The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-01-27 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COMMON PLEAS, JAN. 19.

REGISTRATION APPEALS-SPLITTING FREEHOLDERS

TO CONFER FRANCHISE.

RAWLINS, APPELLANT; BREMNER, RESPONDENT.
This was an appeal from the division of the revising
barrister of the southern division of the county of Lan-
caster, and it appeared from the case stated, that James
Peck and his four brothers claimed to vote in respect of
one-fifth share each in a certain house situate in Prospect-
place, Liverpool. The barrister had rejected the claim of
all the five parties.
These parties, it seemed, being ambitious to gain the
franchise for the county, applied to several persons influ
entially to convey them, as tenants-in-common, a tene
meat for this purpose. At length Watson Peck, their
father, by deed dated the 18th of January, 1845, con
vexed to them the estate in question, in consideration of_
£4B ; it did not appear whether that sum was the full
amount of consideration, or whether each of the brothers
paid that sum ; it was clear, however, that the parties en-
tered into possession, and received the rent of £l2 per
annum, and that the property in the estate actually
passed. It was admitted that the object of the father and
sons in the sale and purchase of the property was to con-
fer and obtain votes, and the point was, whether this in-
tention invalidated the purchase and avoided the right to
vote.

Lord Chief Justice Tindal.—The Court will consider
this case with the others upon the same subject.

NEWTON, APPELLLANT V. HARGREAVES, RESPONDENT.
Another appeal, as to the right of splitting votes, from
the northern division of the county of Chester. One
Robert Hargreaves being seized in fee of certain lands,
proposed to his two sons to confer upon them the power
of voting for the county ; a deed of gift was prepared,
whereby, in consideration of natural love and affection,
two closes of pasture land were conveyed to the claimants
for their lives as tenants in common ; the deed of gift re-
mained in the hands of the solicitor who prepared it until
a few days before the revision court was held, the claim-
ants depastnrcd their cattle by the consent of the grantee
upon the land, and it was admitted that the conveyance
was made partly for the purpose of conferring the fran-
chise, and partly as a provision for the claimants. The
revising barrister negatived fraud, and decided the case
did not come within the 7th and Bth of William 111., c.
25, and therefore retained the names.
Lord Chief Justice Tindal.—This case will be consi-
dered also with others upon the same point.

HEYLAND, APPELLANT, V. BREMNER, RESPONDENT.
This was the last case in the list involving the same
point as to the right of splitting freeholds, and was from
the southern division of the county of Lancaster.
Certain members of a society at Manchester, called the
Anti-monopolist Association, purchased a qualification
for the county of Lancaster, at a fair marketable value.
Each received the amount of rent sufficient to qualify him
as a voter; the solicitor of the vender knew of the object
for which the property was purchased ; the vender him-
self knew nothing about it one way or the other. The
revising barrister was of opinion that the case came within
the 7th and Sth of Wm. IV. cap. 2:5, and that the convey-
ance was void, being made for the purpose of multiplying
votes, and therefore rejected the names.
Lord Chief Justice Tindal.--The barrister came to a
wrong conclusion ; the decision must be reversed.
Judgment reversed accordingly.

At the Rolls Court, on Wednesday, the injunction ob-
tained by Mr. Cooper to restrain Mr. James Battersby
from selling or otherwise parting with certain shares of
stock standing in his name in the books of the Birming-
ham and Liverpool Grand Junction Canal Company, was
dissolved.

In the Court of Common Pleas on Thursday week, in
an appeal from Scarborough, against the decision of Mr.
Temple, the barrister, the Court decided that the ❑ame of
a Mr. Flounders had been rightly expunged, because he
had not inserted the number of his house in the list of
claimants. This the Court held as necessary for complete
and ready identification.
The rumour is revived thacLord Lyndhurst is about to
resign, and that Mr. Pembei ton Leigh has resisted most
earnest solicitations from the Premier to succeed to the
Woolsack : and that, in consequence, the following ar-
rangements are contemplated—Sir Edward Sudgen to be
Lord Chancellor, and Sir Frederic Thesiger to be Lord
Chancellor of Ireland. _ _

A commission, of which Mr. B. Hawes is chairman, is
now engaged in a revision of the laws relating to bank-
ruptcy and insolvency. They are expected to complete
their report by the end of this month, and shortly after-
wards propose to call a public meeting of merchants and
traders, at which its recommendations are to be discussed.
The report will subsequently be laid before parliament—
most probably in the course of the present session.
LIABILITY OF PROVISIONAL COMMITTEEMEN.—In
the Court of Exchequer, on Tuesday an action was tried
before Mr. Baron Alderson, in which a printer sought to
recover £172. 10s. 6d., the amount of his bill for blank
scrip and other articles in printing and stationery, sup.
plied to the Irish West Coast Railway Company. A res-
pectable gentleman, named Burdett. one of the provisional
committeemen was sued, and the Judge and the bar all
agreed that he was liable for so much of this bill as had
been incurred after he joined the undertaking. When a
verdict had been returned for the plaintiff, Mr. Baron
Alderson remarked,—" It is of no use to read a lesson to
some men; they will run their heads into a halter—the
world will go on as it likes. However, it is to be hoped
that this case will do good in some respects, for it will let
people who have gone on to provisional committees know
what foolishness they have been guilty of.

One of the auxiliary improvements at the London Post-
office, is an engine of 12-horse power, by which the bags
and men are raised and lowered from and to the upper
story.
The Halifax Guardian says that ,the Leeds and West
Riding Bank has had its drafts dishonoured by the Lon-
don agents. On Friday the bank was crowded with per-
sons getting its notes changed.
All the rats and other vermin caught on the farm of the
Rev. A. Huxtable, at Sutton Waldron, are thrown into
sulphuric acid, by which' they are soon converted into
manure as valuable as bone dust.

A large pond, situate between Rhymney and Treciegar,
broke through the sides, and, in its impetuous career,
drowned an aged woman, and swept away two frail cot.
tages. _

A valet of George Hudson, E5q.,111.P., named Adams,
a night or two back. in a state of intoxication, fell over a
bannister, at the Burlington Hotel, London, and was
killed.

The Morning Post states that Lord Farnham was to
have seconded the address in the House of Lords, but
after hearing the royal speech read at the Duke of 'Wel-
lington's, he withdrew his consent.
On Wednesday week, a soldier, of the 92nd Regiment,
being rather in liquor, attempted to escape for the night
from Edinburgh Castle. He got on the wall at the
Argyle rampart, was immediltely precipitated over the
precipice, 200 feet in height, and killed on the spot.
The Presbyterian Review states that the Jesuits have
published an edition of " The Wandering Jew" in
English, expunged of all the terrific exposures of Jesuit-
ism contained in the original edition ;—a very Jesuit-like
act.

It perhaps may not be generally known that the new
First Lord of the Admiralty, the Earl of Ellenborough,
was once a midshipman in the navy, having commenced
his career in her Majesty's frigate L'Aigle, when she was
commanded by Captain Wolfe.
CURIOUS COINCIDENCE : QUITE A TRAGIC AFFAIR.
—On Wednesday week, at the Marylebone Police Court,
Macready was brought up for disorderly conduct, and im-
mediately after that case was disposed of, Kean was
charged with being a deserter, and was committed.
On Tuesday night, part of the steeple of the church
lately erected at Redhill, near Reigate, was blown down.
The stones, &c. fell through the roof and shivered many
of the seats to splinters. It is uncertain whether the
church will be again fit for service.
PERVERTS.—The Rev. J. B. Morris, fellow of Exeter
College, Oxford, has joined the Romish Church. This
makes forty from Oxford. J. B. Walford, Esq., under-
gtaduate of St. John's, Cambridge, has also joined that
church... This makes fourteen from Cambridge.
TWELFTH CAKES:—CAUTION.—The Derby Reporter
of Friday, contains a long account of an inquest held on
the body of Sarah Ellen Woollatt, a girl four years of age,
whose death had been caused by her having eaten some
of the ornamental part of a twelfth cake.

We understand that an increase in the army, to the
extent of 6000 men, will be proposed in parliament. It is
said that the Duke of Wellington was anxious to add
10,000 men to our military force, but that his Grace's
opinion was overruled in the Cabinet.—Poll.
The Medical Times mentions a case of hanging, in
which Dr. Noyce restored the patient by effusion of cold
water after respiration had ceased, the heart's action con-
tinuing, though feebly. Respiration was completely re-
stored, and venesection produced consciousness.
A grave-digger lost his life at St. Thomas's burial-
ground, Birmingham, last week, owing to a quantity of
earth having fallen upon him and entombed him at the
bottom of a grave, 15 feet deep, which he had been dig-
ging.
MELANCHOLY ACCIDENT. •-•-• On Wednesday week,
Mr. Clark, of the firm of Clark, Plummer. and Co., flax •
dressers, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was killed by a fall from
his horse. The deceased was nearly 70 years of age, and
highly respected.
A rumour gains ground that the Queen' proposed to
Lord John Russell that the rank and dignity of King
Consort should be conferred on Prince Albert, and that
Lord John held out no hope of accomplishing the mea-
sure.

SUBSTITUTE FOR A MACINTOSH.—On Thursday, at the
Borough Court, Manchester, a drunken tin-plate worker,
who was charged with disorderly conduct on the previous
night, said he had been to Bury, and had certainly taken a
drop, but it was to keep the rain out.
On Tuesday an `•immense" meeting in favour of the
abolition of the Corn Laws was held in Norwich. Mr.
Cobden attended, and Mr. Wodehouse, the county mem-
ber, in vain proposed an amendment in behalf of protec-
tion.

ADVANTAGE OF SMOKING.—An inveterate smoker in
the neigbourhood of Matlock, was told by his medical at-
tendant, a few evenings ago, that tobacco would be the
means of shortening his days, to which he replied, " Well,
never mind, it has afforded me the means of lengthening
many of my nights."—Derbyshire Advertiser.
A REMINISCENCE OF GUY FAWKES.—On Thursday
morning, according to custom, about two hours before
her Majesty's arrival to open parliament, the cellars under
the House of Lords underwent a strict search by the Lord
Chamberlain, the Usher of the Black Rod, and Captain
Kincaid, with a detachment of the Yeoman Guard.
Mr. Harrison Ainsworth has resumed the editorship of
Ainsworth's Magazine, which he was understood to have
relinquished some months ago, when he entered upon the
editorship of Colborn's New Monthly. Both these pe-
riodicals are now under Mr. Ainsworth's literary ma-
nagement.
Some commotion has been occasioned in the whig po-
litical circles, through the indiscretion of one of its mem-
bers, in revealing the contents of a letter, meant to be
strictly confidential. Two distinguished members are in-
volved in this charge, and a coldness, on the part of their
friends, has been the result.—Daily News.
The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone entertained at din-
ner, on Tuesday, the Bishop of Jamaica, Mr. Alexander
Wood, of the Emigration-office, Mr. Stevens, of the Co-
lonial-office, and other gentlemen connected pith that
department, Mr. Bonham, late of the Ordnance, Dr.
Phillimore, and others.

One of the Ojibbeway Indians (the bird of the tempest)
died at Brussels the other day, of the small-pox, and an-
other (the king of the bitterns) is dangerously ill. The
former was baptised by a Roman Catholic clergyman a
few hours before his death. The other Indians are still
at Ghent. _ . . _

slr. Kirby, the owner of Lanercost, is desirous to take
a bet of £6OO to £4OO that his (Lanercost's) produce wins
the Doncaster St. Leger, in 1847, against the produce of
any other horse in England ; or an even bet of £5OO, his
prOduce against that of any other untried horse for the
same race.

At Monmouth, on Saturday, Mr. Lapham, a sporting
gentleman, was charged with stealing one of his own
horses, which, left with Mr. Newman, had been sold by
auction by that gentleman to pay expenses. The magis-
trates decided that as Mr. Newman was not a licensed
dealer, he had no right to dispose of the animal, and dis-
missed the charge.

SMUGGLED MALT.—On Friday last a large quantity of
malt was discovered in an unentered house, by Mathry,
an excise officer, of Solva, Pembrokeshire. The maltster
is, we understand, a young woman, who is on the eve of
being married, and the malt was intended to be converted
into vow da, on her bridal day. Perhaps it was only a
peck or two.
The Quebec Gazelle records the loss, at- Cape Chat, of
two outward-bound vessels, one of them supposed to be
the barque Montreal, Captain Douglas, which sailed
hence on the morning of the 28th November, with the
loss of her crew and passengers. Several of the bodies
have been washed on shore, among them a woman and a
child.

POACHING AFFRAY.—On Saturday night a battle took
place between Bridger and Cadd, two of the Duke of
Buckingham's gamekeepers, and some poachers at Hills-
don.
The keepers heard firing near " Preston Bushes"
and came up to three poachers. An affray ensued in
which both Bridger and Cadd were knocked down and
desperately cut and wounded. The poachers escaped.
A few days since, as Mr. Sheppard, governor of Wake-
field I-louse of Correction, was walking along the lane
leading to the prison, some person behind a wall fired a
pistol close at his head. Mr. Sheppard's hat was blown
off, and the ball entered about an inch and a half above
the head. £2OO reward has been offered for the miscre-
ants apprehension.
A Spanish Tom Thumb has arrived at Cork. The I
vessel which was conveying him to London put in there
from stress of weather, and the miniature man is exi_ected
to exhibit himself in the " beautiful city." He is about
the height of an ordinary man's top-boot—is of mature
age, very intelligent, and has a strong propensity for
stirring the fire.
A tree has been cut down at Rammerseales, for the
purpose of being converted into sleepers for the Caledo-
num Railway, of whi ch the following are the dimensions :
Circumference at root. where cut off, 11 feet 2 inches;
diameter at widest part, 3 feet 9 inches ; height, 90 feet ;
con tents of timber. 106 feet. The rings of growth num-
bered 87 ; so its age may be estimated at about a century.
It has been remarked whenever a severe winter is about
to take place, that the ants bury themselves very deep in
the earth. Last winter, which was very severe, these in-
sects were found at the depth of two reet below the sur-
face of the earth, while this year they were only two inches
under ground. The same with the bees; last long winter
they had stopped every avenue to their hives. This sea-
son the entrance to them is scarcely closed.
Sift ROBERT'S TACT.—A Manchester contemporary
says that Mr. Colquhoun was prepared with an amend-
ment to the address, and as soon as Mr. Beckett Denison,
the seconder of the address, had sat down, he rose with
his amendment in his hand, evidently prepared to move
it. At the same moment, however, Sir Robert Peel, with
admirable tact, presented himself to the house ; and being
called upon by the speaker, commenced his speech.
THE " PRESIDENT" STEAMER.—SOme Spanish fishing
boats lately picked up a bottle at sea, containing some pa-
pers; but the following fragments, which have been pub-
lished in the Madrid Gazette, are all that could be made
of them Ship President, We are blocked upon Tre..
and ...... we cant live much 'time . What time !
Kind friend will acquaint our.. We are dying of hun-
ger lam fainting. Hif. ..... "
THE WEARDALE MINERS.—A numerous meeting was
held on the 9th instant, in a field adjoining St. John's
Chapel, when the deputation appointed to wait upon Mr.
Sopwith made their report, which gave great satisfaction
to the miners. It is expected that £2 per month subsist-
ence-money will be allowed at the next' binding, and that
each miner will be allowed to earn 15s. per week, exclusive
of charges for blacksmith, powder, and candles.—Gales-
head Observer.
The magistrates at Whitehaven have decided in a case
which lately came before them at the public office, that if
the captain of a vessel should not, on his arrival in port,
or within a reasonable time thereafter, give notice to a
seaman who had been contracted to assist in putting out
ballast, that he is not to remain in the vessel, such sea-
man has a right to claim the wages to which he would
have been entitled if he had assisted in putting out the
ballast, although he may not have performed that part of
the contract.

MUNIFICENT DONATIONS.—Thomas Clapham, Esq.,
of Stackhouse, near Settle, who died last Friday, has left
£lO,OOO to the Leeds Infirmary, £lO,OOO to the Wilber-
force Blind Asylum at York, £5,000 to Harrogate Bath
Hospital, and £5,000 to the Clergy Orphans' Fund, be-
sides smaller charitable bequests.
CURIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE.—On Wednesday morning
the Holyhead mail was compelled to turn back near Pen-
maen Mawr, to Conway to wait for better weather. The
wind came with such power for a mile round the rocks,
as to turn the four horses and the coach completely round.
Another attempt was made to proceed by- taking away the
leaders but all was fruitless. After reaching Conway
again the wind fell, so as to allow of turning out at six
o'clock, occasioning a delay of four hours.
FATAL AFFRAY--A dreadful encounter took place on
Wednesday morning, on the grounds of the Earl of Mor-
ley, at Saltram, near Plymouth, between a party of
poachers, ten in number, and his lordship's gamekeepers.
An unfortunate keepers named Cottell, pursued them for
some time, when one of the poachers levelled his gun,
fired, and the keeper dropped down and immediately ex-
pired. A man named Reed, a sawyer, of Plymouth, has
been captured as being one of the party, and is now un-
dergoing an examination before the magistrates.
A few days ago, a registrar of births, deaths, and mar-
riages, proceeded to the residence of one of his neigh-
hours, not one hundred miles from Sunderland, for the

purpose of registering a birth, and on enquiring of the
mother the day and date of the child's admission to that
enlightened portion of her Majesty's dominions, received
the following characteristic reply :—" Deed, Mr. H—, I
neither know the day of the week nor the day of the
month, but the bairn was born the day after Roger Lums-
den's pig was killed !"
At the Stafford sessions, last week, the chairman was
about to discharge a boy accused of stealing when the
bov, in reply to the magistrates, stated that he had no
father, and, in a flood of tears, said that his parent had
been transported for seven years. On this a voice was
heard—" I'm his father," and a decently dressed mecha-
nic stepped forward, and was rejoiced to claim bis son.
The father had returned from transportation, and he and
his son were made known to each other in this romantic
manner. The two left the court together, the father say-
ing he had employment for his son.
FORGING STAMPS.-At the Lambeth police-office, on
Friday, Edward Watkins, an aged and plain man in ap-
pearance, and who is reputed to be worth £lO,OOO, his
wife and son were charged with being concerned in the
sale of forged bill and receipt stamps. The prisoners
have been engaged in so doing for a length of time, and
out of 933 stamps found in their two shops 791 were
forgeries. The prisoners were remanded, but the elder
prisoner being seriously ill, the magistrate said he would
accept bail for him to the amount of £4,000. Another
man, named Hancock, from whom the prisoners obtained
the forgeries, was remanded on a charge of forging the
stamps. _

ANCIENT LETTER.—At a meeting of the Literary and
Philosophical Society last week, the President (J. B.
Yates, Esq.) handed round an interesting letter, address..
ed by King Charles I, then a prisoner in the isle of
Wight, to the Governor of Newfoundland- reccommend-
ing to his good offices Lady Hopkins, t wife of Sir
William Hopkins, one of his staunch ad erents. By
whom the body of it was written is rather tn. et tain, but
the concluding part, and the signature, are t. undoubt-
ed autograph of the unfortunate monarch, pet Jed a few
weeks previous to his execution. The original was found
a mass of contemporary papers in Mr. Yates's library,
relating to the times of the Commonwealth.
DEATH FROM DESTITUTION.—An inquest was held on
Monday, at Westbury, Salop, on the body of Jane Med-
licott, 53 years of age. The husband of the deceased,
stated that he was a schoolmaster, and had-"five children ;
his wife always had had bad health since he had known her,
she was rather flighty, but quite harmless; she had fallen
away a good deal lately, and used to complain of being
ungry ; witness himself has been three or four days with-
out anything to eat, and has often been without anything
in the house except a few potatoes which they had begged ;
he never applied to the parish for• relief ; be thinks his
wife died of starvation; witness has nothing to live upon
now but what same neighbours give him, and.will be ob-
liged to go to the parish.
SCENE IN PARLIAMENT.—The House presented a
curious sight while Sir Robert Peel was speaking. Every
fresh sentence brought a round of applause from his oppo-
nents—the Treasury benches were mute and silent. A
faint cheer was attempted when the Premier stated that
Lord Stanley had persisted in thinking the supply of corn
in the country abundant, and the potato crop a plentiful
one. notwithstanding all the evidence that had been sub-
mitted to ministers; but it was such a cheer, so faint, so
ill-sustained, that we really felt sorry for them. As argu-
ment followed argument from the Premier's lips, every
one of which demolished some pet theory which bad been
risked at protection meetings by a noble chairman or a
stray duke, the silence became deep snd more deep.—
Morning Chronicle.
THE LONDON POSTOFFICE.—In the principal (or se-
cretary's) office there are 64 officers, in the mail-coach
office 43, in the solicitor's office 4, accountant-general's
office 31, money-order office 170, inland and foreign office
645. The inspector of letter carriers' office, which is an
adjunct to the inland office, contains an inspector, 7 as-
sistant-inspectors, 147 sub-sorters; ship-letter office 8,
dead and returned letter office 21, London district office
about 600. In the sorting offices there are 2 presidents,
4 vice ditto, 2 window men, 14 clerks of divisions, 12 first
assorters, 12 second ditto, 10 sorters, 31 sub-sorters, an
inspector, 2 assistant-inspectors, 8 junior inspectors, 16
stampers, and about 500 letter carriers, giving a grand
total of 1600 persons appointed in the London offices
alone, independently of the various " receivers" and other
paid officers.
The annual meeting of the proprietors of the St. Katha-
rine's Dock Company, London, was held on Tuesday.
The following is the statistical return of the business
done for the last three years, ending with December, re-
spectively :—The tonnage entered in 1843 was 106,72 G ;
in 1844, 101,355 ; and in 1845, 119,917—being an increase
last year of 10,562 tons over the year preceding. The
goods delivered in 1843 were 105,935 ; in 1844, 105,233 ;
and in 1845; 117,200, being an increase in the last over
the preceding year of 11,967. Goods remaining in 1843,
69,293 ; in 1844, 65,415 ; and in 1845, 60,126—being less
la,t year than 1844 by 5289.t0n5. The decrease of the
stock remaining in dock is attributed very reasonably to
the unprecedentedly large deliveries produced by the alte-
ration in• the duties by the Premier's new tariff. The
usual dividend was declmed.

POOR-LAW CRUELTY.—Since we adverted a day or two
age to the alleged murder of an infant by its mother, who
had been sent away from the union workhouse without
any covering for her offspring, we have discovered that
this inhuman practice is a very common one. We have
received an extract from the Worcestershire Chronicle,
which we publish in another column, detailing the parti-
culars of a charge against a mother for attempting to
murder her child by exposing it in a field entirely naked
and uncovered. In this case, as in the one on which we
lately commented, the mother had been suffered to leave
the workhouse without any clothes of her own for her
child, and without any being allowed her by the union.
After carrying it for some distance, she seems to have
abandoned it ; and, though we cannot tiefind her inhu-
manity, we are still more at a loss to palliate the conduct
of those whose barbarity set her an example of cruelty
which, at the worst, she did but imitate. The suggesters
of her crime were the guardians, who taught her practi-
cally that the life of her infant was not worth caring for.

THE DAILY NEWS.—We have received the numbers of
this journal since its commencement on Wednesday. It
is a thick and thin supporter of the League, and devotes
much of its space to railway matters. It resembles very
much in its general appearance the Times and Herald,
and its only new feature consists of " Travelling Letters,
written on the road," by Charles Dickens. It is the ge-
neral opinion that the new candidate for public favour has
not come up to the expectation formed of it. An Edin-
burgh paper says that it starts with a capital 'of £lOO,OOO,
which has been subscribed in four sums of £25,000. Mr.
Grote, the London banker, and Mr. Jackson, of Birken-
head, the great railway proprietor, are two of the subscri-
bers. Messrs. Bradbury and Evans, 'the proprietors of
Punch, subscribe another fourth. The great feature of
interest will be Mr. Dickens's contributions. It is said
that he is to receive £2.000 a-year, anz is to bring out his
works in the columns of the paper, which will adopt the
fashion of the French feuilleton. (a department devoted to
light literature.) He begins with " Letters from Italy" :
(he spent last winter in Italy.) Among the politicO
writers Mr. Fonblanque and his literary coadjutor in the
Examiner, Mr. Foster, are mentioned. Mr. Dudley
Costello is to superintend the foreign department.
OPERATION OF THE TARIFF OF 1842.—1 n explaining
the circumstances which had brought him to advocate
free trade, Sir Robert Peel, in his speech on Thursday
night, remarked :
•' In 1844 there were imported 2,800 oxen and cows,
and in eleven months of the year 1845 there were not less
than 15,000 imported, showing a very great' increase.
Have prices in this country been affected either in a cot--'
responding degree or in any by this large importation ? Iu
1844 the contract price for the victualling stores in the
navy for salt beef was £3 18s. 2d. ; the contract price en-
tered into for the navy in December, 1845, was, I regret
to say, £6 Bs. Bd. The salt pork that was contracted for
in 1841 was £3 15s. 10d. a tierce, and in 1845 it was
£6 12s. The contract price for fresh beef for the navy in
1844 was £1 1-Is. 9d. ; the contract priCe in 1845 was
£2 2s. 2d. Now, all this increase in price was attended
with increased importation ; one prophecy, if I recollect
rightly, was, that there would be an importation into this
country of 3,500,000 pigs, and that the price of salt pork
would be immensely reduced. There was no article last
year that caused so much alarm as lard. In 1810 there
were 97 cwt. of foreign lard imported into this country.
In 1842 the duty was reduced from 83. to 2s. a cwt., and
there were then imported 48,312 cwt. ; in 1844, 76,000
cwt. were imported and in 1845 the, importation had
reached above 80,000ewt. And what has been the price
of domestic lard at Belfast during that period ? In 1844
it was 48s. a cwt. ; in 1845 it was 675.; and in January of
thejpresent year, notwithstanding the increase caused by
this importation, the price has risen from 48s. in 1844. to
625. Another article of great importance was that of
wool. We proposed in 1844 that the duty on foreign wool
should be altogether done away with, and we were again
met with the argument that wool would suffer from the
reduction But here again there has been a wholly dif-
ferent result. In 1842 there were 45,880.0001 b. of foreign
wool imported ; in 18,f4 there were 65,079,0001 b.; and in
ten months of the last year it amounted to 65,216,0001 b.,
—all in consequence of the reduction of the duty. Now,
what has been the price of wool ? In 1842 the price of
South Down wool was Hid. per pound ; long wool was
]od. per polled. In 1843 South Down wool was 111 d.;
in 1844 it was Is. 2d. ; long wool was also ls. 2d. ; and in
December, 1845, eighteen months after the reduction, the
price of South Down wool rode to Is. 44d. per pound, and
the price of common wool was Is. 2d. per pound. Such
has been the effect of those reductions that were made in
1842 and 1844, and which were regarded as a protection
to domestic industry.

The Sun states that immediately after Sir Robert Peel's
announcement of his plans, Lord Delawar, the Lord
Chamberlain • the Marquis of Exeter, Groom of the Stole
to Prince Albert; and Lord Arthur Lennox, will retire
from the government.
The Earl of Essex, in consequence of the present un-
certain state of his health, has been forced to decline the
offer tendered to him by Sir Robert Peel of the
Lord Lieutenancy of the county of Hertford, vacant by
the demise of the Earl of Verulam.
MODEST !—Mr. Ward the Member for Sheffield, gave
on Thursday what he calls the annual account of his
Stewardship in the House of Commons, at the conchLsion
of which Mr. Biggs, who seems to have been rather dis-
satisfied, proposed that the government should lend to the
labouring population a sum of £20,000,000, in order to
afford them opportunities for finding employment on the
soil, the government to borrow the money, at four per
cent., the people to pay them for it at the rate of five per
cent.—A moderate proposition, truly, but where is the
money to come from in the first instance?
AMUSING INCIDENT.—In the House of Commons, on
Thursday night, some amusement was created during Mr.
Disraeli's speech, by an allusion, which seems to have
been imperfectly heard, if heard at all, in the gallery, as
it is not contained in any report that we have met with.
The hon. gentleman, in alluding to the mover and seconder
of the address, said that Sir Robert Peel had prevailed
upon the rival roses of York and Lancaster to stand bail
for him. As it happened that Lord Francis Egerton wore
a very conspicuous white waistcoat, whilst Mr. Beckett
Denison was attired in the scarlet uniform of a deputy lieu-
tenant of the county of York, the point of the allusion was
very generally felt, and created much laughter.
RIVAL SHOWMEN,—At Huddersfield, last week,
Wombwell and Hilton pitched their tents opposite each
other. Each party paraded an elephant, and proceeded
throa,h Queen-street to Wombwell's, where they halted,
fronting each other in defiance, the lady on Wombwell's,
elephant holding up a young lion by way of bravado.
This was soon replied to by her opponent producing a
leopard, which, with seeming fondness, he nursed in her
lap, and was greeted with equal plaudits as her rival in
quadrupedal celebrity. The belligerents then retired to
their respective camps, followed by thousands of specta-
tors; and, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather,
we learn that their success was pretty good, especially to-
wards evening.

AUGMENTATION OF THE ROYAL Aterreeartv.—Appli-
cation was made some time ago for an increase of the
Royal Regiment of Artillery to the extent of 22 men to
each company, and it has been decided that an increase
will take place to the extent of 10 men to each company.
There are 72 companies of Royal Artillery at home and on
foreign stations, consequently the number of men to be
added to the regiment will be 720. With the exception of
Lisburn, Ireland, where Lieutenant Clerk has obtained 26
recruits ready to be sent to head-quarters, the recruiting
in other parts,:especially in Scotland, is very unsuccessful,
and it is the general opinion of those acquainted with that
branch of the service, that the only effective plan to insure
fine young men to enter the service is to grant a pension
of Is. per day after 21 years' service, as in that case there
would be no difficulty whatever.
NEW STEAM-ENGINE.—At the Paris Academy of
Sciences, M. Arnaud Seguier read a notice of a new
steam-engine, the invention of M.M. Isoard and Mer-
cier. After describing the construction of this engine,
M. Seguier says,—lt differs from all that has hitherto
been invented, not only in its construction, but also by
the special manner in which the steam is employed. In-
stead of being conveyed from the great generator to the
motive apparatus, and undergoing on the way, or at the
moment when its action is required, all the losses due to
the diminution of volume by the causes of the cooling
process, the steam is maintained in a very elevated tem-
perature in the generating tube, and the relators of the
heated surfaces and of hot water injected are calculated
in such a way that the heat does not escape by the orifice
until it has acquired an increase of temperature which
permits it to act at once as steam and dilated gas,
ORGANISED SYSTEM OF FALSE CHARACTERS TO
SERVANTS.—Edward Evans was charged on Friday, at
one of the metropolitan police-offices, with having ob-
tained the situation of butler to Sir J. South, of the
Observatory, Kensington, by means of a false character.
In the course of inquiry pursued by the police, informa-
tion was obtained of a regular system of selling false
characters to servants, by means of which persons of in-
different character were frequently enabled to obtain ad-
vantageous situations. It was ascertained that the prin-
cipal personage in this fraudulent proceeding was a woman
living in Guilford-street, who assumed the names of Guest,
Lady Cotterell, Mrs. Colonel Fraser, and a variety of
other names and titles. The police have ascertained that
upwards of 100 servants, male and female, have, through
the agency of this woman, obtained situations on the
strength of false characters. The prisoner was sentenced
to pay a fine of £2O, or suffer three months' imprisonment.
FREE TRADE BASHFULNESS.—There are a good many
anonymous contributors- to the League's Quarter of a
Million Fnud. How is it that men will give their money
but will not lend their names to this fund ? It is clearly
no case for adopting a retirine. modesty. The very es-
sence of the affair is demonstration, an imposing array of
men and money ; and the latter without the former
would be like a regiment of empty uniforms. The ordi-
nary motives that may induce the contributor to some
benevolent purpose, to conceal his name, are all out of
place here. Neither is it reasonable to suppose that men
who can afford to give their £25, £2O. or £lO, are such
slaves to circumstances as not to dare to avow their free
and independent opinions. Is it that they are men who
have so rapidly grown rich in spite of protection as to feel
the inconsistency of proclaiming it, and to be as bashful
of their property as uncertificated bankrupts ?

THE WEST RIDING.—Mr. Ferrand, M.P., has ad-
dressed an energetic letter to the electors of the West Ri-
ding, pledging himself to appear on the hustings at the no-
mination, and propose the Hon. Edwin Lascelles (Lord
Harewood's son) as a candidate in opposition to Lord
Morpeth. In additien, Mr. Archer Gurney, Rock Vale,
Devon, has addressed the electors of the Riding, offering
himself as a candidate for the honour of repreeenting
them, He presents himself as one who " both in English
and foreign publications has consistently advocated the
principles of Alison and Sismondi, as a protectionist,"
and who is resolved in every way he can to secure remu-
nerative prices to every class of productors. Mr. Gurney,
moreover, declares that Lord Ashley's Short Hour Bill
has his most decided concurrence. Mr. Gurney intimates
his determination to withdraw should Mr. Lascelles, or
any other local candidate, present himself. The writ for
the election has been issued, and the nomination is ex-
pected to take place next Monday.

ATTACK ON THE ARISTOCRACY. -At Manchester,
Mr. Bright went a step farther towards the " beginning
of the end," as may be seen from the following extract
of his speech :—" Why of all the harsh words and all the
arguments you could bring against the reasonableness or
unreasonableness of maintaining our aristocracy, nothing
could be more damning than the fact that the aristocracy
are at issue with twenty millions of people on the vital
and important question as to whether these people should
be allowed to feed themselves. There are people who
have ulterior objects. It would be a pitiable condition
the people would be reduced to if they were all at one
mark—if some were not moving on faster than others:
but I may tell the Duke of Richmond and his co-la-
bourers in the cause of monopoly that they themselves
are holding out the most pressing invitations men can
hold out for the great mass of the people to go on with
that which we have begun, and to wrest from them the
power they have exercised to the great injury, or, I would
say, to the ruin of many thousands of the people of Great
Britain:"

A LETTER TRAP.—On Thursday evening last a gen-
tleman of Gloucester having put a paper into the hole of
the box at the post-office, was surprised to find that it
would not descend into the basket. He pushed, and
pushed again, and still it stuck fast, and therefore be went
round to the door to notify the circumstance. The post-
office clerks, equally surprised as the applicant, naturally
turnei to the box itself for an explanation of it, when
they discovered an " artful dodge," which„ had it been
successful, would have seriously damaged the credit of
the establishment, by cheating a large number of persons
of their letters and papers. A silk bag had been let down
into the aperture, bullets being placed in each corner to
distend it, and it was secured to the mouth of the aperture
by hooks of wire. The bag was nearly full of letters and
papers which had been dropped into the hole, and this
was the reason that the paper through which the discovery
was made would not descend. Probably the practice of
this trick would account for many of the post-office losses.
Unfortunately, the trap was not left until the thief came
to remove the bag and the spoil, and therefore be is quite
unknown. Glouteelershire Chronicle.

SUICIDES.—On Tuesday morning week, in London,
Mr. James Ede, aged 68, who, for the last thirty years,
has been a suitor in Chancery for property valued at
£lOO,OOO, having an execution served upon him for a
small debt, went up stairs and deliberately cut his own
throat.—On Friday an inquest was held in London, on
.Mary Day, aged 26, a domestic servant, who, being
falsely accused to her mistress, of having been the worse
for liquor, was so much affected, that she destroyed her-
self with oxalic acid.—At Preston, Mary Hulme, an un-
married woman, thirty years of age, drowned herself in a
lodge of water at the Victoria Mills. The deceased, who
had an illegitimate child some years ago, was again preg-
nant, had been in a low state for severt:l weeks, and was
apprehensive of being sent to the workhouse. On con-
fessing her situation to her mother, she said, 4‘ Do not
say any more about it ; shall make myself away; it will
all end in the cburch-yard."—On Friday, Mr. Lovridge,
publican, London, was found hanging from a bed-post in
his own room, and quite dead.—Captain Burrell, late of
the 55th Foot. committed suicide on Eaturday week, in
his own house, London, by shooting himself with a pistol,
in consequence of heavy losses by railway speculations.

THE PREMIER'S EXPLANATION. - We confess we
should like to see the Premier undertaking an explanation
or a confession somewhat more retrospective than that on
which he spent his heart and his strength on Thursday
evening. He has served four Sovereigns, and, enjoying
the personal confidence of three, for nearly twenty years
he has been the leader of a powerful—and for his sake we
will suppose—a patriotic and intelligent party. Yet,
strange to say, his apology recognizes no longer a term
than the last three years of this period. It might be sup-
posed that four years since was the date of his first intro-
duction to his Conservative friends. It is only the last
act of these four years that in his opinion requires defence.
He is now doing right. He appeals to the experience of
the last three years, and its legitimate effect on his jadg-
ment 1 he appeals to posterity ; he appeals to everything
but the past, and does not show how it is that a man
who for so many years possessed so great a mastery over
mind and over matter in this country, should have
brought men and things into such a state as to entail at
last so abrupt a transition, and so great a violence to the
weaker minds, or the lesser souls of his party. Sir Robert Peel says be is right now, but he does not bring out into
quite sufficient relief the obvious inference that be has
hitherto been most grievously wrong.—Tinees.