The Sun. — London, England, 1860-12-18 00:00:00

ROYAL ENGLISH, OPERA, COVENT GARDEN.—Under th e Management of Miss Louisa Pyne and Mr. W. Harrison, • ;ole Lessees. I %IPORTA NT NOTICE. The Minarem.nt find' it r iecessary to announce , to their Patrons that it ,-ill be impost tible for a few nights at Christ mas to perform Balte's eminc my su cessful Opera with the Grand Pantomime The times representation and scenic preparation for an Harlequin ade of such magnitude, renders the temporary suspension of the brilliant opera irnperatiye. Boxes and places will corrtinue to be booked ally at the Box-office for the reproduction of the opera at an early date. The sensation created with the public on the first represen tation of Balfe's New Legendary Opera was most enthu siast;c. Continw;us applause marked its progress from the rise until the fall of th curtain. The demind tor places daily at the Box-office to witness this great mfisic .1 work of our Management in the popular English Composer, places the prowl position of announcing the performance of BIANCA, THE BRAVO'S BRIDE, Every Evening until further THIS EVENING, and during; the BRAVO Italic's New Le ,, endary Opera, BIA.NC A, THE 'S BRIDE "Miss Louisa Tyne, Miss Thirlwall ; Messrs. A. Lawrence, J. Wharton, IL Corri. A. St. Albyn, G. Kelly, Wallworth, T. Distil', Lyall, and W. 'Harrison. Conductor, Mr. Alfred Mellon. Orchestra of Eighty Performers. Chorus of Fifty 'Voices. Concluding with a DIVERTISSEMENT.—Stage anager, Mr. Edward Stirling. Acting-manager Edward ?Hurray. Doors open at 7 ; commene,e at half-past 7. No charge for booking, or fees to Box-keepers. At Christmas a Grand Fantomime. entitled EQUIN BLUE BEARD Britannia and the Fairy Hope. Morn ing, Performances every Wednesday and Saturday. ON AL _ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT ! GAirDEN—under tne Manalrement of Miss LOUISA p - y - N T an d Nlr. W. HARRISON, Sole Lessees. THIS F,VENING, BIANCA, THE BRAVO'S BRIDE. Mis Louisa Pvne. Miss Thirlwall ; Mr. W. Harrison, Mr. A. Lawrence, Mr. FL Corri, Mr. St.Albyn, Itrz. Cmductor—Mr. Alfred Mellon. And a DIVERTISSEMENT. Doors open at Seven. Commence at Half-past. THEA TWIT-ROYAL, H AYMARKET. Lessee, 41r..J. B. Baekstone. IrFlyq EVENING, the performances will eommPose with AN UNEQUAL MATCH. Messrs. Bnckstone, Comptcm, W. Farrem, Chippendale. Rorrers, &c. ; Miss A. Sedgwick, Miss l'altot, 7trrs. E. Fitzwilliam, &c. Atter wh;ch, GRIST TO THE MILL. Francoise, Miss Rose Howard. To conclude Nyith MY HUSBAND'S GHOST. Commence at 7. HOTAT, PTUNTESS'S TITEATRF,.— Leagee and Mankffer. Mr. A. Trarris. THIS EVENING, the performances will commence with SUSAN SMITH. To be foll ow ed bv, at 8 o'clk, THE CORSICAN BROTHERS. supported by Mes srs. Pechter, A. Harris, Meadows, Graham, Shore, and Miss Murray. To conclude with THE GARIBALDI EXCURSIONISTS THEATRE - ROYAL LYCEUM. Sore T,esser. and Directress, Madame CF.LESTE. Last night of Mr. John Drew's Engagement. and of the Company performimr before Christmas. THTfi EVEvING. THE. PE I'S OF 'PITT'' PARTERRE. Scenic Department under the direction of Mr. Wm. Callcott. The - :tTlisic hr Mr. Geori-e Loder.' Principal characters by Mr IT. Neville, Mr. .Tohn-Rouse, Mr. J. Morris, Miss M. Tertian, Miss Neville, Missllndspeth, Miss Stnsrt, Miss Turner, Miss Douglas, Miss Annie Collinson, and Miss tydia Thompson. After which. the comic Drama, entitled HANDY ANDY. Messrs. Campbell, Johnstone, T. Lyon. Forrester, Villiers, Butler, and and John M N D iss rew: evil Mrle. s. J. Rouse , Miss Hudspeth, Miss M. Teman, Followed by the new drama, entitled ADRIENNE ; or TTTE sECRET OF A LIFE. Principal characters by Mr. henry Neville, Mr. .Tohn Rouse, 3Tr. H. Rutter ' Mr. Villiers 3Tr. Vining*, Mr. Forrester, 31 . r. Campbell, Mr. Clifford , Mr. J. Johnstone; Mrs. Keeley, and Madame Celeste. To commence at a quarter to 7, on account of the length of the entertainments. A PRLPH-T, NFW TREATRE-ROYAL. Qr , !, P-oprinfor gna Nruiwypr. Beni Wibater. Engagement for a limited number of nights of Miss Agnes RobertQon and Arr. Dion lioucicault, who will appear every evenincr in the hintly successful Drama of "The Colleen Pawn." THIS EVENING, AN UGLY CUSTOMER. Messrs. J. L. Toole, C. Selby; and Warde ; Miss K. Kelly, and Miss E. Thorne. After which. THE COLLEEN BA.WN. D. Poucicault, D. Fisher, Billineon, Falconer, Stephenson. C. J. Smith, Romer. Miss Ae - nes Robertson, Miss Woolgar, Mrs. Billington, and Mrs Chatterley. After which. THAT BLESSED BABY. Mr. Billington, Mr. J. L Toole. and Miss K. Kelly. Doorr open at half-past 6—Commence at 7. Box-office open from 10 till 5. No charre for bookfir. Private bn Keg, £2.25. ; Family RAXPS, Orchestra Stalls. ss. ; Balcony, 4s. ; Front Circle Stalls, Is. • Pit Stalls, 2 5.; Pit , Is. 6 d. ; Amphitheatre, is ; Gallery, 6d. Acting Manager—Mr. Wm. Smith. STT,F,Y'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.- Proprietor and Manarrer. Mr. WM, BATTY. Crowded Houses nightly to witness the Lions and the Brea Brut: , Tamer. Miss Rebecca Isaacs every Evening.. Notice.—There will be no half-price during' the engafze ment of the Lions, except for children under ten years of age, and then to Pit and Boxes only, This Evening:, a new Spectacle, entitled TUE LION CONQUEROR ; or, The .Death Jungle, expressly for the introduction of the Wonders of the World, " The Groupe of rerfOrminEr Lions." The Lion Conqueror, Mr. J. Crockett. To be slic.^reded by Scenes in the Arena, supported by talented Parisian and Bri ish Artistes. Concluding with the First Act of THE DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT. Marie, Riss Rebecca Isaacs. Doors open at half-Fast 6, performance commence at 7. Box-office open daily from ii till 4 Stage Msnaeer—Mr. W. WEFvr. Director of the Arena--Mr. Pearson. Batty's Prize Pantomime will be produced on a scale of great magnificence at Christmas. THE CANTERBURY HALL C. NORTON bezg to inform visitors to London that the above HALT., with its Mafznificent Gallervof Modern Paint ino-s, by all the best masters, is OPEN EVERY EVENING at 7 o'clock. GRAND SELECTIONS FROM BELLINT'S NORMA, SONNAMRULA, AND FLOTOITS ALA RTITA. • PRINCIPAL ATITISTPS, MTSS RUSSELL MADAME MARTA MISS TYR REI. MISS WILKINSON Mr. HENRY HERBERT and Mr. BERNARD. Conductor Mr. JONGHMANEL The COMIC Department comprises Messrs. A. B. Hollinzs worth, Master Barry, J. Blanchard, G. W. Pell, Charley Fox, and E. Marshall, in his transformation sOLIT, "THE DOMESTIC DRAMA," personating five different characters. On Saturday next, will be produced (first time) a Grand Selection from "La Figlla del llezimento" (Donizetti). 1:}1 - F , WEATHER. -Btrw OFFICT., DEC. 18, IMO. TNT:RMONTITFR, IN THE SHADE. 42—highest since noon yesterday. 31—lowest this morning and during the night. 41—this dry at neon. BAROMETER-29.60 ; falling. Nirns - D—Northerly—variable; with dull weather. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. THIS DAY —Morning, sh. 32m.—Afternoon, 7 6h. 52m, To-mour.ow.-Nforning, 6h. 11m.—Afternoon, 6h. 311 n, ! , 9- - - 1 4t . ::- 9 :* ' . -4. 0,9 „--•.:. 4•-_ \ ‘''.\•,, 4 ,)'ilic/_., • , ~:-• ,- ~,i Lf . ..,- ..-,. ‘ N, • -2 • ~ ..6,-, ---2 ,•,-/ l ;,,,, ~ , , \ __.:K..v . _ 7 : < ,4; , , - ' '<._,,, . 4' 7 ilMY..-1. ~:r., 1, ~ ~, ~ , i c,..,,-• ~94_, '-•:-'.)..- - ,:•>••• 1 ;er - " - : * • '','.. -,-•--;:' i ,`; - "I'l o ` ,,, '•4 *-- •••.--' 1,1, ,i'-•—' '''''''-- : - - -;-.i.' 1 .1,1;.^:ii , -; u ',...;,'‘",ifh'"4,-- , , r6,:•_.•6* - ' .-- - , ' `'..i' "-I' THE SUN. LONDON, TUESDAY, DEC. 18, 1880. It is , an old tale enough, the barbarities inflicted by the Chinese upon their prisoners. It is a tale so old that one might almost have been disposed to regard it as obsolete or even apocryphal. It used to read like a page from the grimliest chapter of the Book of horrors—that Newgate Calendar of devilish cruelty, of fiendish inhumanity. -It seemed to be less like the records of reality than like the retrospect of some hideous dream dreamt, let, us say, by one of the survivors of that long night of horror Passed by a crowd of Englishmen closely packed together into the foul and narrow compass of the Black Hole-at Calcutta. SAWNEY BEAN, the inan eater, /night have been the hero of some of those frightful narratives as they were told to us years and years ago by one adventurous .traveller after another. Who that has any recollection whatever of these histories of exquisite suffering, who among all the readers of those appalling descriptions, but remembers vividly to this day that Cage of infer nal cruelty into which some of (hose un happy of the Chi nese victims were inexorably fastened. A barred framework with a hole in the head pro ton of it, through which.the sufferer's truded—a Cage often, we are told, exhib ited during its use in the public market place, vviththe prisoner cramped inside—neither sitting, nor standing, for kneeling, nor stooping, nor in any attitud e i n which the human body could find one moment's sense of comfort,' even to begin with ! A cage, in fact, within which the victim was doomed, in no definable attitude at all, to die of agonising fatigue, combined with maddening thirst and starvation. All these accounts, bowel er, accounts that one used to hang over with a shuddering sense of fascination, years and years ago, wondering if they could by possibility be true, even in a few of the fearful par- I titulars relatrd in them—bad come long since to 1 be nearly forgotten, as a tale that is told, and when told only half believed. And yet now, actually in these our own times, at the close of this very year of our LORD, 1860, they suddenly revive to our remembrance--they are suddenly forced at last upon our acceptance, as in every way credible— they are enhanced and intensified in some of the details to e. pitch of horror (not formerly . realised • even in vague conjecture) by a record of actual facts but just now brought to light—by an authentic description of cruelties only a very few weeks since deliberately perpetrated by the Chinese, or by those conquerors and oppressors of the Chinese race—the Tartar soldiery. The corroboration of these old discarded tales of Chinese or Tartar bar barity, coming to us through the authoritative medium of the London Gazette of Friday the 14th of this present month of December. The narrative of the dreadful sufferings under gone by our fellow-countrymen, during this last October, either in the City of Pekin or its imme diate neighbourhood, cannot but be read with pecu liar horror here in the calm and tranquillity of our own peaceful homes at this genial and joyous season of Christmas. It is difficult, although we read the account of these calamitous incidents in the London Gazette, duly authenticated with the signatures of several among the sufferers who have happily survived and returned to the Allied camp from their dead or lost companions in misfortune—it is difficult to believe the accuracy of the accounts there given to us upon testimony at the same time that we know perfectly well commands our cre dence—feeling disposed rather to attribute these loathsome details of anguish to the wanderings of some distempered imagination. The amplest account yet furnished to us from that little cluster of survivors—snatched almost at the last gasp from the jaws of destruction—is the one penned with singular lucidity and com• pleteness by Mr. HENRY LOCH, the Private Secre tary of Her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador, out at China, and Minister Plenipotentiary. Accord ing to the distressing narrative written by Mr. LOCH immediately upon his return to the camp of the Allies, and addressed to his Excellency Lord ELGIN—by whom it has been transmitted pro forma to her MAJESTY'S Government, to be afterwards duly published in the London Gazette of Friday tvening—the insults and torments in flicted upon the Anglo-French prisoners, lawlessly seized by the Tartar horsemen, although bear ing a flag of truce, and invested with the sanctity appertaining to diplomatic emissaries the insults and torments inflicted upon those Anglo- French prisoners were of a character the most brutal and barbarous imaginable. Let it be re marked first of all—that is, before we attempt anything like the merest epitome of some of the most appalling of these cruel sufferings—that the record furnished to the British Ambassador by his Private Secretary is borne out in a very dreadful manner by the more brief but hardly less suggestive descriptions dictated by two of the Indian troopers in that noble band of cavalry known as FANE'S Horse ! The evidence of the first of these, MAHOMED KHAN, and the evidence of JOWALLA SING, his companion, being clubbed together in the Gazette under the title of The Sowar's Statement. Deriving our " facts," then, entirely from Mr. LOCH'S Narrative, and from the Sowar's State ment, we learn, among other particulars, that thus were the English Prisoners tor tured by the Chinese or Tartars, either by' the express orders or with the ready acquiescence and per Mission of the Emperor HIEN FUNG'S own Bro ther, Prince KUNG, or of the Tartar Commander in -Chief, Prince SANG.KO-LIN-SIN. These English Prisoners of the Chinese, then, be it now related, were dealt with by their captors, as recently as this last October, in the manner following :—They were violently torn from their horses—thrown heavily upon the ground with their faces downwards—their hands being then lashed together at the wrists as tightly as the cords could be drawn into a knot! So tightly, in fact, that, as we shall presently see the bones of the wrists, after a few days of this torture, became visible, the nails and fingers burst, and maggots (generated in the wounds by mortification) battened upon the flesh of the living man, and crawled over his body, the poor victim then, happily for him, being in a state of delirium ! Thus pinionel, they were dragged into the presence of one petty mandarin after another—but, in the first instance, into that of the Tartar Generalissimo, SANG 'KO-LIN-SIN. Upon each of these occasions they were railed at con tumeliously by the ruffian into whose presence they had been hauled ignominiously. They were forced down upon their knees while undergoing these insults. They 'were knocked brutally from a kneeling into a prostrate position, and then had their faces rubbed in the dirt at the feet of those Chinese•or Tartar authorities. Incidents like these occurred not once but again and again for the gratification of a succession of these brutal tor mentors. Sometimes a swarm of ruffians suddenly rushed in upon them, tearing the hair and the beailds of the pinioned prisoners, and brandishing swords about their heads as if immediately prior to their execution. Sometimes they would throw these unhappy victims (always, remember, in the most helpless condition, with their arms tied tightly behind them as if by a tourniquette), some times they would throw them into a common cart, without springs, and take them over rough roads at a gallop, with a result in bodily torture, as we can readily believe, actually beggaring description. When dragged out of these carts their arms would be violently lifted, producing a sensation as if they were being torn out of their sockets. For three days consecutively they would be left to • lie upon their faces (their wrists still fastened inexorably behind them), they would be left to lie thus for three days together in the open air, under the broiling sun of noon, under the dews and frosts of night, without one morsel of food to eat, without one drop of water to quench their thirst—until one of them, as we have said (it was no other than poor Captain ANDERSON), became at length (nor surely can it bewondered at) delirious ! If the sufferers cried mit at last for food, dirt was'crammed into their mouths! They were manacled with heavy chains—an iron collar clasped round the neck was connected with rings round the ancles by heavy links incumbering them at every movement. Thus manacled they were again hauled before the examiners, compelled to kneel, torn by the hair, knocked down and kicked on the head when prostrate ! Afterwards they were thrust among murderers, parricides, and others of the worst kind of malefactors, creatures loathsome with theitch and swarming with vermin. Here it was that Mr. Loon, chained to a plank (which was his bed), found himself tended upon by three criminal, —two of them murderers, the third having bitten his father's finger off! It is SOWALLA SING who r elates that horrible climax t o th e su ff er i ngs o f poor Captai n A NDERSON, a l rea d y referred to ineid en t all y—telli ng us that two days: prior to his death his nails and fingers burst from the tightness of the cords, and morti fication set in, the bones of his wrists being ex posed—the sowar aiding that, while poor Capt. ANDERSON was yet alive* worms were generatedin his wounds, and crawled over h i s body—he himself ( we are only consoled to think) being at that time Of the her o i sm delirious. with which a ll these frightful sufferings we re endured by these dauntless En g lishm en and by thei r no less gallant Sikh com p anions, we have no word s in which adequately to express our admiration. Mr. PARKES'S noble fidelity to his comrade, M r . Locii—a fidelity that alone, under GOD, led at length to the release of the latter from his perillous captivity—Mr. LOCH himself has most earnestly and touchingly commemorated. With a reference to that generous devotion of her MA JESTY'S Consul to his cosipanion in misfortune, Wri gladly close our allusions to a narrative the perus: A of which is like a glimpse into the dungeon of UGOLINO. Information from several sources confirms the probability of an early termination of the affair at Gaeta. The well-known correspondent of the Daily New, who has generallybeen one of our most trustworthy informants on Italian matters, says : "I had scarcely posted my letter of Saturday when I was informed that a French man-of-war had arrived with important despatches for Admiral BARBIER DE TINAN. I hastened to CI ALDINI'S head-quarters, where I heard that a truce of fifteen days had been negotiated by the Emperor NAPO LEON, and that in all probability the French steamer referred to was the bearer of the official intimation of the French Cabinet. It seems that it is especially due to the influence of the English Government that Louis NAPOLEON was induced to change his line of policy towards FRANCIS II." This was written on the 10th, and therefore the armistice will expire in less than a week. At the end of that time if the KING persists in his defence, the French fleet will withdraw and leave the dreaded Admiral PERSANO to co-operate with CIALDINI, as he did so successfully at Ancona. Sardinia, it seems, was unwilling to accede to the. truce principally because of the difficulty of con structing trenches and siege works increasing with the advance of the winter. That point was, how ever, given up on the other side. The siege ope rations will continue, and if, on the 26th of Decem ber, FRANCIS 11. has not given way, the whole of the batteries are to open fire at once on the fortress. Under these circumstances it is thought that the accounts we hear of a little firing on both sides are not to be taken as conclusive against the fact of a truce or an understanding. That our Government should interest itself in hastening the certain termination of the drama is more than probable. Indeed, the ex-King has told us already that the English Government " bitterly reproached" the French EMPEROR for his intervention by sea. The fact doubtless is, that our Cabinet would remonstrate, or ask expla nations, and that the French EMPEROR would reply, that he merely intended to afford the poor KING an easy and less degrading mode of retirement than one effected by stealth through the Sardinian lines or fleet. But ample time has elapsed for the KING to have taken twenty voyages ; and though the EMPEROR'S real wish might be to cause trouble in Italy, yet that was not the ground he could maintain with our Government. Hence, when we began to press him again with the uselessness, nay, the positive inhumanity of encouraging the KING to prolong a perfectly hopeless conflict, our ally could have no other expedient than to give the KING another week or two to pack up, and if he had not done so at the end of that time, why he must settle it with PERSANO and CIALDINI as he best could. Whether the armistice, therefore, be accepted substantially or not, we may hope that the EMPEROR has listened thus far to common sense counsels, and that if FRANCIS 11. sees fit to keep his Christmas at Gaeta, he must expect to see - Admiral BARBIER DE TINAN quit the station immediately after. The reactionary movements in the Abruzzi, chiefly due to the disbanded soldiers of the late King, are suppressed, and the partial risings of those who profited by the BOURBON regime seem to be more or less quieted down generally. What ever the Emperor of the FRENCH may wish, in his vexation at Italian indifference or aversion to the overtures of members of the NAPOLEON family kindly to undertake the work of governing them, we can have but one wish, to see Italy quietly taking her place amongst the nations of Europe as speedily as possible. Nothing witl probably more conduce to quelling these petty brigand rebellions than the King's finally quitting Gaeta. His residence there gives a kind of decent colour to the disturbances, created merely for pur poses of plunder. When he is gone, and his return will, of coarse, be utterly hopeless, nothing of seeming loyalty can be connected with any of these petty insurrections, The Royalist game will be up, and brigands will meet only a brigand's fate. We may hope now that the friend ship of England for Italy will hasten this desirable conclusion by her inducing the EMPEROR to follow her own example, and to abstain bona fide from any kind of intervention. Then, He of Gaeta gone—. who or what goes next—will the PoPE quit Rome, or will his temporal rule quit him while remaining in his Bishopric ? The last account of all tells us that the French who so recently extended their occupation to Viterbo are quitting the province. Who can solve the EMPEROR'S riddles ? Yet another pamphlet—not perhaps directly from the Imperial pen, but understood to have passed favourably an Imperial review. Indeed we know not why it should not. " The Emperor FRANCIS JOSEPH and Europe" is its subject, and the object is to show that all Europe has an inte rest in the sale of Venetia by Austria, at about £20,000,000 of our money. The theme is an easy one, indeed, to reason about ; the real difficulty lies in the question —is Imperial pride, especially the pride of HAPSBURG Imperialism, amenable to reason ? We must, of course, include honour in the policy to be proved reasonable; since without that, we ourselves could hardly fail to respect the Monarch who declined to make his honour a subject of sale and purchase. But surely it cannot be very difficult to show Austria that, as things now stand, Europe would honour her for discerning the signs of the times, and for regarding the true interests of all Europe and Germany, as well as her own necessities, as deciding considerations. As to Austria herself, the writer of the pam phlet referred to shews by figures that Venetia does not pay its expenses—that it is a heavy charge on the Austrian Exchequer, 'and that, too, while the Government is driven to its wits' end to avoid open and confessed bankruptcy—that, indeed, it would be a great gain to Austria to surrender Venetia without pecuniary compensation, merely through the saving effected. The Italians, however, would on their part be able so largely to reduce their ar m y that Italy would not be unwilling to offer a liberal compensation, as they in their turn would be gainers by saving military expences. A fairer case for compromise, therefore, from the pecuniary point of view, could hardly exist. Looking at it politically, Austria as well as Italy would seem to be equal gainers. Venetia is now of no political value to Austria; the com merce is destroyed, the population discontented, and an embarrassment to her. The object for which Venetia was of use—to overawe the people of Italy, and to uphold despotism from the north to the south—is now vanished from her hopes as well • as her grasp. She is simply l e ft w ith a ll th e enormous cost of four vast fortresses, while the oountry they were constructed to rule has undertaken to rule itself, and will do so, we doubt not, for evermore. Then, again, Voiotia is an emtar'rassment to Austria more than ever at the present moment. All her older provinces and domains are more or less in commotion, and some of them, Hungary especially, in danger ofgoing so far as to proclaim their independence. It is quite certain that war in Venetia means insurrection in Hungary, and insurrection in Hungary might be followed by troublesome movements in almost all the provinces of this sin gularly composite Empire. The Emperor of AUS TRIA would have as much as ever he could do to keep all together, even without the burden of Venetia to impede his action, but it would certainly surprise no observer to see the whole empire fall to pieces at the first shock of another Italian war. Yet that war must come unless averted by concession. Austria is armed to the teeth in the little territory ; Italy is arming also, and GARIBALDI is at the service of Italy, ready for any feat at home, or, by way of diversion, to lead the Austrians in Hungary such a dance as he taught them at the foot of the Alps. But would France look quietly on. Austria has not fulfilled in Venetia the engagements of Villa franca ; and France could truthfully assert that she was warranted in completing her programme of " liberation from the Alps to the Adriatic" when the tenants on the Adriatic did not fulfil their duty. Then would not other Powers in terfere ? Would not Russia and Prussia begin to quake for their Polish dominions, and wish to intervene ? Would not England firmly say, that where her fleets could speak with effect there should be no intervention—in short, would not all Europe be unsettled if once war recomenced in the north-west corner of Italy ? On the whole, if ever there was a case in which all the Powers of Europe were interested, it would seem to be in advising Austria to yield to necessity. She came badly by Venetia, by a disgraceful transaction between her and the first NAPOLEON. It has never done her any good—it has been ruin to her exchequer, and paralyses per power over her other territories ; while all the free States in the world, and all the despots, too, would agree in advising her to accept thankfully a fair offer—otherwise she might gain the loss of all. THE CITY MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. The approaching wardmotes, to be held on Friday next (St. Thomas's Day), for the election of common councilmen and other ward officers for the ensuing year, are looked forward to with considerable in terest, not only on account of the several contests which are expected to take place, but also from the variety of subjects of public im portance which it is understood will undergo dis cussion. Of the latter at present known are the railways in progress, as well as those proposed in connection with the City; as also the wholesale dead meat market, the long-talked of Corporation Reform, as well as the Parliamentary Reform Bill for 1861 ; and, it may be added, several questions of local importance, though probably not possessing great public interest. There are eight wards in which changes are expected, comprising Bassishaw, Bread-street, Cheap, Farringdon Without, Lime street, Tower, Vintry, and Walbrook. BASSISFIAW.-A precinct meeting was held in this ward yesterday afternoon, at which it was announced that Mr. Deputy Britten, after a faith ful service of 22 years, has, through declining health, signified his intention of retiring. The remaining three old members—Messrs. W. Lister, C. E. Fuller, and A. Locke, were returned by the precinct; and Mr. A. Bradbury (firm of Davidson, Bradbury, and Hardwicke, of Basinghall-street) and Mr. Oldie, were nominated for the vacancy caused by Mr. Britten's, retirement. A poll ex pected. BREAD-STREET.--NO vacancy ; but Mr. A. Pill, of Cheapside, will, it is understood, be again pro posed. CHEAP.-Mr. R. G. Pead resigns. The candidates for the vacancy are—Mr. Gibbins, a Manchester warehouseman of long standing iq the ward; and Mr. J. Bennett, the well-known watchmaker of Cheapside. Mr. Bennett comes forward in conse quence of a handsome requisition signed (as under stood) by a majority of the electors, and from this circumstance, combined with his active business habits, he appears likely to be the successful candi date. A sharp contest is, however, anticipated, as his opponent, Mr. Gibbins, is highly respected in the ward. FARRINGDON WITIIOUT.—In the room of Mr. Sarridge, Messrs. Stanborough and Harvey are candidates. Poll expected. LIME-STREET.--NO vacancy; but Mr. E. W. Wheatley, of the Globe Parcels Express, Leaden hall-street, who was proposed last year, will again come forward as a candidate. TOWER.—No vacancy; but it is understood new candidates will be proposed, though their names are not at present announced. VINTRY.—Mr. Deputy Archer expected to retire, and Mr. John Bennett to be nominated for the vacancy. _ _ _ WAinßooK.—Mr. Ford Hale retires, and Mr. Thomas Rowley, a late member, and who was last St. Thomas's Day defeated by Mr. Bunn, will be again nominated. No other candidate at present announced. No changes are expected in any of the other wards. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred, attended by Captain Cowell and Lieutenant- Colonel Keppel, arrived from Windsor Castle on Sunday to luncheon with their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cam bridge and the Princess Mary, at Cambridge Cottage, Kew. The Prince of Wales will leave Windsor Castle to-day for Oxford for a few days, before returning to pass the approach ing festive season with the royal circle at Windsor. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge left Gloucester House yesterday on a visit to her Majesty at Windsor Castle. His Excellency the Prussian Minister and the Countess Bernstorff have returned to Prussia House from visiting Mr. and Lady Elizabeth Drummond, at Cadlands, Hants. The Duke and Duchess of Marlborough will receive a select circle at Blenheim Palace during the Christmas. . The Duke and Duchess of Manchester have left town for Hinehingbrook, Hurts, on a visit to the Earl of Saudwich, before going to Kimbolton Castle for the Christmas. Count de Persigny has arrived, at Albert Gate House from Paris for a short period. • The Earl and Countess of Lanesborough have arrived at Swithland Hall, Leicestershire, from Ireland. The Countess of Fife and family have arrived in town from Scotland. His lordship, who is expected in town on Friday, has taken a house in Wilton•crescent for a few months. The Countess of Mountoharles was safely deli verl of a daughter yesterday at her residence in Rutland gate. Her ladyship and infant are progressing'favourably. Lord and Lady Nigel Kennedy have left the Queen's Hotel, Upper Norwood, for Paris. The Right Hon. W. F. Cowper, M.P., and Mrs. Cowper have left town on a visit to Lord and Lady Ebury at Moor-park. The Nationalites of Turin announces that bat talions of National Guards are being mobilised at Naples for service in Upper Italy. THE CONDEMNED PRISONERS IN DURHAM GAOL. —The execution of Thomas Smith and Milner Lockey, for the murders at Winlaton and Urpeth, has been fixed to take place on Thursday, the 27th instant, at nine o'clock in the morning, in front of the Durham County Courts. This is an alteration of the ordinary time, which is gtnerally the second Monday after conviction, but it has been postponed till Thursday in consequence of Monday being Christmas eve. Since their condemnation the demeanour of the two men has undergone very little change. The conduct of Smith, the Winlaton murderer, is much the same as that which he has exhibited ever since his. committal to prison. He is quiet, respetful, and subdued, and the fearful posi tion in which he stands has evidently acted severely upon his nervous system. Lockey's conduct since his committal has presented a marked contrast to that of Smith. His conversation and manner have been characterised by great levity and recklessness. He manifests great proneness to jocularity, and though he pays marked respect to the exhortations of the chaplain, the religious impressions made upon him appear to be of the most transient nature. At the meeting of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, held in the Town-hall at Durham on Wednesday evening last, the Bishop of Durham, in his speech, feelingly alluded to the position of the uuhap py men ; and it is stated that previ ous to the execution, his Lordship intends to preach in the chapel of the prisr,n. Considering that the calendar for the recent assizes at Durham curtained the names of only 21 prisoners, and 18 cases, it is many years such a fearf ul amount of heinfius crime h as b een e xhibited in that county; two prisoners ha ve b een l eft for execut i on , two have sen tence of death recorded against them, an d seven have been em, sentenced to penal servitude for periods varying from three to 15 years. L:11 EST NEWS. REUTER'S TELEGRAMS. ROME, DEC. 16. The death of Cardinal Gaude is announced. A consistory will be held on Monday next, when the Pope willaddress an allocution to the cardinals. Several bishops, three of whom are Suburban, have been appointed. Benevento is lost to the Holy See. :Reactionary movements have taken place at seve• ral places in the March provinces and in Umbria. The Pontifical Zouaves have re-entered Rome. General Latour has left for Paris on a special mission from Francis 11. to the Emperor Napoleon, PARIS, TUESDAY. The Moniteur contains a decree reducing the number of officials in the Imperial Courts of Rennes and Poitieri, augmenting the number of Tribunal Judges in some towns and diminishing them in others. The Moniteur also publishes a decree suppress ing the prohibition against the export from Algeria of barks for tanning purposes. VIENNA, DEC. 17. According to advices received here from Hun gary, other comitats are following the example set by the Comitat of Pesth in reference to the pro posals to be submitted to the Chancellor. The Cardinal Primate of Hungary arrived in Vienna a few days ago. After having had a long conference with Baron Vay he was received by the Emperor. He returned yesterday to Gran. According to the lithographed correspondence published in Vienna, the revision of the Concordat will, for the present, be limited to the re-establish ment of the religious privileges of the Primate of Hungary. VIENNA, DEC. 17. It is asserted that the Chancellor of Hungary has resolved upon replying negatively to the demands of the Corcitat of Pesth, on account of the proceed ings connected with the address having transgressed constitutional limits. The Wanderer of this evening publishes tele grams from Zara, dated the 16th and 17th inst., according to which strong and universal agitation prevailed in that city and in the provincial towns of Dalmatia against the administrative incorpora tion of Dalmatia with Croatia, without that pro ject being first submitted for the approval of the Dalmatian Diet. MUNICH, DEC. 17. Baron Verger, Bavarian Minister Plenipotentiary at Turin, having been recalled, the Sardinian Mi nister has in consequence received orders to quit his post at the Bavarian Court. BERNE, DEC. 17. Count Cavour has addressed another note to the Federal Council, stating that he withdraws, under certain conditions, the demand contained in his note of 10th Nov. last for the removal of the se questration placed upon the income of the Bishop ric of Como in the Canton of Tessin. THE BOMBAY MAIL. MALTA, DEC. 15. The Bombay mail of the 25th arrived here this morning, and left at 2 p.m. for Marseilles. FRANCE. A Paris letter, in the Nord, says :—" It is ru moured, relative to the pamphlet Franci. Topoph L et l'Europe'—which faithfully expresses the disquietude felt in the financial world—that if Austria obstinately persists in declining to sell Venetia, all the great bankers of Europe will come to an understanding to refuse her the support of their credit. It is certain that if such an agree ment were to take place, which however I think scarcely possible, the Austrian Government would be placed in a state of great embarrassment." M. Farini has addressed a report to tha King on the establishment for the poor at Naples, exposing several very serious abuses in its administration. The report has been sent to the Consulta of State. BOURSE, Dec. 17.—The market shows a slight improvement on the quotations of Saturday, but the amount of business continues limited. For the Account, Threes are now at 68f 922 c; Mobilier, 775 f; Orleans, 1,385 f; Northern, 992 f 50c; Medi terranean, 910 f ; Austrian, 511 f 25c ; Lombard, 483 f 75c. The following were the last quotations :- 41 per per Cents ... 96 65 Credit F ancier Do end —i Belgian 4t 9B 25 3 per Cents Do. end month 6B 85 Roman Bank Shares 2935 —1 Austrian Credit Mobilier.... 771 251 Spanish Threes 5O 25 Do. Account 772 50 Home Debt RAILWAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans 1385 .. 1386 25 __ _ __ _ Northern 991 25 .. 991 25 New ditto Lyons and Mediterranean 911 25 .. 915 Geneva 375 .. 377 50 Southern 522 50 .. 523 75 Western Eastern Sardinian Austrian Lombard , 483 75 .. 485 THE SIEGE OF GAETA. There is a report pretty generally believed that an armistice, at the intervention of the French Government, has been completed between the Bour bonites and the Sardinians for 15 days, during which time the preparations are not to be sus pended. In this interval of time the Emperor will use his good offices to induce Francis 11. to evacuate Gaeta ; but, should he refuse to do so, then the French fleet will be withdrawn. Some are of opinion that the Bourbon will still resist. There are at present 15,000 men in Gaeta, with provisions for six months for perhaps 6,000 men, and a great quantity of ammunition. Now, it may be the policy of Francis IL to drive off some 10,000 of his forces, as he has already done; Cialdini, however, will not take prisoners, and it is just possible that Francis 11. may be compelled to yield by his own men. THE lONIAN ISLANDS. CORFU, DEC. 6. The magnificent fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Martin, is anchored off Corfu. It is composed of the following ships :—The flagship Marlborough, 131 guns, 800-horse power, Admiral Martin ; the Orion, 91 guns, 600-horse power, Captain FrerG ; the Exmouth, 90 guns, 400-horse power, Captain Paynter ; the Neptune, 90 guns, 500-horse power, Captain Campbell ; the Mars, 80 guns, 400-horse power, Captain Strange ; the James Watt, 91 guns, 600-horse power, Captain Codd ; the London, 90 guns, 500-horse power, Captain Chads. The screw steam sloops Assurance, 4 guns, 200-horse power, Captain Aynslcy, and the Alacrity, 4 guns, 200-horse power, Captain Baird, are in attendance, and plying alternately between this and Malta. The first 2 volume of a singular work, entitled, " The History of Shoemaking and Illustrious Cordonniers," has just appeared in Paris. A BADGER FOUND.—The workmen of Mr. John Pearce, yeoman, of Nourdrioth, were exceedingly surprised on Monday morning last by the strange appearance of a badger. It was first observed by one of the men, who im mediately acquainted the others of the fact, and directed them to the spot where the animal was seen in a hole in the hedge. The men, each armed with a pike and different implements of husbandry, surrounded the hole, and after a long and tedious lapse of time succeeded in getting the animal out, which was then severely wounded, and after a while died. This badger remarkable for size, it being as large as a common sheep dog. We suppose this must be the very last of the badgers. Will any of our correspon dents inform us when before this a badger was seen wild iA Ccriawall or Devonshire ? Western Morning Artifte THE PRESIDENTS MESSAGE Fellow citizens of the Senate and House of Represen• tatives: Throughout the year since our last meeting, the country has been eminently prosperous in all its material interests. The general health has been excellent, our harvests have been abundant, and plenty smiles throughout the land. Our commerce and manufactures have been prosecuted with energy and industry, and have yielded fair and ample returns. In short, no nation in the tide of time has ever presented a spectacle of greater prosperity than we have done until within a very recent period. Why is it, then, that discontent now so extensively pre vails, and the Union of the States, which is the source of all these blessings, is threatened with destruction ? The long-continued and intemperate interference of the northern people with the question of slavery in the Southern States has at length produced its natural effects. The different sections of the Union are now arrayed against each other, and the time has arrived, so much dreaded by the father of his country, when hostile geographical parties have been formed. I have long foreseen and often forewarned my countrymen of the now impending danger. This does not proceed solely from the claim on the part of Congress or the territorial legislatures to exclude slavery from the ter ritories, nor from the efforts of different states to defeat the execution of the Fugitive Slave Law. All or any of these evils might have been endured by the South without danger to the Union (as others have been); in the hope that time and reflection might apply the remedy. The immediate peril arises not so much from these causes as from the fact that the incessant and violent agitation of the slavery question throughout the North for the last quarter of a century has at last given proof of its malign influence on the slaves, and inspired them with vague notions of freedom. Hence a sense of security no longer exists around the family altar. This feeling of peace at home has given place to apprehensions of servile insurrection. Many a matron throughout the South re tires at night in dread of what may befal herself and her children before the morning. Should this apprehension of domestic danger, whether real or imaginary, extend and intensify itself until it shall pervade the masses of the Southern people, then disunion will become inevitable. Self-preservation is the first law of nature, and has been implanted in the heart of man by his Creator for the wisest purpose ; and no political union, however fraught with blessings and benefits in all other respects, can long con tinue, if the necessary consequence be to render the homes and firesides of nearly half the parties to it habitually and hopelessly insecure. Sooner or later the bonds of such a union must be severed. It is my conviction that this fatal period has not yet arrived; and my prayer to God is, that He preserve the Constitution and the Union throughout all generations. But let us take warning in time, and remove the cause of danger. It cannot be denied that, for five and twenty years, the agitation at the North, against slavery in the South has been incessant. In 1335 pictorial hand-bills, and inflammatory appeals, were circulated extensively throughout the South, of a character to excite the passions of the slaves ; and, in the language of General Jackson, " to stimulate theta to insurrection, and produce all the horrors of a servile war." This agitation has ever since been con tinued by the public press, by the proceedings of State and county conventions, and by abolition sermons and lectures: The time of Congress has been occupied in violent speeches on this never-ending subject ; and appeals in pamphlet and other forms, endorsed by distinguished names, have been sent forth from this central point, and spread broadcast over the Union. How easy would it be for the American people to settle the slavery question for ever, and to restore peace and har mony to this distracted country. They, and they alone, can do it. All that is necessary to accomplish the object, and all for which the slave States have ever contended, is to be let alone, and permitted to mariage their domestic institutions in their own way. As sovereign States, they alone are responsible before God and the world for the slavery existing among them. For this the people of the North are not more responsible, and have no more right to interfere, than with similar institu tions in Russia or in Brazil. Upon their good sense and patriotic forbearance I confess I still greatly rely. With out their aid, it is beyond the power of any President, no matter what may be his own political proclivities, to restore peace and harmony among the States. Wisely limited and restrained as is his power, under our Constitution and laws, he alone can accomplish but little, for good or for evil, on such a momentous question. And this brings me to observe that the election of any one of our fellow citizens to the office of President does not of itself afford just cause for dissolving the Union. This is more especially true if his election has been effected by a mere plurality, and not a majority, of the people, and has resulted from transient and temporary causes, which may probably never again occur. In order to justify a resort to revolutionary resistance, the federal government must be guilty of a de liberate, palpable, and dangerous exercise of powers not granted by the constitution. The late presidential election, however, has been held in strict conformity with its ex press provisions. How, then, can the result justify a re volution to destroy this very constitution ? Reason, justice, a regard for the constitution, all require that we should wait for some overt and dangerous act on the part of the President-elect before resorting to such a remedy. It is said, however, that the antecedents of the President elect have been sufficient to justify the fears of the South that he will attempt to invade their constitutional rights. But are such apprehension of contingent danger in the future sufficient to justify the immediate destruction of the noblest system of government ever devised by mortals ? From the very nature of this office, and its high responsibilities, he must necessarily be Con servative. The stern duty of administering the vast and complicated concerns of this Government affords to itself a guarantee that he will not attempt any violation of a clear constitutional right. After all, he is no more than the chief executive officer of the Government. His province is not to make, but to execute, the laws ; and it is a remark able fact in our history that, notwithstanding the repeated efforts of the anti-slavery party, no single act has ever passed Congress, unless we may possibly except the Missouri Compromise, impairing, in the slightest degree, the rights of the South to their property in slaves. And it may also be observed, judging from present indications, that no pos sibility exists of the passage of such an act, by a majority of both houses, either in the present or the next Congress. Surely, under these circumstances, we ought to be restrained from present action by the precept of Him who spake as never man spake, that " sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." The day of evil may never come, unless we shall rashly bring it upon ourselves. It is alleged as one cause for immediate secession, that the Southern States are denied equal rights with the other States in the common territories ? But by what authority are these denied ? Not by Congress, which has never passed, and I believe never will pass, any act to exclude slavery from these territories, and certainly not by the Supreme Court, which has solemnly decided that slaves are property, and, like all other property, their owners have a right to take them into the common territories, and hold them there under the protection of the constitution. So far, then, as Congress is concerned, the objection is not to anything they have already done, but to what they may do hereafter. It will surely be admitted that this appre hension of future danger is no good reason for an immediate dissolution of tie Union. It is true that the territorial legis lature of Kansas, on the 23d of February, 1860, passed in great haste an act, over the veto of the Governor, declaring that slavery "is and shall be for ever prohibited in this territory." Such act, however, plainly violating the rights of property secured by the constitution, will surely be de clared void by the judiciary whenever it shall be presented in a legal form. Only three days after my inauguration the Supreme Court of the United States solemnly adjudged that this power did not exist in a territorial legislature. Yet such has been the factious temper of the times that the correct ness of this decision has been extensively impugned before the people, and the question has given rise to angry politi cal conflicts throughout the conntry. Those who have ap pealed from this judgment of our highest constitutional tribunal to popular assemblies would, if they could, invest a territorial legislature with power to annul the sacred rights of, property. This power Congress is expressly forbid den by Federal Constitution to exercise. Every State legislature in the Union is forbidden by its own constitution to exercise it. It cannot be exercised in any State except by the people in their highest sovereign capacity when framing or amending their state con stitution. In like manner, it can only be exercised by the people of a territory represented in a . con ti v o e n ntion of delegates for the purpose of framing a constitution prepa ratoryrenpowero decide n' t authority, Were itot other wise, to admission as a State inteLtihthe and not until then, are they invested the question whether slavery shall or shall not exist within their o l f im s i u t h s. ord T in h a is te not of the State in the wise, then indeed would the equality s territorial an ac act of l f egi sovereignstio. guarantees of the majorities. of an . irresponsible.. territo- Territories be destroyed, and the rights of property in slaves would depend, not upon the Constitution, influence itffoarndyagoodreasonpfooir• a doctrine, from its intrinsic tills but upon the shifting rial legislature. Such considerable mud tiaondisosfooluur• people, much less can ness, cannot long tion of the Union. The most ions of pa l pa ble violet constitutional duty which have yet been c ommitted consist in th e acts of different state legislatures to defeat the execution of the fugitive slave law. It ought to be re mem b ered, however, that for these acts neither Congress nor any President can justly be held responsible. Having been passed in viola tion o f th e federal constituti on, t h ey are , therefore, null and void. All the courts, both state and national, before w h om the question has arisen, have from the beginning declared the Fugitive Slave Law to be constitutional. The single exception is that of a state court in Wisconsin, and this has not only been reversed by the proper appel late tribunal, but has met with such universal re' robe tion that there can be no danger from it as a piece dent. The validity of this law has been established over and over again by the Supreme Court of the United States with perfect unanimity. It is fuunded upon an express pro vision of the constitution, requiring that fugitive slaves who escape from service in one state to another shall be " deli vered up" to their masters. Without this provision it is a well-known historical fact that the constitution itself could . never have been adopted by the convention. In one form or other, cider the acts of 1793 and 1850, both being sub stantially the same, filo Fugitive Slave Law has been the law of the land from the days of Washington until the present moment. Here, then, a clear case is pre sented, in which it will be the duty of the next President, as it has been my own, to act with vigour in executing the supreme law against the conflicting en actments of State Legislatures. Should he fail in the per formance of this high duty, he will then have manifested a disregard of the constitution and laws, to the great injury of the people of nearly one half of the States of the Union. But are we to presume in advance that he will thus violate his duty ? This would be at war with every principle of justice and of Christian charity. Let us wait for the overt act. The Fugitive Slave Law has been carried into execution in every contested ease since the commence ment of the present Administration, though often, it i s to be regretted, with great loss and inconvenience to the master, and with considerable expense to the Government. Let us trust that the State Legislature will repeal their unconstitutional and obnoxious enactments. Unless this shall be done without unnecessary delay, it is impossible for any human power to save the Union. TheLSouthern states, standing on the basis of the consti tution, have a right to demand this act of justice from the states of the North. Should it be refused, then the consti tution, to which all the states are parties, will have been wilfully violated by one portion of them in a provision essential to the domestic security and happiness of the re mainder. In that event, the injured states, after having first used all peaceful and constitutional means to obtain redress, would be justified in revolutionary resistance to the Government of the Union. I have [purposely confined my remarks to revolutionary resistance, because it has been claimed within the last two years that any State, whenever this shall be its sovereign will and pleasure, may secede from the Union, in accordance with the Constitution, and without any violation of the constitutional rights of the other members of the Confede racy. That as each became parties to the Union by the vote of its own people assembled in Convention, so any one of them may retire from the Union in a similar manner by the vote of such a Convention. In order to justify secession as a constitutional remedy it must be on the principle that the Federal Government is a mere voluntary association of States, to be dissolved at pleasure by any one of the contracting parties. If this be so, the Confederation is a rope of sand, to be penetrated, dissolved by the first adverse wave of public opinion in any of the States. In this manner our 33 States may resolve themselves into as many petty, jarring, and hostile re publics, each one retiring from the Union, without respon sibility, whenever any sudden excitement might impel them to such a course. By this process a Union might be entirely broken into fragments in a few weeks, which cost our fore fathers many years of toil, privation, and blood to establish. Such a principle is wholly inconsistent with the history as well as the character of the federal constitution. After it was framed, with the greatest eeliberation and care, it was submitted to conventions of the people of the several States for ratification. Its provisions were discussed at length in these bodies, composed of the first men of the country. Its opponents contended that it conferred powers upon the federal government dangerous to the rights of the States, whilst its advocates maintained that under a fair construction of the instrument there was no foundation for such apprehensions. In that mighty struggle between the first intellects of this or any other country, it never occur red to any individual, either among its opponents or advo cates, to assert or even to intimate that their efforts were all vain labour, because the moment that any State felt aggrieved she might secede from the Union. What a crushing argument would this have proved against those who dreaded that the rights of the States would be endan gered by:the constitution. The truth is that it was not until many years after the origin of the federal government that such a proposition was first advanced. It was then met and refuted by the conclusive arguments of General Jackson, who in his Message of 16th January, 1833, trans mitting the nullifying ordinance of South Carolina to Congress, employs the following language :—" The rights of the people of a single State to absolve themselves at will, and without the consent of the other States, from their most solemn obligations, and hazard the liberty and happiness of the millions composing the Union, cannot be acknowledged. Such authority is believed to be utterly repugnant both to the principles upon which the general Government is constituted and to the objects which it was expressly formed to attain." It is not pretended that any cause in the Constitution gives countenance to such a theory. It is altogether founded upon inference, not from any language contained in the instrument itself, but from the sovereign character of the several States by which it was ratified. But it is beyond the power of a State, like an individual, to yield a portion of its sovereign rights as to secure the remainder ? In the language of Mr. Madison, who has been called the &oiler of the Constitution :—" It was formed by the States —that is, by the people in each of the States, acting in their highest sovereign capacity, and formed consequently by the same authority which formed the State constitu tions." " Nor is the Government of the United States created by the Constitution, less a Government in the strict sense of the term, within the sphere of its powers, than the go vernments created by the constitutions of the States are, within their several spheres. It is, like them, organised into legislative, executive, and judiciary departments. It operates, like them, directly on persons and things ; and like them, it has at command a physical force for execut ing the powers committed to it." It was intended to be perpetual, and not to be annulled at the pleasure of any one of the contracting parties. The old articles of confederation were entitled " Articles of Confe deration and Perpetual Union between the States ;" and by the 13th article it is expressly declared that " the articles of this Confederation shall be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union shall be perpetual." The preamble to the Constitution of the United States, having express reference to the articles of Confederation, recites that it was established "in order to form a perfect union." And yet it is contended that this "more perfect union" does not include the essential attribute of perpetuity. But that the Union was designed to be perpetual appears conclusively from the nature and extent of the powers conferred by the Constitution and the Federal Governments These powers embrace the very highest attributes of national , overeignty. They place both the swerd and the purse u nder its control. Congress has power to make war and to make peace, to raise and support armies and navies, and to con clude treaties with foreign governments. It is invested with the power to coin money, and to regulate the value thereof, and to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States. It is not necessary to enumerate the other high powers whieh have been conferred upon the Federal Government. In order to carry the enumerated powers into effect, Congress possesses the exclusive right to lay and collect duties on imports, and in common with the States to lay and collect all other taxes. But the Constitution has not only conferred these high powers upon Congress, but it has adopted effectual means to restrain the States from interfering with their exercise. For that purpose it has, in strong prohibitory language, expressly declared that " no State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills of credit ; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts pass any bills of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impair ing the o bli ga ti on o f con t ra cts." Moreover, " without the consent of Congress, no State shall lay any imposts or duties on any imports or exports, except what may be abso lutely necessary for executing its inspection laws; and if they exceed this amount, the excess shall belong to the United States. And " no State shall, without the consent of Congresop lay any duty of tonnage ; keep troops or ships of war in time of peace; enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power; or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay." -- - In order still further to secure the uninterrupted exercise of these high powers against State interposition, it is pro vided " that this constitution and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof ; and all treaties made, or which shall be made under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the:land ; on the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrail notwithstanding." The solemn sanction of religion has been superadded to the obligations of official duty, and all senators and reply" sentatives of the United States, all members of State leg's" latures and all execu ti ve an d judicial officers "both of the United States, and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution." In order to carry into effect these powers, the Constitutio n has established a perfect Government in all its forme, Legislative, Executive, and Judicial ; and this Govern ment, to the extent of its powers, acts directly upon the individual citizens of every State, and executes its own decrees by the agency of its own officers. In this respect it differs entirely from the Governmen t under the old confederation, which was confined to making requisitions on the States in their sovereign character. This left it in the discretion of each whether to obey or F refuse, and they often declined to comply with such requiel" tions. It thus became necessary, for the purpose of re moving this barrier, and "in order to form a more perfect Union," to establish a Government which could act directly upon the people, and execute its own laws without the in termediate agency of the States. This has been acorn plished by the constitution of the United States. In short, the Government created by the Constitution, and deriving its authority from the sovereign people of each of the several States, has precisely the same right to exercise its power over the people of all these States, in the enumerated cases, that each one of them possesses over subjects not delegated to the United States but " reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people." To the extent of the delegated powers the Constitution of the United States is as much a part of the constitutio n of each State, and is as binding upon its people, as though it had been textually inserted therein. This Government, therefore, is a great and powerful Government, invested with t 1 the attributes of sivereigni eve , ' , he special subjects in which its authority extends. f amers never intended to implant in its bosom the seeds of its own destruction, nor were they at its creation g uilty of :the absar, i y of providing f r its own disolution. It was not intended by its framers to be the baseless fabric of a vision wiich, at the touch of the enchanter, would vali se into thin air, but a substantial and mi g ht y fabric, capable of resiAi Of ag e ,. lldeer indu aliht did th e y Powers tc had they tver be sc a ct, and charge he t ions. Ilir THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 18, YB6O.