1113tiscellaneous.

The writs for the newly-elected Members being returnable on Tuesday the 21st instant, Parliament met pro forma. The Lord Chan- cellor having taken his seat on the woolsack shortly after two o'clock, the officers of the Commons appeared at the bar;, and the Queen's writ was read with the usual formalities, declaring Parliament prorogued until Tues- day the 12th October. The Clerk of the Crown then delivered in the writs and returns for the Scotch Representative Peer& and proceeding terminated.

We have been informed on unquestionable authority, that the appoint; meat of Chief Commissioner of Poor-laws has been declined by the EarLof Chichester.—Times.

A deputation from the Liverpool Stock Exchange, sent to counsel the Railway Companies against pressing calls for capital, arrived in town on Wednesday, and had conferences with the-directors of several companies. We state general results. Mr. Glyn repeated his written declaration, that the North-western Company would not enter into any new contracts connected with bills for lines that were granted last session, excepting under very special circumstances, should any each arise. Mr. Hudson, for the Midland, Eastern Counties, and other Railways, concurred. Other directors intimated that the several calls now made are necessary for the payment of debentures and other peremptory demands.

Mr. Charles Russell, for the Great Western Railway, doubted the power of any company to pledge itself to the course recommended; but said that the Great Western Company had been doing all it could to limit its calls. It would continue to act on that general principle; but in respect of particular lines it could not alter past contract&

Mr. Chaplin, for the London and South-western, assured the deputation that new works should be suspended:as much as possible.

Mr. Ricardo, of the North Staffordshire, said, that whatever the chairmen of other companies, from patriotic promptings or considerate motives, might have told them, he believed that every company would act for its own, irrespective of the general interest altogether. This, he believed, was the only way in which these matters could right themselves. The only assurance that he could give them was, that it was not the intention of the North Staffordshire to make any call at least during this year; but, if it were to the interest of the company to make a call, and he considered that it was to the interest of his shareholders to raise the money, he should not hesitate to do so, irrespectively of every other consideration

He should be governed entirely by what he considered to be his duty to his own proprietors; and he believed that every other company, whatever they might say, would be governed by the same principle.

Mr. Macgregor, for the South-eastern and Dover, said that the company would do all in its power to curtail expenditure and defer calls. Mr. Grenfell, for the Brighton and South Coast, expressed the willingness of his company to concur in any measure that might be agreed to by the general railway constituency. The views of other railway companies are stated from report and less authori- tatively. The Great Northern seem to think that every contract between the companies and the public must be fulfilled, like any other commercial transaction. The Shrewsbury and Birmingham, and the Stour Valley, plead that they must go on, under pain of paying compensation for breach of contracts. Some think that a board of mercantile men ought to be appointed to arrange the matter.

s The Glasgow Stock Exchange have passed resolutions approving of the course adopted by the Liverpool Stock Exchange for checking the undue absorption of capital in the construction of railways.

The amount of calls due on English lines and payable this month is 2,536,6241.; on Scotch lines the amount payable is 90,0001., and on Irish lines 99,7501.; making a-total of calls due thismonth of 2,726,3741. The total amount called up thisTear by English, Scotch, and Irish companies, is, in- cluding the present month, 27,984,0231. This is exclusive of 6,238,0001. which has been called up-by foreign lines.—Irish Railway Gazette.

On investigation, it appears probable that the firm of Messrs. Sanderson and Company will be enabled shortly to resume their business. A meet- ing of the creditors, consisting principally of the leading bankers of the Metropolis, was held on Monday,—Mr. Jones Loyd in the chair; when it appeared that the house was considerably more than solvent at the time of the stoppage. The total liabilities then afloat were 1,725,000/. Of this gam only 168,4201. was uncovered by securities. But to meet this there were assets amounting to 259,0001., besides 188,0001. of private property.

The reasons for stopping payment are variously stated; but it is believed that they arose from the perverseness of a creditor who demanded a change of security for an amount in the hands of the firm. This being refused as unreasonable, the party demanded cash, and was then refused altogether.

It is understood that the firm of Giles and Co., one of the houses in the corn-trade that recently stopped payment, have offered to their creditors Ws: in the pound, payable in four monthly instalments; and that the cre- ditors will probably accept the offer.

The- examination into the affairs- of Messrs. W. and J. Wocdley, who Med on the 27th August, is not quite so satisfactory, though by no means without hope. The liabilities are 99,5071. 3e. 6d., while the assets are 90,8451. 7s.; leaving a deficit of nearly 9,0001. But it may be added, that the wheat which the firm held and which had been estimated at 45e. is now worth 48s. to 50e., and the flour at 23s. which is now worth 27s. to 28s. Under these circumstances, there is every prospect that the expectations of the creditors to escape without loss will very nearly be borne out.

It is understood that a first dividend of is. in the pound has been declared by the inspectors of the estate of Harman and Co. The Russian Govern- ment, on their debt of 414,0001., will thus receive rather more than 20,0001. Considerable assets still remain for distribution, which may ultimately swell the gross dividend- to between 3s. and 4e. in the pound.

The well-known firm of Burts, Watson, and Co., Moseley Street, Man- chester, suspended payment on Tuesday; and their failure involves that of the house of Burt, Watson, and Burt, of Leeds, (the partners being the same in both,) and is accompanied by that of Watson Brothers and Co. of Liverpool, with whom the Manchester and Leeds houses were intimately connected. We understand that the engagements of the Manchester and Leeds-firms amount altogether to about 100,0001.—Manchester Guardian.

The old-established house of Cockburn Brothers, in the Portuguese wine- trade, has been compelled to stop payment. The branch of the house at Oporto drew upon Reid, Irving, and Co. in London; and the connexion ao- counts for the downfall of the firm. The house has been long at the head of the wine-trade in. Scotland.—Standard.

"Notwithstanding-the general depression," says a circular just issued by Messrs. Gibson, Ord, and Co., of Manchester, " we have had a marked im- provement in our home trade during the past fortnight; and although not to the extent usually experienced at this season, it gives evidence of return- ing prosperity. We may also mention that the orders received by the last steamer from. America are large."

The practioe• of the Bank of England in requiring any bills which it holds- on the houses that have failed, and that may have been previously discounted for customers, to be immediately taken up by the indorsers, is said to have occasioned considerable inconvenience to more than one re- spectable firm who have been suddenly called upon for large payments on this account.—G/obe.

The Presse announces that M. Eynard has paid the bill for 500,000 francs, which he had authorized Coletti to draw, and payment of which Lord Palmerston " so brutally exacted."

A German correspondent of the Paris National reports that the Emperor of Russia has summoned all his Ambassadors at foreign courts to meet him at. St. Petersburg; whence it is inferred that some great movement is in contemplation..

The King of Prussia arrived at Inspruck on the 13th instant, after a flying visit to Venice; and was going to Munich.

According to the information collected by the Agricultural Society of the Haut-Rhin, the produce of the harvest in that department. exceeds the general average by about one-fourth.—Ge/ignani.

The commander of her Majesty's ship Bramble has taken possession of New Guinea in the name of her Majesty; which circumstance is strongly confirmatory of the reported. intention of the British Government to found a penal settlement in that vast island.--South Australian Register.

lir1841 the population of Paris was 935,261; the census recently published makes the total 1,053,897; showing an increase of 118,636 in five years. M. Gueymardhas just informed the General Council of the here that he has dis- covered a vein of platinum in the metamorphic district of the valley of the Drac, which he hopes to work with advantage. Hitherto this precious metal has only been met with in the Ural Mountains, and its scarcity has always rendered the price exorbitant.

Alarming, reports of extending cholera have been received from Tellis, Kars, Trebizonde, the Caucasus, Smolensko, Kieff, and. Tuesday last, the 21st instant, was the first day of the year 5608 of the Jewish, tem; and Monday, being the last day of their old year, was kept as a strict holy- day by the Jewish people, who closed their shops and suspended all business till after sunset.

Mr. James Alexander, of Hermitage, a Glasgow merchant, has bequeathed the- residue of his large fortune, between 50,0001. and 60,0001., to endow a college, in which poor children of both sexes shall be educated, clothed, and maintained. The Queen has commuted the sentence of death passed on Lieutenant Munro, to twelve months imprisonment in Newgate. The convict is very grateful. Mr. Ellerman, the gentleman who was charged with participation in the late forgery of Turkish piastres, states, in a letter to the Morning Post, that when he was taken before the Birmingham Magistrates not a tittle of proof could be brought against him; and he was liberated, the Town-Clerk answering for his- appearance if required at a subsequent period. Mr. Ellerman declares that he has been most shamefully treated in this matter, there having been no ground even for suspicion against him.

Results of the Registrar-General's return of mortality in the Metropolis for the week ending on Saturday last—

Number of glimmer deaths. average.

Zymotic (or Epidemic, Endemic, and Contagious) Diseases 383 .. . 2.6

Dropsy, Cancer, and other diseases of uncertain or variable seat 132 103 Diseases of the Brain, Spinal Marrow, Nerves, and Senses 154 167 Diseases of the Lungs, and of the other Organs of Respiration 221 226 Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels 29 23 Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs of Digestion 106 94

Diseases of the Kidneys, *c 12 8

Childbirth, diseases of the Uterus, Be.. 14 10 Rheumatism, diseases of the Bones, Joints, &c. 12 7

Diseases of the Skin, Cellular Tissue, &c. 3 a Old Age se

Violence, Privation, Cold, and Intemperance 28 Total (including unspecified causes) 940

The comparison of the deaths registered last week in London with the deaths which would have been registered if the rate of mortality had been the same as in Dorsetshire, shows these totals—London, 1169; Dorsetshire, 614; excess, 565.

The temperature of the thermometer ranged from 81.0° in the sun to 31.0° in the shade; the mean temperature by day being colder than the average mean temperature by 4.0°. The mean direction of the wind for the week was West- south-west.

62 49 1169