The Sun. — London, England, 1860-01-19 00:00:00

VOLUNTEER CORPS. LONDON SCOTTISH. Last night a general meeting of the members of this corps was held in the hall of the Scottish Cor poration, Crane-court, Fleet-street ; Lord Elcho, the commanding officer, acting as chairman. The corps numbers now about 400 volunteers, who are about to be formed into six compan ies ; and it in cludes in its ranks—besides Lord Elcho—the Mar quis of Abercorn, the Hon. Arthur Gordon (a son of the Earl of Aberdeen), Mr. Arthur Kinnaird, M.P.; Lord Hamilton, Mr. Duke Hill (a nep hew of Sir James Duke), Mr. Macgregor (a member of the bar), and many other gentlemen of rank and station con nected with Scotland by birt h, marriage, or pro perty. About sixty of the memb ers of Highland origin have formed themselves into a Highland company, and have decided upon adopting the kilt as their rifle uniform. The donations and subscrip tions towards the funds of the corps amount now to between £1,500 and £2,000. Lord ELCHO explained in some detail certain re solutions which had been passed, both at meetings of the Highland company and of the committee of the corps, on the subject of the Highland com pany adopting the kilt as their uniform. He stated that, while the matter was under conside ration by the Highland company, he had written a letter to Captain Arbuckle, expressing an opi nion as to the unsuitableness of the kilt for a rifleman's dress in the field, aiding that he did not think he was singular in that opinion, and that efficiency, comfort, and decency forbade the kilt as the working dress of a rifleman. By some, he said, that expression of opinion had been construed in the light of a slur upon the costume in question. He was anxious to disclaim being actuated by any such motive. He never could have wished to cast V. slur on a dress occasionally worn, for example, by mem bers of the Royal family, and which, irrespective of national associations and sentiments connected with it, was far more picturesque, in his opinion, than any he had ever seen. (Cheers.) The kilt was a dress which he had frequently worn himself, and he had had the honour of dancing the High land fling in it in the presence of our illustrious and well-beloved Sovereign. (Cheers.) All that he meant was that he did not think it suitable for the working dress of a rifleman. Mr. MACKINNON (interrupting Lord Elcho for a moment) said the whole corps had such perfect con fidence in his Lordship that it was unnecessary for him to enter into anything like a defence of his motives. (Cheers.) Lord ELCHO, after acknowledging this spontane ous expression of confidence on the part of the meeting, proceeded to say that the committee of the corps had that evening, at a meeting held just pre viously to the general meeting, unanimously passed a resolution to the effect that, having reconsidered the whole question of the kilt, they, in deference to the wish of the members of the Highland company, recommended the corps to sanction the wearing of the kilt by the Highland company as their uniform when en duty, in conformity with the resolution passed to that effect at a general meeting of the corps on the 12th of September last. His Lordship concluded by proposing that resolution so passed by the executive committee for the adoption of the meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Mackinnon, on which a conversation, started by a member of the Highland company, and causing some laughter, arose as to whether it was to be understood the members of that company were to wear the kilts in all kinds of weather, without exception, in which Lord Elcho Mr. Macpherson, Mr. Ma c g regor , M r . Edwards, Mr. Wilson, and other gentlemen took part. Eventually the resolution, as moved by Lord Elcho, was put and carried with acclamation. A member of the Highland company, who was dressed in the proposed kilt uniform, was asked to standup, so as to enable the corps to appreciate his ensemble, which he did to their apparent satisfac tion. He wore a Highland cap, ornamented with a blackcock's feather, on which there happened to be a speck of white; whereupon An elderly gentleman named KERR jumped up. and with well-affected indignation declared, in a strong Scottish dialect, that he had never yet heard of a Highlander showing the white feather. (Cheers and laughter.) The Highland regiments from time to time had done more to sustain the honour of the British flag in well-fought fields than any other portion of the army; and if the High land company of the Scottish Volunteers were to have a national dress, let it be really national. Blue was their national colour, and he earnestly hoped never to see any of them wear a cap in which there was a white feather. (Cheers and laughter.) The meeting then passed to the consideration of the nomination of officers of the corps. Lord ELMO reminded the meeting that one of their regulations stated that the appointment of all officers was vested by Act of Parliament in the Lord Lieutenant, subject to the Queen's approval; that the commanding officer would propose gentle. _ _ men to the Lore-Lieutenant for Commissions •as officers, after consultation with the council, and after having submitted the names to a general meeting of the members of the corps, who should be entitled to exercise a veto on cult name. He explained with what care and impartiality he, os their commanding officer, had sought to give effect to that regulation ; but that he had learnt in a conversation at the War De partment with Earl de Grey, the Under-Secretary, that the Government were averse from recognising in the choice of officers the principle of popular elec tion. He had been therefore driven to a selection, in which no other course was open but to consult the committee of the corps,•who, in that state of things, had each nominated a certain number of members of the corps to be officers; and those who had had the largest number of votes he (Lord Elcho) was now prepared to submit to the Lord-Lievtenant for com missions. For himself, if the selection had depended upon him alone as an individual, he confessed he should have felt much in the difficulty of the Duke of Brunswick, who was so much pleased with the coxduct of the Hussars whom he commanded at Quatre Bras that he took the star from his breast and " shied" it among them, saying he did not know which of them to giveit to, since all of them had de served it. (Cheers.) His lordship added that the corps in the first instance would be formed into six companies, and then read the names of the members of the corps for whom the greatest number of votes had been given by the committee, adding that Mr. George Mackenzie had been already gazetted a cap tain, and would serve in that capacity in the High land Company. The names were as follows:—Cap tains.—The Marquis of Abereorn, Mr. Septimus Carlisle, Mr. Conway, and the Hon. Ar thur Gordon. Lieutenants.—Mr. Forrest, Mr. M'Kissock, Mr. Duke Hill, Mr. Scott, and Mr. lumsden, of Pit caple, late a captain in the Aberdeenshire Militia. Ensigns.—Mr. It. Fisher, Mr. C. Shepherd, Mr. Sutherland, of Croydon ; Mr. Notman, and Mr. Belfrage. Of the company formed from members of tho corps connected with the Oriental Bank Mr. John Riach had been selected as Captain ; Mr. J. S. Pender,late Captain of the Perth Rifles, as Lieutenant ; and Mr, John Macnab as ensign. Some little disappointment was expressed by two or three members that the corps had not had an opportunity of exercising their veto in the selection as provided by their own regulations. His lordship explained how, to his own regret, he had been over ruled in that respect by the War Department, and the subject dropped. The selection of non-com missioned officers was deferred to a future occasion, as was also the subject of the constitution of the council. After giving three cheers for the Queen, and another round for their commanding officer, the corps separated. TOWER HAMLETS. Last evening a numerously attended meeting was held in the Town-hall, Poplar, in order to promote the formation of a company for that district, Mr. It. Hanbury, M.P., in the chair. The CHAIEMAN, in opening the proceedings, after referrin ,, to the object for which the meeting was convened," proceeded to consider the best means of national protection. Large standing armies were objectionable, as being likely to engender a spirit of aggression, and the best means of protecting their homes a n d th e i r coun t ry was by organizing a large and 6i f fleient volunteer force which would be suffi cientor thei r t h oroug h protect i on , as, w h en th ere we re 200,000 or 300,000 men ready for the defence of their shores, they were less likely to have war. and be trAisted,ttlitelwere prepared to come forward in defence of homes, their hearths, their wives, and their sweethearts. The movement had already produced a strong feeling abroad that Eng lishmen were ecnniann6vd vi forwa r d national honour, it beneficial results with refererceld be estioctra p a r e oductive of and com merce ; and the best Way of r an invadinf , force, should the necessity arise, s w ing co-operation in the present movement. Ho a C°rdi'ed HO then read a letter from his colleague, Mr. By -. sive of regret that he was unavoidably' npg;eevelinteeci from attending the meeting. Mr. C. IVIGRAm then moved the first resolu- tion : " That, in the opinion of this rneetil-.2:, the establislu no of a volunteer force is anJ im p ortant moans of national nde fence, and calculated to promote the dignity and indepen dence of this country." He said the chairman had expressed a hope that he might see 200,000 or 300,000 volunteers enrolled for the defence of their country, but he should be very much disappointed if the number was not con siderably larger, considering the great increase of population. Since the time of the last volunteer enrolment, it appeared as if the Tower Hamlets had been rather behind hand in the movement, but early last year the Lord-Lieutenant convened a meeting of the Deputy-Lieutenants to consider the question, but then arose the difficulty of obtaining a good practice ground, and without this essential requisite it would have been foolish to take further steps. A practice ground to be perfectly safe should have a range of 2,000 yards. The delay, therefore, had arisen entirely from local causes. He concluded by urging them to come forward, desiring them to remember that their purpose should be " deeds, not words." Mr. F. YOUNG seconded the resolution. He should not be satisfied with less than half a million of volunteers, and when this was achieved they would not then be subject to those periodical panics which were so injurious to the dignity of the nation— (cheers), and their country would be left to their children as great and as free as ever. The Rev. Mr. BAZELEY, rector of Poplar, sup ported the motion, and said he echoed the voice of his brethren, and in promulgating the doctrine of peace could not do better than advocate the volun teer movement. The country was peaceful in its wishes, was not smarting under the recollection of disasters, and had no defeats to avenge ; but no one could deny the necessity or the duty and propriety of the efforts they were then making. He was not an alarmist, but he could not look on the state of the Continent without entertaining a strong conviction that complications might arise which might even tually terminate in war ; he had every confidence in their fleet and in their soldiers, but that line of defence might be forced, and it was their manifest duty to take every precaution for the defence of their hearths and their homes. Englishmen had two faults—they were proud, and, at the same time, sometimes over fond of needlessly finding fault and blaming themselves, but there was no Englishman who could not be grateful for living on British soil, and feel that his country was worth defending. In the words of the poet, it was a little body with a large heart. He trusted that if they ever had occa sion to use the rifle, it would be against an invader who had got no, further than the water's edge, and that if the barren rock were polluted by the foot print of an invader the next tide might wash the stain away. (Cheers.) Mr. BURNEY urged the desirability of the move ment taking a permanent form, and that the work ing classes should be adequately represented. There were 100,000 working men in that neighbourhood, and the corps should not be framed with a view to their exclusion. He meant to say that an expen sive uniform would have that effect. The Tower Hamlets were going in the right direction, and he would urge the committee to look to the working classes, by which means the movement would not be evanescent but permanent. The CHAIRMAN said there was no intention of excluding the working classes, and he thought to do so would be to incur an irreparable injury. The movement should be one for all classes, as the mingling of one class with another would be pro ductive of beneficial results. The motion was then carried by acclamation. Mr. R. GREEN proposed the second resolution : " That a volunteer rifle company be at once enrolled for the district of Poplar, in connection with the Royal Tower Hamlets Rifle Regiment." He said the resolution was one which came at once to the point. He quite agreed with a previous speaker that the movement should not be a class and exclusive one; they could not in that district boast of aristocracy, but of the finest class of me chanics in the world—(cheers)—and as well fitted to carry arms as any lord in the land, or member of Parliament. They must lose no more time, but organise their rifle corps, and if the French did land they would give them a warm reception. ( A p plause.) Mr. ROBERT CHARLES seconded the motion, and said they had framed the regulations on a broad basis ; there would be no entrance fee ; but only the subscription and the uniform would be as cheap as was consistent with efficiency. Mr. C. WIGRAM supported the motion. When travelling in Berne, he had been' present at the great national meetings of the Swiss riflemen, at which much enthusiasm was manifested, and he should be glad to see the same thing common in England. It was a great honour for a man to con test for a great national prize, and he hoped the Tower Hamlets corps would, by attention and practice, compete successfully with others. Mr. G. F. YOUNG also supported the motion in an address of some length ; after which, it was put from the chair and carried unanimously. Mr. ROBERTSON proposed the next resolution,— " That a subscription list be opened, and a com mittee appointed to carry out the organisation of the corps," whieh, having been seconded by Mr. J. SAMUDA, was also passed. Several subscriptions, ranginglfrom 5 guineas to 23 guineas, were announced, and a vote of thanks having been passed to the chair, the meeting sepa rated. INNS OF COURT. The enrolled members of this corps, who now number 600 rank and file, have just elected Capt. W. B. Brewster, late of the Rifle Brigade, son of the Right Hon. A. Brewster of the Irish bar, to be Major-Commandant of their regiment. They have also elected Capt. Wood, late of the Indian army, and who has also seen service in the Crimea, to be their Adjutant. These gentlemen have, in the ordinary course, been recommended to the Kir quis of Salisbury, the Lord-Lieutenantof the county of Middlesex, for his approbation. CENTRAL LONDON. A preliminary meeting, very numerously at tended, of those willing to assist in the formation of the above was held on Monday in Gray's-inn hall, Mr. Walters in the chair: It was agreed _ _ " That the corps to be formed shall consist of residents in the Inns of Court and Chancery and the adjacent dis tricts, and shall be named the Central London Volunteer Rifle Corps." The second resolution was to the effect that the amount of subscriptions for effective members should be 10s. entrance fee and £1 ls. per annum, and for honorary members £2 2s. per annum ; or in either case one subscription of £lO 10s. for life. After a vote of thanks to the Benchers of the Hon. Society of Gray's-inn for their kind conside ration in having given the thie, not only of the hall for that meeting, but also of the hall and grounds for the purposes of drill, the meeting adjourned (with the usual vote to the chair) to Saturday next, at 11 o'clock, in the same place, to give the com mittee time to frame•their report, BIRMINGHAM. The companies formed here are augmenting, and the movement progresses in other respects. A dis tinctive corps has been formed here from among the men employed at a particular manufactory. The first movement in this direction here is at the establishment of Messrs. Everitt and Sons, King ston Metal and Tube Works. An effective com pany will be raised here. The men have agreed to bear half the expen se o f equ i pmen t, an d th e prin cipals, determined to encourage this spirit, have offered to pay the other half; the company will, therefore, be forthwith formed. CHATHAM. The artillery corps formed at Brompton numbers about 50 members, and the necessary steps have been taken for its enrolment. Nearly £2OO has been received in subscriptions. DARTFORD. A meeting of the members of the proposed Dart ford Rifle Corps was held at Dartford on Friday, the Rev. G. J. Blomfield, vicar of Dartford, in the chair. The hon. secretary read the report of the committee, which set forth the various details, and from which it appeared that a list of 70 effective members and 34 hon. members had been presented to the Lord-Lieutenant, and that he had promised to recommend the same to the Queen for her ac ceptance. It also appeared that since that the names of 30 other persons had been received as effective members, and that subscriptions had been promised to the amount of about £4OO. EDINBURGH. At a meeting of the county of Edinburgh on Tuesday Sir J. G. Baird, Major Commanding the Mid-Lothian Coast Volunteer Artillery, called the attention of the county to the duty of supporting the volunteer movement in general, and, in part , - eular, to the claim which the regiment he com manded had to the support of the county proprie tors. He stated that that corps consisted of seven companies, of the minimum strength of 50 men each, five of which had been formed in and around Edinburgh, one at Portobello, and one at Mussel burgh. The members had in almost every case paid all their individual expenses of clothing and arm ing, but for the general expenses of the regiment he thought they had a claim to contributions from the county, either in the way of donations or annual sulNeription. Sir W. JOHNSTON thought that any steps taken should have in v iew th e p er manency of the corps, _to and, i among other means, of giving stability to the c 1 .5 a he thought it wou ld a good thing to pay one lf the lif e assurance o f £lOO on eac h volun teer, and in the city of Edinburgh they might be c onstituted burgesses, titl s e i l t o li ; . ar G io l u ß s ,io holital t s h a u n s d gi sC i l t i l o g ol peal made by Sir J. Baird, tshieni the r children city. gentlemen, instead of varmly supported the ap subscriptions which they ing and said he thought that donations, should give Lord MELVILLE (General Commanding 'continue. Were a loose and useless were willing annually to Britain) said the volunteers in North THE SUN; LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY kind of force and never would b e efficient. The militia I were not as efficient as they might be, but if placed on a proper footing they might be made efficient. As to the volunteer force, it was perfectly useless, and no general officer would command it. Mr. C. COWAN said, he was quite aware that the volunteer force could not expect to cope with the Line, but it appeared to him that the spirit that had been lately evoked throughout the country was such as they ought to be proud of ; and he thought it would be a great advantage if the youth of the land, in any system of national education that might be adopted, received that physical train ing and development of body which would improve their efficiency when they came to be called out for the defence of their country. Sir J. G. BAIRD said, he was glad to hear this statement from the Commander-in-Chief in Scot land, knowing the sentiments he entertained on the subject, but he begged to say that the volunteer movement had not arisen from any doubt of the efficien cy of the army and the militia, nor from any motive of rivalry with them. But they all knew that, if a time of danger came, a great portion of their army would be defending the British posses sions abroad, and the militia garrisoning their towns, and, perhaps, their colonies, and they would have little else than the volunteer force to depend upon for the protection of the country. He was happy to think that, as to the efficiency of the volun teer force, many officers of high rank held very dif ferent opinions from the - noble lord. He believed that the patriotic spirit of the people was such that it would lead them to rush to meet any invading foe, whether disciplined or not, and surely, there fore, it would be far better to discipline them, and make them an efficient auxiliary to any army in the field. t Mr. G. WAucllorE thought the volunteers should not be condemned till they were tried. He thought the movement a most glorious one, but, perhaps, his noble friend would have more approved of it if it had a little more red tape about it. Sir W. G. CRAIG said, there was no fear whatever of the volunteer movement interfering with recruit ing for the army, for the volunteers were generally taken from a superior class who would never be come soldiers. He believed that with the best blood of England and Scotland coming forward in this way, and being properly drilled, they would prove a most powerful and formidable auxiliary to the regular forces. A committee was appointed to consider in what way the county could most advantageoasly give its support to the volunteer movement. A letter-press artillery corps has been formed in Edinburgh, consisting of 130 enrolled members, and it is to be associated with the City of Edinburgh Volunteer Artillery. Mr. Robert Clark has been chosen captain, and Mr. Robert Brydon first lieute nant. A meeting has been held to promote arrange ments and to stimulate subscriptions. suit of the studies of chemistry and geology, which continued throughout his life, and even to within a few days of his decease, constituted a substratum of scientific and practical knowledge which - few have obtained, and fewer still have the ability properly to' apply. One of the distinguishing character istics of his professional career was, that however bold he was in the conception of an idea, as, for instance, the Britannia Tubular Bridge, yet no one with whom I ever came into contact watched with more anxiety the completion of these enter prises than did Mr. Stephenson. His mind was ever occupied in anticipating how and in what shape failures might arise, and no doubt it might appear to many that the precautions he took were often superfluous. Of his successful profes sional career—his uubounded generosity, the libe rality of his views, and the dignity and urbanity with which he filled this chair, you are all wit nesses, and it will be long before the place is ade quately filled which his decease has rendered vacant. In approaching the subjects which ought to be con sidered the main object of this address, I would venture to remind you of the custom of our society, which is, that although we publish all that is said, during the discussions and in the addresses of our presidents, yet it is always with the distinct under standing that the remarks are not intended to re present the collective opinions of the institution, but only of the individuals who utter them, and that they are not to be entitled to any more weight than the intrinsic value of the opinions themselves, or that which the position of the speaker may secure for them. The object, therefore, of my address will be to allude to subjects which have not hitherto prominently occupied our at tention, or afforded ground for our discus sions, with the express intention of inviting your consideration of them, and the design of securing their discussion at our meetings. This institution, which may be regarded as representing the objects of the profession, now embraces among its members those who are engaged not only in the construction of roads, railways, harbours, &e., but of those also who are occupied in the construction of engines and machinery adaptable to every conceivable purpose —in the building of vessels, in the erection of gas and water-works, in the laying down of electric telegraphs, and in the drainage of towns and rural districts. Among the objects which appear prin cipally to demand our present consideration are those questions most referable to hydraulic engi neering. The points of the utmost importance upon which to arrive at a clear understanding are as to the relative effects of the scour upon our rivers and harbours, arising from the action of tidal or of land waters. lam free to admit that lam one of those who attribute the smallest effect to the action of land waters, whilst I do attribute the most impor tant effects to the action of tidal scour. This con viction has been forced upon me by a general view of our rivers and estuaries. Looking, for instance, to the river flowing past our doors—the river Thames. Can it be supposed that the mere driblet of water falling over Teddington-lock, even in sea sons of the highest floods, can give any effectual aid to the tidal currents in preserving the channel from the sea to the Nore and up to above Graves end ? Looking also to the fact that when any great change or improvement has taken place in any of our rivers we find them always to result from some new arrangement of the tidal currents — as, for instance, at Lynn, in the Clyde, and in many other cases —on the other hand, where has any marked result attended either the increase or the abstraction of the land waters ! Upon the solution of this question depends the reclamation of large tracts of land now lying not only waste and abso lutely useless, but in their present state exercising ' a most pernicious influence upon the population of the adjoining districts. The time has arrived when the effects of under-draining—now every year more actively pursued —upon the condition of your rivers, should receive most serious consideration. There is another branch of the profession, which is now becoming most important—the extension of the submarine telegraph cables—by which our most remote passessions are being brought into almost immediate contact with the home Govern ment. The experience up to the present time has, however, been very unsatisfactory—whether we consider the condition of the cables laid across the Atlantic, or of several of those submerged in the Mediterranean, and as regards their duration after being laid down. It was the opinion of the late Mr. R. Stephenson, whilst presiding over the affairs of the Electric and International Telegraph Company, that a cable could not be anticipated to last more than 10 years, and he therefore insisted on an an nual provision being made for this decay. On the other hand, there are other companies possessing submarine cables who will not make any such pro vision. This anomalous state should not prevail in a commercial community such as ours. I have much pleasure in sta4king that on this subject the Govern ment have taken a very judicious and liberal course, in which I am convinced the opinion of the coun try will support them. A commission has been ap pointed to investigate the question, s ith the most ample scope for their inquiries. It is, no doubt, owing to the want of such a preliminary inquiry that so large an amount of national capital has been wasted in such operations, and especially in laying that across the Atlantic. This subject will, I trust, receive your attention. There are many questions which, it appears to me, we may discuss with ad vantage, in connection with our national defences. It may be contended that this subject scarcely comes within the strict limits of oar professional pursuits; but seeing how important a part must devolve upon steamvessels, upon our harbours generally, and espe cially those of refuge, upon the railwayaccess to the coast, and upon our artillery —the preparation of which has now been admitted to have become part of the duties of our profession, inasmuch as the recent great improvements have been accomplished by Sir W. Armstrong, Mr. Whitworth, and Mr. Ander son, all civilians and members of our profession—l do not hesitate to advert to this subject, to which the public attention is so much attracted, especially as I do not know any other arena where such sub jects can be so advantageously discussed as in this institution. There is no assemblage which com mands more general intelligence, and certainly none which contains so much mechanical know ledge. Applying our minds to this question, the first consideration is, what are the peculiar re sources and what is most essential to be attained ? As t o our resources , th e y wiiieh England Possesses, consist chiefly in our enormous and accumulating wealth, our boundless mechanical ;skill, and tho genius to apply them. The object to be attained is the maritime supremacy of the narrow seas. We cannot, indeed, like the Continental nations, main tain large bodies of regular troops, nor have we, like our neighbours, a large reserve of seamen at Before, however, I ap cpolynamthaensed generalibremergencies. rcgoennsnidieear.ations, I must advert to the fact of the small amount of novelty and of im provement in naval architecture which have origi nated in our own Government dockyards, espe cially having regard to the enormous total expen diture recorded. It is the fashion to visit the short comings upon the statesmen in power, but in point of fact they are as little in fault as we are who are sitting in this room. In a constitutional Govern ment carried on through the agency of the House of Commons, the Government has not the power of selecting the best mode of carrying on the public departments, but is compelled to adopt that which, underiadta the n circumstances, ge is exposed to the few e st d reference to the uncer t a i n sv as.naying tenure of office, it is therefo re unreasona bl e an d useless to complain of statesmen ; the more patriotic course is to suggest practical remedies. The main reason of so little improvement emanating from the public department is the total want of that com petition which exercises so irresistible an influence on all our commercial relations. I cannot help thinking that discussion at our meetings on many of the subjects within tho scope of the public departments will be reflected upon these de partments, and-will work for the general good. I repeat—why should not the skill, talent, and prac tical knowledge which has so rapidly improved our artillery and has been resorted to by foreign Go vernments for their navies be rendered available for our national objects ? The Governments of Spain, Portugal, Sardinia, Austria, Turkey, and the Brazils resort to our commercial shipwrights to form their navies, whilst Russia has recourse to the United States, the British Government alone de spising the resources offered by the native genius of the country. As to our national defences, th e all-important point is, as before stated, the mari time supremacy of the narrow seas. It appears that, for this object, three conditions are essential : —lst, That we should possess the fleetest boats, for conveying intelligence, instructions, and informa tion as to hostile movements ; 2d, The strongest, swiftest, and most powerful rams for running down ; 3d, Armed ships of the most efficient de scription. As to the fast despatch-boats, they are to be had in abundance from our commercial and to ;et mail services; especially such as those now aosuld con structing for the Holyhead and Kingstown line. theyser s io h investigation. heeonstrueted simply As regards the rams, there are many points de manding whether The first i s , as rams, or be provided with an armament, and com bine the two conditions? and thus, Is hether in attempting to combine both objects in one vessel, the actual efficiency of both may not be impaired? That is to sly, whether giving to the ram its ade quate strength may not interfere with its proper armament, and whether the provisions requ ir e d f or the the armament may not defeat its object as a ram ? It would appear to be obvious that •t* a vessel were built solely for running down, and her sphere of action were restricted to the Channel, her form and the system of construction would not be essentially different from that which would be adopted if her 19, 1860. operations were to be more extended. It must Rl , O - be remembered that the er iv cd to work her solely as a ram would be very small as compared with the additional number of men required to work a powerful armament ; and upon the perilous service to which they would be applied we should risk but few lives, which cannot be replaced, in addition to the pro perty which'we can so easily re-establish —and thus a powerful Channel fleet could be kept afloat at a small current charge. These are surely points of sufficient importance to demand careful discussion and development. The points to be considered rela tive to the fighting ships are, whether they should not, like the rams, be specially constructed for ser vice in the seas surrounding our coasts. Our men-of war are now all constructed far carrying the Bri tish flag into distant seas, and for this purpose they are adequately masted and sparred, to economise fuel on their passage to their destination. In a gene ral engagement the spars and rigging not only re quire the special attention of a large part of the crew, but their destruction endangers the means of propulsion, and thus, on an emergency, not unfre quently leaves the vessel a helpless log at the mercy of the enemy. Now if a special class of vessels was solely applied to the Channel service, there would not be any object in so fully equipping them and in burdening them with such cumbersome top-hamper. Neither would such capacity be required for provi sions, water, and fuel for long voyages. Under these circumstances it is worth consideration whether an entirelynew class of vessels might not be constructed, with less draught of water, sharper lines, more power, greater speed, and heavier armament—all essential elements in future warfare—and thus secure for the nation a fleet of vessels strictly applic able to defensive purposes, which no other nation would have the means of opposing, and insure in future for this country that which it has hitherto possessed—the maritime• supremacy of the narrow seas. Besides these points there is the question of in what way the mechanical skill of the country and the constructive genius of commercial shipwrights shall be rendered available for the improvement of our national marine. Another branch of the sub ject is, the most facile method of concentrating forces upon those points accessible to an enemy. It has been suggested that a littoral line of rail way should be constructed. This proposition could only have emanated from those who were un acquainted with the physical features of our coasts. Shakspere's Cliff, Beachy Head, the iron-bound coasts to the west of the Isle of Wight, are familiar to all. But, in point of fact, looking to the exist ing railways, the problem admits of an easier solu tion than has been generally supposed. The South- Eastern, the East Kent, the South Coast, the South. Western, with its branch t o D orc h es t er an d exten sion to Exeter, the Great Western, Bristol and Exeter, and the West Cornwall, the South Wales, and other railways, either directly approach every accessible spot on the coast, or admit of easy con nection by branches. The only points remaining to be considered are the defensive works at those places. This should be discussed. It is admitted that nothing can be more unsatisfactory than the state of the fortifications around our coasts. Lord Grey has graphically described those at Plymouth. A short railway journey, and a cruise down the Solent, past the fortifications at Hurst Point, will prove that neither scientific investigations nor mo dern experience have, as yet, had any beneficial effect upon that department which charges itself with the control of such works. As a natural sequence to the preceding objects, we are led to the consideration of the proceedings which have taken place with regard to what are termed our harbours of refuge—as it must be obvious that one main ob ject of these works has reference to the operations of our naval forces—and I believe I am justified in observing, from what transpired during a recent discussion at this institution, that neither mechani cally nor financially can they be considered to be in a satisfactory position. According to the present system of conducting such works ; it is obvious that the principle of construction employed at Dover and at Alderney must necessarily restrict their adoption to a very limited extent. Whether we look to the time or to the cost, the results are alto gether inadequate to the sacrifices required. The protracted time is, to a great extent, owing to the system of voting the funds annually by driblets, the result of which is, that neither the Government nor Parliament fairly appreciate, at the commence ment of a work, the full extent of the responsibi lity involved, either as to time or cost. Can it be supposed that Government or Parliament, when adopting the recommendation of the commission to construct a harbour of refuge at Dover, imagined that the works would involve an actual cash outlay of five or six millions, without interest, or of 30 or 40 millions, including interest, and that 100 years, at least, would el apse, before the full effi ciency of the works would be secured ; or that after an expenditure of nearly half a million sterling, and the lapse of upwards of 10 years, the constructive resources of Great Britain would be exhibited, to the foreigner landing at Dover, in the shape of an incomplete jetty, with two incommodious landing places. These, and other results of a similar cha racter, may be fairly attributed to the system adopted, and must not be laid to the charge of any individual, or department, and certainly not to the eminent statesmen who guide the helm of the nation for the time being ; for in matters of this description they possess no interest, political or otherwise, apart from that of the country at large. No doubt one of the inconveniences of the present system is that of having to apply to Parliament annually for grants—the amounts of which, and the chance of obtaining them, depend upon the finan cial state of the country, and the temper of the House of Commons, even although the period of the session may be selected when the Government has the best command of the attendance in the house. No doubt that, having regard to these circum stances, the original plans of the works have often been conceived on a limited and narrow basis, adapted to the proposed expenditure, but totally inadequate to the objects supposed to be attained ; the ultimate result generally being an extension of the design, an enlargement of the estimates, and a final completion of the works, in a form which de fies investigation to affiiliate. Thus money is wasted, time is sacrificed, and full efficiency is not attained. The remedy for this defective state would appear to be that, antecedent to any application to Parliament, the Government should prepare full and detailed plans of the entire extent sf the works intended to be executed, and obtain tenders from competent contractors for the execution, stating the time of completion and the terms and mode of payment. These plans should be deposited at fixed periods at the Private Bill-office, for the inspection of all who are interested. Thus, before the vote was taken, there would be ample time for full criticism on all points; and though additional labour might be thrown upon the public departments in preparing the documents subjected to such investigation, the House of Commons and the members of the State would have the means of coming to the debate fully informed on all pints connected with these addi tional works. In a financial point of view the gain would be considerable, because a work which is exe cuted within a reasonable time is always more eco nomical than one which is extended over an indefi nite period; and also for direct financial considera tions, which may thus be exemplified. Suppose a work estimated to cost £1,000,000 is made to ex tend over 20 years, the outlay being restricted by the annual grant to £50,000 a year. The ultimate cost of this work to the country, supposing the Go vernment to raise the money at 3 per cent., involves an additional annual charge of about £42,000 per annum—whereas, if the work was executed in five years, by annual grants of £200,000 a year, the annual charge to the country would only be £33,000 a year—thus, irrespective of all other advantages, saving £9,000 a year. These observations only ap ply to works of real utility, and do not apply to undertakings of so useless a character that their execution cannot be too long protracted—such, for instance, as the pier at St. Catherine's, in Jersey, and others of a similar character. I cannot but feel asured that, were the principle adopted which I have enunciated, the defects now admitted to exist in the harbours of Holyhead and Alderney would have been avoided, and the blue book mystification at Portland, respecting the expenditure upon the convicts employed on the breakwater works, would not have occurred, and the nation and Parliament would have had the satisfaction of realising, on all these works, the full value of the outlay incurred. Ministers by taking at once from Parliament a grant for the full amount of the expenditure, would avoid the annoyance of the annual appeal and the re curring waste of the public time in redis cussing all the features of these undertakings. Before con c luding my address, I cannot avoid con trasting the progress of Government works with those undertaken by private enterprise. There is, within a short distance, an iron bridge, scarcely even partly completed, across the river Thames. There is no doubt that this bridge will be substan tially and skilfully constructed, but it cannot be said to involve any feature of mechanical difficulty ; it is constructed in Loudon, and thus commands, in respect of labour and materials, the resources of the whole empire. Another iron bridge, spanning the river St. Lawrence, in Canada, is entirely completed and is open for traffic. This bridge extends for nearly a mile and a half across a stream, having a current varying from 7 to 10 miles an hour; it has to resist the pressure of ice accumulating, occasionally, to the depth of 30 or 40 feet. The severity of the cli mate is such as to restrict the actual period of work ing to a few months in each year; the iron work and the great proportion of the skilled labour were derived from England ; and a severe monetary crisis had also to be surmounted, which latter, however comparatively unimportant in Gomm/nut _ _9 ppra- INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS, The following address of Mr. George Parker Bidder, president of the Institution of Civil Engi neers, was delivered, on taking the chair for the first time after his election, a few evenings .ago : Gentlemen,—l beg to thank You for the distin guished position in which your suffrages have placed me. Looking back upon the eminent men who have successively occupied this chair, I cannot but feel anxious that the high character of our profession and the efficiency of this institution should not suffer any abatement during the term of my tenure of office ; and considering the powers and high professional position of my predecessors, this anxiety cannot but be increased ; indeed, it is only in one respect that I tan hope to place myself on an equality with those eminent men—that is by zeal for your progress and the ardent desire I entertain of conducting our dis cussions with impartiality and courtesy towards all who may address you. On this I must act, and. I am sure you will give me your cordial co ' operation and assistant. Before entering on the main objects of my address I cannot but feel that it would be unbecoming in me not to allude to the re cent loss of two of our most eminent brethren—Mr. Brunel and Mr. Robert Stephenson—although I am but well aware I can add but little to what has been already written and spoken here and elsewhere, and in terms more eloquent than I can command. With regard to Mr. Brunel, in common with you all, I ever admired the wonderful resources of his mind, his extreme ingenuity, his courage in facing difficulties of every description, and his great tact and resources in overcoming them, so long as ho re tained his physical power. It has frequently been my lot to be placed in professional conflict with that gentleman, and I need hardly say that, in common with every other member of the profession, I found him a very dangerous and most able adversary ; but at the same time he was equally high-minded, and above all mean and pettifogging practices for accom plishing his objects ; he was one of those men in whose' minds private friendship was never inter rupted by professional strife; and there never was a time when, if I needed it, llshould have hesitated to recur to him for advice, assistance, or sympathy; whilst in private life I can, from personal knowledge, attest his sympathy for distress, and his unhesitat ing generosity in pecuniary sacrifices to abate it. In his professional career, it apears to me that full justice has not been done to the memory of Mr. Brunel, I allude more especially to his exertions in accelerating the progress of oceanic steam navi gation. The Great Western was a brilliant example of the correctness of his conceptions in this point. It must must be conceded that he was the first clearly and practically to conceive the advantages to be derived from augmenting the size of steamers, with a view to increased speed and to the exten sion of their voyages. Looking back, therefore, to the period of the construction of the Great Western steamer, she must be admitted to have been an ab solutely successful experiment, mechanically and commercially, and the names of Brunel as the engi neer, of Patterson as the shipwright, and of Mauds lay and Field as the constructors of the engines, can never be omitted from the records of oceanic steam navigation. The next stop was the Great Britain ; and so far as regards the construction of the hull, the efficiency of that vessel, even to the present day, bears ample testimony to the skill of the design ; whilst her having endured a whole:winter's buffet ing of the waves in Dundrum Bay testifies to the strength of her construction and to the powers of resistance of which iron vessels are susceptible. It must not be forgotten that it was to this vessel that the screw propeller was first applied on the large scale ; and it should be stated that by Mr. Brunel's exertions in experimenting upon the Archi medes, the introduction of that mode of propulsion was greatly accelerated. The only part of this ex periment which was not satisfactory was the per formance of the engines, and this may be mainly at tributed to the fact that, instead of confiding their construction to men whose lives had been directed to perfecting that partic u l ar b ranc h o f engi neering, Mr. Brunel took upon himself the respon sibility of designing the machines. It may not be unbecoming here to remark that genius, however great, cannot alone supply the results which can only be attained by a life-long experience in prac tical details. It is deeply to be lamented that the life of our friend was not spared to consummate his conception of the Great Eastern steamship. This great experiment has been already partially dis cussed in this institution, and there does not ap pear to he any reason why she should not be me chanically successful; but all who have had ex tended experience in our profession are aware that in all experiments there will arise certain pheno mena which no human foresight can anticipate. Now seeing that the Great Eastern is six or seven times the bulk of any existing vessel, and seeing that this of necessity involved the application of two sets of. engines, two kinds of motive power— the paddles and the screw-propeller—bearing also in mind that she was intended to,cncounter head seas at a speed never hitherto contemplated, and knowing also the enormous forces which ordinary vessels have to withstand in head ing the waves, however slowly; in heavy wea ther, it might reasonably be expected that in many respects her first trial would be somewhat disap pointing. I sincerely hope, and lam sure that I carry your sympathies with me in trusting that there still remain in this country sufficient skill, enterprise, and co-operative action, to bring this great experiment to a real teat, and thus to com plete the most fitting memorial to the fame of our deceased friend. In alluding to Mr. Robert Ste phenson I cannot but feel that I am scarcely in a position to take an impartial review of his career and of his character. For upwards of a quarter of a century I have enjoyed his most intimate, and I may add, his most affectionate friendship. Even this term is, perhaps, hardly strong enough, for throughout the whole of this period his conduct to wards me was that of an elder and affectionate brother—he has encouraged me in all he thought right, and has not failed to criticise all lie deemed wrong, and had the necessity arisen he would have applied his whole fortune, to his last sixpence, for Icy benefit. I have said that our friendship has endured for upwards of 25 years, but our ac quaintance extend.: over a much longer period, as we were in the same class and on the same benches at the University of Edinburgh. Probably no mem ber of our profeesion, either past or present, ever availed himself more earnestly of varied opportu nities of acquiring professional accomplishment than did Mr. Stephenson ; his early youth passed with his father at Killingworth Colliery, his early man hood at Edinburgh, his engagements in the mi nes of South America, and on his return to En g land his occupations in perfecting the locomotive, and in ma naging tileearly thelvorks at railways, nd added Newcastle, his with tconnectionhis tions, exercises a formidable influence on private ' crterpri,!.e. Yet thi,, tmtire NS'Ork has been ex-etted contemporaneously with the one uncompleted half of Westminster-bridge. Thus evidencing what the civil engineer can do when impelled by the pressure of private enterprise, as contrasted with his exer tions when trammelled by the restrictions inciden tal to the conduct of Government works. Gentle. men, I have only one furthor remark to make--that is, as far as my humble powers permit, to perpetu ate the prosperity of this institution, and to main tain the reputation of the noble profession of which I am proud to be a member. POLICE INT.ELLIGENCE—Jan. 18. LAMBETH.—ALLEGED ROBBERY BY A BAR MAlD.—Harriet. Norris, a well-dressed female, was placed at the bar on a charge of stealing half-a -m-own, the property of her late master, Mr. Thomas Henry Byron, proprietor of the New Bell Tavern, York-street, York-road, Lambeth. _ • 11.1 r. Byron said that a month ago the prisoner entered his service as barmaid, having received what he believed to be a satisfactory character with her, but owing to some disagreements with her fel low-servant, the other barmaid, some suspicions were raised as to her honesty, and, as his worship would hear from the witnesses who would be called, these suspicions were se much increased that he (Mr. Byron) told her that her month of trial hav ing expired on the evening before, she must leave. He also told her it would be necessary before she left that she should unlock her boxes for inspection, for her satisfaction as well as his own ; and her reply was that if she did so it must be in the pre sence of a policeman, not a common policema n , b u t an inspector. A policeman was sent for and ar rived, and on the prisoner unlocking her box a smaller one was found inside, containing a marked half-crown, which had been placed in the till for detection. Mr. Elliott—Can you say you missed other monies ? Mr. Byron—No, sir, I cannot. Our practise is to count the money every hour, but as our suspi cions had not been particularly aroused until the Sunday night, no money had been marked until then, and we cannot speak to anything else. In cross-examination, Mr. Byron said he had given notice to the prisoner to leave, and not the prisoner to him. He got with the prisoner what ho believed to be a good character, and had since as certained that the cause of her leaving her situation was her being observed to drink wine out of a de canter. Solicitor—ls it not possible that this half-crown found in the prisoner's box may have come into her possession lawfully ? Mr. Byron—l cannot answer that, but I shall leave it to the magistrate's judgment. Mr. John Byron said—l live with my father, and attend to the business. On Sunday night, about eight o'clock, in consequence of what I observed, I counted the money in the tills to the halfpenny, and with out being observed by the prisoner put a marked half-croma ..into one till and a florin into the other, taking half-a-crown and two shillings out at the time. I then placed myself in such a posi tion as to notice all the money that had been taken and put into the till, and found that it was a shil ling short, but as two sovereigns had been changed I could not say whether the marked money might not have been given in the change. Our practice is to give out a bag containing £3 in silver each morning ; and on the Monday morning I gave a bag with £3 in silver in it, and amongst it about 355. in marked money. It consisted of half-crowns, florins, and shillings. Before the policeman searched the prisoner's boxes I gave him a pattern half crown, and told him that if he found any of the marked half-crowns, they would be marked in the same way. I was present when the boxes were examined, and saw the silver found in them, and also the marked half-crown, which was one of those marked by me. In cross-examination the witness said he marked the first silver at eight o'clock on the Sunday night, and he could not take it - on him to say whether the half crown found in the prisoner's box might not have been the one he marked at eight o'clock, and not one of those marked at a late hour on Sunday night, or whether it might not have been given in change for the two sovereigns on the Sunday evening. Mr. Neale here said his client, who had borne a good character up to the time she was given into custody on the present charge r and who brought with her to Mr. Byron an excellent character, was perfectly innocent of any felony. The fact was, that she had half a sovereign, and thinking it no offence, she took change foy: it, and amongst that change must have been. the marked half-crown in question. Mr. Bryon—Taking change, when she had £3 10s., or more, in clia nge i n her boxes at the time. Mr. Bryon, jun.—Besides, she gave a different account of the silver to the constable. She said she did not know how she came by the half-crown, and that the silver she got in driblets, as she could, from her brother-in-law, who is a cabman. Mr. Elliott—She said nothing about taking it in change at the bar, or taking the change for half a sovereign ? Mr. Bryon, sen.—Not a word, Sir; and when the constable told her about the marked half-crown she said that if there was a marked piece he must have marked it himself. Police-constable 45 L said that about six o'clock on the evening before he was called to take the prisoner into custody. On doing so Mr. Byron asked her to open her boxes for examination, but she refused to do so , an d it was not until she found that he was about to take her to the station-house that she consented. On searching the first box he found some silver, consisting Of all sorts of pieces, and even some halfpence, if it had been loosely andcarelessly in, and thrown and it appeared to him as amongst it he discovered a marked half-crown. He further found apparently in the same way, a small b ox , conta i n i ng more s il ver and coppers., th rown in arently and the v;h o l e amount in silver and copper was £4 Is. On telling the prisoner about the marked half , crown she said " If it is marked I accuse you of marking it. I see lam done by having to do with a common policeman to look at my box, I had a right to have an inspector," and asked for one. (Lau;hter.) I told her I had quite as much power as an inspector, and she then said he did not know how the half-crown came into her box, and that the silver she received fro m her brother-in-law, who was a cabman. Mr. Byron here observed that the present made the tenth time of his being r o bb e d b y b ar maids, but it was notwithstandin g th e fi rs t time he had given one of them into custody. He felt sincerely tor the positi on th e prisoner had placed herself in, and should be willing to forego a prosecution pro vided she exhibited the slightest contrition. The prisoner's solicitor here held a s hort consul tation with her, a n d, t urn i ng r ound, said his client was perfectly innocent of the charge, and therefore could not make any concession. The prisoner was then fully committed for trial, and the magistrate directed the constable to hold till the trial all the money found in her boxes. THAMES.—THE BASTARDY LAWS.—STRANGE PROCEEDINGS.--Charles Fuller, a shoemaker, of Belle Vue-place, Mile-end-road, appeared before Mr. Yardley to answer a summons taken out by a young woman, named Susan Morgan, the m o th er of an illegitimate female child, of which she had twice sworn the defendant to be the father. Mr. Charles Young, solicitor, who app eare d f or the defendant, said this was an extremely hard ease upon his client, who had been twice summoned to show cause why he should not be a dj u d ge d the father of the complainant's child, once before Mr. Tennyson D'Eyncourt, at the Worship -street Po lice-court, and once at that court. On each occa sion the summons was dismissed for the want of corroborative evidence. Mr. Yardley—Have I heard this case ? Mr. Young—You have, sir, and you dismissed it for want of corroborative, evidence to confirm the complainant in some material point, as required by the act. Mr. Stoddart, solicitor, stated that si nce th e last summons had been heard the defendant had fur nished the necessary corroborative proof, by paying money for the support of the child, acknowledging it to be his, and observing what a very pretty child it was. Mr. Young—He denies the paternity. The Complainant—Mr. Fuller has admitted the child to be his. Mr. Yardley said it had been decided by the Court of Queen's Bench that a woman could take out a second summons after the dismissal of the first if she could obtain fresh evidence. He could not help r a yi ng i t was a very inconvenient deci sion. 'lie 'wished it could be reconsidered and re viewed. If a man alleged to be the father of a bastard child could be summoned twice or three times, he could be summoned twenty times and con tinually harassed. Mr. Young—The woman has removed from the Worship -street district to your district to enable her to take out another summons. Mr. Yardley —She ought to be content with two decisions against her. You say that I have already heard the case and dismissed it. Mr. Young—Yes, sir. Mr. Yardley —Then I will not hear it again. Mr. Stoddart—There is bow evidence that the defendant offered to support the child after twelve. months had expired, axle, had paid money to the complainant. Air. Yardley—l do not care. I have heard th e ease once, another. magistrate has confirmed m y decision, and I dcy.liue going into the case again. If yon are not satisfied, go to the Court of Queen'ts Bench for a mandamus against me. Mr. Stoddart-4 did not advise the taking out the third summons. I was consulted after it was taken out. Mr. Yardley—You are not accused, and there is no occasion to excuse yourself. The summons is dismissed. CoUN TRY MARKETS. HULL-JAN. 17. • The corn market was very well attended by farmers, but the quantity of wheat was limited, condition bad, and a slow business was done in English wheat at fully late rates. Foreign was at late prices, but very little business doing in that article. Malting barley fully as dear, and grinding barley in good demand. Beans and peas were a slow sale. Oats without any noticeable change in price, but the demand inactive. Rape cake in good demand, and also linseed. Wheat.... Old white....per qr Old red Now white .. „ New red .... , Dantzic, Konb , dtc. old white 48s Od to 55s Od Dutch, Belgian, and French 4ss Od to 47. Od Baltic and Hamburg, red ...' 44s Od to 465 Od St. Petersburg and Ri g a, old. 404 Od to 425 01 Barley.... English malting 32s Od to 385 01 Grinding 305 Od to 321 01 Saal and Oderbruck Holstein and Danish 3os Od to 31s Od Grinding Oats English, old Archangel and Riga, per at Os 100 to Ili Friesland and Dutch Oslld to Oallid Swedish and Danish osiia to Naga Beans ~..English, old, per qr. 46s Od to 485 Od New pigeon 405 Od to 425 Od • New tick Egyptian . 37s Od to Ms 01 Peas Foreign breakers Grinding Tares ....Winter —s Od to ---8 ei Indian Corn '32s Od to 33s 01 Linseed, feeding crushing Linseed cakes (Hull) £9 7 6to £9 16 Foreign 715 oto 8 6 0 Rape cakes 415 oto 6 0 0 Bones 416 oto 6 6 NEWARK--J AN. 18. At the market this morning the attendance was thin, and there was an average show of wheat. Trade fair. Best qualities obtained is advance upon late prices. Maltint barley at late rates, and grinding lower. Oats a moderate sale, and at late rates. Beans scarce, and former price. maintained. MELTON MOWBRAY-JAN, 17. There was a limited show of wheat to-day, with a goood business at the annexed prices :—White wheat, new, 43 Od to 45s Od ; red, 41s Od to 42s per 36 atone ; barley ill fair supply, at 38s to 43s for malting, and 30s to 33s Od pig qr. for grinding ; oats, 231 to 33s Od per 24 atone ; beans, 43s to 63s for old; new, —a per 38 at. DUBLIN-Jlx. 17. Our market was rather dull this morning, and our highest quotations for everything, though realifed in some cases, must be considered 6d lower. s. d. ■. d. Wheat, white.. 28 0 to 30 0 Do., red .. 27 0 to 28 6 Do., new .... 0 to 0 - Barley Oats Do., black ll 6 to 12 6 s. d. s. 41. Do., new . oto B ere Rapeseed Oatmeal l3 6 to 16 0 Bakers' flour Indian corn COAL MARE (Prices of Coal per Ton at d. Lambert's West Hart- ley 14 9 Burnhope 14 0 Howard's West Hart ley 14 9 Walker Primrose 14 0 Bell's Primrose l4 0 West Wylam l4 6 Walls End. Heugh Hall 18 9 Ships at marker. ET-JAN. 18. the close of the market.) ' Walls End. o.i. Haswell..... 2O 6 Whitworth 14 0 Belmont lB I South Hartlepool 19 : Hartlepool..... 20 0 Garway and Duffryn ~ Malting 23 v Powell's Duffryn Steam 23 6 South Hetton 20 48—Sold, 37. FOREIGN MAIL PACKET LIST. - - In the following table R signifies that letters are despatched by evening mails from London, and M by moral's mails. . ....... .--... • - l i DESTINATIONS. Despatch Port of Mailes of Mails. Despatch. due. )--- ---*. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton Feb. 11, E Southamp. Feb.! Ditto, via Marseilles Bahamas and Havana via New 10 York Jan. 9, Liverpool.. Jan. ~ Canada, &c. (by Canadn. pckt ) Jan. , Liverpool.. Jan. if Cape of Good Hope, Ascen sion, and St. Helena Feb. 6, E Davenport Feb' i China, Penang, and Singa pore, via Southampton Jan. 20, M Southamp. Jan. g Ditto, via Marseilles Jan. 26, E Jan. 4 Gibraltar, via Southam p ton .. J an . 20, S outhamp. J an . t 0 Honduras and Blewflelds .... F e b.2l7. S ou tb amp. wrote India (Calcutta) and Ceylon, 0 via Southampton Jan. 20 , 1 Southall,. JO. 0 Ditto, via Marseilles • Jan. 20, 'Jan. India (Bombay), via S.outh ampton .r.n. ZS Jai. 27, Southamp. ..-- Is Ditto, via Marseilles Jan. Jac Lisbon, Brazils,Buenos Ayres, ir.a. and F. Islands Lisbon, Vigo, and Oporto Jan. 27, II 'suthamp. 'Jail. '''' Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Jan. I S Jan. 20, M Bouthazap. ail. ~. Ditto, via Marseilles Jan. , E Jan. iv Mexico and Havana Jan. —, M 'outhamp. Newfoundland Jan. 28, E iverpool.. United States and British N America (by British packet),Jan. 20, E iverpool.. Jan. 21; Ditto (by U. S. packet) Jan. —,E °Kamp. West Coast of Africa, Ma deir a, and Teneriffe Jan. 23 E Liverpool.. Feb. West India, California, Vene- , zuela, Chili, Peru, Grey town, New Granada, &c. Feb. 2, II outharap. tovord EMIGRATION TO THE CAPE OF GOOD HoPE.--The only classes of emigrants that can safely be said to be regular demand in this colony are agricultural labourer* male and female farm servants and female domestic vants. Thar* will also be a steady demand, during tha progress of the T a bl e B ay b rea k water, t h e prisons all bridges, and other public works, for rough masons carper tors, smiths, and other artisans connected with such operr tions. [ADVERTISEMENT.]—Mr. Benson, Ludgate-hill, has Pt published a new illustrated pamphlet on watches (free by _vs for two stamps). It should b e read by all who are aIPS buying a watch, as it contains prices and important WO% tion as to—What watch to buy ! where to buy it 1 and holt use it! i[AuvErtmlsEMENT.]—Holloway's Pills and ointment! variable etitoenm—pDeriasteuarsees of in Indigestion—Diseases of w th te, er i 4 apt th Skin.—lndigestion, uta n o ,in neo t o ll compl d a e in p t r a e , ss w io l n th of fe sp ve w r, to r . estTlheesscaneussse, atnadinttedhe-cobrnesaetlhu,enacen; great of these disorders can be speedily and radically removed b 9 the use of Holloway's medicaments. The Pills should be taken in doses sufficient to act on the system, without die tressing it ; while the Ointment should be freely applied t° th e parts of the skin affected, and also rubbed over the AO' mach and liver. The Ointment not only cleanses the 0104 but acts beneficially on all subjacent organs, whether super' finial or deep. Holloway's Pills purify the blood, and regu" late the liver and kidneys. [ADvEnTismiExT.]—Arnong the numerous extraortil• nary cures without medicine effected by Du Barrrs deli cious health-restoring Revalenta Arabica Food of mdiges• tion (dyspepsia), flatulency, constipation, nervous, bilious and liver complaints, cough, asthma, consumption, and debility, the following are not th e l eas t remar k a ble " Athol-street, Perth, May 2 , 1 842.--Thirteen years' coughsindigestion, and general debility have been removed by -1- 1" Barry's excellent Revalenta Arabica Food.—James Porter: No. 24,814, the Rev. Thomas Minster, cure of five year e nervousness, with spasms and daily vomitings. From tlio Venerable Archdeacon of Ross.—No. 32,836. " Threeyeara excessive nervousness, with pains in my neck and left &riot and general debility, which rendered my life very miserable, has been radically removed by Du Barry's health-restoring food.—Alex. Stuart, Archdeacon of Ross, Skibbereen. tins, at Is. 6d. ; 11b., 3s. ; 21b., 6s. 9d. ; 61b., 125.; 121 b.. 265. The 101 b. and 121 b. tins carriage free, on receipt of poste' office order. Du Barry and Co., 77, Regent-street, Loudest' Fortnum, Mason, and Co. 182, Piccadilly ; 60, Gracechureh-street ; ChLapside ; 63, antlso, Oxford' street; 330 and 451, St ran d ; 49 and 60, Bishopsgite street ; 8.5, Tottenham-eourt-road. Al so at Dublin• Bewley 'and Draper ; at Edinburgh, Raines and Cs.; at Liverpool, Nixon and Thew; at Manchester, Sharp and Scott ; at York, Raimes, Elanehard, and Co. ; at South' ampton, Randall and Son. BIRTHS. FENWICK.—On the 16th inst., at Neodwood Parsonage, Staffordshire, the wife of the Rev. John E. A. Fenwick, of a son. MATIIEWSON.—On the 18th inst., at 4, Cleveland-squaret Hyde-park, Mrs. James Mathewson, of a son. M`KILLoP.—On the 11th inst., at Clifden, co. GialwaY, Ireland, the wife of Captain H. F. M'Killop, R.N., of daughter. RIVOLTA.—On the 16th inst., at Kilburn, the wife of John S. Rivolta, of a daughter. MARRIAGES. LEECll—AsnwonTn.—On the 17th inst., at the parish church, Bolton, John Leech, jun., Esq., of Staleybridge t to Eliza, youngest daughter of Henry Ashworth, Esq., the Oakes, near Bolton. MONTGOMERY ELPHINSTONE—On the 17th inst., at Dalkeith Chapel, the R ev . J ames F. Montgomery, to Elizabeth Mary, youngest daughter of the late Colonel Fullerton Elphinstone, of Carberry Tower, N.B. DEATHS. ALLNUTT. —On the 18th inst., Julia Harriette, the wife of the Rev. R. L. Allnutt, vicar of Damerham, Wilts, aged 35. BROWN.—On the 18th inst., at his residence, 17, Cloudes ley-terrace, Islington, George Brown, Esq., aged 68. BOTIIWELL.—On the 16th inst., at Dorking, Surrey, Ur. Alfred Bothwell, aged 31. lIAGGER—On the 17th inst., at 13, York-terrace, Queen's road, Peckham, Elizabeth, wife of James Hagger, pub lisher, of 67, Paternoster -row. PATnicx.—On the 17th inst., William Patrick, Esq., of Upper Clapton, aged 76. ROBINSON.—On the 14th inst., at 64, Upper Berkeley street, Portman-square, Major. General Henry Edward Robinson, aged 76. W.Emvss.—On the 13th inst., at 6, Salisbury-road, Edin burgh, Jean Forsyth, the wife of Deputy-Commissary- General Wemyss. ,oNDoN : Printed and Published by MUItDO YOUNG, of No. 112, Strand, Printer y ; at The Sun Office, N o . 112, Strand, in the Prectnat of the Savoy, in the county of Middlesex, Thursday, January 19, 1860. . 1N... b( of