The Sun. — London, England, 1865-05-08 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence. VALETTA, May 2.—Her Majesty's screw transport Himalaya, Capt. E. Lacy, left Malta, on the after noon of the 22d ult. with the 2d battalion of 7th Royal Fusileers, under the command of Lieut.-Col. J. H. Cooper, for Canada. The strength of the battalion as embarked consisted of 31 officers and 804 non-commissioned officers and men, with 7 officers' wives, 11 officers' children, 83 soldiers' wives, and 103 soldiers' children, amounting in all to 1,039 souls. She also had on board the Bishop of Gibral tar and his family, for Gibraltar, an Ensign of the 100th Regiment, and an Assistant-Superintendent Storekeeper. The battalion has been relieved by the 84th Regiment from Kingstown. Her Majesty's ship Surprise, 4, Commander G. Tryon, left on the same day for Tunis, to relieve the Tyrian, Lieut.- Commander P. T. Murray, which returned to Malta on the 26th. The Firefly, surveying vessel, Com mander G. R. Wilkinson, was still at the Goletta, h av ing been detained there owing to the weather being unfavourable for commencing surveying duties. There have been no further movements in the squadron, except the departure of the Resist ance, iron frigate, and Cossack, screw corvette, for a cruise and exercise. After a short absence they returned into harbour. News was received to-day that her Majesty's ship Caradoc had left Alexan dria, with the Duke. of Brabant, for Marseilles direct. She was to return to Egypt for Sir Henry Bulwer's disposal. At Athens everything con tinues tranquil. Her Majesty's ship Gibraltar, 81; Meeanee, 60; Assurance, 4; and Wanderer, 4, were lying at the Piraeus on April 22. The Magi cienne, 16, Capt. W. Armytage, met the Enchan tress, with Prince Arthur on board, at Smyrna on the 14th. His Royal Highness, when last heard of, was cruising in the Archipelago. The Magicienne was at Athens on the 20th, and is expected back at Malta shortly. The Weser, 6, gunboat, is also ex pected back here soon, and will probably be sold or broken up. The Egyptian frigate Reshid arrived on April 23 from Alexandria, on her way to Eng land to be fitted with screw machinery. She is under the temporary command of Capt. J. W. Purchase, and is manned by an English crew furnished by the Peninsular and Oriental Company. Consul-General Hay arrived last week from Crete, on his way to Ma new sphere of duty at, Tripoli. He will leave to day in the Cossack for that place. Capt. Jones, Capt. Holyoak, Major Balfour, Capt. Oldfield (15th Regiment), Mr. J. Royle, R.N., and Capt. Moorson arrived during the week. Mr. Williamson, R.N., Inspector of Machinery, and Capt. Fairfax, R.N., have takes their departure. Sir J. G. Le Dlarchant and Sir Wilford Brett arrived by the Poonah from Marseilles, and went on in the same vessel for Alex andria, en route to Madras. Satisfactory news has been received of the operations of the Fanny Lam bert, and it is confidently hoped that telegraphic communication with Alexandria will be restored very shortly. The 2d battalion 22d Regiment has received its orders to proceed to the Mauritius, and will be replaced here by the 29th: The French line of steamers running between Marseilles and Malta, via Italy and Sicily, is about to be discontinued—at least as far as Malta is concerned. We are as yet without information as to what new arrangements will be made. All that we at present know was received last week from the agent at Marseilles by telegraph—namely, that the last departure will take place on the 14th of May. Her Majesty's ship Phcebe, 35, Capt. T. D. A. Fortescue, now at Naples, has been placed at the disposal of the Prince and Princess Hohenlohe, and is to convey their Serene Highnesses to Marseilles. The screw steam frigate Liverpool, 39, Capt. Rowley Lambert, from Portland, arrived in Ply mouth Sound on Friday evening, and, having trans ferred some seamen to the receiving ship, left on Saturday morning for Dublin, where she will be in attendance on the Prince of Wales during the visit of his Royal Highness to the Exhibition. The Lords of the Admiralty have decided on adopting the turret in connexion with the broadside principle in the iron-plated frigate Hercules, the order for the commencement of which has been re ceived at Chatham. The vessel is to be built from the designs of Mr. E. J. Reed. The plan decided upon is a central armour-plated battery for the broadside 300-pounder and other guns, as in the Bellerophon, just completed at Chatham, the Pallas at Woolwich, and others of Mr. Reed's ships, together with two turrets carried one aft and the other forward. The drawings and moulds for the Hercules are now being prepared, and no time will be lost before she is commenced. Her Majesty's screw line-of-battle ship St. George, 51 guns, Captain Rice, arrived in Portland Roads on Friday afternoon at 2 p.m., to replace the Frederick William as Coastguard ship, the latter vessel having been removed to Queenstown for duty in the middle of March last. The inhabitants of Portland and Weymouth petitioned the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to allow her Ma jesty's ship Liverpool, Capt Lambert, to remain at Portland when the latter vessel was in the Roads with the Channel squadron last month as a pro tection against any sudden rising of the con victs but, as the Liverpool was required for service elsewhere, the petitioners' prayer could not be granted. The arrival of the St. George, however, as guardahip for the port, has given the greatest satisfaction to the inhabitants generally. _ _ In accordance with instructions received at Chat ham, the Reindeer, 17, one of the wooden vessels lying idle on the stocks partially completed, has been surveyed at the hands of the dockyard officials, pre paratory to her being finished, the present intention of the Admiralty being that she shall be completed to carry three or more guns of the largest calibre, fore and aft, and one at her broadside. The hired sailing transport Gen. Caulfield, Wm. Richards commander, arrived at Spithead early on Friday morning with invalided and time-expired men on board from her Majesty's army in India. Since the commencement of March the following vessels were spoken :—March 3, in lat 34 18 S., lon.' 25 27 E., the James Russell, from Shanghai for London, 61 days out ; March 17, in 22 16 S., 0 38 W., the Yorick, from Shanghai for Liverpool, 68 days out, and theDilkhoosh, from Foo-chow-foo for London, 60 days out ; April 15, in 24 15 N., 46 33 W., the Elizabeth Hargreaves, from Valparaiso for Liverpool ; and May 4, off St. Catherine's, Isle of Wight, the Wagoola, from Hobart Town for Lon don. The invalid troops brought home by the Ge neral Caulfield consist of 103 men from different regiments, besides six soldiers' wives and 21 children, who disembarked yesterday afternoon, and were con veyed by Government steamer to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley. There were also on board Capt. Harcourt, 102 d Royal Madras Fusiliers, in command, Lieut. C. D. Patterson, 21st Fusiliers; Ensign E. C. Power, 105th Madras Light Infantry ; and Mrs. Brown, widow of the late Major Brown. The hired sailing transports Cospatrick, Com mander James A. Ehnslie, R.N.R., and Star of India, Commander Morris, arrived at Spithead on Saturday, with military invalids and time-expired men fro m E uropean reg i ments serv i ng i n I n di a. The Cospatrick has brought 181 time-expired men, 121 11 men invalided, 14 women, and 23 children. The "leers accompanying the troops are—Capt. Leithman, Il *, in military charge, with Mrs.Leish man and two child ren . Staff-Surg. T. Clark, in medical char ge ; Lieut. Hammond, 4th King's Own Regiment •• I Lieut. Bridges, 103 d Foot ; Lieut. Heathcote, 106th Foot dthea;Lieut. Robertson, 6th Dra goon Guards. T wo occurred on the passage. The Cospatrick sail e d from Bombay on Feb. 3, and March 3, called in at St. Helena on speaking the following vessels, who si gna l led a desire to be re ported :—On Feb. 16, in lat. 0 40 S., long. 66 22 E., the bark Marion, from London for Bombay, 133 days out ; on March 1, in lat. 2 4 59 S., long. 65 57 E., the schooner Giz i n a, fr om SingaPole for Mont real, 29 days out ; and on the sth inst., off Port land, the Queen of the Bay, from Algoa Bay f or London, GO days out. The Star of India's troop freight consists of 106 invalided men, 6 women, and 4 children ; 200time expired men, with 8 women and 12 children, ac companied by Capt. S. H. Hobbs, 79th Regiment, in military charge ; Assist.-Surg. J. Folliott, in medical charge ; Lieuts. 11. W. E. Puddon and W. AY. Chard, Ist battalion 7th Foot ; and Lieut. W. Fleming, 95th Foot. The Star of India embarked her troops at Bombay Jan. 25, and Kurrachee Feb. 9, calling at St. Helena on March 28. The troops from both the Cospatrick and the Star of Incia will be transferred to Government steamers this morning early at Spithead, the invalids being conveyed to the Royal Victoria Military Hospital at Netley, and the time-expired men forwarded on from Portsmouth to the depots of their respective regiments. A Circular Memorandum, dated from the Horse Guards, April 25, 1865, notifies to the army that the Secretary of State for War has consented to grant to adjutants of regiments corps, and depot battalions, the sum of 3s. for each recruit enlisted at their head-quarters and finally approved. Among the numerous articles rejected during the period of " taking stock" in the departments of Wool wich Arsenal at the close of the financial year just expired, and which are ordered for periodical sale by auction, are three quarters of a million of shot bot toms, manufactured during the Crimean war, the pattern of which is now pronounced obsolete. Admiral Sir Edward Harvey, K.C.8., died on Thursday, at Walmer, Kent, aged 82. The deceased entered the navy in 1793, on board the Brunswick, 74, commanded by his father, Capt. John Harvey. He afterwards was midshipman in the Prince of Wales, 98, then bearing the flag of his uncle, Rear- Admiral Henry Harvey. After being present at the battle of Camperdown he became, in July, 1801, lieutenant, and in that capacity he was in the South ampton at the capture of the Danish and Swedish West India Islands in that year. As commander (which rank he attained in January, 1808) of the Cephalus, in 1809-10, he captured four French pri vateers, and, while employed in the defence of Sicily, was engaged with the gunboats on the coast of Ca labria. In February, 1839, he was appointed to the Implacable, 74, in the Mediterranean, where his eminent services, in 1840, on the coast of Syria and at the blockade of Alexandria, obtained for him official thanks. He has not been afloat since the Implacable was paid off in 1842. By the death of Admiral Sir Edward Harvey, Vice Admiral Sir R. Lambert Baynes, K.C.8., becomes Admiral ; Rear- Admiral Richard L. Warren becomes a Vice-Ad miral ; and Capt. Wallace Houston is placed on the Rear-Admiral's list. An Admiral's good service pension is placed at the gift of the First Lord of the Admiralty by the death of Admiral Sir Edward Harvey, K.C.B. In consequence of Capt. Houston obtaining flag rank a captain's good service pension is vacant. The following appointments and promotions have been made at the Admiralty :—Friday--Tristram Henry Barre Beresford, nominated to a naval ca detship ; F. J. Baron, acting second-class assistant engineer, additional, to the Serpent ; Richard S. Lee and Grenville Fordham, promoted to be first class assist.-engineers. Saturday—Lieut. Henry F. Yeatinan, to the Rattlesnake ; George Bellamy, surg., additional, to the Cumberland ; James C. Eastcott, surg., additional, to the Excellent ; W. Anderson, surg., additional, to the Asia ; Archibald L. Archer, surg., additional, to the Indus; Robert W. Beaumont, surg., additional, to the Fisgard ; Charles F. Godfrey, surg., additional, to the Vic tory ; Henry Macdonald, assist.-surg., to the Irre sistible ; Jeremiah A. Hatch, assist.-surg., to the Terrible; Duncan HiLson, assist.-surg. additional, to the Victory ; James Stewart, acting assist-surg., to the Sphinx ; John T. Obree, chief engineer, to the Cumberland, for the Tartar ; William H. Nicholson, first-class assist.-engineer, additional, to the Cale donia ; and George Ball, acting second class, assist.- engineer, to the Caledonia. Launch of the Ironclad Frigate Bellerophon, The launch of her Majesty's ironclad ship Bellerophon marks another important step in advance made by our Ad miralty designers and shipbuilders in the reconstruction of our navy. The Bellerophon is the first of a class of vessels altogether different from that to which belong the Warrior, Achilles, and Minotaur. The improvements adopted in her construction, the result of all the experience we have gained since the introduction of iron as a material for ships of war, will, it is confidently anticipated, render her as much superior to most of the existing armour-plated ships as they were to the unarmoured vessels they have super seded. It has of late been the fashion with a certain class of politicians to denounce the system of shipbuilding pur sued at the Royal dockyards, and to point to the rapidity with which vessels are turned out and completed at private shipbuilding establishments. So far, however, from the comparison holding good with regard to Chatham dock yard, the rapidity with which the Bellerophon has been constructed is altogether without a parallel. It is only a year since the order for her construction and the draw ings and models were received at Chatham dockyard from the Admiralty, the first piece of iron being lowered into the graving dock on which the Bellerophon has been built on the Bth of April, 1864, and yet the vessel left the dock with a great portion of her armour-plating bolted to her sides. So vast, however, are the present resources of Chatham dockyard for the construction of ironclad vessels that during the same period another armour-plated frigate, the Lord Warden, of somewhat larger dimensions than the Bellerophon, has been built and will be launched in the course of two or three weeks. But, notwithstanding the rapidity with which the Bellerophon has been turned out, the important element of strength has not been over looked, and from the improved system of construction adopted by Mr. Reed, it is not too much to say that no vessel has ever left the hands of her builders of greater strength and rigidity. Her offensive and defensive resources surpass those of every other vessel afloat. Detailed descrip tions of the frigate having been given from time to time in The Sun during her progress, it will only be necessary here to glance at the mode in which she has been constructed. Hitherto theuse of iron as a material for vessels of war has not been unattended with its drawbacks. The principal of these is the weakness of the bottom of iron vessels below the water-line, rendering the slightest casualty to them nearly always fatal. While the sides of iron ships can be protected with almost any thickness of armour-plates, it is not possible, even if it were expedient, to carry the plates down to the keel, for no ship so treated could keep afloat for an hour. It has, therefore, been hitherto considered necessary to divide iron ships of war into a number of separate compartments, each in turn divided from the other by watertight bulkheads, by which this advantage is se cured,—that in the event of any tearing asunder of the plates of the bottom the water would only fill the adjacent compartment, leaving the other portion of the vessel still buoyant. Many disadvantages, however, attend the prin ciple of constructing iron ships with bulkheads, not the least of which are the defective arrangements thereby caused for ventilation, to the serious effects of which the Admiralty have been for some time anxiously alive. In the Bellero phon, however, all this is altered, that vessel being con structed on the double bottom principle. Thisis effected by constructing the frigate with two bottoms, some 4ft. apart. The space between—and it is here that one of the chief ele ments of strength is to be found—is divided into a vast number of cells, not unlike the bottom of the Great East ern, with this important addition, however, that each cell is crossed longitudinally and tranversely by girders which render the ship's bottom as stiff and rigid as if consisting of one piece of iron. Carried up far out of the water are what may be termed watertight internal walls which com plete the double bottom, thus rendering the vessel, as re marked, a double ship from end to end. From what has been stated it will at once be apparent that watertight bulkheads will not be required with this system of con struction, since no ordinary injury could in any way jeo pardise the safety of a ship so built. It has been deter mined that no possible precaution shall be spared to render the vessel secure from any accident whatever, and she is accordingly furnished with some few bulkheads, which, however, are so placed as not to interfere with the free and ample circulation of air throughout the ship. The Belle rophon is the first vessel yet constructed carrying armour plates of 6in. in thickness, the maximum thickness of ar mour which it has hitherto been deemed expedient to use being 44in., and in the case of the Minotaur slin. The total thickness of iron, however, enclosing the sides of the Bellerophon is 7iin., in addition to tho timber backing. Unlike the Achilles and other ironclads recently built, the Bellerophon has, rightly or wrongly, a backing of only 10in. timber behind her armour plates, although recent experiments with the Chalmer's and other targets would seem to prove that the amount of resistance of armour to shot depends generally less on the thickness of the plate than on the thickness and construction of the backing. The diminution in the thickness of the teak backing is, however, considered to be more than compen sated by an additional inch and a half thickness of wrought iron plates, which form, as it were, the inner skin of the vessel, rivetted to the ordinary frame to which it is worked. The 6-inch armour-plates are placed six feet below the load water line, and are carried to the maindeck through out, and to the upper deck in the centralind fore batteries. In the other portion of the vessel, whore the chances of shot striking the ship are reduced to a minimum, the plates taper in thickness, and under the counter are no more than two inches thick. The whole of the plates are of the best description of rolled iron, and have been manufactured by the Millwall Iron Company. The total quantity of armour -plating the Bellerophon will carry is 1,073 tons, of which exactly 400 tons, or rather more than one-third of the whole quantity, has been already bolted to her port and starboardstarboard sides. Th e f ore and aft end of the midship will b r e y' pl w a c h e e d, re a :S r o; o o t f ecte th d e b 3 y o m o- e po an u s n o d f e a r rm Armstrong guns bulk heads, the plates of which are sin. in thickness, carried up to the top of the gun-deck. On this deck will also be placed it couple of the 110 -pounder Armstrongs, within the protection of the battery, together with threes 110- pounders not protected. On the upper deck will be placed a single 40-pounder Armstrong. Not the least striking feature in the Bellerophon is the arrangement made by Mr. Reed to enable the frigate to carry a bow battery—an important feature until recently altogether overlooked in the construction of our vessels of war. The importance of being able to serve the guns in such a position cannot be over estimated, and nautical men will at once under stand the immense advantage of being able to fire the guns right ahead, and in a line with the ship's keel. The Bellerophon is built with strikingly flat sections, on what is now known as the U-shaped, in con tradistinction to the V-shaped principle. In a vessel like the Bellerophon it is obvious that her tendency to roll will be greatly accelerated by the weight of the armour. The principle adopted by Mr. Reed will, it is anticipated, over come this, and, as the Bellerophon is intended to be, in all respects, a thorough seagoing as well as a fighting ship, the advantages of the principle must be evident. The fol lowing are her principal dimensions :—Length between perpendiculars, 300 ft.; extreme breadth, 56ft. lin.; burden, 4,270 27-94 tons (builder's measurement); load draught of water, 26ft. aft, 211 t. forward. At the time of her launch her displacement was calculated at between 6,000 and 7,000 tons. The exact weight of the ship at floating was found to be 3,100 tons, of which 3,050 tons are worked into the hull of the frigate. The whole of this has been accomplished in the comparatively brief space of 54 weeks, which is at the rate of 561 tons of material per week. This average rate of production in a single ship, and that, too, continued through an entire year, is altogether unprecedented in the history of iron shipbuilding. The total quantity of backing and other wood in the ship is only 115 tons. The ports on the gundeck battery are exceedingly narrow, but at the same time sufficiently large for the training of the 300- pounders. They are well up out of the water, and when at her deep-sea draught the bottom of the port sills will be 9ft. above the water. The main deck, or deck at upper armour-line, is plated throughout with half-inch wrought iron plates under the 4in. deck. The upper deck is also plated throughout its entire length with plates of steel half-an-inch in thickness, tapering at the extremities to counteract the effects of liquid shot falling on the deck. Additional strength and rigidity are imparted to the ship by massive iron cross-deck beams. All the decks are com modious and lofty, the height under the beams in the bat tery being 6ft. 61in. ; the height under the beams on the berth-deck 7ft. 9in., and height on the lower deck 6ft. The Bellerophon is built with a long projecting stem, thrust forward some l2ft. from the " tumble-home " bow. This method of construction answers the twofold purpose of giving buoyancy to the forward battery, carried high above the deck, and at the same time will enable the frigate to be used as a ram should she ever be placed in circumstances to render that method of naval combat necessary. The length of the engine-room is 40ft., that of the fore boiler-room 36ft., and the after boiler-room 40ft. From the fore end of the stokehold to the after end of the screw shaft the length is 235 ft. The engines, which have been constructed for the Bellerophon by Messrs. John Penn and Sons, are of 1,000- horse power nominal, but with the recent improvements introduced will be capable of working up to 6,000 actual horse-power. They will have a force sufficient to drive the frigate through the water at an average speed of 14 knots—that is to say, nearly 16 statute miles per hour. The weight of the machinery with the boilers filled is 935 tons. The bunkers are capable of stowing 650 tons of coal, or about a week's consumption with full steaming. The fact of the Bellerophon being without a rudder-post gives the stern a projecting, over-hanging appearance, while the way in which she is rounded off appears to be the very per fection of ugliness, quite overturning the notions gene rally formed as to the correct shape of a vessel's stern. She is intended to be fitted with the " balanced rudder," invented many years since by Lord Stanhope, but not until recently adopted in the Royal Navy. This rudder, instead of being attached to a rudder-post, is supported from the deck, while the lower end passes into a prolonga tion of the plates of the keel. After the launch the Bel lerophon was moored alongside the dockyard, where she will receive on board her engines and machinery, after which she will be placed in dock, to be fitted with the remainder of her armour-plating and to be equipped for sea. Another large ironclad frigate, to be named the Hercules, with armour-plates of 9in. in thinkness, is to be immediately commenced in the same dock. The Lambeth Election. A meeting of the electors of the borough of Lambeth, resident in Walworth, was held on Saturday evening, in Flint-street School-room, East-street, Walworthzroad, for the purpose of hearing from Mr. Alderman James Clarke Lawrence, candidate in the room o f the late Mr. Williams for the representation of the borough in Parliament, a statement of his political principles. The spacious school room was crowded, and a large number of persons who were unable to get in assembled outside the entrance to the building. Amongst those who occupied places on the platform and who sat on the right and left of Mr. Alderman Lawrence, were :—Mcssrs. Sugdeu, Thomas Webber, A. Cave, W. Phelps, Fry, E. Lawrence, Foulger, J. Cairns, A. Law rence, Thornhill, G. Stanley, L. Freeman, and Captain D. Rogers. Mr. WRIGHT having been chosen to fill the chair, opened the business of the meeting by introducing to their notico Mr. Jas. Clarke Lawrence, an alderman, and a gentleman well known in the borough of Lambeth, as a large em ployer of labour, and who had received a requisition signed by upwards of 2,000 of the electors, inviting him to offer himself as a candidate to represent the borough in Parlia ment. Mr. Alderman Lawrence was ready to answer any questions that might be put to him. (Hear.) They all la mented the death of their late worthy representative, Mr. Williams, who was faithful to the trust reposed in him, had always stood forward in his place in Parliament, and done his duty to the people. (Hear.) He had been denounced as a Chartist, one of his great objects having been to extend the franchise and to give the unenfranchised the right of voting. The chairman concluded by expressing confidence in Mr. Alderman Lawrence, who, if elected, would, like Mr. Williams, prove a faithful representative of the borough— (hear, hear)—and who would now address the meeting. Mr. Alderman LAWRENCE, who was received with cheers, said—l join most heartily in the expressions of regret which have fallen from your chairman in reference to the worth and political honesty of your late member, Mr. Williams. (Hear.) Known intimately to him for many years, andpos sessing his friendship, I was aware of the duties he had to perform, and of the sterling manner in which he performed them to his constituents. (Hear, hear.) Perhaps there was no man who could represent them more faithfully, or watch more carefully over the public expenditure than your late representative. (Hear, hear.) It was not only in the House of Commons that he exposed and checked the extravagant expenditure of the Government, but in the Government offices, where, when any extravagant scheme of expending the public money was spoken of, some official opened his mouth, and, with a wholesale apprehension of exposure before him, exclaimed, " The eyes of the hon. member for Lambeth will be upon ye"—(laughter)—and thus, an use ful economy was enforced in the various departments de spite of themselves, and the people reaped benefits from his exertions in their behalf which they would otherwise have failed to obtain. (Hear, hear.) I am happy that by Mr. Williams I have always been received with confidence, and well acquainted as I am with the views of the consti tuency of the borough, I am aware that if they feel that they can find a man who has lived among them, and who is well acquainted with them, and capable of representing them in Parliament, they will elect him in preference to any candidate who is a stranger, and not in any way con nected with their borough. I feel that the duties of a mem ber of such a borough as this are such that he should not put himself forward to undertake them unless he be ready to give up his time to the conscientious discharge of them, and feeling sensible of the difficulties and responsibility of such a situation I have determined to cast in my lot with the electors of Lambeth, and to the utmost of my power serve them. (Hear, and cheers.) I have since my earliest years been an advocate of reform, and 1 therefore under stand what the people should do and what course they should pursue to forward that object. They should seek opportunities in every way to promote that object, and with it the welfare of the country. (Hear.) I have in my address, shown the inhabitants of the borough what my political views are. I have expressed to you my opinion on church rates, and my feeling that that grievance should l i be remedied, and I have endeavoured to express to you that my own political views are in accordance with those of the great body of the electors ; and I believe if elected—as I think I will be—(hear, hear)—l will go to the House of Commons with a resolution to aid in extending the franchise largely among the people. (Cheers.) I shall enter into and advocate their feelings, Views, and rights, and I trust also that in undertaking a position there, I shall so conduct my self that my constituents will feel not disgraced by their representative. (Hear, hear.) Having the improvement of the working classes at heart, I am prepared to advocate that the British Museum and similar institutions should be open to the public three evenings in the week. (Hear.) One remark I beg to make, that as the representative of a political constituency, I should like to go into Parliament as your unfettered representative, and not as a mere dele gate. I ask you, then, if you desire that your representa tive should acquire in the House of Commons the position that he should have, to send him there without exacting pledges from him on every possible subject—(hear, hear) — and if you place me in that position, I wish you to believe that no timid utterances will ever be found to fall from my lips in behalf of your rights, and whatever questions may arise in the House of Commons affecting them and the true interests of the country, I shall be ready to advocate them. (Cheers.) I ask you, then, if you regard the privilege of in dependent action and straightforward conduct, to give it to your representative. (Hear, hear.) Have you not seen in all parts of the country, representatives promising all sorts of things, and failing when the time came to perform them ? (Hear, hear.) I will not weary, you with any lengthened speech, but I do assure you that when the time for discharg ing the duties of the position of your representative comes, you will find, if you place me in that position, that I will frankly and fairly represent you. (Hear, and cries of "We'll elect you.") And whenever I may have to meet you, I shall not be ashamed to tell my constituents that in which I may believe they have been politically wrong, and I shall state my own convictions. I am the friend of progress, but I tell you that for no consideration of popular applause or other wise, will I ever do violence to my conscience as your re presentative in the House of Commons. (Cheers.) Mr. WHITLocK said he had listened with attention to tho worthy alderman, to whom he was desirous to put a few questions. As a member of the council of the National Re form League he wished to ask him—Was he prepared to support the political principles of the League ? Was he prepared to support the principle that taxation without re presentation was not just ? Was he prepared to support any measure in favour of the extension of the Ton Hours Bill ? and was he prepared to support anymeasure in favour of extending the elective franchise ? Mr. G. HENDERSON wished to ask the worthy alderman —Was he prepared, if returned to Parliament, to support Mr. Doulton in his object to obtain open spaces for the health and recreation of the people ? Mr. DEXTER had two questions to put to Mr. Alderman Lawrence. First, whether in questions relating to the Bri tish Museum and other institutions he would advocate their being thrown open to the public three nights a week ? and, secondly, was he prepared to oppose the proposed re moval of the national collections in the British Museum to South Kensington, to get to which and back would cost a man the loss of more than half a day ? Another question he was desirous toput—was Mr. Alderman Lawrence prepared to advocate the opening of the British Museum and other institutions on the Sunday ? and also, was he. prepared to advocate the running of trains on Sundays ? There was another question, and it related to Popery. (Cries of " Order, order," and " Hear, hear.") With regard to the grant to Maynooth, he considered it past and gone, and he was not prepared to disturb it ; but he wanted to know whe ther or not Mr. Alderman Lawrence was prepared to go against all church endowments. He (Mr. Dexter) was not prepared to see all church endowments go, and he wished to get an answer from the worthy alderman. Mr. PRITCHARD wished to ask Mr. Alderman Lawrence whether, if returned, he would support the views expressed last year by Mr. Cobden in reference to the licensing of public-houses—he would not go so far as to say the Per missive Bill—but whether he would give the power to cor porations instead of to magistrates of regulating such houses. Mr. HUXTABLE desired to know whether Mr. Alderman Lawrence would support the interests of the Greenwich pensioners. The CHAIRMAN having enumerated the questions, Mr. Alderman LAWRENCE, in reply to Mr. Whitlock, said he was always in favour of the extension of the Ten Hours Bill, and he was still in favour of it ; and as to the exten sion of the suffrage, his opinion was that it ought to be ex tended to the working classes, who he believed would exer cise it at least as wisely and as well as other classes in the country who now possessed it. (Hear, and cheers.) As to the question which had been put to him in reference to the foreign policy of this country, his views were that their Government should adopt such a course as would not en tangle this country in wars with other countries; but he also felt that on great questions the voice of the people would never be content when a great wrong was done until that wrong was redressed (cheers, and hear), and it was upon that ground that he felt the policy of the Government should be clear, straightforward, and honest. (Hear.) He was asked whether he would support the policy of having open spaces for the recreation of the people. His answer was that he believed such to be essentially necessary to the health of the working classes and their families, and he felt that the House of Commons should not, as they had seen them be, haggling, night after night, about the spending of a few thousand pounds for such an object. (Hear.) A VoicE—l hope you will vote for it. Mr. Alderman LAWRENCE—Yes. He shouldmost heartily support it. Some one asked him a question about the Game Laws. He confessed he was ignorant on that subject. (Laughter.) , He was not a sporting man, but he would gladly give his support to a change in any law that con flicted with the principles of justice. (Hear.) He was asked about the removal of the national collections from the British Museum to South Kensington Museum, and though living in the neighbourhood of the latter, he felt great regret at seeing the efforts that were now being made to effect such removal. (Hear, hear.) He was asked whether he would advocate the throwing open of the British Museum on Sundays. That was a question from which he had never shrunk, because it might be regarded in two points of view, namely, the re ligious and labour points of view. He was prepared to speak of it only in relation to that which might affect the labour of the people, and he believed most conscientiously that the opening of those places might lead to the employment of the labour of the working man on Sundays, as in Paris, and he would never be a party to wrong against the working classes. (Hear, hear.) He was asked a question by Mr. Dexter about the Permissive Bill, and his answer was, that it would be a dangerous principle to trust a power to mino rities over majorities. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the question put to him about religious endoivments, while he agreed with Mr. Dexter in some of his views, he must say, unless they were dealt with generally, he did not approve of dealing with any one of them in particular. (Hear.) Mr. Pritchard asked him whether he would support an opposition to their going to war with America, and he might in reply say, that if their statesmen had been a little more careful not to express themselves so hastily as they had done, there would not be any unfriendly feeling on the other side of the Atlantic against this country. (Hear, hear.) Ho would do all in his power to promote friendly relations between the two nations. (Hear, and applause.) The candidate gave satisfactory answers to the other questions put to. him. • The meeting was subsequently addressed by Mr. Ashurst, Mr. Elmhill, Mr. Sugden, and Mr. Connolly (an Irishman, and non-elector of the working classes), who made an ex sollent spee,ch in favourpf Liberal views, and was frequently and warmly applauded. Mr J. THORNHILL then moved, and Mr Cantss seconded, the following resolution:—" That this meeting of, electors of the borough of Lambeth, having heard from Mr. Alder man James Clarke Lawrence a statement of his political principles, is of opinion that he is eminently qualified to be one of the representatives for the borough in the Commons House of Parliament, and the electors present pledge them selves to use their best ondeavours to secure his election." The resolution was carried unanimously. Alderman Lawrence returned thanks. On the motion of Captain Dresser Rogers thanks were voted to the chairman for the impartial manner in which he presided over and conducted the business of the meeting. The Chairmtin acknowledged the compliment, and the meeting separated. Mr. Thomas Hughes and the Electors of Lambeth. Mr. Thomas Hughes, of Lincoln's -in; received during the course of last week an invitation to offer himself as a candidate for the vacant seat for the borough of Lam beth. Mr. Hughes declined to incur the expense of a con test, with a dissolution so near at hand. He was then asked to offer himself as a candidate at the general election. In a letter to the electors he says, with reference to this request —" This I am quite ready to do, if I can see a fair prospect of success ; and as a first step I wish to place my political opinions unreservedly before you. On the question of re form I should be willing to support any large and well considered measure, but would accept Mr. Baines' and Mr. Locke King's as instalments. I have too intimate a know ledge of the masses of my poor countrymen to fear any extension whatever ; at the same time I should like to see a scientific reform embodying the cardinal principles of Mr. Hare's plan, which would give every voter a bona fide representative in the house, and make every mem ber the representative of an unanimous constituency. I dislike the ballot. It appears to me to be contrary to the principles of a limited suffrage, and to the interests of non-electors. It would be certainly convenient, and per haps, almost a necessity, as a means of simplifying the ma chinery of voting in the event of a large extension of the suffrage, and if a constituency were anxious to have it I should not decline tx t vote for it. And •I would support it in the case of any constituency proved to be unfairly coerced. lam an attached member of the Church of England, but am for the abolition of church rates, and of all religious tests. I think our Church broad enough and strong enough to welcome all who will come and worship with her without asking questions. I am against raising the whole revenue by direct taxation. In foreign policy I am for non-intervention in the sense in which Mr. Mill uses the word, that is to say, for neither• intrefering ourselves nor allowing inter ference by other Powers in the home politics of any foreign nation. As to alliances I should prefer that of the United States to any other, and hope to live to see England and her colonies and America bound together as one great family of free nations, acknowledging virtually one common citizenship without surrendering their separate political life. I am for all practicable economy in the national expenditure. The great social questions known under the general name of the labour question' will soon become of the first im portance in the house as they are already outside. lam for securing a perfectly fair field for masters and men so long as the present disastrous antagonism is to last. I believe that a system of arbitration may possibly be discovered which will do much towards healing old wounds, and pre venting future strikes and locks out ; but I look to indus trial association as the only true remedy, and most firmly believe that we are rapidly coming to it. I think the House of Commons is in the habit of interfering too much in mat ters of administration, and without pledging myself to any particular government, should support heartily any really liberal ministry." REPRESENTATION OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT.—Sir John Simeon, Bart., having announced his intention to be a candidate for tho representation of the Isle of Wight at the next general election, Mr. Clifford, tho present member, has stated his intention not to seek re-election. [ADVERTISEMENT.I—HoIIoway's Pills.—lmportant to the Sick.—Though the 'mind be downcast, and the body en feebled by continued indisposition, the sufferer should at this season make a last effort to regain health by taking Holloway's purifying pills ; which, by cleansing the blood, will search out the hidden cause of mischief, and expel the seeds of most diseases. No invalid is too much reduced to undergo this very gentle treatment with safety and advan tage ; neither youth nor old age need fear any injury to the system from a regulated course of these pills. They are infallible in stomach complaints, bilious affections, sickness, want of appetite, disordered bowels, constipation, and the annoyances which spring from derangement of the digestive and assimilating organs. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. " LONDON REVIEW" ON EXPECTANT STATESMEN. —Our Premier is eighty-one. Our Foreign Secre tary is seventy-three. Our Home Secretary is sixty-six. Our Secretary for India, the Lord High Chancellor of England, and the Earl of Clarendon, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, are severally sixty-five. The Postmaster-General is sixty-three. The First Lord of the Admiralty is sixty-one. These are the junior members of the senior division of the Cabinet. In the course of nature, a very few years must thin the ranks of those who held office under Earl Grey and took a conspicuous part in the great Reform struggle. The longevity of English peers is such that eldest sons and heirs to'great titles be come not unfrequently grey-haired and elderly men before they are called to the Upper House. The present race of English statesmen is equally long lived, and we see in both houses of Parliament politicians and subordinate Ministers no longer young, but who are kept out of their legitimate in heritance, and consigned to the background of com parative obscurity, by—shall we say ?—the better ventilation of the new Houses of Parliament and the improved healthfulness of modern political life. At the head of these elderly young statesmen who " bide their time," in a frame of mind tending towards mutiny, and bordering on disgust, is Mr. Gladstone. He is fifty-six —seven years older than the great Lord Chatham when he broke the power of France and became our greatest War Minister, nine years older than the second Pitt at his death, and within three years of the age when Charles James Fox slept by the side of Pitt in Westminster Abbey. Canning was but a year older than Gladstone when he died, and he was leader of the House of Commons and Prime Minister. It is true that the copious eloquence and brilliant fiscal succesq of the Finance Minister who last week held the House of Commons under his spell have written, in indelible characters, the name of " Glad stone" in his country's annals. Yet, hardly can he help, like Prince Henry, putting on the Imperial Crown while his father, the King, still lives. " I stay too long by thee, I weary thee," said King Henry reproachfully. The Prince answered dutifully, but we know how jealously he claimed the reversion of this " golden care" and cherished prize. After all, however, Mr. Gladstone is not the next in succession to the Premiership. Earl Russell is seventy-three, but he is still vigor ous ; and his claim to be at the head of a Liberal Administration could not be disputed if our noble Viscount were lost to public life. The leader ship of • the House of Commons if in office, and that of the Liberal party if in Opposition, would be all that the Chancellor of the Exchequer could claim so long as Earl Russell takes a part in public affairs. " I wonder whether Mr. Dis raeli will ever be Prime Minister of this country !" is a remark not unfrequently heard. A few Liberals, and here and there a Tory, scout the idea; but in doing so betray very scanty political know ledge. The laws of political succession, like those of legal preferment, move according to a certain well-known and pre-ordained etiquette. When a Minister happens to have a weak Solicitor-General, and the " cushion" in one of the courts is likely to be vacated, we hear it said, " The Premier will never dare to make So-and-So Chief Justice or Chief Baron if the Attorney-General refuses." But when did a Premier ever violate the law of etiquette and legal succession? Mr. Disraeli is leader of the Conservative party in the Lower House. He is of the ripe age of sixty years—cheu fugaces ! He has sat in the House of Commons for more than a quar ter of a century. His leader in the Upper House is sixty-six years of age, and if broken health or " The shadow cloaked from head to foot, That keeps the keys of all the creeds," should deprive the Conservatives of this great chief, Mr. Disraeli, and no one else, we may rely upon it, would be sent for by the Queen, and entrusted with the task of forming a Conservative administra tion, in the event of a Conservative majority in the House of Commons. No one need be ashamed to serve under the fourteenth Earl of Derby, when the possessor of a grand old title happens to be at the same time the most distinguished of living orators, and the best English translator of Homer. But that a man of genius like Mr. Disraeli would consent to hold a subordinate post under any of the common place peers, who fill the front opposition bench in the Upper House, and who would find a congenial leader in Lord Malmesbury, is simply incredible. Every man of spirit in the kingdom would despise Mr. Disraeli if, under the circumstances we have supposed, he were content with anything short of the premiership. George IV., on the retirement of Lord Liverpool, sounded Mr. Canning on the choice of the new premier. The king desired to place a peer at the head of the Government. Mr. Canning, with great spirit, said in that case he should retire from the Cabinet. As second minister in Lord Liverpool's administration and leader of the House of Commons, he looked upon the office of Prime Minister of England as his inheritance, and vindicated in his own person the principle of direct succession. We do not believe that Queen Victoria would venture to offer to Mr. Disraeli the insult which George IV. passed upon Mr. Canning, and which he so properly re sented. Among the Liberal statesmen who " bide their time" under an octogenarian Premier, a sep tuagenarian Premier-presumptive, and half-a-dozen sexagenarian statesmen in possession of the highest and best paid offices in the Administration, may be cited Mr. Milner Gibson, in his fifty-eighth year, who entered the House of Commons and excited great hopes of his future career thirty years ago, yet who is only a member of his Cabinet and Pre sident of the Board of Trade by a sort of political " fluke." Mr. Cardwell is fifty-two, and has been a member of the House of Commons for nearly a quarter of a century, yet he would have been no thing more than Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster to this day but for the premature decease of the Duke of Newcastle. Lord Clarence Paget is "rising" fifty-four. He is the most successful Secretary to the Admiralty, for a naval officer, that any one remembers, yet his promotion is slow in coming, for he has filled this subordinate post since 1859. Mr. Cowper is of the same age as Lord C. Paget, and he has sat in the House of Commons for thirty years. One need not wish him anything but First Commissioner of Works until the new Law Courts are built, but the post of metropolitan lEdile is not a very brilliant termination to a long political career. Mr. Villiers has never been ambitious •, so at 63 he is probably quite contented with the Chairmanship of the Poor Law Board, and a seat in the Cabinet. The Conservative statesmen who " bide their time" on the front Opposition bench do not suffer from a regime of primeval and antediluvian chiefs. It is their misfortune to sit en permanence on the "shady side of the Throne." Sir Fitzroy Kelly has reached the mature age of sixty-seven, and has written M.P. after his name for thirty years. He goes about like a natural and lawful Lord Chief Justice, who has been by some strange freak of fortune divorced or kept out of his Court and his " cushion." The same may be said of Mr. Whiteside, who is fifty nine, and would not be unwilling to exchange the anxieties of the Bar and the turmoil of the House for the ermine of the Bench. Mr. Seymour Fitz gerald is only forty-eight, and has never been any thing but Under-Secretary of State for a few months. But he must in the course of events "come to the front." Mr. Gathorne Hardy is fifty-one. He is another of the " coming men," but he has hardly been allowed to have an opinion on his side of the House, seeing that Mr. Henley, a grave and reverend senior of seventy-two, and Mr. 'Walpole, a solemn and tremulous Constitutionalist of sixty, have preferred higher claims to attention. Lord John Manners, a mere " young man" in politics, of forty-seven, must finish our list. THE "SPECTATOR" ON GENERAL GRANT.— General Grant, under whose direction the war has been brought to a close—for closed it is to all in tents and•purposes—is, as all my readers probably know a thoroughly educated soldier, a graduate of West Point. But just before the, outbreak of the rebellion he was living near St. Louis in a very simple western fashion, doing a small business as a land agent. Very few of our educated soldiers, ex cept those from the Slave States, used to retain their commissions after they had served their time upon the frontier against the Indians. " Soldiering'.' was looedd on among us as but a kind of decorated idleness, and our young officers generally became engineers, and some of them even clergymen. Ulysses Grant, the land agent five years ago, amid his homely belongings and surroundings,w as one of the last men that would have been picked out as a person likely to take a prominent part in deciding the fate of a great nation. Mr. Lincoln and he had that point of resemblance. General Grant, as I have told you, is a small man; but unlike Sher man he is very strongly built, and has a sturdy look. His head is set well down toward his shoulders, and this, added to the expression of his features, gives him a look of firmness, in fact, of obstinacy His photographs are generally good likenesses in all respects. He is exceedingly careless in dress, mid simple in his habits. His manner does not lack dignity, but is almost entirely without polish. A man of strong, deep feeling, he rarely betrays emotion, and is not only reticent, but taci turn. His tenacity of purpose all the world knows by this time, but not so well the calm serenity of his mind in the midst of turbulence and under the weight of great responsibility. A man who had lived with him almost in the same tent for many months dur ing this war is my authority for saying that during all that time, and it was one full of incident, he be came excited but on one occasion. It was immedi ately after the battle of Chattanooga. One of his principal subordinates was in pursuit of the flying enemy, who turned upon him in a pass between two of those hills which make pursuit here such perilous business, and in one. hour this General, who pushed straight on in the heat of the chase, lost 500 men. When the report was brought to Grant he said nothing, but his face flushed, the veins swelled in his forehead, and he gnawed his firmly set lips until my friend thought the blood would come. A few moments, and he hegan to walk up and down swiftly and in silence, at intervals swallowing the choke in his throat. After he had walked himself some what calm, he brok out, "The man ought to be broke ! Such perilous rashness ! Such wicked waste of life." (This was " butcher Grant," you know.) "He ought to be broke instantly ! " " But," his com panion suggested. " you have not heard —'s report. That may put another f ace on th e ma tt er . Would it not be better to wait ? " " Right, I'll wait." The report was kept back for a week, and when it came, Grant, after reading it, handed it to my friend, saying, " You see this does not change the matter. I ought strictly to send this to the Department with a request that he should be re lieved, There is no excuse for such rashness in a commander. But—how can I ?—how can I ? He is a good soldier in the field, so true a man. His men love him, and will follow him anywhere. He was rash ; but I can't supply his place." And the report went into Grant's pocket. Now this-general was even more rash in talk than in battle, and was the only one in the army who criticised Grant so severely and so openly that it reached his ears. But he only listened with his slight meditative smile, and bore no malice. The same gentleman told me another story illustrative of Grant's reticence. It was in Virginia. The army had moved suddenly, and Grant occupied a planter's house as his head quarters. He came upon the household almost without warning. The master was away. He apologised curtly. but very kindly to the lady for the inconvenience to which he must put her. She was a fine, handsome woman. She came in to Grant with a child at her breast, and rather astonished him and his staff by the perfect indifference and lack of all concealment with which she performed this tender office, which a planter's wife usually commits to a negress. She begged the General that she might be allowed to pass his lines to her husband or her friends. He regretted it much, but it was impossible. She was importunate, she spoke of her child, and of her inability to bear hard usage or excitement. In vain. She implored. He was inflexible. She en deavoured to enlist his staff officers in her behalf. They shook their heads. Then she flamed into anger, and turning to leave, she said " You make war on women. May each one of you live to see a negro's arm around his sister's waist." She was pass ing out with a haughty step, when one of the officers replied, "No fear of that, madam. Our sisters have not the tastes of Southern gentlemen." Now Grant felt sorry for his unwilling hostess, and he could have comforted her by a single word, but that word he would not speak. He knew that he should move his headquar ters the next day, and leave her in undisturbed com munication with her friends. But it was essential that no one elsewhere should know this, and he kept his own counsel. I told you that in capacity General Grant was Sherman and something more. Grant said of Sherman, "He is the best field officer in this country ;" adding, as he might, when the per son to whom he spoke looked up significantly, " I don't except myself." Grant's superiority to Sher man is not in military knowledge or skill, or pos sibly even in resource. It is a moral superiority. His nature has that grandeur and that power that is given by repose, and by the capacity of serene contemplation. His imperturbable manner is no affectation or result of self-discipline. It is the re flex of an imperturbable soul. Sherman fidgets con tinually, violently half smokes half a dozen cigars, and breaks in upon those with whom he talks. Grant will sit by the half hour without moving, smoking deliberately, and listening silently as he watches the smoke wreaths curl up into the air. He has a large and firm grasp of mind, and when he has once mastered a subject and decided upon a course of action, obstacles or even severe re verses, unless they reveal new conditions, do not disturb his judgment. He reads men well, knows how to put them to their best uses, and how to com mand and control them. He does not expect per fection, and will forgive almost anything but insub ordination. He has the faculty of reconciling discor dant elements by common sense, good nature, and a gentle exercise of authority, and where they can not be reconciled he has the decision to rid himself of one of them instantly. He has the faculty of seeing but disregarding the minor and the non essential, and of basing his conclusions upon the greater truths and guiding bis action by the greater laws. He knows when to take a great responsibi lity, and with all his calm and seeming indifference of manner decides instantly and executes as he de cides. He is utterly without ambition.. Ido not believe that he would care a penny to be President. Some very complaisant Briton writing to the Times said that he found General Grant entirely without that bluster which is characteristic of his country men, which, by the way, is a remark I have in effect often heard made with regard to such of his coun trymen as the fellow-countrymen of the Times, cor respondent have actually come in contact with. But Gen. Grant is not only quiet in manner, but very modest. A sword was to be presented to him, for the privilege of which his admirers had paid at the great sanitary fair nearly $50,000. To the private note sent to him Asking him when he would meet the New York people to receive . the sword, he answered that it would give him great pleasure to meet them, but not for the purpose of receiving a sword. He begged that he might receive their noble compliment privately. This surprised no one. Gen. M'Clellan did much the same thing, saying that he had not yet earned the sword. Gen. Grant is vain upon only one point—his horsemanship. He rides as if he and his horse were one, body and mind. An unruly horse fell upon him in New Orleans and hurt him severely. Had he been willing to yield his seat he would have escaped uninjured. But here his obstinacy and his vanity worked together. General Grant won the first important victory of the war, Fort Donelson ; that which opened the Mississippi, Vicksburg ; that which was the turning-point of the contest, Chattanooga ; and that which virtually brought it to a close, Richmond. He alone has captured armies, and has captured three. Buckner's at Donelson, Pemberton's at Vicksburg, and Lee's at Appomatox Court House. But my gorge rises now, at seeing newspapers fawn upon him that six months ago called him a baffled butcher. A YANKEE. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. MADRAS. The half-yearly meeting of this company was held on Friday at the London Tavern ; Lieut.-General D. Sim in the chair. The report, an abstract of which has appeared in The Sun, was taken as read. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report, said he hoped they would concur with the directors in considering it a very favourable one. It was not necessary to delay them with many ob servations, but as there were some new shareholders present he would give a brief description of the rail way. The undertaking consisted of two lines, the south-weit line and the north-west line. The south west main line commenced at Madras on the east coast, passing to Vellore, Salem, and other places, and terminated at Beypore on the west coast, and was 407 miles in length. It had also a branch to Ban galore, 85 milesin length, making together 492 miles open for traffic. The north-west line branched off from the south-west lhie, near Arconum, at a point 42 miles from Madras, passing through Cuddapa and Gooty to Raichoor, where it would form a junction with the Bombay line. The distance from Arconum to Raichoor was 290 miles, and the branch from Gooty to Bellary 50 miles, making together 340 miles for the north-west line, the total length of the two lines being 832 miles. That was the extent of rail way the company were authorised to construct. There were at present 571 miles open for traffic, and next month 41 miles more would be opened, mak ing 612 miles, and leaving 220 miles to be completed. When the north-west line was completed to Rai choor and the Bombay line to the same place there would then be a continuous line of railway from Madras to Bombay, 775 miles in length. The com pany's officers in India estimated that the cost of the south-west line, including a sufficient supply of roll ing stock, would be under £ll,OOO a mile, and of the north-west line about £lO,OOO a mile. This would bring the total cost in round numbers to £9,000,000. The company had issued £8,000,000 of stock and shares, and received £7,635,541, leaving a balance of £364,459 to be received on shares not fully paid up. The company had a balance of £408,000, which, with the sums coming in on ac count of shares, would, no doubt, enable them to meet the requirements of the railways for the next six months. The tables given in the report showed a very satisfactory statement of the traffic. Th e traffic receipts had increased, and the percentage of expenses had diminished. The net receipts had increased during the past three half years from £43,071 to £68,966 and to £76,718 for the half year ending Dec. 31 last, which he thought under the circumstances must be considered satisfactory. Taking the cost of the south-west line at £ll,OOO a mile, the return for the past _half year would yield a dividend at the rate of 3 per cent. per annum, but on the actual cost it amounted to 34 per cent. pQr annum. The traffic on the north-west line had con tinued to increase regularly from the opening of the first section. With regard to the iron sleepers the cost of them was about the same as that of w ooden sleepers, but the cost of maintaining them was much less. During the last six months the cost of main , ' tenance was at the rate of £7B per mile per annum, being just half the expense of maintaining the per manent way of the south-west line. The iron was very superior to wood for sleepers in every respect. Mr. ARBUTHNOT seconded the motion for the adoption of the report, which was carried unani mously. The retiring directors, Mr. A. Mackenzie, Lieut. Colonel Montgomerie, ,and Lieut. -General Duncan Col' J. were unanimously re-elected; and also Co ' J. T. Smith, the retiring auditor. The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the chairman and directors. METROPOLITAN AND ST. JOHN'S-1 0°P A special meeting of this company Was held on, Thursday, to consider a bill now before Parliament —Mr. W. Austin in the chair. The CHAIRMAN explained that an arrangenie- nt had been made with the Metropolitan Eailw e l Company for a rebate on the traffic to and from the St. John's-wood line and extension to Haor stead, which would practically be equivalent to a 5 i or 6 per cent. guarantee from the opening of the line for traffic. The Metropolitan Company had power within five years from the opening of the line t ,.. ° lease it at 5i per cent. on its cost. Arrancrenlen' had been made with the contractors for allov ii3g interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum dug construction on the paid up capital. He concluded by moving a formal resolution approving a bill , te authorise the Metropolitan and St. John's -w°' Railway Companyto extend their railway to Thl re t, stead. It authorised the company to raise £200,00v, on shares, and to borrow £66,600, the whole 491 which it was understood was subscribed. The motion was unanimously adopted, and th e proceedings terminated. WEST CORNWALL. A special meeting of this company was held O Friday, at Bristol, for the purpose of taking he consideration the proposed lease of the line to e Great Western, the Bristol and Exeter, and 'l O South Devon Railway Companies ; Mr. Vigu rs - the chair. The CHAIRMAN stated the reasons which had jil t) ; duced the directors to unanimously recommend leasing of the line, and that other schemes of a n it speculative character had been suggested, wh ile ake had also been urged that it was imprudent tom terms for the disposal of the line, while a na rr Z iv , gauge company was now before Parliament se e ' ro z ' powers to connect Truro with the South-W este o f system; but the directors felt that the simplicity the arrangement which had been made with the an() sociated companies was one involving as it did e a traffic accounts or percentages, and securing a fl annual rental, was a fair, and reasonable arra n ' ment, very good for the associated companies/ t ip not a bad one, he hoped,,f or the shareholders of West Cornwall. A resolution approving the bill authorising e d, lease was unanimously adopted, and the Pr° ings terminated. COUNTRY MARKETS '.-**, NORWICHSATURDAY. jet There was an increased supply of wheat at this al` b ot to-day, and the demand being good prices advanoedinc as is per qr. for all good qualities. Little doing in ba r ' e z;toa the malting season is drawing to a close. Oats, be peas commanded late rates. g, red White wheat (weighing 631 b to 641 b), 44s to ' — ittag . ditto (weighing 631 b to 641 b), 36s to 38s ; best r a ditto barley (weighing 551 b to 561 b), 30s to 33s ; as eielr (weighing 541 b to 551 b), 28s to 30s ; distilling ditto 57a mg 521 b to 531 b), 24s to 268 ; oats, 24s to 26s ; be,, ' t " ) 1n 3 65 to 39s ; peas (maple), 36s to 38s per qr; flour, 2 va 6d per sack. YORK—SATURDAY. t An d vr The market was moderately suppli e d with -r 4 !were the attendance was tolerable for th e s easo n. Sa A l e- s Pe t , made to a fair extent, and late rates w ere ex ceedeub i aeu qr. The supply of barley was small, and the demon he r. steady at full rates. Oats in limited supply, a nd h l g 3s per New white wheat, 42s to 47s ; new red, 39s to t oo 36 stone. Barley, for malting, 30s to 32s per qr ; 26s to 28s per 30 stone. Oats, new, 20s to 24s per Is s per Beans, 38s to 40s per 38 stone. Malt, 58s ; rye, qr. Flour, 28s per sack of 2801 b. NOTTINGHAM—SATURDAY. B°s The supply of wheat was limited, and the dolt' „ iy of firm at is per qr. advance. There was a small siqi i y at barley, which realised recent currencies. Cats Iv"' rather over late rates. evt Old white wheat, 42s to 47s ; old red, 405 to 446; 13 12 0" white ? 42s to 47s ; new red, 40s to 44s per 36 stone . 2 6 $ to ley, new malting, 27s to 35s per qr ; old grind" ' to 30$' 28s ; new, 25s to 27s per 30 stone. Oats, old, 25s 11 ,0 1 ' new 22s to 25s ; old foreign, 24s to 26s per stone. *— old, 405 to 43s ; new, 37s to 40s per 38 stone. LEICESTER—SATURDAY. t 4114 The supply of wheat was by no means abundial t ls samples were in varied condition. Business he alth `ii per qr. more money. Th ere was no t much barley' sb ° , to and the inquiry ruled steady a t qu ite as much mou e .' the week previous. Oats made rather more money ne vi Old white wheat, 41s to 45s ; old red, 370 to 41$ ; Bar, white 41s to 45s ; new red, 37s to 41s per 36 stone. r 3O ley, malting, 31.8 to 34s per qr. ; grinding, 27s to 29s 1 , ? 1 , e . stone. Oats, old, 24s to 27s ; • new, 22s to 245 pei24 Beans, old, 39s to 41s ; new, 36s to 38s per 38 stone. DUBLIN. —FRIDAY. There was a good a ttendance of millers, but the dell o was slow, buyers having supplied their wants freelP a l ts reign wheat was dull. Indian corn 6d to 9d lower. U u l and oatmeal scarce, and fine stiffer. Flour met a fai r ness at full rates. d Currencies :—White wheat, 22s 6d to 24s 6d ;ireiolt 20s Gd to 22s Od; grinding barley, 12s Od to 13s ing do., 13s to 14 s 6 d; white oats, 11s to 12s; L'i . " - 10s Od to lls Od. CORK—FRIDAY. , a a The following were the quo t a ti ons this morning 6$ - g , wheat, 7s 6d to Os Od ; whit e , 8 s 8d t o O s Od ; b a rleY o pd; to Os Od ; oats, 8s Od. to 8s 6d ; black oats, 7s 4d to v bero, Os Od. Foreign Mail Packet List. .o gal 19 ' Australia and New Zealand, via Southampton.• •• • .. 13. Ditto, via Marseilles .......................... 31 3 . 7 6, Brazil and Cape Vcrds. by British paoset .......... ..1.'1T!..,,,,,,,. Ditto, by French packet ........... ,T; . , : y ..5. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena.• • • -u "„ i „.. ) , 19. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampfol l • • Zi - i 1 3 Ditto, via Marseilles ........................... ji Falkland Islands ... . ............ gay -• _ , 3. . Gibraltar, via Southampton • .. • MAY lil India (Calcutta), and Ceyl on , vi a S o uthamPton•-••• gay 13' Ditto, via Marseilles - ..... 110 13. India ( Bombay ), via Southa m pto n .. ..... . .......... ~ 3' Ditto, via Marseilles .. ..................... • • ••". 1. 1 . POI Mauritius, via Southampton ... s a y Ditto, via Marseil:e 3 . ................... . 1 0 • ...... .gor Newfoundland ... ••:. g ' 6 • ........ • . Jae Portugal Ditto, by private ship to Lisbon... ..... • • . „• •* 1 ~, United States and British North America, biDr' - i sy A' tish packet Ditto, by United States packet, ;la S. 0..u.;12.;_ni....P..".. ton • • ....... ................... - Ditto, via Cork ................ . ........... g a y Ditto, by Canadian packet, via LOndOnder r Y • 1. - J. West Coast of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe ... West Indies and Pacific (except Bahamas, C 11 7 3 /0 15. 1. and Mexico .................. ................ g as Bahamas, via New oft. ........................... 00. 1 : .... Bermuda, ditto .. . ............................. lop,l Cuba and Mexico ........ ths. ce Du CANE.—On the sth Bir inst , at 21, Quce ll'S-gal°- terrti the Hon. Mrs. Charles Du ' Cane, of a son. _.., of 5 NOREURY.—On the 4th inst., the Hon. Mrs. N orbuw son. RENDLE.—On the sth inst at Saxmundha rn l tlf " e Wife of C. B. Rendle, Esq., of a daughter. Marriages. i m i clibl On n i BUXTON — HAWORTR.—At th parish chur ch ' ' — alli er v the Rev. T. Buxton, M.A., e to - a.Allice, call (1°- , Henry Haworth, vi ttli e' 4 DAWSoN — BRANSCOMBE—On the 6th inst., at St. — 4 , o u.ne" Esq., solicitor, Blackburn. tauixton, John Guy Dawson, t o Elizabeth Jane', 3" psterl daughter of the late Thomas Branscomesci" Devon. Deaths. Tho u s If r A - Bo d l e v ry 7R E v eci .— „ O a n ge t d he Bl s . th inst., at Dim' gton„ Thorn' I , W 6l' c c" OIRRATT.—On the 2d inst., at 2, Beresford-str ; r IS it worth, Mr. James Garratt, aged 80. A diu.- -9 ' HARVEY.—On the 4th inst., at Walmer, Scut, Edward Harvey, G.C.8., aged 8 3 . d, I C°. MANSFIELD.—On the 6th inst., at Gr a y 's-inn-r 0 re ster , C. Mansfield, Esq., aged 56. PESTER.—On the sth inst., at Southsea, John C' the son of Major-General Pester, aged 27. A Sarah, PROBART.—On the sth inst., at Clapham-road wife of Edward Probart, aged 58 . Levisl°l' WHOMES.—On the 6th inst, at Homes -dale , Mrs. Mary Whomes, aged 79. ...................-- --1 ___......---- . -- --- „ r i NiAt' i IA London : Printed and Published by WILLIA..,— . So - - o f of No. 112, Strand, Ranter, at THE SUN O we- dolt/ v Strand, in the Precinct of the SavoY, in the Middlesex.— tionday, May 8, 1865. THE SIM*, LONDON, MONDAY EVENIMI, MAY 8, 1865.)