The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-29 00:00:00

THE NEW MAYORALTY.

After the Sheriffs were sworn in, the Lord Mayor
and Alderman, according to custom, returned to tile
old Council Chamber, in )vhich the Cdiiit of Alder-
men is usually,held‘ Wise Where some expected a Court
would meet arter.the ceremony just concluded. No
Mere than nine Aldermen, however, having assembled
(thirteen being the number necessary to constitute a
Court), the subject of the ensuing Mayoralty, Which
had excited a considerable sensatiod in the city, could
not be formally inttoditeed:
The Loeb AtAYOR having waited for some time,
apparently in the hope or expectation of making a
Court, called upon those Aldermen who were present
to take their seats, as Alderman Thomas Wood was
desirous of making some communication.
Alderman TDOMAS WOOD then said, that, in con-
sequence of what had taken place in the Court of
Alderman on the last day of meeting, he thought it
to be his duty to request the Lord Mayor to convene
a special Court on the subject which had upon that
occasion occupied their attention. His Lordship hal,
however, no doubt upon good advice, declined to call
the special Court, but intimated to him that as a
Court would probably be formed after the swearing
in of the Sheriffs, he might then submit any state-
ment or proposition to his brethren, or answer any
charges against him. Now he was present to answer
any charge, or charges, that any person should think
proper to urge against him. He had appeared at the
last Court for the same purpose, and not one charge
had he heard. He had appeared in Court and called
for an investigation into the whole of his conduct,
and what had the Court done ? How did they an-
swer his earnest call for strict inquiry? Why by
refusing to institute any inquiry at all. But though
they would not grant that request, the spirit of mis-
representation received no check. No; one of his
brother Aldermen rose and made a gross mis-state-
ment of what he (Alderman Thomas Wood)
had said some years before, when a candi-
date for the office of City Solicitor, for he had
never made any statement as to the amount of his
property. That misrepresentation was, he felt con-
vinced, ascribable to some circumstances attending
the contest for the Shrievalty, in which Alderman
Johnson and he -were successful. With the same
confidence he denied the truth of the charge that he
had refused, in June last, to have an inquiry insti •
tuted by the Court of Aldermen. He was ready at
all times to answer any charge. But, in fact, all
possible means of misrepresentation had been exer-
cised against him, and forged letters and documents
were not wanting to give colour and point to the
slanders which had been so mercilessly heaped upon
his head. He would ask any of his brethren whether
they could put their finger upon one tangible charge
against him ? He defied them to show an atom of
ground for accusing him. Why, then, should he
meet from his brother Magistrates any hesitation as
to the inquiry which he courted ? He appealed to
them as brother Aldermen, as brethren in the Com-
mission of the Peace, as men and as Christians, and
still they refused not only to assist him, but to do him
the justice which he claimed at their hands.
Alderman FAREDROTHER said he was sure the
worthy Alderman would forgive him for taking the
liberty to suggest a course which, in his opinion, un-
der the existing circumstances, it would be most ad-
visable to adopt, and which, if followed, would enable
his worthy friend to show most effectually the ground-
lessness of the imputations against him, if they were
without foundation. It was quite clear that several
charges had been brought against Alderman Thomas
Wood. It was equally clear that Alderman Thomas
Wood had asked an investigation into his conduct
touching these charges. Now, in his opinion, it would
have been quite impossible for the Court of Aldermen,
to whom Alderman Thomas Wood had addressed him-
self a few days ago, to go into an inquiry with any
hope of coming to a satisfactory conclusion as to the
truth and falsehood of these charges before the day of
election of Lord Mayor. What then would the real
friends of the Alderman advise him to do ? Why the
judicious course must naturally strike every oue to be
that Alderman Thomas Wood should take the best
means of producing evidence in confirmation of the
truth of his own denial of the veracity of the state-
ments made against him. By not taking the office
of Lord Mayor for twelve months, Alderman Thomas
Wood would not with the less grace enter upon it
after having removed all the impressions made to his I
disadvantage. On the contrary, he would, upon I
showing that the accusations were false and slan-
derous and unjust in every respect,—he would be re-
ceived by his fellow-citizens with the sincere and
hearty welcome which men were ever disposed to
yield to the calumniated and oppressed. He declared
most solemnly if he were in the situation of his friend
Alderman Thomas 'Wood, tie would say to those
around him, " Here am I accused, but although most
unjustly accused, I will not allow myself to be put in
office until I have shown satisfactorily that the charges
against me are false." That would be the manner and I
the spirit in which he would meet the imputations
against his honour, and he knew by such a proceed-
ing he should not only check the current of libel, but,
if the accusations were false, throw back upon the
slanderers proportionate odium and abhorrence. Now
he must declare that the matter of accusation was of
such a nature as could not within a very limited time ,
be fully answered. One of the charges was that
good coal had been exhibited, to the Alderman's
knowledge, in Ireland, as the coal of the Talacre mine,
which was wholly incapable of producing such coal
itself. Now he certainly could not think that any
man could be so great a fool as to subject himself to
the contempt and ridicule which a deception of that
kind would most inevitably excite ; still there it was
in print, and the libel ought to be exposed before the
election should fall upon him who was charged as
principally concerned. He repeated the assurance,
which he made in the kindest feeling, that Alderman
Thomas Wood would raise instead of degrading his
character, by retiring for the next twelve months, and
avail himself of the opportunity of proving to the
satisfaction of all that he was an oppressed and per-
secuted man.
Alderman THOMAS WOOD thanked Alderman Fare-
brother for advice which he sincerely believed was
well intended; but he felt that he had been harshly
and unkindly treated by the Court. He had declared
his readiness to answer every accusation, and he soli-
cited inquiry, and his brother Aldermen rejected his
appeal. He knew that the statement alluded to by Al-
derman Farebrother was in print, and he had in his
affidavit in the Queen's Bench, proved it to be a gross
falsehood. The Queen's Bench was satisfied with his
explanation, but the Court of Aldermen required other
means of satisfaction. There were but two pits in
the Talacre mine, and no coal had ever been produced
except the coal from those pits. To the other charges
he gave as plump and satisfactory a contradiction.
They were most grossly and atrociously false, and he
was left by his brother Aldermen to reap all the bene-
fit of these libellous aspersions, and denied their sym-
pathy, even after the Court f Queen's Bench were
satisfied with his explanation. And he was asked to
endure this for another year ! He did not seek the
office of Lord Mayor for the mere gratification
of vanity ; but he desired to know why, after
having Ailed the other offices with honour and
to the satisfaction of his fellow-citizens, he was to be
shut out from the Mayoralty? It had been said that
he ought to set himself right with the public, to
whom the representation had been made. Was he
obliged to answer the slanderous assertions of a ca-
lumnious paper (he spoke not of the respectable
newspapers with which the public were well ac-
quainted), the editor of which had been brought be •
fore him in his magisterial character, and though
mercifully treated, had proceeded to libel and traduce
him in every possible way. Let those around him
look at the condition in which he was placed. The
Court of Aldermen had refused him investigation.
They had refused to hear him. Was he to have his
mouth closed at all times ? He was told there were
grave and serious charges against him. He had heard
one mentioned. Was there any other? He was
ready to answer any charge—but it was useless to
ask. Everything that could be done had been done
to prevent him from doing justice to himself. He re •
gretted to occupy the time of those he addressed, but
the readiness, the anxiety he felt, would, he trusted,
be his atonement.

The subject dropped here. It is proper to state
that neither Alderman Wilson, Alderman Brown,
nor Alderman Copeland was present in the Guildhall
during the day.
The following letter was read by the Lord
Mayor to his brethren :
MY LORD MAYOR,—I am instructed by Mr. Al-
derman Lainson to forward to your Lordship my
professional testimony of the impracticability of his
attending the Common Hall on Thuniday next, when,
according to custom, his name would, in rotation, be
presented to his fellow-citizens as the junior candidate
for the Civic Chair.
Although I am happy to be able to give a very
satisfactory report as to the Alderman's daily improve-
ment, yet, for the present, quietude and repose are
essential to his ultimate recovery.
Being thus unavoidably prevented a personal at-
tendance at Guildhall on Michaelmas day, he is de-
sirous that I should express to your Lordship his re-
quest not to be placed in nomination.
I am, my Lord Mayor,
Your Lordship's obedient humble servant,
ALFRED MAYER RANDALL,
Member of the Royal College of Surgeons.
Sept. 27, 1842.

SWEARING IN OF THE NEW SHERIFFS.
Yesterday, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, the
Sheriffs, and other City Officers, attended the hustings
at Guildhall, for the purpose of performing the cere-
mony of swearing in the Sheriff's for the ensuing year,
Mr. Alderman Hooper and Mr✓ Jeremiah Pinter.
There were several persons in the hall during the
performance of the ceremony.

Buckstone and Mrs. Fitzwilliam are playing at
the National Theatre in Boston.

THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS:.'
(From the Dennnport Independent)
• Tile events of the past week, have shown to the
Liberal electors of the borough of Devonport, that
the approaching municipal elections have in them a
more than ordinary degree of interest; that they
are in fact pregnant with consequences of good or
evil to the Liberal rouse, and consequently require an
altilost excess of watchfulness, lest the pure stream of
good be perverted by the noxious admixture of evil,
and the long train of ills that follow in its wake.
We have been accustomed to regard municipal elec-
tions as evidences of the respect and confidence placed
in the private worth and integrity of individuals by
their fellow burgesses, whose interests they have
been called upon to protect, and to whose jealous
care has been confided the improvement and
welfare, morally, and socially, of the borough. It
would e a waste of time and purpose, foreign to
our intention, to endeavour to engender a belief
that these elections have been conducted heretofore
solely upon the principles of. general worth and use-
fulness, without reference to party bias. The Tories
have, undisguisedly, we will do them that justice,
avowed that the approaching contest is looked upon
by them as essentially a struggle for political ascen-
dancy, and that their united power and influence
would be brought to bear upon it—(a fact, by the
bye, with which we were before well acquainted).
They have dared us to the struggle, and the impo-
tence of their blind and futile efforts, will wreak itself
upon their inevitable and mortifying discomfiture. But
while we prognosticate the utter failure of our oppc-
nent's designs, let not our confidence lull into inert
security the Liberal burgesses of this borough. We
must be up and doing—we must by our activity and
watchfulness defeat and overturn the machinations of
our opponents—we must destroy the viper in its birth
—we must preserve, untainted, the power we possess.
The Tories will leave no stone unturned to gain their
ends: already has a system of disgraceful coercion
been resorted to—already has the corrupt and unmanly
practice of intimidation reared its shameless front in
our Government departments—already have the un-
derlings of office sought to merit the approving smiles
of their superiors, obviously to their own advantage.
The Tories have avowed their intention, and we have
given them credit for the avowal, but we cannot give
hem credit for an over excess of caution, or propriety
in their present proceedings ; they seem, somehow
or other, to lack their usual cunning in regard to
public manifestation ; or, perhaps, they are less
shamefaced—their modesty has not overcome them
on this occasion. We, of course, do not allude to the
barefaced attempt to deter the honest and indepen-
dent burgesses of Clowance Ward at the meeting on
Wednesday; no one who was present at that meeting
would presume to ascribe other than fair and honest
motives to the presence of a Government partisan,
and a paid one. We are not of that numerous class
of individuals who assert that that gentleman was
placed there by the Tories for the purpose of intimi-
dation ; we are loth to conceive our opponents so un-
worthy our indignation—we are desirous of meeting
our enemies sturdily, but openly and honestly ; if we
must fight, let the battle be one that will do credit to
either party, whatever may be its results.
(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
Devonport, Sept. 24.

This town is in a very great stale of excitement,
as to the coming municipal elections. A great and
powerful effort is making, no stone will be left unturned,
to gain a majority of Tories in our Town-council,
heretofore Liberal. Coercion, among the poor voters
in our Dockyard, is going on to a great extent. It
so happens that most of the out-going members of the
Council, on the Ist November next, are Liberals, and
hence the struggle on the other side to replace them
by Tories ; and if they do, we shall have for the first
a Tory Mayor, and the Members' seats (Sir G. Grey
and Mr. Tufnell), I fear, will be endangered.
The following are the Liberals, contesting against
the Tories :—Messrs. Byers, Burnet, W. J. Little, R.
B. Oram, Condy, Palmer Jinkin, Rowland, Easton,
and James, all staunch Liberals.

EAST-INDIA HOUSE.

COURT OF PROPRIETORS.

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER, 29, 1(42.

The Quarterly General Court of the Proprietors
of East India Stock was held in the
,Court-room
at the East India House, Leadenhall-street, yesterday
morning at twelve o'clock
Sir J. L. LUSIIINGTON, Bart., the Chairman of the
Court of Directors in the Chair. _

The Secretary read the minutes of the last General
Court.

The ChAIRMAN then informed the Court that cer-
tain returns which had been ordered by
.Parliament
to be made were laid on the table, for the information
of the Proprietors. These returns related to the
Indian revenue.

FRESH OUTBREAK

York -and London..

(TREAT FIRE AT LIVERPOOL.

LIVERPOOL, TUESDAY.—Yesterday morning it was
thought that an effective check had been given to the
progress of the flames, but at eleven o'clock last night
the fire again broke out with renewed vigour, illu-
minating the whole of the river, the shipping, docks,
and the Cheshire side of the water. lhe flames, it
appears, last evening communicated to a stable, and
before the horses could be released five of them were
burnt to death. Ten or twelve pigs also shared the
same horrible fate. The following are extracts from
the different Liverpool papers published this morn-
ing relating to the fresh calamity :
At a quarter to ten o'clock last night, our reporter
returned from an inspection of the yet burning ruins
of the great and calamitous fire which has just visited
this town, when the few engines which were still pour-
ing water upon thoSe parts of the ruins where the
the was burning with the greatest vigour. In about
five minutes afterwards the fire-bell again sounded ;
the rattles of the policemen were sprung in every
direction ; a rumour flew quickly through the town
that the fire had again broken out, and a confirmation
of the report was quickly visible in the fimament,
which was once more, redly illuminated. On hasten-
ing to the scene of the late terrible disaster we found
that a fire had unexpectedly and suddenly broken out
near the bottom of Crompton-street, within a short
distance of the place where the great fire originated,
and in close proximity to the extreme western point
of its extension. The alarm in a few minutes called
together some thousands of anxious and curious
spectators.
This fresh fire broke out at ten minutes to ten
o'clock, in a marine-store in Crompton-street, and in
a very brief space of time extended to a stable above
and behind it, and to a cooper's yard also, at the back
of it. As the premises were almost entirely composed
of wood, and filled with light and cOmbustible mate-
rials, the flames increased with great rapidity, and for
some time presented a somewhat alarming appearance.
Immediately to the east of the stable in Crompton-
street there stands a range of low sheds ; on the west
there is a single cottage, apparently used as an office
of some description. At the rear of the stables, and
approaching closely to the burning ruins of the late
fire, there is another range of low buildings or sheds,
and towards the west there are several outhouses
,vhich stand in the cooper's yard, and adjoin the Ro-
tunda public-house, from the top of which so many
hundreds of persons have obtained a commanding view
of the late conflagration. Last night a number of
persons again thronged to the Rotunda, and some ap-
prehension was for a short time entertained lest that
building and the adjoining property should now meet
the fate which they had fortunately escaped before.
The space covered by the marine-store, the stable,
and the cooper's yard, is about thirty or forty square
yards; and in less than a quarter of an hour after the
fire broke out the whole was one mass of flame. The
wind was from the N.N.E., and though there was
but a very gentle breeze, it gave the fire a tendency
towards -the low erections adjoining the Rotunda,
but at the same time carried it away from the one-
storied sheds or warehouses on the opposite or north
side of Crompton-street, which were filled with
cotton and other valuable property. Mr. Whitty had
about three minutes before the fire broke out passed
through Crompton-street, and had only got a short
way up Formby-street, when he was overtaken by
an officer, who gave him the surprising intelligence
that another fire had broken out in Crompton-street.
Alert and active as ever, notwithstanding all the
fatigue he has recently undergone, Mr. Whitty has-
tened to the spot, and gave prompt directions for a
couple of engines to be brought up. Though the
orders. were executed with all possible dispatch, the
engines could not be brought into play so as to save
the places that were then burning ; but the water was
poured upon the extremities of the yard, so as toprevent
any extension of the fire. In fact, all that was in the
interior of the space before described was of com-
paratively little value, and was speedily consumed,
with the exception of a few articles which were taken
from the cooper's yard. Several carts which stood
in the stable-yard were either partially or wholly
burnt, and we are sorry to say that of seven horses
which were in the stable five were burnt to death. A
poor donkey broke loose, and, though at the expense
of a singeing of his coat, made his way through the
flames into the street.
Some fears were for a time entertained lest the ware-
houses on the north side of Crompton-street should
take fire, and in order to prevent this, several persons
recommended that an engine should be brought up to
play upon them. Superintendent Leverett, however,
who was on the spot, thought that an engine would
be of very little use without water, and he therefore
adopted the expedient of forming a small dam opposite
to the marine store, so as to catch the overflow from
the engines that were playing on the embers of the
late fire higher up the street. The water thus accu-
mulated was thrown upon the heated woodwork of the
sheds, and prevented ignition.
The fire, especially in the marine-store, close to
the isolated cottage to the west, burned with consider•
able fury and obstinacy for above an hour ; but the
two engines, having been got into good play, gradu-
ally contracted the circle of the flames, and by half-
past eleven o'clock the fire was completely subdued.
The only places consumed were the marine-store,
stable, and cooper's yard. It is not known how this
fire originated. The marine-store, in which it com-
menced, was the point furthest removed from the
burning piles of ruins left by the great fire, and by
some it is therefore considered impossible that any
flaming fragment or ember from the heap could have
ignited the store; but we are more willing to believe
that this was the case than to attribute this new dis-
aster, as some did, to wantonness or malice. The fire,
we trust, is for the present qot under; and, but for
the amazing rapidity with which it burst, we may say,
amongst the wooden buildings destroyed, would have
been arrested in a few minutes by the large and active
force at present on the spot. We regret to say that
five valuable horses belonging to Mr. Bushell are de-
stroyed. We saw, amidst the smoking ruins upon
the site of the stabling, the carcases of two, charred
to a cinder, and the bones perfectly white, in parts of
which the skin and flesh had been stripped off. A
donkey was the only tenant of the stabling which
made its escape without assistance ; and, as it rushed
through the gates of the yard into Crompton-street,
with its. long ears all a-flame, and shaking its head,
furnished a laughable exhibition contrasted with the
horror of the remaining scene. The stench which we
experienced, whilst seeing the remains of the four 7
footed tenants of the stable, was dreadful.
A meeting of the fire-insurance agents has taken
place with a view of assessing the amount of damage
sustained, and it is also rumoured that it is in con-
templation to raise the rate of insurance in Liverpool.
After " comparing notes " on the engagements of each
office having liabilities in connexion with this destruc-
tive event, the following was reported as the result :
Sun
Globe
Royal "Exchange ... • ....... ..... . 30,000
Phoenix.. . . .
London Corporation . ... 30,000
Liverpool . . 25, 0 0 0

25,000

Imperial.
Scottish Union. 20,000
West of England 20,000

Alliance v
Atlas
11207,,,0E00
Manchester
Guardian..
Yorkshire .
3,600
N ich Union

orwiL.
3,300
County 3 000
North British.
London Union ..

Total liabilities £350,000

Some uncertainty, however, exists as to whether all
the liabilities have been ascertained, the meeting
having been called so soon after the conflagration.
No doubt there would be much property uninsured ;
so that tl-e result of the meeting tends to prove that
the loss cannot be far under what we have stated.
The amount of damage sustained, it is said, will
exceed 700,0001.

INQUEST ON THE THREE MEN KILLED.

engine7house was built of bricks and wood. The roof
was of wood, and the back was of wood. There was
a sufficient brick wall around the boiler, as is the case
with almost every engine, and then there was a
wooden partition between the engine-house and the
next yard. The furnace has an iron door, divided
into two halves. It was not closed at night. If we
had closed it, there would have been no draught, and
the tire would have gone out. It was always left open
at night. The engine-house is flagged. There were
no chairs in the engine-house, nor any seats of any
kind. There was not a joiner's bench in it. There
was a bit of a board temporarily fastened to the wall,
and to which the vice was made vast. We used it to
lay our tools upon, but never as a seat.
Inspector Murray—That is the bench of which I
spoke. It might have been used for laying tools on,
and also as a seat.

John Coghlan, in continuation—l was roused out
of bed on Friday morning, at about a quarter before
three o'clock. The man whd knocked at the door in-
formed me that the yard was on fire. I first ran to
my master's house, told ➢lr. Peniston, and then went
to the yard. I found the whole of the building be-
longing to my master on fire, and other places besides.
There were two buildings, one on each side, on fire.
I have no idea where the fire originated. On Thurs-
day night I ordered the lads to fill up the slack, and
they threw their spades, three in number, into the
fire-hole. The spades were lying there the next day,
and the handles were not at all burnt. IVe left no
light of any description in the place. We would not
be allowed to do that. We have a dark lantern,
which was not lighted more than one night in twenty.
We were very cautious about lights; for if it had
been known that I had had a candle about the build-
ing, I should have been turned off.
The beadle mentioned that he had in waiting an-
other witness, one of the boys in the employ of Mr.
Peniston, who was also present when the place was
locked up. He could corroborate the evidence of
Coghlan.
Mr. Curry remarked that he had no reata'i to doubt
the truth of Coghlan's testimony, and that it was un-
necessary to call the lad. He added, " The fact which
the last witness has mentioned about the spades is
sufficient to convince me that the fire did not originate
from the stove."

Inspector Murray—When I went in, the fire was
confined to the engine-house. I did not see anything
of the spades. They might have been there though 1
did not see them.

The CORONER—Have you any idea, Mr. Peniston,
how this fire originated ? Mr. Peniston—Not at all.
I feel confident that it could not have originated in
my yard. I feel very sorry, for lam a sufferer very
much by it. I had not a farthing of my property in-
sured. I have examined all over, and there was no-
thing at the end of the yard that could have ignited.
The CORONER—It is now a question for you,
gentlemen of the Jury, whether we should adjourn
this inquest for further evidence as to the origin of the
fire, or not.
Mr. Peniston—l should be very glad if any gentle-
man would come and examine my premises, to see
whether there is any proof of the fire having origi-
nated there. The boiler is all good.
The CORONER—Do you think, gentlemen, there is
any occasion to adjourn, in order that we may have
further evidence as to the origin of the fire ? Or,
supposing that the premises were maliciously set on
fire, would that have any effect on the verdict you
would return ? I have not any doubt on my own
mind; but some persons have doubts, though they
lean to my way of thinking. We are of opinion that
that though the place was maliciously set on fire,
and these parties were killed in assisting to extin-
guish it, the only verdict could be accidental death.
I have put the point to one or two, and they
think that there is something in it; and, as this was
such a melancholy event, and involved such a loss of
property, (with which, however, you have nothing
to do), as well as of life, I think that it would be
better to adjourn for further information as to the
origin of the fire. I sent a note to Mr. Shuttleworth,
and he has returned me an answer, stating, that the
point to which I have alluded involves a very im-
portant question, and one he should not wish to decide
upon in a hurry. I should not myself hesitate to
give my opinion on the law of the case,- but it will no
doubt be more satisfactory to the public to have the
case sifted as thoroughly as we can do so. What
witnesses can you get, beadle ?
Beadle—There are several police-officers whom I
can get, and the man who first saw the fire. He can,
perhaps, throw some light upon the origin. Then
there is Mrs. Isaac's man. He was in his mistress's
place the last, though alone.
Mrs. Isaac was present, and stated that she could
give no evidence which would at all tend to elucidate
the origin of the fire. She added, "My place is an
oil and colour store, and we have a boiler in it; but
the last fire we had on the premises, and the last light,
either candle, match, or anything else, was on Tuesday,
when a small fire was lighted to heat some water."
The Beadle—There is some tar scattered about the
yard, and that is thought rather curious, as tar was
more likely to burn than run about.
A Juryman—lt is quite necessary, I think, that
further evidence should be heard, if only for the sake
of these two parties here, Mr. Peniston and Mrs.
Isaac, who are blamed about the town.
The Jury thought it was very desirable that further
evidence as to the origin of the fire should be obtained,
and agreed to adjourn.
The CORONER remarked, " Suppose the premises
had been maliciously set on fire, would it alter the
verdict or not ? I have no doubt about it; but as one
great legal authority holds a different opinion, I shall
accede to the wish of the Jury, and adjourn the inquest."
The inquiry was accordingly adjourned.

THE BLESSINGS OF NEW DISCO-
VERIES IN ART AND SCIENCE.
The following beautiful address was delivered on
the 111th of September, by M. Lamartine, at the meet-
ing of the Academy of Macon, of which this eloquent
speaker is resident. It is in reply to some remarks
made by M. Lacretelle, respecting the injury done to
certain interests by modern discoveries and chiefly
the changes caused by machinery and steam :
" Gentlemen,—l intend to answer, in the name of
that body I have the honour to represent, those 'inge-
nious arguments upon the dangers of industry which
he has advanced.
"In listening to his spiritual and eloquent critique
on the industrial system, I could not forget that Jean
Jacques Rousseau once sustained, with equal elo-
quence said ingenuity, a thesis on the inutility and
danger of human learning. The paradox has past—
the immortal writer rests ; and France having ap-
plauded the sublime attacks on the base of her glory,
has advanced with a firmer and a more rapid step in
the paths of science and of genius, where Europe is
dragged behind her. Thus shall we do to-morrow,
after protestations as eloquent against industry. Our
rail-roads will be continued, our mechanical powers
increased. I can believe that a mind preserving all
the freshness of its poetry in the maturity of its reason
bewails the loss of a more pastoral civilization, and ac •
cuses our engines of soiling the azure heaven with
their black smoke, or our railways of having depoet-
ised the sweeping undulation of nature's youth. But
the severe and lofty reason of the statesman cannot
associate itself with dreams like this ; and finds a truer
poetry in the feverish action of the industrial world,
which makes fire, air, and water, living slaves of man
—than in the idleness of ignorance, or that contempla-
tive repose which refuses to multiply the work of God
by the toil of man.
• " You have quoted, Sir, the great modern English
poet to support your opinion. Chance condemns you
by the mouth of your own authority. You have not
read. all Lord Byron, or you would have found this
very question answered against you in the notes to
his immortal pilgrimage of Childe Harold.' They
once asked that illustrious writer which he considered
most poetic—science or nature ? He pointed to the
ocean. I, in turn, ask you,' said he, which is most
poetic—that ocean, void, bare, deserted, crossed only
by the savage in his frail canoe, or covered with ves-
sels, shadowy with the cloud of their canvas, carrying
in them thousands of disciplibed men, and curbing
the subjugated waves by the powerful and hidden
power of their helm ?' Was not asking thus, to answer?
" You aecuse machines ; they are the artificial
hands of the labourer. All natural things are
machines for man as soon as he can think. No
animal invents a machine ; in this is its weakness.
Man does, and in this is his force. They attest his
perfectibility. Blaspheme not creation by accusing
industry. Corrupted and crafty civilization has not
made man industrious, but God.—(Applause.) •
" You say that England outrages the universe to
force its markets. I neither excuse nor accuse Eng-
land. History listens not to the accusation of one
people against another. Yet may I assert that a wide
difference exists in the conquests made by the indus-
trial principal—however violent or unjust they be_
and those consummated by a brute and military sys-
tem. Where conquering Rome trod, she lefctonasduemsererfs.
What have Tyre Carthage, and England left ?—colo-
nies, people, civilization, new groupings
and producers. Unjust as the Chinese war—the
opium war—may be, if we raise our thoughts to the
philosophic height of historic reason, is no compensa-
tion
to be found ? Who knows but the first shot fired
by a Chinese merchant vessel which commenced the
Chinese war, hath burst asunder theLorltianliscedo,f
na new
world ? Who knows but that it h
communion, four hundred millions of active men with
Europe?
"To
prove how cautious we should be in predict-
ing, consequences, even from the most trifling facts, I
will mention three facts, yet providential ones, at the
com,,mhenlc7e6mB,elnbteolfi
etvhei,stialge
ye
for the first time, brought
and to- -
a
aGefenwerapacokfaginedsia„of tea, as curiosity, to the Governor-
in furnishing its
enm day entire fleets are employe. d
Germany! Switzerlancl7ption to England, Russia,
two worl* &c., the mighty exchange of

(From the Liverpool Times.)
ORIGIN OF THE FIRE.—An inquest was held yester-
day (Monday) before P. F. Curry, Esq., Coroner,
touching the death of John Martin, Luke Smith, and
James Bell, the three men who, as has been previously
mentioned, were killed by the falling of a wall, and
whose bodies are lying at the Northern Hospital.
The witnesses examined were Edward Knight,
warehouse-keeper; Samuel Tack, police-officer ; Hugh
Falkner, labourer ; Joseph Massey, inspector of po-
lice ; Michael Martin, labourer; Mr. Harris, surgeon
of the Northern Hospital. But the most interesting
portion of the evidence which had reference to the
origin of the fire was given by the servants of Mr.
Peniston, the bone merchant, in whose premises, it is
said, the fire originated, and was to the following
effect :
John Coghlan examined—l am the engineer at
Mr. Peniston's, in Crompton-street, and have been in
the employ of Mr. Peniston for the last three years.
I have the' charge of the engine, have to look after the
fires, to lock up the place at night, and 1 have charge
of everything in the yard. The last time that I locked
up the gates on Thursday night last was at ten minutes
to ten. Before leaving the place I drew the red fire
out of the stove, as usual, and filled up the bars with
slack, in order that we might have a small fire
ready for use on the following morning. Sometimes
when I have slacked the fire, it has been completely
burnt out when I went next morning ; but generally
there was a little fire in the stove. I have followed
the practice of slacking the fire for •the last four
months. The engine was set up with brickwork.
The smoke was carried off through a flue which went
under ground, the whole breadth of the yard. The

" Another fact is this. Forty years since they ;pre-
sented a cotton plant to the Egyptian Paella, and ;poi N
one-half of the Meditteranean narigati9K heats the ---
cotton of the Nile into Europe. This is nothirtgl___?-
His eyes are opened by his new wealth to i;Aiti?tal
wisdom, and he has suddenly bethought him ill-id-Nil:.
Isthmus of Suez, so long forgotten by trade; is` the '
shortest road to India. He is about to open the rat
,
between the two Continents. - ---
" Again, a last fact. Fifty years since an Engl:l4 it 'To
machinist discovered the incalculable force of exPati-
sion possessed by the compressed vapour of boilins•
water. The steam-engine was invented.
" What results, gentlemen, from these three coin-
cident industrial facts, occurring in the same age ? A
second creation of the geographical, political, moral,
and commercial world. The extremes of the earth
have approached ; languages, races, interests, religions
have been blended together. The result for all hu-
manity has been an increase of force and unity that;
God alone could compute. In short, these result in a
certain and perhapa nigh future, the realization of that
chimera of all conquerors and of all creeds—universal
monarchy; but at the time universal monarchy, the
inonarchy ofintellect, commerce, industry, and thonOt.
" Industries are the degrees of rising civilisation.
th3l.lr:ti
ttl 11.y3
or
knowotiurd cao risenupt ocihaci
complaints
tits. curse,
thought
hoctnh
only
ysc kfja,:s.atfisird.
iteni.;d3u,eit:t destroy them?
atm olatilisrd3ea,pogeuen, are, all
Independently
(ni)fs
tthirisk
s‘kv consideredwhat
tfois.
srecrtiihnoebu,s
trutha. n .S
it is "a.
dangerous thing to sport with the truth. From such
e
errn
or scoffing
°oiffin:igt
that the world is changing, and becomes more and
more industrial and democratic. The one must
low the other. Well, shall we deny the facts for aye
—shall we abstain froni resolving those two grand
and difficult problems which Providence itself kith
placed before us? No; in place of stopping our work-
men, and destroying our machines, let us accept and
triumph over the difficulties of our epoch. 'The great
successes of civilisation are born convulsive efforts.
The world becomes industrial. Give industry a soul
which shall nullify its great vice—the hardness of heart
begotten in nations who make wealth their idol.
" You hive pronounced, in conclusion, a word fir
the language of religion destined also to become a po-
litical term, `charity. chat word is also oursg be-
lieve me. I call to witness all my honourable
leagues in the Council-General of the Departtnent
they know that our sessions are filled with the sole
we are not
of
fiotiiiigaht timofplasacsaisbtliengscthhoeolwoofrkeicnognocmlaisssts wses;
h‘ov casth so-
ciety cthi
eet3prosohronfri
donclrtuhsehi.r clo‘myemairmeiowne,l
las iesecL
aware
how, at an-
other epoch, materialism produced this legislative ego-
tism. We have our faith by which we regulate our
actions—we hold that society ought to act, heat, and
vivify—that there is no legitimate source of wealth
which is productive of any unmerited misery—ill a
word, that policy should be led by science, and admi-
nistration in the same path along which religion is
conducted by virtue; that is to say, to the relief of all
that can be relieved, to the regulation of all that can
be regulated—in short, to the general equilibrium of
all the great industries.
" We do not deny that there are great obstacles—
we meet with them every day in our deliberations.
Did I not fear to abuse the attention with which you
have already heard me, and which must now be nearly
exhausted, I would glance rapidly over those ob-
stacles.—(Go on, go on.)
" Well, then, the difficulties to which I allude are

these :
" Public wealth has three inflexible absolute laws.
Labour, liberty for labour, and competition. Every
man should labour; it is a law of nature, a law of
spirit as well as matter. Every man should labour
freely without any other restraint upon his power of
working and producing than competition with those
who labour and produce as he does. This is the law;
if it be violated we become arbitrary and oppressive ;
obstacles are raised up against one man for another's
profit, or a maximum of labour and production is
established which not only impoverishes and ruins
the State, but which throws a chain on the
most incontestible of the rights of man—the right
of living by the sweat of his brow. I know that there
are some whose opinions advance forward with
rapid strides ; who hold that a forced organisation of
labour should be established, and a partition of the
public money, without regard to conditions. The
secrets of futurity lie hid in the bosom of time—but in
the present state of our knowledge we believe that
liberty is still synonomous with justice--that to sup-
pose the possibility of a forced arbitrary organisation
of labour is to dream of the resurrection of the Indian
castes, instead of the ascendant equality of the modern
world, and the tyranny of labour, instead of its inde-
pendence, and retribution, by the accomplishment of
its work.
But we must not hide from ourselves that com-
petition alone is insufficient—competition is egotism
abandoned to itself—it acts with the blind brute
force of fatality—it crushes and tramples on all
around it. ' Let the whole world fall to ruin provided
that Ibe enriched.' This is its motto—can this he the
device of a well-organised, moral, and, above all, Chris-
tian society. No; when competition has annihilat,:d
industry, and wrenched the last penny, the last crust
of bread, from the hands of the labourer without etn-
ployment, society cannot turn round upon him and
say, die of hunger.' The last word—the last reason,
which a well organised society could utter, could
never be death—the last words of society are life, that
is to say, labour and bread. That is the bourne at
which we must inevitably arrive; it is there that we
are turned by the most wholesome study of political
economy, and by those inspirations of the human
heart which precede and complete every science, and
which one of our colleagues has so well defined in
those sublime words, To love is to have knowledge.'
" Yes, the science of political economy is confined—
law is austere and severe, and competition is without
pity ; but then, is there nothing beyond science, com-
petitions, systems, and written laws? Beyond this
lies
a whole world--a moral world ; there is hod, with his
laws not written, but interpreted and expounded y
philosophers and religious men, in which we find cot-
rection and compensation for our imperfect laws, as
all must be imperfect that is written by the hand of
man. Yes, therein do we find inspirations immea-
surably superior to those of bartering avarice, or of
a purely human policy. Without such inspirations
there is no society that will not sink under the weight
of its own vices, egotism, inequalities, and miseries.
The equilibrium which is ever and anon thrust aside
by cupidity may be restored by care and courage.
" There is a ceaseless struggle between charity and
cupidity. And for what do we ask ? That political
society should not stand. by passively gazing on the
struggle that is going on between industry, wealth,
and labour ; that it should interpose, not by pushing
itself arbitrarily between the manufacturer and his
workmen—between the consumer and the producer
—but that it should interpose, with all the power
which it possesses, to afford asssistanee wherever
there exists a necessity for its helping hand; to shower
down a temporary supply of funds wherever there be
a congregation of the working classes out of employ-
ment ; in a word, let it be as a visible, enlightened,
active Providence, shedding its healing balm upon the
sufferings of the population ; let it strive to imitate
that invisible Providence which is sometimes hidden
from the sight of the unfortunate, in order to endow
society with the glory and honour of supplying its
place for a moment.—(Applause.)
" And will the means ever be discovered for realis-
ing this desirable object, which has been lately in-
volved with such hopeful earnestness by the illustrious
has
philosopher to whom 1 now reply. I'or my part I
have no doubt upon the subject. Society
failednever
to invent aught that was necessary for
ts wel-
fare or _support. Genius is not the grand disco-
verer and inventor in the ranks of society. This
grand inventor is love;
genius is but a faculty,
whereas the lore of !nail is on impassioned virtue,
and for our honour or excuse let it be said that this
passion for the improveulent of any class of human
s,dispassionately
application
oof the
the present
It is to this passion that we owe the invention
age.
thanedpranciples
beings is the characteristic passion of
morally
of so much that posterity will appreciate better than
we could have done. It was this passion that invented
tlhteevaoulticoionii
of the fraternity of' men, drawn from the
and philosophy, and introduced into l• • Scriptures,
ethoensL;'reerieide!i
tion—it Was this passion which po 'heal
borrowedlegisla-
from reli-
gion, that sublime word " equality," and which will
shortly, I hope, borrow from the same source that still
sullimer word, the union of all classes. Ah ! the
present age, which has be
which
all
philosophers
should bless, has made rapid
strides in political science. This science was wont of
only, yore to look upwards but now it descends to look
downwards. Of
yore, it founded
upon rational
upon force
it
alone, and now founds them upon rational grounds,
and, above all, o n that religious reason which is not
the problematic
product of science but which the
ministers of divine l •
law, those stepping-stones between
God
and mankind, received and inculcated with the
very dogmas of their faith.
" Let us separate with these hopes, and in accept-
ing the democratic conditions of society; let us each,
in our own sphere, labour fur their improvement.
You members of this academy, which shows the
human mind in all its brilliant and solid phases—you
who light up the road of thought—reflect, meditate,
and create science. We men of application and . ad-
ministration, we will make laws and regulations—
and you, pious men, ministers of alms and human
virtues, lend us, for the consummation of our itn-
Perfect laws, those two powers you which alone
sess, and without which no society can hold its ground
_charity on high and resignation here below. •

CHEAPNESS OF FRUIT.—The quantity of fruit in
our market on Saturday was very great, and the prices
at which every description of it was sold, were aston-
ishingly low, apples being. sold for lid., per gal.,
some instances lower ; Keswick codlings were 5`..)1d
the .evening at Id. per gallon, other fruit in proportion,'"
Leicsstershire Mercury.and
iinn

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY.
GLOBE.-Sir Robert Peel stands in pretty
much the position of Master Blifil between
Parson Thwachum and Philosopher Square.
Those who remember Fielding's novel are aware
that the young Peel of its pages alternately pro-
fessed himself indebted to the instructions of one
or other of these worthies, according as the one
or other was present, and, when both were
present, held strict silence—a silence which
each interpr-fed in the young Peel's favour
and his own. The political Blifil, however,
has a still harder part to play. He is continually
confronted with the Parson and the Philosopher
at once ; and is constrained to adapt his profes-
sions, as he can, to the simultaneous satisfaction
of the furious orthodoxy of the one, and the
" eternal fitness of things," 04. the other. Be-
tween-the High Church and Horned Beast in-
terests, espoused by the Times and Post, and the
Free Trade of the Westminster Review or Spec-
tator, he has a fine time of it. The Times
representing Parson Thwachum, the Standard
has now sunk to Parson Supple, and has lost
all spirit to resist Maynooth grants, Irish
National Education, or anything. Parson
Thwachurn, however, bates not an inch of that
zeal for episcopacy, and resolution to monopo-
lise education, which distinguish his novel
prototype. All that was ever good in the boy
Peel he declares to have come from him, and
the pestilent lessons of Philosopher Square can
result in nothing but putting him to the trouble
of extirpating them from the mind of his pupil
by the a posteriori logic of birch. Birch accord-
ingly, in the shape of very biting diatribes, the
Times and the Post daily administer to our State
Blifil, on High Church and Horned Beast inte-
rests. Then comes the Spectator weekly, and the
Westminster quarterly, admonishing him of the
Radical "rule of right," and " eternal fitness of
things;" and vindicating, as they may, their share
in the sippery pupil, who takesoccasion to slide out
a free-trade or universal-education phrase or two,
when the Parson's head happens to be turned
t'other way for a moment. Pursuing the parallel,
our Lord Johnny (as those who nibble at the
leader of Opposition, indulging in an innocent'
diminutive, think fit to style him) shall be Tom
Jones. 6, Finality" shall be any of that hero's
frank scrapes our readers think proper. Black
George is O'Connell; and " the Appropriation
Principle" Molly Seagrim. The excellent
All-
worthy, of course, is John Bull ; and Sophia
Western—a Lady we name not in levity. The
denouement will show whether plain or plausible
dealing is ultimately to win the day.
STANDARD. The Morning Chronicle
has seized upon a. trifling and obvious misprint
in our remarks on Colonel Fanc's letter, to fasten
upon us a charge of inconsistency, for which
there is no foundation in thct. It infers that,
because the words " any pacific arrangethent,"
were substituted for " a pacific arrangement,"
we intended to suggest the ransom of the female
prisoners in the hands of Akbar Khan—a course
w I ich we have stigmatised as dishonourable. There
are other "pacific arrangements" than that of
purchasing these ladies like so many headof slaves
from their captors. It has been asserted in the
Indian papers—with what truth we cannot pre-
tend to judge—that on the withdrawal of the
British forces from Affghanistan the prison-
ers of all descriptions will be given up; and if
any such order have been really issued, it has, in
all probability, been given with some such
guarantee. At whatever national dishonour the
female prisoners of Akbar Khan are released,
however, short of purchasing them like
slaves, it must be submitted to; but in pro-
portion to the amount of that disgrace will
be the infatny of those who have left
it, among other legacies of equal value,
to their successors. What we did say on the
day referred to by the Morning Chronicle was
this :—" Suppose the British army occupying
the whole soil of Affglianistan, and threatening
to waste it with fire and sword, unless the
British prisoners should be restored; the savage
chief might, and probably would, smile at
the threat, or even at its execution, and
carry-..-his prey into the 'desert, waiting
there some proposition personally advan-
tageous to himself." This entirely accords
svith the message which Colonel Fane has
anticipated from Akbar Khan in the event
of the movement so strenuously recom-
mended by the Morning Chronicle. But he
tells us that which we had not learned from auv
other source, namely, that the Commander of
the Forces, anticipating the consequences that
might result from the presence of females with
the army in such a campaign, had peremptorily
forbidden them to join it. Who was it, ;then,
that rendered this wise and humane injunction
inoperative The " civil authorities,' with
whom, in faCt, the whole of our disasters in that
country-have originated. That which the expe-
riencf-,. of an old and intelligent officer like Sir
Henry Pane clearly foresaw, was whollyimper-
vious to the prophetic vision of the "

MONEY MARKET and CIT Y NE WS,

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY.

TIMES.—The premium on gold at Paris is 8 per
mille, which, at the English Mint price of 3/. 17s.
10id. per ounce for standard gold, gives an ex-
change of 25 35i-, and the exchange at Paris on Lon-
don at short being 25 54, it follows that gold is
0.88 per cent. dearer-in London than in Paris.
By advices from Hamburgb, the price of gold is
433 per mark, which at the English Mint price of
31. 17s. 101 d. per ounce for standard gold, gives an
exchange of 13 9, and the exchange at Harnburgh on
London at short being 13 10, it follows that gold is
0.46 per cent. dearer in London than in Hamburgh.
The Funds were a little flat in the early part of
business, but they closed rather firmer, and at the
price they opened. Loans of cash were made at three
per cent. during the day, which is rather a higher rate
than previously required.
By the official returns published by the Customs
the exports of the precious metals to foreign and co-
lonial parts for the week ending Thursday last, were
as under :--
Silver coin to Rotterdam 6,000 oz.

A small failure his occurred on the Corn Exchange,
viz., that of Messrs. NV. Hills and Co., corn facto►:s.
It is mentioned in the*City as of minor importance,
though it serves as an additional instance of the losses
by over-advances on corn, which have of late been so
frequent. _

Among the plans which are mentioned in the City
as likely to promote the importation of bullion into
India, it is suggested that the Directors of the East
India Company should suspend their tax of 4 per
cent. upon coining. While this exists the Govern-
ment can make bullion yield them 4 per cent. more
than the merchant ; and he cannot ship it so as to
yield a remunerative exchange. The abolition of the
tax, it is thought, could be easily effected without
considerable change, as the Mint establishment is per-
manently employed and paid. There is no doubt that
some remedy is wanted for the depreciation of cur-
rency in India, the warin China operating as an ad-
ditional cause to those already touched upon in pre-
venting. the influx of treasure into the country.

PRICES OF, BREAD IN THE METROPOLIS.—The
various prices at which bread is sold in the metropolis
call loudly for some legislative enactment fixing
the assize. The 41b. loaf of the best hiusehold
bread is now selling in Tottenham-Court-road
for sid,. in the Borough and Lambeth for 6id.,
in the Broadway, Blackfriars, and places adjacent, for
611., and in Oxford-street, Holborn, Drury-lane,
Clare-market, and the Seven-dials, for 7d. and 71d.
The full-price bakers charge from Bid. to 90.; that
extortion exists somewhere is evident, and it is equally
plain that neither the corn merchant nor the miller is
in fault, else bread Could not be sold by one baker, at
such a reduction, snore than another ; upon whom,
then, does the blame rest ?
SHOCKING -AccinENT.—Tuesday night about eight
o'clock, as Mr. Onwhyn, news agent and publisher,
of No. 4, Catherine-street, Strand, was proceeding
homewards, and when within a few yards of his own
door, his foot suddenly slipped,
and he fell heavily
into the road with his right leg bent under him. He
was immediately raised by some passers by, who,
however, found that he was unable to stand. A
shutter was procured, and he was conveyed without
lass of time to the Charing- cross Hospital, where it
was found that he had sustained a compound fracture
of the right leg. Mr. Onwhyn, who is upwards of
60 years of age, remains at the above Hospital in a
state of great suffering.
A few nights ago, says a letter from Lille, a pea-
sent, who had entered the garden of a gentleman at
Lannov, for the purpose of stealing fruit, was fired
at by tile gardener,
who, when his victim nod fallen,
cam,: up, and with the butt-endofhisgun dashedished
his
skull to pieces. The gardener has been arrested, and
placed in prison at Lille.
SERIOUS ACCIDRNT TO THE REV. MR. SIBTHORP.
—On Monday morning the Rev. Gentleman was pro-
ceeding in a gig, accompanied and being driven by a
servant of Sir Charles Tempest's, in order to meet
the morning coach at Skipton, on his road homeward,
when the animal, a very spirited one, took fright
near Snaggill, and ran away at a furious speed.
The Rev. Gentleman and the servant were both
thrown out with great violence upon the ground. Mr.
Sibthorp had a cloak wrapped round him at the time,
cnd was unfortunately pitched upon his head with
such force as to lay the front part above the right eye
(pen, and severely bruise the shoulder. He was im-
mediately removed to the house of Mr. Marsden,
surgeon; of Skipton, put to bed,
by prompt at-
tention, was enabled to be renati*cl in a carriage to
Broughton-hall, where he now lies. The servant
d with a fewslight bruises.—Bradford escape Observer.

ROYAL MAIL STEAM-PACKET
COMPANY.
An adjourned meeting of the Proprietors of this
Company was held at one o'clock yesterday, at the
London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street. JOHN IRVINE,
Esq., M.P., in the Chair.
The minutes of the last proceeding, and the report
of the Directors having been read,
The CHAIRMAN pleaded his own inability, from in-
disposition, to address the meeting, and called upon
the Deputy -Chairman Mr. Colbyn, to explain to them
the views and wishes of the Directors.
Mr. COLBYN, the Deputy Chairman, in a length-
ened address, went over the various items of the Re- '
port, and stated his conviction, and that of the Direc-
tors generally, that whatever might be the losses
the Company had unfortunately already sus-
tained,4 they had no reason to despair
of their future prospects. He trusted that no resolu-
tion so rash as an abandonment of their undertaking
would be adopted. The Proprietors should re-
member that if they took such a course they
could not calculate on receiving for the ca-
pital they had embarked in the purchase
of vessels, and in other items of expenditure, a return
at all equal to their original cost. If the under-
taking were given up, that property would be sold off
at an immense loss.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. POYNDER, after expressing his confidence in
the ultimate prosperity of the Company, moved the
following resolution :
"The Proprietors having taken into consideration the
Report of the Directors laid before them at a gene-
ral meeting specially convened, and having heard the
Chairman and Deputy Chairman on various points
brought under their notice, beg to state that whilst
they deeply regret the losses hitherto sustained by
the Company, and the consequent disappointment to
the Company, yet, confiding in the opinions expressed
by the Directors in their Report, that the receipts
from passsage moneys and freights, together with
the 240,0001. which will continue to be received
from Government, will be adequate for a dividend on
the future operations of the Company, and which
opinion was confirmed by the Chairman in his address
to the Proprietors ; they do not think it expedient
to advert further at this time Io those losses, but being
fully impressed with the absolute necessity and great
national importance of maintaining and upholding a
steam-packet communication at this crisis with the
British colonies in the West Indies, they deem it
advisable to urge upon the Court of Directors to per-
severe in their endeavours to perfect and accomplish
the great obj ects for which the Company was established.
And they respectfully suggest to the Court to avail
itself of the further assistance of such professional
persons as are most experienced in the machinery and
construction of vessels navigated by steam.
" The Proprietors also trust, that in future the Di-
rectors will convene a public meeting of the Company
once in every six months, and lay before them a report
of their proceedings and statement of accounts, made
up to the latest period.
" And influenced by these considerations the Pro-
prietors now beg to assure the Directors of their
earnest desire to co-operate with them in every laud-
able endeavour to advance the prosperity of the Com-
pany and the great national interests involved in its
success"
Mr. DAVID BARCLAY seconded the resolution.
Mr. Ltuativs, who had moved the adjournment of
the last meeting, moved a counter-resolution, to the
following effect :—" That a Committee of seven, three
to be a quorum, should be appointed to inquire into the
present state of the affairs of the Company." He ,believed •
that as those affairs were now managed, it was im-'
possible to expect that the undertaking could be made
to realise the expectations of its original projectors, or
that it could be profitable to the shareholders.
Sir FRANCIS AUSTIN seconded the amendment.
The DEPUTY-CHAIRMAN justified the conduct of
the Directors on various particulars referred to by
Mr. Liggins.
Dr. BOWRING supported the resolution for an in-
quiry into the affairs of the Company. That was
the only course which could put an end to
interminable dissensions and discussions. It was but
natural to ask for such an inquiry in the
case of a Company which had commenced
under such brilliant auspices, but whose affairs were
now in such a deplorable condition. No one wished
.to cast any stigma on the Chairman or the Directors
perSonally; but he hoped they would feel it their duty
to accede to a motion for an investigation into the
affairs of the Company which had so unfortunately
disappointed the expectations of the Proprietors.
Mr. BaucLAy also supported the motion for in-
quiry. It was an honest and a fair motion ; and if it
were not acceded to, he should bring forward another
resolution to the effect that the Company should be
broken up as soon as possible.
Mr. COLES WORTH, a Director, said that the appoint-
ment of such a committee of inquiry as had been
moved for, would be a suspension of that executive
which now presided over their affairs.—(Hear, hear,
No, no.) He contended that it would be equivalent
to such a suspension, and that that would bring about
the breaking up of the Company altogether, and
that such a breaking up would cause an entire
ioss of the capital embarked in the undertaking. Let
them allow the present management to continue, and
before six months the Directors would pledge them•
selves to convene another meeting, to which they'
Would fully explain the condition and prospects of
the Company. Their position was not even now as
desperate as many seemed to imagine. He believed that
for the next six months they could work the concern
at a profit. He was ready candidly to acknowledge
that the Directors had been mistaken in their original
estimates, both of the receipts and of the expenditure.
—(Hear.) He admitted, too, that some of the servants
they had employed had disappointed their expectations.
But these errors in an undertaking so vast and to
novel were not to be wondered at. The Directors
were anxious to redeem the mistakes into which they
had been betrayed; and he trusted that the Proprie-
tors would not now refuse them their confidence for
the next six months.
Several Proprietors, who seemed apprehensive that
the appointment of a committee of inquiry would
lead to a breaking up of the Company, spoke in favour
of the original motion.
In reply to a question from a PROPRIETOR,
Mr. COLESWORTH stated that no call should be
made on the Company before the next general meet-
ing, except the call of ten per cent. for expenses
already incurred.
The amendment of Mr. Liggins, for a committee of
inquiry consisting of seven Proprietors, was then put,
and 16 hands held up in its favour.
The original resolution was next put, and the rest
of the meeting, or about 70 Proprietors, held up their
hands in support of it.
The original resolution was then declared to be
carried.
A vote of thanks was then passed to the Chairman,
and the meeting separated.

THE THANKSGIVING PRAYER.

The following is the Prayer of Thanksgiving
to Almighty God, for the great blessing which,
in His mercy and goodness, He has vouchsafed
to this nation, in the late abundant harvest, to be
used at Morning and Evening Service, after the
General Thanksgiving in all churches and chapels
in England and Wales, and in the town of Ber-
wick-on-Tweed, on Sunday, the 2d of October
next, as ordered by her Majesty in Council :
" 0 God, through whose good Providence the
earth yieldeth food for the sustenance of man, we
offer unto Thee our hearty thanksgivings for Thy
late mercy vouchsafed to us, in blessing the la-
bours of our husbandinen with plentiful increase,
and preserving the fruits of the field for our use.
Give us grace, we humbly beseech Thee, that
whilst we receive Thy bounty with thankfulness,
we may regard the blessing bestowed on us as a
call to repentance, and turn from the evil of our
ways. Remove front amongst us all causes of
strife and contention; put an end to our un-
happy divisions; and grant that all conditions of
men, impressed with the fear of Thy judgments,
and trusting in Thy fatherly care, may faith-
fully serve Thee, in loyalty to their Sovereign, in
obedience to the laws, in kindly affection one to
another, and in dutiful resignation to Thy will;
that so, under, the guidance of Thy Holy Spirit,
we may pass through this world in peace and
contentment, and finally by Thy mercy attain
everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen."

FATAL AND EXTRAORDINARY ACCIDENT. —On
Monday an inquest was held at the George and
Dragon, Blackheath-hill, before C. J. Carttar, Esq.,
on view of the body of William Noyes, aged 18,
vho was in the employ of Mr. Carpenter, Steam
Flour Mills, Greenwich. It appeared by the
evidence that on Friday afternoon he was at work in
one of the upper rooms in the mill, and slipped through
a trip-door, and fell head first into a sack of meal.
He was extricated almost immediately, and taken to a
surgeon's,
but he died in a few minutes, a quantity of
the meal having entered his lungs and caused suffoca-
tion.
death.'The Jury returned a verdict of "Accidental

A CHILD SCALDED TO DEATIL—SINGULAR ACCI-
DENT.-Mr. Baker held an inquest on Tuesday at the
Gunmakers' Arms, Bow-common-lane, Stepney, on
the body of Charles Honeyball, aged six months.
Susannah Snare said that on the morning of
Sunday last she was with the parents of deceased,
at their lodgings in Regent-street, Mile-end. Wit-
ness was at the table, while the deceased sat in a small
chair by the fire. Witness heard a sudden scream,
and when she looked towards the fire, saw that the
deceased was overturned on the fender, and that the
scalding water from a tea-kettle was pouring down
upon
its head, neck, and shoulders. The
,teceased
great pain from the scalds lintillts 'aeath,
which
place the next evening. Verdiet—Acci-
dsuenfferd
tal e
took
death.

LAW INTELLIGEN CE.
COURT OF BANKRUPTCY, Sept. 28.
IN RE ROBERT WINSLAY.

The defendant was described as a surveyor and
engineer. He was also the inventor and part patentee
with a person named Denny, in a new mode of con-
structing locomotives on rail and tram ways. The
amount of debts and liabilities which appeared in his
schedule was 4,0001. It was also stated that a number
of promissory notes of the insolvent's were in cirula-
tion, by which further liabilities would be incurred
upon the estate, to the amount of between 1,500/. and
2,0001. The available assets were said to be about
1,3001. at present realised; and that there was a like-
lihood of about 4001. being realised from the estate of
a person named Brompton, who had likewise been
declared insolvent.

After the proof of a few debts, which involved no
points of general interest, the hearing was adjourned
for a month.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT, Sept. 28.

The Court was occupied the entire day in hearing
applications for bail, few of which were marked by
the slightest general interest. Since the last sitting
the enormous number of 44 town and 24 country
cases had accumulated.

IN RE THE REV. WILLIAM DE LA POER BERESFORD.

The insolvent, who was described as incumbent of
the living of Inniscarra, in the county of Cork, ap-
plied to be liberated upon bail until the day appointed
for his final hearing. The case excited considerable
interest from the fact of his being so closely allied to
the present Primate of Ireland and the Waterford fa-
mily, in consequence of which the Court was crowded
during the hearing.
The following abstract of the official statements in
his schedule comprises all the facts likely to interest
the public generally. The amount of debts was
stated to be, in the aggregate, 10,0181. 2s. 4d., of
which 1,650/. were described as without considera-
tion ; debts mere than once entered in the schedule,
650/. ; and the debts for which consideration was re-
ceived were entered at 7,7181. Upon the opposite
sheet was the short item, " No debts owing to me."
After the debtor and credit account, came a state-
ment in the schedule of the causes of his insolvency,
by which it appeared, that during the period inter-
vening between the years 1832 and 1838, he had
been engaged in continued litigation to recover the
tithes of his living at Inniscarra, the annual income
of which was 7501. a year, from the parishioners,
whereby enormous law costs were accumulated, and
also that he had borrowed large sums of money, upon
which he had to pay very high discount and interest.
The Solicitor on behalf of the detaining creditors
said it was understood to be the insolvent's intention
to proceed to Ireland after being bailed, and as he
owed debts to a large amount there he thus might
evade the claims of his English creditors.

The insolvent said there were several matters con-
nected with legacies, which he expected from his
grandfather's property, which was held under trus-
tees, which might require his presence in IDeltmd,_but
he should not leave this country without the permis-
sion of hi 3 English creditors. .
The Learned CHIEF COMMISSIONER said, if the in-
solvent would pledge himself as a clergyman and a
gentleman not to leave England he thought bail
might be accepittwith safety to the interests of the
creditors. '
_ _ _

• The reverend .insolvent 'wing made the required
promise, bail was allowed to justify, after which he
was liberated:
.14

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
re (YESTERDAY.)
GUILDHALL.
Robert Sneull, a boy of sixteen ears of age, wbo
is well known at several of the police offices, was
charged with attempting to steal three coats, which
were hanging at the door of a shop in Fleet-street.
The case was one of ordinary occurrence, and was
fully proved against the prisoner, upon which he was,
committed to Newgate to take his trial. He was,
taken back to the cell in order to be conveyed to New-
gate in the afternoon. Shortly afterwards he was
brought into I Court again, and the gaoler
stated that since he left the Court he had. broken
down the plastering in the cell, and had made
a hole •in the wall nearly as large as
.his body.
Had he been left another
.quartor of an tour he would
have succeeded, in escaping out. of the.cell as the laths
of the wall were 'broken through. The gaoler stated
that the boy had often been there before, and had fre-
quently attempted to escape.
The MAGISTRATE ordered the boy's legs and arms
to be tied, and in this manner he was conveyed from
the office to Newgate, laughing and apparently highly
enjoying the fun.