The Sun. — London, England, 1862-01-16 00:00:00

THE IVA VT. Her Majesty's screw steam store vessel Bsffalo, Master in command. Alexander Brown, from the West Coast of Attica., yesterday went into basin at Woolwich, to be stripped and paid off. The iron steam vessel Avenger, brought up to Woolwich from Portsmouth about eight months ago to be docked and thoroughly overhauled, was yesterday undocked and hauled into basin, to be prepared for the pennant. On account of its great length (280 feet) the dock had to be lengthened, and the repairs, which are of an extensive charac ter, will be promptly carried out. She is ordered to be completed by the 13th of next month. The hired screw steam transport Adelaide, Capt. Lambert, which left Cork on the 4th inst. for Hali fax, and put back to Plymouth yesterday, as re ported in The Sun, experienced very severe weather in the Atlantic. She has on board 35 officers and 725 men, nearly the whole of the 15th Regiment of Foot, under command of Col. Cole, and various munitions of war, commissariat stores, clothing, &c. On the Btb, in lat. 52 N., long. 24 W., the wind freshened from the south-west, with dull, dark weather ; barometer 29 50, falling rapidly. The ship was hove to under storm mizen, and the en gines worked slow. At 6 p.m., barometer 29 00 a furious hurricane broke out. The vessel lurched with her lee gunwale under water, when part of the bulwarks and the waist lifeboat were washed away. At 8 p.m. it blew yet harder; the sea broke over the ship fore and aft, and got into the engine room and troop decks; the lee quarter lifeboat was washed away, the gig on the weather quarter was blown away, and the storm mizen (a new sail) split to pieces. At 10 p.m. barometer 28 60, the wind had veered westerly ; the hurricane was at its worst, and threatened to blow the masts over the side. At midnight the wind gradually decreased, veering north-west. At 8 a.m., in a heavy lurch, Henry Moore, one of the ship's boys, fell overboard; he caught hold of a rope, but from exhaustion let go again, and was unfortunately drowned. During the tempest the commander, Capt. Lambert, considered that the ship was occasionally in imminent peril. At one time Mr. Hoskin;;, chief engineer, reported the water to be gaining on the stokehole, and threatening to extinguish the fires. Mr, Harris, the chief officer, went down, and by his presence successfully encouraged the firemen to persevere in their work. On the troop deck three horses and the officers' baggage broke adrift, but were re placed under the direction of Lieut. Blake, Admi ralty agent, by the military officers and the men, whose discipline continued excellent throughout. On the 9th, and the morning of the 10th, the weather became finer. Little progress was made, however, in consequence of the disabled state of the engines, which stopped suddenly at 5 p.m. It be ing then found that one of the cylinder covers was split, it was deter mined to bear up for port. On the 11th, at daylight, another furious gale com menced from the westward. In trying to scud under close-reefed maintopsail and foresail, the ship broached to, and would not answer helm with the screw not working. At noon the engines were started with three cylinders only, after which strong gales from the north-west were experienced. Our correspondent at Plymouth has received a letter from the screw steamship Sanspareil, 70, Capt. George Le G. Bower, dated Port Royal, December 20, 1861, which states that she arrived there December 16, after a passage of 33 days from Plymouth. The Sanspareil was to sail on the 21th for the rendezvous off Cape St. Antonia, the north-west extremity of the island of Cuba, to anchor in the bay, and there wait a few days until the French and Spanish squadrons were ready, when the combined fleet would proceed to Vera Cruz. The screw steamship Cmsar, 86, Capt. Thomas H. Mason, left Plymouth yesterday for Spithead, to be paid off. An Admiralty order was yesterday received at Chatham directing the screw frigate Galatea, 26, 800-horse power, which has been removed from that port to Sheerness, to be sent round to Plymouth, whera she is to be retained in readiness for commis sion. A number of riggers and seamen are to be furnished from Sheerness Dockyard to assist in navigating her round to her destination. The paddlewheel steamer Dragon, 6, 1,270 tons, 560-horse power, having completed her temporary repairs, was yesterday taken out of the steam basin at Sheerness and removed to Stangate-creek, where she will remain until the final decision respecting her has been received from the Admiralty. The iron steamer Defence, 18, 600 horse power, Captain R. A. Powell, C. 8., was yesterday removed from her berth, alongside the floating shears at Chat ham harbour, and towed lower down the river to Folly Point, where she will remain to complete fit tings. Her destination is not yet known, but it is probable she will be sent on a short cruise to the Mediterranean, or some other less distant station. to test her steaming and sailing powers, and to as certain her behaviour in a gale. Oa her return she is likely to proceed to reinforce Admiral Milne's squadron on the North American station. Her decks are still crowded with workmen, and, although the utmost expedition is being used by the whole of the hands, there still remains a considerable amount of work to be completed. The screw steam sloop Swallow, 9, 486 tons, Mas ter- Commander E. Wilds, fi ting for surveying operations in the Japan waters, adjusted compasses at Sheerness yesterday, preparatory to taking her departure. In order to increase the accommodation for the officers, which under present arrangements is somewhat meagre, it is intended to con struct a poop on her upper deck, which will ac cordingly detain her for some three weeks or a month longer. The Racoon, 22, 400-horse power, Capt. W. C. Chamberlain, will be put out of commission, and the crew paid off at Chatham, on Tuesday next. In accordance with orders to that effect received from the Admiralty, the whole of the workmen and mechanics employed at Chatham Dockyard, work ing either on shore or afloat, ceased working over time yetterday. The system of task and job work also ceased from Saturday last, and the whole of the hands are now employed on the ordinary day work until further orders. A notice has been posted at the dockyard gates, Portsmouth, granting 10 days' additional leave to the crew of her Majesty's ship Hannibal, recently paid off at Portsmouth, and whose final period of leave has not yet expired. Letters received at Portsmouth from Vancouver announce the death of Lieut.-Commander Robson, of her Majesty's gunboat Forward. It appears to have been part. of the deceased officer's duties to superintend the management of several lighthouses along the coast. While proeeeding on horseback to a part of the coast where one of these was situate, the animal he was riding became frightened in pass ing a large flock of sheep, and threw him. He re ceived such severe injuries that he died shortly after wards. The Sutlej, 51, screw, in charge of the officers of the Steam Reserve at Portsmouth, steamed out of harbour yesterday to conclude her trials of machin- ery, &c., prior to commission ; but, in consequence of the dense fog prevailing, the trial was again post poned. The Britannia, Capt. R. Harris, naval cadet train ing ship at Portsmouth, will be docked to complete repairs and outfit, prior to proceeding to Portland on the 29th inst. According to present arrange ments, the cadets will not return on board from their leave until the 4th proximo, by which time it is hoped that the Britannia will be ready to pro. teed to Portland. The Osborne, paddle yacht, Master -Commander took her b oa t s on board yesterday George K. Bower, from Portsmouth Dockyard, preparatory to sailing for the Mediterranean, where she will be in attend ance upon his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, during his forthcoming tour. Tho Osborne is expected to sail from Portsmouth about Saturday next. The work in the repair and outfit of ships of war in Portsmouth yard is being pushed forward as vigorously ss ever, the only difference being that, since the removal of the American difficulty, the efforts of the departments are not confined to the gunboats, sloops, and corvettes, but are more evenly distributed among all the classes of vessels under eeptiir in the yard. The Highflyer, 21, screw, and other vessels, have again been taken in hand by the departments, and are receiving their share of the skilled labour now employed in the yar 1 .. Upon the Tribune, 31, screw, fitting for the fii t-class re serve iu the old fitting basin, the artiik.ns aro still working overtime. Two of the gun} oats of the advanced reserve, the Rose and Blazer, sailed from the port yesterday morning for Queens town, convoyei by the Virago, 6, paddle, Com mander W. G. H. Johnstone, passing out to sea by the Needles passage. Upon her Majesty's ship Victory and her tenders being paid off officially at Portsmouth on the 10th inst., there were awarded by the Admiralty, for long services and good conduct—to J. Cummins, seamen's schoolmaster of the Rolla, apprentice training brig, a silver medal and gratuity of £1.5 ; to J. Wells, sig nalman of the Victory, silver medal and £10; to W. Morley, carpenter's mate of the Fire Queen steamer, silver medal, a gratuity of £l5 and £5 per annum added to his pension ; to Drummer Partridge, Royal Marines, a silver medal and gratuity of £5 ; and to Charles Aitrill, a silver medal. The divisional orders of the Royal Marine Corps at Woolwich, in command of Col. Campbell, yester terday notified the appointment, by the Lords Com missioners of the Admiralty, of Major-Gen. Strata ham as Inspector-General of the Royal Marine Forces. A previous circular memorandum from the Board of Admiralty likewise announced the promotion, on the 10th inst., of Major Chas. Loudon Barnard to be Acting Lieut.-Col. of the Artillery Division, vice Brevet-Col. G. C. Langley, appointed to the Staff of the corps as Deputy-Adjt. General, vice Major-Gen. Wesley, retired—such arrange ments being carried into effect without prejudice to the seniority of other officers of the corps at large. The following appointments were made at the Admi ralty last evening : Lieutenant Wm. A. Gambier, to the Edinburgh, for gunnery duties. Master—J. May (additional) to the Swallow. Masters' Assistant—Vincent 11. Lys, to the Rifleman. Assistant Engineers —Hugh Thomson and Frederick Smiley (acting second class) to the Asia. THE TYNE NAVAL RESERVE. SHIELDS, TUESDAY EVENING. To-day the Tyne Naval Reserve, which now mus ters 1,121 men on its books, has had a demonstra tion in this town. Early in the forenoon, accom panied by several officers of her Majesty's ship Castor, though the weather was very wet, with flags flying, above 400 of the men, all at this time in port, marched in procession through the town. They were led by the fine band of the Ist Northumber land Volunteer Artillery, and were much cheered. At 1 o'clock, by the liberality of the Duke of Northumberland, Lord Ravensworth, and several of the resident county magistrates and shipowners, they were entertained at a substantial dinner in the large Albion Assembly-rooms. The chair was occupied by Mr. R. Hodgson, M.P. After the usual toasts, Captain BEDFORD Pim, R The Naval proposed " Naval Reserve, especially the Tyne Volunteers." He said—Some three years ago a Royal Commission was appointed to inquire into the best method of manning the navy, and when it was manned, of keeping up the supply of seamen. The importance of the subject, in the then defenceless state of the country, engrossed public attention, and received the earnest consideration of Sir John Pakington and the late Board of Admiralty, to whom the credit of originating the reserve movement is due. Regarding the nature of the plan itself, Mr. Greenhow, the worthy shipping master of this port, is entitled to the chief praise for it. His intimate knowledge of seamen enabled him to state their requirements. He knew that the press gang was as much out of fashion as burning an old woman for witchcraft, and that if we wanted sea men, they, of all men, could only be obtained by generous treatment, such as they deserve from their country. The common sense and liberality of the present measure is the principal reason of its suc cess. At first, as I well know, there was a strong prejudice against everything naval, but I am happy to say that this feeling has vanished, in proof of which I need only allude to the esteem in which my friends Capt. Palmer and Lieut. Camp bell are held, and the very high opinion they enter tain of the Reserve sailors who come under their orders. Captain Palmer himself told me that the intelligence and proficiency of the Tyne seamen was _ _ remarkable, and if there was a review at Ports mouth he would back the Shields crew in his gun boat to beat all the rest. Times are altered since the Russian war ; I had then to pick up a crew for a gunboat the best way I could, and I only hope I may never see such a lot together again on board ship. Now all the gunboats we possess could be manned at once by Reserve men, who would make the very best crews in the world for that class of vessel—in short, it is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the Naval Reserve. Our naval admi nistration is still very defective; it is almost impos sible for individuals, however earnest, to introduce the necessary reform, because the system is so faulty; but there is a well-founded hope that some thing will be done this session. A standing navy is what the country requires, and then with a powerful reserve we may hold our own against all comers. A standing navy would necessitate de fences round the coast, and I know of no place better adapted for a naval dockyard than the port of Shields. Tynemouth Haven seems a favourable site. I see, by the Registrar-General's report, that in places there is only one naval reserve man. Those ports have not enjoyed the advantage of a training ship —not even a gunboat, I suspect, has been sent to stir up their seafaring population, and until that is done the numbers will not increase; for if the men are worth having, they must be looked after, and I have no doubt when the system is perfected we shall number all the British seamen sailing in our merchant vessels. At present Ido not think the men are fully alive to all the benefits they de rive from the Reserve. It is not alone the retain ing fee of I:6, the pension of 1:12, or the £1 is per week training pay, but the amount of knowledge gained that must be taken into consideration. I appeal to any sailor present, if what ho has lately learnt has not made him feel twice the man he was before learning, besides giving him additional confidence in his own powers. Already the Reserve has been of great value to the nation. Your late loyal demonstrations strengthened the hands of Government, and enabled it to act with vigour and confidence, while at the same time the Americans learnt that we were a united people, jealous of our honour, and quite ready to resent any insolence to our flag. Two valuable lessons have been taught us by the Trent affair,—first, by bringing prominently before our eyes the melancholy condition to which a nation may be brought by universal suffrage and ultra Radicalism, a warning which will, I hope, strengthen the Conservative party in this country ; secondly, by proving to all the great value of being prepared. In this instance millions have been saved to the nation. Nothing but our readiness for war prevented a collision with the Federal States. In conclusion, I should like to give a word of advice to the fine fellows now present. Do not be content with merely learning to knock your guns about, but in your leisure hours study the science of gunnery and the laws of projectiles. Keep up your cutlass drill by taking single sticks to sea with you, and rapping away at each other on the forecastle, and, if half-a-dozen Reserve men happen to be together in the same ship I should strongly - - - recommend them to purchase a rifle and perfect themselves it firing at a mark. I must now pro pose the toast, which I do with the greatest pleasure. Mr. S. MiDowELL, one of the Naval Reserve men, responded. Mr. JOSEPH STRAKER proposed " The health of the Cbairman." He said that he was an old sailor. He remembered the little warwe had with America. When that war broke out under what colours did the Amercans fight ? They hoisted a white flag at the main with these words on it, "Free trade and sailors' rights," and he gave them some credit for adopting such a motto, for at the time we did not invite the Volunteers, but impressed them. (Hear.) To the credit of this country we had abandoned that system, and we now invited Volunteers, and paid them for their services. (Cheers.) Our men were now treated as they ought to be; and if we THE I LONDON, r a URSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 16, 1862, had a war—which God forbid—with men so nearly related to us and speaking the same language, they would find a very different state of things from what there was in the last war. (Cheers.) The CHAIRMAN, returning thanks as their repre sentative in Parliament, knew well that he spoke to many a man who held political opinions at vari ance with his own. There was one subject upon which, at the time he came forward as a can didate, he differed from many of them ; and that was that the best policy of this country was to maintain the navy in a high state of Efficiency and strength. (Cheers.) He still held to that opinion ; and he asked them whether it was not true that, if one thing mere than another had prevented us from being at war at that moment, it was the policy which he had advocated at the last election ? He did not say this in a boasting spirit ; but he did say that, with a great country like this, we were at all times bound to maintain a navy which should not only efficiently protect our shores, but should carry with effect our mandates to the fur thermost parts of the earth. (Cheers.) He con curred with his gallant friend that the way to de fend this country was not by sticking up fortresses at the mouth of rivers and placing garrisons all along the coast; the way was to strengthen the wooden walls of old England—(cheers)—and to meet the enemy before he touched our shores. (Cheers.) Other toasts were drunk, among which was that of " the health of Mr. C. H. Greenhow," the ship ping master of North Shields, who has been mainly instrumental in bringing up the Tyne Reserve to its present state of efficiency, and the proceedings concluded in the best order and good humour. Witness replied that he would le are the matter entirely in his hands. When Mr. Lawrence re turned from Felbrigg witness ascertained that the contract had been entered into by Lawrence and Fry, as brokers, on his behalf. He afterwards g lye them acceptances at six months for £4,250 to pro vide funds for working out the contract. Mr. Law rence told witness, when he came back from Fel brigg, that it was understood that the ornamental timber was not to be cut. Witness did not recol lect whether anything was said about the form of the contract. Mr. Roberts was to receive some sort of commission, but witness did not know what. He was not at all acquainted with Roberts, and what he knew about that person he had heard from Mr. Lawrence. Witness concurred in the proposal made by Mr. Lawrence, to give up the contract at any moment. Cross-examined by Mr. Chambers—He had been in the timber trade for nearly two years. In the matter of the Felbrigg contract he had depended all through upon Mr. Lawrence, whose judgment was far superior to his own. He was at one time a member of the Stock-Exchange. He got into no difficulties there, but retired of his own accord when he entered into the tim ber trade. The offices of Robinson and Co., in Mark-lane, consisted of two apartments—one for himself and his partner, and one for the clerk, The clerk was a youth, and his wages were £2O a-year, besides presents. Both he and his partner introduced capital into the business—as much as £l,OOO. In May last witness removed his private residence from Peckham to Clapham. The rent at Peckham was £3O per annum ; he now paid £lOO. His Louse at Clapham was formerly occupied by Mr. Lawrence, The firm of Robinson and Co. consisted of himself and a brother of Mr. Lawrence. When Mr. Law rence offered to give up the contraet to General Windham he communicated the fact to witness. Mr. Lawrence told him that General Windham had as sured him he would not lose the £l,OOO which he had paid to Mr. Windham. Witness understood that if the contract were given up he and his partner should have their acceptances back, and they should not be loser by the transaction; but there was no written agreement to that effect. Witness had no idea where the acceptances were now. Re- examined—The acceptances given to Lawrence and Fry were solely on account of the Felbrigg tim ber contract. In entering into contracts he and his partner, as usual in the trade, left the whole man• agement to their brokers. Their transactions through Lawrence and Fry had been considerable. Mr. Robert Lemon, of Whitw ell, Norfolk, said he was a timber merchant, and did a very large business. He was acquainted with the Felbrigg estate, and the timber upon it. He had occasionally been a purchaser at the sales at Felbrigg. He had bought Felbrigg oak in a peeled state for from ls. 9d, to 2s. per foot, on an average; some of it was as low as ls. In 1859 he was offered 180 loads of oak for ,EGOO. He refused to give more than £550. The price asked was £3 6s. Bd. a load, or Is. 7-3-d. per foot. The timber was barked. He described the Felbrigg oak as very inferior; it was red-hearted and seamed, and was not so good as the average timber in Norfolk. The trees round the house were past their prime, and were every year depreciating in value. Witness believed it would improve the place to cut them down. They were too near the house ; some might be cut down close to the stable wall. There was a good deal of wind fall timber on the estate. There was a very large lot of beech, but it was short, buck headed stuff, and some of it was going back. At a little distance from the house there were many well-growing plantations. The local consumption of timber was very small. The carriage from Felbrigg to Yar mouth, including road and canal, was 22s per load. Last year the average price of bark in Norfolk was £4 a ton. It would require four loads of timber to produce a ton of bark. Peeling would cost 6s. a load. It was the custom in timber contracts to make allowance for defects. The allowance was made in the measurement. On the Stratton estate, near Norwich, there was a large quantity of wind fall beech which might be had for much less than 6d. per foot. If 100 loads of beech were cut for sale at Felbrigg he should not give 3d. a foot for it. Cross-examined—Witness went over the wind fall timber in 1860, and said it was worth £4 10s. a load, or 2s. 3d. a foot, without the bark. He was afterwards told by Captain Windham that it fetched £4 12s. 3d. per load, and witness stated that he would have given £5OO more than the actual purchaser had given. He had a Govern ment contract at the time, and he was vexed at losing the timber, which he had looked upon as his own. £5OO more than the sum given by the pur- chaser would have made the price upwards of £5 per load. He was not aware that the tenants on the Felbrigg estate were bound to cart the balk ; but they had always done so. Re-examined—The windfall timber in 1860 was of prime quality, and, rather than lose it, he would have given £5 a-load for it, in order to supply the Government under his contract. Mr. Robert Steward, Mayor of Yarmouth, said he was a timber merchant, and knew the Felbrigg estate. The Felbrigg oak was the worst in Norfolk and the same remark applied to the beech. A great deal of it ought to have been cut down long ago. He would not take the beech for nothing, if he were obliged to remove it to Yarmouth. The value of the marked oak was not great. The trees were red hearted, an infallible indication of decay, and if he were a Government inspector he should not allow a foot of them to enter a dockyard. If the oak were for sale be should not give more than £3 10s. a-load or ls. 9d. per foot for it. He estimated the carriage to Yarmouth at 255. a-load. In the case of the Fel brigg oak an allowance of from 20 to 30 per cent. should be made for defects. To measure the girth at two-thirds of the length from the butt-end instead of in the middle would not make a difference of more than 15 per cent., and no allowance was made for defects in the Felbrigg contracts. Cross-examined—The Felbrigg oak was defective and the Government ought not to have it at any price, but witness believed that if anything like a good price were given for it the intention would be to get the Government inspectors to pass it. Colonel Fitzroy said he lived at Stratton, near Norwich. lie first met Mr. Windham at the ova tion given to his uncle in Norwich in 1856. He sat opposite .at dinner, and saw how he conducted himself. Mr. Windham drank a good deal of wine, and became intoxicated before the dinner was over. Until he got drunk he was perfectly quiet, but be was afterwards rather noisy. There was a good deal of noise in the room. The nest time the wit ness saw Mr. Windham was at a review at Norwich in 1860. Mr. Windham was in uniform, and on horseback. Witness talked to him a good deal during the day, and his observations were such as witness would have expected to hear from an officer who had learned his drill. Witness saw him on a similar occasion last year. He was sitting on the box of Lady Suffield's carriage, and his behaviour was sensible and proper. Witness had seen him on various other occasions, and he never had the slightest notion that he was either insane or im becile. Mr. Hood, examined by Mr. Karslake—l am superintendent physician of Bethlehem Hospital, and was formerly connected with the Colney-hatch Asylum. I had also at one time a large private asylum. Mr. Windham called upon me on Friday, the 13th of December. He wanted to have my opinion as to the state of his mind. I conversed with him for a considerable time, for the purpi se of testing his mental capacity, and with his consent I took notes of the conversation. I had little pre vious knowledge of his case. At my request he gave me an account of his early life. He told me that he lost his father, to whom he was much at tached, when he was 14 years of age. He described his residence at Eton, stating that he was placed in the fourth form at entrance, end that when he left he was in the fifth form, having gained the promotion by examination. He said that after leaving Eton he was placed entirely under the care of tutors whom he disliked, and that consequently his life had not been a happy one. He told me that he came of age in August last, and that he had since married. He went on to sav that his property at Felbrigg was worth about 1:3,0110 a year, and that ,here were other ostates worth about £9,000 per annum which he would come into possession of in 1869. I asked him what were his takes and pur suits. lie replied that he was very fond of all kinds of field sports—riding, driving, hunting, and shooting—and that he should like to live always in the country. I asked whether he was in the habit of reading. He replied that he did not read much, that he was certainly not studious, that he was en gaged all day, and in the evening was too tired to read. He stated that the Lewellins were kind to him when he lodged with them, but they had turned against him and had put in their affidavits what he called a pack of lies. I asked him what they charged him with. He said they charged him with kicking up great rows in the house, and all sorts of accusa tions which could be disproved. " Perhaps," he said, "I was rather boisterous; but what then ? " I asked him whether he had been on familiar terms with many policemen. 4: Yes," he replied, " I knew a lot of them, but I only chaffed them, and the prin cipal witness against me is a man who can be proved to be willing to swear anything." I asked him whether he thought his marriage was one likely to please the family. He replied " Perhaps not ; but my mother is the only one that cares for me— the others would let me go to the devil if it were not for the property. I know I have not made a good marriage, but I had an infatuation for my wife. I knew she had not led a moral or respectable life, but I hoped that being married we would be happy together. However, the thing is done, and there is no use speaking of it." He told me that they were not living together, that his wife had left him for other men, and that she had spent his money in a most extravagant manner. He had been greatly disappointed, he said, tied hoped never to see her again ; and he added, " When I get out of this trouble I shall apply for a divorce." I remarked that if he got a divorce I was afraid he would do the same thing again; to which he replied, " I am not quite such a fool as that—' Once bit twice shy.' He said that if he could get rid of all this bother he thought he might get on very well yet, because he felt perfectly able and willing to manage his affairs. He told me that his debts might be about £19,000, but bills due by his wife were coming in daily, and he had that very morning received one for £3OO, of which he had no previous knowledge. Ile said he had advertised that he would pay no more of his wife's debts. I then spoke to him about the letting of his farms. He said he had not taken the home-farm in hand, as he did not wish to en gage in "fancy farming," which was an expensive amusement, but had let it to his bailiff at a good rent, as he did not like to have a stranger so near the hall. I asked him whether the railway company had made any offer to him for the passage of the railway through his property. He said they had not, but he was anxious that the railway should pass through his estate. He was afraid, however, that the scheme would not be carried out, because the Barings, the Buxtons, and other families were opposed to it on the ground that it would interfere with the quietude of Cromer. He told me that the story of Atkins about the boot-trees was all lies, and that what he wanted was a set of trees, not for every pair of boots, but for every kind of boots. He appeared to me fully to understand the value and use of money. He acknowledged he had led a noisy and rather fast life, and regretted many of his ac tions, more particularly his marriage; and he told me that he should have avoided many of his indis cretions if he hadknown that his family were anxi ous to make him out a lunatic. When putting on his overcoat he said he hoped I would help to prove him sane. I replied that from what I had seen of him I did not believe him to be insane, and that I would have no objection to say as much for him. I told him, however, that he had commit ted many bad and vicious actions, and expressed a hope that he would lead a better life in futures. He said he was much obliged to me, and trusted I would do what I could for him. I saw him again for a short time on the 31st of December, but nothing particular passed between us on that occa sion. My chief object in the second interview was to examine the structure of his mouth. His answers were coherent, consequent, and rational throughout. I could not say, judging from the interviews alone, that he is otherwise than of sound mind. Cross-examined—And competent to manage his own affairs. I endeavoured to impress upon him the desirability of acting with caution during the course of these proceedings. He did not seem to be much impressed with . what I said ; but he may have been so. One of his solicitors—Mr. Rowcliffe— brought him to me, but I saw him alone. I had not heard anything of the goings-on at Felbrigg on Christmas night when I had the second interview with him. He treated my advice with respect, but I cannot say what effect it had upon him. I remon strated with him about continuing acquaintance with Roberts. He told me on the 31st December that he had left Piccadilly, and intended to have nothing more to do with Roberts. By the Jury—l did not examine the form of his head, nor should I have paid much attention to it if I had. 6 , Amentia" is an exploded term, and I hardly know what it means. Mr. Windham is a person of sound mind. Miss Babington, a niece of the late Lord Macau lay, said she lived at Lichfield with her parents. In 1859 she was travelling with them abroad. They visited Spa, where they were introduced to Colonel Bathurst and Mrs. Wilkinson. The latter seemed to take a great interest in Mr. Windham, and called him " William." Her daughter was with her. Mr. Windham, as far as witness saw, was always per fectly gentlemanly in every way, At the table d'hote he was rather high-spirited, but nothing more. Witness never saw anything in him which induced her to believe that ho was of unsound mind. Cross-examined—He was rather unpolished in his manner. The inquiry was again adjourned. SATE OF TRADE. LEICESTER, Jan. 15.—1 t is almost too early in the season to notice much improvement, neverthe less the London and country houses are beginning to do business, and in a short time trade will doubt less improve. At Hinckley and Loughborough a little more is acing, and the condition of the opera tives in both town and country is better than in former years. There has been some activity in the wool-market, at i ather less money. Yarns are quiet in demand, but firm in price, and spinners are be coming better employed. NOTTINGHAM, 15th.—There is not much improve ment noticeable in the lace trade. The home demand is not yet active, but it is expected it will improve shortly. There have been a few buyers in the mar ket, but their purchases are not large. There is not much doing for the Continent, but some orders are expected shortly for America. Upon the whole, business, although quiet, is by no means unhealthy —stocks have been well cleared, in consequence of manufacturers having for some time past been making goods to order. In hosiery there is a fair amount of business doing. More orders are ex pected for the States, but manufacturers are finish. ing to order, and both yarns and manufactured goods are very light in stock. In both the lace and hosiery trades there are many hands only partially employed, but depression in either branch is not so great as it was at this period last year. A young woman named Catherine B-, living in the Rue Rochechouart, was arrested yesterday for stab bing a student named Ludovic B—, with whom she had cohabited for some time past. On the day of the crime, young 13— had informed his mistress that he was under the necessity of breaking off his connexion with her. En raged at being unable to induce him to cbange his resolu tion, she seized a knife, and stabbed him in the breast. B— rushed out upon the stairs, and called for help, but soon fainted from loss of blood, and though medical aid was at once procured, in a few minutes he expired. The young woman made no attempt to escape, and was taken to the prefecture by the police. [ADVERTISEMENT].—IIOIIOWity'S Pills—All kinds of fevers aro most successfully treated by purifying the blood and invigorating the nerves. Holloway's pills happily effect these two objects with celerity and certainty. They cool the system, relax the skin, and mitigate the thirst. They relieve the head, tranquilise the heart, and induce sleep. Their beneficial action is equally apparent in typhoid and inflammatory fevers. These pills extirpate that root and origin of all fevers—bad blood—and substitute ft,r it a clear, renovating, health-generating fluid, in face of which no fever can exist. Holloway's incomparable pil s increase the appetite and improve the digestion, therefore, while repel ling disease, they are really restoring strength, giving tone to the nervous system, and energy to the mind. THE CASE OF MR. W. F. WINDHAN The adjourned inquiry into the state of mind of Slr. W. F. Windham, of Fellbrigg-hall, Norfolk, was resumed yesterday, in the Westminster Ses sions -house, before Mr. Warren, Q.C., one of the Masters in Lunacy, and a special jury. Mr. M. Chambers, Q.C., Mr. Field, and Mr. Hume Williams appeared for the petitioners ; Mr. Charles Russell for Lady Sophia Elizabeth Giubilei, the mother of the alleged lunatic; Sir Hugh Cairns, Q.C., Mr. Kerslake, Q.C., and Mr. Mil ward for Mr. William Frederick Windham; and Mr. Coleridge, Q.C., for Mrs. Windham. It was definitely arranged that the examination of Mr. Windham should take place in private, but in the presence of counsel, with the understanding that the Master and the jury, if they thought it desirable, might have a second interview with the alleged lunatic alone. The examination of Mr. Freebridge continued by Mr. Milward—Much of the timber marked for fell ing at Felbrigg was defective and inferior in quality. The value of the best oak at Felbrigg, when de livered in London, would be about 33. per cubic foot. The inferior sorts would hardly be worth the carriage, and were valuable only for their bark. He saw at Felbrigg a considerable number of beeches, chestnuts and firs. With the exception of the chest nuts, they were all of very good quality, and the average price all round might be about 6d. per foot. Perhaps the chestnuts would bring 9d. per foot. There was no local market for timber near Felbrigg ; none, at least that would consume any quantity. The timber other than oak would not bear the ex pense of carriage to London. There were a few sycamores at Felbrigg. Of the best oak he esti mated the quantity at £7,000 worth. There was a good quantity of beech, but it was fit for nothing except firewood. There was also a good deal of Spanish chestnut, which might fetch 9d. per foot. Fir was the prevailing timber, and 3d. per foot was as much as it was worth. He believed that the best and cheapest mode of conveyance would be to send the timber from Felbrigg to Norwich by road, and then to Blackwell by rail. The carriage to Nor wich would be about Is. per foot. He had seen the contract with Lawrence and Fry, and, taking into account the expense of the carriage to market, and also the inferior quality of part of the timber, and seeing there was no stipulation as to the pro portion between oak and other kinds of timber, he thought it was a rather disadvantageous bargain to the buyer. The agreement made no allowance for defective timber, and that fact, together with the stipulation as to the payment of advances to Mr. Windham, was also an ingredient in the case. Cross-examined by Mr. Chambers—Witness was introduced to Lawrence and Fry by Mr. Roberts ; he had not seen that person before, nor was he aware that he had been a Government contractor for timber. Lawrence and Fry wrote a note to him enclosing a check for £2O, and requesting him to call upon them. Roberts had mentioned that wit- ness would be required to go down to the country to look at timber, and witness understood that the check for £2O was to pay his expenses. IV hen he called on Lawrence and Fry he had a conversation with them, and they gave him verbal, not written, directions as to what he was to do when he went to Felbrigg. They asked him to look over the tim ber and give them his opinion of it. What they said was, " We are to have £5,000 worth ; give us your opinion as to what there is on the estate." These were all the verbal directions they gave to witness before he went to Felbrigg. They did not tell him to mark any of the timber. Nobody met him at Norwich. At Felbrigg he was met by the woodman and the bailiff. He was about a week looking over the timber. It required all that time to go over the estate, and he could not form a judgment until he had seen the whole. He did not make out a list of the timber, but he made notes in a book with re spect to the qualities of the trees in different loca lities. He stayed at Cromer, and was not at Fel brigg-hall at all. He did not see Roberts. It was the woodman who told him that the carriage from Felbrigg to Norwich would cost Is. per foot. As a Government purveyor his experience had been principally in oak. Beech was used in the con struction of breakwaters, wharves, and canals, and also in carpentry work, but he bad little knowledge of that kind of timber. He regarded the contract as anything but satisfactory to the buyers. He was not consulted about it. It was such a bargain in regard to the wording of it as a timber merchant would not have made. He should always like, for his own part, to see what he was going to buy. He never bought £5,000 worth of timber from a young gentleman. just come of age, without the seller taking advice. On his return from Felbrigg he saw Mr. Lawrence. That gentle man never told him that the agreement was an im perfect one, and that he proposed to introduce an other clause ; nor did he ever tell him that the object of his sending witness down to Felbrigg was that he might frame an additional clause. Witness had received nothing except the £2O which ho had al ready mentioned. He did not expect any more. He had neither seen nor heard from Mr. Roberts since his return from Felbrigg. Re-examined—Witness had never bought £5,000 worth of timber from anybody. His business was not to purchase,but to inspect timber. A man skilled in timber could form a pretty accurate judgment by going through the woods. There were no docks, breakwaters, or canals in the neighbourhood of Fel brigg, which wanted a supply of beech. He had inspected all kinds of timber for the Government. By the Jury—ln many counties, before the tim ber was sold, it was usual to have it examined and valued; but in others it was simply marked off in allotments and sold by auction. The more defec tive trees there were at Felbrigg the greater number would have to be cut, and the more the estate would have to be denuded of its timber, to make up £5,000 worth. Firs and beeches were more valuable to the owner of the estate than to anybody else. A four-horse team would draw between three and four loads of timber from Fel brigg to Norwich. Each load consisted of 40 feet of timber, so that the carriage of one waggon-full would cost £6 or £7. When he went down to Felbrigg at the request of Lawrence and Fry those gentlemen had already entered into an arrange ment for the purchase of the timber. Mr. Robinson, examined by Mr. Milward, said he was a member of the firm of Robinson and Co., timber merchants, 14, Mark-lane. About the month of October Mr. Lawrence spoke to him about the timber at Felbrigg, and showed him the rough draught of an agreement. He told witness that he thought it would be worth his while to go into it. NEW SOUTri WALES. (From the Correspondent of the Times.) SYDNEY, Nov. 21. A new goldfield, which promiees to be of considerable importance, has recently been opened up in this colony. It is situated very nearly due west from Sydney and at a short distance from the banks of the Lachlan. There are no signs of gold scattered about the surface, although the 11ev. W. Parke had years ago pointed out the district as one which, on geological grouuds, he thought was likely 10 prove auri ferous. The miners have to sink from 100 to 120 feet be fore they come to a gold-bearing stratum, and, as these shafts have to be slabbed throughout, the cost to the usual party of four men is from £3O to £5O. The goldfield, there fore, is unavailable to those who cannot by clubbing toge they command resources to that am unt, But the know ledge of the fact has in no way prevented a great and mid den rush to the locality. The very large quantities of gold which have been taken out of some of the holes have pow erfully affected the imaginations of the excitable class of gold-diggers, and the more so as they contrast strongly with the more scanty returns which have been recently obtainable from the other gold-fields in the colony. The depth of the " wash-dirt" varies from one to three feet, and the breadth of the " lead" within which gold has been found is about 200 yards. The length of this ori ferous vein is at present quite undetermined. Its direction, so far as at present explored, is north and south. The country is very monotonous on the surface, and the digger will be very delighted to find it equally monoto nous down below. Shafts are being sunk in all directions, many of which, of course, will be failures ; but the success ful ones all determine the direction of the lead. Some five or six thousand persons are already collected at the spot, its position, about mid way between the Western and Bur rangong goldfields, having drawn off a large mining popula tion from them both. A good many miners from Victoria are expected to swell the number. Our legislation with respect to the Chinese has been at ' length completed. The measures passed by the Assembly have been acquiesced in by the Council. The only altera • tion of importance made in the Upper House, was the ex ception of that clause of the Goldfields Bill which prohi bited Chinamen who might hereafter arrive in the colony from mining for gold. The tax on Chinese immigration is, however, now so heavy that many fresh arrivals are not to be expected. A small party of soldiers is still quartered at Burrangong, and, though the animosity between the two forces is by no means allayed, there have been no fresh disturbances. In fact, the rush to the Lachlan is so ra pidly depopulating the Burrangong goldfield that it is not at all probable that this field, from which the Chinese were so barbarously driven, will be ultimately left pretty much in their hands. One of the acts recently passed empowers the Government to confine all alien gold-diggers to parti cular localities, and, as under the powers thus conferred they are sure to be excluded from all new and promising goldfields, they will be sure to concentrate in the few and limited spots where they are tolerated. The protection afforded by the soldiers is attracting them very largely to Burrangong, and they are arriving almost as fast as the Europeans are quitting. The Colonial Treasurer has made his annuli financial statement. It shows that for the last two years the esti mated revenue has not been realised. But, as much of the expenditure sanctioned has not been incurred, the actual outlay has not been in excess of the actual receipts. The revenue account shows no important falling off in any of its items, but in order to meet the incessant and expanding claims for public works in all quarters of the colony the treasurer requires far greater resources than are really at his command. The consequence of this is that, in order not to refuse the applications made to him, he puts all that he possibly can down to the loan account, and the colony is thus contracting a nat oval debt not only for railways, but for telegraphs, macadamised roads, bridges, fortifications, breakwaters, dredging operations, reformatories, and public buildings of various descriptions. Government has re peatedly promised to give up the duties en tea and sugar, and also the export duty on gold, but the Treasurer finds that he cannot do without the money, and the fulfilment of the promise is therefore once more deferred. The future railway policy of the country has been very keenly discussed in Parliament during the last month, being a matter quite as much of private as of public interest. The eagerness of honourable members to promote railway exten sion, and to borrow any sum of money that may be neces sary for the purpose, is patriotic in the extreme, when the proposed line of railway is in the direction of their own properties. But when they or their constituents have no thing to gain they condemn railways as a cc stly extrava gance. The proposal of the Government is to continue the southern line to Goulburn, but to make no corresponding extensions to the northern and western lines. This has reused the ire of the constituencies which find themselves neglected. Indignation meetings have been held con demning the favouritism of the Government, and loudly demanding that all parts of the colony should share and share alike in the blessings of the railway expenditure. One of the western members endeavoured to defeat the Government policy by moving that the Estimates be referred back again for reconsideration, in order that provision might be made for railway extension to the north and west, co-extensive with that to the south. But his motion was defeated, though many who opposed it did it for reasons which by no means bind them to the Govern ment policy. It is quite impossible at present to foresee the shape which the railway vote will assume. The Govern ment is anxious to extend one line at a time, and has se • looted the southern as the most important; but if the Lachlan goldfields should concentrate a large and permanent population the Western line may, after all, present the greatest claims. The pry sent Minister for Works is strongly in favour of giving atrial to horse-power railways, as being more adapted to the finances of the colony, and sufficiently capable to ac commodate existing traffic, and a select committee of the Assembly is sitting to inquire into the merits of a scheme propounded by the City Engineer for using hardwood rails and wheels for ascending steep inclines. It is asserted that in this expedient much of the cost of earthworks may be reduced. The engineer-in-chief of the railways, however, ridicules all these schemes, and has prepared plans by which, admitting gradients of one in 30, railways of the ordinary character, on which a speed of 12 miles an hour will be attainable, may be made for £9,000 a mile towards the south, and £lO,OOO a mile towards the west, and he re commends this as preferable to any of the cheaper plans that have been proposed. Government has neglected to se cure any very reliable traffic returns; but it is assumed that the traffic on each main line of road is sufficient, on a tariff of 6d. per ton per mile, to pay 5 per cent. interest on the cost of each line. At present our railways are not paying 1 per cent., but this is partly owing t • the fact that the expendi ture on the first portions of the line were excessive, and that none of the lines are sufficiently extended to catch the through traffic. Whether any line of railroad that we can make in the colony will pay is a matter of very great doubt, but the necessity f r better means of internal communica tion is so urgent that the Government will be forced to go on with railway extension whether it prove remunerative or not. The popular demand must be satisfied, and all that the most cautious Cabinet can do is simply to moderate the ra'e of expenditure. The electric telegraph, which is fortunately capable of extension at very light cost, has been successfully con tinued to Queensland ; and the four metropolitan cities, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, are now con- netted by a continuous lino of wire more than 1,500 miles length. All the lines of telegraph are public property, and are under the management of the various governments. The Queensland telegraph will probably be extended still further north towards Port Curtis, for pastoral settlement is proceeding very rapidly in that quarter, and the telegraph is an immense boon to the squatters. The Queensland Government is wisely doing all in its power to attract squatters from the other colonies, and is succeeding to an extent that was not anticipated two or three years ago. The pioneers, however, have their difficul ties to contend with, as has been recently illustrated in the case of Mr Wills, an emigrant from the colony of Victoria, who was murdered, together with 18 other persons, includ • ing women and children, on his station, by a sudden and treacherous attack of tho natives. Mr. Wills had uniformly shown great kindness to the blacks whom he found on the land, but he seems to have been deficient in firmness and watchfulness. There was, however, no suspicion of treachery and there had been no manifestation of ill-feeling. The at tack was skilfully designed ; the natives gathered stealthily on the run, and on a concerted signal the unsuspecting whites, unarmed, and engaged in their several occupations, were struck down with taddies and tomahawks. Two ruen only escaped, who succeeded in hiding themselves till the natives left with their plunder. The son of Mr. Wills, to gether with one or two men, was fortunately absent from the station with the drays. The settlers in the neighbour hood have, of course, gathered and taken a fierce revenge. The blacks were followed, their camp stormed, and about 30 are said to have been killed. These mutual frontier mas sacres have invariably marked the advance of settlement in this country. All the governments and all well-disposed set tlers have been anxious to avoid them, yet no ono has sue . cee ed in finding out how to do it. The colonists will never admit the right of the natives to a use less monopoly of a magnificent country, and the natives will never tamely yield the command of their hereditary dominion. When a massacre occurs like that just perpetrated on Mr. Wil's's station, the Government finds it impossible to repress the public indignation, or to prevent the settlers from taking the law into their own hands. The Government itself can afford no adequate pro tection. There is a force of native police, which, though useful to a certain extent, is too limited to guard the enor- mous area of country now taken up. Each settler is forced to feel that his defence rats mainly with himself, and if his kindness should tarn out to be misplayed or misinterpreted he has no other esource but hTs rifle and his revolver. The question which agitated Canada for so many years with respect to the clergy reserves exists in New South Wales also in a modified shape, and promises to be a subject of bickering for some years to come. In the good old days certain lands—about 500,000 acres—wero granted to a church and school corporation, for the excluAve benefit of the Chtr, h of England. The charter was subsequently revoked ; but the lands were treated as still dedicated to the purposes of religion and education, and the proceeds have Leen divided by the Government among the four favoured denominations. It has become, however, exceedingly desirable to tell soma of these lands, as great inconvenience arises from their being reserved. It is contended, however, and especially by the advocates of secular, as opposed to denominational edu cation, that the denominations have no right whatever to these lands—that the original dedication was destroyed when the Crown renancd possession of them; that they became, on so reverting, waste lands, as completely as if they had never been dedicated ; that they are therefore at pre:A,Lt under the control of Parliament, and th , t the leases which have been granted are invalid. The law officers to nearly every successive Administration have been called upon to give their opinion on the subject. Most of them take what is at present the anti-popular view, and maintain that the Crown, in resuming possession of the lands after the dis• solution of the charter, became trustee for their adminis tration for the purposes of religion and education. Two, however, take the opposite view, and maintain that the lands reverted as waste lands. In order to cut the Gor dian knot, the Assembly has twice passed a bill declaring these lands waste lands. This has been done in opposition to the Government, who, though divided on the general question, arc unanimous in opposing this method of deal ing with it. The present Legislative Council, like its prede cessor, has rejected the bill by a largo majority. The two houses are thus in collision, with a prospect of remaining so. Many persons who have a proper horror of anything like repudiation, and who dislike extremely the rude handling by democratic majorities of the property rights of corpora tions, have urged that the question be brought before the judicial tribunals ; but the Government does not seem anxious to bring it into the Supreme Court, while the ma jority in the Assembly seems ready to maintain its claim to deal with the property altogether irrespective of the judi cature. The cause of religion does not seem to gain much by the grant that was intended to be a munificent support. The estate, being of course miserably managed, does not yield above £6,000 a year; and while it remains, as at pre sent, a bone of contention and a constant source of secta rian jealousy, the recipients of it are proportionally unpopu lar, and lose in one respect what they gain in another. COUNIhY 111,4 RA Li NV HULL-JAN. 14. The arrivals of wheat have been fair this week, from the Baltic. At our market to-day there was but a small supply of English wheat, which sold slowly at a decline of 2s upon the last week's currency; foreign quite neglected. Malting and grinding barley in retail a t ra t es i n f avour o f buyers. Beans and peas were unchanged, and in slow request. Oats were neglected. Wheat.... Old white.... per qr s6s Od to 62s Od Old red New white .. „ New red .... „ Dantzic, Konb , &c. old white 63s Od to 67s Od Dutch, Belgian, and French. Ms Od to 62s Od Baltic and Hamburg, red 6os Od to 62s Od St. Petersburg and Riga, old Os Od to 52s Od Barley.... English malting 3ss Od to 38s Od Grinding ..... 32s Od to 34s Od Saal and Oderbruck Holstein and - Danish 34s Od to 36s Od Grinding Oats English, old Archangel and Riga, p er a t o Bl2ld t o 13d Friesland and Dutch oBl3d to 08130 SWedish and Danish 051241 to 0813 d Beans .;..Englisi, old 'per qr. 4Bs oa to 50s Od New pigeon 42s Od to 44s 0 New tick. 4os Od to 42s Od Egyptian 3Bs Od to 40s Od Peas Foreign breakers . 36s Od to 38s Od Grinding Tares ....Spring —s Od to —s Od Indian Corn Linseed, feeding . ..._, crushing Linseed cakes (Hull) £lo 0 0 to £lO 10 0 Foreign - 815 oto 910 0 Rape cakes 617 6to 6 0 0 Bones LYNN—JAN. 7. Old white 65s t 6 67s I Barley. 3Bs to 405 R-d ..63s to 66s Oats Beans .42s to 44s I Peas 48s to 545 SLEAFORD--JAN. 13. The attendance was thin to-day, with a good supply of wheat. Trade moderate, and is per qr under former rates. White wheat ruled at 64s to 70s, red 60s to 65s per qr. New wheat, —s to —s. Barley was in limited supply, and at late prices -32s to 37s ; oats ruled st:T.dy at full prices, 21s to 265; new, —s to —s; beans at from 42s to 475; peas, —s to —s. COAL DI (Prices of Coal per Ton a' B. d. Byass's Bebside West Hartley . ... 15 9 Wylata 16 0 Davison's West Hart- ARKET. the close of the market s. ( 1 . Hastings Hartley l5 9 West Wylam 15 0 ley .. . V.16 0 H olywell 16 0 North Pelton l3 3 Bell's Primrose ll 9 Tanfield Moor Butes l2 9 West Hartley 15 9 Hartlepool West Hart ley Ships at market, Walla End. Cassop l6 3 Heugh Hall 16 0 Hunwick .. 15 0 Thorpe . . ..15 6 Whitworth 15 0 Harton .... .... 15 3 Sheriff Hill 15 0 ,lieiper Grange.... l6 0 113; soli, 63. FOREIGN MAIL PACKET LIST. MAILS DUE. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton. Jan. 18 . arseilles ... Feb. Brazil and Cape V er ds, by via Br M itish packet. Feb. 3 13.. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Feb. 1. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Jan. 18. Falkland Isla n d s via Marseilles ...Jan. 27. Gibraltar, via Southampton India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton.. Jan. 18. via Marseilles.... Jan. 27. India (Bombay), via Southampton .. via Marseilles Jan. 19. Lisbon Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Jan. 18. via Marseilles Jan. 19. Newfoundland Oporto and Vigo U. S. and British N. America, ty Brit. packet Jan, 16. b U.S. packet.... W.C. of Africa, Madeira, Te and Feb. 10. yb n y e C ri a ff n e a dian packet. Jan. 1 . 5 Bahamas, via Ne w Y or k Jan. 16. Mexico .... Jan. 28. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, 1 Jan. 28. oan. California, and British Columbia.. FRANCE AND PRUSSIA.—The Journal des Debuts says that in the negotiations with Prussia for a commercial treaty, France insists upon an ad valorem duty. " France (says the Debuts) has asked, without hitherto being able to obtain it from Prussia, an ad valorem duty for many articles which were scarcely of a na ture to establish the necessity of any other duty, such as artificial flowers, furniture, carriages, &c. On all these articles the Zollverein wished to place a specific duty. This was the first difficulty that arose. The second difficulty Was the refusal of the Zollverein to make a reduction on certaio articles in proportion to the reductions made by France' We believe that all these points will shortly be satisfac torily settled." A NEW MINERAL.—An interesting paper wa° read to the Royal Academy of Turin in its sitting of the sth, by Professor Qaintino Sella, on a new mineral disco vered by Professor Bechi in the argentiferous lead mines of the l3ottino in Tuscany, and which have now received the name of Meneghinite. Professor Sella having happened to meet with a few crystals of this substance, among certain mineralogical specimens recently sent to the School of AP' plication for Engineers at Turin, examined the crystalline system to which they belonged, and measured their angles, notwithstanding their extreme minuteneses Meneghinite consists of trimetric crystals, present ing 16 different forms, with angles of 46 deg. 33 min• and of 18 deg. 59 min., for the arrangements 100 110 and 001101 respectively. Profess or Bechi found, by chemical analysis, that the new mineral consists of sul phuret of antimony and sulphuret of lead ; but, as these two substances combine in various proportions, forming species nearly related to each other and difficult to be dis' tinguished, Professor Sella has thought it necessary to ill" vita Professor Hofman to renew the analysis on picked crystals carefully cleansed, whence it has at length beeli ascertained that M eneghinite is composed of four equ'va' lents of sulphuret of lead and one cf salphuret of a nti' mony, with traces of iron and copper. Professor Sella produced at the sitting several specimens of crystals of quartz, limestone, blende and copper pyrites, inwardly tra' versed by needles of Meneghinite. This mineral seems t° occupy but one vein in the mines of the Bottino, and greatly resembles antimonite, differing but little from it the form of its crystals. BIRTHS. BENSON.—On the 15th inst,, at Grosvenor-square, ill © wife of Richard Benton, Esq , M.P., of a daughter. CAMPBELL.—On the 13th inst., at Budleigh, Saltertest , Mrs. T. F. Campbell, of a son. lIICKLEY.—On the 13th inst., at Walton Rectory, Somer• set, the wife of Commander H. D. Hickley, R,N, of lot Majesty's ship Greyhound, of a son. MARRIAGES. REYNOLDS — LiAs.—On the 14th inst., at St. Mathias'of Stoke Newington, Thomas J. Reynolds, of High Wy combe, Bucks, to Sarah Barbara, only daughter of Chas• Lies, Esq., of Buccleuch-terrace, Upper Clapton, dlcsex. WY LIE — GIFFARD.—On the 14th inst., at Wooton, Lir" colnshire, the Rev. NV illiatn John Wylie, vicar of Wootovf to Isabel Anne, second daughter of the late Rev. Walter Gifford. DEATHS. Bunn.— On the 10th inst., Henry Budd, Esq., of Tv,ickan' ham-park, and late of Russell-square. BURT.—On the 13th inst., at Harrow, William M. Bur t ' Esq., aged 49. CAYLEY.—On the 11th inst., at Sowerby, near Thirak, C' J. Cayley, Esq., aged 77. GRIEVE,—On the 15th inA., at 35, Grosvenor-square, lion. Elizabeth Grieve, relict of J, W. Grieve, Esq., a n daughter of John, first Lord Northwick. KNAGGS.—On the 13th inst., Susan, wife of John Knagg l ' Esq., M.R.C.S., 5, Euston-grovo, late of 5, Eusta lv. square. SPAIN —On the 14th inst., at Dement House, Dartraoll a park, Forest-hill, Augustin Thomas Spain, Esq., ag e 40. - Ol LONDON : Printed and rublighed by MUItIJO yOUr. No. 112, Strand, I'fiUtCratt TIIE SUN Office, No. 112,St rav in the Precinct of the S avoy I n t h e CouAty of Mid dle.ieo, Thursday, January 13, 1862. ~~ "It . "Th /ltal "As • r s Its e!e( l'ric ( eaPc 4 To 1) o n , p Eirp e t strpotProut, x ;Prpp tiato author to r eacl Bac the and quei I , atit ndoi T Ti Pre p gra SE habit by pr atroy tnent object The 'Mips ( true Vitriol B Yater ands