-
fixed to the biographical sketch, is a good likeness,
and the estimate of his versatile talents, is, in
the main, just, though here and there if is rather
too highly coloured by the partiality of friend-
ship. The following tribute to Dr. Magiun's
extraordinary powers may, perhaps, interest our
readers :--

" I sat, en last Friday, two hours with Doctor
Maginn in his bed-room. The Doctor has been
raking, I believe, since his family went to France;
he was quite ill when I saw him. However, he ma-
naged to write a leader for the Argus newspaper, in
his shirt, and that completed, he jumped into bed, and
we had a long talk. The more I see of him, the
more I admire his talent. He is really a splendid
fellow. He knows every thing. He will teach you
as much in one hour as the best book will in ten.
His conversation is the most extraordinary thing pos-
sible. He jumbles together fun, philosophy, and
and polemics ; and in these (so incongruous) he is
pre-eminent. At first you would say that he spent
all his life reading jest-books; but then there is such
admirable philosophy and common-sense in his
reflections, that you get rid of your first notion as
quickly as possible. 'But just as you are on the
point of averring that this man reads nothing but
works of thought and reasoning, you are forced to
gulp down the exclamation, for he jumps into theology,
and will argue on it like a bishop. Then you declare
that he has studied nothing but polemics all his life.
Such a man is Maginu. He is a ruin, but a glorious
ruin, nevertheless. He takes no care of himself.
Could he be induced to do so, he would be the first
man of the day in literature, or any thing else. But
he lives a rollicking life; and will write you one of
his ablest articles while standing in his shirt, or
sipping brandy—so naturally do the best and wittiest
thoughts flow from his pen. His reading is immense ;
his memory powerful, and his knowledge of the
world is perhaps equal to that of any man that ever
lived. In fact, I say he knows every thing, and so he
does. We talked about a war in France, about which
all the John and Jenny Bulls are getting anxious.
The Doctor asserted stoutly that there would be
none, and quoted Lord Brougham, who said, in allu-
sion to the national debt, that England was bound in
eight hundred millions to keep the peace."

" He appealed to the number of appointments made
by him on the recommendation of the Council, or to the
members of it in their departmental capacity, and to in-
stances in which he had abstained from conferring ap-
pointments on their opponents, as furnishing proofs of
the great consideration which he had evinced towards
the Council.in the distribution of the patronage of the
Crown.

" He at the same time objected, as he always had done,
to the exclusive distribution of patronage with party
views, and maintained the principle that office ought, in
every instance, to be given to the man best qualified to
render efficient service to the State, and where there was
no such pre-eminence he asserted his right to exercise
his discretion.
" He understood from Messrs. Lafontaine and Baldwin
that their continuance in office depended on his final de-
cision with regard to their demand; and it was agreed
that at the Council to be assembled the next day the
subject should be fully discussed.
" He accordingly met the Council on Saturday, con-
vinced that they wouldrresin, as he could not recede
from the resolution which h had formed, and the same
subject became the principal topic of discussion.
" Three or more distinct propositions were made to
him over and over again, sometimes in different terms,
but always aiming at the same purpose, which in his
opinion, if accomplished, would have been a virtual sur-
render into the hands of the Council of the prerogative
of the,Crown, and on his uniformly replying to their pro-
positions in the negative, his refusal was each time fol-
lowed by then we must resigns' or words to that pur.
port, from one or more of the Council.
" After the discussion of this question at so much
length, being, as he has hitherto conceived, the one upon
which the resignation of the Council rested, he is as-
tonished at finding that it is now ascribed to an alleged
difference of opinion in the theory of responsible govern.
ment.

" In the course of the conversations which both on
Friday and Saturday followed the explicit demand made
by the Council regarding the patronage of the Crown,
that demand being based .on the construction put by
some of tho gentlemen on the meaning of • responsible
government,' different opinions were elicited on the ab-
stract theory of that still undefined question as appli-
cable to a colony, a subject on which considerable diffe-
rence of opinion is known everywhere to prevail ; but
the Governor-General during these conversations pro-
tested against its being supposed that ho is practically
adverse to the working of the system of responsible go-
vernment, which he has hitherto pursued, without de-
viation, and to which it is fully his intention to adhere.
" The Governor-General subscribes entirely to the re-
solution of the Legislative Assembly of the 3d of Sep-
tember, 1841, and considers any other system of govern-
ment than that which recsignises responsibility to the
people and to the Representative Assembly as impracti-
cable in this province.
" No man is more satisfied that all government exists
solely for the benefit of the people, and he appeals con-
fidently to his uniform conduct here anti elsewhere in
support of this assertion.

" If, indeed, by responsible government' the gentle-
men of the late Council mean that the Council is to be
supreme, and the authority of the Governor a nullity,
then he cannot agree with them, and must declare his
dissent from that perverson of the acknowledged principle.
"But if they mean that. responsible government as
established in this colony is to be worked out with an
earnest desire to insure success, he must then express
his surprise at their arriving at conclusions which he
does not consider to be.justified by any part of his con-
duct, and which he conceives his repeated declarations
ought to have prevented. Allusion is made, in the
proposed explanation of The gentlemen of the late Coun-
cil, to the Governor-General having determined to re-
serve for the consitleration of ber Majesty's Government

„... r.....-
~..,..,.. ..- ..,_ • , •-- _ • • • •- -
one of the Bills passed by the two Legislative Houses— 1 DEATH FROM ILL-TREATMENT.
that is, the Secret Societies Bill. If there is any part ' SUDBURY.—This town and neighbourhood have, dui.•
of the functions of the Governor in which he is more ing the past week, been in the greatest state of excite-
than in any other bound to exercise an independent went, in consequence of a rumour that a boy, 13 years of
judgment, it must be in giving the Royal assent ti Acts age, named Joseph Clark, late in the employ of Mr.
of Parliament. With regard to this duty he has special Simon Viall, of Middleton Hall, a short distance from
instructions from her Majesty's Secretary to • reserve the town, had come to his death in consequence of blows
every Act of an unusual or extraordinary character. and kicks inflicted by his master.
Mr. Viall is a re-
Undoubtedly the Secret Societies Bill an.swers that de- spectable farmer, occupying, it is said, 700 acres of land.
scription, being unexampled in British legislation. The The Door boy expired at his father's house, in gentlemen of the late Council had his sentiments on it street, All Sains, Sudbury, on Sunday, the 24th ult.
Cross-
expressed to them. He told them that it was an arbi- His father is ante gricultural labourer, in the employ of trary and unwise measure, and not even calculated to Die. The investigation was carried on for four days,
effect the object it had in view. and at the conclusion on Friday the jury retired at a guar-
”He had given his consent to its being introduced into ter-past five, .and after consulting an hour and a halt; re-
Parliament, because he had promised soon after his as- ! turned the following verdict :—" The jury, after four
sumption of the government that he would sanction dap,' careful investigation, are unanimously of opinion
legislation on the subject as a substitute air exccuivn that Joseph Clark, deceased, on whom this inquest has
measures, which he refuied to adopt on account of their been held, came by his death from a kick or blow given
proscriptive character, although he deprecates the ex- ' him by Simon Viall, of Middleton- hall, in the county of
istence of societies which tend to fon..ent religious and Essex ; and that the jury return a verdict of manslaughter
civil discord. The gentlemen of the late Counctl canno'• against the aforesaid Simon Viall." A rumour has just
fail to remember with what pertinacity these mea,arcs roachrAl us, that Mr. Viall has absconded.—frovich
were pressed on him, and can hardly hut he aware of i Ear.ess.
what would have followed at that time if, in addition to ,

___---
,
, rejecting the proscriptive measures' urged, he had 1-e- 7%. - y
.
, fused to permit any legislation on the suhjec:. Permis- lONE 4 Y MARKET and CITY NEWS.
sion to introduce a Bill cannot be properly assumed as FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
fettering the judgment of the Government with regard CITY, MONDAY EVENING.
-to the Royal assent, for much may happen (luring the TIMES. —An important correspondence has taken
passage of the Bill through the Legis:ature to influence place between the Committee of Spanish American
bondholders and Messrs. Lizardi and Cc. the Mexican
his decision. In this case the Bill was strongly Opposed
agents. The Committee protest against ifessrs. Lizardi
and reprobated in the Assembly, but WllOl it went to the
Legislative Council many of the members had seceded, r. taining the sum of 11,339/. ss. lld., out of the money
remitted for dends, as commission due to them from
and it dial not come up from that Iloue with the advan-
the Mexican Government, contending, that, according to
tage of having been passed in a lull meeting. Takine•
the agreement of September, 1837, they were authorised
, these circumstances into consideration, together wi:h the
to appropriate it to dividends alone. They, therefore,
precise instructions of her Majesty and the uncertainty.
request to know whether it is Messrs. Lizardi's intention
of her Majesty's allowing such a Bill to go into Opera-
to restore the sum to the dividend account ; and put
tion, the Governor-General considered it to be his duty
to reserve it for her Majesty's consideration, as it was another question, of no less importance, asking what re-
much better that it should not go into operation until mittances have come to hand since the payment of the
confirmed by her Majesty's Government, than that it half-dividend on the October coupon, and whether Messrs.
.
should be discontinued after its operation had commenced. Lizardi are prepared to complete the payment of the
"In conclusion, the Governor-General protests against I coupon at once. To this application, which is dated
1 Dec. 28, they have received the following reply :
the explanation which those gentlemen propose to offer
" 26, Austin-friars, Dec. 30, 1843.
to Parliament, as omitting entirely the actual and pro-
"Sir,----We have received your letter of the 28th inst.,
minent circumstances which led to their resignation ;
and are unable to reply to the questions therein contained
and as conveying to Parliament a misapprehension of
until we receive further information from Mexico, espe-
his sentiments 'and intentions which has no foundation
c
in any part of conduct, unless his refusal to make aially as regards the distribetion of the funds in hand,
and such as we may receive henceforward, for account of
virtual surrender of the prerogative of the (7rown to the
Council for party purposes, and his anxiety to do justice the Mexican Government, as to whether the said funds
be appropriated to the payment of the remaining
to those who were injured by the arrangements attends `hall
ing the union, can be regarded as warranting a repro-
hall of the dividend for October, 1843, or that for April,
. sentation which is calculated to injure him without just
1844. " We remain, &c
cause in the opinion of the Parliament mat the people, " F. DE LIZARD! and CO.
on whose confidence he places his sole reliance fur the "Per pro. JOHN F. BACON.
successful administration of the government. " G. R. Robinson, Esq.".
"Government-house, Nov. 28, 18-13." By this correspondence it appears that the whole affair
of the Mexican stock remains in a complete state of ob-
On Saturday, the 9th ultimo, the Governor- General
;scarify. There are no means of obtaining an undisputed
prorogued the Parliament to Monday, January 13, in
the following speech :
estimate of the funds now in this country available for
"Hon. Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and ,
the purposes ot the dividends, with the additional cir-
Gentlemen of the Legislative Assembly,
cumstance, that we are left in the dark as to the particu-
"ln consequence of the interruption which our joint
lar dividend to which the available funds (whatever they
,
labours have undergone, entirely against my inclination, i may be) will be appropriated.
and from causes over which I have had no control, I now ' S L:N. --The Funds, both home and foreign, closed with
meet you for the purpose of relieving you troth further a most buoyant appearance, almost everything being
attendance in Parliament. I am selibil.4e of your unre- ! higher than in the morning. There was a purchase for
milling application to your arduous duties during
the . the Court of Chancery of 10,000/. Reduced Three-andsa-
session which has been so unexpectedly shortened, and Half per Cents ~ Consols were last marked 97 to 4. .
SpaniAh Bon a touched 22, {fur the Actives, and 31
I trust that the measures which you have passed, and '
t)*
_fiir the. Pl.
to which I have given the Royal Assent in her Majesty's ' '-5,.. ev per Cents. Mexican rose also to 3.4 1.
The Lt..,‘ pro:T of Spanish American Bondholders have
name, will prove beneficial to the country. Sena! Bills I
meet •cu) a. c to imication from Messrs. Lizardi to the
have been under the necessity of reserving fur the consi-
effect that thq await further instructions as to the dis-
deration of her Majesty's Government, either from the
}"'sal of'theltit4di in hand ; and also as to whether they
impracticability of their being carried. into, eiceution,
shall give Upjlieir claim to the 11,000/. in dispute. This,
owing to their depending on other measttreS which have
however, was nut generally known in the market, or it
not passed into law, or from their :Acing the•Preroga- .
•
tive of the Crown, or being of a character that!night have made them go lower.
, under the-
Royal instructions, renders that proceed In Railway Shares the advance of the morning was ining imperative. '
"Gentlemen of the House of Assemble, , seieral instances carried still further, as a refer( nee to
" I thank you for the readiness with which you have cl4sing prices will serve to show.•i -
voted the necessary supplies. It will be my duty to take
care that they be disbursed with the utmost. economy
consistent with time efficiency of the public service.
" Hon. Gentlemen and Gentlemen,
" I trust that on your return to your homes you will,
by precept and example, endeavour to secure the bless-
ings and harmony of brotherly love among all classes of
the community. Peace and happiness will render our
country a desirable place of refuge for the superfluous
population of the parental state, whose settling here is
fraught with benefit to themselves and the colony ; while
discord and strife must have the opposite effect of deter-
ring them from connecting
_their. destinies with those of

a country unceasingly troubled. I humbly hope that the
blessings of the Almighty will render this a prosperous
and happy land, reaping the fruits of its own industry,
and enjoying the powerful protection of our Gracious
Sovereign as an integral portion of the British empire.
I will now, Gentlemen, say farewell; and I trust that we
shall meet again to renew our efforts for the public good
with greater success."

F Es -
-11 IN LONDON, 1843.
Yesterday, at a meeting of the directors of the principal
insurance Companies, composing the committee of the
London Fire Establishment, held at the chief station in
Watling- street, Mr. Braidwood, the superintendent
of the brigade force, made his annual report of the fires
that have occurred in the metropolis and its suburbs
during the past year. The report, which is extremely
voluminous and interest'ng, commences by stating that
the fires in 1843, as compared with the previous year,
have decreased by twenty ; the average, however, for
the last ten years shows an increase of sixty-two. The
number of fires and alarms which have happened from
January 1 to December 31, 1843, at which the engines
of the establishment have been called into operation,.
amounts to 901. It further mentions that the tires. by
which premises were totally destroyed number twenty-
nine, buildings considerably damaged 231, ditto slightly
489, chimneys eighty-three, and false alarms seventy-
nine. Total 901. It also appears that large fires, pro-
videntially, have not been so extensive and numerous as
those that have occurred in previous years. Mr. Braid-
wood observes, that the following were attended with the
most serious loss of property the night of the 16th
of January, the two large floor-cloth manufactories of
Messrs. J. Rolls and Gunstone, situated in the Old Kent-
road, were totally consumed, together with two dwelling-
houses. It will be recollected that some surprise was mani-
fested at the great height which the fire attained, which he
attributes to the factories being almost entirely com-
posed of wood, and the great delay that arose in getting
a supply of water after several of the engines had arrived.
The next tools place on the 10th of July at Mark's, the
extensive - marine-store dealer's, 'in Leicester-place,
Greenwich, and the great fire at Topping's Wharf, on
the morning of the 19th of the same month, which. it
will be remembered, destroyed four warehouses, besides
St. Olive's Church and Watson's Telegraph. The ex-
tent of this conflagration he accounts for by the fire
breaking out in an oil warehouse having no party-walls,
and an inefficiency of water. It will be recollected, that
the church was sacrificed in orders to preserve property
which otherwise would have been destroyed to the
amount of 400,0001. The report thus details the fires
that occurred :—" At the turpentine distillery, Bother-
lithe, in January; at the Golden Lion, Bexley-heath, in
June ; on the 16th of July, at Pinchin and Johnson's
oil-works, St. George's-in- the-East ;at Newberry's, the
chemist's, in Fetter-lane, where five lives were lost, on
the 19th of August; the three that followed in rapid
succession on the night of the 14th and morning of the
15th of September, at Limehouse, Wapping, and West-
minster; the fatal fire is St. Martin's court in October
three lives lost; and, lastly, those at the candle ma-
nufSetory in Paradise-street, Lambeth, and Bramah's
engineering factory at Pimlico, during the last month."
01 the 29 large fires which are noticed at the com-
mencement of the Report, the number of buildings
consumed thereby amounts to 40. Further on it men-
tions the different trades at which fires have occurred
and their causes. There are a great number of them,
however, marked unknown, and it is too strongly be-
lieved that the principal part of them have been occa-
sioned by incendiaries. 280 in private houses, chiefly
caused by bed and uindow-curtains igniting through
neglect of domestics, 59 lodging-houses, 30 licensed
victuallers, 23 coffee-shops, 20 woollen and silk mercers,
23 sale-shops, 20 cabinet-makers, 5 public buildings, 10
bakers, 7 lucifer manufactories, and 3 ships. A large
number, however, are described to have originated in
offices, sheds, &c. The chief causes are stated to be
carelessness of servants, and defects in stoves and flues.
The number of fires that have taken place since the for-
mation of' the establishment in 1832 up to the present
time amounts to 6,523. The Report then concludes by
observing that the most valuable assistance has been,
on all occasions, rendered by the police at the above
conflagrations.

THE INDIA MAILS.-- SOUTHAMPTON, JAN.
The Oriental Company's steam-ship Oriental, Captain
Soy, left this pert to-day for Alexandria, with the mails
for Egypt, India, and China, consisting of 80 boxes and
7 bags, also upwards of 100 passengers, and a large
freight of Manchester goods, so large as to compel her
to leave several tons behind for the next boat. The
Peninsular packet Lady Mary Wood, which arrived here
on Saturday evening, has brought from Gibraltar the
damaged shaft of the Great Liverpool, which has been
forwarded to Scotland to be rejoined, and it is expected
to be in readiness to he takes out in the Iberia on the
10th. The Peninsular Company's boat Royal Tar is
taking in cargo at the East India Docks, and will sail
on the 10th for Constantinople, &c. She has been
obliged to take down the saloon and berths, to enable
her to receive all her goods. The Royal West India
snail-packet Teviot, Captain Allen, will leave here to-
morrow with the mails for the West Indies, South Ame-
rica, &c. All her berths are engaged. She has also
860 bottles of quicksilver.
THE LIGHT GOLD COlNAGE.—Yesterday the
order in Council issued by her Majesty on the 2d day of
October last on the light gold currency, came into opera-
tion, which commands " that light sovereigns of less
weight than 5 pennyweights 2i grains, and every gold
half-sovereign of less weight than 2 pennyweights 13
grains and one-eighth, shall not be allowed to be cur
rent, and shall be cut, broke, and defaced by all Govern-
ment employes. and officers receivers of the public 're-
venue, so that they be no longer circulated." The Go-
vernor and Company of the Bank of England have
given notice that on and after this day, the 2d of
January, they will receive gold coin below the legal
current weight in amounts of not less than 51, at the
rate of 3/. 17s. bid. per ounce ; and further that at the
respective branch banks of the Bank of England it will
be received in like amounts at the rate of 3/. 17s. sd. per
ounce, being, after deducting the charges of transmission
to London, equal to the above price of 3/. 17s. bid. per
0111100.-N.B. The above, after deducting the expenses of
converting the light gold coin into bullion, will be equal
to the price paid by the Bank for their gold bars—viz.,
3/. I 7s. 9d, per ounce standard. The emplelies at the
Royal Mint have been busily engaged for some time in
striking off the new coinage for the Bank of England, so
that no inconvenience may be felt by the public in ex-
changing their light gold. The applications yesterday
were very numerous, when the old ones were defaced by
the clerks as they received them.
DECLINE OF THE DRAMA.—(From the New York
~ifa;tiny Het old.)—The result of our own experience and
observation during our late tour in En4iind, and also in
this City since our return, quite convinces us of the decline
of the drama. During the last week Macready, acknow-
ledged to be the greatest artist in the line, has been play-
ing to three or four hundred dollar houses—meagre,
empty, cold, cheerless, inhospitable houses,
whilst the groat musicians and vocalists of all kinds,
are
And all this
Waking their thousand and two thousanektiel ars a night.
n
of isth
ev very evidentantiis thaton its last les.
the English drama on both sides
clear that this state of decrepitude has been the result Its
much, if not more, from the want of the machinery to
keep it up, as from the change in the public taste.
g- Adit is also 7,,,ty
We regret to hear that the venerable Earl of Lops-
dale is suffering from severe ilAispositicq,