The Sun. — London, England, 1865-01-23 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA, (From the . Times' Correspondent.) NEW YORK, Jan. 10. The failure of the attack upon Fort Fisher and the defences of Wilmington has led to one impor tant and unexpected result. It has ended the mili tary career of General Butler. Pending an oppor tunity which will, doubtless, in due time be found or made to appoint him to such purely administra tive functions as he exercised at New Orleans, and which it was the earnest desire of his party that he should exercise at New York, the disgraced Major- General has been ordered to report himself at Lowell, his home in Massachusetts, there to medi tate at leisure on the mutability of fortune and the ingratitude of Republics, and to await, with what patience he may command, the passing of the eclipse in which his fame and usefulness have been temporarily shrouded. Though there is, and will be, much rejoicing on the fall of Gen. Butler, - there is too great a sense of justice in the community not to admit that he has been unfairly treated ; that if the naval and mili tary attack on Fort Fisher was to have been simul taneous, the blame of disobedience and consequent failure ought to rest upon Admiral Porter, who commenced his part of the operations without waiting for the arrival of the troops. But Porter was in no one's way. He was not a politician ; he was not the darling of the Abolition party—he had not been nominated by the Loyal League and the Rev. Mr. Beecher for the Presidency; he had not made a host of enemies in every quarter, and he was not, as Butler, an amateur in the business of arms, and consequently distasteful to the regularly educated and trained members of the profession. Therefore Porter, the really guilty person, if there were one guilt in the matter, has been let . alone, and Butler made to play the penalty of his own unpopularity and of another man's transgression. But, though some people are found to deplore the result, none are surprised at it. The mass of the people had long ago come to the conclusion that Butler's true position is not in the field, but at the desk, and he is by far too able and valuable, as well as too unscrupulous, a public servant to be left in permanent obscurity. The expedition against Wilmington is' to be im mediately renewed, with Gen. Ord in command of Butler's corps, and with a largely increased military force to co-operate from the rear. In this city on Sunday last and yesterday great numbers of soldiers, looking sorely fatigued, dirty, haggard, unkempt, and travel-worn, were seen to arrive in regiments and detachments by railways, and to march through the streets for embarcation on board traports waiting in the bay and harbour to receive them. In answer to inquiries, they said they belonged to the army of the Tennessee under General Thomas, but whither bound no one knew except the officer in command. It appears, although the New York press has not been permitted to publish the facts, lest in formation should thereby be conveyed to the enemy, that these troops, spared for the purpose from the main army of Gen. Thomas, are to land at Beaufort, or some other part of the shore of North Carolina, and having effected a junction with the Federal army at Newberne, under Gen. Terry, are thence to march on Wilmington, and attack the city in the rear, while Admiral Porter, assisted by a larger force than that - commanded by Butler, and this time under the charge of a fighting officer, is to at tack Fort Fisher and the other maritime defences that guard the entrances of the Wilmington river. It is expected that the city will be unable to resist so formidable an assault, and that it will fall a cer tain, though possibly not an easy prey to its assail ants, and that the pride of the North will receive the greatest gratification next to the capture of Richmond which it at this moment desires, the clos ing up of the last port open to the intercourse of the South with Europe. Congress is busying itself with the discussion of the abolition of slavery, by legal amendment of the Constitution, thereby confessing, what all the world, except the fanatics of abolition, knew perfectly well, that Mr. Lincoln's proclamations and edicts to that effect were nugatory and invalid, and, unsupported by force of arms, of no more value than waste paper. But the deliberations of Congress to this end excite but little interest. The all but certainty that the South will arm and free its able-bodied slaves, and the possibility, or at least the chance, that the European Powers will be thereby induced to recog nise the Confederacy, occupies the attention of men of all parties. Those who know the South best be lieve most implicitly that both people and leaders are willing, if not anxious, to make the experiment. Those who know little or nothing of the South, and who think that the Union is a fetish as dear to Southern as it is to Northern superstition, cherish the delusion that there is a great Unionist party in the " rebellions" States, which is silenced and in timidated by the Southern President and the armies which he controls, and that there only needs another great victory of the Northern arms—such as that expected at Wilmington—or, pending the preparations necessary to achieve it, an offer of everything that the South can desire, short of independence, to induce both army and the people to submit to a reconstruction of the Union. To all assertions that there is no Union party in the South ; that the opposition to the Government or the measures of Mr. Jefferson Davis, however vio lent it may appear, is nothing but the natural op position in which all constitutional nations indulge, and must not be mistaken for treason to the cause, however exacerbated ill-fortune may make it, these patriots turn a deaf ear. Their belief in the Union, as superior to all other considerations, and advan tages, and blessings, amounts to a fanaticism, and might almost be dignified with the name of a reli gion. No adverse circumstances shake their faith in the holy thing. The more unattainable it appears the more fondly and reverentially they cling to it, and that anyone, except an Englishman, or other preju diced foreigner, should imagine that it has perished irretrievably seems to their minds to be madness in the many and crime in the few. As these ideolo gists form so large a portion of the American people, it is not surprising that some of them should at every supposed favourable moment for the ad vocacy of their views obtain possession of Mr. Lin coln's attention, and that to get rid of their impor tunity, if he do not share their opinions, he should allow them to try their " 'prentice hands" on the great art and mystery of pacification. All previous attempts of the kind have been signal failures. Aft.. Lincoln has never deputed any person of known character and responsibility to discover the real sen timents of the Southern Government, and such fifth rate envoys as, he has either permitted or encou raged, but never authoritatively authorised, to visit the South for this purpose have invariably returned with the same answer—that the South desired inde pendence and would fight for it to the last extre mity. Nothing daunted, however, by these discoin fitures, and nursing the baseless hope that the war has created no such bitterness of hate as to prevent reco nciliation, and that the South is really at its wit's end, and in the position of a drowning man who will a ccept life, if he would accept no other fa vour, at the hands of an enemy, Mr. Francis P. Blair, th e iq edo , of American Whi polic t has re newed his atte rn g y, foiled in this p p to reach Richmond. He was eraore than a week ago. by the refusal of the Southernd w President to receive any ries missiona of the puted by Mr. Lin co l n, and ho h were not expressly de s newed the effort u n d er more a f ilow a , it appears, auspic, es though under what exact conditio n s not known ourablcgr to the public. It is idle to SpCCUlate is Richmourn the re su. Mr. Blair ay not lt m reach ; he may be empowered to ma k e o a r b he 'nay proposition, or he may go for a Northern ona Me rathern than for a Southern one, and have calculated upon failure before he set out, and courted • with * a view to ulterior objects of his own and Mr. Lin coln's party. But if he returns with the news that the South is ready to negotiate for re-union, he will return with the most astounding and incredible in telligence of our time. _ _ _ The possible European recognition of Mr. Lin coln on the 4th of March as President only of those States by whose vote he was re-elected is the fear that sets this singular machinery in motion, and that seems to render necessary an effort of some kind to learn from the South whether it is irrevoca bly determined on separation. As among indivi duals so it is among nations. The sins of early days rise up in after times to clamour for judgment against the wrongdoer. The leading politicians of the dominant party recall their former utterances on the subject of the recognition by the United States of all de facto Governments, whether in Europe or America, and feel uneasy lest the European Powers should apply to them the doctrines they applied to others. In the celebrated case of the United States against Peru, in which the Government of Mr. Buchanan hastily, but peremptorily, recognised the revolutionary Government of that State, Mr. Black, the then Attorney-General, emphatically declared that " it was the duty, the interest, and the invaria ble policy of the United States to recognise all de facto Governments." Though the pamphlet in which Mr. Black's argument was widely circulated has been as far as possible bought up and suppressed by the existing Government, it is to be found in the library of LCongress, to give the weight of Mr. Black's then unquestioned, and, as it appears, un questionable authority to the doctrine when the Powers of Europe may now or hereafter see fit to embrace with reference to the South. Mr. Seward himself too—a more important witness than Attor ney-General Black—may be placed in the witness , box to testify what his opinions were on a similar subject before he trammelled himself with the re sponsibilities of office. On the 9th of March, 1852, he proposed a resolution to the Senate, in which he set forth that the United States, "in consideration of the exigencies of society, habitually recognised de facto Governments," and that a certain people, whom he named, had in the " exercise of a right secured to them by the laws of nations, in a solemn and legi timate manner asserted their national independence, and established a Government by their own volun tary act, and successfully maintained it against all opposition by parties lawfully interested in the question, were fully entitled to their recognition by the United States ;" and that the Government which denied and combated their independence, which he also named, " would have no cases belli against the " United States," if this recognition were forthwith and solemnly proclaimed. The people struggling at that time for independence were the Hungarians, and the opposing Government was that of Austria, and if the Mr. Seward of 1865 were the Mr. Seward of 1852 in principles and opinions, and looked upon facts with a vision undisturbed by party exigencies, or national pride, it would task all his well-known ingenuity to prove that the Southern people had not even more solemnly and legitimately than the Hun garians asserted their national independence ; and that they had not far more brilliantly and success fully, and for a longer period of time, maintained it " against all opposition by parties lawfully interested in the question." The hope of one section of the Northern people and the fear of another that Euro pean recognition will shorkly follow the entrance of the South into the path of negro emancipation lends additional interest to the bygone opinions of a statesman in the position of Mr. Seward. Doubtless, however, should the contingency arise, it will be discovered that the circumstances are not parallel, and that it was perfectly right for a republic to do against a monarchy that which it would be utterly wrong for a monarchy to do against a republic. Naval and Military Intelligence. 110- It has been decided that the camp at Colchester shall accommodate two depot battalions of eight depots each, and the following depots have been ordered to Colchester :—The depot, 41st Regiment, from Preston, Capt. Peddie, Capt. Lowry, Lieut. Brook, Lieut. Taylor, Lieut. Michell, and Ensign Duncombe, to join the 4th depot battalion ; the de pot 63d Regiment, from Belfast, Capt. Fitzroy, Capt. Moore, Lieut. Smyth, Lieut. Burton, Lieut. Beere, and Lieut. Bayle, to join the 4th depot bat talion ; and the depot 84th Regiment, from Pem broke, Brevet-Major O'Brien, Capt, Heley, Lieut. Simpson, Lieut. Murray, and Ensign Reckitt, to ' join the 10th depot battalion. The two battalions stationed at Colchester will therefore be composed as follows :-4th depot battalion, comprising the de pots 41st, 54th, 56th, 63d, 70th, 82d, 08th, and 103 d Regiments ; and 10th depot battalion, comprising the depots Ist battalion Ist Foot, 2d battalion 6th Foot, 34th, 38th, 44th, 66th, 84th, and 97th Regi ments. Some experiments have been made on the Royal Engineer field-works, Chatham, during the last few days, with the view of testing the resisting powers offered by targets covered with coatings of com pressed paper of different degrees of thickness. The experiments produced some rather surprising and in teresting results, and would appear to prove that paper presents a remarkable power of resistance to shot. Until now it has not received that attention which it would seem to demand. The official re port of the trials will be transmitted to the Ord nance Select Committee, under whose directions they were carried out. Major-Gen. R. S. Armstrong, of the Royal Ar tillery, is to have the " distinguished service" re ward of 1100 per annum, vacated by the appoint ment :of Major-_Gen. Dupuis, C. 8., Col.-Com mandant of a Brigade ; and a similar reward, va cated by the death of Major-Gen. Palliser, has been conferred on Major-Gen. Francis Warde. The an nual pensions of £9l 55., held by Major-Gen. Arm strong and Major-Gen. Warde, have been bestowed on Major-Gen. Burke Cuppage and Major-Gen.-J. St. George, C.B. The screw steam gunboat Hind, tender to the Coastguard ship St. George, arrived at Plymouth on Friday to embark stores. The screw steam corvette Cadmus, 21, Capt. Alexander Gordon, which arrived on Friday at Plymouth, will probably leave the Sound to-day for the West Indies. The screw steam-frigate Aurora, 3, Capt. Sir F. Leopold M'Clintock, left Plymouth Sound, at 4 on Saturday afternoon for Bermuda, en route to the West Indies. • The paddlewheel steam-sloop Geyser, 6, Com mander Arthur T. Thrupp, left Plymouth on Friday night for Portsmouth, to embark supernumerary officers and men for Gibraltar. The paddlewheel steam sloop Virago, 6, Com mander William G. H. Johnstone, from Bermuda, arrived in Plymouth Sound on Friday evening. When entering Bermuda from Halifax, about four p.m. December 4, and being about eight or nine miles from the island, she struck on an outlying rock, one of the Bermuda Reef. The Virago was as the time under steam, and going from six to seven knots per hour. Her timbers were started from the stempost as far up as the 6-foot mark, the keel of her stem was started, and the bolts driven back ; two or three streaks of copper were ripped off, and the whole of the starboard side severely shaken. Had the sloop been a sailing ves sel she would have sunk in less than three hours, but being a steam er s h e was kept afloat by the acti on of her bilge ejection pipes. She entered Bermuda the next morning, and was repaired by a diver alongside the jetty. The Virago left December 31, for England, in company with the screw corvettebut Challenger, 22, Capt. John J. Kennedy, C. 8., parted from her four days afterwards. •On the homeward voyage heavy gales from south-west, veering to north-west, were experienced, and on Saturday, Jannary 14, the first gig was washed away, carrying with it part of the starboard paddlebox. On Thursday last, when off Ushant, about thirty bales of cotton were passed. The ,Virago was commissioned July 26, 1861, was engaged in the Channel until August, 1863, when she left Plymouth for the West India station. Her engines are in very bad repair, and on Saturday some of the Staff of the Steam Reserve at Devonport were sent on hoard to inspect them. Should they be found capable of further duty the Virag o will receive additional coal and proceed to one n inul f vfil t al he eastern ports, where it crew be is probable her court-martial on assembled at th p e ai r d eef off a . consequence of her wander Johnstone James F. B. Wainwright, of . the Terror, Presialt. The Court reprimanded Com power, Capt. J. the 1\11"-oneclY' The screw corvette Re Challenger, 22, 400-horse C. 8., just arrived at the Nore from Indian station, will, in ace rt o h rd American and West put out of com with orders re ceived at Chatham, be paid offallarel mission without any of her bulkheads or internal fittings being disturbed, while the whole of her stores are to be returned in such a manner that they may be available at the shortest notice should the vessel be required for early commission. The crew have commenced dismantling her and returning her stores into the dockyard. The Challenger has been in commission nearly four years. Her Majesty's steam storeship Dee, Master Com mander Raymond, sailed from Woolwich Dockyard on Saturday morning at six o'clock, her hold filled with naval stores, for Liverpool, and boilers, &c., on her deck for the 24-gun iron ship Lord Clyde, 4,067 tons, and 1,000-horse power, building at Pembroke. Soon after her departure the river and the town of Woolwich and neighbourhood became enveloped in a dense fog. From the well-known experience of her commander it was expected that the Dee would not proceed, but would lay to in the river until the following morning. Prepa rations were in perfect readiness at an early hour on Saturday for hoisting the new iron sheers in their place, but the work could not be carried out on account of the fog. A telegraphic notice from the Admiralty to the Naval Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth (Admi ral Sir Michael Seymour, G.C.8.), relative to the loss of her Majesty's ship Bombay at Montevideo, was posted outside Portsmouth dockyard gates on Friday evening. Shortly afterwards Lieut. Stirling, late of the Bombay, arrived at the official residence of Admiral Seymour with despatches from the Ad miralty, which were forwarded to her Majesty at Osborne by the Fire Queen, Staff-Commander Paul. The following appointments were made on Satur day at the Admiralty :—Commander John D'Arcy to the Osborne, commissioned; H. D. Sarratt, master, to the Osborne ; G. B. Hill, surg., to the Osborne ; Alexander Murphy, assist.-Burg., to the Cumberland; J. E. Skinner, assist.-surg., to the Osborne ; N. Stearn, engineer, to the Osborne; and J. B. Stevens, assist.-engineer, to the Osborne. THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 23, 1865 Repeal of the Malt Tax. An influential county meeting was held in the Corn Ex change, Leicester, on Saturday, in furtherance of the objects of the Leicestershire Anti-Malt Tax Society. Lord Berners occupied the chair, there being also present Sir Fitzroy Kelly, M.P., Lord John Manners, M.P., E. R. Hartopp, Esq:, M.P., Lord Curzon, M.P., Davenport Bromley, Esq., M.P., Busfield Fernand, Esq., M.P., Sir Frederick Fowke, Bart., &c. In opening the meeting Lord BERNERS read a letter from one of the county members, Mr. Packe, regretting that he was not able to attend and advocate the repeal of the malt tax, and stating his belief that the only way to ensure re dress under pressure of any grievance is to maintain un flinching perseverance until the object is gained; and he was fully prepared to support any measure which shall ulti mately effect the total abolition of the malt tax. If, on financial grounds, the whole of so large a portion of the re venue could not be immediately given up, he should, as he did last year, be ready to assist in binding the Government so to frame their finances as to ensure a total repeal of the tax, and he hoped the country would continue to be ani mated with the same determination as at present until that was accomplished. The noble CHAIRMAN said that having for thirty years been an advocate for the repeal of the malt tax, he felt gra tified to find that in this and other counties the subject was now so freely and openly discussed. The recommendation he would make to them was to act with moderation, union, and indomitable perseverance ; moderation, because be be lieved that if they pressed on the Government an immediate reduction of the whole of a very oppressive duty they would not succeed in attaining that end ; union, because in all their struggles to obtain a mitigation of whatever pressed injuriously upon the agricultural interests they had failed in those instances in which perfect unison had not pre vailed ; and perseverance, because he was quite sure that the advocates of other interests would set them the ex ample in the furtherance of their own peculiar views, and therefore if the farmers of England were thrown over in their present enterprise, it would be mainly attributable to their want of union and perseverance. (Cheers.) They might remember that some years since the leading men of the day of all political parties, Sir Robert Peel, Sir James Graham, and others, admitted that if the corn laws were repealed, there were heavy and peculiar burthens borne by the land which could not be defended, but must be revised. Little revision had, however, yet taken place, and therefore it was the more important that they should pour in petit tions, and instruct their members to unite in Parliament, and press upon the Government the abolition of this tax. It was not a political question, but a great so'cial question, affecting alike the consumer and producer of malt, and there fore involved the interests of the community at large. In a report of a committee of the House of Lords in 1846, it was clearly proved—and afterwards admitted by several leading politicans—that the impost lias oppressive and un justifiable, and therefore one that ought to be repealed, in order to enable the farmer to make the best of his produce ; because it was acknowledged that the inferior barley did not meet with that ready sale which it would find were the malt tax no longer in existence. It had been shown, too, that under the five heads of tithe, land, tax, highway rate, poor rate, and church rate—the land contributed a sum which was equal to an income tax of 23 per cent. on the rateable value of real property in England and Wales. Cer tain proposals had been made to confer upon the agricultural interests what the present Chancellor of the Exchequer con sidered a great boon. (Laughter.) Instead 9f that it had proved a delusion, a complete delusion. That measure of Mr. Gladstone's was like throwing a tub to a whale, in order to direct the attention of the farming community from the total repeal of a most obnoxious tax, under the pretext of enabling them to make malt for the feoding of animals. A gentleman connected with Norfolk, Mr. Charles Turner, had published a letter addressed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in which were such passages as these :—" On the passing of the act it was enacted that the details should be settled by the Board of Excise ; and my experience as a producer of malt duty free leads me to the conclusion that either the Government is anxious the bill should be a dead letter, or the system of red tape prevalent at the Board of Excise will make it so. The regulations and hindrances in the making of malt duty free are so vexatious and ab surb that those who have embarked in its production must either charge for the same at almost the cost of that which is subject to Excise, or give up its production altogethe r For six long months I have been in correspondence with the Excise. The board require a large outlay upon malting premises for making feeding malt above what is required in ordinary maltings. Then the linseed required to mix with the malt must be of so fine a quality that it is almost impossible to get it to come up to the standard they re quire. After the malt is made the Board of Excise require it to be ground so fine that nothing but steam power can produce it to their test ; and then the farmer will risk the losing of half the feeding power should he take it into his fields to his stock on a windy day. But the absurdity of the matter did not end here. The board will not allow the malt and linseed after it is ground to be mixed, as it might be, by hand and shovel, but they have decreed that an elaborate mixing hopper shall be invented, so ingenious that export machinists have withdrawn from the attempt in disgust. Again, lam obliged to give in writing notice twelve hours previous to steeping the barley, drawing , sprinkling, loading kiln, turning on kiln, measuring from kiln, moving from store, moving to mill room for grinding, mixing, and other operations, such as weighing, measuring, &c. ; but all these in their absurdity are as nothing com pared to the burlesque of making malt duty free, as carried out by the Board of Excise, and which, if enforced, was to effectually put a stop to making malt for feeding purposes. I have, after unheard of difficulties, succeeded in getting two lots of malt off the kiln ; but guess my astonish ment when the exciseman charged me several shillings duty for each lot for this duty free malt ; and his reason is, that though I steeped only 21 coombs of barley and took off the kiln 22 coombs of malt, he assumes that I, or some one, extracted some bushels of malt in its making ; and therefore he charges the duty each time I make, be cause by the theory of the Excise, I ought to have had five bushels more malt on each making. I therefore have to pay 275. for 42 coombs of malt under the absurd regu lation, and by an act of Parliament for the making of malt duty free. Now, if malt can be made at 2s. per coomb, I am satisfied all those extra expenses that I have above adduced will be 2s. per coomb more, or 4s. per coomb— nearly half what the duty is on malt." The .Chairman then referred to some letters, addressed to the editor of the Mark Lane Express, by Mr. Wm. Gurdon, a barrister of the Norfolk Circuit, who proposed that instead of a duty being enforced on the quantity of malt made, it should be enforced in respect of the area of the kiln. Mr. I' moved, " That inthe opinion of thi s me e ti ng, the principles of free trade having been adopted by Govern ment umraenoyf d n u a t f ie iv s e p p r r e o v d io u r e l , y th im e imposed and b t a h r e le u y s i e n in the r e p ea l o f t h e corn laws, and in the abandon mentfoafct an th d e manufacture of malt ought not to be an exception." Sir FITZROY KELLY, M.P., upon rising, was received with loud cheering. He said they would hardly expect from him a speech upon the general subject of the malt tax, or the numerous evils which resulted to the community from that most unjust imposition. (Hear, hear.) They were better acquainted with the weight and oppression of those evils than he was. Ferhapy he might be permitted, in a few words, to call their attention to the true position of that im portant question at the present moment, and if he might venture to do so, to throw out some suggestions which occurred to his own mind as to the course which he consi dered it incumbent to pursue, if they required the present or ultimate repeal of the malt tax. The hon. member here described the operation of the tax, from its being first im posed as a war tax in 1797 to the present time, and observed that it had been going on increasing in time of war, and re mained altogether undiminished in time of peace, without any hope of reduction until 1863, when the pressure, the grievances, and the great evils of the malt tax bore so heavily upon the agricultural community that it called forth public meetings in Sussex, and some other adjoining counties. In Suffolk, a division of which he had the hon our to represent, it was resolved that the representatives of that county should be called upon to take some steps to call the attention of the Government to this subject. The result of this motion was a deputation, headed by himself, which waited on the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and after stating a very strong case, they en treated him to give his immediate and earnest attention to that very important subject. The Chancellor of the Ex chequer and the party to which he belongs became aware, from the language in which he was addressed—moderate as that language was—that there was a pressure from behind and from without, through the greater part of this country, to which they felt compelled, in some degree, to yield. What was the consequence ? When a few weeks afterwards he brought forward the first motion which had been made in the House of Commons—he meant the first specific mo tion, intending to carry the object into effect as far as pos sible—for the committee of inquiry to look into the position and operation of the malt tax, the Government gave way, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer privately informed him that the question should be considered, with however a due regard to the interests of the revenue. At the next session Parliament,anticipating the motion would again be brought forward, the Chancellor of the Exchequer himself intro duced the bill to which allusion had been made by the noble chairman, and which had been described by the noble lord and another speaker as of no value at all. He had received during the last week a communication from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who believed that it was doing some effective good to the agricultural community. (Cries of " None at all.") Such, he felt, was the opinion of the com munity at large. He mentioned this fact—be its effect good or bad—in order to call their attention to another act of concession on the part of the Government, wrung from them by that indomitable perseverance of the people which their chairman had so wisely recommended them to pursue. When the budget was prepared the question of the malt tax was placed in juxtaposition with the sugar duty, but the duty on the latter, which was imposed dying the time of the Russian war, was repealed. They had now come to a time when all these arguments must be set aside, and when a special question must and would come before the Legisla ture for a gradual and ultimate repeal of the tax. The evils of that tax were really almost beyond exaggeration. It was opposed to the very first great principle of that free trade which had been the basis of the legislation of the country for the last fifteen years.. (Hear, hear.) He did not believe that there was any man who felt convinced that the malt tax ought to be completely repealed. The whole question was one of time and mode of operation. The hon. member then compared the question of the malt tax with that of the repeal of the corn laws, and stated that when Sir R. Peel introduced that bill into the house he said when the corn laws were repealed the malt tax must follow. He also alluded to the advantage to be de rived by the labouring classes from the repeal of the tax, and said it had been ascertained by a careful calculation that they would be enabled to get good wholesome beer, instead of the adulterated stuff, at about half the price. In conclusion, he said the matter was a question of policy affecting the whole community, and put it next as a ques tion of justice affecting the agricultural portion of the community, and as a question of humanity to the great bulk of the labouring classes. It was his intention upon the very first night Parliament assembled to give notice of motion on this subject, but what would be the precise terms he could not say at present, but it would be as prac ticable as possible, and he hoped he would receive the best support of members of both shades of politics, and that they would obtain that justice to which they were entitled. (Hear, hear.) The resolution was put and carried unanimously. Mr. OLDACIIES proposed—" That the excise duty upon malt is unjust and oppressive ; that it operates most un fairly upon the community at large ; that it is an impost which presses heavily upon the agriculturists, and greatly increases the cost to all classes of society of one of the chief necessaries of life." Seconded by Mr. WRIGHT, and supported by Mr. FnEwEN, who took credit for being the first to fight, and that single-handed, against the hop duty in the House of Commons. Mr. BUSFIELD FERRAND, M.P., addressed the meeting, denouncing free trade as a mockery, a delusion, and a snare, and contending that, had the tax then under consideration been one upon cotton or worsted goods, it would not so long have remained unrepealed. Not one pledge that had been made to the farmers on the repeal of the corn laws, and among them the abolition of the malt tax, had been re deemed ; and, therefore, he should personally exert his pri vileges in Parliament to obtain justice, in that respect, for the British farmer. The resolution having been adopted, Captain KNIGHT moved, " That the passing of the Malt for Cattle Bill is a recognition of the claims of the agricul turist to some relaxation of the present law ; that this re laxation is rendered nugatory by the stringent requirements of the act; that this meeting is of opinion that only so far as the total repeal of the duties on malt is approached will any real benefit be conferred upon the agriculturists or the community at large by reducing the cost of fattening animals and rendering cheaper and more wholesome the beverage so essential to the comfort of all, especially the labouring classes ; that in any remission of taxation the interests of the agriculturist as affected by the malt tax have the first claim for the . consideration of the Chancellor of the Ex chequer." Seconded by Mr. SIMKIN, and supported by Mr. DEVON PORT BROMLEY, M.P. for North. Warwickshire. Lord Jous MANNERS, M.P„ upon rising was received with loud cheering. He said the injustice of this tax, as it affected the land, was so universally admitted that he believed that although the farmers, as a class, were not the most powerful section of the political community, and although those now in power might not be very favourably disposed towards them, he was still of opinion that were it not for the large amount at stake justice would before now have been rendered them. If, instead of a question of several millions a-year, it had only been a few thousands, as in the th case duty, the m a lt t ax wou ld h av e shared duty. It was not t h e cause o f efate of of the the hopop the country gentlemen, but the cause of the powerful re prese:afatives of the more powerful and urban community which opposed the taking off of these millions of taxation. They considered the tail would have to be replaced in some way more onerous to themselves. That was the rea son why they were burdened with the malt tax, and it was no use members of committees being pledged to do this, that, or the other so long as the great body of the urban population were• individually convinced that the malt tax benefitted them. It was to that point their practical labours should be addressed, and when they had convinced the urban population that their interests were really consulted by the repeal of the malt duty, they would then find suffi cient support from the county members to make that tax no liinger a burthen upon them. He would call their at tention, in brief to the debate which took place in the House of Commons upon the subject of the Malt tax. Last session they had a very reasonable and a very mode rate proposition made by a county member. The House divided, and there were 176 votes against it, and 128 for it. How did they suppose that majority and that minority to be composed ? Of the 176 who voted against the repeal of the malt tax, 139 were borough members, and only 37 representing English, Scotch, Irish, or Welsh counties ; and of the minority of 128, only 44 represented boroughs, and 82 represented county constituencies. It, therefore, rested mainly with the representatives of the boroughs to say whether or not this tax should be diminished or ultimately repealed. He should not occupy any of their time by enlarging upon the mischief and injustice of the tax, as that was thoroughly understood, but he would simply reply to the observations of several of the previous speakers, who were desirous of knowing what course of action their members intended to take upon this very important question. He rejoiced at being able to take part in that public consultation. He was looking at the figures which he had laid before them in order to see what really was the position of this question in the House of Commons. The position he took it to be in was as follows: —They had at the present time an income tax of 6d. in the pound, a tax, be it remembered, continued from time to time upon what many people regarded as false pretences ; a tax which had been made use of for the purpose of re pealing many taxes which were far less onerous than the malt tax, which had been mentioned that day ; but if they let it be supposed that it was proposed to keep the income tax for the repeal of the malt duty, they would at once raise the opposition of that important body to which he had alluded. With the exception of the duty upon fire and life assurances, he did not know that there was any other tax in existence which could be compared for an instant with the malt tax ; and he believed that if the line pursued last session by Mr. Morritt were strengthened and supported and persevered in, they would arrive, at no very distant period, at a successful issue upon this question. There was only one point upon which ho should wish to say another word. An allusion had been made to the position of the working classes, to the actual tiller of the soil, as affected by this tax. He believed that were the malt tax repealed the actual cultivation of the soil would be set free from that worst of all thraldoms, the thraldom of the beer shop and the publichm4e, and in this sense the repeal of the malt tax meant the freedom of the tiller of the soil from the thraldom of the public-house, and freedom from the beer-shop meant increased money for the wife to spend at home, which meant better education for his children, which meant increased health and comfort to the labouring man himself, and which meant an increase in the morality, sobriety,and the happiness of every Englishman. It was that public morals were affected in the repeal of the malt tax to a degree and extent to which they were not affected by any of those great remissions of taxation which the increased revenue of the country permitted that they sought for this reduction. If they wished to acquire that end they must keep the matter prominently before the public, and endeavour to persuade those who represented cities and boroughs that the repeal of the malt tax was to benefit the great communities which they represented. If it were pressed strenuously upon public consideration the enormous boon which cheap and wholesome beer, brewed at home by the working man, must confer upon the rural population of the country they would then have every reason to hope they would get rid of this obnoxious tax. It had been stated that however long this tax remained the griev- anco would exist, and cost of collection would not diminsh —but he would say that all thanks to their ever-increasing and ever-developing colonial empires, and their ever-in-, creasing and developing trade, the resources of their revenue were so elastic that they might confidently expect a surplus to be available—and if that surplus were devoted for one, two, three, or four years, partially to the diminution of the income tax and partially to reduction of the malt tax, they would find that the tax would be eventually abolished by a process which would not otherwise be done if they attempted to put it down or extinguish it by a single blow. Mr. HARTOPP, M.P., admitted that when it was acknow ledged that a tax was unjust in principle and injurious in its operation, it was the duty of a member of Parliament to his constituents to assist in effecting a repeal. He should consider it, therefore, to be his duty to watch over the ques tion, and support such relaxation or diminution of the tax on malt as might be offered from time to time, looking. honestly forward to the day when the duty would alto gether be abolished ; but he would not give his support to any sensational motion for the repeal of a tax which, in the present state of the national finances, could not imme diately be altogether sacrificed. Lord CURZON, M.P., said that they had been told by the Chancellor of the Excheqv that he could not do without this tax. That was his business, not theirs. (Laughter.) He (Lord Curzon) considered that the repeal of the tax would be a great boon to the agricultural labourers, whose comfort and respectability they should endeavour to pro mote ; and therefore, on that and other grounds, he would pledge himself in any way that he might consider the quickest and the best to get rid of that most obnoxious im post. (Applause.) The resolution was then passed. A petition embodying the resolutions was then agreed to, and the thanks of the meeting voted to Sir F. Kelly and other members of Parliament, who had attended on that occasion, and also to Lord Berners for his able presidency. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC jOITRNALS. THE " EXAMINER" ON THE PRUSSIAN PARLIA MENT.—The traditional policy of violence is once more loud in self-gratulation at Berlin. Its haughty scorn of liberalism has been thus more than justified by the event, and the impotent murmurings of diplo macy have been put down as mere impertinence by the triumphant invaders of Slesvig-Holstein. Otto von Bismark walks with brows that he ima gines to be wreathed with laurels. He is and feels himself the hero of the hour. It is a day of rebuke and blasphemy against all that used to be called popular right and international justice ' • and he, the author and finisher of an otuwitted people's un-faith, is at no pains to conceal his exultation. His royal mouthpiece, at the re-opening of the Chambers, has only repeated Bismark's crow on his own dungheap. The majority are reminded that without the military organisation against which they formerly contended, Denmark could not have been so easily despoiled, and the old repute of Prussia for rapine and appro priation of neighbours' goods could not have been maintained. In bitter mockery, King William hopes that his querulous Parliament, which recently bade him God speed in his burglarious attack on the Duchies, will see the importance of his always having fit tools at his command for like enter prises, and the propriety of asking no curious or jealous question as to when, where, or why he--their Lord by Right Divine—may think fit to use such implements. Of a truth, his maraud ing Majesty has fairly the laugh with him. Liberal deputies who might have won the sympathy of all enlightened Europe by resisting the war policy of the Court last spring, and initiated a counter policy of peace and honour, certain eventually to make every true man in Germany their fellow-labourer, find themselves now apparently bereft of either national repute or local power. They had the constitutional game in their hands, and they miserably threw it away. Now they propose to take it up again. After prolonged resistance to the reactionary designs, they suffered themselves to be drugged by their almost baffled adversary, and while under the influence of the potion stupidly accepted from his hand, they abandoned their position in the van of enlightened progress, and suffered him without dispute to wield the resources of the State for a whole year. The attention of the community has thus been concen trated during that time on the invasion of Denmark and the annexation of its conquered provinces. Herr von Bismark has kept his word. He inaugu rated his career as a Minister by the declaration that the future greatness and prosperity of Prussia must be asserted by " fire and steel." For this he naturally sought the reorganisation of the army upon a footing that would place it more irresponsibly at the disposal of the Crown, as regarded mobilisation, discipline, and pay. He wanted to have it more ready for sudden use upon occasion, and conse quently less subject to the control of Parliament. In short, he wished to divest it of whatever subordina tion to social and political sanctions it previously acknowledged, and be able to wield it as a passive instrument of despotic power. All this was perfectly natural to such a man ; and, to do him justice, he has shown no lack of courage or ability in following up his purpose. It was equally natural that the elected representatives of the people should oppose his subversive and enslaving schemes. They refused to vote for the Budget of 1863, and as they would neither be browbeaten nor cajoled in the matter, Parliament was dissolved. A still greater majority of the new Chamber refused to yield. A loan to meet the contingencies of war was rejected; and the Minister at the beginning of 1864 stood at bay. It was at this moment that he conceived the hardy project of plunging into hostilities, and challenging Parliament to disown or sanction them. Forgetful of all that had passed, and insensible to the sinister motive by which the Minister was influenced, a majority of the House of Representatives fell into the snare, authorised the invasion o f H o l s t e i n, sanc tioned the military convention with Austria, made for the purpose, voted confidence in the administra tion of Otto von Bismark, and sine die adjourned the further discussion of the constitutional question. That episodical act of the new historic drama of " Fire and Steel " being over, the orchestra pre pares us for a recovery of the lost thread of the story, with a set of new variations on the old theme. THE " OBSERVER" ON RUMOURED ALARMS IN CANADA.—There was an absurd rumour—or per haps we might say a brace of rumours—brought by telegraph in one of the last telegrams from New York. It was unreservedly stated that fresh troops were about to be sent to Canada, and as a motive for this precautionary measure, that the Govern ments of France and England were about to ac knowledge the independence of the Southern Con federacy of America. Now, it seems almost super fluous to contradict these statements. There never was a time when there was less reason to recognise the Southern States, for they certainly have not established any likelihood of being regarded as a permanent Government, although they have hitherto maintained a stubborn resistance. The EMperor of the French has repeatedly requested the English Government to join him in recognition of the Southern Confederacy, but the Cabinet finally re solved to maintain the neutrality which they haVe avowed from the beginning as the wise and prudent policy of this country. As to Canada, so far from sending new troops there, a portion of those who were so promptly sent out on the occasion of the Trent affair have been withdrawn. It is known that the two battalions of the Guards have returned to England, as well as the Military Train, which is only required in time of war, or of impending hos tilities. There is really nothing that would require any additional strong military force in our North American possessions at present. There is, in fact, no more' than the usual garrison in Canada. The only difference is that the force employed there is more concentrated, and not so much spread out in small detachments. There is no doubt a great deal of what the Americans themselves designate as "tall talk" about Canada amongst some unofficial and idle people in the United States. But the Su preme Government has given no countenance to those pronouncements. On the contrary, they have li lost no time in disavowing the foolish bravado of General Dix in relation to the invasion of Ca nadian territory. The Canadian Government have also dohe their part well in the matter of peace. So, too, have the Canadian Courts, and, what is more important than all, the Canadian people. We had to complain of the Canadians when they defeated the late Ministry on a vote for establishing the militia on a sound and efficient footing. It was shrewdly suspected at the time that there were other reasons—which were at least sufficient in a party sense—for the Ministerial defeat. This sus picion has proved to be true, for the present Minis try has not been wanting in all proper precautions for the defence of the country against aggression, whilst they at the same time took care to avoid any occasion or excuse for a hostile attack. They have made a very proper distinction between the right of asylum for political refugees, and the harbouring of persons who abused that sacred right for the pur pose of piratical or dishonest raids upon the indus trious and peaceable inhabitants of the border. For the present, at least, the Canadians are pursuing a prudent, as well as a patriotic course. They are avoiding all just causes of offence, and at the same time they are preparing, in conjunction with their neighbours in the islands and on the continent, a confederacy which will be strong enough for mutual defence, and, we hope at the same time, prudent enough to avoid any unjust aggression. We had occasion some weeks back to speak approvingly not only of this confederation but of the prudent and patriotic sentiment of the delegates who assembled to set it on foot. Everything that has since trans pired sp%aks well for the future of this wise and neighbourly combination. They have only to be strong, and, at the same time, conciliating, and they will not fail to secure the respect, or, at all events, to check the ambition of their restless neighbours-- whilst they will certainly receive the support and assistance of their fellow subjects in the old coun try in all just efforts to preserve their independence, and their desire to live in peace and freedom. THE " SATURDAY REVIEW" ON THE LEARNING OF LANGUAGES.—The difference between scientific and unscientific treatment of language, or indeed of anything else, mainly consists in observing like nesses and unlikenesses, in classifying them, and in tracing the facts back to their causes. It iva clear and rational method instead of a confused and arbi trary method. It does not burden the memory with arbitrary technicalities, but uses every word employed in a sense at r once clear and ac curate. As far as may be, it gives the reason for everything. Of course there are cases in which this is impossible. Even geometry has its postulates and axioms, which we are required to believe with out being able to prove them. It is therefore no blame to philology that it has its postulates . and axioms also. Philology cannot say why the root Vid should mean to see or know ; but if thus much is granted, everything else that is wanted follows. It cannot say why certain nations fail to pronounce certain sounds, and other nations to pronounce other sounds, but when the fact is once admitted, it can group all the results of the fact in their proper rela tions to each other. Professor Muller gives a plan- Bible explanation of the secondary phenomena of Grimm's Law, but nd one can explain the p r i mar y phenomena. e tells us the results produced on the', pronunciation of other letters by the fact that Latin has no sound answering to or p, but he cannot tells why a Roman, like a modern High German, found a difficulty in uttering a sound which to a Greek or an Englishman is perfectly easy. Com parative philology, in short, tell us as much about its own matter as any other science can tell us and no more. A scientific treatment of that matter ranges the secondary phenomena in their proper re lations under the primary phenomena. In an un scientific treatment, the facts, even if accurately given, are not put in any rational relation to one another ; each fact is dealt with as isolated from other facts, or, at best, the grouping is something purely arbitrary and empirical. Let us explain our meaning by examples. We will first show what we mean by scientific and unscientific treatment of the history of a whole language, and give some examples of the same difference in points of detail. Let it be required to write a short history of the English lan guage. An unscientific person would write a eon fused chaos about Britons, Romans, Saxons, Danes, Normans, and what not ; he would talk about word; " derived from the Saxon," and words derived from the Latin • he might go on possibly to talk abo u t " Semi-Saxon" and " Early English," and to talk about English displacing " Saxon," and so forth. A scientific description, very brief but accurate as far as it goes, would be something like this. " Eng- lish is a Low-German [better Low-Dutch] dialect, brought into Britain by the Angles and Saxons. Its grammar, its forms of words, the most necessary , parts of its vocabulary, still remains strictly Teu tonic. But its vocabulary has received a very small Celtic infusion from the conquered Welsh, and a very large Latin infusion, partly from the gradual effects of the Norman Conquest, partly from later influences. The loss of most of its inflexions, a process common to it with the - other most closely allied languages, has been both hastened and ren dered more complete through the same causes." This, we conceive, is a clear and accurate statement of the case, leaving out nothing that is absolutely essential to a correct view of the matter, though of course requiring many things to be supplied and amplified. And we venture to think that such a de scription is really easier to understand than the usual vague talk. Of course it requires every word that is used to be used in one precise and clearly defined sense ; but where is the hardship of this ? Such a description puts the facts in their true relations to one another ; it avoids any confusion between deri vatives and cognates ; it puts forth the difference between a mere infusion, however vast in extent, and the native essence of a language; it 'wholly avoids the common confusion about the supplanting or displacement of languages by one another. What we mean is this. The English of the eighth or ninth century is no longer intelligible to Englishmen. The provincial Latin spoken at the same time in Gaul, Spain, or Italy is no longer intelligible to a French man, a Spaniard, or an Italian. English never dis placed Anglo-Saxon, French never displaced Latin. There was no moment when French and English, as wholes, displaced Latin and Anglo-Saxon. The younger form grew out of the elder, and changed in the process till the difference became so great that the elder form ceased to be intelligible. This is a totally different process from real displacement—a process which has also gone on upon a large scale both in Gaul and Britain. English has largely sup planted Welsh and Cornish. French has largely sup planted Basque, Breton, and German. In all these cases there was a real displacement. The substitu tion of English for Cornish began when the first native Cornishman spoke English only ; the substi tution ended when the last Cornish-speaking person —Dolly Pentreath or anybody else—died, and the language with her. No doubt this process is very gradual, but it quite differs from the other process. It is a process not of growth but of conquest ; it is not that one thing is gradually developed out of or is changed into another, but that one whole ready made thing gradually drives another whole ready made thing out of the field. And this process of supplanting or displacement goes on with kindred as well as with foreign dialects. The literary Eng lish has largely supplanted various local forms of Teutonic ; the literary French has largely sup planted various local forms of Romance. People gradually leave off speaking Provencal and Low land Scotch, and speak French or English instead. This, though happening between kindred languages, is the same process by which English supplanted Cornish, not the process by which modern English was developed out of the primitive form of 'the tongue. Now, surely all this, if clearly and simply put, is perfectly easy to understand, and to look at the history of a lan guage in this way must make it far more attractive than it can be made by the usual vague and con fused way of describing things. Let us now take a case in detail. We hold—and we speak from expe rience—that a child, when learning any language, should be taught from the beginning so much of Grimm's Law as is applicable to the languages which he learns. A child learns German, and is told that Mater is " German for" daughter; he learns Greek, and he is told that S-vycirfip is "Greek for" daughter. Put so, these are arbitrary bits of information, to be remembered by a mere process of memory. A quick child may find out for him self that Tochter and daughter are the same ' • but it is very unlikely that any child will see for himself that daughter and 5-trydnip are the same ; and it is utterly impossible that any child should see for him self that K6cov and hound are the same. But the law of formation is perfectly simple. Show the child that evraTqP, ToCHTeR, Da aGHTER are really the same sounds, that they are composed of essen tially the same letters ' • show that the law which rules the initial l e tt ers of avyarrip, Tochter, daughter rules the initial letters of riip, Thier, deer, of pupa, Thiire door; and the thing is no longer a matter of mere memory ; it is a matter of reasoning and com parison. That such explanations make the learning of a language incomparably more interesting no man can doubt. Children to whom a mere grammar lesson is no more attractive than to other children will listen to a lesson in Comparative Philology with almost the interest of a story. ' THE .DRAMATIC CRITICS—DAILY AND WEEKLY, FROM THE " LONDON REVIEW."—Some of our weekly contemporaries—foremost amongst whom we may name the Reader and the Examiner—have been attacking the dramatic critics of the daily press for their sugary criticisms. Such censures would have had more force if they had been less general, and more firmly grounded on facts. They assume that all dramatic criticisms are written by dramatic authors, whose interest it is to please the managers and actors, and not to serve the public. Let us see how far this assumption will bear examination. The Times is represented at the theatres by an active dramatic author ; the Morning Star is similarly represented ; the Daily Telegraph critic writes pantomimes for one or two houses, but has not been, for many years, a general dramatic author; the ,standard and Herald are represented by a gen tleman who is not a writer of plays ; the Morning Post is similarly represented ; the Daily News, which includes the Express, is represented by a gentleman who wrote a little farce about seven years ago, but is not in the market as a dramatic author; and the Advertiser is represented by a gentleman who wrote a tragedy more than a quarter of a century ago, but who has added nothing since to our dramatic literature. The Globe and the Sun, which are not represented by dramatic writers, complete the list of Lon don daily papers, and give us nine journals whose critics -are not active dramatic writers,• against t xo journals tha t are represented by dramatic authors and adapters. The Examiner appears to think that dramatic criticism is in the hands of the gentlemen who supply our theatres with bur lesques, but the above list contains no regular burlesque writer. The Reader abuses the daily press for its subservi ency to managers, on the ground that its critics are dramatic authors, and praises the weekly press on opposite grounds Let us examine the weekly press in this matter. The Saturday Review's dramatic articles are written by an active dramatic author ; the Weekly Dispatch is represented by one of our most prolific dramatists, and the Athenxum, the Illustrated London News, and the illustrated Times, are repre sented by dramatic authors. The Observer, the Examiner, the Reader, and our own paper, are represented by gentle men who are not dramatic authors ; the Spectator never has regular dramatic notices, and the Era and Sunday Times are professedly theatrical papers. This gives up five'dramatic authors who are dramatic critics on the weekly press against four dramatic critics who are not dramatic authors. None of thes3 author-critics are burlesque writers. We need not enter into a disOussion as to how far dramatic - - notices—no matter by whom written—are honest or d is .; honest; we may admit that they aro all far too ge ll '; The fault, however, is ono for which audiences are dile"' responsible. ROYAL INSTITUTION. 4.--- The evening meetings of the members of the RoYa lir stitution commenced for the season on Friday. T he lec, —n ~,.e was delivered by Dr. Tyndall, the subject bei n g • - : (1 Combustion by Invisible Rays," and the chair was oecni t , by the Comte de B err i. P ro f essor Ty n d a ll commenced by explaining briefly therdiscoveries of Sir Wm. Ilerschel° M. Mellorie on th e h ea ti ng proper t y o f th e invisible' r tt Y s i be • yond the red in the s o l ar s p ec t rum , an d by noticing ° le i, i be ther discoveries on the same su bj ec t by Sir John g erse t o Prof. Stokes, and others. It had b een a scertained by car° ,ed experiments that when a beam of light is decoair'im by refraction through a glass prism, the heating pow er °f various coloured rays is different—the violet and blue r giving less heat than the green, the green less than the I {ol low, and the latter less heat than the orange and red. hest only so, but beyond the extreme visible red ray th°,.,4,11 was found to be much greater than in any of the rays. The proportions of heat i n e a c h part of the spec 1-10 when a glass prism was employed had been determined' as glass stops a great part of the heating rays wh en mitted through it, the experiments with such a prist - :01 not indicate the actual quantity of heat. In Dr. Tr`, 4e r , files experiments he employed a prism of rock salt, Whi c ' 1 mits the rays of heat to pass freely, and the source n w , i ly with which he experimented was that excited by th e ri descent carbon points of the electric light. In his e " lje :40 ments, also, he adopted the plan of employing dark n i 'e tte i which obstructed all the rays of light, and yet P eri e L li the rays of heat to pass. In his previous elcP"' - n t i rl on radiant . heat he had ascertained that ele tne- s ;) co bodies, whether transparent or opaque, ;freely tr an e the rays of heat, and that compound bodie s, I' , A t' ever transparent, obstruct the passage of the 'be.9 ing rays. Applying that discovery to his r ase ` into the heating power of invisible rays, he obtained stance that was perfectly impervious to the rays of ":ab' yet freely permitted the heating rays to pass. T he 0 1 stance which he found best adapted to the purr se guilt iodine dissolved in bi-sulphide of carbon. Th at tfl rays it will not transmit any of the of the ele ;or light, nevertheless freely transmits the heat of the l ied descent carbon points, and by that means he ascet that the heat of the luminous rays bears a very st nl. (l3 o portion indeed to the heat of the invisible rays ' t ot , spectrum. This wag exemplified by a diagram reP re i 6e , ing the relative proportions of heating rays in tl y l i of na ' nous and in the non-luminous parts of the spe cti- 4 0 1 ' the electric light. He then proceeded to show the ing power of the invisible rays by a number of Mg? ments, in which the luminous rays from the elec tric ! l o w were entirely cut off by passing through the bla ck tion of iodine, and various combustible substan ce ' 0 " ignited by placing them in the focus of non-lumino us- ,191$ In this manner paper and wood were set on fire , ni- i nr were ignited, and carbon contained in a jar of oxYg en tlo derneath briliiant combustion. Dr. Tyndall, addressinrila Comte de Berri, asked if his royal highness smoke d, 9 j o elis so, would he oblige him by lighting his cigar in t h° A c ol of invisible rays. The C om t e d e B err i ca me forwa r ' r et) readily, and lighted a cigar i n th e s p o t indicated,to the g o t amusement of the company, and Dr. Tyndall obeer gea ,, his royal highness was the first member of any roy al f i ip ot" who had ever lighted his cigar in the focus of non - l a T;b s tel rays, though Frederick the Great of Prussia ha d 11° Tba spirits from the point of his sword by an electric spot w io concluding experiment consisted in rendering l' l nV foil incandescent by holding it in the same focus; tlr experiment being the more important from the fact tlia",,A light produced was not by combustion, as in other 10°1:00 but by the conversion of the dark heating rays into l'l nn , t ii4 ones. Thus light, after having been separated into h e ; ti ita and non-luminous rays may be reconverted in to light, which undergoes refraction, and may be s e ll, into the various colours of the solar spectrum on beinc - d, - io milted through a glass prism. Dr. Tyndall alio' , conclusion, to the possibility of the existence in dibffelog parts of space of invisible foci of heating rays aslll ic ' ig tilf render solid bodies traversing through them tene„ brilliantly luminous, like meteors. The lecture theans' completely filled in every part. • COUNTRY MARKETS GRANTHAM.—SATURDAY. . Old white wheat, 42s to 445; old red, 38s to 40S r" white, 42s to 45s ; new red, 37s to 39s per 36 5t01 1e. 37051 ley for malting, 30s to 34s per qr. ; grinding, 25e t ° n or 30 stone; Oats, old, 25s to 278 ; new, 22s to 21i6t00 stone. Beans, old, 41s to 435; new, 36s to 38s per Peas, 34s to 36s per 36 stone. pe LEIC ES TER—SATURAY. Old white wheat, 41s to 45s ; old red, 38s to A. 26 white, 40s to 44s ; new red, 36s to 40s per 3 6 et o 4; ley, malting, 32s to 34s per qr. ; grinding, 28s to 0' ~ ietor „et stone. Oats, old, 28s to 30s ; new, 24s to 38s.pe r Beans, old, 41s to 42s ; new, 36s to 38s per 38 stone. YORK—SATURDAY. `Lic h si4 The weather is now fine and seasonable ' -Iv tir cause an improvement in the condition of the g f) our market to-day there was an average a ttendau . c trade, and a fair show of wheat, for which there Asr"' sale at nearl last week's rices. 3 6 °, r g New white wheat, 40s p to 45s ; new red, 36 s 36 stone: Barley, for malting, 28s to 30s per qr ; L15t 05 26s to 27s per 30 stone. Oats, new, 20s to 22s per Beans, 40s to —s per 38 stone. NOTTINGHAM—SATURDAY. wheat r At this corn exchange to-day the show of rir s pill' the growers was pretty tolerable, there being a j ' t ling of white and red sorts. to 416; Ilar Old white wheat, 43s to 46s ; old red, 33„ , to ne• „,. 14 white, 41s to 45s ; new red, 37s to 41s per 3° g, 4 ' t - 04; 17, new malting, 28s to 34s per qr ;- old grinw;r s to 2is; new, 25s to 27s per 30 stone. Oats, old, . 4./ naw ' 22s to 25s ; old foreign, 248 to 26 s pe r stone. old, 40s to 43s ; new, 37s to 39s per 38 stone. NORWICH—SATURDAY. White wheat (weighing 631 b to 641 b), 44s to 4u 5 ditto (weighing 631 b to 641 b), 36s to 88s ; best di d ' barley (weighing 551 b to 561 b), 30s to 33s ; r 105 , e 4 (weighing 541 b to 551 b), 28s to 30s ; distilling ditto C'' s, mg 521 b to 531 b), 84s to 288 oats, 24s to 26s ; beO to to 39s ; peas (maple), 36s to 38s per qr ; flour , 2 65 0 j 1 6d. Average—wheat, 2,000 qrs, 33s 4d ; barl e y 97 1 ' 29s 2d ; oats, 32 qrs, 26s 7d. CORK—FRIDAY. The following were the quotations this morning 60 I wheat, 7s 6d to Os Od ; white, 8 s 8d t o Os Od ; barlelt, 4 l o , 7 to 7s Od ; oats, 6s Od t o 7 s 6d • black oats, 6s 4 d to 11 ' , bere, Os Od. DUBLIN. hes' iv f w- 0 0 0 There was a moderate attendance. The suPP'd ° tot' ; .—FRIDAY n tiO was small, oats large, and barley moderate. " unaltered. a PI ' Oa •; re Holt' Currencies :—Whte wheat, 23s Od to 2 56) 4 ,, ga; al 21s Od to 22s 6d ; grinding barley, 12s 6d to l''' hip,o‘ - big do., 14s to 15s 6d ; white oats, lls to 120; " 10s 6d to 11s 3d. Foreign Mail Packet List. ti• Australia and New Zealand, via Southampton • • • . . w o. Ditto, via Marseill es ......................... Brazil and Cape Verde, by British pao.et .......... fan. ;, Ditto, by British packet ........... z v Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena.• • Feb China, Penang:, and Singapore, via Sou hampton• Ditto, via Marseilles 2 6 ' Falkland Islands ............. • . 60 , -•" Gibraltar, via Southampton ....... •• • • ' t o. 6 India (Calcutta), And Ceylon, via SouthamPton"'" JO. !g, Ditto, via Marseilles . „ ...... * 4, India (Bombay), via Southampt on .. ............... i Ditto, via M arsei Iles ..................... . • ;, e b, 3 ; Mauritius, via Southampton Ditto, via 3larseil e 3. ....................... • •.. y e t). s, Newfoundland ..... • .... .r e D , Portng 1 ...... •••• Ditto, by private ship to Lisbon... .• , . """ * 0 6, United States and British North America byßr e 3 0 ,0 . tish packet Ditto, by United States packet, via Southanir ton ........ • Ditto, via Cork JA II.. Ditto, by Canadian packet, via LondonderrY••,,,,D. 16 West Coast of Africa, Madeira, an d T ener iff e * l• West Indies and Pacific (except Bahamas, Cublh, o , and Mexico ................... V D. Bahamas, via New York. rep' Bermuda, ditto Cuba and Mexico marom.=• 0 1 Births. ~,, icrif e i LOVELL.—On the 20th inst., at Gillingham, '4O o 1 Lieutenant-Colonel Lovell, C. 8., Royal Engin" 11 e a i? A son. 1 0 sil l MILEs.—On the 21st inst., at Penpole House, t, -1 $OO Philip W. S. Miles, Esq., of King's Weston, o ' 9 ' 08 heir. 0c 01 ' OwEN.—On the 18th inst., at 27, Delemere-cr eS wife of W. S. Owen, Esq., of a daughter. ,o , Marriages. 5.,, 0,.,' 6 ow HOOFER—GrITARD.—On the 17th inst at Han i t to Y' Stanley Hooper, Captain Ist Madras . Cavalry' '- n l' Roie, eldest daughter of Edwa r d Giffard, E s q," „at 1 1 .0 LOGAN — TOWNSREND.—On the 19th inst., at i- 1 , 1. 11 " 0 folli worth, Edward Logan, Esq., to Emily Eliza, a i, daughter of Lee P. T ownsen d , E sq., of Willc- Cheshire. Deaths. lie, or 9 BAKER.—On the 20th inst., at the Rectory_, g arg rtor , $ thamptonshire, the Roy. Wm. Lake Baker, re - , C.f. 78. b t P ' CRossE.—On the 17th inst., at Weymouth, Il s ,;'" el h ei t Crosse, Esq., late Captain 59th Regt., aged 21 ' . 0 fie v HARRIS.—On the 16th inst., at Sth CaP tel Gtifi ' ou sea, Harris, R.N. 1 , ~/ 0 11 ; 96 LONDONDERRY.—,OII the 20th inst., at Sea..a- ,$ $ derland, after a long and painful illness, Fran , P Marchioness of Londonderry, aged 65. A "fr . LAMBE.—On the 21st inst., at 29, Cockspur - s tre— tl is Lambe, relict of the late Mr. Lambe. Lordil Or TAvLon.--On the 19th inst. in in London, 11' Hon. Mrs. Taylor, daughter of Richard, park. 'fr . — . ..,.- A N19 , : l 1 0 London : Pri aced and Published by WI L LI.A.A.,„`',, S' 4° t f O f of No. 112, Strand, Painter, at THE Sing' O'''tottil" Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, In the Middlesex.—Monday, January 23, 180.