The Sun. — London, England, 1865-04-06 00:00:00

.MERICA, (From the Times' Correspondent.) • NEW YORK, March 24. The buoyant confidence of the Northern press and people that Sherman would carry all before him in his march upon Raleigh has been somewhat abated by the intelligence that each of his two ad vancing columns has been checked by the Confede rates. Richmond papers of the 22d report that General Hardee fell upon Sherman on the 16th inst. at a place called Averysborough, on the Cape Fear River, halfway between Fayetteville and Raleigh, and defeated him with great carnage. The state ment, however, that the Federal loss was 3,300 and that of the Confederates only 450 looks like an exag geration. The other victory was achieved by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, apparently over General Scho field at Bentonville on the 19th (Sunday last.) Since that time no news of any further 'encounters has been received, or, if received, they have not been communicated to the public. It is understood that the Confederates, commanded by General Lee in person, will make their first stand at or near Raleigh, and that if unsuccessful in defeating and routing Sherman they will retire upon the line of the Roanoke, where reinforcements from Richmond can reach Lee within a few hours. Although, therefore, a reverse of the Federal arms is possible, and ought to be taken into account by all who would not de lude themselves with over-sanguine expectations, the Northern public, almost en masse, and as if by universal consent, believe that the war on the part of the Confederates is so utterly hopeless that it only needs a magnanimous proclamation of amnesty to all the Southern leaders to induce General Lee to yield up his sword, and retire from the conflict with the honours of war, and the grateful remem brances and admiration both of North and South. Mr. Lincoln has gone to Fortress Monroe—some say for the benefit of his health, and to free himself, if only for a few days, froni the mos quito-like cloud of office-seekers who worry him " nigh unto death" by their greedy importuni ties. Others allege that his object is to confer with Gen. Grant on the proposition made by Mr. Jeffer son Davis, to the effect that Generals Lee and Grant should hold a conference to debate, with perhaps better results than attended the efforts of the civi lians who recently met on board the steamer in the Hampton Roads, whether peace and reconciliation be not possible at.this moment. It is likely that this explanation of Mr. Lincoln's visit to his generalis simo is the true one, for the camp of an invading army and the tent of a soldier is not the place that a sick man would naturally select for the benefit of his health, or the repose and refreshment of his jaded system. It would be easier, if health alone and relief from the toils of office were Mr. Lincoln's object, to claim the sick man's privilege of seclusion, and shut himself up in the inmost sanctuary of the White house, insensible to all comers but those of his own family and household. For this, among many other reasons, the general belief is that Mr. Lincoln's ob ject is peace, and that a new, or a renewal of an old, proposition to the South may be every hour expected from his pen. The fall in gold appears to have been temporarily arrested. The failures that have already occurred in consequence of the great appreciation of the cur rency have not been anything like so numerous and so heavy as were anticipated, but a very uneasy feel ing prevails, and the excitement that exists in Wall street is scarcely to be considered that of exhilara tion, but rather of a gloom that closely borders upon fear. At such a critical time as this undoubtedly is, both for North and South, it is curious to see how very loudly the Hibernian portion of the American people are beginning to insult and to breathe vengeance against Great Britain. No person whose business it is to watch the tide of political life in America, and to note the chips or the straws that are borne upon the strong current, can fail to perceive the unusual activity of what is called the Fenian Brotherhood, and the un usual importance attached to their speeches and pro ceedings. The ignorance of social and political science, one of the characteristics of the Americans, which their friend Mr. Cobden reluctantly and sor rowfully acknowledges, is, if possible, exceeded by thoir ignorance of British politics generally, and of the social condition of Ireland particularly. They do not know, or will not acknowledge, that Irishmen flock to America by hundreds of thousands every year because the population is too large for the agricultu ral resources of a little pastoral island, better fitted to produce cattle than corn ; and that this exodus is perfectly intelligible and natural, and is as good, within certain limits, for the emigrants as for the old country which loses and the new country which receives them. They are told by Irish exiles who know better that Ireland is treated by Great Britain as Venetia by Austria, or Poland by Russia, and they believe it. They are told that the Irishman has no political privileges, and can acquire none ; that he is a serf, if not a slave ; and that, like the negro on a Southern plantation, he has no rights which his Saxon " tyrant" is bound to acknowledge, or which he can enforce against the said tyrant, ex cept the sacred rights of insurrection and assassina tion. They are unaware that Ireland is fully repre sented in the British Parliament, that the members for Irish boroughs, cities, and counties are for the most part Irishmen, that the voters who elect them are Irish also ; that elections are perfectly free ; that Ireland which complains so lustily of wrong has a representation nearly double in number to that of Scotland, which does not complain at all ; that the laws in Ireland are impartially administered by Irish Judges ; and that if the grievances of Ireland were fairly traced to their source, there would be found but one, and that one for which the British Govern ment could not even here be held responsible. It is that the people, on account of their own superabun dance of numbers, cannot obtain farms to cultivate on a soil which is not only extremely limited, but which is, moreover, from the moisture of the skies, far better adapted to pasturage than the plough. This grievance the Irish themselves are busily en gaged in curing, by voluntary expatriation to the Western States of America, where land is cheap, and where every man of ordinary industry and prudence can easily secure the fee simple of a farm of 100 or 200 acres at a price scarcely more than half as much as he would have to pay for the yearly rental of a similar quantity of less productive land in his own country. But all this is a fathomless mystery to the Yankee mind. The Irish in America have a rabid hatred of England, and as the expression of this feeling is agreeable to Americans, because it is thought to be an element of military strength in the always populaF contingency of a war with Great Britain, the Fenians are encouraged by men in power and in high social position to extend and complete their organisation and keep their imaginary wrongs continually before the public. During the last eight or ten months the Fenians have been more ram pant and violent than at any previous time, and that, too, in spite of the opposition of the Roman Catholic bishops, who have denounced the movement as highly impolitic and dangerous. The papers in all the Northern States overflow with reports of meet ings of the " Brotherhood," to whom have lately been added a " Sisterhood," and the most urgent ap peals are made for money to purchase arms to be sent to Ireland, so that when the long-wished for invasion of the Green Isle by a hundred thousand Fenians, under General Francis Thomas Meagher, or some other Hibernian, shall take place, the in vading army shall be welcomed on the shore by a native army at least as strong, each man with a sword at his side, and a pike or a rifle in his hand. At a great meeting of the Brotherhood held on St. Patrick's-day in Philadelphia, it was enthu siastically resolved, " That it is now manifest:to the wcrld that it is the deliberate purpose of the nefarious and malignant tyrants that rule Ireland to utterly exterminate by force and fraud the Irish race from the face of their native land, and to erase the name of their country from geo graphy." The egregious stupidity of the resolution was no bar to its acceptance by the fools or knaves assembled to swallow or " endorse" it, nor was the next resolution less to the taste or the purpose of the audience, though in one sense it was not quite so silly as the proem of which it was the corollary__ " Resolved, That the Irish people have a right to ye upon and to own the soil bequeathed to them by heir sires." The British Government has never THE CIV. denied, and is not likely to deny them the right to live upon her soil, if they prefer to do so, and cease to abandon it, by their voluntary em . g,ration to America or elsewhere, but when they talk of "own ing" the soil, without paying any rent for it—a soil moreover that could not accoramodlte a tenth part of them in the capacity of landlords—they would find opponents more than sufficient in their own countrymen to settle that pretension, without bring ing into play the operations of any Government whatever. But the American million have made up their minds that Ireland is shockingly illtreated ; and they encourage the Fenians in their senseless appeals for " justice" and " independence" to make " political capital" out of their discontent, .and menace Great Britain, not only with the unfounded fear of an invasion of Ireland, but with a far more likely aggression against Upper and Lower Canada. The sympathies and affiliations of the Republican party now dominant in American politics with the Irish Fenians are of old standing. On the 7th July, 1848, a meeting in favour of the independence of Ireland was held in Boston, at which letters from the Mayor of Boston and Mr. Wendell Phillips were read in strong approval of the Irish rebellion. A similar meeting was held on the 27th of the same month in this city, of which Mr. Horace Greeley was president ; and on the 4th of August the same gentleman was announced as subscribing 500 dol lars to the object in view. A now more important personage, none other than the Hon. W. H. Seward, then ex-Governor of New York, and candidate for the Senate, but now Secretary of State, and ruling spirit of the Lincoln Administra tion, subscribed $lOO, exclusive of a similar sum previously subscribed at Albany. On the 15th of August $5,700 were contributed at a public meeting, at which one Mr. Hiram Wallbridge, now a noted member of the Loyal League, and a conspicuous opponent of the Southern rebellion, was present and took a prominent part. So recently as March 14, 1863, 15 years after the ignominious collapse of Mr. Smith O'Brien's rebellion in the widow's cabbage garden, it was stated in the official address of the Fenians " that the Fenian Brotherhood was insti tuted some years previously as a secret society ; that it had ceased to be secret ; that its object was the invasion of Ireland by an armed force of at least 100,000 men ; and that the Brotherhood had the secret countenance among others of W. H. Seward, the Secretary of State." On March 6, 1864, a re port of the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Fenians at Chicago appeared in the Sunday Mercury, which circulates largely among the Irish in this city, which stated that " the committee had received letters of encouragement from hundreds of prominent men in the country, including the Post master-General, Mr. Montgomery Blair, Secretary Seward, Governor Yates (of Illinois), Mr. Speaker Mulligan, and hundreds of officers in the army and navy of the United States." On Dec. 6 last a great meeting of the Fenians was held at Chicago, at Which it was resolved nem. con.—" That it was the duty of the American Government to declare imme diate war against England," and pledging the Chicago Circle of the Brotherhood to raise imme diately 5,000 men, upon the sole condition of being ordered forward at the earliest possible moment and by the shortest route to meet the common enemy of Ireland and America." The Chicago Tribune of the 28th, in commenting upon the meeting and the resolutions very properly remarked that if the Chicago Fenians were so ready to fight for America they might try their pluck in a preliminary tussel with Mr. Jefferson Davis. This, however, is by no means the idea of the Brotherhood. They will fight, or say they will fight, the " Sassenach" out of pure love of the cause, but they will not fight Mr. Jeffer son Davis, unless they are paid a bounty of 800 or 1,000 dollars. It is possible that the numbers of the Brotherhood have been greatly exaggerated, and that the whole organisation may be mainly due to the persistent efforts of professional agitators, who pay themselves handsome salaries out of the fund ostensibly collected for the invasion of Ireland ; but the animus of the association and its power of mischief on the Cana dian frontier in the event of a war is not to be denied, even if, after all their bluster and boast, theyshould raise only twenty thousand instead of a hundred thousand braves to avenge their fancied wrongs. It is also quite true that gentlemen like Mr. Wendell Phillips, Mr. Greeley, Mr. Hiram IVallbrid g e, anc _ _ other ardent haters of the rebellion in the South may plead the right of free opinion, and argue in favour of rebellion anywhere else, and more espe cially in Ireland, but the same freedom can scarcely be allowed to Mr. Secretary Seward, the chief of Mr. Lincoln's Administration, or to officers of high rank in the military or naval service of the United States. It is not, however, quite certain that Mr. Seward is a " Fenian," though very certain and notorious that the " Fenians" in this city and else- where continually claim him as one of the Brother- hood, that they parade at their meetings letters of approval which they allege have been written by him, and that his name appears as a subscriber to their funds. If he desire to wash his hands of the connexion, he will, perhaps, be thankful that this public notice of the liberties taken with his name by men who would bring a heavy calamity upon his country as well as upon their own has given him the opportunity to follow the example of the Roman Catholic clergy, and not only to withdraw from but to denounce the Brotherhood with the whole weight of his authority. Naval and Military Intelligence. MALTA, March 31.—Her Majesty's ship Revenge, 73 (bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral H. R. Yel verton, C. 8.), Capt. the Hon. F. A. C. Foley, left port on Saturday last for . England to be paid off, taking with her a large number of military and naval invalids, and women and children. When off St. Paul's Bay, the little steam tender Kelpie, of the Peninsular and Oriental Company, having on board two of the directors, Mr. Hadow, deputy chairman, and Mr. Bailie, steamed close alongside, and gave the ship three hearty cheers, which were cordially returned by the admiral himself from his quarter gallery and by various officers from the different decks. The Victoria, 102 (flagship of Vice-Admiral Smart), Capt. J. G. Goodenough, returned into port on Friday from a cruise, and was followed on Saturday by the iron ships Royal Oak, 35, Captain ' F. Campbell, and Resistance, 16, Captain W. C.. Chamberlain. The ironclad Enterprise, 4, Com mander Rowley, returned the same day from con veying Col. and Mrs. Herman to Tripoli. It is said that Col. Herman has resigned the post of Consul- General at Tripoli, which ho has held for a great many years. Sir William Smith, K.C.8., paid a visit to Tripoli in this vessel. Her Majesty's steamer Magicienne, 16, Capt. W. Armytage, was suddenly ordered on Saturday to get up her steam and pro - ceed to sea in search of a derelict vessel, reported in the Malta Channel. On Sunday, about 4 p.m., she fell in with the object of her search, the dismasted hull of a vessel of some 550 or 600 tons burden, which was soon taken in tow.and brought into this harbour, with no little trouble and anxiety to all on board. On arrival here she was beached in Calcara Creek. She appears to have been abandoned some time, and has lost her upper deck as well as her masts. She is a north country ship, supposed to be Norwe gian. It is with much regret that I have to announce that Mr. A. Boyton, Assist.-Paymaster, R.N., re cently lin charge of her Majesty's ship Psyche, has absconded. He has taken with him about £420 from the Government cash chest. It appears that Mr. Boyton asked from the commander, Lieut. R. Sterne, leave to pass Saturday and Sunday with some friends in the country, and to return to his ship on Monday morning. Hence his absence excited no suspicion till Tuesday, the 21st inst. It has been discovered that he was taken on board the Messina packet on Saturday, the 18th. Messrs. Bone and Autey, pay masters of her Majesty's ship Hibernia and Magi cienne, have been ordered to hold a survey on the Psyche's stores and to examine her accounts. They report the extent of the defalcation to amount to about £590, and I have heard that, in addition to this, the mess-funds have suffered to the extent of about £lOO. Had Mr. Boyton remained a little longer he would have received a very considerable sum, his share of salvage, effected by her Majesty's ship Psyche off Alexandria during the course of last year. The impression is that he has made for China, where he served for some time. Mr. Walter W. Wil- rum SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 6, 1864 The Hector was coated with the Admiralty's che mical assistant's ordinaryprotective and anti-fouling compositions some seven months since, and her bot tom on being examined in dock was found to be covered with long weeds, hanging in tufts and fes toons, with a moderate quantity of barnacles, and a larger deposit of corallines aft. Her recoating with the same description of compositions will cost some where about £3OO. A naval court-martial assembled on Tuesday on board her Majesty's ship Victory in Portsmouth Harbour, under the presidency of Capt. Oliver J. Jones, of her Majesty's ship Shannon, for the trial of Mr. Henry Courland, boatswain of the 2d class, _ _ and doing duty on board her Majesty's ship Harrier, on a charge of " absenting himself without leave from her Majesty's ship Harrier on the 30th of March last." The Court sentenced Mr. Cour land to lose one year's seniority, and to be severely reprimanded. Capt. Frederick A. Herbert, R.N., who received his promotion to post rank when serving recently as commander of the Excellent, gunnery ship at Portsmouth, has joined the Excellent, for service in the turret-ship Royal Sovereign, ordered for com mission. Lieut.-Col. A. Alison, who has recently served three years as Assist. Adjutant-Gen. of Infantry, a staff appointment now abolished, has succeeded Col. Thackwell as Assist. Adjutant -Gen. at Portsmouth, Col. 'Thackwell's five years of office having expired. The Great Lock-out, THE LOOK -OUT WITHDRAWN. WOLVERHAMPTON, Wednesday. To-day a special meeting of the iron trade of North and South Staffordshire and Derbyshire has been held in the Exchange of this town, to consider the steps to be taken relative to the lock-out. Mr. W. 0. Foster, M.P., chairman of the South Staffordshire trade, presided, and there were about 120 ironmasters present. The CHAIRMAN announced that the North Staffordshire masters had come to the conclusion that their purpose would be no longer served by a continuance of tho lock out, and that, seeing that so much suffering was being en tailed upon innocent persons, they were willing that it should be withdrawn, especially after the course which had been taken by the masters in the North of England. He would, however, state that it was the opinion of the panel or committee that the North Staffordshire masters ought to be upheld by the masters in the South. At the same time, there was an opinion prevailing, both in and out of the committee, that the course which the masters in the North had taken made it no longer incumbent upon the masters of South Staffordshire to abide by a contract which ono party to it had broken. The chairman then suggested a resolution, which had been previously submitted by Mr. W. Matthews, a master in both divisions of the county, in his capacity as a master of the North. After Mr. Walter Williams, jun., had announced, as hon secretary, that the Executive at Brierley-hill, had - given their pledge that the North Staffordshire mon should not be supported either 'directly or indirectly, the motion, as suggested by the chairman, was slightly altered, and the following was agreed upon unanimously as a notice to be printed and posted at the different works : . " At a meeting of the iron trade of South Staffordshire held at Wolverhampton on Wednesday, the sth of April, 1865, it was resolved— " That the ironmasters of North Staffordshire having by their trade resolution of April 3, 1865, released this district from the undertaking entered into with them on the 16th of February, 1865, and believing the assurance given by the men of South Staffordshire that they disapprove the con duct of the North Staffordshire men, and that they will not assist them, directly or indirectly, during the continuance of the present strike, it is hereby resolved that the works in the South of Stafford be reopened this sth day of April, 1865. " Wolverhampton, April 5, 1865. " Pursuant to the above resolution, these works are now declared open. (Signed) I Although this resolution was passed unanimously, opinions were freely expressed early in the meeting to the effect that the lock-out ought not to be withdrawn, even though the North of England masters had broken the com pact into which they had entered with the Staffordshire masters, and ono of the speakers said ho felt inclined to ask who were the gentlemen who, considering themselves ab solved, had made preparations to resume, but he would not press the question. Very strong condemnation of the con duct of the North of England masters in withdrawing their support from Staffordshire without consulting the masters here also found free expression. On the contrary, the North Staffordshire masters were spoken of in terms of the highest commendation, and a vote of thanks was passed to them for the business-like and manly course which they had pursued. Mr. W. MATTHEWS, in responding, said that they were influenced in wishing the lock-out to be withdrawn by a desire to remove the misery which was resulting to many unoffending persons. The North Staffordshire masters would continue their opposition to the unreasonable demands of their men, and they had no doubt whatever that they should be able successfully to resist thorn. For the gene rous and prompt aid which the masters of the South had given to those of the North the masters felt under consider able obligation. An IRONMASTER inquired what course the North Staf fordshire ironmasters intended to pursue ? Mr. MATTHEWS said that the question was scarcely a fair one. The North Staffordshire masters were prepared to bo judged as to their future conduct by their proceedings hitherto. The committee of the South Staffordshire Trade were ,hen thanked for the manner in which they had sustained he interests of the trade during the lock-out. The meeting then broke up. A large number of workmen had assembled during tho liamson, now serving as inspector of machinery in her Majesty's ship Victoria, has been appointed to hold a similar office in Sheerness dockyard, vice Mr. J. Rumble, who has been placed on half pay. Mr. Williamson will be succeeded by Mr. Nicholl, who has been recently promoted, and who was not long since serving out i here in her Majesty's ship Renown. The Prussian war brig Rover left Malta harbour on Sunday for Cadiz. The Mosquito has been detained here in consequence of a serious accident to her commander. Her Majesty's ship Pelican, 17, Com mander H. W. Comber, arrived to-day from Zante, which island she left on the 28th inst. Major Brine, R.E., and the Hon. A. C. Cassels arrived to-day from Alexandria, on board the Euxine, and landed hete. By the same ship are passengers for Mar seilles, Lord and Lady Paget, General Cunning ham, Capt. Viramer, Capt. Taylor, Capt. and Mrs. Harris, Major Magniac, Capt. Edlman, Capt. Bannerman, Capt. Barton, Capt. Holberton, Capt. Sheppard, Lieut. Merriman, Capt. Ferrers, Capt. Laprimandage, Lieut. Newbigging, Capt. Bradford, Capt. Chichester, Mr. Hadow, Mr. Bailey, Penin sular and Oriental Company's directors, and Mr. F. 11. P. Wetherall and Mrs. Wetherall will leave by the same vessel for Marseilles. We learn from Corfu that the electric cable between that island has been out of working order since the 17th inst. The Edgar, 78, screw wooden line-of-battle ship, now lying at Spithead, is ordered to be completed in all respects and ready to proceed on her voyage to Lisbon with the Earl of Sefton and suite by the 10th inst. Her Majesty's paddle yacht Albert, 391 tons, 160- horse power nominal, Staff-Commander David N. Welch, made a preparatory trial of her machinery, in readiness for the service of her Majesty on the removal of the Court from Windsor to Osborne on the 20th inst., in Stokes Bay, near Portsmouth, on Monday last, and with four runs over the measured mile, under full boiler power, realised a mean speed of 15 knots. Her Majesty is expected to leave Osborne for Germany, via Antwerp, on the Bth of August, and will return to England on the Bth of September, but previous to leaving for Germany her Majesty will visit Scotland and Windsor. The Orontes, screw iron troopship, Capt. H. W. Hire, and the Hector, screw iron frigate, Capt. G. W. Preedy, C. 8., have been docked at Ports mouth to examine, report upon, and replenish the preservative and anti-fouling compositions with which their hulls below the water-line were coated when they were last placed in the dock. The bottom of the Orontes was found to be free of any important accumulation of weeds, but, under the counter of of her stern, and in the run of her lines, to her screw apertures. She is thickly encrusted with barnacles, and the bottom is dotted all over with patches of rust, the rivet heads in many places showing evident signs of being affected by the copper contained in the " anti-fouling " composition. As a " preserva tive " to the ship's bottom, the composition appears to have utterly failed. As an " anti-fouling " pre paration, the result is rather more favourable, but this slight advantage appears to have been more than counterbalanced by the failure in " protective " qualities to the iron of the ship's bottom. The com positions used on the Orontes were the Admiralty's, or rather Hays' improved, whatever the latter word may mean. The compositions were paid on the Orontes' bottom when she was in dock in August last. This evening Mr. Peter Baker, the general secretary of the North Staffordshire puddlers, and another member of the North Staffordshire committee, both waited upon the Brierly-hill Executive, and had a long conference with them. The North Staffordshire men encourage tho hope that tho sympathy which is felt for them by tho mass of the men may prompt them to refuse to return to ' work at the old terms. The Brierly-hill Executive were not, up to the time at which this was written, likely to encourage this expecta tion now that the masters had complied with their written requirements, that the lock-out should be withdrawn "by the 6th of April," with the alternative that if it was con tinued after that date they should recommend the men of the South to "make common cause with the North Staf fordshire men." The conditions which, on behalf of the general body of the men, the Executive felt themselves called upon to lay down having been complied with, the Executive express themselves satisfied, and it isnot thought that the representatives of the North Staffordshire dele gates will alter their views. They will also discourage any assistance to North Staffordshire ; but in this respect they will not be able to enforce universal obedience to their wishes. The most temperate of the men off the executive are also in favour of resuming at the terms at which they left off ; and, for the sake of the large number of persons who are interested in their decision, it may well be hoped that thoy will. Last week's division in North Staffordshire was ls. 7d. or ls. 9d. per head. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE, April 5. Business in the iron trade has quite revived from the brief collapse occasioned by the late lock-out in the North. The whole of the iron works in this and the Cleveland dis trict are fully opened, as the millmen, who wore kept out in some of the factories until puddled iron was made to set them going, have got a supply and entered upon their em- Loyment again. The engine-building establishments in Newcastle aro very busy, there being a great demand at present for marine engines. Mr. John Kane, the presi dent, and Mr. Millington, secretary, of the Gateshead Exe cutive of ironworkers, has written to Mr. C. M. Palmer, the chairman of the Northern Ironmastors' Association Com mittee, thanking him for his ldndness and consideration towards the men during their conference with the masters. Mr. Palmer has replied. He says " I am most gratified to find that the course I pursued on that occasion meets with your approval, although I feel that the compliments you bestow upon me are really more than I deserve. For it must be acknowledged that much of the credit attaching to the satisfactory arrangement made at Darlington is attributable to the fair, straightforward, and conciliatory manner in which the delegates met the masters, and the ability and judgment with which their views wore expressed at the various conferences. To you, Mr. Kane, the greatest praise is due. From the commence ment of the conflict you gave sound and reasonable advice to the men over whom you preside. You wore ably sup ported by your colleagues in the executive, and to you and to them the thanks not only of those who are immediately interested in the iron trade, but of the whole working com munity and a large proportion of the trading classes, are duo. If mon of equal prudence and conciliatory disposi tion represented the ironworkers of Staffordshire, we should, I trust, soon see a settlement of their dispute —a dispute which, if continued much longer, must of necessity prove disastrous to the whole of that diatrict, and involve the la bouring classes there in the misery which you so vividly and pathetically depict in your letter. While writing on this subject, I may take the opportunity of mentioning that at the conference at Darlington . the committee which' was appointed to confer with you respecting the lock-out was continued in office for the purpose of endeavouring to draw more closely the ties that bind employers and em ployed in the iron trade together, and of considering the suggestions and proposals towards that end which you made at York. lam glad to learn that a copy of your rules has been received, and that we are about to have a meeting to consider the matter. I shall be happy to find that you have placed your union on a basis which can be recognised and supported by the masters and the public generally. In order to effect this you should, in my opinion, enlarge its boundaries so as to include in its operations the collection and distribution of funds for accidents, sickness, and old age, and for educational purposes. if this be done your union will prosper. It will partake of a peaceful rather than a belligerent character; it will be in harmony with the wishes of the ironmasters, conducive to the comfort and wellbeing of the ironworkers, and it will I am sure receive the approval and support of the whole country. Permit me to say, in conclusion, that it will be to me a source of pride and pleasure to look back on the course I took in the late unhappy differences, remembering, as I shall ever do, the approbation with which you have marked that course, and the kind and courteous, although too flattering, man ner in which your approbation is expressed. And if in the future any - differences should unfortunately arise between the ironmasters and ironworkers of the North of England, I shall always be ready to use my best endeavours to bring about a settlement as fortunate and satisfactory to all par. ties as the one which has just boon concluded." The adjourned meeting of delegates of the London Trades' Societies was held last evening at the Sussex Hotel, Bou verie-street, Fleet-street—Mr. G. Potter in the chair. Up wards of 200 delegates were present. The CHAIRMAN, having referred to the proceedings which had taken place since the last meeting with reference to the exertions of Lord Lichfield to bring the dispute to an amicable settlement, said he regretted that the North Staf fordshire men had not accepted the proposal made to them on Friday last, although he could not blame the men, con sidering the manner in which they had been treated. (Hear.) The South Staffordshire men had intimatodto the masters in that district that unless they closed the lock-out this week they would be prepared to make common cause with the men of North Staffordshire. He did not know how far this resolution had influenced the South Staffordshire masters, but at their meeting held that day at Wolverham ton they had passed a resolution to reopen their works at once. (Cheers.) He had not received any intelligence from North Staffordshire, but he thought it might be fairly presumed that under these circumstances the North Staf fordshire masters would be willing to allow their men on strike to resume work at the old rate of wages, and consent to submit the wages question to arbitration. (Cheers.) He had much pleasure in stating that the Executive Council of tke Boilermakers' Society had voted £lOO, and the two so cieties of tinplate workers £45, to the support of the men on strike, and many other societies were about voting large sums; so that there would be no fear, should the strike continue, of the men being well supported. Mr. DAVIS ? painter, moved the following resolution : " That this meeting hears with much satisfaction that the ironmastors of South Staffordshire have withdrawn their unwarrantable lock-out, and hopes that the North Stafford shire masters will bring the dispute to a termination by allowing their men on strike to resume work at the same rate of wages at which they left work, and consent to refer fho question of wages for the future to arbitration. Mr. OUTRAN, carpenter, seconded the resolution. Messrs. ParPrs and BOLLINGTON 7 delegates from North Staffordshire, at some length explained the position and views of the men in that iflftrict. If they had struck for an advance of wages, and had agreed to refer the question to arbitration, they should not have asked to work on the advanced rate pending the arbitration, and therefore, as they were resisting a reduction, they did not think they should bo called upon to resume work at the reduced price. (Cheers.) Mr. DunTING, bookbinder, supported tho resolution, which was carried unanimously. Mr. Potter then left the chair, and Mr. Nethercott, boiler maker, having been appointed to take that position, a long discussion took placo on the proceedings of a meeting of the Trades Council on the 29th of March, censuring Mr. Potter for his conduct in connection with trades societies' movementr, and a resolution was adopted, with six dissen tients, declaring Mr. Potter fully entitled to the confidence of the trades of London, and strongly censuring the six members of the Trades Council for their factious and anti- proceedings in the open Market-place in front of the Swan Hotel, beneath the entrance to which many ironmasters , and others congregated as.soon as the meeting was over in the Exchange. On the conclusion of the meeting of the masters, the Mayor of the borough (Mr. J. Ford), desiring to be able to disperse the crowd in the street without resorting to un palatable means, obtained a copy of the document quoted above, and ascending to the balcony of the Swan, accom panied by Captain Segrave, the Chief -constable of Wolver hampton, said—My friends, as Mayor of Wolverhampton, I have felt it my duty to address you on the present occa sion, and to congratulate you that the lock-out is at an end. (Cheers.) I hope you will all go to work to-morrow morn ing. I will read you the resolution passed by the iron masters this day. It is this. (The Mayor then read the document, the conclusion of which was received by the crowd with cheers.) Now, my friends, continued the Mayor, I hope you will from this time disperse, go to your wives and families, and be ready to go to your work to morrow morning. (Cries of " No, no," which were met by cheers.) The Mayor then retired, and there was a call from the crowd of "Send out Sammy." At the same time a number of men gathered round Mr. Samuel Griffith; and were understood to request him to ascend to the balcony and address them, but Mr. Griffiths declined to do so. He, however, soon distributed among them some bills to which his name was signed, announcing that by a resolution of the ironmasters' meeting the lock-out was withdrawn from that day. Messrs. Barrows and some other masters in South Staf fordshire, anticipating the result of the meeting of this afternoon, have made preparations to start some portions of their works to-night, and others are ready to begin to morrow morning. Some firms, however, of whom Messrs. G. B. Thorneycroft and Co., of Wolverhampton, is ono, will not commence till Monday. The dissent from the recommendation of the Mayor which was expressed by the crowd of men in front of the Swan Hotel was an expression of the resolution which the pud diers of Wolverhampton came to at a meeting whioh they held before the ironmasters' meeting took place. At the meeting it was determined that, whatever might be the de cision at which the masters might arrive, they would not resume work until after they had held another meeting next Saturday. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. Amu union proceedings. A vote of thanks to the chairman was then passed, and the meeting adjourned until Wednesday next. MIDDLESEX SESSIONS-April 5. The April Quarter Sessions for this county were con tinued to-day at Clerkenwell, before Mr. W. H. Bodkin, Assistant-Judge ; Mr. J. Payne, Deputy-Assistant-Judge ; Mr. H. H. Harwood, Mr. Rankine, Mr. Twentyman, Sir James Tyler Mr. Marshall, Mr. Woolsey, Mr. Read, Mr. Jervis, Mr. Gould, and Mr. Ballantine. Charles Williams, 26, and Charles Slack, 17, were charged with stealing a purse, some memoranda, and 6s. 2d., from the person of Mrs. M. A. Joy. Mr. Besley prosecuted ; Mr. Montague Williams defended Williams; Mr. Pater appeared for Slack, who pleaded guilty On the afternoon of Thursday, the 16th of March, Ser geant Coathupe, who had known Williams for three years, noticed him riding by the side of the lad Slack outside an omnibus in the Strand, and having a suspicion of them he got into a call and watched them to Charing-cross, where he saw both prisoners get down. They then went to ano ther omnibus that was going towards Westminster-bridge, Slack going inside, and Williams getting on the top. Coa tiny° then jumped into another cab and followedthe omni bee, and when it was near Westminster-bridge ho saw both the prisoners leave the omnibus they were riding in and go to a " Times" omnibus that was going in the direction the prisoners had just come from. Slack got inside as be fore, and Williams outside. The officer followed the om nibus in the cab until it reached the circus in Oxford street, when both prisoners alighted and went towards Castle-street together. While the prisoners were walking together Sergeant Coathupe saw Slack take something from his pocket and hand it to Williams, upon which he im mediately jumped from the cab and seized hold of both the prisoners. Williams had at that time an empty purse in his hand, and Slack some loose silver and memoranda in his. When the sergeant caught hold of Williams he threw away the purse and got away, but he retained his hold of Slack and took him to the station-house. In one of his pockets was found 6s. 2d. in money, a yard of tape, and a household bill, both of the latter being identified by the prosecutrix as being in her purse with her money. With the assistance of Sergeant Langley, also of the de tective force at Scotland-yard, the prisoner Williams was afterwards apprehended in Globe-street, Bethnal-green, and on being told the charge he said he did not know the prisoner Slack, and he was not at the place, and knew nothing about it. The conductor of the Times omnibus identified the boy Slack as having ridden in his omnibus on the day in question, but he could not speak positively as to Williams. Mrs. Joy, the prosecutrix, also spoke to the identity of Slack, who sat on the right hand side of her in the omnibus, and the side on which her pocket was, and from which her purse was taken. In addition to the evi dence given before the magistrate, Sergeant Coathupe to day stated that the prisoner Williams was dressed as a gentleman, and that he was then wearing the same trow sers he did on the day of the robbery. Mr. Montague Williams, on behalf of Williams, pointed out some discrepancies in the evidence, and said with all his care and intelligence Sergeant Coathupe had this time made a mistake, and he should set up an alibi, and show that Williams was not at the place at the time stated. Tho prisoner Slack was then taken out of the dock and put into the witness box, and he swore that the other pri soner was an entire stranger to him, that he never walked out with him, that he was not with him at the time in question, but a man named Taylor, of Francis-street, Tot tenham-court-road, was the person who assisted him in the robbery, that Taylor was a different sort of man to the prisoner, and that he had a black moustache and not a light one, as the prisoner had on then. Charlotte Burkitt, of No. 3, Globe-street, Bethnal-green, said on the day stated the prisoner Williams had some words with his wife, and he came to her house and remained there three or four days. He was not out from the Thursday until the time when the officers came, as ho had very bad legs at the time. He remained in her room with her husband and two children. Catherine Moseley, of No. 17, Catherine-street, City-road, said she went to Mrs. Burkitt's room on Thurday, the 16th of March, and saw a stranger there, and that young man was the prisoner Williams. She was there from half-past 2 until half-past 5, and he did not go out during that time. Two witnesses were here called by Mr. Besley, who stated that they had repeadedly seen the two prisoners to gether, and although Williams bore a strong resemblance to his brother, who was a notorious thief, they knew them per fectly well distinct frOm each other. The jury found a verdict of guilty. A former conviction was put in against the prisoner Wil liams in 1855, when he was sentenced to four years' penal servitude, after a previous conviction. In answer to a question from the Assistant Judge the jury said they did not believe the tw'o witnesses called for the defence. The Assistant Judge then ordered them to bo taken into custody. Lockyer, prison officer, said the boy Slack had three months' imprisonment on the 30th of June, 1863, as a rogue and a vagabond. Police-constable Miller, 148 U, said that Slack was a most clever little thief, and he had frequently jeeringly told 'tit ness that ho was too clever forhim. He always had plenty of money, and once bought a horse to ride about with. James Blogg, 124 G, said ho had known Williams for 15 years as a thief, and ho had been several times convicted ; he never knew him do any work, and that he was a trainer of thieves. The Assistant Judge said this was a most audacious rob bery, and any little sympathy they entertained for Slack on account of his youth was done away with by his getting into the box and swearing deliberately to that which he knew to be false. He saw no reason to make any distinction between the prisoners, and the sentence upon each of them was that they be kept in penal servitude for seven years. Sergeant Coathupe was then ordered to stand forward, and The Assistant Judge said the Court were of opinion that they ought to mark the sense of his great activity and in telligence in following these prisoners by ordering him to receive a reward of £2, not for the sake of the money, but as an expression of the feelings of the Court for the able manner in which ho had acted in this case. Michael Dinan, 27, carman, Edward Burns, 30, and_ William Childs, 36, were severally indicted; Michael Dinan and Edward Burns for stealing a chest of tea, the property of William Dawson, and William Childs for receiving the same, well knowing it to have been stolen. There was also another indictment against Dinan and Burns for stealing a horse and cart and three chests of tea. Mr. Pater prosecuted; Mr. Ribton defended Childs ; the other two prisoners were undefended. The jury acquitted Childs and convicted Dinan and Burns. Sergeant DUnaway, 1111, proved that Dinan and Burns . were oft convicted thieves. The Assistant-Judge :sentenced Dinan and Burns to seven years' penal servitude. The prisoner Childs will be tried again next session upon another indictment. (Before Mr. Payne.) William Strohn, 38, described as a professor of languages, was indicted for stealing one telescope and one opera glass, value 305., the property of Maximilian Pierrotti. Mr. Gent prosecuted; Mr. Besley defended the prisoner. It appeared from the evidence, that tha prisoner went to lodge at No. 12, Havelock-terrace, from the sth of October to the Bth of December last year, but he had not been there long when a watch was missed, and ho received notice to quit the apartments. A telescope and opera-glass were next missed, which were both kept in a book-case in the bed-room used by the prisoner, and these wore afterwards found at a pawnbroker's. According to the evidence of Emanuel Bertin, a tobacconist, it appeared that he bought the two pawn tickets for the articles in question of the prisoner. Mr. Bosley having addressed the jury, the prisoner was found guilty. Mr. Payne sentenced him to hard labour for 18 months. Mary Burke 20, and Mary Gleeson, 22, were charged with a robbery from the person of Herman Sibun, a sailor, on the 30th of March. Mr. Starling prosecuted ; Mr. Montague Williams de fended Burke ; Gleeson was undefended. This was one of that class of robberies which are so fre quent at the east end of London. The jury found both the prisoners guilty. The judge sentenced Gleeson to 12, and Burke to eight months' imprisonment with hard labour. "And then ho drew a dial frem his poke, And looking o n it w ith l ac k l ustre eye, Says very wisely, 'lt is ten o'clock : Thus we may see,' quoth he, ' how the world wags." SHAKSPEARE Benson's Pocket Dials are artistic, accurate time markers, made in every size, suitable for everybody, and are sent to every part of the kingdom, safe by post, at 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 23, 34, and 35 guineas in gold cases ; and at 2,3, 4,5, 6,7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25 guineas in silver cases. A descriptive pamphlet post free for two stamps. -J. W. Benson, Ludgate-hill, watch and clock maker to the Prince of Wales. GOVERNMENT ANNUITIES.—A Parliamentary re ;urn states that in the year 1864 the Government granted lifo annuities commencing forthwith to the amount of £36,846, and deferred life annuities to the amount of £551, besides annuities for terms of years to the amount of £239. The consideration paid for these annuities Was £230,155 money, and £181,143 stock. [ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Pills are decidedly the best remedy for all disorders of the stomach and bowels, the liver and kidneys. They act with so decided an effect, and yet so gently, that people of the most delicate consti tutions may take them with the most perfect confidence. They do not contain a single grain of mercury or other noxious substance, being composed exclusively of rare balsams. They are therefore equally safe and efficacious, and as a family medicine nothing yet invented or discovered can be compared with them. With these inestimable pills at hand, together with the printed directions affixed to each box, no other medical advice or assistance can be needed in any ordinary case of sickness. is exactly a generation, or the third of a century, since the actual arrival of a mysterious disease called the CholeraMorbus. Its slow approach had been heard of for many months, as it lighted, or was wafted, or was carried, here and there, from one town to another, or singled out a district for destruc tion. If we remember aright, there had been a pre diction nearly two years before that it would work its way even to the West of Europe. But, with the long disappearance of the Plague, we had come to disbelieve in these marches of death, and, indeed, in pestilences altogether. They belonged to the age of barbaric conquests or mediaeval dirt. The very hor rors with which our Oriental friends invested the "Asiatic Cholera" made men incredulous as to its presence in this favoured and enlightened region. It was, they thought, possible:among Tartars, Hin doos, or barbarians living nobody knew how. There it was probably a terrestrial influence of some sort, and would not cross the Straits. However, it landed all at once in the north-eastern ports of this island, in ships from the North of Europe, and there could be no doubt that for once the sea had not saved us from a terrible invasion. Even then people fondly hoped that the cholera would find enough to do in dirty ports, near the mud of tidal harbours, in closely-packed lodging-houses, and among ill-living sailors, and the people that gather to them. But the fate of Sunderland and a sea-shore suburb of Edin burgh warned London to take care of itself, and we had proclamations and quarantine, and appeared in possession not only of the " Pool" and the port of London, but of inland towns and villages in Essex and Kent. From that time it went whither it listed. Showing no distinction of towns, it attacked Oxford, spared Birmingham, reaped a deadly harvest at Dublin, raged at Paris, and desolated villages with or without, though generally not without, reason. The single instances were the most terrible. Distinguished personages were at parties one day, and dead the next. Men of business made appointments for the afternoon, and did not not live to keep them. Strong and healthy young men were of a fishing party or a pic-nic on Friday, and by Sunday morning were no more. Housefuls of poor rotted like sheep. Panic systems of diet were adopted. It happened to be the finest fruit season ever known ; but all fruit was forbidden. Market-gardeners brought their fragrant waggon-loads to the market in vain. The rash and self-indulgent revelled on unaccustomed luxuries. Peaches, nectarines, apricots, a n d grapes were, in market phr ase , " a d•ug. ' The curate had the entire crop of the vicarage figtree, the best in the county. The confectioners had a bad season ; for ice, except for application to cholera patients in some queer empirical fashion, was strictly prohibited. Even potatoes were suspected. Meat and bread, bread and meat, became the almost universal diet. Frightened ladies ran from one place to another to escape the cholera, and met it, if they did not bring it with them. Nervous people thought every place and every air unwholesome, and at least one frightened gentleman proposed to live in a balloon. On the whole the devastation justified previous terrors. For some weeks the mortality in the me tropolis was terrible. What is more, the disease was naturalized ; it has come out since in full force. We have also since that had a more frightful, if not more devastating novelty, in the form of diphtheria. Thus far we know little beyond the information published in another column as to the true nature and actual devastation of the new Russian pest. It has been reported to come from the Ural Mountains, or rather through them, for Siberia is spoken of as its home. We were then told that its victims amounted to hundreds a day, whether in the city of St. Petersburg or the whole region affected is not clear ; but the number of deaths in the city alone has been since put at thousands. It is now said to to have shown itself in Prussia and ports of the Baltic. The symptoms, a cramp in the back of the neck, rapidly extending to theyhole frame, indicate affinities with the cholera on the one hand, and typhus on the other, and a disease probably arising from the same causes and perhaps amenable to the same treatment as those two. This disorder, how ever, is said to have proved obsti na t e hitherto, as used to be said of the cholera, and is still said of the real typhus. If the disease be indeed new, we must not be surprised at such novelties, for many such are recorded in history. The merest atmo spheric accident may create a new type of an old disease. The official organ at St. Petersburg says that the deaths have been exaggerated, that no addition has had to be made to the accommodation of the hospitals, that the ordinary staff has been found sufficient, and that, in fact, there is nothing unusual. Englishmen, however, put little faith in Imperial bulletins, and ask for in formation through more trustworthy channels. The Foreign-office has accordingly telegraphed questions to our Ambassadors at St. Petersburg and Berlin, and to our Consuls in the Baltic ports. From these we have received brief but more definite information, which we publish elsewhere. We may, however, venture to ask whether it would not be advisable to send to the infected districts competent medical officers to make their own observations on the disease. However difficult the prevention or the remedy, the earlier information we have on these points the better. All will remember the wild va rieties of treatment hazarded for the Cholera, not one of which succeeded in proving a decided supe riority to the rest. There is no little diversity of opinions as to the best treatment of typhus, though we have it always with us. But it would be more satisfactory to know what remedies have been tried with this new visitation, and with what success. The first ascertained or suspected case, if the disease reaches us, will give encouragement to all sorts of medical eccentricities and vagaries. As there must be controversy it had better not commence at the bedside of the patient, where, as we are told, an hour or two makes all the difference between recovery and death. In these days of universal instantaneous information it would be nothing less than criminal to be taken by surprise after the note of alarm has been so long sounded. The only real prophylactics we put any faith in are the usual conditions of good health. A healthy person passes unscathed through malaria charged with unseen poisons fatal to the weak, the ill-fed, ill-clothed, unwashed, and uncared for. No doubt he may be struck and struck again, and if caught at a moment of failing strength he may succumb. But it is much easier to believe that nobody takes thorough care of himself in all things, at all times, and under all circumstances, than that no care whatever wilt secure him from epidemic of even the most malignant kind. The proofs, as far as they go, are in favour of health and strength against the worst foes. There is hardly a village in this country which is not occasionally visited by fever, and great is the surprise and perplexity of the village authorities to find families thinned or half destroyed in airy, open situations, and in cottages, not quite what they ought to be, but yet hitherto swarming with healthy, happy faces. Here are the conditions of health, and yet Fever has its way, unprevented, unchecked, till it has filled the long roll of death. But even in the most deplorable and most inscrutable of such instances it wilr seldom be found that the principal farmhouses, the mansion, the parsonage, the publichouse, or the houses of the well-to-do tradesmen have been visited. Even in their case—that is, when they are common sufferers—there is generally found little difficulty in discovering some special cause, some neglected drain or other nuisance. The great preponderance of ob . - servation and argument is in favour of extending as far as possible all the conditions of health and strength. We are doing what we can with London, and it is a comfort to think that at this very juncture we have completed a large portion of the Herculean task at which all London was standing aghast ten years ago. There is much more to be done in this as in some other respects ; and perhaps this new and mysterious messenger of Death fulfils a benefi cent mission in calling upon us once more to set our houses in order, not that we may die, but that we may prolong the life of man. Post—The truthful historian of the American war will do justice to the impartiality with which the European Powers discharged their duties as neutrals. But although those Powers need not fear the verdict of a dispassionate posterity, it is impos sible to blink the fact that the present generation of Americans view their conduct in a different light. With the exception of the principal maritime States, none were called upon to adopt any specific line of action, and England and France were those on which was almost exclusively thrown the duty of prescribing the nature of the relationship which should subsist between the spectators and the parties to the conflict. The policy of these two great Powers was identical, but nevertheless it was not similarly received by the belligerents. It is needless to inquire into the causes of the antipathy with which Ameri cans of all shades of political opinions have regarded this country; but never, perhaps, has that antipathy been more strongly marked than during the present war. The North has made no secret of the hatred which it entertains towards us, and the South looks on us with no friendly eyes for our persistent refusal to recognise its independence. It is proverbial that those who endeavour to please all parties fail in pleasing any, and we may consequently console ourselves with the reflection that our ill success is Simply attributable to our inability to achieve the impossible. The course, however, which we pre scribed for ourselve s , and which was equally adopted by France, was perfectly clear, and consistently with a strict observance of the obligations of neu trality no other could have been pursued. As re garded the belligerents our policy was one of com plete non-intervention, and to both we afforded the same status and the same facility of action in any intercourse which might unavoidably spring up be tween us. To the Confederates we accorded the position of a belligerent Power with, all the rights ,—.„ ~. and obligations the re t o pertaining. In doing so vto virtually had no alternative. According to the law of nations any vessel employed for hostile purposes, on the high se as , un l ess sa ili ng under the flag 01 some particular State, or of some community claim ing to be considered as an independent State, en gaged in warfare w ith some ot h er, is regarded as a pirate which it is the duty of every nation to capture or destroy. Now, unless we had acknow ledged the belligerent character of the South, we must not only have been compelled to refuse to its cruisers the rights which we accord to those of the Northern Republic of entering our ports, but Ave would have been bound to assist in destroying theta as enemies of the entire family of nations. Had we denied to the South the character of belligerents We would justly have exposed ourselves to the charge of acting with partiality towards the North and, whilst employing our navy f or t h e destruction of Southern cruisers, we could scarcely claim to be dis charging the obligation incidental to a strict neutra , lity. However muclrit might think proper to censure the action adopted by the English Government in this respect, the North could not, without ex posing itself to the charge of inconsistency, quarrel with us for following an example set by itself , The Federal Cabinet and the Federal press might vapour as they pleased about the rebellion which they were engaged in suppressing, but the whole some fear of retaliation compelled them to accord to those whom they captured in battle the rights of prisoners of war. In, a word, the North treated the South as a belligerent. But during the past few weeks circumstances have arisen which to the Cabinet of Washington seem to justify -4 requisi tion upon its part that the neutral Powers s h o uld modify their existing policy and withhold from the Confederacy that recognition of its belligerent cha racter which has hitherto been accorded to it. The Southern ports, which have until lately been merely blockaded by Federal cruisers, have now passed into the possessson of the established Government, and for all practical purposes it is contended that the South has ceased to be a maritime Power. Without a seaboard, it is urged that the Confederates cannot possess a navy, and that consequently vessels pre tending to sail under its flag are not in a position to justify their pretensions, and are, therefore, dis qualified from claiming those privileges which a neutral State is bound to accord to the ships of war of a belligerent Power. The Federal Government seek, in fact, to engage us to close our ports to all vessels sailing under the Confederate flag, on the ground that, there being no Confederate ports, no ships can have cleared from them, and consequently no Confederate na v y can b e said to exist. Ho w ever difficult it may be in many cases to determine the proper course prescribed by international law, it is satisfactory to feel that, in the present instance, no diversity of opinion can exist as to the line of action dictated both by a sense of duty and a fitting regard for the national honour. The principle has neither been acknowledged nor acted upon during the pre sent war, that actual presence in and departure from a Confederate port were necessary to entitle a cruiser, bearing the flag of the Confederacy, to claim the rights and privileges incidental to the character of a vessel of war. The Alabama, for example, though built in England, was admitted to be for every purpose the cruiser of a belligerent State as soon as a duly accredited officer of the Con federate Government read his commission on board and hoisted the flag of the republic in whose service she was to be e m pl oye d. Th e o b jections taken at the time by the Federal press, that the Alabama had never been i n Confederate waters, were easily and summarily disposed of, and it was shown that presence in a Southern port was not indis pensable to qualify a ship for the naval service of the Confederacy. If, however, the views entertained on this point by h er Majesty's Govern ment were correct, it is evident that the capture of the Southern seaboard by the Federals does not dis qualify the Confederacy for the possession of a navy, and that Confederate cruisers must continue to be regarded as the vessels of a belligerent Power. But, independently of this consideration, the conquest-- which, for all the world knows to the contrary, may be only temporary —of the seaboard of a belligerent State does not deprive it of its maritime character ; and if it be conceded that the South, with seaports in its possession, could legally employ cruisers which t had never dipped their keels in its waters, it can do r the same thing whe n th ose ports, though in the hands I of the enemy, may still be recaptured. We deny, however, that the South has lost its seaboard ; and 1 at the present moment n o thi ng would be easier than for a Confederate cruiser, built in a foreign p or t, to : approach within cannon shot o f some portion of tha t vast extent of coast which reaches from the Gulf of Mexico to Chesapeake Bay, and thus qualify, if A were necessary, as a Confederate ship of w ar. f e Neither the facts nor the law are in favour of the requisition of the Northern Government, and it is therefore needless to say that it will not be complied ~.. with. COUNTRY MARKETS. SAL ISE TJRY.—TUESDAY. At to-day's market there was only a short supply of wheat offered, with comparatively very little of really good quality. The advance on malting and seed barley was not maintained to-day. For oats there was a fair demand, and previous rates remained unaltered. Beans and peas were quite as dear as a week ago. Flour steady at 26s to 325 per sack. Wheat, 36s to 42s ; barley, 23s to 29s ; malting, 30s to 35s ; oats, 19s to 28s ; beans, 40s to 46s ; and peas! 34s to 36s per qr. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.-TUESDAY. A fair supply of wheat from the growers, with a mocle- , rate sale at about th e ra t es o f S a t ur d ay, b oth for English and foreign wh ea t. B ar l ey, b eans, and peas were lulu. Flour the same as last week. Northumberland wheat sold from 32s to 445, Norfolk and Suffolk, 39s to 45s ; D a nt s i c , 39 s t o 4 6s ; oats, 21s to 269 . ; barley, 26s to 31s ; beans, 36s to 40s ; rye, 27s to 36s ; malt, 51s to 62s per qr. ; flour, 26s to 28s per sack. The averages were—wheat, 'As 11.21;; barley, 29s 1d; oats, 238 5d ; and beans, —s per quarter. LYNN. TUESDAY. The weather during the last few days has become more springlike, and the temperature has been warmer. At our market to-day there was a small show of wheat, the trade ruling slow at last Tuesday's rates. Barley, beans, and oats rather dearer. New wheat, 43s to 455; new red, 38s to 395; old white, 41s to 42s ; old red, 38s to 39s per 36 stone. Barley for , malting, 29s to 335; secondary, 30s; ordinary, 25s to 286 per qr. Oats, 20s to 24s per 24 stone. Beans, largo, 350 to 36s ; small, 37s to 38s per 38 stone. MARKET HARBOROUGH.-TUESDAY. At to-day's market the supply of wheat was moderate, and the demand was less active. Barley was very steady. —New whito wheat, 42s to 458; new red, 38s to 40s per 36 stone. Barley, fine, 34 s ; other. kinds, 26s to 28s per qr. Oats, new, 19s to 238; old, 24s to 27s per qr. Beans, old, 40s to 425; new, 34s to 38s per qr. HULL.---T VESDAT. At our market to-day there was a fair supply of English wheat which sold slowly at last week's prices, the ten dency being rather in favour of buyers. Foreign barley scarce, at an advance of is per qr. ; fine &ale, 33s to 345; Dantzic, 28s per 4481 b. Oats scarco and fully as dear. Beans and peas in good demand. Linseed higher. THE SOUTHERN COMET. —The comet lately an nounced as having been conspicuously visible in the South ern hemisphere towards the endof January was observed by Mr. Ellery, director of the Observatory at Melbourne on several evenings before the departure of the last mail. DB orbit, founded upon the positions so promptly sent over by Mr. Ellery, bears no striking resemblance to that of any other computed comet ; a slight similarity is shown to the comet of 1677, observed by Hevelius, Flamsteed, and others, but not sufficient to justify an assumption of identity. Its path in space is inclined 87 deg. to the ecliptic, and the comet appears to have made a pretty close approach to the sun on January 14, which will account for its brilliant aspect and the rapid development of the tail. Its distance from the sun's surface at 6 p.m. Greenwich time, on the above date, was about 2,300,000 miles. nni I NI THir nr( Din 8 pr Al t "tic PaE Sir Vic Tne Poli The enli Roo der par or a n eta: Births. MACDONALD.—On the sth inst., at the Ranger's Lodge, Hyde-park, the Hon. Mrs. Macdonald, of a daughter. STANLEY.—On the 4th inst., at 23, St. James's-square, Lady Constance Stanley, of a son. SANDWITH.—On the 4th inst., at Cheltenham, the wife of Humphry Sandwith, Esq., C. 13., of a daughter. WITHALL.—On the sth inst., at Ham, surrey, Mrs. C. B. Withal], of a son. Marriage& EDWARDS -- DAVIDSON.—On the 4th inst., at Axminster, Charles Fred. Edwards, Esq., to Julia, youngest daugh ter of the late James Davidson, Esq., of Secktor, Ax minster, Devon. • P OWER — CHANCE.—On the 4th inst., at Edgbaston, Robert Power, Esq., solicitor, of New Boswell-court, London, and of Kingston-on-Thames. to Sarah Lucas, the second daughter of the late Geo rge Ch ance, E sq., of Edgbaston. Deaths. ALDRIDGE.—On the 4th inst., at Bayswater, Louisa Ann, only child of Rear-Admiral Aldridge, of Hilary House, Axminster, Devon, aged 14. CRAVEN.—On the 4th inst., Marie Clarisse, relict of the late lion. H. A. Berkeley Craven, aged 72. DOREY.—On the sth inst., at 45, Camberwell-green, S., Thomas Doroy, Esq., aged 77. GARRETT.—On the 2d inst., at Sidmouth Lodge, Ealing, Middlesex, Thomas Garrett, Esq., aged 80. HEATH. --On the 4th inst., at Adelaide-road, Saint John'o wood, Robert K. Heath, Esq., aged 46. KELLY.—On the 4th inst., at Bath, William Kelly, M.D., Surgeon -Major Royal Artillery, aged 58. WHYTE.—On the 3d inst., Mr. John B. Whyte, of 29 and 30, Upper East Smithfield, aged 66. London : Printefl and Published by WILLIAM ANDRBICS. of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE Sun Office, No 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County Of Middlesex—Thursday, April 6, 1865.