The Sun. — London, England, 1862-04-16 00:00:00

w~--.--. SLEEP AT WlLL.—Thus succ our, thro ' Go d's aid, (on Aeriform ooze-out-wast'ng onsumption—in Asthma-gasp-HooPing-cough-bronchitis) . — C by causing the t we lve salival-glands• to re perform their absorbent func tions, if 4-chilled ; so prevent the Dry-mouth phlem •suffoca tion-start by night—tor instant breath-relief by this mode of adding air-Oxygen to the blood, which as a sequel (without physic), restores the mother's . lost breast-railk-laeteal for her babe -and stops teeth-g,rating ppasms in children. Address —Agent of the Asthmatic-lamp of life (tor advice and personal mile-attendance of Author), by a Piocadilly Post Office order, Al Is. P a y a ble to Charles Ackerley, Esq., the Patentee, No. 5, Swallow-street, London. THEATRE. r.t) Y AL, HAYMARKET. l 'e Bg ef s • r. .1, B. suckstone. On 141 ASTER MONDAY (the Theatre being, closed this week, but for no other reason than the necessity for cleansing and repairing the house), will be performed (102 d time) OUR AMERICAN COUSIN. Asa Trenchard, Mr. Buck stone ; Lord Dundreary, Mr. Sothern. After which, the renowned Spanish dancer, Senora Perea Nena, who is engaged for the summer, will appear with Senor Ricardo Moargas, and a full Corps de Ballet. Commence a 7 OYAL LYCEUM THEATRE. it. Manager•—Mr. Edmund Falconer. 'PHIS EVENING, 132 d time of the new and original Drama entitled, PEEP O'DAY ; or, Savourneen Deelish. Messrs. Walter Lacy, Hermann Vezin, Charles Selby, Edmund Fai t...net ; Mrs. D. P. Bowers, Miss Clara Weston. After which, a new and original Burlesque Extravaganza, entitled LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD ; or, The Fairies of the Kose, the Thistle, and the Shamrock. Principal charac ters by Mr. Chas. Selby, Mr. Warlow, Miss Cicely Nott, and P4USII Lydia Thompson. Acting Manager—Mr. F. B. Chatterton. P , ..lces as usual. Doors open at half-past 6, to commence at Box-office open daily from 11 tlll5. P OPAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. u Lessee, Mr A. Harris. For the Benefit of Mr. A. Harris. THIS EVENING, THE LITTLE TREASURE. Mr. J. G. Shore, Mr. B. Potter, Mr. Cathcart, Am ; Miss Elaworthy, Mro. Weston, and Miss Maria Harris. After which Mr. Henry Russell will sing " The Ship on Fire." Followed by CRUEL TO BE KIND. To be suczeded by a CONCERT, supported by Mdlle. Parepa, Madame Sainton-Dolby, Mr. W. Harrison, Mr. M. W. Balfe, and Mr. Santley. Concluding with THE BLUE JACKETS. NEW THRATRE-R0 YAL, ADELPHI.-.• Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster. THIS EVENING, A PRIVATE ENQUTRT. Mr. J. L. Toole. Mr. Billington, Mr. Sefton, Mien Kato Kelly, and Miss K. Bland. Followed by ONE TOUCH OF NATURE. Mr. William Penholder (his original character), Mr. B. Webster ; Messrs. Billington, Eburne, C. J. Smith ; Miss H. Simms. To conclude with a new domestic drama, entitled DOT : Messrs. J. L. Took, Emery, Billineton. Stephenson; Miss Woolgar, Miss Louise Keeley, Miss H. Simms, &c. Commence at 7. ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.- . Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. W. Batty. Wonderful Performance of Mr. Bell's trained Elephants. THIS EVENING, the Grand Eastern Spectacle of THE RAJAH OF NA GPORE, introducing two colossal Asiatic Elephants, pronounced by all to be the cleverest animals ever exhibited. To be followed by brilliant and daring feats by the un rivalled Troupe of Equestrians. Concluding with a laughable Farce. Stage Manager, Mr. W. Searle. AND FINE C A NTERB URY HALL ARTS GALLERY. The miraculous STECKEL, from the Cirque Napoleon, Paris, EVERY EVENING, at a quarter to ten. Grand Selections trom " La Traviata," by Miss Russell, with Band and Lull Chorus, conducted by Mr. Jonghmans. The Comic by Mr. Randall, Mr. J. G. Forde, Mr. Hollings worth, Messrs. Hildebrandt and Ormond, and Miss Caroline Parkes, the aceomplished danseuse. Admission—Ball, ed.; Stalls aid Balcony, Is. TIIE OXFORD, 6, OXFORD-STREET.- HENRI and PFAU on the Flying Trapeze EVERY EVENING. The musical entertainment as usual, including Robert Burns' celebrated " JOLLY BEGGARS," with music composed expressly for this establishment by Mr. George Linley. Operatic Selections by Miss Russell, Mdme. Negri, Mdme. Maria, and Mdme. Enderssohn. Full Band and Chorus.— Musical Director, Mr. F. Jonghmans. Comic—Messrs. Sam Collins, Harvey and French (the Nerves), E. Marshall, and W. Randall. Hall, 6d.; Stalls and Balcony, Is. ; Private Boxes, 10s. 6d. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. THIS DAT.—Morning, 2h. 49m.—Afternoon, 3h. 10m. To-]BORROW. -Morning, 3h. 31m.—Afternoon, 3h. 61m. NOTICE. All remittances are, henceforth, to be made to Mr. JOHN CHAPLIN, at The Sun office, 112, Strand, who has been appointed, by the Lord Chancellor, Receiver and Manager of The Sun newspaper, and the outstanding debts due in respect thereof. A~ ~:.~ ^'. _ . ;,110 THE SUN. LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 1862. Cessation of debates in Parliament has given us a little more leisure to look at the debates of the American press and the American Congress. We cannot, however, report that they exhibit anything very remarkable ; nothing certainly at all corre sponding to the realities of the great contest in - which they are engaged. The little we can get from the South gives us no indication of its succumbing. Leaders are abundantly censured there, as well as in the North, and misfortures and defects are not more, or longer, concealed and explained away than they are in the North. We must confess that we take it rather as an indication of conscious strength that JEFFERSON DAvis himself, as as well as the journals, admit their defeats, and punish even 'such important men as the late Federal Secretary, and arch-conspirator under BUCHANAN —FLOYD. Fear would hardly act thus. Of course we expect to find them doing all their pre sent business with paper money, and are not sur prised to learn that notes for as low an amount as in Austria are in daily use. Ten cent, or five-penny notes, seem strange to Englishmen ; yet we carry on our pence, and even shilling transactions, with what are in fact but tokens. We expect also to find the want of all luxurios but those which the soil will produce ; still, under all hardships, we cannot ascertain that the determivation to resist falters. The South is forming new lines of defence, as it abandons the old ones, and the inhabitants within the lines, which comprehend all the Gulf States, appear to be as resolved as ever. There is, however, one serious deduction—one which it may be thought neutralises all other appearances—the South has to resort to conscription, the North is amply supplied with volunteers. This is very remarkable, since it ap pears as if the North were more ready to fight for e°ocioest than the South for defence. The North, however,p a y s its volunteers handsomely; the south has no means of doing it. "The gentlemen of the press," including editors and compositors, in the attempts made to raise troops by conscription, are to be exempt exc . :3 pt from local duty, Of course, we appreciate the compliment. At the time we wri te it is probable that the two pr i n cipal armies which face each other on both sides are either coming to ' l ° Bo quarters or have fought serious battles. The coast work on the part of the Federals, and the smaller s outh ern bodies retained to hold in check the coast invaders , are of little import to the great s tru gg le. The road f rom F or t Monroe to Richmond, and the North of Alabama and Missii,eippi—these ar e the two parts Where each side is putting forth its strength. The Federals finding that to work their commissariat by land, via Manassas, to Richmond, through a de solate country, was a tedious and almost impracti cable task, have now adopted the plan of marching up to it between two rivers, navigable the greater part of the way, and which they doubtless mean to use for the conveyance of their stores. They have thus turned the flank of the Confederates' position, and the latter will have to change their front, And to construct fresh defences between the James and Yolk rivers. It is in this locality, or else at the Norfolk Navy-yard, opposite, across the channel to a Fort Monroe, that in the course of a fortnight we may hear of a fearful battle. We certainly shall, if the Federals, at the best time of the year d not, with 150,000 men, suspend their advance, and if the Confederates do not retire before a vastly supe rior force. In the other seat of war, General GRANT, the victor in Tennessee, must be now concentrating his troops for a battle with BEAUREGARD, the victor of Manassas. The army of the latter, about which, however little can be known, is reported to be large, but that of GRANT is certainly larger, and, wht►t is so all-important, far better provided with all the munitions of war. It consists, too, chiefly of stal wart north-west farmers and settlers—men whom the South will not easily surpass in physical strength and capability of endurance; men, too, flushed with their Tennessee successes, while the Southern soldiers in that part can hardly fail to be more or less dispirited by their repeated defeats. We shall see what effect the reputation of a BEAU REGARD will have upon them. It is possible that the leadership of a victorious General may inspire them also with the feelings of victors. That they were badly led before, is certain. The probable issue of all these movements it is not possible to predict—Generals JOHNSTONE and LEE, who will face M'CLELLAN, are unquestion ably two able generals—quite indeed, we should think, his equals. BEAUREGARD, who faces GRANT and HALLECK in the West, is also one of the best of the American Generals. The numbers are not so widely different on each side, so far, at least, as we yet can know. On the side of the North it is attack and desire of conquest, on that of the South defence and desire of independence. The North relies on better military equipment and ampler resources; the South is nerved by desperation, and trusts to an impassable country. The issue of such a struggle may be conjectured, it cannot be foreseen. Hastily put together though the Government Report on the History and Prospects of the Culture of Cotton in the Bombay Presidency has necessarily been —it will still be found wonderfully minute in its details, singularly accu rate we believe also in its statements, and, upon the very face of it, surprisingly comprehensive under the circumstances. It is high praise no doubt to say all this. But whether or not it is praise that can be justified—anyone who lists to do so may readily decide for himself. There is the Report printed and published, and purchaseable like all these official documents at so much avoirdupois. We are far, very far indeed, from saying that it is in any way perfect—or that it is, in any one particular, even an approximation to perfection. On the contrary, it is quite obviously and by necessity imperfect. It has been compiled with the utmost speed in any rational degree practicable under the circumstances. The compiler, Mr. WALTER CASSELS, having been set to work like a Government machine at high-pres sure, has written literally currente calamo. In his Report there may be found, there must perforce be found, many and many a hiatus that later on will ' require to be filled up. His information is at the best, by necessity, too, only partial. Hereafter, by judicious addition after addition, it may be gradually brought to that state of completeness which is un deniably wanting to it as yet. But then, it should be remembered in vindication of Mr. CASSELS' Re port as it now stands, that that gentleman has acted designedly and conscientiously in obedience to the earnest recommendation, or rather, it should be called more authoritatively, the original Resolu tion of the late Governor-General Lord CANNING. For it cannot possibly be forgotten how the ex- Governor-General insisted upon it that in regard to this eagerly-looked for Report, " Speed" be yond everything was the first essential. Better have it incompletely done at the end of half a year than wait for some more ample, more ac curate, and more generally reliable result at the end of a whole twelvemonth. It is upon this principle and upon this understanding that the Report now issued has with remarkable rapidity, and recollecting that rapidity, it must certainly be added with admirable dexterity, been compiled. Gladly would we assert if we could that the conclusion arrived at by Mr. WALTER CASSELS in drawing up this Report is one altoge ther encouraging. But then we instantly console ourselves with the reflection that in no way can it it be regarded as a conclusion in itself con lusive ! It is only part of the evidence that we have before us—and that part relating exclusively, as the tite of the Report intimates in so many words, to the History and CultNe of Cotton in the Bombay Presidency. Still, as evidence of even a partial kind, relating to the cultivation of the cotton plant in one portion only of our vast Indian possessions— it would have been far more acceptable to us, we admit, if it had been only more fraught with encou ragement. ow l% i f e exotic xe . a C ont e in s co s t E c L lays cotton tuotntwhen p ihn a ek r u— t i c grownuu think— up on stress—un due the u r e p ss—n on failureann any d ( h u i e th st e r r e t s o s ) very considerable scale. And he attributes this fail ure—we cannot but think rather hastily—to the violence of the seasons in Hindostan. Adversely to a large cotton crop that violence must act without a doubt. But the failure of these larger crops as yet has been attributable still more, we respectfully suggest, to ignorance, and inexperience on the part of the cultivators. The Government Report, in truth, has revealed already quite enough in re gard to the History and Culture of Cotton in the Bombay Presidency, to satisfy any rational man that the circumstances under which cotton is there cultivated are as yet singularly adverse. Even when it has been clumsily " picked " by the bungling Ryots, and cunningly "pilfered" by the wily Middlemen—what perils has it not to pass through in its transit down to the coast for the pur pose of exportation ! Some of these, let the report here presented to public view by the Government, briefly indicate, " Cotton," says "is expos e d t o e very Mr. WALTER CASSE LS, species of depreciation during its transit to Bombay. Moving along at the rate of one or two miles an hour in rude carts, or on the backs of bullocks, over bad roads, the dew and the dust do their worst to it. The bullocks are loaded and unloaded twice a day, generally in the neighbourhood of watering places, and their packs are rolled in the mud. Each bullock con soles himself during the march by keeping his nose in his leader's pack, and steadily eating the cotton. The loss in weight, which has not been compensated by the accumulated dust of the journey, is too often supplied in water at its close." Dew, dust, mud, water—the thievish fingers of the middleman—the hungry muzzle of the bullock ! Surely here are enough reasons for deterioration—for coarseness, for dirt, for loss of excellence both in colour and texture, before the raw material can come within reach of the ultimate purchasers of the cotton crops of India. No wonder, in remembrance of what has been related—no wonder whatever that the Repo r t now issued by Government should de scant thus l o • g se ni o ly inutzatnte) of thealmosthe dreams hopelessness of (asitisim provementpleased so long c h erished , Qf the folly almost ina n e. n g a i e n r in a g n t y h a t ci t r h c e uni C s o t t a t n on ce o s f , of any one any longs, India can c o mpete For upwards W ith the Cotton of Ataeriegt;_i, THE SUN, LONDON, WEDN'ESD .',VENIN% APRIL 16, 1862. of half a century Government have desired, and have endeavoured, to promote the im provement of Indian cotton. During this period the hope that India might ultimately replace the United States, as the source of cotton supply, has vaguely existed in Great Britain, rising into eager ness in moments of distress, and sinking into in difference on the return of abundance. For upwards of half a century Indian cotton has occupied the unsatisfactory position of a mere pie-aller for the American growth, reluctantly purchased when the latter has been dear, and instantly abandoned when it has become cheap. From the similarity of actual circumstances, and the very slight change which has taken place in the character of the staple, there is no reason to suppose that the present appetite for Indian cotton will survive the American block ade, or that the present demand is less fickle than that which preceded it. The position of Amercan cotton is not shaken in the English market by the present scarcity, and the Indian staple is not estab lished on any more solid basis, because necessity has driven manufacturers to use it. The excep tional nature of the demand gives an exceptional importance to the Indian growth, but when the usual course is resumed, Surats will return to their usual level." Notwithstanding all which—we must still protest that we remain altogether uncon vinced. Let the Cotton Culture be systematised in Bombay and other parts of our Indian Empire—let the ryots be duly instructed—let the nefarious doings of some, at least among their overseers, be put an end to—let the means of transit between the inland Cotton Fields and the remote sea-shore be improved—let the native cartloads of this produce be reasonably sheltered from dew, and dust, and mud, and water, no less securely than from the muzzles of the draught bullocks harnessed to draw them—let the Cotton cultivators throughout India then, under those altered circumstances, be allowed for some little time " a clear stage and no favour " —and AFTERWARDS we will talk about the com petition with the Americans t The responsibility of affording them this opportunity devolves still upon the Government. Whenever it may be afforded to them, we doubt not that, to a consider able extent at any rate, our Indian Cotton growers will be enabled to hold their own, even in opposi tion to the skilled Cotton growers of the Southern States of America. All our ladies remember the introduction of the Alpacha manufacture into this country; and the magnificent manufactory of Mr. TITUS SALT, late M.P. for Bradford, at Saltaire, three miles from that town, is the splendid trophy to its success as a commercial speculation ; the princely fortune of Mr. SALT, having been, we believe, chiefly the re sult of his taking the lead in the new fabric. The last accounts from Australia give us an interesting account of the success of the introduction of the Alpacha and the Llama, two varieties of the same species, into that country,:where there is now the evidence of fact that will both breed and thrive. Both New South Wales and Victoria have small flocks, and both are doing well, and are likely soon to make their peculiar wool one of the great staples of these colonies. Already the colonists are calculating the quantity of wool to be expected from them in a few years. They increase fast. Notwithstanding several deaths in the process of acclimatisation, one flock had in little more than a year increased from 276 to 360. Ac cording to Mr. LEDGER, who has been the active man in introducing them to the country, a flock of 200 females and 50 males should, in 50 years, amount:to 9,760,000, and should yield 68,320,000 lbs. of wool. At two shillings per pound this new article of agri cultural, or pastoral export, should therefore be worth nearly seven millions sterling. The writer seems to think that in the old country we shall scarcely credit such a calculation; but he reminds us that, in 1810 Australia sent home its first clip of merino wool-167 lbs. In 1860 it sent home, by the Ist of October, 55,270,776 lbs. All things, too, seem favourable-500 more alpacas are already purchased for importation—every exploration re veals frQsh places for pasturage, where it had before been supposed there was nothing but stones or sand ; and there is no limit to the use of the pas turage but the means of water conveyance for the produce. Altogether the accounts this time from the great island continent are cheering. The land question appears to be approaching a settlement by a compromise, thought fair,in the country itself with the great squatter interest. What may seem singu lar, we are told, at the same time, of a prodigious increase in the cultivation of the vine, and of sobriety. Adelaide seems to be the favoured and of Bacchus, in Australia, in regard to quality. But the cultivation in Victoria has in creased so rapidly that in 1859 the number of vines planted was 1,896,939, next year it reached 2,833,114, and it is believed that last year the num ber reached four millions. Mr. GLADSTONE will be pleased to observe that all this is followed by the remark that, in a colony which had been re markable for drunkenness, " sobriety has become normal." The wines are said to be "light and rich flavoured," and if the cultivation advances at this rate, they must also soon become cheap. The Earl and Lady Constance Grosvenor arrived at their residence at Princes-gate a few days since from Calverley Park, Cheshire. Lord and Lady Henniker have left town for Thornham Hall, Suffolk, for the holidays. Lady Clinton and Sarah Countess Spencer arrived at the Pavilion Hotel, Folkestone, on Monday, on th eir way to the Continent. Lady Aftleek has left Maurigy's Hotel for Dur ham Hall, Newmarket. Sir Frederick, Lady, and Miss Hervey Bathurst have left Maurigy's Hotel for Clarendon Park, Salisbury. Mr. Jones, of Pantglas, M.P., and Mrs. Jones entertained at dinner last night, at their residence in Eaton .square, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Countess of Fife, Lord Edward St. Maur, Lord Campbell, Lady Pan inure and Mr. Power, Hon. Mrs. George Campbell, Mr. and Hon. Mrs. Granville Vernon, Sir George and Lady Otway, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair Aytoun, Mons. Fechter, Madlle. Parepa, Mr. Benedict, &c. Mr Robert Burton and Miss Burton have arrived at Maurigy's Hotel from Longness Hall, Shrews bury. THE 78TH HIGHLANDERS.—The monument, in the form of a Celtic cross, which has been erected on the Castle Esplanade, Edinburgh, to the memory of the officers and men of the 78th Highlanders who fell in India during the time of the mutiny, was inaugurated with military ceremonial yesterday. The 26th Cameronians in the Castle, the Scots Greys from Piershill, and the Royal Artillery from Leith Fort, with their Armstrong battery, were paraded on the Esplanade previous, and formed into three sides of a square. The monument was unveiled by Gen. Walker, commanding the forces in North Britain, who afterwards addressed the troops. The spectacle was very interesting. GOVERNMENT COTTON.—Nearly every steam transport from Port Royal brings a small lot of confiscated cotton. The whole amount of seed, or unginned, cotton sent to New York, from the Sea Islands of Georgia and South Carolina up to this time is about 1,100,0001 b., and of ginned cotton 600 bales. Upon the seed cotton 23 of the Marcarthy gins and half a dozen of the Brower machines are constantly engaged. These are the only varieties of gins employed ; and between them all the cotton to arrive will be divided in such proportions as the Government agent may determine upon. Small consignments of confis cated cotton are expected from those portions of the Florida coast which have been reoccupied by the Union troops. Hitherto none has been received from that quarter. Among the trophies of the Union victory at Fort Donelson were about 30 cotton bales which had been used by the rebels for strengthening their defences. This portion of the rebel ramparts has been sent to this city for sale by the Govern ment.—New York Journal of commerce, LATEST NEWS. PARIS, APRIL 16. The Illoniteur of to-day says : "The journals speak of a journey of the Emperor to England and Prussia. We are authorised to declare that up to the present his :Majesty has not formed any plan for such a journey." ARRIVAL OF THE ANGLO-SAXON. LIVERPOOL, APRIL 16. The overdue Canadian mail steamer Anglo-Saxon from Portland on the 29th ult., passed Point Lynas at six this morning, with only one engine in use. THE BRAZIL MAILS. LISBON, APRIL 15, EVENING. The .lessageries Imperiales steamer Navarre, with the above mails, arrived here this evening. The Royal Mail Company's steamer Magdalena arrived at Pernambuco on the 29th ult. RIO, MARCH 25. Exchange on London, 25k, 258 ; on Paris, 370 to 375. Coffee—good first, 7,200 to 7,400 ; shipments' since the departure of the last steamer, 42,900, in cluding 14,700 for the Channel ; stock, 16,000 bags. Freight, 555. At Bahia exchange on London was quoted 251 to 26. Sugar, 2,600 to 2,800. Cottons, 11,000 to 11,200 reis. Exchange on London at Pernambuco, 25-3- to 251 1 . Sugar, white, 2,700 to 2,800 reis ; brown ditto, 1,980 to 2,300 reis. Cottons, 11,000 to 11,200 reis, BUENOS AYRES, MARCH 15. Exchange on London, 655, 6d.; ounces, 405; W. S. ox hides, 47 ; dry - hides, American, 44 ; wool, 80 to 95; tallow, 16i. MONTEVIDEO, MARCH 16. Exchange, 41d.; W. S. ox hides, 67 ; dry hides, American, 55 ; wool, 4i ; to 6 ; tallow, 20. TURIN, APRIL 15. To-day, in the Senate, the Minister of Justice, in reply to a question from Signor Chiesi, proposed that all the landed property which had been con fiscated by the late Duke of Modena for political motives should be restored to its former possessors. This proposition was put to the vote, and ap proved of by the Senate. the confiscated estates in Oudh, to the ancient settlement of that province, the suppression of that most infamous practice of infanticide, or the abolition of the ban which was laid upon the princes and magnates of this land, in the exercise of their right of adoption, according to their own religious views—whether you look to the administra tion of justice, the two universal codes—civil and criminal giving a security of life and property to the rich and poor alike ; the encouragement given to the cause of educa tion, or the impetus given to the development of the re sources of this country by the influx of European capi tal and enterprise on sound and just principles; or whether you look to measures adopted for equalising the expenditure and income of this vast empire w ith those for the redemption of the revenue and the sale of waste lands, you only see and invariably find that the ad vancement of India's interest has been foremost in the thoughts of his lordship. It is, gentlemen, by these and similar measures that Lord Canning has secured for the Government of her Majesty the Queen the tranquillity, the contentment, goodwill, and attachment of all India. It is to render homage to this personage, to mark substan tially our sense of his servises, to perpetuate the memory of his wise and liberal acts, that we have met here this day ; and it is to be hoped that you will show to the world, by what we do and resolve at this meeting, that India is not backward in justly appreciating and gratefully acknowledging the eminent services of her rulers." The Hon. Rajah DINKUR RAo supported the resolution in the following terms, delivered in Hindostani:—" I offer my thousand thanks to his Excellency the Viceroy and Go vernor-General Lord Canning for his goodness and kind ness towards me personally. But it is a more gratifying thing to me that, by admitting me into his own council for the most important and confidential business of State, his lordship has testified how much confidence has her most gracious Majesty the Queen in his Highness the Maharajah of Gwailor." A large national meeting, attended by all classes, pre sented another addre-3 to Lord Canning prior to his depar ture. JHE NAVY. The Duke of Somerset, First Lord of the Admi ralty, accompanied by his private secretary, Capt. J. Moore, C. 8., and Rear-Admiral R. S. Robinson, Controller of the Navy, paid an official visit to Chatham dockyard yesterday. Their object was to inspect the iron ships now under construction at Chatham, in order to ascertain the progress made with them. On arriving at the dockyard the Duke of Somerset was met by Capt. Fanshawe, superin tendent, Mr. Lang, master shipuilder, Commander Pope, master attendant, and the other principal officials of the establishment, who accompanied him to the dock in which the Achilles, 50, is building, where he spent a considerable time in the inspec tion of the works. After leaving the Achilles he proceeded to the extreme end of the building sheds to inspect the armour-plated frigate Royal Oak, 50, which is now waiting to receive her shield plates. Instructions were given for every exertion to be used in completing this vessel, which, provided no delay arises in plating her, will be launched in August next, about a month before the period for merly calculated upon. The works adjoining the Royal Oak shed, in which the machinery re quired to be used in preparing the armour-plates is to be erected, were then inspected, after which a visit was paid to the Bulwark, 91, and the Belvi dere, 51, ordered to be converted into armour plated shield-ships. His Gx ace returned to the Admiralty in the afternoon. The Diadem, 32, screw, Capt. Scott, C. 8., and aide-de-camp to the Queen, was paid out of com mission at Portsmouth yesterday. The Black Prince iron frigate was undocked yes terday at Portsmouth, and berthed alongside the Duke of Wellington, at harbour moorings. This morning, weather permitting, the Black Prince will leave the harbour and test her steering qualities wsth her temporarily enlarged rudder outside the Isle of Wight. The following appointments were made yesterday at the Admiralty :—Samuel Winnicott, master, to the Adventure ; H. Birch, first.-class assist.-engi neer, and J. Cameron, second-class assist.-engineer, to the Fisgard, for the Shamrock; Thos. L. Vinall, paymaster, to the Adventure; George A. Rowe, assist: paymaster, to the Adventure ; William F. Maxwell, master's assist. additional, to the Fisgard for the Shamrock. The following appointments have been made in the Royal Naval Reserve :—To be Lieuts.—John Henry Jones, Charles Lemon FraserDaniell,Stephen Jarman, Samuel Harry Wright, and Charles Edwin Pryce. Honorary Lieut.—George Wm. Jackson. Sub-Lieut.—Fredk. Archer. The hired screw transport Adelaide, Capt. A. G. Froude, Lieut. E. H. Blake, R.N., Admiralty agent, arrived at Portsmouth yesterday morning, from St. John's, New Brunswick, and Halifax. She sailed from St John's on the 30th ult., arrived at Halifax on the 31st to coal and discharge Go vernment stores, and sailed again thence on the 2d inst. She has brought to England from Halifax Staff-Assistant-Surgeons Ferguson, Walsh, and Watson, together with two sergeants and six men of the Army Hospital Corps, one naval and six military invalids, all of whom were landed from the ship yesterday afternoon. One death occurred on the voyage home. On the sth and 6th instant heavy gales were experienced from the northward. She spoke the following vessels on the voyage home from Halifax :—On the 2d inst., off Halifax, the ship John Bradshaw ; on the sth, in lat. 43 N., long. 50 W., the screw steamer Caledonia, of Glas gow; on the 9th, in lat. 47 N., long. W., the brig Ann Johnston; on the 13th, in lat. 47 N., long. 10 W., the bark John Fielding. The Adelaide is or dered into Portsmouth harbour to clear out stores and pay off out of the transport service. The troops and invalids on board were landed from her yester day. -S . FRANCE. BOURSE, April 15.—The market has maintained all the buoyancy which sprung up prior to the close of business yesterday, and prices have further ad vanced. Threes, for the Account, opened at 70f 45c, and are now firm at 70f 65c, with a rather large amount of business doing. The Railway Share Market has been less animated than the Rente, and in many instances prices are rather lower. The following were the last quotations : 4t per per Cents 9B 25 Do. end month 93 50 3 per Cents Do. end month 7O 60 New 3 per Cents Do. end month 69 65 Credit Mobilier 835 Do. end month 832 50 Bank Shares 3115 Credit F oncier — Belgian 4} — Piedmontese Fives 6B 55 Italian Loan 6B Austrian Spanish Threes — Home Debt RAILWAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans 1270 1270 Northern New ditto . • Lyons and Mediterranean 1137 50 .. 1136 25 Geneva Southern Western Eastern Sardinian Austrian Lombard 570 -.: 673 76 ITALY. A letter from Turin of the 12th, in the Constitu tionnel, says :—" The Prince of Calms, that unfor tunate brother of Ferdinand 11., Nho was exiled by him in consequence of his liberal tendencies, is at this moment dying in this city, at the Hotel Trom betti. The sacrament was administered to him yesterday evening, and this morning the King sent to make inquiries. The Prince of Capua, without having taken any direct part in the fall of the dynasty, like the late Count of Syracuse, had ac cepted accomplished facts, and had paid homage to King Victor Emmanuel. He has been at Turin for some weeks past, engaged in the settlement of his appanage. The Chamber of Deputies held to-day its last sitting, and has adjourned until the Ist June. The Senate, however, will hold a few more sittings for the examination of some financial laws." FAREWELL ADDRESS TO LORD CANNING. The public meeting in honour of Lord Canning, says the Ilindoo Patriot of the 3d of March, was a decided success. Seldom has it been the lot of the oldest citizen to witness such an enthusiastic demonstration in favour of a retiring Governor- General than that which took place at the Town hall on Tuesday last. A purely spontaneous native movement, sympathised with extensively by the better classes of European society, the gathering of Tuesday last bespoke at once the growing intelli gence and political combination of the native com munity. One thing was peculiar. Although the Bengalee, as the " cleverest" of all the Indian races, took the lead, there was not a province in the country which had not its representative man in the assemblage. A report of the proceedings at the meeting has much interest. One resolution, that Lord Canning be requested to sit in England for a statue to be erected in Calcutta, was moved by Baboo Ramper saud-Roy. In the ,course of his speech he said : " Gentlemen, we are assembled here to-day on a peculiar and extraordinary occasion. This is not the solitary in stance in which the citizens of this great metropolis have met to do honour to a departing Governor-General at the close of his rule. Dozens of times, if not more, have we met on similar commissions. But, gentlemen, you will re collect that all those meetings were mainly organised by Europeans, brought about by Europeans, and carried out by Europeans. This day we behold a monster meeting of the sons of India. Not a party or a class meeting, or a meeting induced by the action of the governing classes, but we see whole India, as it were, consisting of representatives of innumerable classes and creeds, turning out of their free will and accord this fair evening to pay a parting tribute to one who has so richly deserved lndia's homage and grati tude. Gentlemen, Ido not propose in the course of a short address, even if I had the talent, to review the eminent ser vices rendered to India by Lord Canning. In recounting those services perhaps you will not find things to dazzle your eye or captivate your fancy ; perhaps will not hear of great and glorious battles fought and won or some great extraordinary annexation made; but, gentlemen, there is in Lord Canning's services something so very substan tial, something so very intimately connected with you and everything dear to you, something so very materially congenial to the best and greatest interests of India, that I have no doubt, when you come to consider them, both you and those who come after you will find abundant rea sons to cherish the name of Lord Canning as the greatest benefactor of India. After what you have just heard, need I recount to you how he saved you and India, at a crisis perhaps unparalleled in the history of nations? At a time when passions had been raised to their highest pitch, when the foul deeds of a misguided few out of millions of our countrymen had excited a spirit of indiscriminating revenge and retribution, it was owing to the unswerving courage, uncompromising j us ti ce , mo deration, and humanity of that nobleman, that myriads of innocent beings were saved from a premature and ignominious death, that the lives and pro - perty of millions of her Majesty's loyal subjects were vouch safed to them, aye, that we are enabled to appear to-day at this great meeting as free citizens, men of substance and intelligence, to be listened to and cared for. " This is, gentlemen, but the dark side of his rule, or what, according to Ilindoo notions, may be called the iron days of his administration. But, if you look to his golden days, or the bright side of his rule, you will find the last years of it characterised by acts and measures at once cal culated to secure peace, harmony, and security throughout the land, and to promote the material, social, and intellec tual advancement of India. No sooner had the clatter of arms subsided, and the mouth of the cannon been shut, than Lord C ann i ng, instead of looking upon all around him with universal distrust, which circumstances might have justified, most nobly set about to make a wise and benevo lent discrimination between the loyal and disloyal, largely an d generously rewarding the former, and justly, though m ercifully punishin g the latter. Cientlemeni—Whether you look to the restoration of THE A.RMY. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, accompanied by Sir Richard Airey, Quartermaster- General, and Colonel Clifton, Aide-de-Camp, ar rived at Portsmouth from London by evening train on Monday. Yesterday morning his Royal High ness, accompanied by the above officers, Sir George Grey and Sir George Cornewall Lewis (who had also arrived from London), Lord William Paulo, C. 8., Commanding the Sonth-West District, and Rear-Admiral Superintendent the Hon. George Grey, embarked on board the Fire Queen steam tender, Master-Commander Paul, and proceeded out of harbour to inspect the site of the proposed forts on the Horse, Nopaan, and Sturbridge Shoals. On the return of the Fire Queen to the harbour his Royal Highness and party landed at the dockyard, and visited the Royal Sovereign three-decker, con verting to a 12-gun shield-ship on Capt. Coles's principle, several of the ships in dock, the police station, and the steam basin, where the Psyche new Admiralty steam yacht is lying. In the afternoon his Royal Highness visited the fortifications on the east side of the harbour. ► IA meeting of the sergeants of the Portsmouth Division of the Royal Marine Light Infantry was held in their mess-room, at Foston Barracks, on Monday evening, for the purpose of having pre sented to them a richly chased centre-piece, the gift of Major-Gen. A. Anderson, late commandant of the division, as a testimonial for their soldier-like conduct during his command. The inspection of the battalions of infantry was resumed at Chatham garrison yesterday by Major- Gen. A. J. Lawrence, C. 8., Inspector-General of Infantry. The companies were marched to the Lines where the depots composing the battalion, which includes those of the Ist and 2d Battalions of the 12th Regiment, Ist and 2d Battalions of the 20th Regiment, 31st Regiment, 52d Light Infan try, and 83d Regiment, were put through a variety of movements under the command of Colonel R. N. Phillips. Major-Gen. Lawrence occasion ally selected officers from the different companies to drill the battalion. They performed the different manoeuvres in a very satisfactory manner. At Halifax arrangements were being made for the permanent accommodation of 5,000 troops. The old hospital accommodation at Halifax is very defective, means were being taken for the erection of a building in a more suitable position. The pre sent garrison hospital was formerly the residence of his Royal Highness the Duke of Kent. The regiments at present in Halifax are the 2d bat talions of the 16th and 17th Regiments. Both are stated to have become much improved in physique since they have been stationed in Nova Scotia. The health of the troops was generally good, although a good deal of sickness had restated from the abund ance of cheap liquors. 3114 COBDEN ON MARITIME LA IV. Mr. Cobden has addressed the following letter to Mr. Henry Ashworth, president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce : London, April 10, 1862. My dear Sir.—l avail myself of your kind permission to address you a letter on the present unsatisfactory state of international maritime law, as affecting the rights of belli gerents and neutrals. It is not necessary that I should dwell at length on the particular branch of the subject lo which the debate on Mr. Horsfall's motion was, as I venture to think, too ex clusively confined,—whether private property at sea should be exempted from capture by armed Government ships in time of war. That question was satisfactorily disposed of, not less by the practical force of the reasoning with which the motion was supported, than by the weak and irrelevant arguments with which it was opposed. A statement of the simple facts of the case, as they affect the interests of British capitalists, ought to be decisive of the course we should take without the necessity of one syllable of discussion. Here is a country the average value of whose ships and cargoes afloat exceeds £100,000,000, which is more than double the amount possessed by any other state. A proposal is made by the United States, with the concurrence:of France, Rus sia, and other countries, to exempt this property from legalised plunder in the case of war. Our merchants and shipowners are, naturally, eager to close with so advanta geous an offer, which is, however, peremptorily rejected by the British Government. One of the arguments urged by a member of the Cabinet to justify this rejection need not alarm us. It is alleged that such a stipulation would not be respected in time of war. At the worst, this would only leave us where we now are. If, however, an engagement were entered into, by a formal convention of the maritime powers, for insur ing the inviolability of private property at sea, it would become a recognised part of international law; and I do not believe that a judge, sitting in any prize court in the civilised world, would afterwards condemn as lawful cap ture, ships or cargoes seized in violation of that law. Sure I am, at least, that it is the duty of those filling high office in this country to brand with dishonour the viola tors of such a solemn engagement, and not to seem, in antici pation, to justify, or even palliate, their infamy. I have had some difficulty in believing those parties to be serious, who, in order to reconcile us to this unequal game of pillage, put forth the argument that it is desirable to subject our ship owners to the penalty of ruin in the event of war as the best means of binding the nation ovci to keep the peace. If a majority of the Cabinet, and both Houses of Parliament, were composed of shipowners, there might be some consis tency in this proposition. But if power and responsibility are to be united in the same hands, there is another body of proprietors whose fortunes might with greater justice be made liable to confiscation in case of war. The argument is, however, unworthy of serious refutation. Had not some of the opponents of Mr. Horsfall's motion professed to doubt whether the Paris declaration in favour of neutrals was irrevocable, they would obviously have been unable to oppose it. But the Paris Congress of 1856 merely recognised a state of things wh ch, as Mr. Baring remarked, had arisen out of the progress of events ; it no more created those events than the adoption of the Grego rian Calendar in 1752 produced the astronomical laws which rendered that reform in our style necessary ; and any attempt of our statesmen now to revert to the treat ment of neutrals sanctioned by our prize courts in 1810 would place them on a level with those politicians whom Hogarth depicts, in his famous election scene, clamouring to their candidees, " Give us back our eleven days I " My principal object, however, in writing is to show that the issue raised by Mr. Horsfall's motion, when taken alone, is now of little practical value. The question has assumed larger dimensions in consequence of the later proceedings of the United States Government. The facts of the case, which are not sufficiently known to the publid, are as follow : In 1856, as you are aware, Mr. Marcy, Foreign Secretary to President Pierce, when replying to the invitation from the Paris Congress to agree to the abolition of privateering, made the memorable counter proposal to Europe to exempt the private property of belligerents at sea from capture, both by privateers and armed government ships. This offer, as I have stated, was favourably received by France, Rus sia, and other maritime powers, but was rejected by the British Government. The election for the presidency took place in the autumn of 1856, and Mr. Buchanan was chosen the successor to Mr. Pierce. The question of international maritime law now underwent further discussion in Ame rica, and it was contended that, in addition to the exemp tion of private property from capture, when at sea, it should be free from molestation when entering or leaving a commercial port; that, in fine, blockades should be re stricted to naval arsenals, and towns which were at the same time invested by an army on land. * * * In the course of their discussions President Buchanan addressed a letter to the Chairman of the New York Chamber of Com merce, in which he said :—" We must obtain the consent of the powerful naval nations that merchant vessels shall nct be blockaded in port, but be suffered to pass the blockading squadron and go out to sea." The consequence of this state of opinion was that Mr. Dallas, the United States Minister at London, was in 1857 instructed to suspend the negotiations which had been opened upon the basis of Mr. Marcy's proposition. Thus the matter remained till the spring of 1859, when, on the breaking ont ef the war in Italy, a circular despatch was transmitted from Mr. Cass, PrestaeLit, Buchanan's foreign secretary, to the representatives of the United States at the European capitals, suggesting still further reforms in international maritime law. An unsuccessful effort was made, by Mr. Lindsay, to induce our Government to lay on the table of the house a copy of this document ; but the substance of its most important proposal was explained by Lord John Russell, when communicating to the House (February 18, 1861) the particulars of the interview at which Mr. Dallas had read to him, as Foreign Minis ter, this despatch :—Mr. Cass was represented by his Lord ship to have declared that "he considered that the right of blockade, as authorised by the law of nations, was liable to very great abuse ; and that the only case in which a blockade ought to be permitted was when a land army was besieging a fortified place, and a fleet was employed to blockade it on the other side ; but that any attempt to intercept trade by blockade, or to blockade places which were commercial ports, was an abuse of the right that ought not to be permitted." Lord Russell took this oppor tunity of explaining to the house his reasons for opposing these views of the American Government, and which were in substance the same as those with which Mr. Marcy's proposal had been met—namely, that the system of com• mercial blockades is essential to the maintenance of our naval supremacy. These incidents have a most important significance, if viewed in connection with present events. We live in an age of rapid transitions, which warn us against too obsti nate an adherence to ancient precedent or blind routine. If the proposal of the United States to abolish commercial blockades had been favourably received by the British Government, there can be no doubt, from the known ten dency of other maritime powers, that it might have become a part of the law of nations, and in that case the commerce between England and the Southern States of the Ameri can Union would have been uninterrupted by the present war,—for the blockade is acknowledged by Europe only as a belligerent right, and not as the exercise of municipal authority. In justice to the American Government, and to prevent any misapprehension of the following argument, I am bound to express the opinion that the closing of the cotton ports is virtually our own act. We have imposed upon ourselves as neutrals the privations and sufferings in cidental to a commercial blockade, because we assume that we are interested in reserving to ourselves the belligerent right which we now concede to others. Let us consider, for a moment, whether this policy will bear the test of reason, fact, and experience. * * It may be alleged of nearly all articles of food or raw materials, transported over sea, that more than one-hal f is destined for these islands. It follows that were we, in the exercise of the belligerent right of blockade, to pre vent the exportation of those commodities, we should inflict greater injury on ourselves than on all the rest of the world, not excepting the country with which we were at war; for if we could effectually close the ports of one or more of these countries against both exports and im ports, we should be merely intercepting the supply of com parative luxuries to them, while we arrested the flow of the necessaries of life to ourselves ; and for every cultivator of the soil, engaged in the production of cotton or other raw material, thereby doomed to idleness, three or four persons would be deprived of employment in. the distribution and manufacture of these commodities. These facts are an answer to those who maintain that it is necessary to reserve in our hands the right of blockade, as an instrument of coercion in case of war. Against such countries as France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, &e., blockades have lost their force, owing to the extension of the railway system throughout the continent of Europe. In cases where a blow may still be struck at the commerce of a nation--of what use, I would ask, is a weapon of offence which recoils with double force on ourselves ? It would be but a poor consolation to our population, who were sub_ jected to the evils of enforced idleness a nd star vation, to be told that the food and raw materials destined for their sub sistence and employment were rotting in the granaries of ruined cultivators in Russia or America. These considerations have always practically outweighed the blockading theory, even when our necessities, as a com mercial and manufacturing people,. were m uc h less than at present. If we consult the experience of our past wars, we shall find that, as a belligerent, we have never attempted to prevent the productions of our e nemies from reaching our shores. It is true, we have maintained, for our navy, the traditional right and duty of a blockade, whilst (I beg your attention to the distinction) we have invariably connived at its evasim. I will cite a few examples. We all know how systematically our blockade of France, and other parts of the coast of the continent, was relaxed by licenses during t h e great war with Napoleon, and it is notorious that, at the height of that war, the deficiency of our own har vests was repeatedly supplied from the corn fields of our most deadly enemy. Nor must we forget that the celebrated orders in Council, the most gigantic of all blockades, were ultimately revoked in the interests of our own manufactures and commerce. Again, in the war with the United States, in 1813, whilst professing to blockade that coast, our Giovenunent resisted the demands of a powerful and interested party in Parliament, who called for measures to prevent the importation of American cotton into England ; and this occurred at a time when our dependence on the produce of that region was, perhaps, not equal to a twentieth part of that of the present day. The Crimean war, however, affords us a more recent example. That war was declared in March, 1854, but the ports of Southern Russia were not declared in a state of blockade until March, 1855. The Allies temporised for a year with their right and power to close the commercial ports of the Black Sea, whilst carrying on the most sail 4 guinary struggle before the naval arsenal of Sebastopol, in order to allow the exportation of food from Russia, to make good the deficient harvests in England and France. Upwards of half a million of quarters of grain reached our shores from that region, in 1854. Here, at least, is a pre cedent for the policy of restricting b'ockades to fortified places, and leaving commercial ports unmolested. If we turn to the operations in the Baltic, during the same war, we find that our blockade of Cronstadt had merely the effect of diverting the produce of Russia, destined for -Eng land, into more costly overland channels. An attempt was made, similar to that of interested parties in 1813, referred to above, to induce our Government to prevent the impor tation of Russian produce into this country through Prussia, which drew from the Dundee Chamber of Commerce a me morial declaring that the raw material from Russia was in dispensable to the very existence of the industry of that dis trict. After due deliberation, our Governmeut refuses to require a certificate of origin at the Custoru-house, or to offer any other impediment to the importation of Russian hemp, flax, tallow, &c., into this country through the territory of the neutrals. The consequence was that Prussia, which sent us tallow to the value of £l5O only in 1853, was enabled, in 1855, to supply us with that article to the amount of £1,837,300; and other Russian commodities reached this country in a simi lar. It is only necessary to point to the examples of China, Mexico, &c., to show that in our hostilities with the weaker maritime powers, we carefully eschew the policy of resort ing, as a means of coercion, to the blockade of their com mercial ports. A fair deduction from these facts and premises leads as to a very grave national dilemma. We persist in uphold ing a belligerent right, which we have always shrunk from enforcing, and shall never rigorously apply, by which we place in the hands of other belligerents the power, at any moment, of depriving a large part of our population of the supply of the raw materials of their industry and of the necessaries of life. In this respect the question of blockade is essentially different from that of the capture of private property at sea. In the latter case we are only liable to injury when we choose to become belligerents, whereas, in the former, we are exposed to serious calamities as neutrals; and England, by proclaim ing the policy of non-intervention, has recently consti tuted herself the great neutral Power. In this capacity we are now enduring the effects of a blockade, by which it is estimated that the earnings of labour, in the cotton manu facture alone, are curtailed to the extent of a quarter of a million sterling a week. Should it continue it will, I fear, bring many of the evils of war home to our doors, a nd plunge an ingenious and industrious population, whose re cent improvemement and elevation we have witnessed with pride, into the depths of pauperism and misery. Nor have we any assurance that this will prove a solitary case. I can, imagine a combination of events, not more improbable than the blockade of the cotton region of the United States by land and sea would have appeared to be three years ago, by which we may be cut off from all commercial intercourse with other countries on which we are largely dependent for raw materials and food. Speaking abstractedly, and not in reference to the present blockade—for we are precluded from plead ing our sufferings as a ground of grievance against a people whose proposals for the mitigation of the barbarous maritime code we have rejected—l do not hesitate to denounce, as opposed to the principles of natural justice, a system of warfare which inflicts greater injuries on an unoffending community than on a belli gerent. Certain I am that such a system is incompatible with the new commercial policy to which we have unre servedly committed ourselves. Free trade, in the widest definition of the term, means only the division of labour by which the productive powers of the whole earth are brought into mutual co-operation. If this scheme of uni versal dependence is to be liable to sudden dislocation, when ever two Governments choose to go to war, it converts & manufacturing industry, such as ours, into a lottery, is which the lives and fortunes of multitudes of men are at stake. Ido not comprehend how any British states man, who consults the interests of his country, and un derstands the redolution which free trade is effecting in the relations of the world, can advocate the mainten ance of commercial blockades. If I shared their view, I should shrink from promoting the indefinite growth of a population whose means of subsistence would be liable to be cut off at any moment by a belligerent power, against whom we should have no right of resistance, or even of complaint. It must surely be in mere irony that the advocates of such a policy as this ask—of what use would our navy be in case of war, if commercial blockades were abolished t For nation that has no access to the rest of the world but bl sea, and a large part of whose population is dependent for food on foreign countries, the chief use of a navy should surely be to keep open its communications, not to close them. Than, is annthar brannh of this subjnot to which a recent occurrence has imparted peculiar importance. We require a clear definition of the circumstances which confer on belligerent the right of search. The old and universaliy admitted rule that any maritime power, when at was, wag entitled everywhere to stop and visit the merchant vessels of neutrals, is allowed to be unsuited to this age of extended commerce, of steamers, and postal packets. The main c;tr ject which belligerents had in view in the exercise of this power was the capture of enemy's property. But, since the Faris declaration exempts the goods of an enemy frora seizure in neutral bottoms, there is little motive left for preserving this belligerent right; and the question would receive a very simple solution by assimilating the practice, in time of war to that which prevails in time of peace. Merchant vessels on the high seas are, during peace, con. sidored and treated as a part of the territory to which they belong. There is no point in which the maritime powers are more clearly understood than that, excepting cases of special convention to the contrary, such as that for sup pressing the African slave trade, the flags of merchantmen afford an absolute protection against visitation by an a lien ship of war. This rule applies, of course, only to the high seas ; for when foreign merchant vessels approach so near the coast of a maritime state as to place themselves within its municipal jurisdiction, they are subject to all its police and revenue regulations. Now, why should not this be the invariable law of the sea, in time of war as well as of peace ? Because two maritime powers in some quarter of the globe choose to enter upon hostilities affords no good reason why neutral merchant ships, sailing in every seas should be sdbjected to their authority. This change would simplify the question of contraband of war, and thus tend to obviate the risks of international disputes. An article is rendered contraband of war only by its hostile destination. Were the right of search on the high seas in time of war abolished, the only admissible proof of this destination would be the fact of the vessel being found within the waters of a belligerent state. i f those waters were in the possession of a hostile power, the jurisdiction would appertain to the fleet of that power, and a neutral merchant vessel, containing articles contraband of war, entering voluntarily within that jurisdiction, would he ipso facto liable to capture. As to the question what sheaf under such circumstances, constitute an unlawful cargo, I see no motive why we should seek to multiply impedi ments to commerce by extending the category of article contraband of war beyond that proposed by the United States, viz., arms and ammunition. Without dwelling on minor details, the three great re forms in international maritime law embraced in the pre ceding argument are— 1. The exemption of private property from capture at sea, during war, by armed vessels of every kind. 2. Blockades to be restricted to naval arsenals, a nd to / I r towns besieged at the sam e ti me on l a nd, with t h e en ce tion of articles contraband of war. 3. The merchant ships of neutrals on the high seas to be inviolable to the visitation to alien government vessels in time of war as in time of peace. It is at the option of the English Government at any time to enter upon negotiations with the other g reat powers for the revision of the maritime node, and I speal advisedly in expressing my- belief that it depends on 1115 alone whether the above reforms are to be carried into eflect. I will only add that I regard these changes the necessary corollary of the repeal of the navigation Irmo the abolition of the corn laws, and the abandonment of our colonial monopoly. We have thrown away the sceptre of force, to confid e in the principle of freedom. Under this new regime our national fortunes have prospered beyond all precedent. During the last 14 years the increase i n our co mmerce has exceeded it s en ti re growth d uring the previ ous thousand years of relance on force, cunning and mono' This should encourage us to go forward, in the full faith that every fresh impediment removed from the pall of commerce, whether by sea or land, and whether in p e ace or war, will augment our prosperity, at the same time that it will promote the general interests of humanity.—B e lieve me, my dear sir, yours very sincerely, H. COBDEN. Henry Ashworth, Esq., President of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce. MILITARY DISCIPLINE AT BERLIN.,--.A commu nication from Grandenz to the People's Gazette at Berlin says :—" A few mornings back the company o f c ap t a i n 8., of the Bth regiment of infantry of Eastern P russia, had es" sembled at parade. Captain B. appeared, when, with the edThe commander, l‘ i ' exception of the lieutenant, ensign, and sergeant-major, no one returned the regimental salute. The captain then called 20 men from the ranks, ,iv hwahtolsobethyeed,rabauttteia.,nmoyrdlaedrst?o, the d whole eil e company nhept , was was unattended en e d u. emd summoned, every one replied. asked. To this there was no reply, b ut on his asking i` any of them had complaints , and to his salute to make, they replied as if with The consequence a.n d ten one voice, ' All I'has been that Capta in B. has been provisionally suspended from his functions? arrested. An inquiry i 6 The articles of waxenhav • the going on. . and a sub-officer f the re • , e since been read to other canpanoo 0 gulaeAt. I sly ire wick Wes I 10s.; ern s 3 Th tain to 14 Gran India at 10 Joi impo: to 80 Joint 101 4 . Thl pe►;a. and I Mi di Jal and t Inves Comp Rank 3:per C -3 per C New 3 Ditto India Ditto Consob 'Exchec Sm.!ll, Dittc Dittc ' hi i}ix Dittc Mexica Dittc Portug Russiai Dittc Spanisl Dittc Dittc Dittc Spanisl 1 urkisl Dittc Dittc Dittc Venezt Ditto Italian, Consols Dil The the (a Capt a i J 4 R. ' " T 1 6.55 tl The q the slu On Cam] 17s. 100 about 3- By adv and th e Standar 4-10 the The .60 days' About 1 porta,tic at a vet of this purpose project( ration. Man, a] present :so calle Bite for and. nearly them, the Sm and on( VIOUS ID pltt , l, if Mr, Ba bort, an sue the again t by Aid( opened purehal Urged,: siuch ar the arr: and the that th rially ii railway taent by the for tho ST Ba on &c bec an( sha be Cot hig Ste met ado In not to a; Ditt( Dittc Dittc Dittc