Vont.

MONDAY, AUGUST 19TH.

THE London and North Western Railway Company, who are to have the honour of conveying her Majesty and the Royal Family to Holyhead on her way to Ireland, and also subsequently to Scot- land, have had an entirely new and magnificent state carriage con- structed for that purpose at a cost of more than 3000/. The carving and decoration of the carriage are exquisite, and a great improvement has been effected by the introduction of two additional floors, the second consisting. of oak, and the third of cork, which has the effect of greatly deadening the noise of the wheels while travel- ling. Beds can be introduced and removed with ease; and it is un- derstood that they will be used by her Majesty and the Prince Consort during their journey to Scotland on their return from Ire- land, to avoid thenecessity of staying at an hotel. There will be two other saloon carriages in the royal train, which will be sent down from 'Euston-square by the South Western Railway on Tues- day, to Gosport, whence her Majesty will start on Wednesday THE London and North Western Railway Company, who are to have the honour of conveying her Majesty and the Royal Family to Holyhead on her way to Ireland, and also subsequently to Scot- land, have had an entirely new and magnificent state carriage con- structed for that purpose at a cost of more than 3000/. The carving and decoration of the carriage are exquisite, and a great improvement has been effected by the introduction of two additional floors, the second consisting. of oak, and the third of cork, which has the effect of greatly deadening the noise of the wheels while travel- ling. Beds can be introduced and removed with ease; and it is un- derstood that they will be used by her Majesty and the Prince Consort during their journey to Scotland on their return from Ire- land, to avoid thenecessity of staying at an hotel. There will be two other saloon carriages in the royal train, which will be sent down from 'Euston-square by the South Western Railway on Tues- day, to Gosport, whence her Majesty will start on Wednesday

i morning, at a quarter to eight, and it is arranged that, deducting stoppages, the train will accomplish the three hundred and ten miles from Gosport to Holyhead in eight hours and a quarter. — The locality of Hungerford Bridge has been brought promi- nently into notice in connexion with another murderous assault, though fortunately not attended with the fatal result of the affray in Northumberland-street. Captain Mortimer, who is known to the public as a defendant in the celebrated trial relative to the sale of commissions in the army, was walking on Saturday evening on Hungerford Bridge, near the entrance to the market, when he was asked for his address by Mr. Dunbar John Caber, a barrister. He refused to give it, and pushed Mr. Cother away from him ; and on the

latter repeating his question, Captain Mortimer stepped back and dealt him a heavy blow on the side of the head with an oak walking- stick, inflicting a very severe wound, attended with great loss of blood, from the results of which Mr. Cother was reduced to such a weak state as hardly to be able to give his evidence on the same afternoon. Captain Mortimer, on being charged at Bow-street police-station with the assault, admitted having struck the blow, but in justification stated that Mr. Cother while asking him for his address the second time, stood in his way, and attempted to stop him, and he thereupon struck him with his walking-stick, but in- stantaneously and without any intentional malice. Mr. Henry, how- ever, committed the prisoner for trial.

— The departmental business of the Social Science Association commenced on Thursday. In the first department, that of jurispru- dence, an opening address was delivered by Mr. Napier, the presi- dent, who spoke as follows :

" In the session of 1857 an address to the Queen was presented by the House, which led us to expect that a department of administration for the affairs of public justice would soon be constituted. Such a department has become a necessity. It is now generally allowed that it is needful to collect, register, and digest the results of experience as to the working of the law. The proposed de- partment would discharge these functions. It would be enabled at stated in- tervals to make a report to the Crown on the state of the law as adininisterediby the Courts, and lay the foundation for such remedial measures as the Govern- ment would then feel it to be their duty to submit to Parliament. Great injustice is often caused by the delay in amending defective legislation ; and not less, per- haps, by leaving doubtful decisions of the Courts with just enough of authority to enable them to perplex or to mislead. The public may thus be long embar- rassed by imperfect legislation or apocryphal decisions, which usurp the rightful authority of plain positive law. Indeed, this opens a large question as to the reporting and the revision of judicial decisions, when regarded not simply as the adjustment of private controversy, but as they affect the general law and the interests of the community. It is a public necessity, I think, that the present system of irresponsible reporting, and the reviewing of decisions which from the time when they are published have the sanction and force of positive law, should undergo a searching scrutiny. It seems, indeed, so obviously reasonable to ask and to accept advice from those who are peculiarly competent to give it, that the plan adopted in these cases might be extended by making the Depart- ment of Justice a consultative body to which a bill might at any time or any stage be referred, with a view to obtain the best advice. It was with reference to Ireland that the late Sir Robert Peel advised that the affairs of public justice should be placed under an Imperial department. His policy was sound. For this I maintain, that until there be obtained for both countries the most complete community of rights and laws that is compatible with whatever is indelibly peculiar to each, the Union cannot be said to have re- alized its proper purpose. We have assimilated our criminal law; we hope to assimilate our procedure. Why should there be a difference in our laws of pro- perty? Why should there be any conflict of commercial law ? I might lay bare many of the evils to be remedied that not only are against policy, but work injustice which they who suffer are left to deplore, but cannot hope to re- dress. Patching or cobbling may in an extreme case be attempted, and the rent is made worse. Look at what we call our marriage law. You may search for it in the lumber-room among the rubbish of Acts of Parliament—Irish, English, and Imperial. Thoughtful men ask themselves at last, Is marriage indeed to re- main an institution of God, or has it become the creature and convention of human law? In this day of religious liberty parties competent to contract and constitute a marriage ought to have the free choice of having that marriage solemnized by such religious sanction as they may think fit to select and super- add. Marriage is publica quia furls ; it is valid everywhere, if valid any- where. Where the State moulds the laws of property for the convenience of the community, it may justly require—as a matter of sound policy—that every marriage which can claim to be recognized for propriety or other civil pri- vileges, shall have had such sanctions superadded and publicly recorded in such form as the interest of society may demand for its common con- venience. Nothing more than this should be required. But this, be it observed, would be a part of the law of property ; it leaves the law of marriage as God has left it—sacred and universal. In bringing reason and experience to bear upon the amendment of the law, the work of expurgation must be considerable. We have to get rid of restrictions which ought never to have been imposed, and which have aggravated the evils that they were intended to remove. Of this class are those which have professed to secure trustworthy evidence, and to prevent frauds and perjuries, by excluding interested witnesses, and requiring, in certain cases, documentary evidence, executed with a prescribed formality. Although in both countries the parties in a civil suit are now com- petent and compellable to give evilence in that suit, in neither country can an accused man be examined as a witness on his own behalf in a criminal proceed- ing. He is indeed permitted to make a statement, but he cannot sustain it by his oath, nor submit it to the test of a cross-examination, so that if it be true its value is unjustly depreciated. I have glanced at the Statute of Frauds, under which oral testimony is excluded in cases where its admission, us the best evi- dence at the time available, might help the search for truth. But observe how inconsistent, if not impolitic, are the provisions of this statute. Why should oral evidence of all the particulars be sufficient where the subject of the contract is of small value, or even where a sixpence has been paid to bind the bargain, or a fragment of the bulk has been accepted as a part of the whole? Why should an admission of the fact of such part payment, or part acceptance, be provable by oral testimony? Why should oral evidence be admissible when the written contract bas been lost, though this may have occurred by mere negligence? Why should the rescinding of the contract be provable by oral testimony ? Or why should part performance make oral evidence sufficient to establish and enforce the contract in a court of equity ? How many honest contracts have been evaded by this arbitrary legislation? It may be proper to protect, in certain cases, the weak against the strong; but when the parties deal on equal terms, why should they not have been left free to make their bargains in such form, and with such

safeguards, as their own interests might require, or their own prudence might suggest? If this simple and sound policy had been consistently adhered to, then

the testimony of the parties would have been available according to their own free choice, according to its intrinsic value, and, what is of greater consequence, also ac- cording to the general course of commercial law. If our tribunals are equal to the duty of sifting testimony, detecting falsehood, and discovering truth, the sources of evidence should be freely opened. It is the prerogative of our morel nature, which it is no less our duty than our interest to cultivate, to enable us to weigh and to value testimony, subject (as it must ever be) to the manifold influences of interest and corruption. Let us be assured that our success depends, not on legislative restrictions, not on limited inquiry, but on our moral culture, our

general intelligence, our improved experience, a deeper insight into human nature, a more extended acquaintance with social science. There is a subject of grave im- portance which deserves a special notice—I allude to the question of legal and

equitable jurisdiction. The early history. of our courts of equity shows that the courts of law had limited their own jurisdiction by a narrow and technical pro- cedure, which was inadequate to afford the judicial remedies that were required

bye the growing requirements of society. Why, it may well be asked, should not the resources of either be made available to both? Every court of justice, whether

it be a court of law or equity, should be enabled to do complete justice between the same parties in respect of the same subject-matter, either by the convenient interchange of powers and duties each with the other, or by enabling the same court to exercise the entire jurisdiction, so fares is necessary in the pending suit for the administration of complete justice."

Papers were then read by Mr. Heron (in the absence of Mr. Arthur Symonds) on "The Constitution of Tribunals," in which the writer

advocated the consolidation of the whole system of administration of justice in the United Kingdom, and the establishment of a depart- ment of Justice with a Minister in Parliament ; by Mr. Whiteside, Q.C., M.P., on the criminal law, on which subject the Recorder of Birmingham and the President also addressed the meeting ; and by Mr. Napier Higgins on " The Machinery of Legislation." In the department of Education, Sir J. G. Shaw Lefevre, presi- dent, in the chair, after some discussion on the subject of a paper read by Miss Mary Carpenter, of Bristol, on "The Application of the Principles of Education to Schools for the Lower Classes," the vexed queition of popular education in Ireland was thoroughly en- tered into in a debate which followed the reading of a paper by the Reverend Alexander Pollock on "The Educational Position of the Established Church in Ireland." The debate, which was charac- terized by the utmost good feeling, was sustained by numerous speakers, and was adjourned till Monday. Papers were also read in the Reformatory department, over which the Attorney-General pre- sided ; and in the departments of Public Health, Trade, and Inter- national Law. An interesting debate was also raised on the recent strike, which brought out some original facts. Mr. Pollard Urqu- hart, for example, urged that to cut off an hour's pay for the tenth hour was not just, because the men were too tired to do a full hour's work. Mr. Scott, of Belfast, a master, said he wished for FM eight- hour system, but with eight hours' pay. Dr. Shaw thought there was a natural limit to a day's labour. Dr. Hancock said there was a view of the question which had not been submitted to the meeting. It had been treated entirely as a question between masters and men; but there was another question—it was the interest of the country at large, and of the women who were married to the men and to their relatives. He thought, therefore, it was not a question of advocated the consolidation of the whole system of administration of justice in the United Kingdom, and the establishment of a depart- ment of Justice with a Minister in Parliament ; by Mr. Whiteside, Q.C., M.P., on the criminal law, on which subject the Recorder of Birmingham and the President also addressed the meeting ; and by Mr. Napier Higgins on " The Machinery of Legislation." In the department of Education, Sir J. G. Shaw Lefevre, presi- dent, in the chair, after some discussion on the subject of a paper read by Miss Mary Carpenter, of Bristol, on "The Application of the Principles of Education to Schools for the Lower Classes," the vexed queition of popular education in Ireland was thoroughly en- tered into in a debate which followed the reading of a paper by the Reverend Alexander Pollock on "The Educational Position of the Established Church in Ireland." The debate, which was charac- terized by the utmost good feeling, was sustained by numerous speakers, and was adjourned till Monday. Papers were also read in the Reformatory department, over which the Attorney-General pre- sided ; and in the departments of Public Health, Trade, and Inter- national Law. An interesting debate was also raised on the recent strike, which brought out some original facts. Mr. Pollard Urqu- hart, for example, urged that to cut off an hour's pay for the tenth hour was not just, because the men were too tired to do a full hour's work. Mr. Scott, of Belfast, a master, said he wished for FM eight- hour system, but with eight hours' pay. Dr. Shaw thought there was a natural limit to a day's labour. Dr. Hancock said there was a view of the question which had not been submitted to the meeting. It had been treated entirely as a question between masters and men; but there was another question—it was the interest of the country at large, and of the women who were married to the men and to their relatives. He thought, therefore, it was not a question of labour, but as individuals looking after the weaker class of society —the women and children—they had a right to consider what was

for their benefit and for that of the community at large. His own experience was that over-time and over-work were morally and physically injurious, and shortened men's lives, and when men's lives were shortened, they ought to look to the effect of it in leaving widows and orphans, because it was important that men should live the ordinary period of life so as to rear their children, and not to be leaving them as orphans. Trade conventions were indications of a law of Nature which ought not to be departed from for any personal interest, and he entirely went with the men in going

for uniform hours of labour. In the evening, a party of about 130, including many of the distinguished persons who had taken part in the proceedings of the Social Science Congress, dined at the Mansion House, on the invitation of the Lord Mayor. Among the toasts proposed was the health of Lord Brougham' who, on rising to reply, was most enthusiastically received. Lord Brougham after- wards accompanied the Lord-Lieutenant to a conversazione given by the Royal Dublin Society, and attended by nearly 2500 per- sons. On Friday the Departments resumed their sittings. Sir J. Shaw Lefevre addressed the Education Department, which after- wards resumed its regular business. A paper was read by the Rev. Dr. Willeock, on the failure of education in the junior classes of elementary schools, which lie attributed to the prevalent neglect of the younger children by the teachers, in order to bestow more time on the more advanced pupils. The discussion of the previous day was then resumed at some length. In the Jurisprudence Department Lord Brougham took the chair for some time, and among other papers, one was read by Baron HoltzendorlT on " Public Prosecu- tions in Prussia." In that country no prosecution could be com- menced unless it was taken up by the public prosecutor. In case of his refusal to do so, however, there was no remedy for the injured party. Lord Brougham said on the subject : " Though there might be defects in the Prussian system, the institution of public prosecutors was of very great benefit ; and the worthy vice-president would, he was sure, agree with him in thinking it very desirable to have a re- sponsible Minister of Justice for this country. The want of such a system was a very great defect in England. He could take no blame to himself in this matter, for one of the last efforts he made before quitting office was to introduce a system of public prosecutors; but it was thought too large a step to take at once to involve the whole country in a system of public prosecutors. He might refer to the case of Scotland as well as of Ireland, and in neither country did the defect alluded to as operating in Prussia exist. In Scotland the private prose- cutor was technically required to obtain the ' concurrence' of the Lord Advocate, but that concurrence was never withheld unless in extraordinary cases in which there was obvious cause for so doing."

Mr. Napier also thought the institution of public prosecutors would have a beneficial result :

" Ile referred to some defects in the Irish system, especially in the coroner's proceeding by inquest. He believed that in many cases the institution of coroners was worse than useless, arising from the class of jurors and coroners in many parts of the country. As an instance, a coroner's jury in a certain part of Ireland, in a case where a person died from famine, found a verdict of Wilful Murder against Lord John Russell.' (Laughter.)"

The Solicitor-General then read a paper on the Landed Estates Court, giving statistics of its operation :

"The jurisdiction was, as is well known, originally created in order to sell encumbered estates, they being unsaleable by the ordinary means in consequence of the state of this country in the year 1848; and in the first stage of the proceedings of the Court petitions were, for the most part, those of encumbrancers ;

gradually the proportion of owners' petitions increased, and we find that the entire number of petitions presented from the commencement to August, 1858,

when the Encumbered Estates Court was changed into the Lauded Estates

Court, was 4413. Of these 800 were supplemental, withdrawn, and dismissed petitions—in all 3613; of which the number presented by owners was ma;

and of the first 100 petitions only six were presented by owners ; of the last 100,

47 were presented by owners. The commission was onginally only for five years; it was extended from time to time; and in 1855, when the Court bad been sever' years in operation, a commission was issued by the Crown to inquire whether it was expedient that this should be made permanent. It appeared before that commission that owners actually crested encumbrances upon their property in order to be able to sell it with a Parliamentary title. I give now a statement of the amount of duty received from the commencement of the Landed Estates Court to the 1st of August, 1861, by which it appears that the total was a sum of 11,2701. 13s. 6d. for the two years and nine months ending the 1st of August, 1861. The amount of business transacted in the Encumbered Estates Court from its commencement to its close was as follows: Petitions, 4413; absolute orders for sale, 3547; number of conveyances executed, 8364: number of Irish purchasers, 8258; number of English, Scotch, and foreign purchasers, 324. Gross proceeds of sales, 23,160,0001.; of which was paid by English, Scotch, and foreign, 3,160,000!., leaving 20,000,0001. representing Irish capital invested in the land. Number of Chancery snits stopped, 1298. All these funds were distributed. I now give a statement of the amount of business done from the commencement down to August, 1861, which has been supplied to me by Judge Longfield's examiner, from which it appears that 1945 petitions were filed, 1213 titles read, 1121 estates sold for 12,324,9774, 1045 schedules filed, and 12,103,8061. paid out, &c. The next question of interest is, what has been the expense of these operations. From a statement of the costs, furnished from the taxing officer, it appears there was an outlay on that account of 813,7971, in- cluding the costs of surveying and advertising. The costs vary very much, but the average of costs is about M. 10s. per cent. on the purchase-money. The result of the entire operations of the Court has been that there is a Parlia- mentary title established to about 3,200,000 statute acres of Ireland, or about one-sixth of its area ; and a arm of 28,000,0001. of purchase-money has been distributed."

In the Reformatory Department, Captain Crofton entered into a full description of the Irish Convict System. On the conclusion of his speech, Lord Brougham said : " It is hardly necessary to state with what deep interest I heard the able and lucid statement of Captain Crofton. (Applause.) There is but one sentence in it which I can say I not only lament, but disapprove—I mean that in which he talks of his own retirement. (" Hear, hear," and applause.) With Captain Crofton's retirement retires my confidence in the system (hear, hear), and I look forward with absolute dismay to an experiment tried for the next two or three years, and then at the end of that time we shall find that it has failed because Captain Crofton has retired. (Applause.)"

The other departments were occupied during the day with the respective subjects. On Saturday morning, M. Michel Chevalier, President of the Trade and International Law Department, delivered his address in the Solicitors' Hall. At one o'clock all the depart- ments closed, and a Commencement was held at the University, when the honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred on Lord Brougham, Sir J. Shaw Lefevre, Sir James Emerson Tennent, and M. Michel Chevalier.

— A curious will case occupied the Jury Court at Edinburgh last week. It was in the form of an action' brought by the relatives of the late Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Maclean, against his execu- tors, to set aside his will on the ground of insanity. The testator

had entered the army in 1804, and sold out in 1847. Out of his forty-three years' service, thirty-three had been spent in the East and West Indies and Africa. Latterly, he had resided at Milltown, on the Island of Cumbrae, where he died in 1859, at the age of eighty, leaving his whole estate, which consisted of about 20,0001. in Con sols " for the education of poor and deserving boys of the name of Maclean," to the exclusion of all his relatives, for whom, previously to his alleged insanity, he had entertained warm affection. It was also alleged by the pursuers that he was influenced by hie house- keeper, with whom they said he had cohabited. The evidence for the. pursuers was to the effect that since the return of the testator from the West Indies in 1848, his mind and temper had been entirely changed, that lie was in the habit of conversing incoherently, constantly making use of obscene language, and speaking abusiveI of all his relatives. Several of their witnesses did not, however, consider him as insane, but as " daft" or " crackit." On the other hand, numerous witnesses deposed that Colonel Maclean, though eccentric, was per- fectly able to manage his own affairs. It was also proved that as early as 1826, before the alleged insanity of the testator, he had expressed his intention of disinhenting his relations. The jury returned a ver- dict for the pursuers, although the charge of the Lord Justice Clerk was highly favourable to the defenders' case.

— The wrought-iron work for the Domes of the Great Exhibition is nearly completed at the works of the Thames Iron Company. The domes will be 250 feet in height by 160 feet diameter, and will weigh 600 tons, being thus the largest yet constructed. It has been determined that the refreshment-rooms shall be over the arcades in the Horticultural Gardens, the sides next, the gardens to be tilled in with plate-glass, and two of the arcades themselves are to be used also for refreshments, and will continue to be employed for similar purposes after the close of the Exhibition. In the 6000 different trades which find a place in the trades' list of the Commissioners, are the following, which are among the most unintelligible to the uninitiated:

Compounders. Fluters.

Hardening Manufacturers. Iron Liquor Manufacturers. Jacquet Manufacturers. Machine Combers.

Perchers and Stiffeners. Pinders.

Plainback Makers.

Mahe Makers Rib Makers

Scribbling Millers. -

Sheathery Manufacturers. Shive Turners.

Stiffness.

Stretchers.

Tin Spirits Manufacturers.

Were Grinders.

Willow Square Manufacturers. Woold Makers.

Woolley Teeth Makers.

-- The election for South Lancashire took place on Saturday, and resulted in the return of Mr. Turner, the Conservative, the numbers being at the close of the poll : .

Turner 9714 Cheetham. 8818 Majority for Turner . . . . 816

Both Mr. Turner and Mr. Cheetham subsequently addressed their supporters, the former congratulating the county on not having sent one member to carry out bad principles when they had two to carry out good ones, and the latter ascribing his defeat to the intimidation of voters in the West Derby Hundred. By a return issued by the Cheetham committee, it appears that the votes were divided between the two Hundreds in the following proportion:

Salford West Derby Hundred. Hundred. Total.

Cheetham 5866 . . 2999 . . 8865 Turner 5489 . . 4261 . . 9700

— The select committee appointed to consider what steps should be taken to carry out the conditions of the will of the late Mr. Turner, the painter, have reported that in their opinion the nation is bound to provide suitable accommodation for all the pictures left under that will, and they further recommend that Mr. l'ennethome's plan for providing such accommodation at the back .of the National Gallery at a cost not exceeding 25,0001. be adopted.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20TH.

— The August session of the Central Criminal Court was opened yesterday morning. The first edition of the 'calendar contains the names of 112 prisoners, 30 of whom are committed from the City, 56 from the county of Middlesex, 2 from Essex, 8 from Kent, and 16 from Surrey. In his charge to the grand jury, the Common Serjeant alluded at some length to the De Vidil case, and expressed himself strongly in favour of sending the case for investigation before a petty jury, a recommendation which the grand jury followed, by returning a true bill against the Baron de Vidil for feloniously assaulting his sou, with intent to murder him, without the latter having been called as a witness. The grand jury ignored the bill against Mr. Austwick Westbrook, the solicitor, who stabbed Mrs. Cathrey at dinner.

— Mrs. Harvey, the widow of a publican, who kept a river-side public-house at Fen Ditton, about nine miles from Cambridge, was murdered on Saturday by her eldest son, the motive for the crime being, it is supposed, a quarrel about the division of the property of the father. The deceased, since the death of her husband, had taken a house near Ditton Church, where a Mrs. Witts lived with her as lodger. On Saturday night, the deceased went into the cellar to put up a ham, and Mrs. Witts accompanied her, for the purpose of carry- ing a light. Her son, who had been watching his opportunity from the garden, then rushed into the house and down the cellar, saying, "Oh, now I've got you," knocked her down, and beat her on the head with some heavy weapon to such an extent as to cause her death in less than ten minutes. Mrs. Witts also received such severe injuries as to cause her life to be despaired of, and Shadrach Jacobs, a brother of the deceased, who was in the house at the time, was knocked down and rendered insensible by a blow from the murderer. It appeared in evidence that durinf, family quarrels about the division of some land, Thomas Harvey had frequently been heard to threaten the life of both his mother and brothers. He has not yet been apprehended, but it is anticipated that he will be in the hands of the police before long.

— A meeting was held at Leeds a few days ago, to consider the question of the Danish Succession, and also the desirability of in some way or other preventing the frequent count-outs in the House of Commons. Lord Hobert Montagu and Mr. E. Baines, who had been expected to attend the meeting, sent explanations of their views by letter. Lord B.. Montagu said :

" A 'count-out' does not ' overtake a dull and stupid speech.' I have heard many such speeches, when no one dreamt of counting the House. I have always seen the House nearly empty when the fate of millions of our Indian fellow- subjects has been discussed; but no one tried to count out the House. I have seen the benches deserted while millions sterling of English people's money were being voted away ; but if anyone had moved that the House be counted,' he would have been deemed no better than a fool or a madman. A ' count-out' is always preconcerted and arranged between the leaders on each side of the House. It is attempted only when a subject which is inconvenient to Government either has been broached or is about to come on. A count-out,' in fact, is quite in accordance with a tendency that has predominated in modern legislation—it carries out the ditermination to conceal things from the nation, and even to take the supervision and control of affairs out of the hands of Parliament itself. The Cabinet have thus virtually constituted themselves the rulers of the empire. Their deeds are kept secret from the people; and even concealed and shrouded from the inquiring gaze of Parliament. The Queen herself is generally shut out from the secret deliberations of the Cabinet; and despatches have been written in her name without her sanction. The Cabinet feel that they rale the empire. and do not blush to affirm it when they say, 'We sent the army there ;" We made such an arrangement with that foreign despot;' We propose to take such and such a course.' The Queen is nothing now in her own kingdom. Similarly people talk of ' the Government of Lord John Russell, 'the Government of Lord Palmerston. But no one thinks of the Government of the Queen. When any me gets impatient under this tyranny of a cabal, and wishes to return to the ancient order of things, and pay, to the best Sovereign who ever adorned the throne of England, the honest allegiance which they owe—then the cabal to the Tight of the Speaker agrees with the ex-cabal on the other side to smother these endeavours by a count-out. It is thus that the country is crucified between two thieves. Then again, the effect of these counts' is to accumulate a great mass of business for the end of the session. The accumulation of business is hurried through in the most unseemly manner; and no one challenges any misdeed or extravagance. Thus the same independence of parliamentary supervision, the same immunity from scrutiny is secured by the press of business at the end of the session as by the counts-out' at the beginning."

Mr. E. Baines, M.P., also sent a letter, in which, after alluding to the Danish Succession question, he thus speaks of the practice of counting out the House :

"The practice of counting out' the House is resorted to either when a very dry subject or one that is particularly unpalatable to some one section of the House is under discussion. Sometimes one side of the House suffers from the practice, and sometimes the other side. Lord Robert Montagu was stopped on the occasion to which I have referred; but the most audacious case of the kind that I have known was earlier in the last session, when a Liberal member was speaking, and several Conservative members stood at the door of the House, after the Speaker had been requested to ' count,' and whilst the warning bell was ringing, and blocked up the way, so that members desirous to get into the House had almost to fight their way through, and Mr. Baxter had his hat smashed. On the night of the Danish discussion, Lord Robert Montagu was deserted by his own side of the House, not more than ten or a dozen members of that side being present when the ' count' was called for, and not one on the front opposition bench; whilst Lord Palmerston and Lord John Russell were both in their places. If you can do anything to promote a better attendance of members, especially during the discussion of the estimates, you will render a public service. But I doubt the expediency of prohibiting .a ' count-out' when the attendance is so thin as to make the proceeding with business a mockery. There must, 1 conceive, bo some limit below which the House should be prevented.by its own rules from pro- ceeding to any important division I see no remedy for counts-out' and scanty attendances, except in every constituency looking after its own members, and giving them a hint when they neglect their duty."

These letters were read to the meeting, and resolutions were subse- quently passed to the effect that members of Parliament ought to give more attention to their work, and that it is "improper to inter- fere with the ancient laws of succession to the crown of a foreign people, and that it is the duty of the people of this country to resist any such attempt being made by its Government." — The perambulator question came up again in an action for assault, at Bristol assizes, on Monday. Mr. Matthias, a gentleman of property, is the owner of a row of houses at Bristol, near which is a newly-built square. The owners and inhabitants of the houses in the latter have for some time past contended for the right of way through a thorough- fare leading to Clifton by the side of Mr. Matthias's houses, Mr. Matthias, on the other hand, maintaining that the thoroughfare in question is only public as a footpath, and that the carriage-way is for the exclusive use of the stables attached to his houses, and nu- merous disputes such as setting up and pulling down posts, &c., have taken place on the subject. On the 12th of April last, Mrs. Mais, a Bristol lady, attempted to pass through this thoroughfare, pushing a perambufator before her. Mr. Matthias, in trying to prevent her from so doing, placed his hand on her shoulder, which constituted the assault complained of. The lady then picked up the perambulator and child, and carried them through the disputed passage. It was i

contended for the defendant that it was an excess in the use of the right of way to pass through with carriages, wheelbarrows, or any kind of vehicle on wheels, and that a perambulator came within the latter class. The perambulator in question was produced in court, and did not appear to be one-sixth of the width of a lady's crinoline, and the counsel for the plaintiff maintained that the perambulator was so small as to be capable of being carried, and was not an excess of the use of the right of way. The Judge summed up at some length, and finally put the matter to the jury in three propositions : First, were perambulators the usual accompaniments of a large class of foot-passengers ? Secondly, was this particular perambulator so small and so light as not to be a nuisance to other passengers ? Thirdly, was it a nuisance to the soil ? As lie would leave the fact entirely to them, lie supposed they would take the law entirely front him. If it was such a usual accompaniment as he had described, then the defendant had no right to object to it. The jury, not being able to agree to a verdict, were locked up till eight o'clock, rat., and then, by the consent of both parties, discharged.

— The births during the quarter in Scotland have not only ex- ceeded the average but also the proportion of births in England, while the deaths are also below the average both of Scotland and England. The excess of births over deaths is 13,266, which, allow- ing a margin for foreign emigration, gives an additional 10,000 to the population in the quarter. A considerable migration to England, however, took place in addition to foreign emigration. The births in towns were to those in the country almost as 4 to 3 (421 in 10,000 to 338 in 10,000), but the deaths were in still greater excess, being in the proportion of 3 to 2. This mortality in towns was made up, however, by migration; and the town population has in- creased in the last 10 years more than 11 times as much as the country population. The proportion of females to males, in Scot- land, is 111.5 to 100 as against less than 106 in England and Ire- land, while the marriages during the quarter were below the average, and considerably below the English average.

— A Parliamentary paper has recently been published, containing the information obtained by Mr. Edwin Chadwick during the recent education inquiry. Mr. Chadwick's theory is that a boy obtains quite as much knowledge and a much greater habit of mental ac- tivity when only worked half-time than when lie is taught for a long day in a listless and dawdling frame of mind. He considers that beyond three hours' instruction all is waste, and recommends that half the time now employed in instruction should be devoted to gymnastic exercises and drill, which would, lie believes, increase the value of a boy in after life as a labourer fully one-fifth. Mr. Chadwick quotes the opinions of numerous eminent men in favour of the latter suggestion. A thoroughly carried out system of drill, he considers, improves the health, the carriage, the manners, even the character ; sharpens the attention, gives habits of obedience, prompt- ness, regularity, and self-restraint. — The Archbishop of Canterbury, at the request of the King of the Sandwich Islands, has consented to consecrate a Bishop for the superintendence of a Church of England Mission in his dominions, and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel have resolved to

grant 3001. a year towards the maintenance of the Mission, which will also be strengthened by three clergymen of the Episcopal Church of America. The seat of the bishopric will be Honolulu, and the first Bishop the Rev. Thomas Nettleship Staley, formerly Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge, and subsequently tutor at St. Mark's, Chelsea.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21.

— Yesterday was the file of the Order of Foresters. The mem- bers of some affiliated benefit clubs, numbering usually about sixty thousand persons, and most of them wearing some sash or rosette, proceed by train to the Crystal Palace, there to spend the day. Yes- terday the managers of the Palace exerted all their resources to pro- vide amusement for their guests, the fountains playing twice, while dancing, quoits, archery, in-door and out-door concerts, and a grand procession filled up the day. The slopes in front of the Palace and the gardens were turned into one huge pic-nic, and the debris of eatables left are described as something astounding. The utmost good-humour prevailed, and there was no visible muddling at the railway. People sometimes affect to doubt the gradual civilization of our lower classes, but ask any man of fifty to give his reminiscences of the "outings" of the people, the suburban fairs, with their infinite 'variety of low debaucheries, the drink, quarrelling, and attempts at murder, and contrast his recollection with the existing reality. The Bartlemy Fair of to-day is the Crystal Palace, an advance at least as great as any made by the middle classes.

— Ann Hill, wife of John Hill, head gamekeeper to Sir F. D. Astley, of Everleigh, Wilts, was found murdered on Sunday, the 18th instant. She was last seen sitting reading at her own window, and expressed to another gamekeeper, named Stocker, her intention of going to church. She seems to have gone soon after to the boil- ing-house to prepare some food for the dogs, and there she was found by Stocker, lying with her throat savagely cut. She had been garotted first with a small rope. Her bedroom had been plundered, or searched, letters and other things being scattered about. Not a trace of knife, or cord, or murderer has yet been discovered ; but three facts seem, from the narrative, quite clear : the object of the murder was to get something known to be in the victim's bedroom; it was committed by some one who knew the premises, certainly by a very powerful man, and probably by a very tall one • only a powerful man would have tried the rope first, and only a tall one could have stooped so as to cut the woman's throat from behind. — M. de Caumont, of Normandy, has erected a granite column at Dives to commemorate the spot from which William I. marched to the conquest of England. The following is the inscription : "Alt SOUVENIR DU PLUS GRAND 'EVENEMENT HISTORIQUE DES ANNALEs NORMANDES, LE DEPART DU DUC GUILLAUME LE BATARD POUR LA CONQUETE DE L'ANGLETEBHE EN 1066. PENDANT UN MOIS LA FLOTTE DU DUC GUILLAUME STATIONNA DANS LE PORT DE DIVES, ET SON ARMEE, COMPOSER DE CINQUANTE MILLE HOMMES, C4MPA DANS LE VOISINAGE AVANT DE 3IETTRE A LA VOILE."

M. de Caumont, in his opening speech, called attention to the fact that the Duke collected 50,000 men and transported them to Eng- land, with their horses, a task which would be exceedingly difficult even now.

— A terrible boat accident occurred at Scarborough on Tuesday, the 20th inst. Eleven gentlemen engaged a boat to go to Flam- borough on a shootinn.a excursion, and the day being very squally, the boat was much overloaded. They arrived safely at Flamborough and went to the Star Inn, where some of them drank rather freely, and one Mr. G. Wike declined to return with them. The rest re- embarked, and sailed part of the way in safety, but the wind still rising the boatman resolved to go nearer the cliffs. While turning she was struck by a squall, and went over. The boatman and his boy escaped by floating, but all the visitors were drowned. The names known are I. Bradshaw, J. Asquith, J. Ogden, A. Ogden, J. Hobson, and J. Batty.

— A young man, named Charles Pugh, of Worcester, lived with Dinah Mason. She quitted him, and went to live with another man whom she even set on to beat Pugh. He called one morning to see her, and begged her to speak to him, but she only abused him, and he cut her throat with a razor, then drew the razor across his own throat, ran down stairs, and fell down. Both Pugh and Dinah Mason are recovering, though the former had his windpipe com- pletely severed.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22ND.

—A highly important trial of the effect of shot from a 100-pounder Armstrong gun, on Mr. Jones's improved system of iron-plating for vessels, took place at Portsmouth on Wednesday. The target was fixed on the deck of an old Arctic vessel, the Griper, and repre- sented as nearly as practicable the actual side of an iron-plated ship. It consisted of 4 plates, two 4.+ in. and two 5f in., laid in 12 in. of pine backing, which again is bolted to a in. plate, and presents angles to the assailant guns of about 50 degrees. The plates are not tongued or grooved at the edges, as in the Warrior and other iron-clad ships, but are laid together square with each other, as Mr. Jones considers the effect of the former plan to be injurious to their strength. The whole is sohung that, even if the plates them- selves were destroyed, the real hull of the ship would be injured in no way whatever. The practice was made by the Stork gunboat, with an Armstrong gun carrying a cast-iron bolt 7 in. long by 12 in. diameter, weighing 110lbs., propelled by a charge of Albs. of powder, at a distance of 200 yards, and the resisting power of the target was unprecedented. Out of 22 shots, the majority merely made indentations of a depth varying from 1 to 3 inches, without seriously starting any of the bolts, and only one shot, which hit a spot previously damaged by several others, passed through the plates, but even then did not touch or injure the hull of the vessel in the slightest degree. It must be borne in mind that all the shots were concentrated on a very small area, and also that the target had never been in any way repaired since its trial against an Armstrong 68- pounder in August, 1860, two circumstances which makes its power of resistance appear perfectly wonderful.

— Hamilton Connolly, chief clerk in the War Department, Lower Castle-yard, and John MeUwain, Ordnance contractor, Naas, county Kildare, were charged yesterday, at the Dublin head police-office, with frauds on Government, supposed to amount alto- gether to the large stun of 12,000/. It appears that for a number of years, Connolly had been in the habit of altering the figures in the accounts of McIlwain, the contractor, after they had been certi- fied by his superior in office, and the sums thus obtained were divided between the prisoners. In one instance the figure " 1" had been converted into " 7," and the prisoners obtained. payment of a cheque for 7001. instead of •1001. They were both committed for trial on the charge of conspiracy to commit fraud, and obtain money under false pretences. Connolly was also committed on the additional charge of forgery. — The proceedings of the Social Science Congress were carried on throughout Tuesday. Lord Talbot de Malahide, President of the De- partment of Public Health, delivered an address with especial re- ference to the diseases which are consequent upon a high state of civilization. His Lordship dwelt upon the absence of pure water in towns, -the neglect of bathing, the adulteration of food, over- crowding in badly ventilated buildings, &c. &c., and suggested reme- dial measures.

— The members for Sheffield both attended a banquet given by the mayor of that borough on Wednesday in the Free Library. Mr. Roebuck responded to the toast of the "Borough Members," and announced his intention of talking about politics and nothing but politics. He began with France. Though an ardent admirer of Mr_ Cobden, he doubted much whether the commercial treaty would be productive of the good results in strengthening the alliance between the two nations that that gentleman expected. The person now on the throne of France had been made by circumstances, if not the slave, still the servant of an army of six hundred thousand men. He i

threatened our shores with an immense navy too, but Englishmen would not be threatened with impunity. The dragon's teeth had been sown, and the volunteers had started up. He believed, too, that Lord Palmerston cared for the honour and safety of England, and that as long as he was at the head of the administration, we were safe. Mr. Roebuck then asserted, of his own positive know- ledge, that a compact existed between the Emperor of the French and the King of Italy that when the former withdrew his troops from Rome the latter should cede the island of Sardinia to him. He did not believe that the people of England would allow that, but that Lord Palmerston would'be ready to battle against such aggran- dizement. Mr. Roebuck then turned to the present position of Austria. On this point he wished to be clear, as "penny papers and penny trumpets were playing against him for what he had said." He believed that the Emperor of Austria, taught by experience, was honestly striving to give a constitutional government to his people. He had given them a House of Lords like our own, with this advan- tage, that the emperor could grant life peerages to anyone who had distinguished himself in Church, State, Literature, or Arts. The House of Commons was also like our own. Hungary was to send 85 members out of 342, and the whole Duchy of Austria only 28, so it was out of the question that the former could be swamped by the latter. The empire consists of component parts, as the late United States used to do, hitherto only muted by the golden link of a crown; the emperor wished to unite them under a .constitutional government. He would ask if the Hungarians were wise in imped- ing him in such a good work. Mr. Roebuck then alluded to America: He owned that with regard to that country his early anticipations had bees. shaken. He believed in the great men—the Washingtons, the Jeffersons, and others of past times (hear, hear), and that there was about to be shown to mankind a new era in the government of man—that this people, instructed and well-to-do in the world—many of them men of rank—world have governed them- selves as men ought to do. He had been miserably disappointed. (Hear.) If we were to say to an American, We give you every virtue under Heaven, we believe you to be the greatest people :on the earth, but still it seems to me you don't speak English as it should he spoken—this you speak through the nose' (laughter) —fire and fury will be the answer. Ho will say with a mighty indignation, Sir, I grant you the imputation that we snaffle in our speech' (laughter), and then all we have stated on behalf of this nation will be forgot, because we had said that they snaffled in their speech. (` Oh!') That unfortunately he (Mr. Roebuck) believed to be a true statement of the present case. The unspeakable audacity, the overbearing insolence of Americans (hear, hear), had withdrawn from them all sympathy on the part of the people of England. (Hear, hear.) Looking at the great contest now going on, was there a man in this country who did not la his heart desire that the slave might be free? (Hear, hear.) These are with the North, our commercial interests are with the South, but still we have ac throughout with complete neutrality, and what has been the consequence? have been visited with abuse as was never before heaped upon us, and NV borne it with a magnanimity and carelessness which showed our supe

e

have 1- We must still, however, pursue our course of strict neutrality with regard to the affiiir. Our hearts and our wishes were with the oppressed."

After a. few more remarks, Mr. Roebuck resumed his seat amid great applause.

— In the Social Economy Department, Mr. Charles Bianconi read a paper on " Car-travelling in Ireland, its Rise, Progress, and Social Results," giving details of his large establishment for the conveyance of passengers and mails all over Ireland. Notwithstanding the effects of railways on his establishment, it still employs 900 horses travelling over 4000 miles daily, passing. through 23 counties, having 137 stations, and working 12 mail and day coaches 672 miles; 50 four-wheel cars with two and more horses travelling-1930 miles, and 66 two-wheel one-horse cars travelling 1604 miles. The department of Jurisprudence was occupied principally in a discussion on the Marriage Law, on which several papers were read, and addresses de- livered by Lord Brougham and Mr. Whiteside.

— The Baron de Vidil was placed at the bar of the Central Criminal Court yesterday, and in answer to the indictment charging him with having feloniously wounded his son, with intent to murder him, or, as stated in a second and third count, to do him grievous bodily harm, or to maim and disable him, the prisoner pleaded " Not guilty." He then elected to be tried by a jury composed entirely of Enghshmen.

FRIDAY, AURIJST 23.

— Thomas Harvey, who murdered his mother at Fen Dillon, on Monday, hanged himself directly afterwards on a tree not a hundred yards from the house where the crime was committed. His body was discovered yesterday afternoon hanging from a bough forty feet from the ground.

— The proceedings of the Soeial Science Association at Dublin were brought to a close on Wednesday. Judge Longfield, the presi- dent of the Social Economy Department, delivered his address, the subject being the advance in material prosperity made by Ire- land in the last quarter of a century, which he showed by statistics to have been both rapid and steady. The total area of Ireland is 20,000,000 acres. Out of that number, in 1841, 13,464,301 were arable, 6,300,000 being waste. In 1860, there were 15,400,000 acres of arable, nearly 2,000,000 acres, or 14 per cent., having been reclaimed during the intervening 20 years. During the same period, too, the total value of live stock in the island has increased from 21,105,8081. to 33,839,8991., or upwards of 50 per cent. The same rapid progress is exhibited by the statistics of the investments in Go- vernment stock of Irish fundholders, which have increased.25 per cent. during the 10 years ending in 1860. 2,380,000/. in excess of the stock transferred from Ireland to England has been transferred from Eng- land to Ireland in the same 10 years. Since 1851, too, 800 additional miles, of railway have been constructed, at a cost of 11,000,0001., and the traffic has increased in a still greater proportion than the mileage. The total amount invested in Irish railways is now 19,000,0001., the net receipts on which amount to 3i per cent. The revenue derived from Ireland has increased more than 50 per cent. in the last 10 years. Seven-ninths of the popula- tion are now educated by the State in National Schools. After a few words from Lord. Brougham, the business of the de- partment was concluded. In the Jurisprudence Department, the debate on the Marriage Law was resumed, and the National System of Education continued to form a topic of discussion in the de- partment of Education until its close. In the afternoon, the pro- ceedings were wound up by a general meeting in the Solicitors' room. It appeared from the report of the Secretary that the tickets issued in Dublinwere—Members, 353 ; Associates, 1347; tot al, 1700. The Council expressed their warmest thanks for the reception the Association had met with in a city where it was so little known as in Dublin, and formal votes of thanks to the Lord Lieutenant, the Lord Mayor, the University, the President and Vice-Presidents of Departments, &c. &c., were embodied in the report, which was unanimously adopted. The Lord Justice of Appeal then moved a vote of thanks

for Lord Brougham, prefacing the motion with a few highly o observations. The resolution was then put to the meeting by Sir Robert Peel, whose reception on his first appearance as Chief Secretary was most enthusiastic. After expatiating on the services rendered by Lord Brougham to whatever measures have tended to the progress and elevation of the human mind, and the improvement and elevation of the people, he alluded to his own flattering re- ception :

It may be misplaced in me to make an allusion of this nature on such an oc- casion as the present—(Cries of' No, no')-7-but I cannot refrain from thanking the honourable gentleman who spoke in the early part of this discussion for the remarks which he made in reference to the public services of my father. (Applause.) No doubt, in this country my father's services have, happily for me, left behind them a very grateful recollection, and one of the most earnest desires that I have will be to endeavonrto render myself, as far as the abilities that I possess render me ca- pableef doing so, in some way worthy of the great fame he has left behind him- (Appleisee)--ancl though it may be at .a very far distance, yet still I shall endeavour to devote the ability that I have to the same course which he so eminently and so successfully followed. (Applause.) I wish, therefore, ladies and gentlemen, with your permission, to put this resolution that has been placed in my hands to the meeting, and lam quite certain that the universal feeling of every heart in this hall will respond to the expression which it contains."

The resolution was then carried amid great applause, and Lord Brougham responded :

"I feel," he said, "personally grateful, but, on the part of the association at the head of which I have the honour to stand, it becomes me to reiterate those thanks tendered to Dublin in the report, for the kind reception and the useful co-operation of all classes, of both sexes, I rejoice to say. (Applause.) We have met with the kindest and most cordial reception, from the Lord-Lieutenant and Lord Mayor downwards. Every rank, every description of person, seem to vie with each other and rival each other in the kindness, and the usefulness, and the activity of co-operation with which they received us. (Hear.) I have many causes of regret personally, and on the part of the association I have one cause of regret of the same sort—namely, that the period has come at which our labours cease and our residence here is at an end—I mean that it has happened just on the eve of the arrival of her Majesty our Sovereign. (Hear, hear.) It would be the greatest possible pleasure to this association—a pleasure in ivhich I sin sure all here present would partake—if we had happened to be to situated as to pay our respects and to testify the loyalty of our affection to our Sovereign. (Applause.) For I may truly say upon this occasion I lament the impossibility of our tendering our devoted services and homage to that illustrious Sovereign, than whom, in every respect, both in her public capacity and in her private, there never was a Sovereign in this or any other country more entitled to the admira- tion and the gratitude of her people (loud applause); as a Sovereign, ruling upon true constitutional principles ; as a parent, educating her family to be an example to every other family in her dominions. The Prince Consort is also truly descry,- ing of the respectful attachment of the people. He has been a patron of the sciences and the arts, and of social progress, and has been himself the founder of an international institution, which met at the beginning of the summer before last—I mean the International Statistical Congress. I cannot conelnde without expressing once more my gratitude, not only to the principal secretary, but my gratitude to the local secretaries and presidents of departments. Their care and attention have been moat constant, and their services most useful. I hope we shall not part without tendering a vote of thanks to them, though the reception you gave to the address, in which they are thanked, will amount almost to the same thing. I would wish also, as it has been the custom upon all former occa- sions, to tender our thanks to the press—the local press—for the aid which it has afforded. That has been constant and most useful ; but I ought also to state that we have received from the more distant branches of that large establishment —I mean the metropolitan press, and from the press of Glasgow and Edinburgh —a constant and useful help. With respect to newspapers- to the great esta- blished newspapers in London, Ireland, and elsewhere—we should be guilty of a sin which has been said to be more serious than witchcraft—ingratitude—if we did not acknowledge the help that they have given to the progress of social science and the help which they have given, one and all, I am sure, with few ex- ceptions, to the Social Science Association and the National Association. There is a sin even worse than ingratitude, which is worse than witchcraft, and that is injustice, and it would be the height of injustice if I did not acknowledge ova obligations to that press. There is another, not a sin, but a defect, which is even worse than injustice, and that is—folly ; and it would be an incredible folly in - this association if it did not feel grateful chiefly to that great metropolitan press —metropolitan in England, metropolitan in Dublin, metropolitan in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The expense which those great journals have incurred upon all occasions for providing information, for promoting discussion, for promoting everything that tends to promote social science,—that expense is so enormous that I believe hundreds and thousands of pounds are thus expended, and I should exaggerate if I said what I heard estimated at different times when this subject has been under discussion in Parliament and elsewhere; • but, without exag- gerating, I can only say of that expense we have derived the benefit. (Hear, hear.) Now, will you permit me, therefore, to propose to you, as has always been done at the conclusion of the Congress, on this and former occasions, to acknowledge the services we have derived from the press, and particularly from the local press, on the present occasion? (Loud applause. "

After votes of thanks to the Local Secretaries and the ladies, the proceedings of the fifth annual meeting of the Social Science Asso- ciation terminated.

— The Rev. James Roe was tried at the Central Criminal Court, on Tuesday and Wednesday, on the charge of having forged• a cheque for 60001. The prisoner was the nephew of Mr. Edward Roe, of Macclesfield, who also. had two other nephews of the name of Roe. In 1859 Mr. Edward Roe died, leaving the prisoner a legacy of 5001., and making the other two nephews residuary legatees. The prisoner, dissatisfied at not having been made a residuary legatee, took lenr'al proceedings to set aside the will, but was defeated in every action he brought. In the middle of last year, the prisoner brought forward a letter, purporting to have been written by his father on the day before his death. The letter ran thus :

" Macclesfield, Dec. 30, 1858.

"DEAR JAMES,--I am being made to do what I don't want. If I am gent when you come, use this money for the benefit of yourself and family. " E. ROE." On the same sheet of paper was the cheque for 60001., the signature- to which constituted the alleged forgery. It was shown in evidence that the handwriting was not similar to that of Mr. Edward Roe, and also that lie was utterly incapable, through physical weakness, of writing.a letter the day before his death. It was further proved the prisoner had bought type, &c., for the purpose of counterfeiting the post- marks of " Macclesfield" and " Bath" for the envelope of the letter, and that the letter had never passed through the Macclesfield office, because it had the stamp D, which had not been used till the 3rd of January, or two days later than the date of the counterfeit stamp. The defence principally rested on the fact that the will contained a special and unusual direction to the testator's executors to pay all outstanding checks which might be presented at his banker's. Several of the witnesses for the prosecution, too, admitted that if the letter and cheque had been dated two years earlier they should have believed them to have been in the handwriting of the deceased. The absence of Mr. John Orme Roe, the nephew who was said by the prisoner to have forced the will upon the deceased, was commented upon, and it was suggested that he dare not come forward and state by what means lie induced-the deceased to make that will. The jury, after about an hour's deliberation, found the prisoner Guilty, and the judge, in passing sentence, said he considered the weight of evidence against the prisoner to be overwhelming, and his crime without the slighest palliation.. He then sentenced the prisoner to ten years' penal servitude. The latter received his sentence without any apparent. emotion_ — Messrs. Neill, Brothers, of Manchester, have just issued a. circular to their correspondents, calling attention to the present. supply of cotton, and foretelling a great scarcity of that article before long, It appears that the stock of American cotton at Liver; pool, which was 860,000 bales on the 22nd ult., is now reduced to 639,000 bales, the takings from Liverpool for consumption during that period having been at the rate of 39,000 bales per week Adding 2000 bales from Glasgow and elsewhere, the I otal consump- tion of American cotton has been at the rate of 41,000 weekly for

"A CARD TO COTTON PLANTERS.

The undersigned cotton factors in the city of New Orleans, in view of the interests of all parties, recommend to their various customers and correspondents not to ship any portion of their crop of cotton to this city, or to remove it from their plantations, until the blockade is fully and entirely abandoned, of which due notice will be given."

The Board of Underwriters have come to the following decision :

" Office Board of Underwriters, "New Orleans, July 23, 1861.

"At a meeting of this board held to-day, the following resolution was adopted, and ordered to be published: " Resolved,—That no river insurance on cotton bound to this port, nor fire insurance on cotton in the city of New Orleans, be taken until the blockade of the port is raised, and its free navigation resumed. Cotton on plantations may be insured against fire to the extent of three-fourths of its value, provided it is stored in lots of not exceeding one hundred and fifty baler, and the lots at least

three hundred feet apart. "JAMES H. WHEELER, Secretary."

It is manifest from the above document that no cotton whatever can be exported through New Orleans as long as the blockade lasts, and it is probable that the same course will be taken at the other Southern ports. The most stringent measures have also been taken by the South, to prevent the transport of cotton overland to the North, even to the extent of prohibiting all communication between Southern and Northern citizens on any pretence whatever. It is clear, strange as it may seem, that both North and South are determined to prevent the export of every bale of cotton they can, the former believing that the need of money will bring their opponents to terms, and the latter trusting that need of cotton will bring the North to terms, possibly by the pressure of European Governments, whom the same cause will induce to interfere. A very great scarcity of cotton must therefore be anticipated, and though the supply of Surat is fortu- nately large, Messrs. Neill believe that a total stoppage of the trade will be the result, unless by a great and immediate advance of prices, producers of cotton, and merchants in other parts of the world, are shown that the scarcity is real, and that a good market is to be obtained here for cotton. Messrs. Neill also recommend spinners to run their mills half time, so as to prevent a total stoppage of the trade by economizing the present supply.

the last four weeks and four days, and including takings for exporta- tion, 210,000 bales against 216,000 for the same period of last year, or very nearly at the same rate for both years. In the remaining months, however, of last year (from 24th August to 28th December), the consumption was 775,000 bales, and export 68,000. This year, on the 21st August, the whole available supply is only 639,000, with no prospect of replenishment before the close of the year. The usual season for shipping American cotton commences about the first week in September; but Messrs. Neill, in their circular, consider there is absolutely no prospect whatever of its commencing then, or for months to come. 141 firms, said to be all the cotton factors in New Orleans, and who control more than half the entire cotton crop, have signed the following notice to their customers :