The Sun.
London, England, 1842-12-03 00:00:00

THE COURT.

WALmER,FRIDAIN—To-morrow morning, at seven
o'clock, her Majesty and the Prince, with the Royal
children, will take their departure for Windsor.
Several of the suite will return to town by "Wool-
wich, in the Government steamer.
Her Majesty has received much benefit by her SQ..
journ at Walmer Castle; and, with the exception of'a
slight cold, occasioned by walking out during the late
boisterous weather, is enjoying excellent health. ''
It is but due to the good sense of the inhabitants
or this place to observe that, however anxious they
may have been to catch a glance of their Sovereign,
they have exhibited the most respectful diffidence by
suffering her Majesty and the Prince to enjoy the
privacy of their walks uninterrupted by the vulgar
gaze of impertinent curiosity.
Her Majesty has been most graciously pleased. to
command that the sum of 1001. be transmitted to the
Mayor of Deal, to be distributed among the charities
Of that town, in such proportions ns the Mayor, with
of the Rector, may consider their respective
funds to require.
tile alvice

. .
The following average prices of Brown or Musco-
does British Sugars, exclusive of duty, were pub-
lished in the Gazette of last night :
West India 345. 9d. per cwt.
East India 33 6i
Mauritius 32 9f
The average price of the three kinds, taken
jointly, is 345. 0:1d. per cwt.
The actual weights of sugar sold on account of the
importers, in the week ending the 29th Nov., accord-
ing to the returns made upon oath by the sugar bro-
kers, in compliance with the Act of Parliament, and
on which weights the above prices are computed, con-
sisted of 14,394 cwt. West India, 3,828 cwt. East
India, and 6,082 cwt. of Mauritius.
About 1,200 cwt. of very dark unsound sugars have
been sold in the same week at from 20s. 6d. to 21s.
per cwt. ; these havir°s been classed in the returns as
East India unfairly depresses the average price of
that kind of sugar, as well as the total average.
Refined sugar, equal in quality to double refined
manufactured in London from foreign Muscovadoes,
may be bought to be put, free of all charge, on
board a British ship at 265. per cwt., being less per
cwt. for refined white sugar than the average quality
of West Indian raw sugar, by 83.9 d. The total sales
of British sugars for the week in Mincing-lane, were.
24,304 cwt. ; assuming that the sales at the outports,
added together, are to the same extent as the weight
sold in the London market, the consumers bought
48,600 cwt. of sugar, at 345. per cwt., amounting,
in round numbers, to 82,6201. sterling. They might
have bought 48,600 cwt. of foreign sugar, just as
good, at 18s. 6d., amounting to 44,950/., exhibiting
a difference of 37,6701., being the excess of price paid
for British sugars, which, added to 236,565/., the
fruits of protection for the four previous weeks (see
Sun, 26th November), gives 274,234/., the value of
the sugar monopoly to the sugar producer's, and the
cost thereof to the public for five consecutive weeks.
Should Sir Robert Peel be disposed to render tardy
justice to the people of .this country by proposing a
measure to the Reuse of Commons for the extinction
of the monopolies which have for so many years pil-
laged the people, through the excessive price exacted
for Colonial produce, which, but for these monopolies,
could not have occurred, he may rely on one certainty,
that of having arrayed against his scheme the whole
weight and influence of the West India body ; these
! gentry will be in active force, they will revive the
(old cant of having been deprived of their slaves by
the humane determination of the mother country to
abate that disgraceful nuisance, protestations loud and
long will be re-urged against the sinfulness ofpermitting
slave-raised produce to come into competition with
theirs in the British markets, they will harp upon
this point with all the ingenuity and cunning they
possess, a line of argument which has heretofore
succeeded in securing for them at the national cost,
cent. per cent. prices over and above the prices of
their foreign rival sugar producers, but not a word
will they utter about the liberal compensation made
them at the time of emancipation in the shape of
twenty millions of hard money, and since that event,
in the shape of forty millions more paid them in ex-
cessive price for their sugar, coffee, rum, &c. ; upon
these enormous gains- they will maintain a profound
silence; their recollections upon these important points
will be refreshed, however, by some intelligent Mem-
ber of the House, who, probably, in addition to re-
minding them of the sixty millions, may tell them
that their selfish clamour does not arise from any
humane wish on their parts to mitigate the horrors of
slavery, but that it has its origin in their avaricious
desire to be allowed to continue their hands in
the pockets of the community without molestation
for a few years longer. No circumstance can
better display the absence of sincerity in the
West Indians than their sayings and doings—when
Lord John Russell, the session before last, proposed
a reduction in the duties on foreign sugars at the
very moment they were, with dismal countenances,
opposing the measure, on the ground that increased
consumption afforded lucrative encouragement to the
slave trade ; they were cognizant of the fact that their
dependents in the colonies had been, for a length of
time, and were even then, consumers of large quanti-
ties of the objectionable sugar ; they knew full well
that their dependents imported, for domestic use, fine
lump sugar at 265. per cwt., and ordinary brown
sugar at 15s. per cwt., both sorts manufactured
from slave-raised muscovadoes, and yet they had
the hardihood to pretend before the House that
they entertained feelings of alarm lest the
industrious poor of the mother country, doing as it'
was notorious their white and black labourers in the,
West Indies were doing, should augment the miseries
of slavery. For example the inhabitants of some of the
West India colonies were and are importing with one
hand fine sugars at 265. per cwt., made from the
produce of the Brazils and Havanna, while, with the
other, they are exporting their own wretchedly
manufactured stuff, and obtaining for it here, through
the mischievous operation of the sugar monopoly
law, 345. 9d. per cwt. So much, then, for West
India sincerity, when the parties fancy their interests
ore threatened. Who, after learning this fact, which
admits of easy proof, can put anyfaith inWest Indian
representations ? -- , ' . .. :'. . - : .
Want of space det:,:s
:us frott submitting, some re-
marks for the consideration of that numerous and in-
fluential party who are sincerely anxious to suppress
the slave-trade and slavery ; we will, therefore, now
merely remind that party that to this moment the
means employed have not accomplished the ends de-
sired. They have unsuccessfully tried the effect of
treaties ; they have endeavoured in vain to persuade
the United States to co-operate with them; they have
the mortification toperceive that France, tired of their
alliance, urges her Government to withdraw from
engagements formed in 1831 and 1833 ; they have
witnessed the disastrous results of the expedition to
the Niger, they have the fate of the model farm
before their eyes, from which so much good was
expected. :They have experienced that the privileges,
bounties, and monopolies heaped unsparingly on
British colonial produce, for the purpose of keeping
the plantations in a productive state in order that
slave-holding countries might thereby be tempted to
follow the bright example set by Great Britain, have
signally failed in their intended object. The planta-
tions are badly cultivated, so that the monopolies, &c.
conferred, have done little more than pillage the con-
sumers ot. the protected produce of about
forty millions sterling since the year of eman-
cipation. In the mean time it is notorious that the
slave trade progresses with unabated ardour and with
more cruelty towards its wretched victims than here-
tofore, inflicted in order that the slave ships may es-
cape the vigilance of the British cruisers placed to
intercept them. In this state of affairs we shall en-
deavour next week to show that free labour sugar
brought into active competition against slave raised,
in markets where the producers of the former feel as-
sured of liberal and honest treatment, will do more
towards effecting the rapid extinction of slavery than
any plan yet conceived and practised.

NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.
The fifth contract for erecting this national and
truly magnificent work, has just been entered into,
and Messrs. Grissell and Peto are again the success-
ful competitors. This contract, or portion of the
work, is by far the most important that has yet taken
place, embracing as it. does the Victoria Tower, the
Royal Gallery, the Houses of Lords and Commons,
with other important and necessary adjuncts thereto.
By the courtesy of Mr. Barry, the architect, the fol-
lowing particulars have been obtained :
The Victoria Tower, or Royal entrance, necessarily
occupies the first position in the arrangement, whether
as regards the order of description or the magnitude
of its structure, which, perhaps, will be one of the
richestthi and
samnost gigantic specimens of Gothic archi •
tecture that this or any other country can boast. Be-
neathtower
areatll e
of royal af
el
eet square,
n t r a nce
intowil will
whichheformtehde,
presentingßoyal and other State carriages will be enabled to
drive with the most perfect case, turn round
the foot of the Royal staircase, and depart at an en-
trance on the south side. The upper stories of the
tower will be used as secure depositories for public
records and State documents. The external square of
the tower will be 78 feet at the principal floor level,
from which point it will be ornamented with the
richest specimens of Gothic sculpture, to the height of
240 feet, reaching to the base of the four crowned tur-
rets by which it will be surmounted. The entire
height, from the bottom of the tower to the top of the
turrets, will be 300 feet.
It is believed that the ceremony of laying the first
stone, the foundations having been completed, will
take place in the course of the ensuing week, and that '
the first stone of the Victoria Tower, so designated in
honour of her Most Gracious Majesty, will be selected
for that important event.
The Royal entrance hall or vestibule is the next ob-
ject of interest included in the present contract, and
will be approached from the right-hand side of the
tower, leading from the principal staircase to the royal
gallery.
For the Royal gallery, the next in order, no pains
have been spared on the designs to render this portion
of the edifice of surpassing richness and magnificence.
The upper part of the walls will be of the most elabo-
rately-sculptured designs of Gothic ornaments, while
the lower portion of the walls is divided into compart-
ments intended for the reception of the most exquisite
subjects in fresco painting, several specimens of which
were placed in the exhibition of the Royal Academy
during the past season, and excited general admiration.
The Royal robing-room will be next approached
from the Royal gallery, and will strictly harmonise
with the fittings and ornaments of the latter. It will
be a most splendid apartment, 40 feet in length and
L3OO feetrd s,
withn width, idt
entrancesh , i m m efdori a ttehley adjoining
n the House
on each side
of the throne.
The Dis.hops' robing-room, a large apartment on.

From the House of Lcrds a spacious lobby raid
corridor will lead directly to the great centre hall,
immediately under the centre tower. This hall will he
a large apartment, of a circular form, and 60 feet in
diameter, and the principal public approach to the
Committee-rooms from it will be by a broad flight of
steps to a large waiting-room on the first floor, from
which there will he a direct and immediate access to
the Committee-rooms of each House, and to the officers
Connected with them. When the Houses commence
their sittings, and the daily business is at an end, the
public may retire either by the principal staircase or
by that which will lead to Westminster-hall. The
central tower will rise in an octangular form, and will
be 270 feet in height.
From the central hall, proceeding northward, will
be the Commons' earidor and. lobby, leading to the
House of Commons, with the residence of -officers in
that division on the east side of New Palace-yard.

Attached to each House of Parliament 41 be re-
freihnient rooms and offices, and the approaches for
the Sovereign, the Members of both Houses, and thb
public ; the clerks' and other offices are so arranged
as to be wholly independent of each other, with the
means of making .them entirely or partially in com-
munication.

The Members and officer 3 attending Committees,
it is arranged, may go and return by private stair-
cases communicating with their respective Houses
and offices.

The whole of the official residences will have sepa-
rate external entrances and staircases ; the principal
floor of that for the Speaker will be expressly devoted
for State levees or Parliamentary dinners, and will be
fitted up on a scale of great splendour.
The libraries and Committee-rooms of each House
are placed towards the river, for the convenience of
light and freedom from noise and disturbance, and
the former are so arranged on. the principal floor as
to be en suite, with the power of extending them at
pleasure, by including the adjoining Committee-
rooms.

The ancient chapel of St. Stephen, the crypt, and
cloisters are preserved ;. over the crypt the spacious
apartment will form the inner vestibule to the Houses
of Parliament, to be called St. Stephen's Hall. This
hall will be fitted up in the same style of ornament
as the Royal gallery and the corridors, with the in-
troduction of choice subjects in fresco painting.
Anotherhnportant feature will also be found in the
construction of the two Houses for the purposes of a
complete and thorough ventilation. This department
has been placed under the direction and able super-
intendence of Dr. Reid, who, after a variety of trials
of different plans and experiments, has adopted a
mode of ventilation by which not only the Houses of
Parliament, but every apartment and office connected
therewith may be regulated at pleasure. It is pro-
posed that the three great towers shall be made avail-'
able for this purpose, and from a certain height that
the masonry of them shall be hollow, and pierced in
several places for the reception and egress of air.
According to the state of the wind air might be
received from the Victoria, or clock towers, which
will occupy the northern and southern extremities.
The form of the Victoria tower has been already de-
scribed ; the clock tower will also be of the square
form, finishing spirally, and of the height of 270 feet.
The air thus obtained will be forced by machinery
through the vaults under the body of the whole edi-
fice, from thence -it will be discharged by means of
chambers to the body of both Muses, extending to the
Royal gallery and the main and entire portions of the
buildings. After passing through the various `aPart-
rnents, the air will be received by means of perforated
ceilings into chambers to be fitted above the roofs,
and will be carried off up the central tower.
The works that are already in progress on the
eastern or river front are in a great state of forward-
ness, and Will, when completed, extend to 870 feet in
principal one, the Lords' and Com-
length. The ground floor embraces repositories and
offices, and the
mons' libraries committee-rooms, the conference-hall,
and public and private corridors, The south front
will be 340 feet long, that portion next the river being
appropriated as the residence of Sir. Augustus Clifford,
the Usher of the Black Rod. The opposite front, on
the northern wing, will comprise the residence of the
Speaker of the House of Commons, the Sergeant-at-
Arins, and other officers.
The external works of the first and principal stories
on the river front, including the Lords' and Com-
mons' river entrances, are nearly completed, and the
decorations are of the most extensive character. The
northern and southern fronts are ornamented by
elaborately-sculptured niches, in which are placed
who reigned in England
priorstatues
tootfhteh
ce
oNn. oeus
ts. ngs
Along the whole eastern front, immediately under
the principal floor windows, is an ornamental band,
on which is displayed, in strong relief, in old English
characters, the name of every Sovereign who has
reigned in England since the Conqueror, commencing
in chronological order with William the Conqueror,
and terminating with that of William the Fourth,
and above each are the Royal arms of England richly
sculptured.

ATTEMPT TO UPSET A RAIL-
WAY TRAIN.

On Tuesday evening last a most atrocious attempt
was made to throw the London mail train off the
Birkenhead and Chester Railway ; and it might have
been attended with the most disastrous consequences
to human life, had not the machinations of the party
been happily frustrated. The train left Birkenhead
on the evening in question as usual, a few minutes
before seven o'clock, to proceed on to Crewe, where
it joins the Grand Junction London train, which ar-
rives in London about five o'clock in the morning.
On the train reaching Heath Lower Bridge, near the
Sutton station, about half way between Birkenhead
.and Chester, a fearful concussion took place, and the
cause of it being examined, there was found a large
beam of wood called a sleeper, about nine feet long,
which had been placed in the ground at an angle
of 45 degrees, so as to cause the opposite end of
it to come in contact with the engine ; and it had
actually penetrated the engine, bid most fortunately
not the boiler, or it must have burst. As it happened,
however, the injury to the train was not so exten-
sive as to prevent it passing on to its .destination.
Near the spot were the footmarks of a person, and
these were traced a short distance along the line, up
the embankment, and near to the cottage of a labour-
ing man, named John Morton. In consequence of
this he was taken into custody, and the boots he had
on exactly fitted the marks above-mentioned-one of
them having a curious shaped patch on the sole. On
Wednesday, Morton was brought before J. H. Harden,
Esq., a Magistrate of the county, at the Town-ball,
Birkenhead, when the above facts were given in evi-
dence by Mr. Yarrow, and James Booth, one of the.
Birkenhead police. One of the railway constables
named John Davies, stated that in the performance of
his duty he passed along the line where the accident
happened about half-past six o'clock, and all was then
safe. The witness then deposed to hearing of the ac-
cident about a quarter past Seven o'clock, and to no-
ticing the footmarks as already related. On the day
previous to the concussion, the prisoner came up to
witness at the spot where it took place, and, in the
course of conversation, said, "I wish the rails were
turned upside
down and the sleepers topmost—it
would make some work." This being the whole of
the evidence at present forthcoming, and Mr. Yarrow
stating that he had reason to believe he could adduce
further facts tending to implicate the prisoner, he was
remanded until Saturday.—Liverpool Standard.

A, COLLISION ON THE MERSEY.

We regret to state that a collision took place on our
river last night (Wednesday), nearly opposite the
magazines, in consequence of which two fine steamers
were seriously damaged, cne life was lost, and three
individuals were seriously injured. The following
are the particulars of the accident, as observed by the
and Liverpool Steam
parties on board the steamer Prince of Wales :
The last-named boat, which belongs to the Cork
Packet
out on her voyage to Cork. She had crossed the
was putting
river, and got to the Cheshire shore, shortly before
nine o'clock. Captain
1116Areilage, her commander,
was on the paddle-box when he discGvered a light
ahead, which be conceived, to be a. steamer inward
bound. He immediately called out to the man at
Company,
the wheel to port the helm. This order was repeated i