The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-18 00:00:00

FLANDERS MAIL.

BRUSSELS, FEB. 13.—At the commencement of the sitting
of the Chamber to-day M. Pirmez brought up a report in
the name of the Committee of Manufactures, on the petition
of M. Marcelles, relative to the substitution of cast-iron for
timber, in the construction of the entrepot at Antwerp. The
discussion on this petition has been united with that on the
budget of the department of public works. It may be sur-
mised from some observations made to-day that the Chamber
desires to have this question thoroughly discussed. The
Chamber then resumed the discussion of the budget, of which
the 10th, 11th, and 12th chapters were agreed to.
The cold continues to be very severe at Liege; on the 12th,
in the morning, it was at ten Resumer below freezing point.
At Mons and Bruges it was equally severe.
BRUSSELS, FEB. 14.—1 n the sitting of the Chamber to-day
the Minister of Public Works presented a project of law re-
lative to an extraordinary vote of credit for 300m0n for
the substitution of a cutting for the double tunnel of Cum -
petch. The expense may be covered by means of the por-
tion of the grant not yet disposed of for the construction of
the double tunnel.

A great quantity of snow.has fallen since yesterday even-
ing, so that most of the roads leading to the capital are
impassable by carriages. Many hundred workmen are em-
ployed in clearing them.
FEB. 15.—The cold is decreasing, and a change in the
weather may be expected.—Brussels Papers.

The Grand Duchess Stephanie de Bade is expected
to pass through Paris, on her way to England, on a visit to
her daughter, the Princess Marie, Marchioness of Douglas.—
Court Journal.

CIIRIST CHURCH, OXFORD.—A circumstance which
occurred a few days ago in Christ Church College has been
the subject of much conversation in Oxford. A large
party of young gentlemen, members of the College, were
discovered by the censors in the act of gambling, and for
very high stakes. The discovery took place between two and
three o'clock in the morning,when the censors entered the room
where the party were, and as their presence was not per-
ceived by the young men, they saw and heard sufficient to
justify them in their proceeding. The next morning four
of the young men (one of them a nobleman) were rusticated,
and three of them expelled. Two of the latter had previousi
been rusticated. The sequel of the affair does not say. much
ucnfor the discipline of the college. On the night after tn
ex-
pulsion, or rather at one o'clock in the morning,
each With
of the students sallied from their several
..ro.fnufsa large body
the course
a torch and a bundle of faggots, t!ti
of a few minutes a large bonfire (formeda
of the furniture of
the seven young men) was blazrisng-ntne centre of the Peck-
lOoked on powerless. On
water Quadrangle. T
the rooms of all the heads
the following night thheedoeoenrsseof
painted red. On the Dean's,, door there
of the college were
.with the inscription ursa major."
was a figure of a bear,
Other doors ii:ere painted with similar devices. Te
whole college is disordered and__ disorganized in conse-
quence of these proceedings. There are many opinions
afloat in the University with respect to the severe
measure
adopted by the Dean. The public are not, perhaps, gene-
rally aware, that expulsion from the University closes, to the
young man who has suffered the disgrace, the honourable
professions. In fact, the consequences of an early fault of
this kind may follow a man through life.— Times.
INCENDIARISM IN CAMDRIDGESHIRE.—A most
destructive fire, to all appearance the work of an incendiary
took place on 'Wednesday evening last, is the farm-yard of
Mr. Charles Giblin, of Swaffham Bulbeck. It was first
discovered breaking through the roof of a barn, and in a
very short time the whole of the farm buildings were in a
blaze. The Swaffham engine, which arrived very shortly
after the fire was discovered, had little effect ; but on the
arrival of the Cambridge one, both engines, aided by the
people of the neighbourhood, succeeded about midnight in
arresting the further progress of the flames. All the stock
and horses, and a good deal of the corn were saved. The
property destroyed amounted to upwards of 2,0004 It was
fully insured. Mr. Giblin had thirteen stacks of wheat
burnt in 1532, and nearly the whole of his crop destroyed by
the memorable hail storm of 1843.
A St. Petersburgh letter of the Ist informs us of the
death of Admiral Greig, ia that city, oza the aott

IMPERritIaMTIM.74777-----
HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 17.
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool-
sack at five minutes past five o'clock.
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.
Lord CAMPBELL laid on the table a Bill for the
improvement of the administration of justice in Scot-
land in cases where parties got into debt and then re-,
moved from the jurisdiction of the law in this cON'trY
He was happy to say that the Bill had been drit;444
by his Right Hon Friend the Lord Advocate of
Scotland.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord also laid
on the table a similar Bill with respect to Scotland.
The Earl of STRADBROKE presented a petition
from the medical practitioners of Suffolk against the
Medical Reform Bill.
Lord BEAUMONT laid on the table of the House
a Bill for giving compensation to the friends of per-
sons killed by accident.

RAILWAYS.
Lerd BROUGHAM, seeing the Noble Lord at
the head of the Board of Trade in his place,
wished to know whether he had any objection to lay
en the table the returns he had moved for with re-
spect to the Railway Board ?
The Earl of DALHOUSIE hal no objection to
the production of the returns. With respect to the
case of Mr. O'Brien, he could assure the Noble Lord
that the assertions that had been made were totally
without foundation.
Lord BROUGHAM had found that the informa-
tion he had received was perfectly correct. Mr. W_
O'Brien had purchased 204 shares in the South-
Eastern Railway stock on the 14th of December,
and by the rule that had been laid down, when per--
sons made purchases, and the broker could not furnish
the whole he had undertaken to do, an advertisement
was issued, and that was placarded about, stating the
shares that were required. The consequence was
that Mr. o'.Brien's name was placarded for 204 shares;
that, therefore, gave the public the first idea of the
matter. The instant his (Mr. O'Brien's) name ap-
peared, the shares in that railway mounted up, be-
cause he had purchased these 204 shares. If he
(Lord Brougham) or other Noble Lords had pur-
chased them, such might not have been the case; but
it was different with Mr. O'Brien. He (Lord
Brougham) had not before heard a word upon the
subject, but his suspicions had been aroused—he had
thought such a thing likely to happen, and those sus-
picions turned out to be the actual fact. The Board
of Trade, in coming to the resolutions which they
afterwards reported, did so more or less in
the dark. Then these reports were laid before
Parliament—that was to assist Parliament ; but
how could they assist Parliament, having founded
their opinions upon mere party statements—the state-
ments of the parties concerned. Why, they might as
well believe in so many fables. Then came the de-
feated men, and said—" We have collected a cloud
of evidence, and we will go before a Committee of
the House of Commons." But he (Lord Brougham)
said they were too late, the decision had been against
them, and it would be found that, in 99 cases out of
100, that decision was final. A Noble Lord (Lord
Stanley) said that that decision was not binding upon
the House, but that they agreed to it because
it was a true one. But suppose that his Noble .
Friend upon the Woolsack, who was so conversant
with the business of the Court of Chancery, could
conceive of a Board of Masters who would decide
between parties without hearing evidence, would not
such a mode of deciding rival claims be searching in
the dark—groping in the dark ? But then supposing
that they reported in favour of one of these parties—
The LORD CHANCELLOR—I should accept:
the report.—(Laughter.)
Lord BROUGHAM—Very likely.—(Continued
laughter.) But seriously, he thought this one of the
greatest interferences with private interests, and with
the commerce of the country. There were
millions, and tens of millions invested in
these questions, and continually changing hands.
Men might say, " I have 17,0001. in a line reported
against"—another might say, " I have but-
-10,0001. ;" and all this by a report emanat-
ing from a board which heard no evidence.
He wondered whether it was true that the North
Kent line had been rejected upon the narrowest pos-
sible majority—whether General Pasley and Mr.
Porter were against the South-Eastern line, and Mr.
Laing and his Noble Friend the other way. Mr..
O'Brien, he understood, did not vote : consequently„
there were two for and two against. Mr. O'Brien,,
however, was present, although he took no part in
the proceedings. Generally speaking, the mode of
not taking any part in any prmedings was to
be absent ; such, however, was not the case with
Mr. O'Brien. As the Committee were equally
divided, his Noble Friend had to give the casting
vote—consequently there were three to two, although
with respect to persons there were only two to two,
Ilis Noble Friend was no greater in authority after
giving two votes than he was after giving but one.
When these things were communicated to him (Lord
Brougham) his first expression was, " Of course
this will be made known to the House of Commons—
of course, the kind of help or auxiliary process which
had been afforded will be made known to them." Mr.
Cardwell, who was now a Member of the Govern-
ment., was strongly in favour of large powers being
given to the Board; but he distinctly stated
that the Board ought not to come to
any decision without examining evidence.
According to my Noble and Learned Friend's own
statement, he admits that the matter is of infinite
importance. But he had received such numberless
communications, complaining of the hardships they
had suffered in consequence of these decisions, that,
unless his opinion was changed by the information hie
should receive, he should feel it to be his boundem
duty to bring a motion before their Lordships, with+.
the intention of having the whole of these reports;
fully discussed.
The Earl of DALHOUSIE sail, with respect to
the question put by his Noble and Learned Friend=
in regard to the number of shares held'
by Mr. William O'Brien he did not know whether
that Gentleman expected him to answer it. It was no
business of his, and he should postpone anything he
had to say on the subject until the Noble and Learned
Lord brought forward his promised motion. But,
with respect to the defence of any particular member
of the Board to which he belonged, he should, on
every occasion, stand forward for the purpose of
placing the facts in their proper light, and refuting
any statements which were not founded in truth.
With respect to the other question, viz., that his
Noble and Learned Friend had learned by informa-
tion that the South-Eastern scheme was decided this
way, the only answer he could give was this—his
Noble and Learned Friend had wondered if his in-
formation was really fact, and it was his duty to leave
the Noble and Learned Lord to wonder on.
Lord BROUGHAM—I don't wonder now ; I sure
perfectly satisfied.
The Earl ofDALHOUSIE—The Board of Trade was
founded upon similar arrangements as those made by
other Boards. A person was placed at its head by Parlia-
ment, to whom this person was parliamentarily re-
sponsible. Would any Noble Lord be justified is
asking a question relative to the decision of the Board.
of Admiralty, or the Board of Customs ? Would
any Noble Lord be justified in asking how this
Honourable Member voted, and that Honourable
Member voted ? Certainly not ; and upon the
same principle he was justified in allowing the Noble
Lord still to wonder on. His Noble and Learned
Friend had made some observations on the subject of
the foundation of this Board. Now, his Noble and.
Learned Friend would excuse him while he
stated hew this Board was originally este-.
blished. The question was raised before the other
House of Parliament, and after being fully discussed:`
in a Committee, it was resolved that railway Mil
should be subject to the examination of a Government_to
s!
Board ; that this duty should be
powerentru the,steesdtabrith
a
Board of Trade, who should have to
railway department. With respecttoth e proce
of the Board, unquestionably there were no wit-
nesses examined ; but there was other kind eR
evidence. Docureentary evidence was brought beforos
them, and upon
evidence they had decided. His
this
repeated, their
would,
decisions
were not to be final, and
their influence would, of course, have to depend upore
their intrinsic merits. He thought, then, it was un-
just to condemn the decisions at that early period,
They ought to have a fair trial, and it was necessary
that the report of the Board of Trade should
be considered before this fair trial could be had.
When the Noble and Learned Lord brought for•
ward the question with respect to the constitution of
the Board, he should be happy to meet him, and give
any information he might require ; but, at the present
moment, he must decline, upon the grounds of publics
convenience, answering the questions with respect to
the internal arrangments of the Board itself.
The Duke of WELLINGTON wished to say Me
word with respect. to Mr. O'Brien, as reports had
been circulated to his prejudice.• He had had ra
opportunity of knowing that gentleman. He had
served in a most honourable way in the army; he
was respected by all ; and it was impossible for any
gentleman to stand higher in the service than he bed
done. He (the Duke of Wellington) believed that
his conduct had been gentlemanly throughout, and
that he was quite incompetent to commit the acid
that had been laid to his charge.
Lord BROUGHAM never meant to throw the
slightest imputation on Capt. O'Brien or his brother.
All he complained of was, the nature of the system,
and its defective construction. He believed that the,
information he had received was correct. A,
to what passed in the House of Lords
it lastthe
year, he had never heard of
present moment. His Noble Friend had said why not
take an objection to the matter at that time ? `Whys
the truth was, that he had never heard of it, er ha
certainly should have taken the objection. "He did
not think that anything in the proceedings that had
taken place in the Board of Trade had arisen from
reading the reports. There could be no doubt tbd