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

~:. -,.. ..,- , ___% A • <_ 1 b I I.: 1 . • 14 . * • 310 • S bi : ,,, , rt• _.... t- Zi' . . , ';'," *4l._ _. ' , e 6...... THE SUN. LONDON, TITURSDAY, DEC. 18, 1862. We must confess our surprise that some of our pro-Southern contemporaries and their correspon dents should affirm that had Mr. LINCOLN'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' session, 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 the North and South, on slavery, were irreconeileable ; 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 ipaissznia verba 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 thing to be got rid of, to be regarded as an evil in the Great Republic ? Nothing would have contented them but acknowledging 6141 ery as the foundation of the whole Union, and the right consequently of slaveholders to take their slaves n ot Free Btate:nly inte the territories, but into the themselves,. as freely as a North ern man migh t take with him his horses and cattle. When comp,,„ 3 :. States, after the u was offered to th e B or d er ' w ar had b egun, and with all its horrors befor e th e of slaves is, not one small as the proportion there c 'sf them ac cepte d i t. How absurd, therefor e , to imagine that the proposal now made would have be en treated otherwise than with supreme contempt. But it is only to recollect for a moment the effect o f elaveholding on the possessors of slaee,, natural Is their a vers i on to anything per ceive to ke how general emancipation of their slaves. We all k uow and Mr. CUAS. DICKENS especially noted the fact, when in America—that " of all earthly temp_ tations the abuse of irresponsible power is the most The profits to be made out difficult to be resisted." of slaves are not so pleasant to the master as the power to make a fdlow-man obey his will unconditionally, at the peril of feeling the weight of his w ra th. It was so in our own West Indies. The proprietors and mortgagees o f 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 "niggere 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 mail here possesses to punish the carter who villanously maltreats an animal. The South are, indeed, the aristocracy of America. 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 flaws 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 would have placed Mr. LINCOLN and the North before the world, had Mr. LINCOLN laid it before the rebels whom he found already shaped into a rival republic, we fear it would not have done them much good. The previous offer of compensa tion was only laughed 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 just 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 tyranny. 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 hrute 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 forgats —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 sud denly become oblivious of that sufficiently plai❑ 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 JosauA—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 one 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 JosrtuA 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 ourse!ves, we cannot but r ecogn i se i n Si r JOSHUA JEBB a very able and gifted servant of the Crown and of the voisvaniozaosft Pu blic, who having become impressed with a con trhuoctaiobtslolute excellence of a system of his tem into a liobb; 'without let or hi h a a n s a cventually turned that qs rllu o n b t b h y e usual hazard of nadfrtaernealofnrgomraidniyng one, of hi has s those so mounted—the im minent risk of riding hie Robby to Death. Mr. COBDEN, in speech at his very interesting Y much Miclhurst, undertook a s erv i ce ver needed— the exposition to a rural audien ce , or What the grea t Lancashire community really is. Sprung from the neighbourhood in which he spoke, i3gving repur. CANTERBURY HALL, 1, -/ GRAND SELECTION from POPULAR OPERAS, as usual. The Comic by Unsworth (the original Stump Orator), Eu,;ene, Daley, Little Bobb, E. Marshall, A. B. Ho llintrs worth, Arthur Lloyd, and Miss Georgina Smithson. The wonderful performances of the Etoile Family. CHRISTMAS AMUSEMENT. On BOXING NIGHT will be produced the THIRD EDITION of the celebrated Pantomimic Sketch, THE ENCHANTED HASH, by E. Marshall, thirteen Transfor mations, new characters and new dresses, in addition to the usual entertainment. L IVES of EMINENT STATESMEN, In FUN, every week. One Penny row Ready, handsomely bound In Magenta cloth, gilt, price 45. ed.; post free, 55., the ,SECOND half-yearly VOLUME of FUN, with P , -- , numerous Engravings by talented artists, and humor -0118 Articles by the following distinguished writers : W. Bailey, Esq. W. S. Gilbert, Esq. W. Barber, Esq. T. Hood, Esq. E. L. Blanch Ird, Esq. T. S. Jerrold, Esq. G. W. Bridgeinan, Esq. W. J. Prowse, Esq. F. C. Burnand, Esq. Godfrey Turner, Esq. H. J. Byron, Esq. &c., &c., &c. Office, 80, Fleet-street, London. HALF -A-DOZEN UMBRELLAS in the Christmas Number of SATURDAY NIGHT. Con ducted by THOMAS HOOD, • „,* For full particulars of amusements see first page. ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT-GARDEN. This Evening, WaHarp's new opera, LOVE'S TRIUMPH Commence at 8. THEATRE-ROYAL, HAYMARKET. This Evening, DUCK HUNTING. After which. OUR AMERICAN COUSIN. With TURNING THE TABLES. And MY HUSBAND'S GHOST, Commence at 7. NEW THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHI, This Evening, AGNES DE VERE. Followed by A TICKET OF LEAVE. And THE HONEYMOON. Commence at 7. ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE. This Evenin,o-, IT MUST BE TRUE, 'TWAS IN THE PAPERS. Followed by PEEP O'DAY. To conclude w ith KILLAIMEY. 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," Macfarren's Cantata "May Day," and Locke's Music of "Macbeth."— The Etoile Family -Unworn, Eugene, and Daley, Ace. Commence at 7. THE OXFORD, G, OXFORD -STREET, EVERY EVENING.—Re-appearance of Unsworth , the orienal of "Or any other man" -The Colleen Bawn, by Miss Caroline Parkes —Mr. Maclagan's Entertainment Drew Dean, the great Flautist—the Near °Man Minstrels—Selections from Verdi's " Il Corsaro" and "Nahum," Donizetti's "Don Se bastien," &c., with full band and chorus. Commence at 7. 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 effects. 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 prp , perty from that date. ADA3I RIVERS STEELE, Solicitor, 44, Bloomsbury-square, London, W.C. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. THIS llh. Om.—Afternoon, llh. 30m. To-monnow.-Morning, h. m.—Afternoon, 12h. Om. THE SUN' LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEIIBER 18, 1 862 chased his paternal estate from the pecuniary hono 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 in 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 tarchy," 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 conseq'ience 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 linable 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 cessof the demand, that for a long time wages would be very low. 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 beard 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 Chinee 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 he county for agricultural labour. J 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 Dorsetshire, 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, end we feel assured that ita lesson will not be lost on the farmers of Englaud. The case is, indeed, one for all classes, and Mr. COI3DEN'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. Tier Majesty spends the greater part of her 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 de Renesse-Breid bach, when the election of M. Vandenbergh-Elsen as Senator for Antwerp, which took place on the 20th May last, was annulled as informal. THE 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 llavre, which vessel was burnt at sea by the Alabama on the 19th ult., in lat. 41, long. 66, The craw of the Har riet Spaulding were kept in irons some days before being transferred to the Hiram. The Alabama had on board the crows of three other vessels burnt at sea, names not given." There must be some mistake in the report, as the Alabama was at Martinique on the 19th ult. LONGEVITY IN THE NoßTH.—There died et 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. —Lunffslcire Journal. The Church of Santa Maria della Passione, 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 culprits. A letter from Altenburg (Saxony) says :—" We have passed a fearful night. About one o'clock la 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 tho 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 Wickham, M.A., who was appointed in 1846, The appointment is in the gift of the Warden an Fellows of New College, Oxford. The Provost and Fellows of Eton have presented the Bev. A. 11. Nourse, curate of Standlake, to the incum- bency of Cogges, near Witney. A DANGEROUS ELEPHAN T.— 0 n Tuesday 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. cline. While the former carriage was standing, ono 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 throw 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 po-i -ti.m, 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 OF 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 plunibago 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 or oyster., barnaelta., 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 undercoating had become 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 a:ive to this important subject.—Shipping 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 ho 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 through the grass blades, fallen fern, and other impedi ments, which, trifling as they appear b human eyes, are by no means insignificant to the ants. I have even seen an ant carrying off a grab three times its own size, holding it in the same manner; the strength required for such a feat is truly enormous. But when a heavier 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 for ward 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 ra s, 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 plsce. :they 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 ritnent may have a most important bearing on restorative surgery.— Galignani. WILLIAMU ILINVE N N A G II O: it, THE K STATUE .O.E._y 0' eeterdallE y afternoon t e l ; n A a T a E n S t I h ß e statue recently erected to the memory of the late Sir Win. 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 pliblic subscription. It is Bft. 6in, 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 Gft. 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 mediately on the left of the north entrance, and between the monumen's of General Hay and Sir Thomas Picton, the corresponding position on the left being occupied by the statue of Sir William's illustrious brother, th e 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 Castlerosse have left the same hotel for LAT Es r NEWS. VIENNA, DEC. 15, The Prince and Princess 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 hero called a strictly private one. This evening the Prince and Princess will dine en fanzille 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, wLich 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-establishment of . the authority of the law. .._ - After et 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 had 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 Jreakage of 250 teeth of the large cog wheel of her machinery. She will sail for New York on Saturday next. 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 Fonder 1340 -- Piedmontese Fives 71 20 Italian Loan 75 50 Russian Austrian also s':ows firmness, bu businefa doing. The ma , it per Cents. 97 95 Do. end month 3 per Cents Do. end month 7O tiew 3 per Cents Do, end month — Credit Mobilier 1115 Do. end month — Spanish Threes 64 Home Debt RA ILWAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans lO7O .. 1068 76 Northern New ditto — Lyons and Mediterranean 1162 50 .. 1152 50 Geneva 370 .. 372 50 Southern 787 50 788 75 Western Eastern ... ..... 9., Sardinian Austrian Loa•mbard North of Spain Saragossa 663 75 .. 662 50 Ditto to Barcelona ADELPHI TB EA7 BE. 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 character was perfect. In e 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. Sot horn 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 cnd Mr. J. L. Took; and Mr. Ben jamin Webster will play in " One Touch of Nature." He has our best wishes for a bumper. The Malta 7imes says—The schooner yacht Pilgrim, belonging to the Duko 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.) achts this season in Albania, and that there is the unprecedented number of 35 iu cliffsreAt parts of the Mectitertaustua. MEXICO. The Moniteur publishes the following intelligence ff om 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 bthind 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 still required to perform the distance frem 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 260 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 Plan 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 :„"ainst 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,—On reading I he 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 P Houses in . ruins, impassabl e s t ree t s , and stagnant watt' . vittating the air. What are your roads ? Bogs and sloughs which hones and carriages cannot pass without danger. What is your administration ? Organised theft. Those on whom, from their func tions, devolves the duty of rendering justice to their fellow-citizetis, are sometimes the first to molest them i n their persons and property. Those charged with the ceilection 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 independerce, after hay 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 fratricidal 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 d, not make a baclm and step. lklake it then, that step, when Providence offers ycu 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 acconepaoied 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 nations 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 cf 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 MOB. 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 , 4 „? 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 history, and - occasioned entirely by a system of political cruelty, wlif.th 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 en shakable constancy. I feel sure I only expre ss the deep conviction of however ardent he may be,every vv hen declare military rising attempt e d enlightenede ghat a at this moment would more seriously than aught else endanger the national cause. I leave it to the conscience of all those wh.) would not willingly and roost 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 ell im prudences, the most criminal ?" I leave also to those who judge lifely the situation of Europe—the al liances about to be formed—the interests engaged, to answer the question, whether an insurrection in Poland could at this juncture rely on the smallest foreign aid ? I shall only touch at greater length on one sole point—because 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 an 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 mpathy for our cause, has lately added weight to this erroneous belief. A fact 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' yield 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 n nature too serious to be denied; its force, however, bas 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 civilisatio n begin to spread in Russia, but they are very fain t as yet, and threatened in their germ by a han d still powerful and ready to let loose the blind and brutal passions of the masses against the m°' dery spirit. All honour to those generous Russian offieere who preferred sentence of death by their own military tribunals to massacreing a defenceless people, to doing outrage to its sufferings, its right s ' By this they have wiped away more than one iniquitous deed of their countrymen, and their memory will live for ever in Poland ! But these noble victims even speak loudly enough by th e smallness of their number and the abandonment 0I their comrades, to warn us against dangerous sions, to teach us to distinguish between rare er ceptions and the general spirit of the army and the Russian nation. That nation and that army wi ll yet long remain animated by thoughts of violence and conquest, and only when they shall hal e acquired the consciousness still so wanting t ° them, of their own rights and misery—Will th e y learn one day to understand and respect the right s and sufferings of others." t After having insisted again on the immine nt dangers of an insurrection to Poland, the spesk er concludes with these words : " So long as the political foundations of all soci al life be not firmly laid in every province of ° if country, the cry to arms can be but the cry of de .; spair, heard with joy by the oppressor alone; 1" can be but an appeal to hopeles combat, to en in ; glorious death. May God, in his mercy, spare 13 so terrible a trial!" The citizens of the kingdom have declared very lately by a solemn act, " That neither bru te fcreoe 't nor military tribunals, nor prisons, nor exile , even the scaffold, shall stifle in them—faith in the . 0 rights and in the future of Poland." A natinor which can speak thus in the face of its opp re° to must have sufficient confidence in herself not if provoke a decisive, desperate battle, must Irn°l she has sufficient forms to maintain still 1°13 , r , campaign, should even that campaign be ion, marked by reverses. INDIA. • We have received advices froth India by t a Overland Mail, dated Bombay, November 2 7 1 fin Calcutta, November 18. ; C a l- The Viceroy presided at a great meeting' In ~f cutta on the 6th November on behalf of the 5 ferers in the manufacturing districts of Lan Whir and made a most earnest and effective speech. 0 , The Commander-in-Chief of India has been pr strated by a sun stroke, but is now convalesceot.. The Viceroy and the Commander-in - Chi ef of 113'516 have sent to the Secretary of State a recomraetiti; tion to the effect that all officers of her Majesty British army serving away from their regiruev" any employment whatever in India, be called UP e ff n at once to elect between joining one of the Ste Corps or vacating their appointments and rejoining their regiments. The progress of cholera among the men of tb; 93d Regiment at Peshawur has been arrested, b. 11., it has not yet been entirely stopped. The mortally; among the officers of the 42d Highlanders has bee considerable. It is arranged that the camp of the GoverniT li General will be formed at Agra in February el/a' and that durbars will be held at Meerut , Delhi, °l3 Umballah. gent, _ The Ameer Dost Mahomed is still before 0 collecting troops in order to attack .Se eitti Ahmed Jan. The death of his Highness theiMaharajah of F li ti ; tialah, a prince to whom the British Govern°3beei, are indebted for active assistance during the re lion of 1857, is just announced. .a His Excellency the Governor of Bombay tbo foundation stone of the Victoria Museum ell o o 19th ult., and Lady Frere opened the gar den the same day. . of The order of Government for the deraolitioefor the ramparts of Bombay has been formaill or nounced, and a commission is sitting forgoe siod propriation of the land for public offices, schloi hospitals. oitg Kurrachee and other parts of Seinde have °OO/ been visited by locusts, which committ ed frigo havoc amongst the vegetation. d P eft‘ The Government of India have sanctioned 0,01 sions for the destitute members of the per family of Delhi to the extent of nearly Xl3°' month. ro ertif fhe first of the Messageries Imperia les' stew the Imperatrice, reached Galle on her c ontrac t for the 13th ult., with a complement of p assenger ° India, China, and Ceylon. th e A European ship is reported wrecked e- cr e African coast below Cape Guardafui, and the murdered by natives. n3O te llfs ' The American steamer Mississippi, of 2,-- .tionte Captain Taylor, was lost in her passage froM Video to Hong Kong—passengers and ere e Bv 4 : l 3 l toee , The Duke of Lancaster (British ship) o n ; sings' Captain Bolmano, with a cargo of rice fro" or th e pore to Shanghai, has been totally lost D e Island of Formosa. 1, 0 bee° General Ward, of the Chinee service' Pa killed while engaging the rebels. s obe li° A hurricane has taken place at the -„eie, Islands, attended with considerable lo ss di 'I THE CASE OF GENERAL .21.P.N0 • (From the IVew York commercial ildvertls. er)• tit As yet the government has made no sign as t° Wi t on a wi s ll do in the case of General Nr'Neil. The following ',,,eg a ne t w . correspondent the Columbus (o.);6risis6l - man for whom General I\i'Neil shot ten soya° 6 5 ago, and which was noticed in the Crisis, home alive and well, and his wife before the ae citticill itll those men, went to him (General WlsTeil) and p l e aded IQ te a him to wait and see if he had been killed before he 0°1 " o those men, and the brute spurned her. I can W rite 11 more: , n The return of the missing man alive and well r ea d il e i r ofaither adds to nor takes from the atrocity of the W i ltr ile ot the ten mcn, but it brings the matter home to the t t. and most prejudiced comprehension, (From the New York Tinies.) bed , There can be no possible justification for such a but° 0 and our Government owes it to itself, to the countrY, filo to the sentiment of the civilised world, to mark, 11 I le r has returnof prompt and distinct action, its reprobation of it. teeth prompt asi it has any such jurisdiction over General WNeil, or q ii 0 the military organisation with wizich be is conected, tia_ will enable it to punish as its deserve. 9 this roost barbarro it and inhuman act, we cannot say. But whatever poWecer,, has in the case, direct or indirect, should be pronoPtlY e r . 00 cised, not only to prevent the threatened retaliation 01 the rebel President, but to to DIV' remo e from v the thiliSU o'l° damning stigma which such acts are calculated ,0 upon it. tr:•_==_____------------------: AsAtronl‘olmaerrs,ehilalsesatlleatsttenrbtsaaiynesd: The I‘' a l u . autho risatio n he solicited to establish in different parts of Frano astr°' nomical stations dependent upon the Paris Observator; He left Paris some days back to examine come of the ocal; ties of the South, the most favourably suited for the inat's lation. of fresh astrouoglical Stationer" iltsaetriroinerw, III:: Th e Arius At ] ° POOOa YeSterc The Per eel ht iv i nB teßulai b• to4ltt( bad 4 p, 308 tha Ste n Chi dr a 14 1 E lila tini o , ripe( the 1 marl stts, tion . at 2 Ll oy build nit i t Dit Vb t "itt 11 %, e Oti 9o biti Tb, b lll tot( -... a , ~ t e „, 4t baby bikkii