The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-27 00:00:00

SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVEIyING, NOVEMBER 27, 1845.

the right to interfere in the proceedings to those who
were registered Proprietors. But they were not inclined
to adhere to this regulation. The delay that had oc-
curred was amply compensated for by the opportunities
it had afforded them of improving their line
of railway. At first their line had reference
almost entirely to the mineral traffic, and consequently
there would be necessarily induced a slower rate of speed
than that which would be achieved by the passenger
trains. He had no doubt that there would be before
long a company established for the purpose of making
a railway from Charleroi to Paris, and the French and
Belgian Governments were both anxious that this should
take place; and, should such be established, it must be
obvious that the greatest benefits would accrue to them.
He had also to allude to a circumstance that was extremely
cheering—that was, that an increase had taken place in
the district through which their line was to pass ; and
this, from inquiry, was found to be no less than 80,000
tons of iron. Their railway would effect a diminu-
tion in the cost of this most essential commodity, and
therefore generate an increase in the quantity which
would be conveyed along the line. They would com-
plete their line from Morioline and Walcourt in a short
time ; and from what he had just stated with respect to
the traffic, they were determined to make a double
railway for the first sixteen miles of their
line. He had himself been frequently in Belgium
for the purpose of inspecting the roads, and they
were certainly very good. However, that which
led from Belgium to Charleroi was not by any means suf-
ficiently convenient, notwithstanding that a considerable
traffic in iron was carried on, which, as in the other cases
to which he alluded, would no doubt be greatly increased
by the proposed railway. Having gone through the '
principal features, he would conclude by proposing that
the report now read be received, adopted, printed, and
circulated under the direction of the committee,
premising that he was ready to answer any questions
that might be put to him, and that a meeting would
have to be held at the seat of the Company in Brussels,
which should be duly announced in the Belgian papers.
A PROPRIETOR here inquired as to what had occurred
in the interval between the drawing up of the report and
the present period.
The CHAIRMAN said the only thing that had taken
place was the sanctioning of their line as far as Walcourt.
The resolution having been seconded, was carried
unanimously.
The thanks of the meeting were given to the Chair-
man and the Board of Directors, and acknowledged by
the Chairman.
The meeting then separated.

RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS.
LIVERPOOL, Nov. 26.
STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Eastern Counties,
181 A—Grand Junction, New Quarter Shares, 31 p.—Ditto,
Eighth Shares, 14:% p.—Ditto, 40!. Shares (L. M.), 48—Great
Western, Quarter Shares, 121 A p.—Liverpool, Manchester,
and Newcastle Junction, % p.—London and Birmingham,
208—Manchester and Leeds, Fifth Shares, 91/2 p.—North
Staffordshire, 50s. 6d. p.—Dublin and Armagh, % dis.—Ja-
maica, 29 p.—Jamaica and South Midland, 1 p.
MANCHESTER, Nov. 26.
STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Boston, Newark, and
Sheffield, 2,i—Caledonian, 71,4—Glasgow and Dumfries, 2
Huddersfield, Halifax, and Bradford, Si. 175.—Huddersfield
and Sheffield Junction, 171/, c.—Leicester and Tamworth, 42
—Manchester and Birmingham, 65—Manchester, South-
ampton, and Pool, 3%—Preston and Wyre Extension, 11,4
—Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction, 21A—Sheffield, Ro-
therham, and Goole, 54—Seuth Midland, 4L 12s.—West
Riding Union, 51. 12s.
LEEDS, Nov. 26.

STOCK EXCIIANGE.—The sales are—Hull and Selby, 100
—London and Croydon, 181 A—Manchester and Leeds, Fifth
Shares, 914 p.—Sheffield and Rotherham, 33—Huddersfield
and Sheffield, 14—Leeds and Bradford Extensions, 37 cash
—Leeds and Dewsbury, 1614 c. n. cash—Leeds and Thirsk,
10X—Newcastle and Berwick, 9—North British, New Car-
lisle Branch, 21A—Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton,
15—London and York, par—Direct Northern, 13/4—Liverpool,
Orrnskirk, and Preston, 3—West Riding Union, 4%—Buck-
inghamshire (late Rugby), ss. dis—Grand Union, par—Lan-
cashire and North Yorkshire, par—Lancashire, Yorkshire, and
North Eastern, 7s. 6d. dis.—Leicester and Bedford, par—
Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and Midland, 295. p.—North
Staffordshire, 355. p.—North Festern, 2—South Midlands,
p.—Wakefield and Harrogate, par.
IIULL, Nov. 26.
STOCK EXCHANGE.—The settlement for the Hull and
Barnsleys, which has been looked to with no inconsiderable
degree of anxiety, has passed off very satisfactorily. A de-
termination has been come to on the part of the brokers to
insist upon the fulfilment by their clients of the contracts
entered into by them, and which, with very few exceptions,
they doubt not will be generally honourably fulfilled. This
settlement, which has retarded business for some time in this
market, is expected will relieve the members of the Exchange
from the doubts that have lately existed, and prevented the
business being caried on with that confidence which was
formerly felt. The sales are—Hull and Selby, 10 per cent.
guaranteed, 100—Grand Union, 1%—Hull and Barnsley
Junction, 2s. 6d. ex n.—Nottingham and Boston, 1%.—
South Midland, 4/. 2s. _ _

YORK, Nov. 26.
STOCK EXCHANGE.-Th• sales are—York and North Mid-
land Extension, 184—Newcastle and Berwick, 83/4—Lon-
don and York, VA—Cambridge and Lincoln, 23/4—Grand
Union, 1/. Bs.—North Staffordshire, 41—Welsh Midland, VA.

OCCASIONAL SKETCHES-HERE

AND THERE.
A PENCILLING OF PRESIDENT POLK.

At a time when American men and matters attract so
much attention as they do at the present period, a few
sketchy notices of each may not be altogether unin-
teresting. During a recent protracted tour through the
United States the wrier has had frequent opportunities
of acquiring information and of observing character ;
and from his sketch-book he now proposes copying a few
outlines. The reader who may look for finished pic-
tures will assuredly be disa.ppointed, but, at the same
time, the seeker after facts will have no reason to
complain.
During the last presidential election, when Henry
Clay, of Lexington, Kentucky, or as his friends delighted
to call him, " Harry of the West," and James K. Polk,
of Nashville, Tennessee, were the rival candidates, the
sneering question put by the opponents of the Demo-
cratic candidate was. " Who is James K. Polk?" This
query was a rather difficult one to answer, for, compared
with the great Whig candidate, Mr. Polk was an un-
known man. Ile had never done anything which could
by possibility have rendered him sufficiently distin-
guished to entitle him to aspire to the Presidency,
whereas Clay enjoyed not only an American, but an
European reputation for brilliant and substantial acquire-
ments. It was almost as if a candidate had arisen out of

the earth at a moment's notice, for, in the early stages
of the election, Mr. Polk was considered even by his own
party to be a nobody, and merely put forward to ha-
rass and annoy the Whigs. But as the time of
election drew nearer and nearer monstrous letters
on monstrous flags proclaimed the fact that there
was such a person as James K. Polk. Newspapers
of all sizes, and with amazing names, started suddenly
into existence, over the leaders of every one of which a
valiant cock was represented in the act of crowing,
whilst above the rooster's head floated triumphantly the
" star-spangled banner." Occasionally the columns of
these election journals would be adorned with likenesses
of a stern looking gentleman, one of whose hands rested
affectionately on the head of an eagle, and beneath whose
effigy was written in double caps, " Young Hickory ;"
to explain which appellative, I should remark, that
General Jackson, Mr. Polles patron, had for many years
been styled " Old Hickory," from his tough, stubborn,
unbending nature, which bore some supposed resem-
blance to a branch of the hickory tree. Indeed, hickory
wood became quite the rage. In the shops, or rather
stores, nothing but hickory walking-canes were for sale.
Before almost every other house was a hickory pole, on
the lofty summit of which hung a " cap of liberty," and
from whence floated the stars and stripes, or a banner
on which was depicted a cock, crowing valiantly over
a deceased animal called a " coon."

-------
American politicians are desperately fond of elec-
tioneering emblems. When General Harrison was
elected, loghouses, in which hard cyder was freely dis-

penned, were erected in every street, because once upon a
time General Harrison had lodged in a loghouse and
drank hard cyder ! The Clay emblem was a coon ; but
I could never satisfactorily ascertain why the Whigs
adopted it : suffice it to say, that this 'cute-looking
animal was to be seen almost everywhere : sometimes
he was represented seated on a rail " taking a sight" at
the cock : in many localities he was to be seen perched
on an ash polo in a very victorious attitude ; but, as if
in mockery of him, the loco-foco party would frequently
hang a dead coon opposite him, and little boy republi-
cans would sing with amazing glee a song, the burden of
which was—

" Oh, poor Cooney Clay,
Oh, poor Cooney Clay,
You never will be President,
I heard the people say."
With all these flags and emblems it may well be sup-
posed that the city of Philadelphia seemed to be quite
startled from its demure propriety. There was scarcely
a house to be seen without its flag or emblem, so that
. .

the political opinions of its inhabitants could be pretty
well "guessed" at a glance. Where, however, no party
feeling was indicated, an American flag was sure to
glitter in the sunshine ; for every building, from the
State-house downward to the poorest frame hut was
decorated in this way. The stars and stripes floated in
the air wherever a pole could be erected or a rope
stretched ; and these flags were of all sizes too, some
big enough to carpet Exeter-hall, and others of conve-
nient pocket handkerchief dimensions—in fact, thou-
sands of little boys dishonoured the national flag by
blowing their noses in it. Standing at the end of Ches-
nut-street, and looking downwards towards the river,
one gazed through a bannered vista—from either side
white stars gleamed from blue fields, and so many
hundred stripes fluttered and dazzled, that to look at
them was almost like putting one's eyes upon a red-hot
gridiron.
But the National Eagle seemed to take, also, a very
conspicuous part in these electioneering proceedings :
for that King—l beg his pardon—President of Birds was
to be witnessed everywhere, and in every imaginable
position. Sometimes he was drawn so mild, that had it
not been for the striped shield which served him as a
breast-plate, he might have been mistaken for a sitting
tailor-bird. In another place he was represented as a
screaming, ferocious monster, with widely expanded
wings, grasping half-a-dozen olive branches in one claw,
and a bunch of newly-forged thunderbolts in the other ;
and having something like a long surgeon's bandage,
with directions for application written on it, in his beak
—occasionally he appeared to be busily engaged in
waving a banner, or in the act of dropping a wreath from
his talons on the head of General Washington or the
Democratic candidate—in short he was to be seen

in every imaginable position excepting that of
repose. This universal eagle never winked his fierce
eye, or folded his majestic wings, as common every-day
eagles do. No he was a wide-awake, go-a-head sort
of bird ; and these were his characteristic qualities and
appearances of whatever colour he might be, or to which
ever party he seemed to belong—indeed, some of them
seemed to be savagely disposed to both Whigs and De-
mocrats, for under one savage-looking bird was written—
" The eagle shall swoop from his perch on the rock,
And his grasp shall be death to the coon and the cock."
This was a " native American" eagle ; but it would
be needless to farther particularise, for their propen-
sities seemed to be as various as the tints of their painted
feathers, and there were many differences in this par-
ticular, for there were visible eagles with plumage vary-
ing from the " golden" down to any remarkable shade
of colour which the artist, not being, by any means, so
particular as Audubon, might conceive.
If I were writing a ook, instead of a mere newspaper
article,l might fill page after page with sketches of Ame-
rican electioneering scenes. But space forbids my pen,
although it is much inclined, to travel through oyster-
cellars, and bar-rooms, and committee head-quarters,
and public meeting places, picking up here and there
little " bits" of character, which might be rendered
vastly amusing. Nor must I catalogue the valiant pro-
ceedings of the " Young Hickory Clubs," nor tell how
" the Democrats were summoned to rally,'" nor de-
scribe the ceremonials attending the raising of a hickory
pole, nor even hint at the torch-light out-of-door mass
meetings, nor the noisy in-door assemblies. I must pass
over all these matters for the purpose of introducing the
reader to the individual, who by his blustering about
Oregon, has gained a notoriety which he never would
have known but for a chance combination of circum-
stances. Some men are born great, many achieve great-
ness, and others have greatness thrust upon them—to the
latter class belongs James K. Polk, President of the
United States.
Accompany us, reader, by a flight of fancy to Wash-
ington—the city of magnificent distances, as some one
has called it. It is a sprawling, scattered, uncomfortable
city, with streets unfinished, and, excepting in the time
of the session, houses uninhabited. It is full enough,
however, to-day, for it is the 4th of March, and Mr.
Polk, to the astonishment and even dismay of many of
his friends, has been elected, and is about to bo inaugu-
rated. All the world and his wife are thronging to the
capitol to see the new President, and from north, south,
east, and west, flow in living streams of curiosity hunters,
office-seekers, and sight-seers of all descriptions. Surely
never was seen before such a motley sight, nor heard
such a Babel of discordant sounds. Every window and
piazza is crammed with genteelly dressed men and
women. At a single glance, you may see the classically
pretty little lasses of New York, the intelligent-looking
women of Boston, the luxurious daughters of the Caro-
linas, and the belles of the union, the beauties of Balti-
more. Music is sounding, canons are booming, and loud
buzzes every now and then proclaim the appearance of
some popular personage. Let us escape from the dense
crowd, and watch the procession as it passes by.
There is a faint and rather a melancholy cheer given
as a carriage approaches, in which is seated three or four
gentlemen, one of whom has such strongly marked
features that from the pictures we have seen of the late
President we at once recognise John Tyler, whose un-
expected elevation to the chair of the Chief Magistrate,
owing to the death of General Harrison, earned for him
the title of " His Accidency." He is a tall thin man,
with a head half bald, badly set on his shoulders, a low
unintellectual forehead, furtively glancing eyes, and a
nose of enormous prominency. In the expression of
John Tyler's face there is something amazingly little
and mean • it is not insignificant, but ridiculously sense-
less. Whilst gazing on such a face one might feel cer-
tain that its owner could not by possibility be guilty of
doing any great action. As he passes on, some laugh
outright, many jeer, and no or.e regards him with ap-
parent respect. From obscurity he emerged—to ob-
scurity he is returning. Let him pass on, for by the
hubbub that is making behind him, there comes, it
should seem, " metal more attractive."
Sitting bolt upright, in a close carriage, and evidently
making an effort to be dignified) sits a man with a stern
aspect, coldly responding to the cheering of the multi-
tude, who bellow out the name of " Polk " with asto-
nishing perseverance and power of lungs. The new Pre-
sident, for it is he, bows ungracefully to the ladies who
wave their handkerchiefs to him—hie face is of an ashy
paleness; in his hand he grasps nervously a roll of paper,
his inauguration speech: on he goes, let us follow him tQ
the Capitol.
Passing over the preliminary proceedings, and Without
noticing the minor incidents of the otcasidp, let us,nbOs
confine our attention to the Intiti of ttib day—and lo I
whilst the air is relit with acclamations, the gentlemanwe
saw in the carriage comes forth in front of the building,
and now we can observe him more narrowly.
He is short in stature, thin and bony in frame) and
somewhat awkward in his carriage. His iron grey,
wiry hair is brushed back from his temples, and on the
summit of his forehead bristles up stiffly. His brow is
high, but narrow, and beneath it are two deeply-set
greyish eyes ; the nose is short and thick, and the
mouth thin lipped and compressed ; he is dressed in plain
black, and looks like a stern, obstinate man. There is
no dignity, no suavity about him. He appears as if it
would be painful for him to look pleasant, and as he
reads his speech his voice sounds harsh and husky, and
his manner is awkward and ungraceful. Such is James
K. Polk, who, in appearance does not belie his character.
He keeps himself wrapped up in a garment of self-suffi-
ciency, which he loosens not, though advised to do so by
his best friends. He relies on no one, and distrusts every

body. His own breast is the sole depository of his secrets,
and his Cabinet possesses not a key with which to unlock
it. Cautious to an extreme, he suspects where no ground
fur suspicion exists ; and possessing only fifth-rate
talents, he refuses to avail himself of the counsels of
better and more able men than himself. It will be
well if his obstinacy about Oregon does not result in mis-
chief. Yet, with nothing but disaster before his eyes,
he is not a man to forsake a course which he has once
determined to adopt. He will proceed in a wrong course
because he will. Having been unexpectedly made Pre-
sident, he seems determined to have his own way in
everything, and as he is not considered to be very far-
sighted, his own friends tremble for the results.
Mark that striking looking man near him, with an
abundance of snow-white hair floating over his fine fore-
head, and half hiding his coat collar, and whose dark,
piercing, lustrous eyes are bright with the fire of in-
tellect. His face is highly coloured in consequence of
some cuticular disease, and his frame is very spare, but
he walks the marble floor with the dignity and grace of
a monarch. What a contrast does his tall, commanding
form present to the little pinched up figure of Mr. Polk.
That is George M. Dallas, one of the soundest scholars
and ablest lawyers of the United States, of which he
has just been chosen Vice-President. Mr. Dallas has
long been one of the leading members of the party to
'which he belongs, and enjoys the esteem and respect of
even his political opponents. He has long been engaged
in public life, and although holding so high an office in
his native land, he still practises as counsellor-at-law in
the United States Courts. Ile is a beautiful speaker,
and very effective in his addresses—in short, he is in all
respects, with the exception of his political opinions, the
very opposite of Mr. Polk.
" Here is the inaug-ration speech of President Poke,
which he spoke at the capitol," shouts a newsboy, within
five minutes after the speech has been delivered. The
crowd begins to break up, and as it is raining as if a
second deluge were about to drown the collected
iniquity at Washington, let us be off to Coleman's, and
there brush up our recollections of a greater than Polk—
Daniel Webster. WHIZ.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR,—Through the medium of your widely-circulated
paper, I beg to complain of what I call a grievous impo-
sition. lam a poor man, and have lately had a house
left me worth 2501., and I felt desirous to:insure it for
2001. On applying to an office, I was informed that it
would be done for 35., with which I was satisfied; but,
judge of my surprise when the clerk told me that there
was an additional 6s. Government duty, and Is. 6d. for
the stamp, making 10s. 6d. Now if this is not a heavy
tax on property, Ido not know what is. Surely Sir R.
Peel never thought of this when he put on the new
property-tax in another shape. There is room for some
of your judicious remarks on this subject.

THE JAN US STEAM-SHIP.

APPREHENDED IRISH FAMINE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,—My attention has been called to a paragraph which
appeared first, I believe, in the Standard, and has since found
its way into various other papers. stating that I had pur-
chased 2,0001. worth of rice for my Irish tenants.
This statement is grossly incorrect, as all those who are
acquainted with the actual position of the Devon estates
must be fully aware, but I should not have thought it worth
,while to give it a formal contradiction if I had not wished to
take the opportunity of making a few observations upon the
painful subject which has given rise to that statement; more-
over, I am unwilling to take credit for an act of liberality
which I have not performed, or, as others may probably view
the matter, to be supposed guilty of a large and inconside-
rate expenditure ill-suited to the means at my disposal.
But whilst I repudiate the praise, or the blame, which may
be bestowed upon this supposed expenditure, I am fully
aware of the obligation that rests upon all persons connected
with land in Ireland to make all necessary exertions, including
the requisite pecuniary sacrifices, cheerfully and promptly to
assist in averting the evils of scarcity, with which the coun-
try is threatened. _ _

-I
know that the trustees in whom the property of the late
Earl of Devon is vested, as well as many other very excel-
lent friends of mine in Ireland, are prepared to do this, and
are only anxious that the measures which they adopt shall
be rendered as extensively useful as possible.
The purchase of a stock of food to supply, when necessary,
the scarcity of potatoes, is of course one of the essential
points to be attended to ; but as I presume that no man
conceives the idea of feeding, gratuitously, the whole agri-
cultural population of Ireland, the next point, hardly se-
cond in importanee, is to consider in what manner the
people may obtain the means of purchasing the food so pro-
cured.

_
I see no advantage in county or public meetings, in re-
solutions or in speeches. It is not necessary to proclaim the
evil. This will make itself felt soon enough. Our busi-
ness is to act, not to talk; and the more quietly we act the
better.
Every landowner, large or small, may have the means,
and assuredly ought to feel the duty, of contributing his
quota of usefulness at the present crisis. There is scarcely a
square mile of land in Ireland which does not call for some
improvement of a nature to increase its permanent value to
both landlord and tenant, and at the same time to add to the
stock of human food.
What a field does this offer for the employment of the
people?
Let each landowner only consider what improvementsrnay
be effected upon his own estate, and let him proceed to carry
these out by such means as are within his reach. If he has
capital, he cannot employ it better than to protect from want
the people from whose labour his future income is to be de-
rived, and at the same time to improve permanently the
sources of his wealth.
If his estate is heavily burdened with debts, or from other
causes he has no command of capital, he has a right upon
an emergency like the present to look for that assistaace
from the State of which the Legislature established the prin-
ciple many years ago, by the statute 1 and 2 William IV.
c. 33.

Other Acts have since passed in the same spirit, and all
founded upon the acknowledged truth " that greatly to im-
prove the resources of any part of the empire, tends to the
welfare of the whole."

The Legislature, in the Act referred to, proceeded with re-
ference only to the constant and ordinary pressure arising
from want of employment. With how much more force may
they now be called upon to give aid towards removing the
extraordinary pressure that is now impending, and to arrest
the fatal consequences of as actual want of food?
It will be the duty of the Government to propose, and of
the Parliament to decide, the extent to which assistance ought
now to be given, and the terms upon which it shall be granted :
sure I am that terms may be arranged, advantageous alike to

the landowner and to the State !
The proprietor who cannot advance the 1,0001. or the
5,0001. which the circumstances of the time call for, may be
well able and contented to pay interest and an annual instal-
ment ; and even the mortgagee or annuitant may find it to be
consistent with their truest interest to make a small annual
sacrifice to uphold and improve the security upon which they
depend.
The Government have also to look to other modes of giving
assistance at the present moment. Some public works may
be usefully undertaken at the public cost. Many others,
such as extensive drainage for example, may be carried on
under Government superintendence, psrtly at public, partly
at private cost. I will not assume that Government are
neglectful of this duty because they make no extraordinary
stir ; on the contrary, from the constitution of the commission
which they have appointed, I augur that. their object is to
take a wide and comprehensive view of the whole subject,
and to be prepared with such measures as the actual state of
the country, after inquiry and examination, shall appear to
call for.

But whilst we look to Government and to Parliament for
aid upon the present occasion, let us not overlook the duties
and responsibilities that attach to each of us as individuals.
Some circumstances at the present time are favourable to the
success of the work that is now before us.

The works upon railroads which are already in progress in
Ireland are very generally performed by the labourers of the
neighbourhood ; and although the work is heavier than that
to which they have been accustomed, and they were at first
hardly willing to undertake it, yet, by judicious management,
they have, in various quarters, been led to apply themselves
manfully to their new task, and, by taking piece-work, are
enabled greatly to increase their earnings and generally to
improve their condition.
Much praise is due to Sir John Macneill for the judgment
and perseverance displayed by him in dealing with his
countrymen at their first introduction to this new kind of
work. His example has been followed by others; and the
same course may be adopted most usefully both in public
and private works; and I am sanguine enough to believe
that if Paddy is fairly put into the right way. he will bo both
ready and willing to earn more money, and to get better
food for himself and family, by a more energetic exertion
of his bodily powers than circumstances have hitherto called
upon him to make.
This visitation of Providence may teach us all some useful
lessons ; if we profit by them rightly, good may arise oat of
the present evil ; and I indulge the hope that the result of
the next year's exertions in Ireland may be a great and last-
ing improvement in that country, and a large amount of con-
sequent advantage to the empire at large.—l remain your
obedient servant,
Nov. 26.

DEVON.

SUSPENSION BRIDGES.—Mr. Dredge has just com-
pleted two bridges in Ireland—one across the river Bann,
county Down, the other over the Blackwater, county Tyrone.
This last is for the Earl of Caledon, and is the second built
across the same river, which Mr. Dredge has built for his
Lordship within the last year, and the fourth he has erected
within the last four months. Two of them are county bridges,
and all of them are calculated to contain a heavier load than
can possibly come upon them.—Mechanics' Magazine.
THE TURKOMAUN'S POWER OF SMELLING.—An
extraordinary power of smelling in a Turkomaun was indi-
cated to me:—" I smell a caravan of Usbecks," said Khan
Saat, drawing up his nostrils; and in a few hours a caravan
from Organtsh arrived, full of them. It is remarkable how
the Turkomaun's know, by the footsteps in the desert, the
person who has been there; nay, the very tribe of Turko-
inauns or Calmucks see people talking from a distance. I
frequently heard them say, "Let us draw our ears." They
then lie down on the ground, and hear from a distance what
even two persons whisper together, and relate the exact con-
versation.—Dr. Wojf's Mission.
STATE OF TRADE IN MANCHESTER....-..The depres-
sion which has characterised this market for some weeks past
continues without much alteration. Goods are generally
offered at lower prices than last week ; and some business has
been done at the reduction. There is littlemore demand for
qualities of yarn suitable for the Indian markets; and a fair
amount of business has been done in them at full prices of
last week. Other sorts, however, continue much depressed.
—Manchester Guardian of yesterday.
• DEATH OF A MILITARY KNIGHT OF WINDSOR.—
We regret to state that Captain 111‘Lachlan, one of the Mili-
tary Knights of Windsor, who left that town for London, a
few days since for the purpose of taking leave of his two
daughters, who were about to proceed to Ceylon, expired at
his apartments in Northumberland-court, Strand, on Satur-
day. The late Captain M'Lachlan, who was in the sixty-
eighth year of his age, bad enjoyed excellent health until
within a very few days of his disease. The Misses M'Lachlan
sailed on Monday, from Gravesend, in the Tigris.
FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT AT THE HOUSE OF LORDS.
—On Wednesday morning an accident of a very serious
character happened at the works of the new Houses of Par-
liament. In the :early part of the morning, as two men
named Patrick Malyn and Henry Lott were at work on some
scaffolding at the Victoria Tower, nearly forty feet high,
some part of it gave way, and they fell to the ground.
Several of their fellow-workmen went to their assistance,
and both the men were found in a nearly insensible state.
Without loss of time they were conveyed to the Westmin-
ster Hospital. Malyn is suffering from a severe concussion
of the brain. Lott has one of his shoulders dislocated, and
is otherwise much shaken. Notwithstanqing the magnitude
of the works at the new Houses of Parliament, an accident
of this character has not lately happened.
PEEL'S GAMES.—We understand that the Premier
is shortly about to publish a new edition of Hoyle, embracing
all the new games and tricks of which, by a skilful know-
ledge of how to play his cards, Sir Robert Peel has become
master. He intends devoting an entire chapter to shuffling,
which is an art of itself, and one which the Premier has ear-
lied to the utmost perfection. There will be a few pages de-
voted to hints on cutting, with remarks on the proper time
to cut, and a few general observations on the treatment of
the peek, so as to make a good hand of it. Tricks will oc-
cupy a very large space in the Premier's work, but the games
will be the chief feature. Cribbage, as played at the expense
of the Whigs, will be elaborately explained; and a chapter
on revokes will explain how it is that there is nothing irre-
vocable in the games of the Premier. The work will be em-
blazoned with a splendid portrait of Sir Robert Peel as the
Knave of Spades, in which character he appeared the other
day, at t'e:s. commencement of the works on the Trent Valley
Railway.—Porten.
Wednesday Mr. Wakley,
FATAL ACCIDENT.-n.,
...iTead Inn, in the village
M.P., held an inquest at the King's
of Acton, on the body of George Graham, aged 18 years.
Deceased was the son of Mr. Graham, a carrier, :!t* Acton.
On the sth instant, in the evening, the deceased was a
cart with a younger brother, nine years of age, and they
were returning home from town, when, at Shepherd's Bushy
his brother discharged a cracker, by which the horse was so
frightened that he started off at full speed, and the deceaseht
in his endeavours to stop him, was 'thrown out of
itm-
cart, the wheel of which passed over his body. H
con_
mediately picked up by policeman Dale, T 213, who
every
veyed him in his cart to his father's residence, where
proper surgical assistance was rendered him;
at he expired on but the internal
b
injuries he had feceived were so severe
Sunday last. Verdict—" Accidental death through the in-
cautious discharge of a firework."
SAPIENT POLICY OF THE ENGLISH CUSTOMS.—One
day last week the Mary Ann Purdy, Cook master, came into
this pert (Vetmouth), and discharged a cargo of seventy
tons of nutmegs, which being the produce of Dutch colonies,
cannot be admitted here for home consumption, although
such is their ultimat destination. These are consigned to the
care of Messrs. Shelly and Co., and were placed under the
surveillance of the Customs in the bonding warehouse of Mr.- '
William Saunders, whence they are to be shipped to the Cape
of Good Hope, there to be reshipped back again, to be sold
here as the produce of British colonies.—Cambridge Advertiser.
ATTEMPT AT ROBBERY, AND ESCAPE OF THE
TIIINVES.—This morning, a few minutes after one o'clock,
police-constable 24 F, discovered the shop-door of Mr. Day,
the poulterer, of 73, Blackmoor-street, Drury-lane, open, and,
from the appearance of the shop, it was evident that the•
place had been forcibly entered. An alarm being given,
Mn Day, with taw officers, went over the house, but the
thieves had made their escape. The next house is under-
going repairs in consequence of a recent fire, and it is sup-
posed the fellows had effected their escape that way. Some
suspicious characters, a short time previous, were noticed
near Mr. Day's.
No fewer than seven children in Lancaster and its
neighbourhood have died within the last few days from the
effects of burning, in consequence of their clothes having
caught fse during the absence of the persons who had the
charge of them.—Cumberland racquet.

CHRIST'S HOSPITAL AND THE

CORPORATION OF LONDON.

We are given to understand that a very full meeting
of the Governors of Christ's Hospital was held on
Tuesday, and that a discussion took place, which ter-
minated in a resolution, in effect condemnatory of the
whole of the proceedings of the late Lord Mayor and
the Corporation of the City of London, in the much-
agitated question of the right of the Chief Magistrate to
take precedence of all other persons, with the exception
of the Sovereign, within the walls of the City.
Alderman Thompson, the President of Christ's Hos-
pital, took the chair, which was powerfully supported
by the benefaction Governors, who formed the great
bulk of the meeting, and seemed determined to carry
everything their own way.
There appeared to be a disposition upon the part of
the majority to adopt a resolution expressive of the in-
tention of the Governors to resist every attempt upon
the part of the Corporation to interfere with the privi-
leges of the body without discussion ; but
Sir P. LAURIE rose, and said that he came down to
the Court of Governors with the view, and in the hope,
of preventing any collision, which could not be service-
able to either party, from taking place. It would, in
fact, tend very much to cast ridicule upon all concerned
if a difference of opinion on so important a subject were
maintained by either in such a manner as to become
matter of adjudication in a court of justice ; and be be-
lieved that those who were capable of calmly taking the
question into consideration, would agree with him that
the more advisable course would be to come to
such an understanding as would prevent the
ridicule which was so greatly to be apprehended.
He was most decidedly of opinion that the late Lord
Mayor had betrayed a want of judgment in making the
parade of going in state, with his official attendants, to
demand admission to Christ's Hospital, when it was dif-
ficult to suppose that his Lordship could have been igno-
rant that an opposition to his entrance would surely
take place. The demand was made and rejected, and
the late Lord Mayor returned without accomplishing
any object. Now, it was no credit to the station of Lord
Mayor to be involved in such a predicament. It was
not agreeable in such a case to hear a bark without
seeing a bite; and he could not help expressing his dis-
approval of the course which had been taken upon that
memorable occasion. He also could not help declaring his
objection to the principle upon which the late Lord Mayor
acted in summoning the Governors to assemble at Guild-
hall, to supply him with corrected lists. That such a
power existed as that which had been assumed had
never been shown. He at the same time must declare,
that the plan upon which the Governors had acted for so
many years with respect to the lists, in placing the name
of the Lord Mayor before that of the President, ought
not to have been violated, and he hoped that the form
would be restored without an appeal, which must end in
the discomfiture of the intellectual character of each
party.
Alderman Lucas, as Governor of St. Bartholomew's
Hospital, was understood to say that he considered the
Lord Mayor for the time ,being to be ex glficio at the
head of all the royal hospitals. When he (Alderman
Lucas) was Lord Mayor, his late Majesty, William the
Fourth, when Duke of Clarence, acted upon that under-
standing in refusing to take precedence of him. In fact,
the Chief Magistrate had been, time immemorial, looked
upon as the principal person at every assemblage of in-
dividuals in the City. Alderman Lucas, at the same
time that he acknowledged the privilege, hoped that an
amicable adjustment would take place between the com-
petitors for the dignity of precedence.
Sir P. LAURIE said that he did not consider the power
of the Lord Mayor to comprehend the right to go to the
royal hospitals, and take upon himself to preside in
matters of business necessarily arising from the duties
of the Governors. The Lord Mayor could no more be
justified in taking the chair on such an occasion than he
should be justified in going to any wardmote but his
own and pushing the particular Alderman of the ward
from his stool.
Alderman THOMPSON (the President of Christ's Hos-
pital) altogether differed in opinion from those gentle-
men who had advocated the line of conduct pursued by
the late Lord Mayor and the Governors who acted with
his Lordship. He insisted that the Chief Magistrate was
not sanctioned by established practice, or by any one
principle of reason or justice, in adopting such a course;
and he declared that if the orporation of London were
disposed to try the question in a court of law, they
should be most resolutely met by the authorities of the
hospital, who were determined not to submit for a
moment to an usurpation. He defended every atom of
the correspondence which had taken place on the part A
the Governors of Christ's Hospital, as regarded the visit
of the Queen and the refusal to admit the Lord Mayor
into the hall, and repeated, that if the Corporation enter-
tained the fancy to appeal to the courts of judicature,
they should certainly not be disappointed in their wishes
to try the experiment.
The Governors generally approved of the tone of de-
fiance in which the President spoke of the Corporation,
and the energy with which he expressed the determina-
tion of the authorities of the hospital to resist any future
attempt upon the part of a Lord Mayor to enter the hall,
and occupy the seat to which he was appointed as the
presiding officer of the institution.
Resolutions were then passed, to the effect that the
conduct of Alderman Thompson, the president, and Mr.
Pidgeon, the treasurer, in the whole course of the pro-
, ceedings on the question, were eminently entitled to the
thanks of the Governors of Christ's Hospital.
We understand that a meeting of the Royal Hospitals
Committee was subsequently held at Guildhall, at which
an account of what had taken place at Christ's Hospitai
was detailed, and that the members came unanimously
to the resolution to assert the right of the Lord Mayor
to take precedence.
The proceedings of Monday and Tuesday have placed
it beyond all question that the matter will be immediately
handed over to the lawyers.