The Sun. — London, England, 1862-12-18 00:00:00

THIS NEWSPAPER, "THE SUN , " Has now been finally and conclusively sold to Mr. Kent, its principal editor, who was the pur chaser thereof at the auction at the sum of £2,420, inclusive of the valuation of the plant, machinery, furniture, and efKocts. The biddings were this day re-opened, before the Chief Clerk of the Master of the Rolls, by the offer of an increase of £5OO ; Mr. Kent then offered an increase of £BOO, and, no further offer being made, he was, by an order of the Master of the Rolls, declared the purchaser for £3,220, inclusive of the plant, &c. Mr. Kent has to pay the balance of his purchase money into Court on or before Saturday, the 27th inst., and will then become the sole owner of the pro perty from that date. ADAM RIVERS STEELE, Solicitor, 44, Bloomsbury-square, London, W.C. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. TlllB DAY.—Morning, 11h. Om.—Afternoon,'llh. 30m To-mounow.-Morning, h. m.—Afternoon, 12h. Om 1- 77 4 CI U • .---- • , CVA, ovt- , 1 • 9* . I) n •ts - ' 4.4" - THE SUN. LONDON, THURSDAY, DEC. 18, 1862. We must confess our surprise that some of our pro-Southern contemporaries and their correspon dents should affirm that had Mr. Lucomst's pre sent compensation scheme been offered at the be ginning, it would have averted the terrible war which they all lament. Surely they forget both facts, and the nature of slaveholders. Mr. LIN COLN did not enter upon office before the 4th of March, 1861. By that time the State of South Carolina (which began this mad work so early as the 20th of December, in 1860), Mississippi, Ala bama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, seven states in all, had already seceded, and on the 9th of February had published, after a five days' sessior, their rebel Constitution at Montgomery. SEWARD made, for that matter, a compromise ora tion, the Virginian delegates tried their skill in vain, all kinds of conciliatory motions were made in the Senate ; but to what purpose could they be ? The leaders of the South had declared eternal antagonism to the North. They declared in express language, that the fundamental views of tha North and South, on slavery, were irreconcileable ; the North, they said, regards it as a sin and crime, and injurious to the body politic. JEFFERSON, they said, and the founders of our Re public, knew no better, and hoped for the extinc tion of slavery. We, on the other hand, regard slavery as a Divine institution ; we regard the absolute subordination of the inferior race to the will of the superior race, as the latest and grandest of social and political discoveries, we hold that slave institutions ought to cover the earth, and re gard ourselves as exhibiting the noblest model of a Republic—one in which a ruling race subjugates to itself, for the mutual advantage of both, another race destined by Providence to toil for it. Let not the reader suppose there is a word of exaggeration here. He will find almost the ipsiestma verbs we have employed, not only in the speeches of Southern men, and in their official documents, but in their elaborate octavo Defences, republished by English booksellers. How, we may ask, would such men have received any proposal which implied that slavery was a tiling to be got rid of, to be regarded as an evil in the Great Republic ? Nothing would have contented them but acknowledging 151 avery as the foundation of the whole Union, and the ri ght Consequently of slaveholders to take their altiTea not : nly into the territories, but into the Free State themselves, as freely as a Northern man mi ght take with him his horses and cattle. When compensation was offered to the Border States, after the war had begun, and with all its horrors before them small of smalla s the proportion there of slaves is, not on them accepted it. How absurd, therefore, to imagine that the proposal now made would have been treated otherwise than with supreme contempt. But it is only to recollect for a moment the effect of sla veholding on the possessors of slaves, to per ceive how natura l is their aversion to anything e genera l emancipation of their slav es . Iv, allkn li o k : —and Mr. CHAS. DICKENS especially noted the fact, when in America—that "of all ear thl y temp _ tations tha abuse of irresponklble power is the m ost difficult to be resisted." Th e profits to be made out of slaves are not so pleasant to the master as the power to make a fellow-man obey his will unconditionally, at the peril of feeling the weight of his wrath. It was so in our own 'West Indies. The proprietors and mortgagees of estates there, living in this country, were but too thankful to fill their pockets with the compensation they had never hoped for, and to find a fortune in their bankrupt estates; but the resident whites, the attorneys and State agents who worked the estates, never could endure the measure which de- • prived them of the power to lash the "niggers" at their will for a word or a look. It is just the same in the slave States of America. In their pub lished apologies we see how they loathe the idea of the black man having any civil rights at all, any power to punish the master who maltreated him, beyond, at least, such power as the white man here possesses to punish the carter who villanously maltreats an animal. The South are, indeed, the aristocracy of Ameriea. But they are an aristo cracy separating themselves from their serfs by an impassable line. The offspring of every black or coloured woman, even though the blood of the aris tocrat fhws in his veins, is the absolute property of his unnatural father, an article which he sells to the best bidder, a part of his real or personal estate. It is an abuse of language to apply the same word to the English and the Southern aristocracy. As to the position in which the offer now made won;4 .have placed Mr. LINCOLN and the North b e f ore the world, had Mr. LINCOLN laid it before the rebe.ls whom he found already shaped into a rival republic, we fear it would not h ave d one them much good. The previous offer of compensa tion was only iAnghed at here by those who were determined to see nothing right in the North. It had indeed a grievous defect, which we pointed out at the time, but this proposal has defects quite as great. We suspect, in truth, that the real fault which certain parties here dislike in it, is what constitutes one of its chief merits. It is so mode rate, so jut in the pecuniary sense, requiring lite rally no sacrifice on the part of any slaveholder, that those who hate American political institutions and the Union are galled exceedingly that the North should expose the South before the world as a race of men-stealers and men-dealers, whom nothing will satisfy but the retention of their odious ny. CANTERBURY BALL, GRAND SELECTION from POPULAR. 0 PERAS, as usual. The Comic by LTnsworth (the original Stump Orator), Eu,ene, Daley, Little Bobb, E. Marshall, A. B. HoWn_gs 'worth, Arthur Lloyd, and Miss qeogina. Smiths On. The wonderful performances of the Etmle .....11./0•1 .1.•. CHRISTMAS AMUSEMENT. On BOXING NIGHT wilt be produced the THIRD EDITION of the celebrated Pantomimic Sketch, THE ENCHANTED HASH, by E. Varshall, thirteen Transfor mations, new characters and new ci:Vßses, in addition to the usual entertainment. JIVES of EMINENT S TATESMEN, in PUN, every week. One l'.7"llny. row Ready, handsomely bound in Magenta ch.,th, gilt, price is. 6 ; post free, 55., the ~ZECOND half-yearly VOLUME of IUN, with ),-, numerous Engravings by talented artists, an d humor ous Articles by the following distinguished writers W. Bailey, Esq. W. S. Gilbert, Esq? W. Barber, Esq. T. Hood, Esq. E. L. Blanchard, Esq. T. S. Jerrold, Esq. G. W. Bridgeman, Esq. W. J. Prowse, Esq. F. C. Bnrnand, Esq. Godfrey Turner, Esq. 11. J. Byron, Esq. &c., &c., &a Office, 80, Fleet-street, London. HALF -A-DOZEN UMBRELLAS in the Christmas Number of SATURDAY NIGHT. Con ducted by THOMAS HOOD. v * * For full particulars of amusements see first page. ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA, DEN. This Evening, Wallace's new opera, COVENT-GA LOVE'S TRIUMPH. Commence at 8. THEATRE-ROYAL, HAYMARKET. This Evening, DUCK HUNTING. After which. OUR AMERICAN COUSIN. With TURNING TH E TABLES. And MY HUSBAND'S GHOST, Commence at 7. ---- NEW THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELI. This Eveninz. AGNES DE VERE. Followed by A TICKET OF LEAV E.omm And ence at THE HONEYMOON. C 7. ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE. This Evening. IT M PE E P T crie, 'TWA SIN THE PAPERS. I'd:glowed byO'DAY. To conclude with KILLAIINEY: Commence at 7. ARGYLL ROOMS, . Great Windmill-street, Hay market. Open every evening for Promenade and Dancing. CANTERBURY HALL—EVERY EVENING. — Grand Selections from Verdi's "Boccanegra," M acfarren.'s Cantata "May Day," and Locke's Music of "Macbeth." — The Etoile Family—Uneworth, ug en Ee, and Duley, &c. Commence at 7. THE OXFORD, 6, OXFORD-STREET, EVERY EVENING.—Re-appearance of Unsworth. the orizinal of "Or any other man" -The Colleen Bawn , by Miss Caroline Parkes—Mr. Maclagan's Entertainment - Drew Dean, the great Flautist—the Neapolitan Minstrels—Selections from Verdi's " II Corsa*o" and "Nabuco," Donizetti's "Don Se bastien," &c., with full band and chorus. Commence at 7. tyran: That convict labour is a valuable commodity, we cannot but recognise, even in the midst of all our horror of garotting. The employment of the brute force, and of the mechanical skill, and of the previously misapplied intelligence of our cri minal population, upon public works who is there amongst us that fails to recognise as a tho roughly common sense proceeding ? The principle is obviously right in two directions—benefitting the felon and the community. That is to say, it affords the felon the most substantial of all opportunities for the restoration of his own character. It ob tains from his thews and sinews, from his dex terity, from his brain and nerves, a visible and material advantage to the public, whose laws and habits, whose morality and integrity he has outraged. Upon the European Continent many of these wretched creatures forgata—not ac tually chained to the oar in those floating hells the Galleys, of which our old and now happily obsolete Hulks were until a very few years ago the lumbering imitations—are employed, as we know, in the pub lic streets in gangs, manacled together, clearing away the dung, and performing other filthy and menial offices. It is the merit of the carefully organized system of which Sir JOSHUA JEBB is the Originator, or at any rate the Organizer, that larger benefits are (through its application to the treatment of Felony) derived in the shape of actual advantages to the general community from the em ployment of Convict Labour upon Public Works. Latterly it has become a sort of fashion to clamour down this system as erroneous. The accursed brutality of the Ticket-of Leave ruffians —turned into Thugs in the twilit suburbs of our metropolis—armed with brass knuckle-dusters and knotted bludgeons—endangering the lives of her MAJESTY'S lieges for the sake of the dirty halfpence that may be found in their pockets when reduced to a state of insensibility—these new fangled atrocities of the Garotters have so clouded the judgments of many in regard to the merits of the system from whose exaggerated misappli cation the crimes of the Garotters have emanated, that one might almost be led to imagine that the whole panic-stricken community has and denly become oblivious of that sufficiently plain and solid fact—the Portland Breakwater. Sir JOSHUA JEBB may very probably, like most innovators, have carried out his system to the ex treme. That he apparently has done so would seem to be clearly demonstrated by the mere circum stance of the existence of these Garotters. Yet— allowing that—it must be none the less obvious to any dispassionate observer, that the general public has, by way of retaliation, rushed in turn, in the opposite direction, blindly into an extreme. To Sir JOSHUA—until recent events perhaps awakened his eyes to the magnitude, at the very least, of a doubt as to the efficiency of his system— that system of his would appear to have been re garded as all good. To the general community just now it would seem that the system is deemed to be exactly the reverse, that is to say, also in two words, all bad. The truth—as invariably happens to be the case among disputants who rush to opposite ex tremes—lying all the while as nearly as possible ex actly midway. Without the elaborate and masterly organisation described in a very able report copied by us into our impression of Tuesday from that morn ing's issue of our leading contemporary, without the elaborate and masterly organisation visible any day in the year, to any ono who lists to go there and see for himself, in the Great Convict Establish ment at Portland, we should probably have heard nothing, have seen nothing, of perhaps the greatest of all the Public Works of our age—the Portland Breakwater. There, cheek by jowl, as it were, with the Convict Prison, whose salubrity, and cleanliness, and comfort are so loudly and insen sately inveighed against (as—like the whole sys tem itself, of the character of which that large and splendid establishment is the most conspicuous of examples—all bad!) there, within can non shot of the Portland Convict Prison, is its palliative, its vindication, its justification, in the Portland Breakwater. "The bane and anti dote" are, there, both of them, as visibly before us as they were before CATO, is his dagger and his scroll of the Platonic Philosophy ! Yonder the Palace of Felonry ! Yonder shelving off into the neighbouring sea the magnificent result pro duced by the wise application of Convict Labour — the Breakwater. Remembering that one offshoot of his elaborate system, Sir JOSHUA JEBB'S critics would do well to pause before pronouncing an unconditional sentence of reprobation upon his certainly not all-perfect but also, it should be admitted, his not all imperfect scheme of Convict Discipline. For ourselves, we cannot but recognise in Sir JOSHUA JEBB a very able and g if te d servant o f t h e C rown an d o f th e Publi c , w h o having become impressed with a con viction of the absolute excellence of a system of his own construction, has eventually turned that sys tem into a Robby, and afte r l ong r idi ng o f hi s without let or hindrance f rom any one, h as Hobby y rn o n b t b he usual hazard of those so mounted—the im minent risk of riding his Hobby to Death. Mr. COBDEN, in his ce in y t e e r r y es nn ti n n e g h speech at Midhurst, underto o k a sveervryi needed— the exposition to a rural audience, of what the great Sprung f rom th e !P - neighbourhood Lancashire hbou r h community oodin whichreally he e spoke, halting repur- TilE SUN' LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 18,711862. chased his paternal estate from the pecuniary hone- • rarium awarded him voluntarily by a grateful country, and knowing equally well the rustics of Sussex and the town populations of the North, he was just the man to be the interpreter between the two. There is, we are sure, no danger whatever of any rupture between the North and the South, in England, but it is nevertheless true that the vast masses of the North and their employers, and the labourers, farmers, and landlords, too, for the mos part of the Southern coast, know no more of each other than do the populations dwelling on each side of the Border States of North America. But the difference between the two is not one of institu tions. No slavery curses our South. Hundreds and thousands, indeed, from our agricultural coun ties use their freedom to migrate to the North, and to exchange agricultural for manufacturing wages. We can none of us forget the savage attack of the Rev. Mr, KINGSLEY on the rich men of Lanca shire, an attack which Lord DERBY so successfully rebutted, by showing that four-fifths of the half million at that time subscribed were actually raised in Lancashire itself. Mr. COBDEN disposes of it it: his usual good-natured style, observing that the subject of poor rates seems to have " puzzled the Rev. Mr. KINGSLEY, who, in a letter which he has recently published, displays so great an amount of ignorance as to the condition of Lancashire, that it seems to me he has dated his letter from a very appropriate place when he dates it from one of the provinces of the Saxon Hep tarcby," Wessex. Mr. COBDEN'S general explana tion of the reasons for the lowness of the poor rates in Lancashire is very natural. The greater part, nearly all, of the manufacturers are self-made men. They have risen from the ranks ; their habit is to live among the people they employ, conform ing their general hours and mode of life to theirs. As the rule, he thinks they do not spend above half their incomes, but invest the rest in increasing their mills and machinery. When they have done so, the result is that two-thirds, or more probably three•fourths, of their capital is invested in their mills, machinery, and the cottages attached to them. The consequence is, that all the labour is fully employed, while the capital liable to rating becomes very large. Both causes co-operating, inevitably produce a low poor-rate in ordinary times. When, however, a crash like the present one comes, the whole of the vast capital represented by mills and machinery becomes a loss instead of a source of profit. It more needs to receive rates than to pay them. It is, in fact, in the condition of the deluged farms of Marshland. Indeed the danger to be most apprehended, and the working men themselves have sufficient intelli gence to see it, and to express their apprehensions, is lest the floating capital of their masters should be exhausted during the continuance of the famine, and when it ceases, that great numbers of them should be unable to resume business. This would indeed be a prolonging of the calamity ; and its - worst result. It would mean, of course, that the future operatives of Lancashire should be so in ex cess of the demand, that for a long time wages would be very low. o The evil in that case would tend, we may hope, to remedy itself, since the profits being greater, capital would, by its unfailing laws, soon follow increased profits. We have heard a great deal of the manufactures of late years having been so in excess of the demand that the cotton famine has been really a boon to the masters. Mr. COBDEN'S opinion is different. He disentangles the case. He admits the increase of mills, machinery, and production. It was caused by the speculative demands of merchants chiefly for the Indian and Chinese markets. He does not admit that had the cotton supply continued the mills would have stopped. The merchants would have been heavy losers, perhaps many of them bankrupt, through their heavy exports being sold at half price abroad—but the goods thus sold cheap would have circulated throughout Asia, and created a taste and demand for the productions of our looms. They would thus have ultimately brought us fresh orders, while the mills at home would gone on, if not quite so fast, yet at a fair rate of business, buying their raw material cheaper, and keeping their people at work even if they made but little profit. The comparison was very striking, even the Rev. Mr. KINGSLEY will feel its force, which Mr. COBDEN made between the North and the South in England, in regard to the extent of population sub ject to the pressure of the present calamity : "We had in the county of Sussex, according to the last census, 38,000 agricultural labourers of all ages. I assume them to receive 12s. a week ; and I see a farmer or two present who will admit that I am very liberal, assuming their wages to be 12s. a week for labourers of all ages, it amounts to £1,200,000 a year, which would be the amount of wages paid throughout the whole of the county for agricultural labour. I have taken out from the same census-returns the number of agricul tural labourers in the eight great southern agri cultural counties, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hants, Wiltshire, Dorset, Devonshire, and Somersetshire, and I find they amount to 283,500. Giving them all 12s. a week, and lam sure for Dorsetahiro, Wiltshire, and North Devon that is being exceedingly liberal—(laughter)—l find that the amount of agricultural wages paid in all these eight coun ties is £8,000,000 a year, so that you have now a loss of wages in the cotton districts equal to what it would be if the whole agricultural labour of all the eight southern counties ceased to be employed to-morrow." But, to complete the parallel, he had to suppose all the farmers at the same time deprived of their incomes, their rents still going on, and their rates fearfully increasing; their farms producing nothing, and they left to support themselves and their labourers in these eight counties out of their little floating capital. The illustrative comparison is perfect. Every agriculturist must at once com prehend it, and see its justice, and we feel assured that its lesson will not be lost on the farmers of England. The case is, indeed, one for all classes, and Mr. COBDEN'S admirable speech is just the thing wanted to make all comprehend it. It ought to be circulated widely in agricultural districts. The King of Bavaria passed some hours at Augsburg on the 13th with the Queen of Naples. Her Majesty spends the greater part of ber time with the Duke Louis, her brother, who has not, in consequence, trans ferred his residence to Nuremberg, where his regiment is at present. A sitting of the Belgian Senate took place on Monday, under the presidency of Count do Renesso-Breid bach, when the election of M. V2ndenbergh-Eisen as Senator for Antwerp, which took place on the 20th May last, was annulled as informal. TllE ALABAMA.—The following has been received from New York :--" Fall River, Massachusetts, Dec. 6. The British brig Hiram has arrived here, having on board the crew of the bark Harriet Spaulding, from New York for Havre, which vessel was burnt at sea by the Alabama on th© 19th ult., in lat. 41, long. 66. The crew of the Har riet Spaulding were kept in irons some days before being transferred to the Hiram. The Alabama had on board the crews of three other vessels burnt at sea, names not given." There must bo some mistake in the report, as the Alabama was at Martinique on the 19th ult. LONGEVITY IN THE NORTH.--There died at Crossgight, New Deer, on the 6th inst., Sophia Lillie, for merly resident in New Pitsligo, in the 104th year of her age. She retained all her faculties unimpaired till within a few months of her death. There died at Cuminestown, on the Bth inst., Isabella Gray, wife of Mr. James Watson, shoemaker, in her 90th year. This worthy and respectable couple lived together in conjugal union in the same house for the almost unprecedented period of 67 years. There is still living, near the western boundary of the parish of New Deer, a man whose age wants only seven years to complete the century. He is still able to move about, and, except ing that he is rather dull of hearing, he is in complete possession of all his faculties. About a mile to the east ward lives a woman still two years older, but she has been confined to her bed for some time past, though otherwise in moderate health and perfectly sensible. On the estate of Hatton Castle, in the parish of Monquhitter, there resides within 30 yards of the spot where she was born, a woman who has lived there in a state of contented celibacy for con siderably upwards of 90 years. She is 'still able to walk about, and is possessed of a large share of intelligence and conversational power.--Banffshire Journal. The Church of Santa Maria della Passions, at Milan was broken into a few days ago and robbed of a silver ostensory and two pyres of the same metal. The conse crated wafers were found strewed about the floor. No clue has as yet been obtained to the discovery of the oulprits. A letter from Altenburg (Saxony) says :—" We have passed a fearful night. About one o'clock a fire broke out in the Tceplitz Hotel, in the part where Timmer's Theatrum mundi was installed, then spread to the rest of the building, which was occupied by the Post-office, and, still extending, reduced to ashes 27 houses and two barns." A new tariff for the trade with China has just been published at St. Petersburg. It was drawn up on the 20th February, 1862, between M. de Balluzek, resident Russian Minister at Pekin, and the Chinese Government. WINCHESTER COLLEGE.—The second-mastership of this college has become vacant by the death of the Rev. Frederick Wickhltm, M.A., who was appointed in 1846, The appointment is in the gift of the Warden and Fellows of New College, Oxford. The Provost and Fellows of Eton have presented the Rev. A. H. Nourse, curate of Standlake, to the incum• bency of Cogges, near Witney. A DANGEROUS ELEPHANT.—OnTuesday a serious accident occurred at Alnwick on the entrance of Mander's collection of wild beasts into that town. The earriage con taining the musicians, drawn by elephants and camels, had reached the Green Bat, and was resting there, when one of the elephants was taken out to assist some of the heavier carriages up Hotspur-street, which has rather a steep in• dine. While the former carriage was standing, one of the keepers commenced to tease the remaining elephant, which became highly irritated, and when the men were re harnessing the other elephant, on its return from assisting the carriage, the one which had been excited seized the keeper with its trunk, and threw him up into the air, caught him again as he was falling, and threw him on the ground, and had his foot on the breast of the keeper to crush him, when fortunately he was extricated from his perilous posi tion. There was a crowd of people present, and a rush was made to see what was doing. A. number of persons were thrown down, and the wheels of the carriage passed over two women, who, besides others, were severely injured, but none fatally. The elephant is described as being usually very quiet and docile.—Newcastle Chronicle. DESTRUCTION OF IRON SHIPS BY GALVANIC ACTION INDUCED BY PREPARATIONS OP COPPER.—The French floating battery La Gloire has lately been examined, and found to be seriously injured by the action of copper on her iron pirtes, the whole of which below the waterline will have to be removed, being converted into a kind of plutubago by galvanic action. We had occasion some time since to call attention to the extraordinary state of her Ma jesty's ships Triton and Sharpshooter. On their being docked for examination, the iron plates were in some places reduced to the thickness of writing paper, and in the case of the Triton the scrapers actually went through the plates when removing the tons of oysters, barnacles, &c., attached to her bottom. It appears tb at this ship had been coated with a preparation of copper, and the destruction of the plates and rivets arose from galvanic action on the exposed surfaces of the iron where the nria.,,,,,,,t123 g has tipeereA rubbed off under the bows and and forefoot and along the light-load waterline. The salvation of this ship from foun dering was no doubt occasioned by the adhesion of the shell-fish. She has just been thoroughly repaired at Devon port Dockyard, and is now coated with Messrs. Peacock and Buchan's preparation, which is superseding the copper preparations hitherto used in her Majesty's dockyards. We understand that Captain Peacock, formerly a master in her Majesty's navy, who published a pamphlet on this subject some years since, actually warned the late Ministre de Marine, in Paris, against what has now taken place, two years ago ; he also waited on the Minister of Marine, in Madrid, on the same subject, and has been for several years in communication with our own Admiralty authorities on the importance of preventing galvanic action upon the iron ships of the British navy, and we are glad to see that their lordships and our dockyard officials are at length alive to this important subject.—Shipptng Grzette. THE WOOD A NT.—lt is most interesting to watch the ants bringing materials for their home. If an ant finds a little piece of broken fern stem that is suitable for the outer wall, he picks it up by one end, holds it out straight before him as if be were smoking a very large cigar, and sets off briskly homewards. This mode of carrying his bur den is evidently adopted for the convenience of steering it to th e an t s . I h ave even through the gr t a r s i s fli b n l g ad a es e , t f h a e ll y en ap fe p r e n a , r a t n o d h o u th m er an im e p y ed es i , a m r e e n b t s y , which , no means insignificant seen an ant carrying off a grub three times its own size, holdingt in the same manner; the strength required for such a feat is truly enormous. But when a he av i er or larger burden, as a piece of stick, has to be transported, a different plan is adopted. Six or seven ants are detached for the work, and they set about it with a unity of purpose that is really surprising. Grasping it with their jaws, they gradually edge it forward in the right direction, one of their number always seeming to act as foreman, and taking hold of the end, which seems to be the post of honour. As long as the ground is tolerably even the stick is dragged along without difficulty, and the foreman or ganger cannot be distinguish from his fellows, save by his position at the end of the stick. But when they get among broken ground, or if the stick should per chance fall into a crevice and carry its bearers with it, the ganger seldom touches the stick except to pull it into the proper direction, but runs ahead to reconnoitre, then re turns to the gang, and is all life and animation. I have seen the clever little creatures make a mistake, and get the stick into a labyrinth of broken ferns and twigs, through which they could by no means steer it, and then seen them carfully return to the same path until they were clear of the thicket, and choose another and a smoother road.—Once a Week. ARTIFICIAL "SIAMESE TWINS."—A curious and interesting experiment was lately made at Strasburg to effect the union of two animals, so that they might, to a certain degree, have a life in common. It was, indeed, producing artificially what nature produced spontaneously in those extraordinary phenomena, the Siamese Twins. Two white ras, of the Albino species, were selected for the experiment, probably as being more manageable than their darker brethren. An incision was made on the right side of the one, and on the left of the other, engaging the skin and the cellular tissue under it. The surfaces of the two wounds were kept closely together by sutures and ban dages until the 6th day, when union by the first intention was found to have taken place. 1 hey then walked side by side, being united in a fleshy band. An attempt to poison both by the mouth of the one did not succeed, but an injec tion thrown into the jugular vein of one animal was found to have entered the superficial femoral veins of the other, showing clearly that an intimate vascular union had already taken place between them. This interesting expe riment may have a most important bearing on restorative surgery.—Gah:gnani. UNVEILING OF THE STATUE OF THE LATE SIR WILLIAM NAPIER, K.C.B.—Yesterday afternoon the statue recently erected to the memory of the late Sir Wm. Napier, the historian of the Peninsular war, in the north entrance to the nave of St. Paul's Cathedral, was formally inaugurated. A goodly company assembled to witness the unveiling of the statue, although the proceedings were de void of even the simplest kind of ceremony. The statue has been erected by public subscription. It is Bft. Gin, in height, and is of Carrara marble. The left hand of the general is represented as grasping the sword, a scroll being held in the right. The pedestal is 6ft. Gin. in height, and is of Sicilian marble. The inscription is, "General William Francis Patrick Napier, historian of the Peninsular war, born 1785, died 1860." The position of the statue is im ntediately on the left of the north entrance, and between the monuments of General Hay and Sir Thomas Picton, the corresponding position on the left being occupied by the statue of Sir William's illustrious brother, the late Sir Charles James Napier. The sculptor of both statues is Mr. G. G. Adams, Sloane-street. Sir Anthony de Rothschild has arrived at the hotel Bristol from London; Lord and Lady Castlorosse have left the same hotel for Englaudl LATEST NEWS. VIENNA, DEC. 15. The Prince and Prince s of Prussia arrived here from Venice at 7 o'clock yesterday evening. The Emperor drove out to the railway terminus to welcome their Royal Highnesses, but their reception was what is here called a strictly private one. This evening the Prince and Princess will dine en tamale at Court. BERLIN, DEC. 18. The Allgemetne Preussiche (Stern) Zeitung of to day publishes an article on the proposition that a popular Assembly should be'added to the Federal Diet, which concludes as follows : " Should a majority of the members of the Diet agree upon such an extension of the popular re presentation at the Federal Diet without the con currence of all the members, such an act would be a violation of the Federal Constitution." TURIN, DEc. 17 (Evening). In the Chamber of Deputies to-day the Minister of the Interior stated that the Government, in ac ceding to the proposition for an inquiry into bri gandage, has by no means intended to encroach upon the privileges of the Executive. The Government was determined to make every effort to repress brigandage and prevent its recur rence in the coming spring. The principal object which it had in view was the) re-establiahment of the authority of the law. After a short discussion, the Chamber passed to the order of the day. Dr. Bertani proposed that the Chamber should declare that it regarded the arrest of the Deputies at Naples as an offence against the majesty of the Sovereign Parliament. Signor Rattazzi demanded a full discussion of the subject, but the Chamber adopted the order of day. ST. PETERSBURG, DEc. 17. The Russian Government has received from the Prince of Servia information respecting the arms despatched to him through Wallachia. The Prince categorically repels any suspicions to which this event might have given rise and ex presses his deep respect for the engagements which he is under. The Prince further says that he is making no preparations for war, and intends no hostile act towards his Suzerain. The arms bad merely been collected for the ordinary wants of the public service in maintaining order and security in Servia. SOUTHAMPTON, DEC. 18. The Hamburg and American Company's steamer Hammonia, due here from Hamburg on Monday night, and appointed to sail for New York yester day, only arrived here this morning. The detention was caused by the breakage of 250 teeth of the large cog wheel of her machinery. She will sail for New York on Saturday next, ADELPHI TII FA IRE. Miss Avonia Jones took her first benefit here last evening, one of the prominent features of the pro gramme being the revival of Mr. Buckstone's drama, " Agnes de Vere," which has not been played in London for some twenty-three years. Miss Avonia Jones played Agnes de Vere with un exaggerated intensity and genuine artistic power. Her conception of the claracter was perfect. In the part of Alfred de Vere a new actor, Mr. J. C. Cowper, made a very favourable impression. " The Honeymoon " was played later in the even ing, Miss Avonia Jones making, as Juliana, her first appearance in comedy. Mr. Paul Bedford, a veteran comedian, takes his benefit next Monday. He offers to his patrons a bill of fare more than ordinarily attractive. Mr. Sothern appears for the first time in "The Little Treasure," in conjunction with Miss Marie Wilton ; the second act of the "The Green Bushes" for Mr. Paul Bedford En d Mr. J. L. Toole; and Mr. Ben jamin Webster will play in " One Touch of Nature." Ho has our best wishes for a bumper. The Malta limes says—The schooner yacht Pilgrim, belonging to the Duke of St. Albans, arrived here on the 7th from Cowes. The Pilgrim leaves for Rome, where the mother of the Duke is at present sojourning. Several other yachts had arrived during the week. We hear there are as many as 26 English . 3 achts this season in Albania, and th a t th ere i s th e unprece d ente d num b er o f 35 in different parts of the Mediterranean. FRANCE. THE BOURSE, Dec. 17.—The market has been without much animation, but with the prices of yesterday well maintained. Threes, for the Account, are now at 69f. 90c. The Railway Share Market with only a moderate .ket closed as follows : Bank Shares 3390 Credit 1 , oncier 1340 Piedniontese Fives 76 • 20 Italian Loan 75 50 Russian .. — Austrian also shows firmness, bu business doing The mai It per Cents .. 97 95 Do. end month.... 3 per Cents Do. end month 7O New 3 per Cents Do. end month — Credit Mobilier...,llls Do, end month — Spanish Threes 54 Home Debt ItA ILWAY B. Cash. Account. Orleans lO7O .. 1068 75 Northern , NOW ditto Lyons and Mediterranean 1152 50 .. 1152 50 Geneva 370 .. 372 50 Southern Western Eastern ... , Sardinian Austrian Lozibard . North of Spain Saragossa 663 75 .. 662 50 Ditto to Barcelona MEXICO. The Moniteur publishes the following intelligence from Mexico : "-The despatches received from the expeditionary corps by the last mail gives a suitable answer to all that previous accounts had led to apprehend_ The troops sent from France and Algeria arrived and landed at Vera Cruz after an average passage. The sanitary state is generally good ; and the men who from fever had remained behind Gen. Forey's column have since almost arrived at Orizaba. At Vera Cruz itself, the maladies are reduced to fevers which lessen in gravity as the north winds begin to prevail. The temperature has fallen, and as the rains are over the march of the convoys has become more easy, although 12 days are atilt required to perform the distance from Vera Cruz to Orizaba. General Forey not having received all the means of transport necessary for the support and move ment of the army, was not able to commence opera tions, but that state of things has been modified since the departure of his last despatches. The Minister of War has received information direct from New York of 1,200 mules and 250 carriages having left that port on the November for Vera Cruz. The brigade of General Bertier arrived on the 7th ( November at Jalapa ; his advanced guard, com posed of 100 of the 12th Chasseurs, commanded by Lieut.-Col. Marguerite, fell in on the 3d, at Plau del Rio, with 200 Red Lancers, the best volunteer cavalry in the country. The French Chasseurs made a vigorous charge, and after a combat of a few minutes the Mexican Lancers took to flight, closely pursued for nearly five miles. They once endeavoured to rally at a point where some of their infantry were in ambush, but were again dispersed. This success on the part of the French produced a demoralising effect on a corps of from 3,000 to 4,000 men of the national guard assembled under the com mand of Diazmeron, Governor of the State of Jalapa, in the strong positions of Cerro Gordo, which the Mexicans had formerly defended against the Americans. This corps dispersed completely on the approach of the French. The above affair cost the enemy 15 men killed and 35 wounded; 50 horses saddled were taken. and 10 killed, and the road was covered with arms which had been aban. doned. The French had two men killed and five wounded; among the latter was Lieut.-Col. Mar guerite, slightly by a ball ; five horses were killed." The following proclamation was addressed by General Forey to the population of Mexico, some days after his arrival at Orizaba : " November 3. " Mexicans,-0 a reading the proclamation which I addressed to you on my arrival in your country, you cannot have been mistaken, but must have recognised in it the hand of the Emperor; he alone possesses the secret of saying so much, and such great things, in so clear and noble a style. But now that I have seen your country suf ficiently to be able to tell you my own impres sions, allow me to briefly lay them before you with the simple frankness of a soldier, who, I repeat, and in spite of what dishonest writers may say to you, has not come to make war on the Mexi can people, but on the Government whose melan choly situation is a proof of its incapacity to do good. What, in fact, is to be seen in your towns ? Houses in ruins, impassable streets, and stagnant water vitiating the air. What are your roads ? Bogs and sloughs which horses and carriages cannot pass without danger. What is your administration ? Orgilmised theft. Those on whom, from their func tions, devolves the duty of rendering justice to their fellow-eitizeus, are 0 ", - in them J.. , ctimes the first to molest . weir persons and property. Those charged with the collection of the taxes most frequently give money to the public treasury only after having filled their own pockets. Can agriculture be en couraged when the farmer is almost certain of being robbed of the fruit of his labour ? Can commerce and the arts flourish when for years past the noise of war has been heard on all sides P Have you then only recovered your independence, after hav ing shed so much blood for so noble an object only to make such a deplorable use of it, and is there no longer in this country, favoured by Heaven in so many ways, any real patriots who understand that this noble nation has been too long made use of by some ambitious men, who waste in f, atrieidal struggles all the living strength of Mexico. Yes, I, as well as all those who see the sad situation of your country, tell you so with pain, you are has tening to your ruin, and you have only another step to make to fall into an abyss which will swal low up your independence, and again plunge you into barbarism if you do not make a back« and step. Make it then, that step, when Providence offers you an opportunity which perhaps will not be repeated. France sends you an army, a model of order and discipline, notwithstanding that an odiously calum niating press has dared to write to the contrary. It has come to aid you in constituting yourselves into a rich, powerful, and free nation ; free with that real liberty which is always accompanied by order; into a nation which all others may recognise as civilised. That army will assist you in forming an honest and upright government, which shall only employ agents honest and upright like itself. Then the State finances will promote the wellbeing of all, and not of a few only, instead of serving to enrich a few ambitious men only, they will a regu lar army, capable of maintaining order in the coun try, and of protecting private fortunes instead of destroying them. They will serve to open means of communication, as in Europe, in order to faci litate commercial relations, in which consists the prosperity of the people; they will serve to repair your roads, bridges, and public buildings, and to improve your ill paved and badly lighted streets. Are all those advantages not worth taking into consideration, and to attain them should not all Mexicans, to whatever party they may belong, agree to forget their former differences, and labour together for the grandeur of their country ? It is under the shadow of the French flag that they may obtain that result, for they will remember those noble words of the Emperor—' Everywhere that flag floats it represents the cause of natiuns and civilisation. General of Division, Senator, and Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Corps. " FOREY." POLAND. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) The Poles resident in Paris have celebrated, as is their custom, the anniversary of the national in surrection, by a mass at the Church of the As sumption. At two o'clock the Literary Historical Society held a public meeting in the building of the Polish Library. Prince Czartoryski, Presi dent of the society, made a speech, of which the following is an extract. The illustrious speaker began by rendering homage to the unshakable constancy of which the nation had given proof during the last two years, notwithstanding the severity which the Russian Government had dis played. He said, " Vacillation and irresolution had not ceased to characterise all the acts of those who, being possessed of physical force and absolute power, might the more easily have traced out a line of conduct, and executed with safety their plans. While, on the other hand, they who had neither physical force, nor help, nor even encour ragement from without, and who, in the midst of the most terrible persecutions, might so easily have succumbed to lassitude, and abandoned an unequal struggle, it was they who always remained faithful to the programme once traced out—who were consistent in their acts, and firm 'in their convictions." The speaker then recalled the last declaration of the citizens of the kingdom, and the address of the inhabitants of Podolia, whose demands might be resumed in these words—administrative reunion to the kingdom of Poland of all the Po lish provinces subject to Russia. He then con tinued thus— To the national spirit so energetically deve loped, and manifesting itself in so unanimous and imposing a manner, purely administrative reforms cannot suffice, were they even conceived on a broader basis, and executed in better faith. The country cannot be content 'with insignificant ame liorations in its system of education and in its municipal organisation, especially so long as these are restricted to a single remnant of our country, and do not embrace all the Polish provinces, at the present day subject to the same sceptre, and bound to each other by the traditions and glory of the past, and by the sufferings of martyrdom of the present. Doubtless all wise patriots will take advantage of every field of action, be it ever so limited, which will enable them to augment the physical, the moral, and intellectual forces of the nation ; but concessions of this sort granted with a niggardly hand to the inhabitants of a few provinces arbi trarily called Poland will not bring about even an armistice of a few months in a struggle sus tained by the country against an oppressive system. And what can be said of a deceitful policy which flatters itself not on.y with confining a nation in so narrow a circle of insignificant ameliorations, but of marking it on this occasion with the seal of apostacy, of bringing it to the renunciation of all its past, of all which constitutes its very genius. How vain and sterile was that doctrine of despair which counselled Poland to reject at the price of a few concessions and a few paltry favours the vital idea of its existence to submerge itself into a mon. strous agglomeration of reputed races to become the vanguard of an Asiatic invasion destined to con quer and to punish the world. Poland has not allowed itself to be led away from its path, painful it is true, but traced out by Providence itself. She has remained deaf to the suggestions of a blind hatred against the West, which, she has been told, has degenerated, and is without pity. She has not believed in the promises of political regeneration by moral suicide, and she herself has answered in her turn—No more idle dreams. But much more disquieting to every heart ani , mated by the thought of the welfare and future of the nation, is another tendency which, though utterly dissimilar and based on generous instincts, has not less its starting point in despair, and whose working is no less suicidal. The terror and per secutions under which the country groans have given birth in some ardent minds, in some sore spirits to fatal ideas which would seriously com promise the destinies of our country. I speak not merely of the deplorable crimes recently perpetrated at Warsaw, of those monstrous deeds unexampled in our past biatory, and occasioned entirely by a system of political cruelty, which is likewise unex ampled in the civilised world. It cannot be denied, gentlemen, under the smart of wholesale imprisonments, of condemnations to Siberia and to death—under the smarting of the ab solute indifference of Governments formerly ani mated by sympathy for our misfortunes; lastly, under the threat of that law, impossible to qualify, for recruiting, which would deprive the country of its noblest children—the idea of insurrection has arisen in more than one mind, and each day aug ments the number of those who meditate changing into military resistance a purely moral struggle sustained now two years by the nation with un shakable constancy. I feel sure I only express the deep conviction of every enlightened patriot, however ardent he may be, when I declare that a military rising attempted at this moment would more seriously than aught else endanger the national cause. I leave it to the conscience of all those who would not willingly and most culpably blind themselves, to answer the question—,, Are our forces on a sufficiently firm footing—our ranks sufficiently filled—is our finan cial situation sufficiently assured to enable us to call the nation to arms without committing, of all im prudences, the most criminal ?" I leave also to those who judge rir ely the situation of Europe—the al liances about to be formed—the interests engagcclin to answer the question, whether an insurrection in Poland could at this juncture rely ou the emailest foreign aid ? I shall only touch at greater length on one sole point—becaus3 standing alone—it is said to be favourable to an insurrection in Poland, because it alone appears to afford a ground for an attempt devoid of reason and against conscience. It is said from various sides that the actual state of Russia might offer chances of success to a❑ insur rectional movement in our country, and, it must be confessed, the generous death of several officers of the Russian army, who did not conceal their sympathy for our cause, has lately added weight to this erroneous belief. A foot like the preceding could not but impress deeply the popular imagina tion, and the martyrdom of a few has been taken by it as an incontrovertible sign of the general sen timent of an entire people. We must not, however , Tield ourselves to legendary exaggerations, but give to such various symptoms their sober pro portions. True, the empire of the Czars is a prey to agi tations and embarrassments of every kind, of nature too serious to be denied; its force, however , has not declined to that degree but that it could still crush at one blow a people who should revolt without army, without organisation, without foreign alliances. True, ideas of liberty and civilisation begin to spread in Russia, but they are very faint as yet, and threatened in their germ by a hand still powerful and ready to let loose the blind and brutal passions of the masses against the ula dern spirit. All honour to those generous Russian officer° who preferred sentence of death by their oval military tribunals to massacreing a defenceles s people, to doing outrage to its sufferings, its rights' By this they have wiped away more than one :iniquitous deed of their countrymen, and their memory will live for ever in Poland ! But thee ° noble victims even speak loudly enough by the smallness of their number and the abandonment of their comrades, to warn us against dangerous illu sions, to teach us to distinguish between rare or captions and the general spirit of the army a nd the Russian nation. Th a t na ti on an d t h at arm y will yet long remain animated by thoughts of violence and conquest, and only when they shall / 103.° acquired the consciousness still so wanting t ° them, of their own rights and misery —will they learn one day to understand and respect the right ° and sufferings of others." After having insisted again on the immie e° dangers of an insurrection to Poland, the speake r concludes with these words : " So lOng as the political_ foundations of all social life be not firmly laid in every province of °tic country, the cry to arms can be but the cry of de:, spair, heard with j o y b y th e oppressor a l o ne; I" can be but an appeal to hopeles combat, to 1 111 glorious death. May God, in his mercy, spare so terrible a trial!" The citizens of the kingdom have declared 114 lately by a solemn act, " That neither brute for ce i nor military tribunals, no r p r i sons , nor ex ile, ll° even the :caffold, shall stifle in them—faith in th : rights and in the f u t ure o f P o l an d." A nat ic) ; which can speak thu s i n th e f ace o f i ts o ppress or must have sufficient confidence in herself not t a provoke a decisive, desperate battle, must lin o she has sufficient forces to maintain still a I ° 4 ' campaign, should even that campaign be marked by reverses. INDIA. We have received advices from India by Overland Mail, dated Bombay, November 27, an Calcutta, November 18. The Viceroy presided at a gr ea t me eting in of Cal , cutta on the 6th November on behalf of the t 3; ferers in the manufact ur i ng di s t r i c t s o f Lancash i r e, and made a most earnest and effective speech. The Commander-in-Chief of India has been Po' strated by a sun stroke, but is now convalescent.. The Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief of 11 3 a 15 have sent to the Secretary of State a ree°l lll3/endfl ; tion to thc off.ot the,* all efg...ra or her Majesty British army serving away from their regiments any employment whatever in India, be called up a ° at once to elect between joini ng one o f th e Sta' Corps or vacating their appointments and rejoining their regiments. The progress of cholera among the men of t ilC 93d Regiment at Peshawur has been arrested , b . r it has not yet been entirely stopped. The mortall among the officers of the 42d Hi g hlanders has b e en considerable. It is arranged that the camp of the Govera nf ; General will be formed at Agra in February and that durbars will be held at Meerut, Delhi' ail Umballah. H erat' The Ameer Post Mahomed i s still before 0 collecting troops in ord er t o attack S° 49itti Ahmed Jan. Put , The death of his Highness the Maharajah ef 0t tialah, a prince to wh om th e B r i t i s h Governi v b e e i t are indebted for ac ti ve ass i s t ance d ur i n g the r e lion of 1857, is just announced. laid t he His Excellency the G overnor o f Bombay t he foundation stone of the Victoria Museum% 19th ult., and Lady Frere opened the garden s the same day. liti° ll of The order of Government for the dern° l % t or the ramparts of Bomb a y h as b een formally fo r flounced, and a commission is sitting for t o°B' h e o '4 propriation of the l an d f or p u bli c offices, sch l hospitals. og ai Kurrachee and other parts of S e inde hav e 'Oat been visited by loc us t s , w hi c h comm itted frjg- havoc amongst the vegetation. en' The Government of India have sanctioned 3 sions for the destit u t e mem b ers o f the elf I ver family of Delhi to th e ex t en t o f ne arly XS' month. trie rOt The first of the Messageties Imperiales' st e9 oft the Imperatrice, reached Galle on her contract or the 13th ult., with a complement of passenger° India, China, and Ceylon, n , the A European ship is reported w r ecked er a ( African coast below Cape Guardafui, and the murdered by natives.- qn tov ° ' The American steamer Mississippi, of 2,°-.-ovto Captain Taylor, was lost in her passage fool % e d. Video to Hong Kong—passengers and creo r 69 ; 0 0i The Duka of L ancas t er (B r i t i s h s hip) of 463.'0. Captain Balmano, w ith a cargo of rice fro lll S f iv tlie pore to Shan g h a i, h as b een tota lly lost D eli ' Island of Formosa. be e° General Ward, of the Chinese service , hall' killed while engaging the rebels. aelle A hurricane has tak en place at the SeY" Islands, attended with considerable loss of life' THE CASE OP GENERALAP° A s yet (Fromthe governmentth e Teo, to w hat will do in the case of General Mm'aNdeeil.noTshigefoirlowillg fr•p°eDlS a n “ e T w h a e sp m e a c n t to this a St. Louis correspondent of the Columbus (o.)i'6"risisgi -A'ewYor h A a itmereial Adverts's it th w is ho e m ase Cneral M'Neil shot t° l3B°—Yn t a 1 .6°1 th a h g eo o n as, andthose aalive va\eivthaaincndhd wellswe aes if a n hh o ed t ihchaeidds been n eiefne the i el Ifeo L dr r e t': e t t s fho , er l e : II ! : c r e:_ e i t : oi l ; : t o : f him to wait went t t o he h b im ru ( th Ge s n p e u r r a n l e l\ d l' h N e e r i . l) and oPi:06:::to uteri th T os h e e m re e t n urn an neither moreP adds to odf no th r e ta in ke i s ssing from the atrocity 0 f dulloo of the ten men, but it brings the matter home to Ole and most ' ' a c i e k u , n l77 i ll'a r prejudiced comprehension. e New York Times.) P There can be no p ossiblep justification for sueh a butchernnd and our Government man alive . and tWheelltartierfildleirt th o e w e e i s vi i i t is t e o d i w ts e el r f l , d t , o io th ri c i itP tipt and distinct action, its reprobation of it. Q uasi 13 " bc the has any such jurisdiction over General M'Neil, or a 0 w _ military organisation with which he is connecte ; .. 6 .111 1 (1 1 1 enable it to punish as its deserves this most barha It t or prompt e sentiment ef inhuman act, we cannot say. But whatever P°'cer p%er" has in the case, direct or indirect, should be promP tl Y -,- d i e cised, not only to prevent the threatened retaliation 0 , ~ rebel President, but to remove from the Union cause 1;0 damning stigma which such acts a re calculated to iO3Pre upon it. -----m Lo A Marseilles letter says :—" M. Leverrier, limo; Astronomer, has at last obtained the authorisation 03 ' n , he solicited to establish in different parts of France °tr.' non - deal Ftations dependent upon the Paris Observator:' He left Paris some clays back to examine some of the inloctia. al l. ties of the South, the most f avourably suited for tile lation of fresh astronomical stations." alt o . to thu Paid, , The Per cei q lxv i r4 tegala Th niod a Th, and °n th ( lend _ ) 43 14 (1 411, Clre at and )0 " est hav 4 pl 30s, Ela rivet the I tQari Este 'Co o. at 2 ; 1 110 y btlik t, (1 13 0 1 h e bitt tel g i bil , .. J 14 Ra has 1 to n t at th uabii Are k thett, 4114 3 i