The Sun. — London, England, 1865-01-27 00:00:00

Prussian Debate on the Address. BERLIN, Jan. 24. In the Upper House to-day the debate on the Address, in reply to the speech from the throne, took place. Dr. BLOMER moved the following amendment : " That paragraph 8 of the address stand as follows : Most Gracious King and Lord,--As in y our Maj esty's paternal heart, so the earnest desire exists among us all to see the settlement of the regretable conflict which has now for some years prevailed between your Majesty's Government and a portion of the re presentatives of the country. Our regret at this conflict, however, in no way affects our unshaken conviction that the independence of Prussia, and her position as a great Power among Eurepean States, absolutely demand a firm and strong Government, and we will therefore unshrinkingly stand by your Majesty's Government in defence of the sacred rights of the Crown. On the other hand, however, we joy fully hail the gracious expression of your Majesty that you have resolved to protect and uphold the rights conceded to the representatives of the country by the constitution. If, as the prosperity of the country demands, its representatives exercise these privileges, especially their full constitutional right to grant the supplies of the country always with irre futable moderation and regard for existing circum stances, we may hope to see fulfilled the ardent desire of the country for a peaceable settlement of the highly important questions concerning which an understanding has not hitherto been arrived at, and especially the legal settlement of the organisation of the army." The motion of Dr. Blomer was sup ported by six other members. The House then went into debate upon the address. Baron V. GAFFRON briefly advocated the accept ance of the committee's draft. He said the com mittee had endeavoured to give expression in the draft to feelings of gratitude towards the Sing, and hoped that its efforts had been successful. Count ARNIM BOYTZENBURG, the mover of the address, said that the universal joy of the country among all classes of the people was the immediate motive for his proposing the draft. This enthusiasm had constrained the representatives not to be behind the feelings of the country upon their assembling, and to thank the Crown for its firm and wise administration of the Government. The committee:and the mover were unanimous upon the form of the address. There had been great difficulties to surmount in home questions, more difficult indeed than the State had had to contend with for the last 50 years. It is unnecessary to steer between rocks, and they owed thanks to the pilots who, like the present Ministry, had so skilfully suc ceeded. (Applause.) These thanks, as well as hopes for the future, were expressed in the address. The shape relations in home and foreign politics might take must be left to the Government, and the House must not interfere ; but must hope that, by a discreet and moderate use of the rights of the representatives, beneficial results might be attained. He recom mended the adoption of the proposed address. Count KRASSOW said that he had perused the address with joy. He trusted that the victories abroad would be followed by victories at home. It was unnecessary to speak on behalf of the address ; but since the words uttered in that house were re ported in distant parts of the country, and there find favourable reception, he would therefore make a few remarks. It was inconceivable how, in spite of facts, people could still be adverse to military re organisation, and oppose its advisability. The speaker thankfully acknowledged the unanimity existing between the two great German Powers. Passing to home questions, he hoped that the Go vernment would be victorious against that party which desired to remove the centre of government from the Crown to a portion of the representatives of the country. Count Krassow then referred to the successes of the army, the regulated state of the finances, the general excellence of the administra tion, &c., and maintained that none but a stubborn spirit of denial could maintain the old theories in opposition to these striking facts. In conclusion he recommended the unanimous adoption of the draft of the address. Dr. BLOMER and other members also took part in the debate. Herr von BISMARCK SCITONHAUSEN then spoke He expressed his gratitude for the favourable judg ment the Government had found in that house. He wished to add a few sentences touching the aspect of the home conflict, which could never be suffi ciently repeated. The basis of the Prussian con stitution was compromise, for the constitution re presented three powers existing side by side, neither of which was subordinate to the others. The pro posal to make the Upper House more inclined to the views of the Chamber of Deputies by summoning, liberal members was contrary to the constitution, be cause it undermined the constitutional principle. The way of compromise had been abandoned by the re solution of the Lower House on Sept. 22, 1860. He would not approve all the acts of the Government then in office ; but he would here remark that at the time the present Ministry assumed the Government it was impossible to undo such steps towards the reorganisation of the army as had been taken. He was especially thankful to the mover for the deli cate manner in which foreign politics were referred to in the address. In the negotiations pending, the interests of Prussia would be maintained with firm ness, and he could assure them that Prussian blood had not been shed in vain. The Ministry had been re proached by the Liberal party with hampering action in the affair of the Duchies by the participation of Austria. That was not the case. Had the alliance not been contracted with Austria, a Federal war would have been brought on, in which Austria and the majority of the Confederation would have taken a prominent position, and have then exercised their influence upon the settlement - of the Duchies. In that case, however, the consequences of the war would have been quite different. So much was cer tain, viz., that the consent of the Germanic Confede ration to a war without Austria could not have been obtained. Consideration for the Government and the pending negotiations prevented him from making further remarks upon the subject. The debate then terminated. The house divided, and Dr. Blomer's amendment was rejected, and the address drawn up by the committee passed by 84 votes against 6. In the Chamber of Deputies the house entered into debate upon the two drafts of address brought in by Herr Reichensperger on behalf of the Catholic party, and Herr Wagener on behalf of the Conser vatives. Deputy TWESTEN, as reporter of the committee, moved the rejection of both addresses. Addresses of the minority, he said, when the majority was opposed to an address, were an irregularity which, if the order of business permitted of the " previous question" being moved, could be more easily set aside than in the present instance, which he must briefly explain why the majority did not wish for an address. The last general ad `tress was drawn up in 1861, and expressed a hope f or further Wisedevelopm development of the constitution— s hop e Which had become futile. Subsequent ad dresses had b e sults. e : 1 special, but all void of good re on m a The mo check to the of Herr Wagener was intended endeavoured to house, while that of Herr Reichen spergerbt forward prove th a t the party by which it was uronol rward had no t d e p ar ted from the basis of Liberal constitution a l life. The of t joy caused by the successese army was shared by all parties ; but if the people wished to lay its rights at the feet of the Government b i e t eause of the success of a portion of the peopl e , choose other representatives. Some remarksmust were then made in that address which the majority could not accept, and it passed over other matters upon which silence was impossible. The speaker adduced these points, whilst criticising the spe ec h from the throne and the motion of H err Reichensperger. He especially animadverted upo n the constitutional theories contained in the draft of the address. The Government might cer tainly pave the way to a reconciliation upon the ground of a two years' term of service. A perfect understanding with the present Ministry was, of course, impossible, but it was the interest of both the country and the Crown to see the constitutional dispute settled. The house had therefore no hope of arriving at such a solution by taking the initiative. The military expenditure had increased from 38k to 41.1 millions, i.e., about one million more than it had been reduced in consequence of Herr von der Heydt's letter. The saving by calling the re cruits later and dismissing the reserves earlier—i.e., the practical reduction of the term of rvice—had been given up. A military estima •v as not pro mised. Under such circumstances no effect could be hoped from an address, the speech from the throne merely alluding to the dispute. If what the Govern ment wished recognised were law, the constitution no longer deserved to be called a constitution. The constitution clearly designated the right of the repre sentatives ; the Government pointed to the surren der of this right as the way to agreement. The house defended itself against facts, which the Go vernment could not even set up as rightful. The Wagener address was entirely in favour of the Go vernment, and lauded the Austrian alliance, that obstacle to all concentration of Prussian strength. The Conservative party threw its own principles overboard in order always to go with the Govern ment. Last year it advocated the retention of the Duchies by Denmark, now it praised the separation and even claimed it as the work of its own party, while the house had done everything in the sense of separation that a Parliamentary body could well do. The speech from the throne boasted, as a proof of the favourable state of the finances, that a loan had not been necessary, and yet the house had been re proached with not having consented to a loan. Just in the same way the house had been reproached with having refused the means for the fulfilment of Federal duties, when Herr von Bismarck, in his note of January 14th, had declared himself not bound by the resolution of the Diet. With re gard to home politics, the Wagener address re ferred to the technical knowledge of the Crown, thereby placing it in a wrong and unconstitutional position. The House stood shoulder to shoulder in its opposition to the constitutional theory of this address, and to maintain this position no address was required. (Loud applause.) Deputy ScnuLzE advocated the adoption .of the Wagener address. It was conciliatory upon all points, which the people and the country required. The people would look unfavourably upon the re jection of the address in party interests, and it was to be hoped that opinion would have practical results. The address showed the way to recon ciliation, which was difficult enough even if entered upon with hearty earnestness. Deputy WAGENER explained that the Conserva party would be quite ready to accept any plan best suited to the reorganisation of financial, social, and commercial requirements, but not until the House had absolutely acceded to the wishes tf the Govern ment. If the House refused to do that, power would take the place of right. The MINISTER of theINTERIOR said—The Gordian knot of the dispute lay in the military question. The Ministry had found a situation which it would not have brought about, and to which it could also not give up its position. The reporter had said rightly that the Ministry had been forced by this contest into positions it would not have voluntarily sought. Let the house consider the real situation of affairs, the interest of the Sovereign in his own special work, the war, in which the new organisation had proved its efficiency ; and was it to be supposed that the Sovereign or any King should give up the principles of that organisation ? The house, there fore, did well not to make the military question-the touchstone of its right to vote the budget. In every other direction the Government, unless hindered by existing circumstances, would follow the views of the house. The house should go rapidly to work to restore unanimity, in which case the two years of the dispute would be a serious lesson to them all. After a few remarks from other members, the house divided, when both drafts of redress were rejected by considerable majorities. Railway and other Companies. RAILWAY BILLS. Yesterday, after adducing the usual proofs, the Standing Orders were declared to have been complied with in the following cases : NORTH LONDON.—To enable the company to widen a further portion of their railway from the north side of Devon's-road to the south side of High-street, Poplar ; and for a dock, with cuts, at Poplar; capital £100,000; loan, X 33,000. _ GREAT NORTHERN.—For a line from Rornsey to their Hertford, Luton, and Dunstable line near Hertford ; capital £600,000 ; loan, £200,000. EDGWARE, HIGHGATE, A..ND LONDON.—For lines from Islington to the Tottenham and Hampstead Junction at Holloway-road, and from Hornsey on the Great Northern to a junction with the Tottenham and Hampstead Junction ; capital, £105,000 ; loan, £35,000, with power to the Great Northern to subscribe. SOUTHAMPTON AND ISLE OF WIGHT—FOT a railway from the Southampton and Dorchester Railway, Fidley-bridge, to Fawley, and another shert branch ; capital, £70,000 ; loan, £23,300. IPSWICH AND FELIXTOIVN.—For a line from Westerfield Station, near Ipswich, to Feliastown ; capital, X 0,000; loan, £23,000. Nonni SURREY.—For a line from London and Brighton at Tooting-common to the London, Chatham, and Dover at Clapham ; capital, £225,000 ; loan, £75,000. lIAVANT, HAMR . LEDON, AND DROXFORD.—For a line be tween these points and the London and Brighton and the Petersfield and Bishop's Waltham ; capital, £150,000 ; loan, £50,000. STRATHSPEY.—For a junction with Keith and Dufftown and branch to the Inverness and Perth Junction ; capital, £25,000 ; loan, £B,OOO. DLiGWALL AND SKYE.—For a railway from Dingwall to Kyle; capital, £450,000; loan, £150,000. KIDWELLY AND LLANELLY.—To discontinue the use of their canals, to make a line to the mountain branch of the Llanelly ; capital, £120,000 ; loan, £lB,OOO. CALEDONIAN.—For the Glasgow South. Side Railways, and a station there ; capital, £350,000 ; loan, £116,000. LOSTWITHIEL AND FOWEY.—For arrangements of capital. RYDE PIER.—For tramways at Ryde, floating baths, and connecting lines between Ryde Pier and the Isle of Wight Railway ; capital, £25,000 ; loan, £8,900. GLASGOW AND SOUTH WESTERN (Ayrshire Lines), The only non-compliance was that in the case of the Nantle Railway. The following cases were partly heard and adjourned Brecon and Merthyr (for various powers), Ashby-de-la- Zouch and Nuneaton ; Chipping Norton, Banbury, and East and West Junction ; Northampton and Banbury (de viations) ; South Hams (Devon) ; and the Leeds, North Yorkshire, and Durham. NATIONAL STEAM NAVIGATION. The second ordinary meeting of this company was held yesterday at Liverpool, Mr. Gunston presiding. The report stated that the company had a fleet of five vessels, which would be increased to eight within a few months. The earnings in the New York and Alexandria trade amounted to a net profit of £27,168. The directors recommended that £lB,OOO be placed to the credit of depreciation account ; that £9,000 be distributed at the rate of 9s. per share to the shareholders, leaving £l6B for next account. It was not in tended to call up mote than £3O per share ; and the direc t tors had determined not to accept any remuneration for their past services. The chairman, in moving the adoption of the report, stated that the company had been quite as suc cessful as they could expect, and that their vessels had be haved remarkably well during the late gales. The motion was agreed to and the retiring directors were re-elected. EMPIRE - MARINE INSURANCE. The second ordinary genera llsiez ime?ting took place yester dayerthe chair. at . Liverpool ; Mr. The report stated that during deparewy2Tl t ugilmonthstheana interest company the regular ac count had earned £ 89,815, after ex penses. £15,000 had also been placed to a the e cre l cht of the reserve fund by the premium of 30s. per share ad ditional shares which had been issued by the on 10,000 Ndividend was declared on the underwriting account, but . the ° interest account would enable the board to pay a dividen of 5 per cent., with a bonus of 2s. per share, both free of in come-tax, leaving a balance to the general account of £3,579. The adoption of the report was agreed to on the motion of the chairman, seconded by Mr. Woodall. The CHAIRMAN said that, considering the bad times they had passed through during the Last six months, and compa ring their position with that of other companies, they had every cause for congratulation and hope. LIFE -BOATS.—Colonel Fitzßoy Clayton, of the Grenadie r G uar d s , d e li vere d on Wednesday night , in the school-room, Wellington Barracks, an nesting iter lecture on "Lif e- b oats, " to the 3d Batta li on o f the Gre:ua- d ier Guards. Th e gallant colonel entered fully into the history of th e li fe-boat, and showed the great and satisfac tory result arising from the use of lifeboats on our coasts, and . stated that they saved yearly about 500 lives from perishing. He also referred to the great value of the life belt and to barometrical observations. He showed the audience the silver medal of the National Life-boat Insti tution. As a member of the committee of that society, he could speak from experience of its thorouglr organisation on the coast, and of the large amount of benefit it conferred in the hour of extreme peril on shipwrecked Si. N•ilurs in Ws tress on our coasts. filE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 27. 1865. Charge of Conspiracy Yesterday, at the Justice-room of the Mansion-house' three respectably-dressed men, named James Arnett, Wm. Sedgwick, and Charles Thorne, the first two of whom were described as wharf-foremen, and the last as a clerk, were brought before the Lord Mayor, in the custody of Detective sergeants Michael Haydon and James Brett, who had ar rested them over-night on a warrant. The charge against them was that they did in the month of December last, in this city, unlawfully conspire, combine, confederate, and agree with other persons by divers false and fraudulent pre tences to acquire and obtain to themselves of and from the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation, and other insu rance and assurance offices, a large sum of money with in tent to cheat and defraud them. Mr. Giffard, instructed by Messrs. Humphreys and Mor gan, of Newgate-street, solicitors, was counsel for the pro secution ; Mr. Moss, solicitor, defended the prisoner Thorne —the prisoners Sedgwick and Arnett were undefended. • Mr. Giffard said he appeared to prefer a charge against the prisoners of having committed an extensive fraud on se veral of the principal insurance-offices in the city of London. It would be in the recollection of the Lord Mayor that in December last a very destructive fire broke out on the pre mises of Messrs. Barry, who are extensive wharfingers at Dockhead, Bermondsey ; that the fire raged more or less for some days, and that an enormous quantity of commodities of various kind, but principally jute, was burnt. Subse quently claims for property alleged to have been destroyed were made upon a number of insurance-offices. Ho repre sented on this occasion 12 or 13 of those offices—viz., the Royal Exchange, the Sun, the Northern, the North British and Mercantile, the Royal, the Liverpool and London, the Globe, the London Assurance, the Queen, the Manchester, the Imperial, and others. It was the custom when goods were destroyed by fire at a wharf for the proprietors of the wharf to certify in writing to the extent of the property burnt, and on the production of those certificates properly signed the insurance offices on which the claims were made paid as a matter of course. Claims to a very large amount had been made in this particular case on various offices under circumstances which would be put in evidence. It was the custom among wharfingers to affix " tallies" of wood or of starched calico to the different bales of commodities on their premises to indicate the vessels by which they had been brought, and in the manner in which the tallies had been used and manipulated in this case lay the fraud of which the prisoners were accused. Without suspecting anything wrong the insurance offices on this occasion had paid many thousands of pounds in satisfaction of claims made upon them. One merchant alone had obtained £19,000 in respect of goods destroyed by the fire. Eventually a statement was made by a man named Fage to one of the insurances offices, from which it appeared that a great number of bales of jute had been returned to the various offices as having been destroyed by the fire which, in fact, were now in existence, and in order to avoid inquiry into the matter the identity of the tallies had been destroyed in some instances and false ones used in others, making it ap pear that certain commodities had come by the ship On ward, which in point of fact had come by the City of Dub lin. That had been done with regard to jute to the amount of several thousands of pounds, and very extensively with respect to rice and other commodities. Inquiry would arise as to motive, and it might be suggested that suspicion might arise that the prisoners' employers were mixed up in the transactions. No doubt it was a serious thing, prima facie; Messrs. Barry's names were signed to the warrants, stating that certain goods had been destroyed, whereas they were now in existence ; but it was right to say that evidence would be adducedto show that the prisoners had been heard conversing as to the devices by which the tallies had been changed and the identity of the commodities destroyed. The evidence, he thought, would leave no doubt on the mind of the Lord Mayor that a great fraud had been com mitted by the prisoners, with what motive they alone could tell. That was an outline of the case, and he believed in the end the Lord Mayor would be of opinion that it had been so far made out as to justify him in sending the pri soners before another tribunal. Mr. T. A. Roberts, 22, Throgmorton-street, said—l am an auctioneer, valuer, and assessor of fire losses, and a mem ber of the firm of Brown and Roberts. A fire took place in the month of November last at Meriton's-wharf, Dockhead, of which Messrs. Barry Brothers are the proprietors or oc cupiers. Several merchants had goods, as I am informed and believe, warehoused there, which goods, or some of them, were insured against fire in various insurance-offices in London; among others, in the Royal Exchange, the Northern, the North British and Mercantile, the Royal, the Liverpool and London, the Globe, the London Assurance, the Queen, the Manchester, the Sun, the Imperial, and others. Since the fire numerous claims have been made by different merchants upon the offices named for large sums of money, amounting to several thousand pounds, for goods said to have been destroyed by it. Many of those claims have been paid by the offices upon the delivery of war rants issued by Messrs. Barry Brothers, as titles to the goods said to have been burnt ; and after they had been paid, a man named Josiah Page, a labourer, late l y in the I employment of Messrs. Barry, gave information that cer tain frauds had been committed in respect of some of the goods warehoused there. I went in consequence to Meri ton's-wharf, where I met Page by appointment, and we saw Mr. Alfred Barry, one of the firm of Barry Brothers.. At that interview Fage stated that then; were about 350 bales of jute which had arrived by the ship Onward, stored in the new warehouse from which he and others had torn off the tallies. The front bales had new tallies, with "the City of Dublin" on them, and if the stack were broken down we ould find the inside bales had no tallies on them at all. 200 bales, besides the 350, were delivered since the fire, and there were 100 bags of rice of which Messrs. Barry had given no. account, but which were removed after the fire by Mr. Alfred Barry's orders, by a man named Buckett from No.lo "Extension" warehouse to No. 11, where they would now be found, and that they were " bunce." The prisoner Arnett admitted such was the case. Mr. Alfred Barry asked what "ounce" meant. Page said that Arnett knew that it was " overs" for the firm. Arnett observed that he had heard the word used. Fage said it was well known among all the men. Fage also said that after the previous fire in June there were 164 bales of jute by the Sebastian Cabot, 74 by the William Cole, and 10 by the Alameda put into a barge called the Cat. Those, he said, were knocking about in the dock about two months, and having been ultimately stored in No. 45 warehouse were burnt in the November fire, and the Barrys had given no account of them in the burnt list. Fage challenged the prisoner Arnett to deny this statement. Arnett at first said it was false, and afterwards admitted the jute was lying in the Cat, and was stored in No. 45, as stated by Page. Page further said several, times that Arnett was not to blame, but the firm was. He also said, with respect to the Onward, that Arnett told the men when the tallies were being torn off, that Mr. John Barry was very uneasy about the jute, and if it was known there would be a " row" about it, or words to that effect. On being challenged, Arnett said he might have used those words, or some to that effect. Fage said a man named Cal haen and the prisoner Sedgwick knew all that. When the 200 bales by the Onward were delivered, Sedgwick said, in reply to a question by one of the men, " Oh ! never mind, anything will do, as this completes the ship." On the 13th Dec. last Mr. Albert Barry called at 22, Throgmorton street. I saw him in my room, and asked him who checked the list of saved goods, and whether it was taken from the stock in the warehouses. The reply was that Arnett, his foreman, went through the warehouses and took the ac count, and Mr. Thorne, his bookkeeper, checked it. My clerk, Edwin Badman, and others, went through the pro perty remaining on the premises of Messrs. Barry, and found upwards of 2,000 bales more than those represented by Arnett and Thorne to have been saved. Josiah Fage was called. He said—l am a labourer. I live at No. 31, East-street, Bethnal-green, and was till lately in the employment of Messrs. Barry Brothers, wharfingers, Meriton's-wharf, Dockhead. I had been in their service nearly two years up to Christmas last. I received notice to quit about a week before Christmas in consequence of their being slack. I did not go on the Tuesday after Christmas day, being indisposed, and at the end of that week I left. One part of my duty was to take the weights of the bales on their being landed and then to stow them away. I also occasionally tallied jute on its being landed and weighed. I took the landing weights of the bales of jute which ar rived by the ship Onward in the summer. I entered the weights in the landing book and marked them on the tallies. I saw a great number of the tallies afterwards put on the bales, and the bales were then removed into the yard to be stacked. I don't think any were removed until after the fire, when I helped to break down 200 for delivery. That was about a fortnight before Christmas. Burgess, a labourer, asked the prisoner Sedgwick if he should look out any particular weights. Sedgwick went away and came back in a few minutes saying "Take the bales as they rise ; this 200 will finish the cargo, and the rest are for us." About two or three days afterwards Calhaen received in structions from Sedgwick in my presence to take the tallies off the bales of jute in the yard, and pointing to the stack he told us to uncover it. Sedgwick had a bag with him, which he put on a piece of timber and said "Put the tallies in here carefully; don't lose any of them, and when the job's done we'll burn them." Calhaen and I did so and took about 300 tallies off, which Calhaen put into the bag. After this, as the tallies were taken off, the bales were removed by trucks into the new warehouse, and about a dozen men were so employed. I think 210 were put in the bottom moor and the remainder upstairs. I saw some of them b e ing stowed away. At the time the men were taking the bales into the new warehouse I saw the prisoner Arnett and Mr. Alfred Barry looking at them on the stack, and later in the day I saw Mr. John Barry in the yard, close to the bales, while we were picking up some that had fallen down. I had never been employed to take the tallies off in this way before. A man named Buckett tallied them on the stack in the warehouse. I noticed the last day I was at Messrs. Barry's, which was the Friday after Christmas, that fresh tallies had been put on the outside bales, marked " City of Dublin," and the weights. I think the hand writing on the tallies was that of Martin, a labourer. I we nt upstairs, and saw that the bales there were not tallied in that way. Burgess asked me as I was coming down what I had been doing there. I said, " Why do you ask ?" He replied that Sedgwick had told him to do so. About two or three weeks before Christmas Sedgwick gave me also d had Botanist. There were 15 of them, ano to rn directions to shift some bales which against the wall in order that they should not be seen. I shifted in the same way a quantity of other bales by various vessels. I took a tally off one of each stack, and I believe the total quantity either having the tallies taken off or turned as I have described was about 500 bales in the new warehouse. I made a com munication to the office of the North British and Mercan tile Insurance Company on Friday, the 6th of January, and was referred to Messrs. Brown and Roberts. I saw Mr. Roberts on the following day,and once or twice afterwards, and accompanied him on the 11th of January to Messrs. Barry's premises. I went into Mr. Alfred Barry's room. The prisoner Arnett, Mr. Whiting, Mr. Roberts, and Mr. Radmall were present. Mr. Radmall handed me a list which contained about 495 bales, which I stated did not belong to the firm, although they had them in their warehouses. This included the bales by the Onward and the Botanist, and some others. Mr. Whiting asked Mr. Barry what he had to say to it. Barry turned to Arnett and asked him whether the list was true. Arnett replied that was. I said to Mr. Barry, " I challenge you with having about 100 bags of rice in No. 11 warehouse, and there are only seven down in the fire insurance return as being on hand." Mr. Whiting said, -" Now, Mr. Barry." Mr. Barry said, "Now, Arnett." Arnett said it was true. I afterwards went over the premises with Mr. Radmall and two other gentlemen from the fire-offices ; they took a list of all the bales saved all over the warehouse. I counted them all, Mr. Field and Mr. Gatehouse being present to check me. Mr. Roberts, in cross-examination, said the prisoner Thorne was bookkeeper at Messrs. Barry's wharf, as did also the witness Fage. Sergeant Michael Haydon deposed that he apprehended the prisoner Thorne on Wednesday evening about 7 o'clock. He told him he was a police-officer, and that he held a war rant for his apprehension. He read it to him, and prisoner said in reply that he had no answer to make to it then. The prisoner asked if he was selected as one of the principals in the matter, and witness replied that he was. Sergeant James Brett deposed that he took the prisoner Arnett into custody on Wednesday evening at his•residence. Sergeant Haydon was with him. He told him who they were and read the warrant. The prisoner said " Can't Ibe taken to-morrow at the wharf ? I wish to see some gentle men there." Witness replied that he could not. He took him to a police station, and found on him a bunch of keys, which he said were the keys of Messrs. Barry's wharf. Witness also took the prisoner Sedgwick into custody, and on reading the warrant to him he said, " All right," and that he would accompany them. Sergeant Haydon, in reply to Mr. Giffard, said if time were given he believed he should be able to produce addi tional evidence against the prisoners. Upon that the Lord Mayor remanded the prisoners until Friday, the 3d of February, and declined to entertain an application to admit them to bail. The Builders' Discharge-Note A meeting of the carpenters and joiners in reference to the withdrawal of the builders' discharge-note was held in the Odd Fellows' Hall, Birmingham, on Wednesday night. There;was a large attendance ; Mr. Robert Applegarth, secretary of the General Amalgamated Carpenters' Society, of London, was present. The CHAIRMAN (Mr. John Oxford) said that since their last meeting the discharge-note had been well considered by all parties, and on the part of that society he could say that after the close of the quarrel as little rancour would be left as possible. That the men were in the right had been ad mitted. The masters had found out that they were in the wrong, and it would have been better when they did so had they frankly acknowledged it ; instead of which they held a hole and corner meeting, and allowed nothing to ooze out except that they would no longer insist on the discharge-note. The masters had attempted to introduce that in the winter which they would not have dared to do in the summer ; but the men had resisted, and would stand out until an honourable settlement of the dispute was vouchsafed them by their employers. The masters having come to a determination at their meeting last Friday ought to have communicated with the men formally; but they had not done so. No special information whatever had been given to the men. The press had taken up the case of the men, from Printing-house-square to the smallest paper in the country, and had assisted in bringing about the issue in which the strike was likely to result. He hoped that would not be a barren victory, but that the men would form themselves into co-operative societies. Mr. WALTER JONES moved— " That the meeting approves and confirms the second resolution passed at the meeting of carpenters and joiners held on the 6th Dec., 1864—namely, ' That we, the car penters and joiners of Birmingham, pledge ourselves not to resume work until the master builders come to a perfect understanding with our committee, pledging themselves to withdraw the discharge-note, and not to introduce it at any future time."' Mr. W. SAYER, in seconding the resolution, said he was satisfied there was no intention to withdraw the discharge note unconditionally. Mr. LAST, of Manchester, supported the resolution, and advised the men not to take notice of the patronising arti cles in the Times, that paper never having cordially taken the part of the men. The conduct of the mastecs had been overbearing and contemptuous towards the men. Mr. ROBERT APPLEGARTH said that he could not sup port the resolution. The strike had arisen (he said) out of the announcement by the Master Builders' Association of their intention to introduce a certain discharge-note. The men, without waiting for its actual introduction, con ceived it to be their duty to strike. He differed at the time as to the wisdom of that strike, as it enabled the opponents of Trades' Unions to utter the slander that the only power the working man could use was physical force. However, the men having struck, it would have been madness, in view of the object of it, if the men elsewhere had withheld their support, seeing they were equally interested in the defeat of a note so odious to every intelligent me chanic and decent working man. Although he did not agree with the wisdom of it, he personally ren dered all the essistance he could to bring it to a suc cessful issue. Now, the resolution pledged them to re main out on strike until such time as a definite understand ing was arrived at between themselves and the masters. Now, he questioned the wisdom of this, and he should op pose it for no other object than. to bring out information and argument in support of it, for he always dreaded when men all pulled one way that they would fall into error: He would remind them that it was against the introduction of the note that they struck. It was because notice of the discharge-note was posted in their various shops that the men turned out. He was not aware that any official inti mation on the subject was sent to any society in Birming ham. There was simply the notices in shops and the an nouncement in the public papers. Now, as publicly as it was announced that the discharge-note would be intro duced, so publicly was. it announced last Saturday that it would be withdrawn ; and he thought it was a serious thing for that meeting to consider whether they were justified in considering themselves entitled to, or whether it was worth their while standing out for, an offi cial communication of that which was blazed all over the country. He would ask, in the first place, if the men had applied for an official communication. The CHAIRMAN replied that they had called upon Mr. Stinton several times, but had not been able to get an in terview with him. Mr. APPLEGARTH said he was glad that application had been made ; perhaps it would have been wise if the masters had sent an official intimation to the men, but perhaps they thought that as they did not send any official intimation of the introduction of the note, they would not feel called upon to send any official notice of its withdrawal. In preference to passing the resolution that had been moved, he should suggest that a deputation should be appointed from that meeting to wait upon the general body of employers, to ask if they were prepared to withdraw the discharge-note, and give them official notification of the same. He did not see the force of passing the resolution. He told them honestly that if he had been in the Birmingham strike, he should have felt it his duty to place himself at his bench side on Monday morning last. (Groans and hisses.) -He had studied the question as well as those who hissed, and he thought he understood it as well. He thought the meeting ought not to pledge themselves to continue on strike, but rather ap point a deputation to ascertain from the masters whether they intended to withdraw the discharge-note and not to introduce it at any future time. In reference to the code of rules proposed to be drawn up, he did not believe the country would support them if they stood out while that was being done. Mr. LAST urged the meeting to pass the resolution, as did also Mr. SAYER, who said it had been published in the papers that the note had been withdrawn ; but no commu nication had been made to the men—indeed, the resolution of the masters did not say it was withdrawn, it said " with the view of withdrawing the note." Mr. MAYES asked why the masters had not posted a no tice in the shops to the effect that the note had been with drawn absolutely. After some further discussion, the resolution was put and carried, one hand only being held up against it. Mr. G. DALTON moved the following resolution, which was tarried unanimously—" That we take this opportunity of returning thanks to our fellow workmen and the public generally for the support they have hitherto rendered us, and to the press for the very impartial manner in which they have discussed the merits and demerits of the dis charge-note." The following resolutions were also passed—" That the meeting considers it is the imperative duty of the ope ratives of England, and especially of the building trade, to avail themselves of the great benefits resulting from combination in trades' unions and co-operation." And That with the view of testing the sincerity of the an nouncement which has been published in the daily papers, as to the withdrawal of the discharge-note, a deputation of two or more be appointed from the meetings to wait upon the Master Builders' Association, and that Mr. Stinton be written to as to when he would meet such deputation." A deputation consisting of three , of those present was ap pointed. MEETING OF THE LONDON CARPENTERS, A numerously attended meeting of delegates from the various carpenters' societies and shops in the metropolis was held last night at the Dr. Johnson Music-hall, Bolt-court, Fleet-street, to take into consideration the present position of the strike in the Midland Counties. Mr. Price, a dele gate from the Birmingham Committee, was present ; Mr. Manders occupied the chair. Mr. G. PorrEn, in giving in the report from the sub committee, said that since the last meeting much excitement had prevailed in the trade owing to the reportedwithdrawal of the discharge-note by the masters ; but according to tele grams received only that evening from the towns on strike it appeared that not the slightest intimation had been given by the Masters' Association to the men of such withdrawal. On the contrary, the men, on application to the masters' secretaries in the various towns, could get no definite answers. Under these circumstances the men at Binning ham, Coventry, Walsall, Nottingham, and other towns had not resumed work, nor would they do' until the masters had withdrawn the note in the same official way as they had given notice of its introduction, and met the men to draw up rules which would prevent the introduction of the discharge-note at any future time. About the same number of men were still on strike this week as last — viz., nearly 2,000, and he had no doubt but they would be as well supported as they had hitherto been. A man named Baines had been discharged from Douglas's shop at Kensington for collecting the weekly levy on Saturday last. Mr. Greenmith, the fore man, had written a letter to the Times stating that the man had been discharged for intimidation and abuse. Baines had replied to this letter, reiterating that his collecting was the sole cause of his discharge. The men were quite will ing to meet the masters in conference to discuss rules, with the view of having all disputes settled by arbitration, when ever the masters thought proper to meet them. Mr. MERIFIELD reported the receipt of upwards of £4OO by the London Committee. Every man on strike had re ceived his fair dividend, and would do so again this week. Mr. PRICE, the delegate from Birmingham, reported that the carpenters of Birmingham on strike, to the number of 700, were determined not to resume work until official in timation was given to their committee that the note was not only withdrawn, but would not again be introduced. After some discussion:a resolution was moved and unani mously adopted as follows : "That this meeting .of delegates approve the course taken by the operatives on strike in the Midland Counties in not resuming work until they receive an official intima tion from the Masters' Association of the entire and un conditional withdrawal of the obnoxious discharge note, and pledge themselves to continue their support so long as the men may thus remain out." It was also resloved . _ " That in the opinion of this meeting it would be advis able to convene a conference of the whole of the building trade throughout the country as early as possible for the adoption of a code of rules for regulating the trade and the appointment of a committee to lay those rules before the representatives of the Masters' APOyciations for mutual The English Assurance Company. Mr. Rigby, barrister, yesterday attended before Mr. Ellio at the Lambeth Police-court, on the part of the directors 6 the English Assurance Company, whose offices are now w 75, Little Britain, to offer an explanation on their behalf to the complaints made by Mrs. Jackman, a poor widow, who had insured the life of her husband for £lB, of not being able to find the offices of the company, or a person named Moring, the agent, who had collected her money. Mr. Rigby's statement was of :'great length, but in sub stance it was as follows :—The English Assurance Com pany was, he said, properly established in January, 1864, under the Joint Stock Companies Act, all the requirements of which had been properly complied with ; and up to the present time the proceedings connected with it had been conducted with regularity. With regard to the case of Mrs. Jackman the mistake was said to have arisen in this I way. The agent, Moring, with whom she had dealt in the matter, ought, on receiving information of the death of Mr. Jackman, to have supplied certain forms to Mrs. Jackman, and on her filling them up he should have forwat ded them to the office. This was not done, and the first intimation of the fact reached the secretary through the police report in the newspapers. He then did what was necessary in the matter, and the money was paid. With regard to the state ment that the offices of the company could not be found, it was said that up to a certain date they had been in Queen street, Cheapside, but flint they were removed to Little Brjtain—a clerk being left in the Queen-street premises for a month afterwards, to give information, and a notice was put up stating theirnew address. The name and address of the company and the secretary were in two places in the di rectory. Each director was, Mr. Rigby said, a holder of 200 shares, the calls on which had been fully paid up ; they re ceived no remuneration for their services. In the course of replies to Mr. Elliott, Mr. Rigby said that Moring had now ceased.to be an agent of the company ; he had at ono time been a director. Mr. Elliott—Have you got any list of what you call di rectors ? The Solicitor who instructed Mr. Rigby here handed in the following list, viz., Charles James How, J. Gilding, W. F. Scott, G. J. Davis, and Charles Horton. Mr. Elliott—ls the person Davis the same whose name I see attached to your articles of association as a witness, and ho is there described as clerk to Mr. J. Long, solicitor? Solicitor—Yes, sir, the same. Mr. Elliott—What, a solicitor's clerk a director of an assurance company—that is not very usual ; and is Mr. Charles Horton, whose address you give at 75, - Little Britain, your secretary as well as director? Solicitor—No, sir, he is brother to the secretary. Mr. Elliott—What is Mr. Horton, your director ? Solicitor—A bootmaker. Mr. Elliott Have you got a list of the shareholders ? Solicitor—We have 2,500 shares taken, and it would be a large volume to bring here. Mr. Elliott—Has anybody anything to say relative to this case ? _ _ Mr. Irving, a newsvender, residing inJubilee-place, Mile end-road, said that.he held in his hand a policy of assurance in the General Provident and Confident Assurance Company, signed by D. Scott and Mr. Shephard, two of the directors of the English, on which he had paid £ll to the agent, Mr. Brown, of 17, Arbour-square, Stepney, and in the month of August last Brown called on him, said that he had been discharged fromhis office of collector, and recommended him not to pay any more money, as it was a general swindle. The next time he went to the office of the company he found that they had not even his name in their books, except when the policy was entered. That was the only time, and he was told that Brown had been keeping his money all the way through, not even paying it into the society superin tended by the respectable gentlemen these parties bring , here. Mr. Rigby—But you are speaking of a different corn- pany. Mr. Elliott—But the names of the parties are the same, and if they choose to be connected with the company they must take the consequence. Chief Clerk—This policy is in 1853. Mr. Elliott—The policy is signed by the persons who now constitute the company ? Mr. Rigby—l do not know what Mr. Irving is complain ing of, but it is only fair to say that there is nothing due on the policy. Mr. Irving—l admit that I was told it was nothing but a swindle, and I refused to pay any more money. I went to the shop of Mr. Gelding, one of the directors, who is represented as a boot manufacturer, and found it was only half a shop. He was working on a shoemaker's seat with leather apron on. (Laughter.) I have witnesses to prove to two or three other policies held by relatives of mine. Mr. Elliott—l don't think that ho is the most fit and pro per person to represent this company. How does his name stand in the prospectus ? Chief Clerk—The address, London-house, Mile-end road, boot manufacturer. Mr. Irving—lt is a small double-fronted shop; on one side a tailor's shop, and on the other a cigar shop, with about half-a-crown's worth of stock in it, and in the back room where I went there were two or three men at work, and Mr. Gelding was also sitting there with a leather apron on. I have witnesses to prove it. Mrs. Sophia Hogg, the wife of a linendraper, in White chapel, said that in July, 1862, she insured her three sons in the Provident and Confident, and paid the collector, Algernon Thomas Brown, of 17, Arbour-square, Stepney, who collected the premiums, as much as £l7 2s. In August last her youngest son died, and she then applied for £3 due on his policy. She also offered the manager, at the office in King-street, Covent-garden, the whole of the policies for sale, as she had heard it was a bad concern, and said she should be glad to take £lO for the £l7 she had paid, and was told that £1 for each premium would be nearer the mark. She refused to take this, and it was eight weeks before she received 305., all they would give on the policy of her deceased son. Their conduct at the office satisfied her that there was not the slightest use her continuing her payments, and therefore she discontinued and lost nearly £l6. • Mrs. Jackman here came forward and said that she had been to the office in Queen-street after the death of her husband, but could obtain no information there as to where the English office had been removed to. In reply to a question from Mr Rigby as to whether her claim had not been settled, she replied that it had. A gentleman, who described himself as the secretary of the Reliance Life Office, said he appeared there in conse quence of Mrs. Jackman having said on a former occasion that his (the Reliance) office was connected with this com pany. He begged to deny it. Mr. Elliott—That was evidently an error. After a few more remarks at the close of the case, Mr. Elliott said—lt appears to me that this investigation of Mrs. Jackman's case will be of great advantage to the pub lic. It has elicited very important information as to the nature of these companies, and I take this opportunity of saying that it seems to me to be a very fortunate thing that in the last session of Parliament an act was passed which enables persons in humble circumstances of life, instead of trusting to such companies as these, to get Government security for their deposits, either for their savings or in surance. The act passed last session was consequent upon representations and statements made of the workings of companies which had been existing and still appear to exist, which are of the most dangerous character. The act which has been passed will enable parties in future, by paying premiums, to insure their lives or an annuity with out running the risk they have hitherto done, and it can . not be too widely known that such an act does exist. discussion, and with the object of having all future dis putes settled by arbitration." It was further resolved that the delegates should, prior to their next meeting, take the opinion of their various societies upon the above resolution, with the view to im mediate action. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES.-11 the electors of Huddersfield are rather late in receiving from their member an account of the proceedings of the last session, they certainly have no reason to complain that they suffer by comparison with those constituencies whose representative have been more hasty in laying before them an account of the Parliamentary campaign. The speeches of Mr. Leatham bear evident marks of careful study and preparation, but the labour that is bestowed upon them is by no means thrown away. This gentleman, one of the most promising of the younger members of the Radical party, has evidently taken Mr. Bright for his model, and from a merely oratorical point of view it would be scarcely possible for him to select a better. He has, in common with Mr. Bright, a strong faculty of humour, butMr.Leatham treats subjects in a lighter and more cheerful manner than his leader. He does not appear so deeply impressed as Mr. Bright with the tragic miseries of the people of England; he seems rather struck with the ridiculous than with the melancholy aspect of things, and draws, with great force and humour, a picture of the embarrassments of Government and Opposition on the Danish question —the Opposition anxious for war in order to turn the Government out, the Government anxious for peace as the only way of retaining their places. Mr. Leatham then proceeds with much force and good sense to argue against the measure which has ob tained the name of the Permissive Bill, mainly, we suppose, became its object is to empower the majo rity to tyrannise without dispute over the wishes of the minority. Mr. Leatham's argument on this subject is well worthy of attention, not only for its bearing on the question of compulsory temperance, but from the much wider range of subjects to which it is applicable. "It is," he says, " the essence of representative Government that the electing class, which is analogous to the class paling rates, shall possess no direct legislative power ; and the princi ple of Parliamentary representation is that not -even the representative principle shall alone legis late. We have taken the precaution to protect the rights and property of Englishmen by the preroga tives of the Crown, the privileges of the Lords, and the authority of a representative assembly. All these constitute the threefold and invaluable shelter which we have raised over the rights and property of the meanest subject in the realm. But here is a proposition which, with naked and revolutionary simplicity, proposes to intrust the property and maintenance of the rights of a large class of persons to diminutive, homogeneous, democratic, and irre sponsible Parliaments set up all over the country, in place of a central, responsible, compound, and constitutional one. It seems to me that this strikes at the root of a constitutional and representative system." It is impossible to state the case better, and the argument is, to us, who are in favour of the English Constitution mainly as it at present exists, quite unanswerable and perfectly satisfactory. We object as strongly as Mr. Leatham can possibly do to the substitution of a pure democracy for one central, responsible, compound, and constitutional system ; but we see no reason, as Mr. Leatham deubtless does, to limit these principles to the case of Mr. Lawson's Permissive Bill, and would prefer I to extend them to subjects of infinitely greater im portance, to which they are equally applicable, and where they would be infinitely more valuable. Having, as we think, entirely demolished Mr. Law son, Mr. Leatham proceeds, in the same happy vein of humour, to address himself to the subject of Re form. He regrets the agitation on the Permissive Bill, because he thinks that by its counter-irritant qualities it has tended materially to reduce the in flammatory action which otherwise must have arisen in the body politic. On the question of re form in the representation of the people he considers, very justly, that the energies of the working classes have been unwisely divided, one portion of them seeking for a democratic Reform Bill, and another to enforce uponthemselves the Permissive Bill—a mea sure presupposing a state of things as its foundation which would render any extension of the franchise a palpable absurdity. Mr. Leatham is far too clear headed not to see very plainly that the two positions are untenable by one person at the same time. It requires extraordinary boldness to argue that the working classes are so degraded that they cannot be entrusted with the right to determine for them selves what quantity of beer or spirituous liquors they shall consume for their own use, while at the same tirte they are so enlightened that they are fit to take upon themselves, to the virtual exclusion of all other classes, the management in the last resort of the affairs of a mighty empire. Mr. Leathern urges us, on the authority of Mr. Stansfeld, to take these matters upon trust, but he can hardly expect us to have more confidence in the working classes than they have in themselves. We are not bound to take every one at his own estimate, and we are certainly not required to put any one higher, espe cially in a matter of such unspeakable importance as an entire change in the power by which ultimately the destinies of the country are to be decided. Mr. Leatham struggles manfully against the difficulty opposed by the undoubted fact that whatever faults both parties may have committed with regard to a Reform Bill, they have done so with perfect im punity—nay, with something like popular applause. Mr. Gladstone, he says, made a speech which de lighted him and his friends who sit around him. There was exultation below the gangway and con sternation in the House ; but neither was the exulta tion re-echoed in the country, nor was the conster nation of long continuance. Mr. Leatham forgets to mention that Mr. Gladstone published his speech with a preface, which, if it did not make it less mag nificent, certainly made it less intelligible, and drew the sting of it so effectually that it is quite impos sible for any one to say what the views of the Chan cellor of the Exchequer upon Reform now are. If he stands for Oxford, they are probably the views of the preface ; if he stands for a larger constitu ency, they are probably the views of the speech. Mr. Leatham takes substantially the ground of per sonal right to the franchise as the basis of a Reform Bill, and is at much pains to prove that the working classes will make a good use of the power intrusted to them ; he does not deny that this power will be complete, and that upon their enlightenment and good conduct the destinies of the country must thenceforth depend. Granting this for the moment, we would press him with his own argument, and ask him how he can reconcile his mind to the revolutionary simplicity which virtually takes away the power from all persons who now possess it, in order to vest it in what is undoubtedly the poorest, though, of course, he thinks the most virtuous and enlightened of the whole ? Is it desirable to replace what he calls our " compound constitutional sys tem" by this extreme " simplicity ?" He regards the prerogatives of the Crown and the privileges of the Peers as among the safeguards of our liberties. Coming from him the admission is of weight, and is honourable to his candour ; but how can he sup pose for a moment, in opposition to Mr. Bright, that these institutions can be permanently preserved when the Constitution has been converted from a mixed monarchy into a pure democracy, and when the upper classes are virtually disfranchised ? How long does he think the House of Peers and his de mocratic House of Commons would go on working amicably side by side ? He repudiates all check upon democracy; does he expect democracy to check itself, and, if so, on what historical precedent is that expectation founded ? We can only say to Mr. Leatham what we have said to Mr. Bright, that while assuming only to advocate the rights of a portion of the people, they are really proposing a complete subversion of 'the Constitution, and sub stituting something for it which they may succeed in proving to be much better, but which is not the Constitution to which England owes her liberality, her freedom, and her progress, and by virtue of which her own popular orators are permitted to tell five millions of the freest people in the world that they are reduced to a condition of slavery. HERALD. When the late Lord Elgin " opened up" Japan he little thought what a terrible legacy he was to leave to his country. How many fleets and armies will have to be sent there, how many ambassadors, admirals, and generals, before affairs can be placed, as the cant phrase is, " on a satisfac tory footing," who can tell ? How many more brave Englishmen are to be hacked to pieces on the high road, and how many towns are to be laid in ashes to avenge them, we cannot say. This only we feel, that it is a most unfortunate thing we ever attempted to break down the barrier of isolation which, in mercy to mankind, had been raised between this treacherous people and the world outside of them. Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, not to mention a fifth continent which is but half explored, might have satisfied even the avarice of trade for the next century or so. The way in which for more than 200 years past these islanders of Asia had treated the Europeans who were willing to undergo . any humiliation to be allowed to barter with them, was not such as to tempt other nations to go out of the way in suing for their friendship or incurring their animosity. We might have left it to the Dutchmen, who liked it, to allow themselves to be shut up in a prison on a small island, to be kept at more than arm's length like dangerous reptiles, to have letters poked at them on sticks or handed on tongs, •to be obliged to knock their heads against the floor when suffered to behold from afar off a dignatary of the great empire to endure all things and submit to all possible indignities for that greed of lucre which men call " commercial enterprise." We should never have wiled our fingers with such a dirty business, but have left Japan to the Dutch, and f e d Dutch to Japan. The Fates and Lord Elgin it otherwise, and there we are—an England m i ai n re Te j r in Japan •an imperium in imperio ; a i % • with a Court as respectable as that of the Ty co° at a little army encamped round him ; a fleet a . Kanagawa ; a colony of merchants at Yokohanl But the whole thing is hollow, a falsehood o,au„ mockery. We are not on good terms with JaPaPse' for from the highest to the lowest the JaPaueo hate us like poison. Ours is not a peaceful there but an armed occupation. They are not off. nary merchants but unscrupulous invaders, 'ova are forcing their barter and their exchange 11P°11„`$, nation that wants neither their gold nor thernse.lv,l,o To trace things to their source, the trea t y by vrl'iair of which we have entered Japan was not 5 d a t treaty ; it was extorted by intimidation, &date _ A the cannon's mouth. We have nevertheless followc it up by farther violence, by the destruetional h Kagosima, the bombardment of Simonosaki• It and been supposed that the Japanese Governmero' 9ais, the half-independent princes, terrified at the covery which they have made of our irresisfwat strength, have made up their minds to surrend er dv discretion to all our commands. We have alrero found out the mistake. A civilised people dp es k3 by open force which a nation of half-barbarians sewn to compass by treachery. The English burn d° . g a town, or send a handful of men to sabre th e l i eir at a battery. The Japanese bide their time in t •ty d dark vindictiveness, and on the first oPPeffilluto retaliate by assassination. How can we p reteil ay be astonished at it ? It is the savage's natur al W of making war ; we can kill him for it, but he Ic se, remain a savage to the last. For the JaPll3,ets with all their pretence of refinement, their stet tion of fastidiousness, are as savage in their h The as aboriginal Red Indians or Australians . , o e last mail from Japan shows us that we indeed reached a critical point in our relaar, with that country. Its tidings have broug h lf r o, row into the homes of two brave young 011 7 3 .0 whose misfortune it has been to be sent to °..„,,a on this ungenial shore. 'lt seems tha t the Ted from Yokohama to Kamakura is much frequ en being' by the foreigners at the former place, to the r by express stipulations, as open to them as Japanese themselves. On the 21 st November labor Baldwin and Mr. Bird started on horsebae.b. . 00 what they conceived would be a pleasant ei o 0 1 and an agreeable little break in the monotonL v o daily life at the settlement. They were met bl;ii friends on the road, who passed them wi th tbe ° 4,4 nary greeting, and left them riding together t 070,0 Kamakura. On the same day at nightfall v.e."40, information reached the little community at,•V ia sto hama, and a terrified party started off in bey :all along the road. They were too late. Ina "-tlis bamboo shed by the roadside, on mats . °, ll l , of N ground, were the hacked and mutilated T:, eof the murdered men. The assassins were sworclw.i.;b they are presumed to have been many in IniZer but beyond this nothing whatever has been u - h et vered of them. And thus two brave offiee rs m ttlet their death ; not gloriously, as a man dies in '',.;„risl with his face to the foe, and his country's ne ll :f - u llY , his heart and his strong right arm • not pea c r o lte 4 as a man who with wife and childrenl aronnu the tranquilly and unregretfully his last look °',8,113 world—but miserably and foully slain like„,,clio, beasts in the jungle by white-livered assass,_ fl a oa stole upon them from behind. And to all Of; 01? to many more such outrages, shall we have w o ol mit for our folly in having forced ourselves i',AO Japan. How can all the revenge that we es, ll „ an a atone to us for the murder of poor Baldwwftso Bird ? Would a thousand Japanese blown er a guns, supposing such condign punishment Pr ° , l) t bese desirable, be any satisfaction to the friends °' l , s cef slaughtered Englishmen,or any fair co unterba,'T e nce 11 I indeed, to their loss ? We know by , eg e t ,', - what we get by " making an example , " 0 3 ; it, of the Japanese and their rulers. p son was murdered, and we made a ruinedllo,l Kagosima. Major Baldwin and Mr. 1 31 -w f t been murdered, and something of the same s ° ' ( ya k have to be done again. . It would be idle .t° that such a crime calls so loudly for venge an 6 c - ve to the very severest means of retaliation will f ail be adopted in case the authorities should oet deliver up the offenders into our hands. St i f t li stis • then, that Jeddo is laid in ashes. What nee next ? Relations between us and the tisk — t ot! will by that time have arrived at such a Prof egg perhaps the best way of settling them, a11t. 4 „,;,1 ss pressing our supreme disgust for these 10%-r cowardly islanders, would be to send a 5q„,..-ci to Yokohama, and take away Sir ,g cock and every Englishman in Japan to or Hong Kong. COUNTRY MARKETS BIRMINGHAM—THURSDAY. o , lle si ' At this day's market there was a fair supply of which found buyers at the prices of this day so'otl4 Fine barley again rather higher; other qualities viv; no means lively at above decline. Oats firm. D e° peas only saleable in limited quantities. rec' uv e, Currencies :—English wheat, white, 40s to 44s ; fi to 41s per 36 stone. Malting barley, 28s to 34s ; Pos 2 r 22s to 25s per qr. Oats, 24s to 30 s ; Irish, 19s s pe r 30 stone. Beans, 386 to 42s ; and peas, 38 s to 4 BURY ST. EDMUND'S—WEDNzst al. ',•ket.:; - 0 There was a fair show of wheat at to-day's the trade was very inactive at last week's P6,te pr' D d barley was in short supply, and fully support s ' eplY - while secondary and inferior sorts were in goo d rlesfi-• e without alteration in`price. Talavera wheat, 46s to 48s; red ditto, Ms to ..)-k.:, e rtigs'o 30s to 345; secondary ditto, 24s to 26s per qr. oat s ' Wheat, 8291 qrs., 38s; barley, 3,9831 qrs., 30$ 5' 4 qrs., 225. MANCIIES TER--THURSDAY. tl rid of At our market this morning the tone of t ho fk e ra fio firmer, but there was very little disposition o n l'„„ 4 041 4 . buyers to operate, and, with a limited business r:tica repeat the quotations of this day se'nnight for all BRISTOL—THURSDAY. a On our market here to-day there was a lessell,, e , g of English wheat, which sold slowly at last weer — WO Foreign attracted scarcely any attention. M a ltilig u a s° l l fully as dear ; grinding in very large supP l 4: 4 ; 1 1' 0 freely at the reduced quotations of last week. "--ere of oats oats was in excess of the demand, and values 'Weistoo 6d per qr. lower, with only a limited exten t of w passing. Maize dull, at a decline of 6d per qr. EDINBURGH—WEDNESDAY. f CO lv , s til At our market there was a good supp l y °- A, i 1 ' wheat, which brought last week's prices. 4tl JO Wheat on the top, 3s Od down average, Os i re Barley on the top, Os 6 d up average, Os id tip A , Oats on the top, Os 6 d down average, 0$ r . a ov Beans on the top, Os 6d down average, 0$ 4 Average prices. Wheat, 36s 3d I Oats, 18s 1 , 1c1 , 1 Barley, 2ss lid B eans , 3551-v• Total supply and sales. 696 Wheat 1003 qrs ............ sold ,634 Barley 2423 qrs ............ sold loi Oats 2456 qrs ............ sold , 1 61 Beans 213 qrs ......... .; . sola na ;eP , Town-made flour sells as follows :— White, 3 6s v a superfine, 34s 6d; superfine, 335; fine, 31s dd. 1 to GLASGOW—WEDNESDAY. nd ij;th This day's market was well attended. 'Wileat , e in limited inquiry, at about previous rates ; ,1P and oatmeal unaltered; beans and peas less active' / corn dull. a f ill' ) sT: [ADVERTISEMENT.] —Holloway's Ointment °, o to' Bad Legs.—When from injury, feeble cireola t x ° l llc dti l blood, or neglected chill, inflammation, succeede d m ay tion, has attacked the lower limbs, the suffere r for a cure, without fear of disappointment, to 171' celebrated ointment, whose fame for such disora e *i, 00r;4 sounded throughout the habitable globe, and tes',llo in all languages have been received, this celebrated ointment. In all old cases Ilollolvoget, should be taken while his unguent is used : bo tb 'O l6 D iv are most effectual, and the cure accomplish° . . 4 1,0 and readily. Under their joint curative influence "ot, wounds or ulcers assume a pure healthy cli gr teal• universalli ; i 'o f il et shortly begin to fill up or contract, and soundly 401 4 :0 4 /4 0 . ° Ol London: Priated and Published by W1LL10,;44-- ti of No . 112, Strand, Piinter , at THE SUN L ' h .- e C CO W- Strand, in the Precinct of the SavoY, Kiddleuex.—Friday, January 27, 180. T N Of v c kri tri er Chli W e rah ) _Bt br ie Dm, shortly begin to fill up or contract, and soundlY Births. of I'll ESMDNDE.—On the 9th inst., at Rome, the Wi fe f iia Esmonde, Esq., M.P., of a daughter. tJle HICKLEY.—On the 22d inst., at Ashcott, Sonia" e' of Captain Hickley, R.N., of a son. i(i fe MASTER.—On the 25th inst., at Knole Park, th 'e Colonel Master, C. 8., sth Fusiliers, of a seil•,„ of WATT.—On the 23d inst., at Holloway, the w' J. R. Watt, of a daughter. Marriages. s_, lo o l I ERSKIND—CAMPBELL.—On the 25th inst., 3 ".4. Hants, the Hon. John Cadwallader Erskine, I,,joSliSe' Cullen, eldest daughter of the late Colonel Api Campbell, C. 8., K.H., of Blackburn House , e 0 N.B. liceP e ciP ;.1- GroA4 O'GRADY—BRUCE.—On the 21st inst., by sPec,',"„. 102, Stephen's-green, Dublin, James W2`,',;, - r O'uir:, R.N., only surviving son of the late Hon. w',„, - to Ada, youngest daughter of the late W;lha Esq., Bombay C.S., and sister of the present P' Bruce, Bart., of Stenhouse, Stirlingshire. „ e t, Deaths. _so' 0 g,„e ABERNETRY.—On the 25th inst at 2, P i l l ; ila , " Clarendon-square, London, Alan AbernetPJ'ter, son of the late Alexander Abernethy, Pr — t l3- burgh,, aged 40. v i e ea° DE ERESBY.—On the 26th inst., at 14 2 , 0 4 Lady Willoughby de Eresby, aged 78. „ Ga le ' , GALE.—On the 24th inst., at Winchester, I-. C. joy! aged os19 " cP' n MAITLAND.-On the 23d inst., at Anglesea , - r ota - Maitland, Esq., M.D., Deputy Inspector Go- of pitals, aged 57. 1.0 1 , 1513 ' of THORPE.—On the 24th inst., at Shaftesburi i - 86. Norwood, the Rev. W. Thorpe, D.D., a ged WOW WADESON.—On the 25th inst., Mr. R o be'' pe, Birchin-lane, aged 56. foli o YATES.—On the 24th lust., at Unkel-on - A tili -/ A I Bonn, Prussia, William Yates, Esq., age" the " A It 8 OhE