diffuse more extensively the opinions which I conscientiously entertain, and which are favourable to the system of government that you are desirous of carrying out. Why, sir, (said Lord Palmerston) if my noble friend had shrunk from giving the editor that support, he would have been more liable to blame than he is for having afforded to him the means of rendering the public a service. It may be that the editor was in some respect unworthy the confidence which my noble friend reposed in him. Sir, it is the misfortune of generous minds frequently to fall into the error of trusting too implicitly those who afterwards prove themselves unworthy of the confidence placed in them. But, sir, I must say, that for my part, I should not think that I was doing myself credit or honour by taking advantage of information given me by a man who had proved himself so undeserving of confidence; and it must be recollected that those who endeavour to throw dirt upon others may sometimes soil their own hands. Lord Palmerston concluded by saying he was sure, from the tone of the house, that this attempt to censure Lord Clarendon would utterly fail, and that he would retain the high position he had always held.-After a reply from Lord NAAS the house divided, when the motion was negatived by 229 against 137. On Friday the 20th, on the bringing up of the report on the ministerial Local Militia Acts Bill, Lord John RUSSELL again briefly set forth the main features of his measure, and his explanations seemed to anticipate some of the gravest objections about to be urged with success against him. He proposed to allow substitutes, but to require that they should be taken out of the same lists the lists of the same county and year: thus he got rid of the onerousness of strict personal service, and still avoided the evils of the system of general evasion by hiring substitutes, which is always practised when the regular militia is embodied in time of peace. He proposed that the queen have power to call out the force, not only in presence of actual invasion, but in case of apprehended invasion;" and he would retain the force embodied for six months after the enemy has left our shores, instead of six weeks, as the local militia law enacts, with a further liability to be kept on foot for twelve months.-Lord PALMERSTON rose ostensibly to move amendments in the instructions of the chairman, that would make the title of the bill to be brought in accord with the explanation of the provisions which Lord John Russell had given. The title of the bill was for a local militia, but the bill described was very nearly founded on the regular militia. The local system was thrown aside by Lord John Russell, but the local name was preserved. Going over the objections to the local militia as regulated by the old law-its immobility in case of sudden danger, its impermanency when the danger shall have only momentarily passed, the restriction of its service to Great Britain- Lord Palmerston summed up the objections to it by describing what is really wanted. "We have now (he said) to provide, not for a danger which may happen at the end of six months or twelve months, but for a danger which may happen at the end of a fortnight from the time when it was first apprehended. Now, how is that to be provided for? Why, the only rational mode is, that you should have at your disposal in time of peace a considerable force, adequately officered, drilled, disciplined, clothed, and armed, and that this force should be kept ready at the shortest notice to act under arms at the breaking out of war, or when war appears imminent. You want a force which shall be already drawn, which is sufficient for ordinary purposes, and which you can lay your hand upon at the shortest possible notice." He met the objections to a regular militia in this way. "It is said that the regular militia is a bad thing, because it admits of substitutes; that you cannot rely upon your substitute; that he does not appear at the time of training; that he will not come whenever the regiment is embodied; that in Scotland people do not like to serve, and that in Ireland you cannot trust the men who may be enrolled. To listen to these objections, one might suppose that Englishmen are cheats, that Scotchmen are cowards, and that Irishmen are traitors. All the objections I ever heard are founded upon a practical distrust of the people of these countries. Sir, I, on the contrary, am disposed rather to confide in them. But if you cannot trust your population to defend themselves, you must give them up. If you cannot trust Englishmen to come to the defence of their country-if Scotchmen will not take up arms and fight against an invading army-if Irishmen will not be true to their queen and country-why, let us send for a Russian force at once; let us have an Austrian garrison in London; let us hide our heads in shame and confusion, and confess that England is no longer England, and that her people have no longer spirit to defend themselves, their homes, their families, and their country. Sir, that is not my opinion. I am of opinion that Englishmen are proud of their country; that they are sensible of the value of what they have to defend; that they are fully determined to maintain their liberties; that they will not give way to an unreasonable panic, or imagine dangers that do not exist, but that they will be prepared deliberately to guard themselves against dangers that are sufficiently probable. And my belief is, that if the government make the appeal to the people-if they show them the dangers that may possibly arise-if they point out to them the value of the stake they have to defend-I, for one, believe you will not find the English substitutes running away from their colours, that Scotchmen will maintain their character for courage, and that Irishmen will not be found unworthy of the country to which they belong.' Lord Palmerston's amendment, that the words and consolidate" be inserted in the title of the bill, after the word amend," was agreed to. He then moved to leave out the word "local" from the title.-Mr. Milner GIBSON complained that national funds should be applied for any other purpose than the reduction of taxation, and spoke warmly against our having any political interests beyond the shores of the United Kingdom. He then asserted that it might be imprudent to arm the Irish, for the Catholics of Ireland with arms in their hands would certainly not fight for the Protestant establishment there. We ought to rely upon our navy for the defence of the country, which he would not believe was defenceless, for he would not believe that all those who had been entrusted with the armaments of the country had acted so basely as to squander the enormous sums confided to them. The present panic had been got up for political purposes.— Lord John RUSSELL opposed the amendment. Defending his own proposal, he said, that to tell the country that men, whatever their rank or position, should be bound to serve for five years, substitutes not being accepted, would be to make the bill generally unpopular. After bringing forward other objections to the regular militia system, he again urged that the government had well considered the subject, and should, at all events, be permitted to produce its plan. All he could say was, that if Lord Palmerston's amendment were carried, he should leave his lordship and Mr. Bernal to bring in their measure, and should reserve to himself the right to oppose it.-Mr. DISRAELI remarked upon the extraordinary course taken by Lord J. Russell, who seemed to think it unconstitutional in a parliamentary majority to refuse to a government leave to bring in a bill, the structure of which the house might consider vicious. He conceived that it was of great importance to come to a decision on the principle of the measure for establishing a domestic garrison, upon which, after four years' consideration, the government had ventured. Rebuking Lord John Russell for his concluding declaration, he charged him with being much too ready to carry his points by menaces to the house. The threat of to-night would not, however, prevent the house from deciding upon the principle of the new government measure.-Sir George GREY pointed out that Lord Palmerston did much more than put a direct negative, such as he had a right to put, on the course proposed by the minister for the adoption of the house he insisted on putting his own bill into the hands of ministers, and on making them ask leave to bring that in. As to the measure thus to be forced upon them, Sir George believed a regular militia would cost more than an equal number of men for the regular army. Mr. HUME declared against Lord Palmerston on the point of form: his the measure. Labouchere.-New Reform Bills for Scotland and Ireland 13th.-International Copyright Bill brought in by Mr. brought in by the Lord Advocate and Sir W. Somerville. 16th.-Militia Acts considered in committee-Lord John Russell's proposed measure.-Scotch Universities Tests Abo- 18th.-County Rates Bill (Mr. Freshfield's), read a second time.-Public Houses (Scotland) Bill read a second time.-County Rates Expenditure Bill (Mr. Gibson's) thrown out on second reading. Copyright Amendment (Mr. Lewes's) Bill. 19th.-Lord Naas' motion of censure on Lord Clarendon negatived. 20th.-Militia Acts, report brought up. Lord Palmerston's amendment to leave out the word "local" carried against ministers by 136 to 125.-Resignation of Ministers intimated by Lord John Russell.-Church Affairs in the Colonies considered Intestate Estates, leave given to Mr. Cornewall Lewis to bring in Committee.-Charitable Trusts, in Committee.-Personal in a bill. course was unprecedented. After a few more speeches, the Navy.-Mortmain Laws, Mr. Headlam's Committee rethe house went to a division-For Lord Palmerston's appointed.-Customs' Inquiry, Mr. Mitchell's Select Committee amendment, 136; against it, 125; majority against re-appointed. government, 11.-Lord John RUSSELL rose and stated, that as the house refused him leave to bring in his own bill, and as he could not be responsible for any other, he relieved himself of all responsibility with respect to "Any other person might bring in a bill on the subject, but he would not."-This declaration was received with loud cheers from all parts of the house. Lord PALMERSTON expressed extreme surprise at this announcement; that when there was so little difference, government should shrink from its duty, and, on account of a small incidental failure, throw up a measure which they ought not to have proposed unless they thought it really essential for the welfare of the country.-Lord J. RUSSELL replied, that he was stopped at the threshold, and told by the division that the house had no confidence in the government. The cheers of gentlemen affirmed that on this serious question such was the feeling of a majority of the house. There being no motion before the house, he moved that the chairman and Lord Palmerston be ordered to bring in the bill.-Sir Benjamin HALL declared that he had voted against Lord Palmerston's motion, as uncalled for and unprecedented, uncourteous and unconstitutional; but after the division, the manly and constitutional course would be for Lord John Russell to declare that he no longer presides over the councils of this country.-Lord John RUSSELL said, he thought his meaning had been sufficiently plain"When I said I took it for granted, as the result of the vote of the house, that the ministry had no longer the confidence of the house, and that such being the case, I could no longer continue"-[Loud ministerial cheers prevented the conclusion of the sentence from being heard; but it was inferred that Lord John said, or meant to say, that he could no longer continue to be the responsible adviser of the crown.]-He then withdrew his motion, and the house adjourned. Monday 23rd, Lord John RUSSELL announced that Ministers had resigned, and that the Queen had sent to the Earl of Derby, who was engaged in the formation of a new ministry. Lord John then said, with regard to the future, that he should feel it his duty, out of office as well as in office, to oppose the restoration of a duty on corn, whether for protection or revenue; that he should support an extension of the suffrage to those who were fitted to exercise the franchise; and that he should always exert any influence he might possess for the maintenance of the blessings of peace. In conformity with a wish expressed by Lord Derby, he moved that the house at its rising do adjourn until Friday next. The matter was agreed to, and the house adjourned. 23rd.-Resignation of Ministers announced by Lord John Russell.-House adjourned. THE two Houses of Convocation of the Province of Canterbury assembled at the Jerusalem Chamber, Westminster Abbey, on the 4th inst. In the Upper House, besides the Archbishop of Canterbury, there were the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Winchester, the Bishop of Oxford, the Bishop of Exeter, the Bishop of Chichester, the Bishop of Lichfield, and the Bishop of St. Asaph; in the Lower House, Archdeacon Denison, the Archdeacon of Bath, the Archdeacon of Barnstaple, the Archdeacon of Bristol, the Archdeacon of Maidstone, the Reverends J. Slaney, Dr. Moore, Dr. Spry, Dr. Mill, G. E. Gillett, H. E. Majendie, R. W. Huntley, E. Goddard, J. Yardley, T. Mills, H. A. Woodgate, T. Randolph, J. Harding. The solemn initiatory services having been gone through, an entrance upon actual business was made. In the Upper House, the Bishop of London presented seven petitions from several dioceses, praying that Convocation might sit for despatch of business. The Bishop of Exeter presented five petitions, the Bishop of Chichester eight, the Bishop of Llandaff one, the Bishop of Oxford four, and the Bishop of St. Asaph one, all of the same tenor as those presented by the Bishop of London. An animated discussion arose, in which the Bishops of London, Exeter, Chichester, Winchester, St. Asaph, Oxford, and Lichfield, took part, on the proposition to address the Queen for her license to meet for despatch of business. The debate had gone on for about an hour, when the Archbishop appealed to his brethren to forbear pressing the subject at the present moment. "However much (he said) Synodical action might be desired, he did not think that any good would accrue from petitioning her Majesty; for he felt quite certain that, in the present state of the Church and its multitudinous divisions, their prayer would not be granted." At the same time in the Lower House, about thirty petitions had been received, and a very earnest discussion on the same topic had gone on. The Lower House carried an address on the subject, and sent it to the Upper House with a request that they would take the subject into consideration. There was some demur to receiving this address, on the ground of form; but it was received, and "best attention" was promised for it. The Prolocutor of the Lower House, and the members who accompanied him, were returning to their own chamber, to enter on further business, when the Archbishop's Apparitor summoned them back; and on their arrival the Queen's Proctor, Mr. F. Hart Dyke, read the formal prorogation of the Convocation to Thursday, the 19th of August. At the reading of this document great surprise was expressed, and many of the members said the proceeding was illegal; but there was no appeal. On the same day the Convocation of the Province of York assembled at the Chapter-house of that city. But when the clergy appeared, several of them with petitions, numerously signed, in their hands, they found the doors closed against them, and were told by officials that there were no preparations for them. They adjourned to the Chapter Library, and wrote a joint letter to their Archbishop, asking when and where they might present their petitions for the real meeting of Convocation. Among the clergy present, were the Archdeacons Churton and Wilberforce, the Honourable and Reverend F. Grey, Messrs. Trevor, Gamlen, &c. A deputation of persons connected with the Agricultural Interest waited on Lord John Russell, on the 10th inst., to impress upon his lordship the necessity of conceding the repeal of the malt-tax, an equitable measure of tenant-right, a thorough revision of the present mode of managing the county expenditure, the abolition of the game-laws, the removal of restrictions to the growth of exciseable articles, and the adaptation of the tithe rent-charge to present prices. The deputation was introduced by Lord Rendlesham, and amongst its principal members were Mr. C. H. Lattimore, Mr. T. B. Johnson, Mr. R. Haward, Mr. C. F. Fitch, Mr. P. R. Welch, Mr. J. Garrould, and many other influential tenant farmers residing in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. Lord John Russell said that he could not at present enter into all the important matters which had been brought under his notice, but would give them full consideration. He observed, however, with regard to the malt-tax, that it supplied so large a source of revenue, that the chancellor of the exchequer could hardly afford to spare it. In respect to the excise duties, he doubted whether they could make out their case, that the consumption of corn was diminished by the duty on malt, because, it must be remembered, that the beer duty was taken off in 1830, and the war-duty was repealed after the peace. He should not deny that the excise duties were in some degree injurious, but he thought it would be a serious thing for the government to propose the entire abolition of the malt-tax, or to substitute another tax for it. Admiral Houston Stewart was elected member for Greenwich on the 10th, after a contest with Mr. Montague Chambers, Q.C. Admiral Stewart polled 2964, Mr. Chambers 1249. Mr. Vernon Smith, Secretary of War, was re-elected for the borough of Northampton, on the 9th.-On the same day, Mr. Fox Maule was re-elected for Perth. An official notification has been published to this effect, "that her Majesty's government are prepared, in certain cases, to advise her Majesty to accept the services of volunteer rifle corps, provided that the proposed formation of such corps is recommended by the lordlieutenant of the county, and that the members of the corps undertake to provide their own arms and equipments, and to defray all the expenses attending it, except in the event of the corps being assembled for actual service." A meeting of the Surrey magistracy and gentry at Epsom, held on the 17th inst., resolved to establish a Rifle Corps, under the conditions of the government notice. Public meetings to the same effect have been held at East Grinstead and other places. Sir Brook Bridges has been elected member for East Kent, in opposition to Sir E. Dering. Chancellor for Ireland, Mr. Blackburne; Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Lord Stanley; Attorney-General for Ireland, Mr. Napier; Solicitor-General for Ireland, Mr. Whiteside; Commander-in-Chief, the Duke of Wellington. NARRATIVE OF LAW AND CRIME. IN the Court of Queen's Bench on the 31st ult., Sir Fitzroy Kelly moved, on behalf of Mr. Ramshay, late Judge of the Liverpool County Court, for a rule to show cause why an information should not be exhibited against Mr. Joseph Pollock, calling on him to show by what authority he claims to exercise the office of Judge in the Liverpool County Court. The application arose out of Mr. Ramshay's removal by the Earl of Carlisle, and was intended to test the legal validity of that removal. In the course of the argument the following letter from the Earl of Carlisle to Mr. Ramshay, was brought forward: "November, 24, 1851. "Dear Sir, This letter will reach you together with the painful intimation of the decision to which I have thought it my duty to come. One thing I request you to believe, which is, that nothing I am about to observe is written with the intention or wish to deprecate any proceedings on your part in consequence of that decision which you might see fit to adopt: still, in taking a step which I feel you can only regard as one of the most inimical character, I cannot, in justice to truth, refrain from recording my conviction, that the person whom I am thus removing from the post where I have placed him has conferred essential benefits on the community in the midst of whom he And in prosecuted his labours, now abruptly terminated. much additional sorrow to have been unable to resist the concluaddition to other more personal reasons, I feel on these grounds sion that he had not the degree of self-command to enable him to properly perform the duties of Judge of the County Court of Liverpool. You will have perceived that this is not an official communication, still less is it one to which I expect any reply; but you are welcome to make any use of its contents you may think proper. "I am, dear sir, your faithful servant, "CARLISLE." On the 10th inst., the court gave judgment against Mr. Ramshay's application. The court held that as Mr. Ramshay does not allege that he was removed without cause, or without a hearing, or that the matters complained of against him, if adjudged true, do not constitute inability or misbehaviour, they cannot interfere. The chancellor had jurisdiction to inquire; he had inquired in due form; his judgment was valid, and it must stand. The At the Bow Street police office, on the 9th, Mr. Feargus O'Connor was charged with Assaulting a Police Constable. The constable stated that on the preceding Saturday evening, he was on duty at the Lyceum Theatre, when he heard a great noise and disturbance, caused by the prisoner, who was in one of the private boxes of the dress circle, standing up, loudly imitating the violin with his mouth, and the drum with his hands. Some of the audience were applauding the prisoner, while others were crying "Turn him out, turn him out." The witness went up to the prisoner The following are announced as the names of the New and civilly requested him to be quiet, and either take Ministry-First Lord of the Treasury, Earl of Derby; his seat or leave the house, in which latter case his Lord Chancellor, Sir Edward Sugden; Privy Seal, the money should be returned to him. The prisoner, who Marquis of Salisbury; President of the Council, Earl of was still "jigging about," turned upon witness and Lonsdale; Woods and Forests, Lord John Manners; gave him a direct slap in the face with his hand. Home Secretary, Mr. Walpole; Colonial Secretary, Sir constable then took him into custody and removed him J. Pakington; Under Secretary for Colonies, Lord to the station-house; on the way to which, the prisoner Desart; Secretary at War, Major Beresford; Board of offered the constable a shilling to let him go, and subControl, Right Hon. C. Herries; Secretaries for the sequently offered him two shillings, with the promise India Board, Lord Jocelyn and Mr. Gaskell; First Lord that he would make him an inspector. This testimony of the Admiralty, Duke of Northumberland; Post- was fully confirmed by respectable witnesses. Mr. G. master-General, Earl of Hardwicke; Board of Trade, W. M. Reynolds, who attended for his "friend," enMr. Henley; Vice-President of the Board of Trade, Mr. deavoured to excuse the prisoner, on the ground that his G. F. Young; Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. mind was affected to such a degree that he was not Disraeli; Foreign Secretary, Earl of Malmesbury; master of his own conduct, and begged for a commuSecretaries to the Treasury, Messrs. G. A. Hamilton tation of the sentence of a week's imprisonment, which and Forbes Mackenzie; Attorney-General, Sir Frederick the magistrate (Mr. Henry) had awarded. Mr. Henry Thesiger; Solicitor-General, Sir Fitzroy Kelly; Chan- said that the infliction of a fine in such a case would be cellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Sir J. Y. Buller. nothing short of a mockery of justice, particularly as -To hold offices without seats in the Cabinet:-Lord- regarded a person in the position of Mr. O'Connor, as Lieutenant of Ireland, the Earl of Eglinton; Lord he had it in his power at once to pay the amount, and the object of the legislature in conferring such a power was to apportion the punishment consistent with the position of the offender, so that persons who could command the amount of a fine should not altogether escape unpunished. and men of straw by multitudes, who could not now pay a farthing to discharge its debts, leaving the onus on the few who could, and who were decoyed into the scheme, received at the rate of 1s. and 2s. a head in the lowest purlieus and pothouses to sign the document obtaining registration. Notice of appeal against the call was given. Edward Staggles, a youth of 18, was brought before the Southwark Police Court, on a charge of Attempting to Murder Mr. Barber, a manufacturing chemist at Bermondsey. He had formerly been in Mr. Barber's employ; one night Mr. Barber found him in his manufactory, and was almost blinded by a powerful acid solution which the young ruffian threw in his face. Mr. Barber locked the then unknown assailant in the place, and fetched a neighbour. Staggles had then got into an upper floor, and through a trap-door he fired two pistols at Mr. Barber; one bullet went through the hair and wounded a finger, the other passed along the back, but merely tore the clothing. Mr. Barber courageously mounted the ladder and seized him, and he made no further resistance. He was committed for trial at the Central Criminal Court. A dreadful Agrarian Murder was committed in the county of Limerick, on the 18th inst. The victim was a poor man named James Cleary, who had been lately employed as a driver or under-agent by some landed gentleman. He was robbed and murdered within a mile of Askeaton. He must have been murdered with his own pistol, which he was observed to load and place in his pocket on leaving Askeaton for home. Death must have been instantaneous, as the bullet entered the left side, and passed through the left lung, entering the heart, which it also passed through and lodged in the back. The perpetrators of this crime, after shooting Cleary, carried off the pistol, and also robbed him of about 127., which he had received the day previous as rent for Mr. Davenport, one of his employers. The lord-lieutenant has offered a reward of 100%. for the apprehension of the murderer. In the Court of Queen's Bench, on the 11th inst., an action of Nuisance was tried at the instance of Mrs. Bostock, against the North Staffordshire Railway Company. The plaintiff is a lady possessed of property adjoining Brudyard-lake, in Staffordshire, and she has an interest in about 80 acres of the soil of the lake. The different proprietors of property adjoining this lake have the privilege of using the lake for pleasure-boats and for other purposes, except for boats or vessels for conveying passengers. The defendants became the purchasers from the Trent and Mersey Navigation of their interest in the lake. Advertisements appeared in the different papers stating that on Easter Monday there would be a fête and other sports on the lake, and that the railway company would run cheap trains to the lake during that day, and the consequence was that between 10,000 and 20,000 persons assembled there; great noise was made, cannon were fired, and all sorts of amusements took place upon the lake and upon the adjoining property. On Whit-Monday there was another fête, attended with similar noises and annoyances, and great damage was done to the plaintiff's plantations; the people broke the trees, and went all over the neighbourhood. The plaintiff went out and told them there was no public way; she was told to mind her own business. They used very coarse expressions, and conducted themselves in a very riotous and objectionable manner. The people in the boats shouted and made all kinds of noises, and altogether interfered very much with the comforts of her house. Mrs. Bostock's complaints being disregarded, the present action was brought. For the company it was contended that they had the right to have their boats on this lake, and to give these fêtes; and it was urged that it was rather a hard measure for this lady to attack this company because they had once or twice a year devised a mode of giving happiness and At the Mansion House, on the 19th, Mr. Stephen enjoyment to a class of persons who seldom had any Beale, meat-salesman of Leadenhall-market, was charged intermission to their toil. No doubt the rights of with having Exposed and offered for sale Meat unfit property were to be protected; but were persons for Human Food. The penalty amounts to 201, for to be so selfish and so churlish as to bring actions each offence. The charge was proved; and the sale of because a few persons were thus enjoying themselves? the bad meat was admitted by Mr. Beale, but he said Lord Campbell, in summing up, said, God forbid it was the act of his foreman, and that in his large estathat the innocent amusements of the people should be blishment he could not prevent such things happening. restricted. He wished more and more that the legis- The sitting magistrate, Sir R. W. Carden, said:-The lature should encourage those amusements; but whether station you hold as an extensive and respectable salesman a railway company were to depart from their original makes the offence of which you have been guilty more object of conveying persons from one e point to another, and, injurious. You are, of course, accountable for the acts for the purpose of increasing their dividends, resorting to of your servant. But I believe that you were perfectly such modes as those described, was another question. aware of the sale, and of the description of meat sold, It could not be endured in this country that railway and that you completely sanctioned the dealing. As a companies were to create amusements which were to be wholesale butcher, you sold to a retail butcher, a a nuisance to the neighbourhood. It was for the jury poisonous article, which, if it had not been seized, would to say whether or not this was a nuisance. The jury at have been sold to the poor, and in all probability have once returned a verdict for the plaintiff. The case caused some fatal distemper. You thus not only prejudice had been previously tried at Chester, and the jury the fair trader, but you deal destruction amongst the would not give a verdict. indigent by the distribution of this horrible food. You say the meat was openly exposed to the public, but it has been proved that it was covered with a cloth after it was sold. I believe that your foreman takes upon himself the blame in order to save you from punishment, but the calculation was an erroneous one. The sale of unwholesome meat is, in my mind, a desperate evil, and I consider this a very bad case, and assure you that the trade shall be narrowly watched, and, in the event of conviction, heavily punished. Defendant:-It is the act of my servant, and it shall be visited upon him, whatever it may please the bench to fine me. If I am made responsible for the acts of my servants in this way, I may be ruined in a night, for it is quite impossible to see what they are selling. Sir R. W. Carden:-You are subject to a penalty of 201. for this infringement of the very necessary act of parliament. I shall be content to inflict upon you the penalty of 51. and costs, or imprisonment for one month. The defendant paid the penalty. A point of great importance to Shareholders of Joint Stock Companies was involved in the proceedings of a recent meeting of the contributories to the Merchant Trader's Ship Loan Insurance Company, before Master in Chancery Sir William Horne. A call of 251. per share being declared, counsel opposed the step on behalf of Lord Talbot and Mr. Winthorp, on the ground that they will have to pay 50,000l. of the call. The Master observed, that under the extraordinary provisions con tained in the Joint-Stock Companies Winding-up Act, he had no alternative, however ruinous might be the result, but to declare the call; Lord Talbot and Mr. Winthorp, apparently the only solvent subscribers, having been fixed upon the list of contributories as liable to that extent. He could not help expressing great regret at the facility which the registration of the Joint-Stock Companies Act gave to the projectors of speculative and disastrous undertakings to involve others in these frightful liabilities. In the course of the discussion it was stated, that the company in question, and not fewer than four others, were the offspring, within less than a year, of one unprincipled projector; In the Court of Common Pleas on the 19th, Mr. Palmer, formerly a traveller to a wine-merchant in Aldgate, obtained 2000l. as Compensation from the Brighton and South Coast Railway Company for injury received in a collision near Langport, in October last year. Mr. Palmer was struck on the back of the head; he is now quite unfitted for business, and will probably never recover his former health and strength of mind. His short examination in court produced a painful impression. He is a fine looking man of forty; and his salary at the time of the accident was 350l. a-year. NARRATIVE OF ACCIDENT AND DURING the late gales, a schooner in Scarborough Roads signalled for a pilot to take her into the harbour; six fishermen put off in a coble; not far from the pierend a sea upset the boat, and all the men Perished. They were married, and have left twenty-five children. Early on the morning of the 31st ult., a small craft belonging to Gravesend ran down a bark off Whitby: it sank almost instantaneously, and all the crew, twelve or fourteen in number, were Drowned. On the 30th ult., at Holywell Level Mine, near Holywell, the men were in the act of lowering a lift of pumps, when the vast weight of iron-work, suspended by, a capstan-rope, in its progress downwards came in contact with some part of the pit-work, or part of the machinery broke, and giving a lurch, whereby its weight (20 tons) became suddenly increased too much for the men to resist; they were instantly overpowered, and the capstan, running round with great impetuosity, threw them off in every direction, several of them being pitched high into the air, and a distance into the field: two of the men were hurled into the fire, and were much burnt, and three were Killed. In the Birmingham Bankruptcy Court, on the 23rd, in the inquiry into the affairs of the Bromsgrove Bank, Mr. Francis Rufford, the partner who had the entire management of the bank, was examined, and made very remarkable statements. It appeared that he had associated with him in that management a person named Smith, who had absconded on account of the frauds he had committed. The balance-sheet in this bank extended from 1841 to 1851; in the former year there was a balance due to the customers of the bank over and above the receipts of the Yew Tree House estate (Mr. Rufford's residence), which was valued at 20,0007. On the 1st of January, 1840, the firm had credit to the amount of 170,000%., all of which might be called in a month; and all the available money they had to meet it did not amount to more than 19,3977. The bankrupt admitted on a former examination, and he now repeated, that the system of country banking was defective; for that, owing to depositors requiring such a A dreadful calamity has occurred at Holmfirth, in the high rate of interest, the bankers were obliged to trans-West Riding of Yorkshire, caused by the Bursting of act their business on insecure investments. The bank- the Embankment of a great Water Reservoir. In the rupt spoke to transactions with a firm, Messrs. Fardon hills above Holmfirth are several reservoirs, managed and Gossage. These persons were introduced to the by a body called the Holme Conservancy Combankrupts "by letters from highly respectable parties," missioners. They are formed by dams across narrow and upon such recommendation they allowed an over-gorges, which convert the vallies into lakes. The emdraw to the extent of 50,000%., although during the time bankment of the Bilberry reservoir, which is 150 yards that debt was accumulating two returned notes of that long and 90 feet high, had been lately in a doubtful firm passed through the bank. Ultimately Fardon and condition, from the pressure of the enormous column of Gossage sold their entire property to the British Alkali water accumulated during the rains of the last month. Company for 130,000. The bankrupt (Mr. F. Rufford) On the morning of the 5tb inst., before dawn, the embecame chairman of that company, but, notwithstanding bankment was suddenly swept away, and the gorge the fact of this purchase money passing to Fardon and below it, with every house, mill, and manufactory on Gossage, the bank at Bromsgrove never had the pre- the borders of the Holme, down to the town of Holmcaution to secure the 50,0007. owing to them, but, rth, nearly three miles from the reservoir, destroyed instead, allowed the debt to increase. Mr. Gossage is or ruined. The loss of life and property is terribly now passing through his examination in the Liverpool great. Whole families were destroyed, without a single Bankruptcy Court, but where Mr. Fardon is, he (Mr. far as Hull, where they were taken out of the Humber. survivor being left. Several bodies were carried down as Rufford) did not know. The following was the state of the Bromsgrove Bank at the time of the bank- The houses in Water-street, six in number, were swept ruptcy:-Debts, 227,8261. 9s. 2d., to meet which there away by a double flood; for the water from Bilberry was only 13,0001. During eleven years and a half he reservoir caused another reservoir belonging to a mill (Mr. Rufford) had drawn out of the bank 56,8597. 14s. 10d. to burst the row of houses was struck by the flood for which the bank had no security. simultaneously at the end and at the front. James of these houses. He states, "that there were ten of Metterick, the only one of the family saved, lived in one children. They were roused by some one soon after them in the house-his father, stepmother, and eight one o'clock. He hastily put on a few clothes, and ran to the staircase-window, looking up the valley, where he satisfied them it was the reservoir had burst. The met his stepmother. A glance at the approaching water children were asleep below stairs, but his father handed them up to him and Mrs. Metterick, and they were placed in the chamber. Just then the deluge came, and the lower room was filled in an instant, and the water burst through into the chamber. He and Mrs. Metterick again seized the children, and carried all but one a story higher, into the attic: the flood had caught his father and one child on the stairs and overwhelmed them. The next moment the whole house was carried away, and he saw no more of any of the family: he found himself in the raging torrent, swept before it for a quarter of a mile like a feather. He got hold of a floating plank, lost it, and seized another; was carried aside into the Bottom Mill reservoir, where the water soon became quieter; he paddled himself out of it by means of another floating piece of wood which he seized. He reached the bank of the reservoir in a very exhausted condition." A boy in a cottage was carried up by the water to within a few inches of the ceiling: he caught hold of a beam, to which he clung for an hour, and was rescued when the water subsided. It appears that upwards of 100 persons have perished, and 71 dead bodies have been found. There have been 4 mills, 10 dyehouses, 10 drying-stoves, 27 cottages, 7 tradesmen's A Melancholy Suicide has been committed by a poor woman named Stone, in Dean-street, Westminster. About seven years ago, her husband, an engineer, died, and was buried in the Broadway churchyard. The widow was left unprovided for, and left London to take a situation in Kent, where she was not successful. At the beginning of the present month, she took lodgings in Dean-street. Nothing having been seen of her lately, her door was broken open, and she was found lying dead on the floor. Mr. Heath, the surgeon of Bridge-street, was of opinion that she had been dead seven or eight days. He found on the mantelpiece two bottles labelled "poison;" and upon a post-mortem examination, he discovered about an ounce of laudanum in the stomach. She had been in the habit for two years of going to the churchyard and weeping over the grave of her husband. In her room the following letter was found: "To save trouble, Mrs. Ann Stone came by her death by a draught of laudanum, no one knowing that she did take it, as she is a total stranger in the house she is in. Every effort she has made to obtain an honest living failed her. She has the presumption to throw her soul in the presence of the Almighty, and she fervently prays that God will have mercy on her soul. Good Christians, do not allow a number of persons to look on my unfortunate body. I have performed all the offices that are requisite; the body is quite ready for the coffin." She then begs that she may be buried in the same |