23 SEPTEMBER 1854, Page 14

NOTES AND QUERIES.

REPORE the expedition started for Sebastopol, it is said, the Sultan made a present to the British sailors ; and it was one certainly more eonsonantwith the established sentiments of the true British tar than with those which are supposed to be hereditary in the descendants of the Caliphs—he gave them five hogsheads of rum. What do the tlemas say to that act of imperial munificence ?

Decidedly, there is a great public want in this country. :Re- q!!ired a palace for the retired sovereigns and royalties of Europe. We have had several already, and now Queen Christina of Spain is expected, with all her impedimenta. Why is it that she has se- lected Protestant, starched, plebeian England, for her residence ? The reasons, perhaps, are too many ever to be fully known ; but one thing would alone account for it—there is here, and here per- haps alone, thorough safety for purse and person.

To find the character of the British Ministers, it is said, you must study them in two places which they frequent,—in Parlia- ment, where they are on their guard; and on the turf, where other persons are on their guard. Most of our great statesmen have at cum time or another run their horses. Lord Palmerston established a reputation for prosody on the turf, in the celebrated " Hillee- onnee " ease. Lord George Bentinck was great in Parliament, peat on Irish railways but most unequivocally great on that in- stitution which he did so much to reform—the turf. His bio- grapher's colleague, Lord Derby, has also recently achieved dis- tinction on the same ground. He possesses a horse called "Acro- bat," which ran for.the St. Leger stake, and lost it; Ivan winning. On Wednesday last, at Doncaster, the same horse ran for the Don- easter stakes, and won in such a manner as to suggest that the previous loss must nothe ascribed. to any fault in the noble animal; Ivan being "nowhere." The scandal of the Opposition journals, who say that the English generals would have gone at the Rus- sians if their principals would have allowed them, is now applied to " Acrobat ' and his principal. After Acrobat's confessing victory, John Scott the trainer was hooted and hustled off the course : Lord Derby was not hooted or hustled—he had left the course beforehand.

The vulgar, who gladly " deemen to the badder end," are as often in the wrong as in the right. There is another English statesman just at present who owns a horse remarkable for its fleetness ; but it cannot by any contrivance be brought to win a race. It is unmatched in private trial ; it has obvious powers of victory; but it never can attain to a victory on the race-ground. It is the Disraeli of the course; and yet there is no imputation on the owner of that distinguished animal

-Archbishop Whately has succeeded in establishing a society for the protection of the rights of conscience ; the object of which, it appears, is to find employment for those persons of humble condi- thin in Ireland who are turned out of work for their religious opinions, or to provide goods at reasonable prices for those who 'would otherwise be practically tabooed on account of their reli- 10%ais opinions. In Ireland, at seems, there still lurks an impres- sion that it is desirable to starve men, or to slaughter them by overturning railway-carriages, because they do or do not hold par- ticular opinions on the subjects of apostolical succession, transub- stantiation, and intermediation of saints. The Archbishop is success- ful with his society, and it is a happy sign ; for as soon as people recognize the fact that it is not lawful to starve or slaughter a man because he believes or Zees not believe in the efficacy of holy water, that mode of controversy is likely to die out. The best of all societies, however, for the protection of conscience, is society itself. When men are esteemed for their abilities or their conduct in relation with their fellow men, and are no longer, rendered re- sponsible to others for their opinions on any subject, it will not be necessary to send a Whately across St. George's Channel for the pm•pose of teaching his adopted countrymen to grow toleration and azaleas in competition with England.

Great men and great nations will often give up great things, but adhere irresistibly to the small. Calvin could have given up himself, or an enemy, to the stake ; but he journeyed back to Pi- cardy on purpose to eat a homely cake procurable only in that neighbourhood. Spain can change dynasties, surrender dependen- cies, yield up taxes to an oppressive Government, and yet more to follow—can give up independence and honesty ; but she sticks to her bull-fights. Espartero has faced many dangers, but his friends now turn grave—he his put offs bull-fight.

The Times draws attention to the fact that the English -artisan

in great towns has gradually been aub,jeotedto the same oppreisivii tax which landlord selfishness inflicted upon him. in close parishes. To relieve the rates front responsibility on his account, he was forced out of the parish where he worked, and obliged to reside at a distance from the scene of his daily soil. To improve towns fee the upper and middle classes,—who have the vote, as it were, in the construction of streets,—the working classes are driven away to the margin of a constantly expanding circle. This is a tax upon the poor man : whether you consider the daily exertion add- ed to the walk to or from work, the time abstracted, or the energy thrown away, it is a tax as much as if so many pence per diem were taken from his purse. He has no voice in it, and it is nonsense to say, "Leave it to free trade, and it will settle itself." There is, no doubt, a " demand" for working-class residences, but the reason why capital hesitates to come forward is evident. Al. though the working classes pay handsomely in the long run for the accommodation sold to them by the landlord, there are many irk- some details in recovering the revenue from the residents. So- cieties to improve the dwellings of the poor can establish models, but they cannot establish cities. What is the remedy ? We can suggest none, unless it be some kind of bonus, either in the form of privilege or assured revenue, to capitalists who shall invest good round sums of money for the construction of working-class quarters in the industrial centre of the Metropolis. Well-constructed, wall. administered, well-guaranteed, perhaps under special statutes, they might be made not encumbrances or eyesores but aids and orna- ments to the improvement of the Metropolis,—great palaces of in- dustry, with model drainage, playgrounds, schools, and goodly architecture. Industry can always pay its rent ; intelligence and morals always thrive best in comely nurseries.

A Parliamentary paper, recently printed, exhibits a remarkable distribution of railway capital.. The total is a few pounds short of 366,770,000/. Of that amount, 93,000,000/. has not been raised at all, 65,000,000/. has been raised by loan ; 43,000,000/. by "pre- ference" shares • and 165,000,000/. by capital not entitled to re- ceive preferential dividend or interest. Of the 366 millions, there- fore only 16.5 consist of capital in the ordinary sense of the word. The preferential shares partake of the nature of loans and sleeping partnerships ; and the pure loans exceed one-third of the actual capital. The figures show how much these great companies are going "upon tick." The entire annual receipts for last year amounted to 18,000,000?.; so that it would take some years of re- venue to clear the companies of encumbrance. The revenue, how- ever, has increased faster than the railways. The miles open in 1849 were 6032; in 1853, 7641; the gross revenue has increased from 11,806,4491. in 1849, to 18,035,880/. in 1853. By far the greatest increase has taken place in the second and third class passengers, and goods. Two rather important questions imme- diately hang upon the railway future : haw far will their treffie be diminished by the Beer Act as a check upon Sunday extru- sions ? how much would the advance of passenger traffic—at present increasing less rapidly than goods—be expedited, if rail- ways were rendered more safe?

"One of the Baker Tribe," resident at Glasgow, suggests a mode of escape for the consumer, if there really is the alleged conspiracy amongst bakers—.

"Let 200 or more persons form themselves into a joint-stock baking society. The capital required would be as follows—Flour, say 10 sacks, or less, at 458., 221. 10s. - baking utensils for a small concern, 3/. 10s.'; totai 26/., and their capital account is closed ; rent, taxes, and wages, being paid out of revenue."

"This," as the Glasgow Baker says, "is a very simple remedy "; and it is not without a parallel. When there was a practicalino- nopoly of the flour-trade at Leeds, some years ago' a number of people put together one sovereign a piece, and set up a mill to furnish themselves with flour. The mill has become a permanent institution, with three or four thousand sovereign-proprietors, its own customers ; and it altogether destroyed the flour monopoly in that great town, securing a good supply at the -ordinary market- price of the entire country.