The Sun. — London, England, 1860-01-24 00:00:00

T HE CORNHILL MAGAZINE• Edited by W. M. THACKERAY. No. 2 (for FEBRUARY), will be published on Friday, the 27th inst., Price ONE SHILLING, with Two Illustrations. CONTENTS. 1. Nil Nisi Bonum. 2. Invasion Panics. 3. To Goldenhair (from Horace). By Thomas Hood. 4. Framley Parsonage. Chapter IV. A Matter of Conscience. Chapter V. Amantium irn amoris integ-ratio. Chapter VI. Mr. Harold Smith's Lecture. 5. Tithonus. By Alfred Tennyson. 6. William Hogcarth, Painter, Eng,raver, an d Philosopher, Essays on the Man, the Work, and the Time. 1. Little Boy Hogarth. Unspoken Dialogue. By R. 3lonckton Milnes. (With an Illustration.) Studies in Animal Life. Chapter 11. 6. Curious if True (Extract from a Letter from Richard Whittingham, Esq.) o.Life among the Lighthouses. 11.Lovel, the Widower. Chapter If. In which Miss Prior is kept at the Door. (With an illustration.) 12. An Essay without End. London : Smith, Elder, and Co., 65, Cornhill. ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT-GARDEN. Under the management of Miss L. Pyne and Mr.W. Harrison. THIS EVENING, VICTORINE. Messrs. Santley, H. naigh, H. Cerri, G. Honey, Walworth, &c. Misses Parepa, Thirlwall. still closer the bonds of friendly alliance between them. A dispute having arisen between Spain and Morocco, I endeavoured, by friendly means, to pre vent a rupture ; but, I regret to say, without success. 1 I will direct papers on this subject to be laid before you. My Plenipotentiary and the Plenipotentiary of the Emperor of the French having, in obedience to their instructions, proceeded to the mouth of the Peiho river, in order to repair to Pekin to exchange in that city the ratifications of the Treaty of Tien tsin, in pursuance of the Llath Article of that Treaty, their further progress was opposed by force, and a conflict took place between the Chinese forts at the mouth of the river, and the naval forces by which the Plenipotentiaries were escorted. The allied forces displayed on this occasion their usual bravery, but, after sustaining a severe loss, were compelled to retire. I am preparing, in concert and co-operation with the Emperor of the French, an expedition, intended to obtain redress and a fulfilment of the stipulations of the Treaty of Tien-tsin. It will be gratifying to me, if the prompt acquies cence of the Emperor of China in the moderate demands which willbe made by the Plenipotentiaries shall obviate the necessity for the employment of ;brce. I have directed that papers on this subject shall be laid before you. An unauthorised proceeding by an officer of the United States in regard to the Island of San Juan, between Vancouver's Island and the mainland, might have led to a serious collision between my forces and those of the United States. Such colli sion, however, has been prevented by the judicious forbearance of my naval and civil officers on the spot, and by the equitable and conciliatory provi sional arrangement proposed on this matter by the Government of the United States. I trust that the question of Boundary out of which this affair has arisen may be amicably settled in a manner conformable with the just rights of the two countries, as defined by the First Article of the Treaty of 1846. The last embers of disturbance in my East Indian dominions have been extinguished ; my Viceroy has made a peaceful progress through the districts which had been the principal scene of disorder, and, by a judicious combination of firmness and generosity, my authority has been everywhere solidly and, I trust, permanently established. I have received from my Viceroy the most gratify ing accounts of the loyalty of my Indian subjects, and of the good feeling evinced by the native Chiefs and the greatlandowners of the country. The attention of the Government in India has been directed to the development of the internal resources of the country ; and I am glad to inform you that an improvement has taken place in its financial prospects. I have concluded a treaty with the Tycoon of Japan, and a treaty regarding boundaries with the Republic of Guatemala. I have directed that these treaties shall be laid before you. GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, I have directed the Estimates for the ensuing year to be laid before you. They have been pre pared with a view to place the military and naval services, and the defences of the country, upon an efficient footing. I am glad to be able to inform you that the pub lic revenue is in a satisfactory condition. MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, I have accepted, with gratification and pride, the extensive offers of voluntary service which I have received from my subjects. This manifesta tion of public spirit has added an important ele ment to our system of National Defence. Measures will be laid before you for amending the laws which regulate the Representation of the people in Parliament, and for placing that Repre sentation upon a broader and firmer basis. I earnestly recommend you to resume your labours for the impr)vement of our Jurisprudence, and particularly in regard to Bankruptcy, the Transfer of Land, the Consolidation of the Statutes, and such a further fusion of Law and Equity as may be necessary to insure that, in every suit, the rights of the parties may be satisfactorily deter mined by the Court in which the suit is commenced. I am deeply gratified to observe that the great interests of the country are generally in a sound and thriving condition ; that pauperism and crime have diminished . ; and that, throughout the whole of my Empire, both in the United Kingdom and in my Colonies and Possessions beyond sea, there reigns a spirit of loyalty, of contentment, of order, and of obedience to the law. With heartfelt gratitude to the Almighty Ruler of Nations for these inestimable blessings, I fer vently pray that his beneficent power may guide your deliberations for the advancement and con solidation of the welfare and happiness of my people. It is the most remarkable and gratifying announcement her MAJESTY can make to-day in her gracious Speech from the Throne that the system of Free Trade has been inaugurated in France through the agency, by force of the example, and with the direct diplomatic assistance and co-operation of her Government. That cer tainly is, to say the very least of it, a gloriously auspicious circumstance. It augurs well for the maintenance of the Anglo-French alliance, it is propitious of good for the commercial prosperity of both countries, it is peculiarly calculated to cement, or, to put it more strongly, and we believe also more accurately, to weld together indissolubly the real interests, and therefore the pacific ambition of the two populations and their Governments. But one only drawback there is to check our exultation. Circumstances preclude France from immediately reciprocating the advantages secured to herself by the conditions readily entered into by England in these arrangements. Several of the sources of our own revenues will be forthwith closed and abandoned, in order to secure the admis sion by France of the Free Trade principles enume rated in the commercial treaty, solemnly signed at Paris, at four o'clock yesterday afternoon. The old, almost immemorial monopolists of France have to be taken into consideration. Their pre judices have been so far consulted, and their opposi tion to the new order of things so far evaded, that time may be allowed them, that a moderate interval of a year or two longer may be con ceded to them, during the lapse of whic h the y may prepare for the dreaded emergency— or what is more nearly the case, have their obtuse antagonism worn down by the sweeping on of the broad flood of Free Trade doctrines and Free Trade measures, with, so to express it, all their at first scarcely perceptible, but, when once admitted, perfectly irresistible power of trituration. It may be that but a modicum or instalment of Free Trade has been yielded as yet by the French Government. But, however small—there is that modicum, there is that instalment. The rest will follow in due course—must follow : it is only now a question cf time. It is the insertion of the thin end of the wedge. Every stroke of the pendulum afterwards will tell upon it. The upas of monopoly will be riven to its centre and perish. The Flood Gates of Free Trade, to u se another figure, opened thus, it may be, but a chink , are, at any rate, so far opened. They can 'never be. closed again—the mere force of the current they ari beginning to admit must fling them wide eventually. Again, we say it is only a matter of time—the good work has actually commenced. If Sir Iti.OBERT PEEL could but have survived to see it! To see that, fourteen years after he himself, with the Ministerial hammer of Thor, had given the death •blow to Protection, the like coup de grace would be administered across the Chan nel by the Chief of the French Government. It may benot un naturally matter of regret to us—it is, let us avow as much at once, it is unquestionably matter of regret to us that the full scope of our own imme diate concessions to France through the new Com mercial Treaty, dating from yesterday, cannot upon the instant, cannot for that matter simultaneously, be reciprocated by the French Government. The reciprocation is to come to us later on—that assu rance is our solace for the moment—and meanwhile the reconko'idation of differences or discrepancies in our accounts we hand over to that fiscal and finan cial wonder-worker, the Chancellor of the Exche quer ! Until we can hearken to the scheme pro pounded by him in his Budget for 1860, we are left to the merest conjecture as to the manner in which Ministers propose to extricate themselves from the diffieulties of revenue resulting from this very Boon of a Commercial Treaty inaugurating Free Trade as the guiding commercial and finan eial principles henceforth in the councils of our imperial ally, the Emperor NAPOLEON 111. And meanwhile, after all this diplomatic "to do"—we aro to have No Congress. That is the next surprize. It follows hard upon the heels of the Free Trade Treaty yesterday. It will be wel comed far and wide in England, in France, in Italy, in Germany, anywhere, everywhere almost with a sigh of relief. What an immense quantity of paper will be saved, what an incalculable length of time, what an unimaginable waste of words. The illusion has vanished—bit by bit at first — and then at last the final remnant of it has gone out quite suddenly. It seemed at the outset to resemble a dissolving view that might turn to something else. But the colours have paled, the outlines have faded away one by one, and it has ended at length in—Nothing. Its President received at the outset his exiquatur. Count WALEwsxi, who was to have taken his place in the largest gilded fauteuil, withdrew from the Foreign Office into domestic retirement. Then fol lowed, soon afterwards, an improbability, as to the embarkation from Civita Vecchia of his Eminence Cardinal ANTONELLI, the POPE'S Prime Minister and Chief Plenipotentiary. His Eminence's arch antagonist, the Count CAVOUR, was next in his turn precluded from hastening to Paris by having devolved upon him, once again, the responsi bility of constructing at Turin a new and powerful Administration. The sequel being, as we now recognise, not simply the indefinite postponement of the Congress, but its absolute abandonment. Free Trade for France—No Congress at Paris — these are the twin Napoleonic surprises " startling the isle " not from its propriety, but from its doubts and anxieties immediately upon the opening in 1860 of this new and momentous session of Parlia ment. It is not without pleasure that we learn that the return of Count CAvour. to office has been due, in a great measure, to the action of our own Foreign Office. We have always gladly done jastiee to the goodwill of the leaders of the present Cabinet towards Italian liberty. Ever since their accession to office they have adhered to their antecedents, and have asserted the rights of the Central States of Italy, in opposition to Austrian notions of the rights divine of her exiled Lieutenants. They have had, we fear, a double temptation to another course. Of the first, though a near one—too near—and most difficult of all for the QUEEN'S servants to resist, we shall say nothing. The proof can only be inferen tial; and, however clear to us, could at any time be easily denied. The other is open to the know ledge of the world. The Conqueror of Austria, in a fit of that generosity to the vanquished by which he had purchased the friendship of Russia, had sacrificed at Villafranca the independence of the country which he had entered as a liberator. Like many others who have made a blunder, he was long unwilling to own that it was one. He must have seen very early that it was so ; yet he felt bound by his engagements, and by his wish to show that his diplomacy was as good as his soldiers' fighting, to persist iv translating the stipulations of Villa franca into a treaty of peace at Zurich. Much as our Cabinet must wish to agree in its policy with the Emperor of the FRENCH, it yet re mained firm to the cause of Italian independence. The consequence was a seeming opposition between the Governments of France and England, yet one which never went beyond a conflict of opinion between two equally honourable opponents. The EMPEROR had on his side the right to say, " To me it is due that the Central States of Italy have had an opportunity, without shedding a drop of their own blood, to throw off the yoke of all—is it not fair that the Government which has spent blood and treasure for their freedom should be listened to with considerable respect when counselling them how to use it." To this our Government has op posed the inalienable rights of independent States. Acknowledging the services of the French, and fully appreciating their generous sacrifices, we could yet say, and did say—" That to force on the States any particular form of Government, abos e all, to enforce the return of the old and detested despots, would be to deprive the Italian war of its greatest glory. Louis NAPOLEON ought to find his great reward in enabling oppressed nations to exercise the most prized rights of nations." It is equally to the credit of the EMPEROR that he early took the oppor tunity to repudiate the employment of force on behalf of the tyrants who had pointed their cannon at Solferino against their own country men, and of our Ministry, that they have persisted in the right course for Italy till the EMPEROR dismissed the pro-Austrian WALEWSKI, and he has done all he could to repair the great blunders of Villafranca. The King of SARDINIA appears also to have acted with increasing freedom, which we must attribute to the remonstrances of our Government with that ot the e B France. uoN colltVreamGNayt b it e e s g u e r n e e t y h a w t e t u h l e a toleration v o e f been tolerated had not the English Cabinet stood very firm. It was a serious innovation on the side of the Sardinian Government of the Duchies. But now it appears there is no doubt that Count CAVOUR has again conic forward, we may say, at the express invitation of England. Lord JOHN RUSSELL wrote expressly requesting to have a conference, whether a Congress were held or not, with Count CAVOUR. By this step our Government placed the Count in his right position. Re was the man with whom the most powerful nation of Europe wished to con fer on Italian subjects, And rightly so, He and GARIBALDI, in their respective parts of statesman and warrior, have been the two men who have acted, in everything, as Italians, and not as the citizens of any small State of Italy merely. Count CATOUR has preserved his policy against all opposition of clergy and potentates at home or abroad. At the Conductor, Alfred Mellon. To conclude with the new grand pantomime, called PUSS IN BOOTS ; or, - Harlequin and the Fairy of the Golden palms. Doors open at hall-past 6—Commence at 10 minutes to 7. T HEATRE -ROYAL, HAYMARKET. Lescee, Mr. J. B. Buckstone. THIS EVENING, the comedy of THE EVIL GENIUS. Miss Reyno!ds. After which, the new Haymarket Comic Christmas Panto mime, VALENTINE'S DAY• or, Harlequin and the Fairy of the True Lovers' Knot. The pantomimists the unrivalled Leclercqs. THEATRE -ROYAL LYCEUM.- Sole Lessee and Directress. Madame Celeste. Re-enzagement of the Spanish Dancers. THIS EVENING, the popular Drama of ST. MARY'S EVE. Madeline (her original character) Madame Celeste. After which, will he produced a new Grand Christmas Ex travaganza and Pantomime, KING TITRUSHIII4IA.RD, the LITTLE I'ET and the GIIEAT PASSION. Clown, Mr. H. Marshall—Columbine, Miss Eosino. Commence at 7. R OYAL PRINCESS'S - Lessee, Mr. A. Harris. Re-engagement of the Wonderful Dancer, Mons. Espinosa. First appearance of Mille. Marietta Rosetta, Principal Dan seuse of La Scala, Milan ; and the Delapierre Family. These highly-talented Children will appear every night. The Royal Princess's Rifles on parade every evening. THIS EVENING, THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH. After which, a new Christmas burlesque pantomime, by 11. J. Byron, called JACK THE GIANT KILLER; or, Harle quin King Art'aur and the Knights of the Round Table. Jack, Miss Louise Keeley—Harlequin, Mr. Cormack - Panta ..oon, Mr. t'aulo—Columbine, Miss Caroline Adams—Clown, Mr. A. F. Forrest. W THEATRE - ROYAL , A DELPHI. STEW Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Ben). Webster. Reproduction of THE DEAD HEART, with all its power ful effects. THIS EVENING, THE DEAD HEART. Messrs. B. Webster, J. L. Toole, David Fishtr, P. Bedford, C. J. Smith, Billington, Powell, Romer, Miss Woolgar, K. Kelly. After which THE NYMPHS OF THE LUBLEYBERG ; or, The Knight and the Naiades. Messrs. Toole, Bedford, Eburne, Smith, Powell, Romer, Miss Woolgar, C. Webb, K. Kelly, Laidlaw. Doors open at half-past six—Commence at seven. Box- Moe open from 10 to 5. No charge for securing seats, nor for bills of performance. All fees to servants of this establishment are strictly prohibited. Acting Manager—Mr. Wm. Smith. ROYAL ST. JAMES'S THEATRE, King-street, St. James's. Lessee, Mr. T. B. Chatter ton. The nearest Theatre to Chelsea, Pimlico, and West minster, the Park being open to carriages and foot passen gers all hours of the night. THIS EVENING the performances will commence with PARENTS AND GUARDIANS. Messrs. H. T. Craven and J. Francis, Mesdames Murray and Eliza Arden. After which, a new Tragic Ballet, entitled MY NAME IS NORVAL. Support3d by C. Young, Barrett, Miss Lydia Thompson, Clara St. Casse, Szc. Followed by a new sketch, A. HOUSEHOLD FAIRY. Miss Wyndham and Mr. 11. T. Craven. To conclude with the new pantomime of PUNCH AND JUDY. Introducing Miss Lydia Thompson and the Corps de Ballet. Clown, Harlequin, Columbine, and Pantaloon, and the wonderful Performing Dogs. Reduced Prices—Gallery, tld ; Pit, ls. The Box-ofEce opsa from 11 to 5 daily. Doors open at half-past six; perform 7 ance commences at 7. A STLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE, Westminster-road. Last Five Weeks of Mr. W. Cooke's Season. THIS EVENING, the New Spectacular Drama by Mr. R. Phillips, THE EMPEROR'S DECREE, with full stud of Horses and great effects.—Scenes in the Circle by Astley's world-renowned Equstrians, terminating with the Eques trian, Operatical, and Comic Pantomime of HARLEQUIN TOM MOODY ; or, Old 'fowler theiluntsman and the God dess Diana ; Diana, with Songs, Miss Jacobs.—Costly and dazzling Transformation Scene.—Harlequin, M. Richarde ; Columbine, Mdlle. Mazoni ; Clown, M. Ililderbrandt ; Pan taloon, Mr. I'. Abbot -A family of Sprites - Epsom Races by Living Jockies and real Ponies, with ring and Stage com bined Commence at 7. Grand Mornin2; Performances of the Pantomime on Satur day, Jan. 28, and Saturdays, Feb. 4 and 11, at Two o'clock each day. Mr. Uo, ke respectfully intimates his Farewell Benefit will take place on Monday, Jan. 30. CA NTERBUR V HALL CONCERTS.- EVERY EVENING. Sterndale Bennett's MAY QUEEN. And a Grand Selection from Meyerbeer's new opera of DINORA 11. Comic Vocalists - 3lessrs. George Hodson (the Irish Come dian and Mimic), W. T. Critchfield, and E. W. Mackney. Several interesting Pictures are added to the Fine Arts Gallery. The suite of Halls have been re-decorated and beautified, and constitute one of the most unique and brilliant sights of the metropolis. ROSA BONIIEUR'S celebrated PICTURE of the HORSE FAIR is now added to the already magnificent Collection of Paintings in the Canterbury Hall Fine Arts Gallery. The gallery is open from 5 till 11 on Sunday Evening. THE WEATIIER.—SIV,OFFICE, JAN. 24, 1860. THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 47—highest since noon yesterday. 41—lowest this morning and during the night. 46—th's day at noon. BAROMETER-28.68 ; a fall of three-quarters of an inch since yesterday. WIND, South-Westerly; fresh, with cloudy weather. There is a storm raging somewhere near at hand. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. Tins DAY.—Morning, 2h. 56m.—Afternoon, 3h. 13m. To-monnow.-Morning, 3h. 29m.—Afternoon, 3b. 44m 4 P , -"=" )40 , - 4 O•V> ' ' %, - c d r • - ' "" • t:. THE SUN. LONDON, TUESDAY, JAN. 24, 1860. THE QUEEN'S SPEECH. MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, It is with great satisfaction that I again meet you in Parliament, and have recourse to your assiitanee and advice. My relations with Foreign Powers continue to be on a friendly and satisfactory footing. 'At the close of the last Session I informed you that overtures had been made to me to ascertain whether, if a a Conference should be held by the Great Powers of Europe, for the purpose of settling arrangements connected with the present state and future condition of Italy, a Plenipotentiary would be sent by me to assist at such a Conference. I have since received a formal invitation from the Emperor of Austria and from the Emperor of the Erench to sAld a Plenipotentiary to a Con gress to consist of the Representatives of the eight Powers who were parties to the Treaties of Vienna of 1815 ; the objects of such Congress being stated to be, to receive communica tion of the treaties concluded at Zurich ; and to de liberate, t.ssociating with the above-mentioned powers the Courts of Rome, of Sardinia, and of the Two Sieilies, on the means best adapted for the pacification of Italy and for placing .its prosperity on a solid and durable basis. Desirous, at all times, to concur in proceedings having for their object the maintenance of peace I accepted the invitation, but, at the same time, I made known that, in such a Congress I should steadfastly maintain the principle that no external force should be employed to impose upon the people of Italy any particular Government or Constitution. Circumstances have arisen which hav e led to a postponement of the Congress, without a n y day haying been fixed for its meeting; but whether in Con gross or in separate negotiation, I shall endea you r to obtain for the people of Italy freedom from fore l iign interference by force of arms in their inter nal ,concerns, and I trust that the affairs of the Ital; inn Peninsula may be peacefully and satisfac toril 'y settled. P *pers on this subject will soon be laid before you. I am in communication with the Emperor of the Fre ach with a view to extend the commercial inter com', between the two countries, and thus to draw TII.EI SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 24, 1860. Paris Conference, in the Piedmontese Chamber, when an Austrian invasion was impending, and when Italy's liberties were compromised at Villa franca, he was the Italian, not merely the Pied montese Minister. He acted in the interest of Italy, resigned in the interest of Italy, and now resumes office in the interest of Italy. The late Ministry, we are told by the correspon dent of the Daily News, wished to employ him as ambassador to London, and plenipotentiary to the Congress. Count CAVOUR, however, insisted on the immediate assembling of the Chambers as an indis pensable prerequisite. RATTAZZI and his colleagues objected on account of the impossibility of violating certain technical and legal forms which they them selves had originated. The Count continued firm. The Ministry resigned and left him to form another. Some think that having done their work by getting through the Treaty of Zurich without compromising Piedmont, they were not sorry for a pretext to give way. This, however, is little likely. They had for tified their position by creating, and dispensing, all the patronage they could; but the position given to Count CAVOUR by England, with his manifest right to it, was too much for less capable and loyal men to resist. We may surely hope well, now, for the anncxa- tion of the States to Piedmont, and the formation of a powerful free kingdom in the north of Italy. The statesman whose aim this has always been is now at the head of affairs by the wish of England, and with the good-will of France. His own Sovereign trusts him as he does no other public servant. The Duchies are taking steps to facilitate the union by election of delegates to Turin, conducted on the Sardinian model. And, it may be, that very soon we shall hear that the Central States and Sardinia have exercised their undoubted right, and amal gamated their Governments without waiting to ask leave of any congress of foreigners, who have no title whatever to grant or to refuse it. Fortune favours the bold is a proverb which was never more applicable than in the present case. Let Sar dinia and the States join themselves together, and what power will ever attempt to put them asunder? OPENING OF • PARLIAMENT. Parliament was opened to-day by the Queen in person. Her Majesty's State visits to the Senate of Great Britain have ever been marked by loyal manifesta tions on the part of her subjects of all classes, from the humblest of those who crowd the streets to the peers and peeresses who have the honour to form part of the brilliant assembly that receives the Queen ; but to-day the crowds in the parks and the streets leading to the Palace of Westminster were almost beyond precedent; the display of coloured flags and decked-out balconies and windows was much more numerous than on former occasions. St. James's Park, 'Whitehall, and Parliament-street were well lined at twelve o'clock, and at that hour the equipages of the nobility were arriving it rapid succession at the entrances to the House of Lords. The State procession left Buckingham Palace shortly before 2 o'clock in the following order : A carriage, drawn by six bays, conveying the gentlemen ushers, and axon in waiting. A carriage, drawn by six bays, conveying the groom in waiting to the Queen, the groom in wait ing to the Prince, and the pages- of honour in wait ing. A carriage, drawn by six bays, conveying the equerry to the Queen, the equerry to the Prince, the comptroller of the household, and the groom of the robes. A carriage, drawn by six bays, conveying the sil ver stick in waiting, the clerk marshal, the field officer in waiting,,ana the treasurer of the house hold. A carriage, drawn by six bays, conveying the captain of the Yeomen of the Guard, the lord in waiting to the Queen, and the lord in waiting to the Prince. A carriage, drawn by six black horses, conveying the lady in waiting, the lord steward, and the gold stick in waiting. The Queen's marshalmen. The Queen's footmen. A party of the Yeomen of the Guard. The State coach drawn by eight cream-coloured horses, and conveying her Majesty the Queen, his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, the mistress of the robes, and the master of the horse. A detachment of the Horse Guards formed the escort of her Majesty. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(THIsDAT.) The Lower House met formally at half-past one o'clock, but for more than half an hour previously the members had began to assemble. At half-past one the SPEAKER entered the house. There were then some 200 members present, who were about equally divided on both sides of the chamber. A few minutes after two o'clock the leaders of the house entered and took their seats among their colleagues. At a few minutes past two o'clock there was a cry of " Black Itod," and the yeoman usher immediately afterwards appeared at the bar, Advancing towards the table, with the customary obeisances, he said—" Mr. Speaker,—The Queen commands this honourable house to attend her Ma jesty immediately in the House of Peers." The SPEAKER, preceded by the Sergeant-at-Arms bearing the mace, thereupon immediately pro ceeded to the House of Lords, followed first by the Premier, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the rest of the members of the Government present, and then by the memders in attendance, in the order in which their names were read by the clerk at the table, from a glass vase, in which they had been previously deposited at hap-hazard, in accord ance with the custom which has obtained of late years. On the return of the SPEAKER, after an interval of about ten minutes, the sittirg was suspended until a quarter to four o'clock. PARLIAMENTARY BANQUETS. Viscount Palmerston gave a full-dross Parliamentary dinner last evening at the noble lord's mansion in Picca dilly. Covers were laid for 40 per Sons. The following noblemen and gentlemen, members of the House of Com mons, constituted the party :—The Right Hon. the Speaker, Mr. St. Aubyn, the mover, and Lord Henley, the seconder to the Address ; Lord J. Russell, the Right Hon. Sir C. Wood, the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, the Right Sidney Herbert, the Right Hon. C. P. Villiers, 'the Right Hon. E. Cardwell, the Right Hon. T. M. Gibson, the Right Hon. R. Lowe, the Right Hon. W. F. Cowper, the Right Hon. Sir G. C. Lewis, Viscount Castlecrosse, Viscount Bury, Lord Alfred Paget, Lord Clarence Paget, the Attor ney-General, the Solicitor-General, Lord Proby, the Hon. H. H. W. Brand, the Lord Advocate, the Attorney- General for Ireland, the Solicitor. General for Ireland, Mr. George Clive, Mr. Bagwell, Colonel Kingscote, Mr. Chas. Clifford, Mr. Chichester Fortescue, Mr. Whitbread, Mr. Massey, Sir W. Dunbar, Mr. Headlam, Mr. Hugessen, Mr. Laing, and the Hon. Evelyn Ashley and Mr. Charles G. Barrington, private secretaries to the Premier. As cus tomary on such occasions, the noble lord at the head of the Government read to his political supporters the Queen's Speech, to be addressed by her Majesty at the opening of the Parliamentary session this afternoon. The Earl Granville, the leader of the Ministerial party in the House of Lords, had a full-dress Parliamentary enter tainment last evening at his residence in Bruton-street, Berkeley-square; After the noble guests of the Lord Presi dent had assembled, the Queen's Speech, to be delivered at the opening of Parliament to-day, was read by the noble Lord President of the Council. Covers were laid for 40. The guests present were—the Duke of Somerset, the Duke of Argyll, the Duke of Newcastle, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the. Marquis of Ailesbury, the Marquis of Clanricarde, the Marquis of Breadalbane, the Marquis of Townshend, the Earl of Clarendon, the Earl of Ripon, the Earl Somers, the Earl of Shelburne, the Earl of Lichfield, the Earl St. Germans, the Earl of Chichester, the Earl Spencer, the Earl of Sefton, the Earl of Shaftes bury, the Earl of Cork, the Earl Ducie, the Earl of Albe marle, the Earl of Abingdon, Viscount Stratford do Rad cliffe, Viscount Sydney, Viscount Enfield, the Lord Chan cellor, Lord Overstone, Lord Monteaglo, Lord Cranworth, Lord Camoys, Lord Rivers, Lord Stanley of Alderley, Lord Hatherton, Lord Wodehause, Lord Foley, Lord do Tabley, and Lord Llanover. The Earl of Derby, as leader of th e O p p ositi . on in the House of Lords, gave a grand dinner last e . vening at h . ts mansion to a distinguished circle o f his political friends in the Upper House, including 'the Duke of Rutland, the Duke of Nianchester, the Duke of Montrose, t i he i Marquis of Exeter, the Marquis of Bath, the Earl of 3 a mesbury, the Earl of Carnarvon , th e Earl of Hardwicke, the Earl of Lonsdale, the Earl of Sandwich, the Earl Beauchamp, the Earl of Lucan, the Earl of Cardigan, the Earl De La Warr, the Earl of Powis, the Earl of Wilton, the Earl of Strad broke, Lord Redesdale, Lord Chelmsford. Lord Colchester, and Lord Colville. The Marquis of Salisbury, owing to a rec ent family bereave ment, was prevented joining the dinner circle. M owing to a The Right Hon. Benjamin Disraeli, .P., domestic affliction (the death of a sister), was prevented giving his customary Parliamentary dinner to those friends who co-operate with him in the House of Commons. ITALY AND ENGLAND.—The following is an ex tract from a private lever, written on the 18th inst. by an Italian statesman , who holds a high rank in the Councils of Piedmont :—" I humbly thank heaven that an era ofjus tice between nations is beginning. Italy will always bless England, which through the org a n of her press has made her voice heard in consistent defence of the rights of this country, and has fixed an indelible brand on her violators and oppressors. Having escaped the hands of Austria, Italy must now belong wholly to herself, and this result can bo secured only by the annexation of Central Italy to Sardinia," LATEST N E W S. The following telegrams have been received at Mr. Reuter's office : VIENNA, MONDAY NIGIIT. The following is official : " Several Vienna papers have published the news that Verona was declared in a state of siege: " This statement is premature." PARIS, TUESDAY. The Moniteur of to-day announces that Vice- Admiral Le Babier de Sinan has been appointed commander of the squadron of evolution, replacing Admiral Desfosses. BERNE, JAN. 23. According to letters from Vienna, the Emperor of Austria has expressed to the Swiss Charge d'Affaires his satisfaction at the loyal manner in which Switzerland observed neutrality during the war of 1859. PARIS, MONDAY. It is reported that a new pamphlet will be pub lished in the course of this week from the pen of the author of " Le Pape et le Congres." 12.20 p.m. The Bourse• opens flat ; Rentes, 68f. 70c. 3.30 p.m. Business has again been very dull, and railway shares have declined several francs. Rentes closed at 68f. 70c., or one-eighth lower than Saturday. COPENHAGEN, SUNDAY. Rear-Admiral Van Dockum, our Ambassador in England, has been summoned to Copenhagen, the Government having the intention to appoint him Governor of the Danish colonies. HOUSE OF LORDS. The doors were opened precisely at 12 o'clock, and from that hour until about half-past one the arrivals of company were continuous and rapid, ladies forming, as is invariably the case on these occasions, an overwhelming majority of the visitors. They occupied the whole body of the house, with the exception of the limited number of seats in the centre, reserved for the peers and judges, as well as all the galleries, and their rich, elegant, and taste ful attire of many hues gave variety and brilliancy to a spectacle, which is admitted to be one of the finest and most imposing to be witnessed in the country. On no occasion that we remember has there been so large an attendance of Peers and Peeresses, and so much interest apparently felt in the proceed- in gs. The corps diplomatic arrived in rapid sicces sion—the French, Sardinian, Turkish, Austrian, Hanoverian, Swedish, American, Netherlands, Spanish, Portuguese, Haytian, and a host of other Ministers and Ambassadors. At two o'clock an officer of the house requests the ladies to be uncovered, for the Queen is ap proaching, and then there is a rustling of silks and opera cloaks, rich shawls are laid aside, and jewels, hitherto concealed, glisten on the necks and bosoms of their wearers. A gentle buzz of conversation rises from the expectant group, Lords are seated, and all eyes are directed to the doors on each side of the throne, through which her Majesty is shortly to enter. The great officers of State leave the house, and assemble at the foot of the staircase. A few moments elapse, the State carriage is at the grand entrance, and her Majesty on alighting is received by the great officers in attendance. Here a procession is formed, which passes along the Royal Gallery into the Prince's Chamber in the following order : - --- - - Pursuivants. Heralds. Equerry to H. R. H. Groom to IL It. 11. the Prince Albert. the Prince Albert. Gentlemen Ushers to her Majesty. Equerry to her Majesty. Groom to her Majesty. Clark Marshal. The Comptroller of The Treasurer of Her Majesty's Household. Her Majesty's Household. Norroy King of Arms. Clarenceux King of Arms. The Lord Privy Seal. The Lord President of the Council. The Lord High Chancellor. The Gentleman Usher of Garter Principal King of the Black Rod. Arms. The Earl Marshal. The Lord Great Chamberlain. Tho Sword of State. THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY, accompanid by his Royal Highness the Prince Albert, and attended by the Mistress of the Robes, and the Lady in Waiting. The Lord Steward. Groom of the Stole to 11. R. H. the Prince Albert. The Lord in 'Waiting to her Majesty. Pages of Honour. The Master of the Horse. Lord in Waiting to H.R.R. the Prince Albert. Captain of the Yeomen of Captain of the Corps of the Guard. Gentlemen at Arms. The Gold Stick. Field 011icers of the Guard on duty. An Officer of the respective Corps of the Gentlemen at Arms and the Yeomen of the Guard, closing the Procession within the Prince's Chamber. After a short pause a flourish of trumpets is heard. The whole company rise en masse, and the heralds in their quaint dress and antique tabards enter ; great officers of the household follow, then Garter King of Arms, and range themselves on the left of the Throne. Her Majesty, with her royal train borne, and taking the arm of the Prince Consort, enters, and is conducted to the chair of state upon the throne. Her Majesty, on taking her seat, ro• quests all to be seated, and the Usher of the Black Rod proceeds to the Commons to summen them to the Upper House. The interior of the House of Lords, at this mo ment, with its magnificently gilded roof; its stained glass windows, of various hues, covered with pic tures of the kings and queens who through so many centuries have sat on the throne of England ; the fine statues of the barons who signed Magna Charts that fill the niches at each side of every win dow ; the elaborately carved oak pannels that back the peers' benches; and the brilliant frescoes that adorn the walls in the front and at the rear of the throne presents a scene of unparalleled grandeur. The Peers of the United Kingdom wear their scarlet robes ; while the peeressss and their daughters, radiant with beauty, glittering with priceless gems, are ranged upon each side, like par terres of variegated flowers, bordered by the scarlet and ermine robes of the Peers who occupy the front seats. They rise, • tier upon tier, with more than Iris hues, and the light streaming through the stained windows, sparkles on jewelled cornets, or pendant brilliants, like sun rays upon the dew drops or choicest flowers. All eyes are directed towards one spot. The Queen is seated upon her glittering chair of state, representative of a long line of monarchs whose cyphers and ,mona grams are emblazoned upon the throne. The centre of the throne is occupied by her Majesty ; the Prince Consort is on the left. Her Majesty wears a robe of white satin embroidered with gold, a purple velvet mantle falls in graceful folds upon each side of the chair, covering the lions that support it, and partly concealing the crimson velvet footstool with its embroidery of fleur-de-lis. There is a diadem upon her brow, and jewels flash and glitter in the brilliant stomacher and ear drops which she wears. The imperial crown is borne upon its velvet cushion, upon her Majesty's right, and close by is the Marquis of Winchester, with the cap of maintenance. Seated upon the chair on the left of the throne is the Prince Consort in the uniform of a field marshal. The Lord Chancellor stands behind the chair of the Prince of Wales, the Lord President on the right, and the Privy Seal on the left of her Majesty. Behind the chair in which . the Prince Consort sits are the groom of the stole and lord in waiting to the Prince, and at the back of her Majesty's chair of state stands the stately figure of the mistress of th 3 robes, and the ladies in waiting. Only a few minutes elapsed before the Speaker of the lower branch of the Legislature, together with the Sergnant-at-Arms and the Chief Clerk (Sir Denis le Marchant), Lord Palmerston, Lord J. Russell, the Right Hen. Sir Georgo Grey, the Right Hon. G. C. Lewis, the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, and Mr. Sidney Herbert, appeared below the bar, followed by a great number of other members, who engaged in a rather uncere monious struggle for places in the confined space to which they are limited. The Lord Chancellor then, kneeling at the foot of the Throne, handed the Royal Speech to her Majesty, who, after waiting until the noise caused by the arrival of the Commons had somewhat sub sided, read it with that distinctness and pleasing em phasis which have been so repeatedly remarked and admired. The Speech will be found in another column. The Queen then left the Throne, and after grace fully bowing to the spectators, retired from the house in the same order in which she had entered. This concluded the ceremony of opening the Impe rial Parliament. SPAIN AND MOROCCO. The Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish army in Africa has sent the following despatches to the Minister ad interim of War : Encampment on the Heights of Cape Negro, Jan. 10, 2.30 p.m. The division Rios landed to-day ;it took posses sion of the fort at the mouth of the Martin river. The siege artillery which had been parked on the road has entered the plain. Every preparation is being made for the passage of one arm of this river, so that the army may take the road to Tetuan. At two o'clock the enemy showed himself with hostile intentions; the army was ready to receive him. After a few cannon shots he beat a retreat. I have in the plain 12 pieces in battery, supported by the reserve divisions and by the cavalry ; the 2d and 3d eorps maintain their positions. In the fort were captured seven cannon, of 18 to 28, three gun car riages, an English machine for hoisting guns, and a large amount of ammunition. ALGESIRAS, JAN. 18, NooN. Encampment of Guad-el-Jelu or Martin, Jan. 17. Since my despatch of yesterday, having observed that the enemy was advancing with considerable forces, I ordered some battalions of the third corps to place themselves on the heights which command the valley, and I offered battle in the plain with the reserve division, and the 2d Regiment of Artillery, and the cavalry division under the orders of Gene ral Rabin. As soon as the artillery opened fire, the Moors fled in the greatest disorder, and the projec tiles reached them nearly as far as Tetuan. Con sequently the Moorish camp has retreated to the declines of the Sierra Bermeja. To-day I have transferred my camp by the left flank, without being annoyed, to the banks of the river Guad-el- Jelu, or Martin. We found buried the three can non belonging to the carriages I mentioned yester day and a grest number of projectiles. Our encampment extends from the Custom house, which is in our possession, to the sea shore, resting upon the river. We are right in front of Tetuan, abour four miles distant from it. LITERATURE. Ceylon. By Sir James Emerson Torment. 2 vols. Longmans. Second Notice. One of the most attractive features in the second volume of this peculiarly instructive and interesting work is the part which relates to elephants. It is replete with information so vast and various that in itself it forms a subject of study to the casual reader. The author has been at considerable pains to collect all the desirable details on the subject from the notes and memoranda of recent residents, the records of ancient and medieval histories, and from his own recollections and personal observa tion. Elephants abound in Ceylon, and their ex port has been going on since the period of the first Punic war. It is mentioned as an extraordinary fact, and which is doubtless not generally known, that " whilst in Africa both sexes have tusks, with some slight disproportion in the size of those of the females, and whilst in India the females are pro vided with them, though of much less dimensions than the males, not one elephant in a hundred is found with tusks in Ceylon, and the few that pos sess them are exclusively males." That elephants are comparatively harmless in consequence of their peaceful natures, is proved by the rarity of the occurrence of any serious casualty in the numerous contests that arise between them and mankind in the frequent captures. It is truly observed that were they instinctively vicious, or even highly irritable, the destruction of life would be on a far more extensive ratio than it is at present, when the average range is three fatal cases in five years in an island abounding in elephants, with a population of a million and a half. Among the fallacies here refuted is mentioned the supposed aversion of the elephant to many animals, the au thor says—" In the quiet solitudes of Ceylon ele phants may be constantly seen browsing peacefully in the immediate vicinity of, and in close contact with, other animals. I have seen groups of deer and wild buffaloes reclining in the sandy bed of a river in the dry season, and elephants plucking t he branches close beside them." Further on he ex presses his conviction that, instead o f the elephant being frightened by the sight of a horse, it is the latter who is terrified when th e y meet, and that when an elephant attacks a rid er on hors e back h e has never been known to hurt the anima l, but re serves all his attacks for the man. A curious cir cumstance is here recorded of the sagacity of this wonderful animal, and a proof of the terror evinced by the horse when in his vicinity— " It is true that in captivity, and after a due course of training, the elephant discovers a new use for his tusks m when h e s o m ploythatead p oinyv envill r i f o ui i o n n g e stones i a s nd e and piling carry o ntimber;them : s lo il i ,c of half a ton weight or more. One evening, whilst rid ing in the vicinity of Kandy , towards the scene o f th e mass acre of Major Davie s party in 1803, my horse evinced some excitement at a noise which approached us in the thick jungle, and which i c n on a si h s o te a d rs o e f a a nd re di pe s t s i a ti t o is n fl o e f d t t h o e ne ej . acup t t l i aorun iunrit'hillehfoir?e4rsitnPexhplfained the mystery, by bringing me face to face with a tame elephant, unaccompanied by any attendant. He was labouring painfully to carry a heavy beam of tim ber, which he balanced across his tusks, but the pathway being narrow, he was forced to bend his headythooonnee s ide to permit it to pass endways ; and the ex er ti on and i nconve nience combined led him to utter th e dissatis fied sounds which disturbed the composure of m On seeing us halt, the elephant raised his head, rec on l noi(rad us for a moment,. then flung down the timber and forced himself backwards into the brushwood so as to leave a passage, of which he expected us to avail ourselves. rl y horse still hesitated ; the elephant observed it, and g impa tiently thrust himself still deeper into the ju ng l e, repeating his cry of urmnph ! but in a voice evidently mean t t o encou• rage us to come on. Still the horse trembled ; and anxious to f n r o t b h s aeum e st irb r tyhi v eiudn: e rilmndhya t instinct et: h renal e r:rafsnsnetearrgdliewysmnat bore esae a eel i ha ns n :aorsaer t e sen h abed e tie uthf:r e ovaer i nad e e s p :htde h hoi dos a oi ns n pti uem t sa w psknoas e d d : it g aetr nneaedkdmtl eyrbdiscontenteduel himself fisopnurght nuiiyess hishat on e a d' V r at o y si snorting, etftaehthene; redwatt hbrgi re monstrance." Among smaller animals th e mos t o b nox i ous to ele phants is the dog, but thi s f ee li ng d oes not amoun t to hostility. One reason suggested for the existence of the antipathy is that the elephant fears the dog should att ack his feet, of w hi c h h e i s very care f u l, he will remain indifferent to a spear directed against his head, but shrink at the same pointed at his foot. The conclusion a rr i ve d a t i s , th a t th e el e phant " lives on terms of amity with every quadruped in the forest, and th a t, w ith th e exc eption of man, his greatest enemy is a fly !" The natives divide the elephants into castes, detailing their various "points." A white elephant is always considered a wonder by Asiatics. One is mentioned in the i\lahawanso as a part of the retinue in the Temple the fifth century after Christ ; it was meant for an emblem of royalty, the Sovereign of Ceylon being addressed as " Lord of Elephants." It is strange that though generally found in warm climates the elephant is not fond of great heat or light. The mountain tops of Ceylon, and not its sultry valleys, are their favourite haunts, and the hunter has found herds of them on Peelro-talla-galla, which is the height of eight thousand feet. It is mentioned, as worthy of notice, that, contrary to our preconceived notions of the case, the elephant dislikes the glare of sunshine, and passes the day in the depths of thick forests, making his excursions by night. _.. . This is partly in consequence of the peculiar state of his vision, which is circumscribed, and he relies more on his senses of smell and hearing than on that of sight. On account of this imperfection he ex hibits great timidity at harmless objects which have been only partially discerned. An officer once owed his life to this fact, for the elephant had seixid him and had his fore foot raised to crush him when the tendrils of a plant suddenly caught his forehead, and he turned and fled, leaving his victim hurt, but with no limb broken. There is an abundance of auecdotical stories here met with at almost every turn, which forcibly illustrate the subjects descanted upon, and impress them power fully upon the memory of the reader. Their powers of smell and hearing are proportionately great. Aristotle compared the hoarse cry pro ducAd by the elephant blowing through his trunk to the sound of a trumpet. " The French still call the proboscis of an elephant trompe, which we have unmeaningly corrupted into trunk, and hence the scream of the elephant is known as ' trumpeting' by the hunters in Ceylon." The Ceylon elephant was formerly asserted to excel that of Africa in size and strength, but it is here stated such is not the fact, for so far from equality with theAfri can speciesehat of Ceylon seldom exceeds the height of nine feet, but it is plausibly stated that the height in the elephant so far exceeds that of the animals we see constantly that one is naturally prone to exaggeration on that core. After commenting on the errors that have been made by writers who have declared that the legs of the elephant were without joints, and that when once down he could not rise again, we meet with the following passage which adduces useful arguments on the controverted question : " The real peculiarity in the elephant in lying down is, that he extends his hind legs backwards as a man does when he kneels, instead of bringing them under him like the horse or any other quadruped. The wise purpose of this arrangement must bo obvious to any one who observes the struggle with which the horse gets up from the ground, and the violent efforts which he makes to raise himself erect. Such an exertion in the case of the elephant, and the force requisite to apply a similar movement to raise his weight (equal to four or five tons) would be attended with a dan gerous strain upon the muscles, and hence the simple ar rangement, which by enabling him to draw the hind feet gradually under him, assists him to rise almost without a perceptible effort. " The same construction renders his gait not a gallop,' as it has been somewhat loosely described, which would be too violent a motion for 53 vast a body; but a shuffle, that he can increase at pleasure to a pace as rapid as that of a man at full speed, but which he cannot maintain for any considerable distance. " It is to tho structure of the knee-joint that the elephant is indebted for his singular facility in ascending and de scending steep acclivities, climbi ng roc k s an d t ravers i n g precipitous ledges, which even a mule dare not venture; and this again leads to the correction of another generally received error, that his legs are formed more for strength than flexibility, and fitted to bear an enormous weight upon a level surface, without the necessity of ascending or de scending great acclivities.' The same authority assumes that, although the elephant is found in the neighbourhood of mountainous ranges, and will even ascend reeky passes, such a service is a violation of his natural habits. " Of the elephant of Africa I am not qualified to speak, nor of the nature of the ground which ho most frequents; but certainly the facts in connection with the elephant of India are all irreconcileable with the theory mentioned above. In Bengal, in the Nilgherries, in Nepaul, in Bur mah, in Siam, and Ceylon, the districts in which the ele phants most abound, are all hilly and mountainous. In the latter, especially, there is not a range so elevated as to be inaccessible to them. On the summit of Adam's Peak, at an altitude of 7,420 feet, and on a pinnacle, which the pil grims climb with difficulty, by means of steps hewn in the rock, Major Skinner, in 1840, found the spoor of an ele phant. "Prior to 1840, and before coffee-plantations had been extensively opened in the Kandyan ranges, there was not a mountain or a lofty feature of land in Ceylon which they had not traversed, in their periodical migrations in search of water ; and the sagacity which they display in ' laying out roads' is almost incredible. They generally keep along the backbone of a chain of hills, avoiding steep gra dients ; and one curious observation was not lost upon the government surveyors, that in crossing the valleys from ridge to ridge, through forests so dense as altogether to obstruct a distant view, the elephants invariably select the ling of march which communicates most judiciously with the opposite point, by means of the safest ford. So sure footed aro they, that there are few places where man go that an elephant cannot follow, provided there be space to admit his bulk, and solidity to sustain his weight." The wild elephants form themselves into herds, and they are most scrupulous in th e i r segrega ti ng lawee, all of which are most scrupulou s ly a dh ere d t o . I t by any accident one is entirely separated from hie own herd, he is not allowed to join himself to any other. Even in the capture of the elephant the isolated one is not permitted to take refuge with any of the herd, but furiously repulsed. In conse quence there is a class of solitary elephants which goes by the name of rogue in Ceylon, and which commit all sorts of depredations and are extremell vicious. The sagacity of the elephant is very great during terrific thunderstorms, they have been sett to leave the forests and take up their place in oPe P ground until the lightning was over, when theYr; turned to the jungle. A captured elephant led supposed to have feigned death, while being along ls finally y al s l at t e nipta ank4llPare to raise It e "13C11" :-L to h t e hegro hesitated und. and A fi ft n e al r had proved futile it was abandoned. The party had " scarcely taken their departu re , w h en t o their s astonishment the elephant roso with the utmost alacrity, and fled towards the jungle, screaming at the top of its voice, its cries being audible 101 l after it had disappeared in the shades of the forest. In the chapter on elephant shooting, it is trilly said that the mode practised in Ceylon is infinitelf the best, and contrasts favourably with the au' counts given of the slaughter in South Africa. I? Ceylon they invariably aim at the head which is the right way of accomplishing an 1 11 " stantaneous death, expert sportsmen it le said have been known to kill right and left, one with each barrel. The accounts given of the elo phant captures are very interesting, and it is curiae to note the course adopted by the hunters ; it ie necessary to go against the wind in approaching the animal, and the professional catchers, " when the wind is so still that its direction cannot 1041 otherwise discerned, will suspend the film of es" samer to determine it, and shape their course ac ' cordingly." The mode of c a pt ure var i es i n differon' ,, places ; the plan adopted in Ceylon is to form • large enclosure called a " Corral, from the porta' guese " eurral,"---or "cattle pen." Tame elephant' are taken by the hunters in order to attract the others, and their efforts are generally crowned with success. After forming the corral they have to drive in the elephants. The following passage vividly describes the exciting scene that took place in the hunt witnessed by the author in 1817 After sunset the scene exhibited was of extracrdinar! interest ; the low fires, which had apparently only smoul dered in the sunlight, assumed their ruddy glow amidst the darkness, and threw their tinge over the groups collected o round them; while the smo k e rose in eddies through t he rich foliage of the tre es . Th e crowds of spectators main'tained profound silence and not a soun d was perce ptible beyond o brokens nd the by h e roll an insect. u f eradrum O , n fol a lo sudden the tahed discharge of musketry. This was the signal for the renewed assaults and the hunters entered the circle with shouts and clamour; dry leaves and sticks were flung upon the watch-fires til l they blazed aloft, and formed a line of flame on every side, except in the direction of the corral, which was studiously kept dark ; and thither the terrified elephants betook theme' selves followed b y t h e yells and rocket of their pursuers. " They approached at a rapid pace, trampling down the brushwood and crushing the dry branches, the leach/ emerged in front of the corral, paused for an instant, stared wildly round, and then rushed headlong through the 00 gate followed by the rest of the herd. " As if by magic the entire circuit of the corral, which i, 12 this moment had been kept i n p ro f oun d d ar k ness , now blaze° with a thousand lights, every hunter on the instant that the elephants entered, rushing forward to the stockade with • torch kindled at the nearest watch-fire. "The elephants dashed to the very extremity of the ell; closure, and being brought up by the powerful fence, start.' back to regain the gate, but found it closed. Their tert o t was sublime ; they hurried round the corral at a rapid pee" but saw it now girt by fire on every side ' • they attempted,l force the stockade, but were driven back by the guards veil' spears and flambeaux; and on whichever side they ar, preached they were repulsed with shout s an d di sc h arg es 0+ musketry. Collecting into one group, they would paU O for a moment in apparent bewilderment, then burst off is another direction as if it bad suddenly occurred to them to try some point which they had before overlooked ; but agar" repuhed, they slowly returned to their forlorn resting-plac e in the centre of the corral. e Th e interest of this strange scene was not confined the the spectators ; it extended to the tame elephants which wore stationed outside. At the first approach of the flying herd they evinced the utmost interest in the scene. Ti vu in particular which were picketed near the front were in' tensely excited, and continued tossing their heads, pawing the ground, and starting as the noi se d rew near. A t length when the grand rush into the corral took place, one of the o fairly burst from her fastenings and started off towards the herd, levelling a tree of considerable size which ebstructee her passage." The chapters which relate the difficulties met wit h in securing the captives are ve r y we ll wor thy °, notice, and it is especially remarkable to peruse the records of the sagacity exhibit e d by the tame ele' phauts in serving as decoys to the wild tribes, an d in seconding the efforts of the men in a most 0 tounding manner. It i% an old adage that "trut h is stranger than fiction," and those who study th e details ofthis work will find that they equal, if not sur pass, in exciting interest many far-famed romanoe°' On another occasion we shall glance at the reveal"' ing contents of these excellent volumes. A BOON F(s BRITISH LADIES.—By merely pou r ing boiling water into th e i nverte d lid of Loysel ' s Pa tent Hydrostatic Tea and C o ff ee P ercolator, from one p i n t , t 0 one hundred gallons of a bright strong, and aaonaltic is fusion may be p ro d uce d i n an instant. TLe saving A ,T t e ; rnges one-half (1 oz . tritui ated tea producing one quart).The Hydrostati c P erco l a t or i s an ornament to the brin fast or te a t a bl e, i s easy to clean, never out of order, is understood at once. It is invaluable for families, c",‘ ing parties, refreshment rooms, schools, ships, &c. It v fis awarded the m e d a l by th e I n t erna ti ona l J ury o f 1855 . , ,e d honoured with the highest patronag e i n E uro p e , a nd already in this country by upwards of 25,000 farairolb. the nous:, of Commons, and Crystal Palace, the Clubs, London Tavern, &c. Sold at . ss. and upwards by ailte• spectable ironmongers, silversmiths, an d t ea inerchs els s Prospectuses, illustrations, prices, and t es ti mo nials ; 00 , freo.--J. Collis, agent, 131, F enc h urc h- s t ree t, Lo ll ' EX. ir0....... .3102 The during activit. in som actionE 11 1 to higher the six for iin howeyi ing the scarcel late ra tremel: prices: the fi r Tallow of spec forwarl In t modera prices c were e It hi Stook I settling register Steam ] Marine ordered General Mining A sif Market, means low as The •ontinu, export a from A Yeaterdi further, take plc There 'Which, 1 tie el lu for the are 94 Enfaced TILE bean t he si gn h imself. regular uurapkii ),rroverez