The Sun. — London, England, 1865-01-24 00:00:00

rHE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 24, 1865, SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. Mr, Dunlop, M.P., at Greenock, On Friday, Mr. Dunlop, M.P. for Greenock, addressed his constituents in the Town-hall. There was a large attendance both of electors and non electors. On the motion of Bailie Lyle, Provost Grieve was called to the chair, and briefly introduced Mr. Dunlop to the meeting. • Mr. DUNLOP, who was received with applause, said,—l have to apologise for holding my annual meeting at a period so much later than usual, but I was unwilling to appear before you without being able to say something definite on a subject personal to myself, to which I shall advert before I sit down, and the great difficulty I have had in coming to a final decision on that subject has been the sole cause of the delay which has taken place. Since, however, I do present myself to you only on the eve of a new session, I shall not trouble you with going over, as is my ordinary custom, all the proceedings of the past session, the interest of which is now lost in the prospect of that about to commence. On one point, however, connected with last session, I must say a few words, as a vote which I gave on a very important question might, without some explana tion, appear to you to have been inconsistent with the views I have repeatedly, on former oc casions, stated to you here. On the Slesvig-Holstein debate I voted, and very cordially, against the resolution of censure on the Government policy, proposed by the Opposition. Now, you will pro bably remember that, for several years past, I have, year after year, at my annual meetings, been condemning the policy which the Government persevered in pursuing up to very near the close of the important struggle between Denmark on the one hand, and Austria and Prussia on the other. Four Years ago at least, while Frederick VII. of Denmark was still alive, I brought under your notice the dan gers likely to arise, in the event of his death, out of the provisions of the unhappy treaty of 1852, by which the Sovereigns of Europe, in conjunction with King Frederick, took upon them to regulate the succession to Denmark and the Duchies united to it, in violation of the then existing law of succes sion, alike in Denmark and in the Duchies, and without any reference to the wishes of the people over whom the proposed monarch, selected by the parties to the treaty, was to reign ; and I expressed my condemnation of that treaty, especially if it should be held to imply that the parties to it had thereby come under an engagement to secure, by force of arms, the succession therein provided. In the course of the immediately following session of Parliament, I took occasion to ask a question of Earl Russell, then in the House of Commons, as to the construction, in this respect, put on the treaty of her -Majesty's Government, inquiring, with a view to the probability of King Frederick's death without issue, whether the Government held them selves bound by the treaty merely to recognise Prince Christian of Glucksburg, now King of Den mark, in the event of the law of succession in the several portions of the Danish monarchy being constitutionally altered so as to admit of his succeeding lawfully ; or whether they consi dered the treaty as a combination in order to force on the people the new Sovereign on the death of Frederick, under all circumstances, even contrary to their law and irrespective of their wishes. After the struggle was over, and Denmark had been de feated by its ambitious and selfish assailants, Lord Russell, in a despatch to Prussia, laid down the sound principle that it is essential that when new bonds of allegiance are required nations should be satisfied, and expressed the desire of our Government to see the wishes of the people of these Duchies con sulted on the choice of their future Sovereign. If his lordship had availed himself of the opportunity afforded him by my question in 1861, to give utter ance, at that state of the question, to such views, as being those by which the conduct of our Govern ment would be regulated, he would, I believe, have prevented the calamities which ensued, as he would likewise have been spared the retort with which 13ismark so fairly rebuked him, of pressing on Prus sia, after the war was over, principles to which, during the whole course of it, the policy of this country had been opposed. His lordship was not, however, prepared to take such ground, and he declined to give any answer, on the plea that till King Frederick's death the question was merely hypothetical. This refusal necessarily led to the conclusion which the subsequent conduct of the Government proved to have been well-founded, that they contemplated the aiding, by force of arms, the imposition of Christian as their Sovereign, on the people of the Duchies, the States of which, act ing differently from those of Denmark proper, had refused to alter the order and law of succession so as to admit of his succeeding. Accordingly, at my meeting with you in 1861, I again adverted to the subject, and denounced the treaty of 1852, and still more strongly the inferred intention of putting on it the construction of an obligation, on our part, to force a new Sovereign on a people, in violation of their law, and regardless of their wishes. I thought the treaty really bore no such construction, and that the course of policy apparently contemplated by the Government was iniquitous in itself, and utterly at variance with the constitutional principles on which our own monarchy is founded, and any in terference with which we should have been pre pared to resist, in the face of the whole world in arms against us. In the following year I rei terated the same opinions, and uniformly con demned the policy pursued by our Foreign Office, which all tended to encourage a war for the purpose of forcing a new dynasty on a free people, in viola tion of their law of succession, and contrary to, or, at all events, regardless of their will. You might therefore possibly have expected that when a motion was made condemnatory of the policy of the Government as to this question, I, who so strongly condemned a large portion of that policy, might have concurred in supporting such a motion ; and I feel bound to explain and justify my conduct in supporting the amendment moved by my hon. friend, Mr. Kinglake. Now, in the first place, although the motion of censure did not specify what part of the policy of the Government was con demned, and so left it open for any one who con demned any part of that policy to vote for it, yet, looking to the parties from whom it pro — ceeded, and their views on the Danish question, the necessary interpretation of a vote carrying the motion must have been that the House of Commons condemned the Government for not going on to declare war, in accordance with the tendency of the earlier policy, of which I disapproved ; so that in supporting it I should have been condemning them for abandoning a policy I had denounced, and for at last adopting the policy I had ever advocated. In the second place, the amendment for which I voted contained no approval of the Government policy universally as to this question, but only of their having kept out • of war, in which approval I, of course, cordially concurred. And in the last place, the real meaning and object of the motion was to turn the Govern ment out, and put the Opposition in their place. NOW, it certainly would have been a strange pro ceeding on my part if I had seized, as the occasion for t urning out the Ministry , the very fact of their wing , abandoned the policy I condemned, and t aken theup Y I had always contended for ; and thus in order to lintin statesmen who, I knew, if they l oss been in Power , loss and damage, would have carried out, to the of th which Iso strongly country, that policy licy of thankful that the " l Y lisa lin e i?proved, and which I was eitconsshisuitedntaaltwinlasiothstt %try had at last, though so tardily, given up. It to us now to find, after hiaavian:reat satisfaction been in a small minority so long, in advocating that policy as to this question which alone seemed to me justice and sound principle, have been adopted by the Government, should universally approved of by the country. I t has been said that the result of this question is to settle a policy of absolute non-intervention on the p art of this country with reference European politics. I should be very sorry if this could be truly stated so broadly and unqualifiedly as I have seen it repeated on various occasions of late. No one can be more thoroughly opposed than I am to intervention with reference to the internal affairs- of another State, or 0 involving this country in war in order to main tain or change any dynasty, or to resist or promote some new territorial distribution of province. Nor would I hold it enough of itself to sanction a war on new our part, that its object was to check or punish in justice on the part of the strong against the weak, unless the interest of this country was involved in the dispute. But, in my view, the interest sufficient to justify a war on our part need not be exclusively a material interest. I hold, on the co atrai y, that the interest most vital to us for the permanent security, prosperity, and welfare of the country is the mainte nance of constitutional liberty in Europe ; and if the cause of war be just in itself, I should, so far as the mere matter of interest is concerned, deem it more important for this country to maintain consti tutional liberty in Europe against external aggres sion, than such objects as forcing the opium trade in China, battering down the Tartar dynasty as we did there for a while, or bolstering up again as we have been doing lately, making dear friends of the Japanese at the cannon's mouth, or securing to the colonists of New Zealand the privilege of lawfully depriving the Maori tribes of their land. In this view, if we had intervened by joining the German Diet in seeking to secure to the people of the Duchies the right of maintaining their own law of decision, and deciding who should be their Sove reign, we might have had some justification for our intervention, as we should then have been promot ing the cause of constitutional liberty against a law less and ambitious aggression, by setting up an equally lawless plan of forcing a new dynasty on a free people, the cause of liberty would have been injured rather than promoted by the support of this country being given to such an attempt. I should, however, be very sorry to think our hands were so absolutely tied up that they never could be em ployed, under however favourable circumstances, and however just in cause, for maintaining and pro moting that constitutional freedom in Europe, on which, to so large an extent, our own commerce, security, and welfare depend. If this supposed prin ciple of absolute and unqualified non-intervention had been the rule of conduct in former days on the part of free States, Scotland would have become a province of France, and in all probability Eng land too, and the Reformation and civil liberty would have been crushed in both countries. Holland would not have become a free Republic, to lead the way in the modern race of commercial enterprise and industry, and now, in our own days, Italy would still be languishing in degradation and disunion under the deadening influence of Austria and the Pope. lam contented to take the decision of the country in regard to the Danish question, as it is, and to take it thoughtfully, without passing it be yond its true import, which seems to me simply to be to lay down for us, as our policy for the future, that we shall not interfere to force a new Sovereign on an unwilling people, nor even to resist or pinish an act of unjust aggression by one European Power against another, unless our own interests are involved, and above all, that we shall never take part again in such an unwarrantable proceeding as joining in any treaty like that mischievous treaty of 1852, by which the Sovereigns of Europe took upon themselves to settle prospectively for the future who should rule over certain peoples, without consulting them, and in defiance of the laws which regulated the succession to their their throne. This treaty, indeed, presents the most melancholy exhibition conceivable of the results of our modern secret diplomacy. Originated by Russia for the professed purpose of securing the integrity of the Danish dominions, it not only failed to effect that object, but was the main cause of the disinte gration which has recently taken place, and the only object which has been attained by it is the un avowed object for the sake of which Russia got the treaty entered into, but which the utmost efforts of our own diplomatists should have been exerted to prevent—namely, the getting rid of the large num ber of intermediate heirs to the Crown of Denmark who stood between the late and the present King, and establishing the limitation of the succession thenceforward to the heirs male of his body, so as to accelerate the period when Denmark, which holds the keys of the Baltic, may become a Kingdom without a lawful heir to succeed, and to be con tended for in a struggle in which Russia will not have the worst chance of success. Relying on that treaty, the late King made no attempt to fix on a successor, who might have satisfied all the portions of his monarchy. Emboldened by it, instead of attempting to conciliate his subjects in Slesvig and Tolstein, he persevered in irritating them by petty 3rrannies, so as to reader them anxious to avail hemselves of his death, and consequent divergence i the order of succession, to escapc, from the domi ation of Denmark, by refusing to submit to the sovereign, whom, though the Danes had accepted him for Denmark Proper, they were en- titled to regard as a lawless usurper over them ; while the present King, relying on the supportwhich the treaty held out to him, hesitated not, at his ac cession, to give to Prussia and Austria the pretext for war which they immediately took advantage of; and afterwards to throw away every opportunity of an amicable arrangement, trusting to aid from the several parties to the treaty who, one and all, ex cept ourselves, either directly violated it or stood aloof from all assistance ; so that the ostensible author of the treaty of London has not only had to witness the utter failure of his supposed grand achievement for maintaining the integrity of Den mark, but to feel the mortifying consciousness that he had been used in reference to it, as the mere tool of Russia, whose ulterior objects, at variance with the interests of his own country, he has so effectively helped to advance, while failing in any thing else. (Applause.) Leaving, however, this subject, of which, interesting though it was at the time, you are probably now heartily tired, and not troubling you with any of the other matters which engaged the attention of Parliament during the last session, I would ask you to look forward with me for a little to that which is about to open. The sub ject which most impresses men at present, with re ference to the future, is the old, but now interesting ing question of Parliamentary Reform. It is not, in deed, to be expected that this Parliament should, in its closing session, settle this question, nor have I any confidence in the present with of Commons, if they did take it up, dealing it as it ought to be dealt with. They were originally elected for the purpose of carrying an extension of the franchise, which would have been, I believe, on the whole, satisfactory to the country, but they very soon be trayed the cause that had been intrusted to them. The question of reform was only used to accomplish such a union in the Liberal ranks as should enable the Whigs to turn out the Tories, and settle them selves in their place ; and having accomplished that object, the cold shoulder was immediately turned on Reform by that section of the Liberal party which chiefly shared the benefits purchased by the use that had been made o f th e ques ti on , an d t h e R e f orm Bill, brought in by the Government in fulfilment of their pledge, was allowed to fall through, mainly through the lukewarmness, if not hostility, of the section of the Government supporters to which I have referred ; w h o, I believe, , at heart, as averse to any real and effective Reform as the Conserva tives themselves. They had, it is true, the excuse, which to a certain extent was fell founded, that the people generally had become apathetic on the st b ject of Reform ; and assu re dl y, i f the same apathyl is shown at the election for th e next Parliament, the same result will follow as took pl ace i n t hi s, and we shall have no Reform till the repressed demands of the unenfranchi.sed classes create an excitement akin to that which carried the• last Reform Bill, but pro bably much more dangerous. I:earnestly trust this hazardous experiment of waiting till the people get excited may not be tried a second time ; and, to assist in averting it, there would be great advantage in having a discussion in Parliament next session, even though there might be little hope of actually carrying in it the extension of the suffrage desired. (Cheers) Some new interest has been introduced into this old question by the recent reviving of schemes for guarding against an overwhelming preponderance of the most numerous class of society, by means of the interposition of electoral colleges, or by giving votes co rrespondin g t o th e ex t en t o f th e vo ter's property, as Is done in reference to some matters involving the imposition at once scheme of of local rates. h. Now, if it were to establish but no one at present and so long a s we extending the franchise society, as each restriction universal suffrage, some such r proposes anything of the kind, oincetiegdht deserve consideration ; on the principle of only straw: stratum after stratum. of successively, by the ad vance of education and intelligence, becomes fit to exercise it without risk to the community, I can see neither the necessity nor the wisdom of attempting any such innovations in our long-established method of voting. Another innovation, to which I am less unfavourably inclined, was proposed in a former bill of Lord John Russell's, who suggested a plan by which the minority of a constituency, if suffi ciently large, might secure the return of, it might be, one representative, while the majority elected two. At present the minority of the country at large is considered to be represented by those mem bers who are elected by the constituencies in which the majority hold the opinions which are in a mino - rity over the whole nation ; but I own, I think, that advantages of some value would result from this ob ject being attained through the proportionate repre sentation of particular constituencies. At the same time, I should be quite contented with some such measure of reform as was proposed by Government at the beginning of this Parliament, and portions of which have been repeatedly introduced since, by my friends Mr. Locke King and Mr. Baines. I have cordially voted for these measures more than once in the course of the present Parliament, and I shall be glad to have an opportunity of voting for them once more before we *are dissolved. Besides reform, another and a yearly recurring question of interest will come before us—that of economy or extravagant expenditure. Till very recently, I had ventured to indulge the hope that some considerable reduction in our annual expenditure would have been effected next session. The idea that we required to keep up, in time of [peace, as large an expenditure on our army and navy as during the Crimean war seemed too monstrous to be permanently maintained, and the circumstance that the French Government had announced their intention of considerably reducing their military establishment, a purpose about appa rently to be adopted by that of Russia also, seemed calculated to sweep away any remains of the insane panic which visited us some years ago as to the im minence of the French invasion, so as to warrant our bringing our army and navy somewhat nearer to the standard of a peace establishment. But from recent paragraphs in the Government papers, it would appear that any such hopes of . retrenchment are unfounded, and we are still threatened with the continuance of the same extravagant outlay which has characterised our Government for some years past, chiefly, I presume, in building new vessels of war, and manufacturing new descriptions of arms in place of those which have failed to realise the ex pectation entertained of them, and possibly destined from want of sufficient previous experience and of skill to be again superseded, in future years, by a like lavish and comparatively useless expenditure. I think, however, in reference to this continued ex travagance on the part of the Government, that Mr. Cobden, in a late speech of his, did injustice to one member of the Cabinet, Mr. Gladstone, when, while justly lauding him as the most eminent financial Minister, not leaving even William Pitt out of view, we have ever had, he talked of him as the Chancel lor of the Exchequer under whom the expenditure of this country had reached the highest point of extravagance, as if he had the absolute con trol over that expenditure and was responsible for it. Now, a Chancellor of the Exchequer, unless indeed he be as Pitt was, Prime Minis ter also, has no such absolute control. The estimates are, of course, prepared by the several departments, each for their own department, and it is the Governnient, and not the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who alone can cut down the amount demanded. The Chancellor may indeed remonstrate; but unless he feels warranted to resign in case his remonstrances are unattended to, and take on him self the responsibility of the consequences to which that resignation may lead, he must accept the esti mates as settled by Government, and frame the scheme for raising the necessary revenue in the way least burdensome to the country, or propose the re ductions he may be permitted to make in the form most likely to stimulate trade and advance the pro sperity of the country. Now, in these, his proper functions, Mr. Gladstone is admitted to be unrival led ; and I believe he is the most earnest and ardent economist not only in the Cabinet, but in the House of Commons itself, and that, not from a spirit of mere parsimony, but because he knows so well what a glorious use he could make of a power to take off taxes, and promoting the general prosperity of the empire. But for the accomplishment of this object he has not only to struggle with his own colleagues, among whom are the heads of the several depart ments, each naturally anxious to secure as large an amount as possible for his own department, but with the House of Commons also. In the first place, the Opposition in a house so nearly balanced look to the possibility or probability of their being able, any day, to change places with the Ministry, and so they can never let out of view the bearing of any proposed reduction on themselves, if they were in office. An Opposition which must look to the lapse of years before they can hope to be in power may deem it well worth their while to gain credit with the country by becoming the champions of economy ; but an Opposition, daily anticipating their return to power, view all motions for reduction nearly in the same light as if they were themselves already in office, and so they almost uniformly support the Ministry in resisting such motions. Then, all the representatives of localities interested in Government expenditure, or seeking to divert some portion of the public money in their own direction, as for the erec tion of docks, forts, and harbours of refuge, the establishment of packet services, or the like, have a great leaning towards a liberal outlay ; and finally, since large classes of the public have tasted the sweets of Government expenditure, in the way of education, police, and other grants, economy is not nearly so popular, either in the house or out of it as it formerly was. The difficulty, too, is heightened by the manner in which the estimates are discussed in Committee of Supply. These are proposed, not in large slump sums for each great branch of the pub lic service, but in an infinite number of items, some of them of very small amount. Now, though it is important that the house and the country shall see the details of which the total expenditure of a depart ment is made up, the taking of the vote by such items gives the officials of the department a great advan tage in the discussion, as the objecting member can , never be expected to be so familiar with the details as the official is, and he is liable to have his mouth shut by some statement to which his own knowledge does not enable him, on the instant, to give the pro per reply. Then the comparatively small amount of the sum actually in question in any one of the votes makes it impossible to create such interest in a motion for its being reduced or omitted, so as to secure the constant attendance which is essential, if anything is to be carried ; while the regulations of the house as to going into Committee of Supply are such as to make it quite impossible to know, with anything approaching to certainty, when the house - will actually go into committee, or when any particular vote will come on, and every pro-- posal calculated to do away with that uncertainty has always been resisted by the leaders on both sides of the house. The inevitable consequence is, that members, seeing that they may possibly have to hang on for several nights for any vote in which they are interested, without its being brought for ward, and that after all, even success attains so little, cannot be brought to attend in sufficient numbers even to give a chance of success. The passing of the estimates through committee has consequently become little better than a form. A mere handful of members generally are present, one or two of ratheras having actostisfa thery whom seek a ch ea p notor i ety by frequent but useless teorittiheienaGsoovnersnmmaleni items, t which , is otherwise, appearance of passing their estimates through a real ordeal, while, in truth, it is nothing but a mockery. Occasionally, indeed, some member who has made himself master of a particular branch of expenditure, makes a telling exposure of its extravagance, and benefits certainly results from this, not, however, in the way of getting any vote negatived, but by makl• ing an impression on the country, and so leading the department, in their next year's estimate, to make some modiffcation which may enable them to escape being again so held up to public censure and odium. Otherwise, and in the way of directly checking the estimates proposed by Government, these commit tees of supply are of no practical use ; and if any reduction of expenditure is to be effected by the House of Commons,lit mustibe done in a form which, from the amount involved, will excite sufficient in terest to secure a full attendance, and which, by being brought forward in the House itself, will afford a certainty of its coming on at the time expected. Nor is there any reasonable objection to the House deciding the amount of expenditure which ought to be sanctioned for any of the great departments, or for the whole empire, in the slump rather than in minute detail. On the contrary, parties who might well be puzzled to tell why some petty item should be one or two hundred pounds less or more than is proposed, may be perfectly able to decide, and to decide rightly, and on suffi cient grounds, the maximum sum which should be allowed for any department, or with which the whole administration of the country might be car ried on ; and I feel convinced that till our leading men who are in favour of reduced expenditure shall try the question in some such wholesale way as this, the House of Commons will effect as little saving in time to come as they have done in years past. As matters stand, therefore, our only hope is in pos sessing a finance minister, who, from his knowledge of the immense good he could accomplish by means of a reduction of expenditure, is, I believe, much more earnest in his desire to effect a saving, than many of those whose position allows them to make a parade of their small, though apparently assiduous efforts to secure some reduction in a few petty items of the estimates. (Applause.) The success of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's recent measures in increasing the prosperity of the country, and so keeping up the revenue, notwithstanding reduction of taxation, will enable him, even without diminished expenditure, to take off next session about as large an amount of taxation as that from which he re lieved the country last year ; but I feel perfectly confident that such an amount of reduction in the expenditure might easily be made without at all impairing the efficiency of any of the services of the country, as would enable him to double the relief to the country, and of course correspondingly to promote its trade and prosperity. To accomplish this, however, he would require the cordial backing of the country, and I would fain trust that, on a new election, that will not be withheld. In addition to these standing subjects, we shall probably have before us very important questions in regard to the Established Church both in England and inlreland. On these I might say a great deal, but the interest in them is not, to you, so immediate as to warrant me in detaining you at present. There may also be before us, though of that I cannot be yet certain, a question much more nearly touching ourselves, and of great practical importance, I mean that of the system of education in Scotland ; but my position excludes me from now entering on any discussion upon it, and I have besides often had occasion to state to you my opinions regarding it. You are probably aware that the great body of teachers in Scotland strongly remonstrated last year against the extension to this country of the provisions of the Reserved Code, and pressed the Scottish members to unite in endeavour ing to save them from it, at all events without an inquiry similar to that which had taken place in England. The members from Scotland generally concurred in the propriety of such an inquiry, but we thought it should not be limited to the narrow question about the Revised Code, and we considered that any such inquiry should extend to the whole subject of education in Scotland. We accordingly asked an interview with the Lord President of the Council for the purpose of urging on the Go vernment the propriety of issuing a Royal Commis sion on this important matter. Nearly the whole body of Scotch members, of both sides of the house, attended on this occasion. They did me the honour to select to state our united views, and I was cordially supported by several others of the members present who spoke to the same effect as I had done ; and the result was that, on the Lord President laying the matter before the Cabinet, it was agreed to issue such a Commission, and it was ac cordingly issued about the end of last autumn. The Commission has taken a great deal of evidence, and is in the way of obtaining much important statistical information ; but, being myself a member of that Commision, I cannot say more than that the subject is undergoing a careful and candid con sideration, the results :of which may, I trust, be beneficial to the country. There is another subject of importance to Scotland now also undergoing the investigation of a Royal Commission, in regard to which I am not under the same restraint as in refer ence to that of education—namely, the law of hypo thee. I do not wish to exclude myself from any enlightenment which that investigation may afford, and I trust that I am not so obstinate in my opi nions as to refuse to alter them, on a more thorough inquiry, but having long ago formed an opinion un favourable to our law on that matter, I feel no obligation to withhold it, because a commission has recently been appointed to report on it, reserving always to myself to give effect to any change which the evidence led may produce on my views ; though I must frankly own, that so far as the evidence has yet been published, it has not convinced me that I have been wrong in the judgment I had formed. As to one part of that law, there must be very few in deed; if any, who will stand up for it—l mean the rule which permits a landlord who knows that his tenant has not been able to pay his rent, to leave him, without notice to the public, to retain the posi tion of credit which the possession of the farm gives him, and the full management of that farm, and yet, the price the oe purchaser c has has to alreadypay pa for i the d when the tenant may have sold to a bona fide pur chaser part of the produce, autho r i ses th e l andlord getto secondt back, time or to to h compel in good faith to the tenant. That such an iniquity should have been allowed to be established at all is very wonderful, but that it should have held its ground in a commercial country till the present day is still more marvellous. But there is a great deal more in the law of hypothec which is objectionable, though not so monstrous as this. In the event of the tenant's bankruptcy, the landlord has a pre ference over the produce of the farm for his rent, in competition with the other creditors of the tenant, which generally secures to him payment in full, although the other creditors may get only a few shillings or a few pence per pound on the debts owing to them. Now, I own that I can see no principle of justice on which such a preference can rest. It might, perhaps, have been, with some plausi bility, defended, at a time when our farms were held in - steelbow, as it was called—that is, when the stocking and everything required by the tenant, in working the farm, even to the seed corn, was pro vided by the landlord. In this state of matters it might have been pleaded that the landlord was truly the cultivator, and that the so-called tenant was substantially a manager for him, and conse quently that the crop and produce of the farm were truly the property of the landlord, and not of this manager under him, so that in exercising his right of hypothec or lien, he was only retaining his own property till his claims were satisfied. But now that the landlord merely hires out his land for a rent, he is simply a creditor of the tenant for that rent; and why he should be a preferable creditor I have never, looking to the justice of the case and any legal prin ciple involved, been able to see. Even without such preference, the landlord is in a more favorable posi tion than other creditors. He has better means of ascertaining the true state of his tenant's circum stances ; and in his lease, with its clause of registra tion, he has always prepared execution, ready to put in force the legal compulsitors for effecting payment or attacking the tenant's property, while other cre ditors must first constitute their claims, and in any race of diligence are likely to be behind the landlord. In this way he has, without hypothec, a great ad vantage over the seed merchant or the manure seller, or the tradesmen who supply or repair farm imple ments, all of whom may have been led on to trust the tenant by the landlord's delay to enforce his claims, and the absence of any means to certify them that the rent is in arrear. As between, there fore, the landlord and the other creditors, I can see no ground on which the former should be en titled to a preference over the latter. But it is said that if no valid plea can be set up in the mere interest of the landlord, it is still for the public interest that the preference should be maintained, just as it was contended, at the time of the Corn law repeal discussion, that though the landed in terest could not Justly demand protection in order to keep up the price of:corn it was for the interest of the public that the natio n should not be left de pendent, in the event of war, on foreign countries for our supply of food. In the same way here, it is said that, irrespective of the effect of the law of hypothec in keeping up the rents of lands through enlarging the class of competitors, by enabling the landlord to dispense with the possession of such an amount of capital as would otherwise be required, it produces beneficial results in enabling industrious and trustworthy men of enterprise and energy to take farms which they could not otherwise from want of capital offer for, who afterwards thrive and become prosperous, and also in enabling landlords to be more indulgent to a struggling tenant, who thus gets over a temporary state of difficulty which otherwise would have crushed him, and to go on prosperously to the end of his lease. Now, lam always, I own, a little suspicious of the plea of public benefit when used to buttress up some special advantage enjoyed by a particular class—though I have no doubt that many young men have got on in this way, just as if some such artificial security, as a substitute for capital, were provided in some mercantile lines, many clever young men would also get on in those who at present cannot start for want of capital—yet such casual results, however gratifying though they may be individually, afford no justification to a factitious derangement of the natural order of things, for the purpose of giving people without capital an advantage over those who have it; nor, in the long run and on the whole, can we expect any true and permanent public benefit to result from such factitious derangements. Then, as to the indulgence afforded to deserving tenants under temporary difficulties, no restraint would be put on any such indulgence by doing away with the law of hypothec, and good landlords would doubtless continue to show indulgence to all tenants in whom they had confidence. But the question is not whether they should or should not grant such indulgence, but whether they should be entitled to grant it, at the risk and expense of other people, without incurring any risk themselves ; and I con fess I attach no great value to that sort of easy kindliness which puts off the painful scene of roup ing out a tenant, while no scruple is felt in exposing to the risk of serious loss the families of the poor tradesmen who, in consequence, get it may be 6d. in the pound on theinidebts, instead of ten or fifteen shillings. On the whole, as at present advised, I should be prepared to sweep away this privilege of landlords, leaving them their right of sequestration, and to other creditors that of pari passu ranking, using their diligence within a certain limited time after the publication of such sequestration. I shall not on this occasion trouble you any further with public questions, but I am anxious to say a few words to you on a matter personal to myself, though having a bearing also on the constituency of the burgh. The approaching session will doubtless be the last of this Parliament, and before I can meet you again there will in all likelihood have been a dissolution. In this position I felt that it was my my duty to inform you now, whether at the new election I should again offer myself for the honour of being once more returned by you, should I still be so happy as to retain your confidence, and that I ought not to leave you uncertain as to the course I was to take, till the eve of such election. Now, you are aware that, for some time past, I have had a great longing to retire into private life. I have not indeed ceased to appreciate as highly as ever the distinction of being your member, nor has my strong attachment to you or my warm interest in the welfare of the town in the slightest degree diminished ; but I am growing old, and, though blessed on the whole with good health, the infirmi ties of age are gradually increasing with increasing years. I am now within a year or two of the ordinary allotted time of human life, and it seemed to me not unmeet that I should devote more of the time which might yet be spared me to attention to my family and to my private affairs than I have been able of late to do, and to disengage myself from matters which so much tend to withdraw the mind from thoughts of the grave to the verge of which I am coming so near. I felt, also, that I was no longer able to perform the duties of my office as I was wont. My bodily powers are not equal to the fatigue I wil lingly for years underwent, while the increasing size and trade of our town, in whose flourishing state I so heartily rejoice, requires more work on the part of its member than formerly ; and I was conscious that I had lost much of the mental energy and courage which is so essential to the due performance of the general functions of a member of the House of Commons. In these circumstances I have been for some time anxiously considering what course I should follow on the occasion of a dissolution, and a few months ago, I frankly acknowledge to you, nearly made up my mind then to retire. I could not, however, look forward without great pain to the prospect of a severance of that tie so dear to me, which has connected us without interruption since you first elected me ; and to parting from a consti tuency such as, I venture to say, no other member can boast, for kindness, indulgent forbearance, gene rous abstinence from everything that might embarrass me, trusting confidence, and a personal attachment on the part of so many of its members, which has ever been most grateful to me, and which I so heartily reciprocate. I was also strongly remon strated with from various quarters. Views of duty, different from those I had formed, were urged upon me, and although these were founded on opinions of a power of usefulness on my part of which I was unconscious, I could not feel warranted in entirely them, and I have b een presse d w i t h disregarding many other considerations which altogether have driven me from my original purpose, and led me to the resolution I now communicate to you, of once more soliciting the honour of being privileged to represent you in Parliament. (Applause.) I have, however, thought it right to give you timeous warn ing of my inability to undertake the same amount of labour I have in former years expended on my duties, so that when the election comes on you may have had full time and opportunity of well consi dering what I can give you, and whether that will suit what you require. f, notwithstanding my decay in strength and capacity of service, you shall then be still willing to take me as I am, I shall con tinue to do what I can ; and whatever else I may fail in, I feel confident that in this I shall not fail— devotion to your service—exclusive regard to the welfare of my country, and gratitude to my con stituents who have stood by me so steadily, and whom I love so well. (Loud applause.) Councillor JAMES MORTON, seconded by Mr. W. MARTIN, moved a vote of confidence in Mr. Dun lop, which was carried by acclamation. Bailie GRAY moved a vote of thanks to Provos . Grieve for presiding, after which the meeting sepa. rated. THE BLACKHEATH TUNNEL ACCIDENT.—One of the principal sufferers by the late accident at the Blackheath Tunnel, on the North Kent Railway, Mr. Edward Mayers, of the War-office, whose injuries, consisting of a fracture of the left leg and severe contusions on the ankle, &c., have confined him for five weeks to a bed in Charing-cross Hos pital, has so far advanced towards recovery, under the care of the skilful surgeons attached to that institution, as to hare been removed on Saturday last to his residence at Barnes. [ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Ointment and Pills.— Dangerous Diseases.—How many life-long maladies spring from neglecting trifling symptoms. The pimple, readily curable in the nursery, becomes, through carelessness, the irremediable torment of after life. With a knowledge of the curative powers of Holloway's Ointment and Pills those who fail to use them for extirpating the first seeds of here ditary ailment will have to bear the punishment resulting from their folly. Holloway's remedies will remove erup tions of the skin, scorbutic diseases, and scrofula, and heal every description of ulcer, sore, wound, or abrasion. By the employment of Holloway's excellent, speedy, and safe medicaments much pain and immense expense will be saved, and a great benefit conferred on the present and succeeding generations. BREAKFAST BEVERAGE.--Homceopathic practitioners, and the medical profession generally, recommend cocoa as being the most healthful of all beverages. When the doc trine of homoeopathy was first introduced into this country, there were to be obt ined no preparations of cocoa either at tractive to the taste or acceptable to the stomach ; the nut was either supplied in the crude state, or so unskilfully manufactured as to obtain little notice. J. Epps, of London, ffomccopathic Chemist, was induced in the year 1839 to turn his attention to this subject, and at lcnAth succeeded, with the assistance of elaborate machinery, in being the first to produce an article pure in its composition, and so refined by the perfect trituration it receives in the process it passes throrigh, as to be most acceptable to the delicate stomach. For general use Epps's Cocoa is distinguished as an invigo rating, grateful breakfast beverage, possessing a most deli cious aroma, Dr. Hassall, in his work, "Food and its Adulterations," says —"Cocoa contains a great variety of im portant nutritive principles—every ingredient necessary to the growth and sustenance of the body." Again "As a nutritive, cocoa stands very much higher than e ther coffee or tea." Directions—Two teaspoonfuls of the powder in a breakfast cup , filled up with boiling water or milk. Secured in tin-lined Vb., alb., and 11b. labelled packets, and sold by all grocers, confectioners, and chemists.—CADvT.J TIMES.-11 Messrs. Cobden and Bright were sud denly charged with the responsibility of the Crimean War, and put upon their defence for the sanguinary and expensive policy which they had recommended to their countrymen, they could hardly exhibit greater astonishment than is now assumed by the New Zea land colonists under imputation of a somewhat simi lar character. It is not to be denied that the colonists have been regarded as looking at native wars and large military establishments without much displea sure. It has been pretty plainly alleged, both in and out of Parliament, that the settlers have found their account in all the incidents of these wars from first to last—in the expenditure upon the army, in the penalties exacted from the natives, and in the general depression of that race of people whose in terests were opposed to their own. More particularly, it was insinuated that the " confiscation policy" re cently devised expressed the craving of the settlers for the lands of the aborigines, and showed better than any other evidence could do the true spirit and origin of these vexatious wars. This being the case, we have certainly perused with considerable interest and some little surprise a circumstantial statement of facts put forward on behalf of the colonists by some of themselves. A colonial print has devoted its co lumns to what purports to be a complete elucidation of the whole story, and we shall not withhold from the public at home this new version of the affair. " The Case of New Zealand," as thus constructed and set forth, is indeed a hard one. According to this document, the colony, prosperous and progres sive in itself, has always been more or less embar rassed by the double Government which a double population rendered necessary. Side by side with the British settlers stood the aboriginal race, and these natives required and 'obtained an Administra tion to themselves. Up to the year 1856, however, this Administration was conducted by the Imperial authorities alone, to the entire exclusion of the colonists from any voice in such, affairs. Whatever might be the relations between the Government and the natives, whether hostile or peaceable, satisfac tory or troublesome, they were determined by the policy of the Government at home as represented by . the Governor of the colony. In 1856 these arrange ments were so far modified that the Colonial Mini sters received permission to tender advice upon sub jects connected with native affairs, though the actual decision was still reserved for the Governor alone. This was the footing on which matters stood when the war commenced in the spring of 1863. The Colonial Parliament when it had last separated had left the Governor, Sir George Grey, engaged apparently in a policy of peace. Suddenly this policy was changed for a policy of war, and hostili ties were planned on a scale of unusual magnitude. Reinforcements of troops were procured, the co-ope ration of a powerful squadron was obtained, and extraordinary measures were devised for the more effective prosecution of this final war. Sir George Grey, at his wits' end for resources, had hit upon a plan suggested by his experience under similar cir cumstances in British Caffraria. He proposed to invite volunteers from the Australian colonies, and to recompense them for their services in the war by planting them as military settlers on the lands to be taken from natives in rebellion, thus at the same time inflicting punishment on the insurgents and providing for the future protection of the colony. It is, however, most positively and unequivocally affirmed in " The Case of New Zealand" that this war and all these measures for conducting it origi nated with the Imperial authorities alone, that the colonists had no concern with them or responsibi lity for them, and that, in fact, the Colonial Parlia ment, when it met in October, 1863, received from the opening speech of the Governor the first autho ritative announcement of the nature and condition of the contest undertaken. Just or unjust, necessary or unnecessary, the war was the Governor's war, not the war of the colonists. It had been made without them, and they were only formally made acquainted with it in the sixth month of its existence. Then, and not till then, their part in the matter began, and that part was as follows :—The colonists were first asked to accept the same power and responsibility in the affairs of. the natives as they possessed in all other affairs of government. This proposal they had previously declined, on the ground that existing dis turbances would not allow them a fair start in such a troublesome branch of administration, but they now, when it was pressed upon them, undertook it. They had then to consider the policy of the Gover nor, as they term it, in regard to the war and the means of carrying it on, and this they say they re solved to accept as an accomplished fact, and to give it an ungrudging support. Consequently, they passed all the bills brought before them for the sup pression of the rebellion, including the several schemes above described ; they combined for the vigorous prosecution of war; they raised, equipped, and paid a large colonial force ; they consented to encumber the colony with heavy pecuniary obliga tions, and they did their best to render effective a policy which they had no share in concerting, but which they thus found thrown upon their hands. They add, too, that this policy promised success, that the suppression of the rebellion was proceeding satisfactorily, and that good prospects were given of a permanent peace, when instructions arrived from England for the termination of the war, and the ultimate withdrawal of the Imperial troops from a contest designated as a gratuitous and unholy struggle conceived in the interest of the settlers alone. This was the severest cut of all. The colonists proclaim that whereas they have been absolutely without any participation or concern in the declara tion of war or the policy which produced it, and have confined themselves to supporting, with much cost to themselves, the authorities placed over them by the Home Government, they are now accused by their countrymen at home of having fomented and promoted the quarrel for purposes of their own. They tell us that a policy which was none of theirs was upon the point of becoming successful when it was rudely condemned, and that they are thus left in a position of perplexity and danger with the ad ditional infliction of a bad name and most un merited obloquy. Such, in substance, is " The Case of New Zealand," which has been carefully composed and transmitted to this country for circulation. We give it the publicity which is desired, but we need scarcely be at the pains of re marking how much more evidence will be required before a conclusion can be safely reached. At pre sent we will only observe, on this statement, that whatever may be its accuracy or inaccuracy touch ing parties in the colony, it bears rather too hardly on Englishmen at home. We were absolutely driven to look to that which was but too truly our own affair. We found that, somehow or other, one New Zealand war was always followed by another, and that there was no visible end to the charges imposed on the taxpayers of this country. It is all very well to declare that this was really the last appear ance of this ugly demand, and that if the force in the field had been but effectively maintained for a little while longer there would have been an end of all New Zealand wars. This is what we always hear in such cases. It was even said that, if President Juarez had not been interrupted in his final pacifi cation of Mexico, that Republic would in a few months have become a happy, prosperous, and ex emplary State. We could not take this pledge. We could only go by experience, and experience taught us that one war in New Zealand always left another to follow rather more onerous than the first. We saw no escape, but in a declaration that the thing must stop, trusting that, as in most other matters, a way would soon be found to effect what necessity ordained. If we have done the colonists any wrong in supposing that they approved these wars,the injus tice is to be regretted—but if they are really for peace, and if their wars have been due to Imperial policy, they cannot lament that this policy is to be changed. We are not in the least disposed to consider that all the faults have been on their side. We think that in some points of this competition between races they have had hard measure. Of one thing, however, they may assure themselves, and that is, that in the present day the true merits of the case will not long remain unknown. We cannot re ceive the statement of an advocate as conclusive evidence, but the colonists have now had their say, and may leave it to their opponents to reply. POST.—Russian credit was once the darling of Lombard-street. The days were—and it is little More than ten years since—when Russia was an em pire whose prescriptive policy was peace, whose mili tary operations were restricted to the remote pro vinces of the Caucasus, and whose Five per Cents. stood at about 120. But the interval has wrought a great change. War and revolution have taken the place of peace, and the same securities are now down at 90. The publication of the Russian Budget leads us to look into the causes of this state of things. We used to hear of surplus and abun ' dance, we now meet only with deficits ; and with the exception of the kingdom of Italy, as yet but imperfectly constituted and organised, there is no Government in Europe that has laboured under so huge a deficit as the Russian. Military operations have smothered financial calculations, and expenses have increased beyond expectation. The Court of St. Petersburg seems to have forgotten that it is im possible at once to exterminate provinces and to raise a regular taxation from them at the same time. The kingdom of Poland, for example, hitherto the most civilised, and probably the most fertile, portion of the Russian empire, would have continued to have yielded a large revenue if the common elements of civilised life had not been taken away from it. But, as it is, it is impossible to wring from Poland a larger revenue, even in estimate than 20,00,900 roubles, or about three millions and a half sterling, and the probability is that the greater portion io f this nominal revenue is not collected, unless it is n the shape of forced loans. The Russian Budget for 1864 his was estimated at 346,000,000 roubles ;_ but ° f —Ag t amount a sum of 38,000,000 was charged to exT e fTt of collection ; so that the net revenue remained 308,000,000 roubles. In the meantime, the esti ra ,„" t hio expenditure was not less than 401,000, 000. 23- or rate the deficit amounted to 93,000,0 00 about £15,500,000 of our money. .tiltd e ri l e ast we were to allow, what appears to be a " mi ld doubtful, that the expenses of collection c be charged under the head of the p io of the finance in the schedule of expenditure, L - 0 0 would still remain a deficit of about £10,000,00,1) the year. Even this is an alarming rate of Lie n ,. roubles, 0 ciency ; and it scarcely appears that there iS fo r progress towards an equilibrium in the estimates for the year that has now begun. The gross reven„ li n e o oo 1865 is not increased beyond about 3,ov "' roubles, or half a million sterling ; and, althou n of the budget is not equally explicit on the subjeevot the expenditure, it is difficult to perceive in for, department any retrenchment is to be looked 3,5 The armaments of the empire are as large u oli a ir they were a year ago. A kingdom like Poland, 0.00 dued by force, has to be maintained in su b i ectl o by the same means as those by which it wa s A Of brought into subjection; and the defiant attitugoii the Russian Government, as the head of th i e „,,tiou Alliance, prevents us from expecting any reu—oe of its forces even upon international grounds• „ d ot report of the Minister of Finance to the Dor en , upon this subject is certainly the reverse. i ti l couraging. If any approaches to an equul'oil • were practicable, they would surely have been At nounced inthe character of measures alre,adyhrna into force at the time of the publication e'• budget. But the Russian Chancellor of the no t chequer vaguely looks forward to the time a s ths es distant when some of these extraordinary eicP e rtlie may be terminated. This being the sum a' f 5 hope which he holds out in the direction of reduction of expenditure, we can only fear that To present alarming hiatus in Russian finane e wbot continue without any material contraction. ' t he renders the present revenue, inadequate t 9 expenditure as it is, the more precarious, ig s e ,oo sideration arising from some of the sources t he which it is obtained. Thus we observe th at 0 00 State domains represent not less than 53,00 v,,, roubles, or nearly £9,000,000; and, althougiip3s portion of this may result from rental as we i ' t he from annual sales, that which arises front latter portion cannot very long continue as a 5 e 0 , 3 1 of income. The revenue arising from th e or of Crown lands must come to an end sooner/ix) later. Again, there is the large item of 38,000'r Of roubles, or £5,500,000, collected under the Ite a , r o , miscellaneous ; and, according to the ordina r Y a r no e, portion between definable and miscellaneous re,, T `; this is too large an amount to be relied nr;00 future. But it is still more important to not i tpoo degree in which the Russian Treasury relies t :;0. indirect taxation for its revenue. The direct o'oo° tion does not amount to so much as 45,0 unlia roubles, and three-fourths of this represeubd produce of a capitation tax. But the h i 0' revenue, representing for the most part duties le i lei posed upon articles of necessity, amounts to 11 °: than 190,000,000 roubles."' Sooner or later " sfo rio be necessary even for Russian financiers to ee l beeri their principles of taxation to those which 1 10 %01. vindicated and .tested by trial in this ee il- a 0 They will have at length to reduce the taxe s 1 , 1 3 / to goods of the first necessity. When this co n ' e otie pass the event will certainly find the Russian r eli c ) very ill calculated to bear the brunt of $11,„ change. The bulk of the revenue will have 1 " At brought under a general system of reduction;op oil present, indeed, the principles of finance ad fe y at St. Petersburg (if they can be dignified by a name) run in an entirely opposite direction. vi o• Govelnment is imposing fresh duties upon e i e li/ fi poo dities ; an increase of 25 per cent. is levie ° ;ea . brandy, and other fresh indirect taxes are in' no t All this shows that the taxation of Russia oir profiting by the light of financial knowlecige 11 19 t tamed in other countries. The budget cle es te of conclude, indeed, without offering an esthi la , e 11 expenditure which reduces the annual ch a r 20,000,000 roubles ; and we hope that this ea ile rt tion may not prove as illusory as BODO ° ` es After the close of the Polish war the exPertAte oth ~, Government certainly ought to be - somewht: than during its continuance ; but, on to' a le °; hand, there is no indication that the same sc- fe no t taxation will yield a larger revenue. If it vl i e j je D o for continued misgovernment there would ;fl oo' reason for these vast deficits. The debt is ,- 0 41 siderable, and the interest it involves amounts to £10,000,000 a year—scarcely on e- io of the gross revenue. But the expenditure jot, frightful as the exhaustion of the western Pr eT e D Vi of the empire ; and, until there is some apPles t personal liberty, and to intelligent prince taxation, we can look for very little amencw the finances of Russia. COUNTRY MARKETS _~....h-~, _ _..~~ GLOUCESTER—JAN. 21. t s i OAI tl, A moderate supply of wheat, which sold at la iiail` , i e l ti. prices. The inquiry for foreign was extremely cl and quotations were unaltered. Barley was 'o'l Oats and beans were unaltered. NOR THAMP T ON.—JA.x. 21. +n 40s; les New white wheat, 39s to 438 ; new red, 3 7 ° JW . 3O white, 40s to 46s ; old red, 38s to 40s per 3 6 stong• ns per e , for malting, 30s to 33s per qr. ,; grinding, 2 6 s to ' 24 s to ' stone. Oats, old, 27s to 34s • new, 18s to 2 8 s P e „, r o e. Beans, old, 36s to '4os ; new, 35s to 38s per 38 34s to 40s per 36 stone. CHELMSFORD—JAN. 20. i i Or At our market to-day everything was very du `e l vel prices for wheat had a downw ard tendency, Wl , T e. AP little doing. All kinds of spring corn met a slow So''' late rates remained unchanged. " Whegt, t.ld white.... 405 45s Peas, Partridge ...... d' 366 0 , 4 1 new 4OB 44s White old red 395 40s • 3 50 ii B,iling ..... • 0 new. 37e 40s Lum— ....... —. 31 , Barley . 25s 328 ...- 0 , dit'o, new.. „ i s 0 Chevalier 26s 33s Beans, Tick, 01d..Z. 0 ' ' f new. —.l: Grind ng Os 8s Malt 6ls 67s Harrow ticks. .a Chevalier 645„ 68t new.... --- Oats COLCHESTER—JAN. 21. leco ~.10 j 1, The supply of wheat was fair, and last vive:' t iiit",,,t were generally obtained. Barley is in demand f . l '„ pi higher figures. Beans and peas are both the turn l'' of the buyer. 33 0 ie! . Wheat, white 40s 41s Beans, Mazagan—i: . :;,' 35 0 red 36s 42a Middle and Bina' ":55° , r 1 Barley ... . -8s 35s Peas, white ........ ' . 36$ Oats 20s 25s g rey ........ .. ' ABERDEEN—JAN. 20. All a 11 ,t a, The market to-day was but thinly attencle, o ie, fil ll business doing. Farmers were still, on the 1 0 ' late rates. KIRKCALDY—JAN. 21. 1 1 10 Large supplies of all kinds of grain. Sales oll e . rS• in favour of buyers. Barley in favour of se change on oats. Wheat. Barley. oats First 308 Cd I 21s ad 1 1 68 .second 338 Od 236 6d 178 m o— Tnird 3s s .pd 258 Od 1 88 "1" COAL MARE Price per ton at the s. d. :ET, J. 23. close of the market . 1 9 Walls End Hetton 19 South Hetton ........ • 19 Cassop .. . ........ Walls End.Hasiv. e ll.. , 1 6 Tunstall . . Riddell . ' Walls End Walls End Harton Braddylls Hetton ..... • 1 3 Hartlepool .......... West L ambton ....... " 1 4 Tanfield Moor Bute. Byass's Bebsido West Hartley ' 16 9 Cowpen Hartley l6 9 Lambert's W. Hartley 16 6 Walker Primrose l4 0 Hastings Hartley l6 9 Kelloe South Kelloe Heugh Hall . 17 3 East Hartlepool South Hartlepool l7 3 North Hartlepool l5 0 Ships at marke 128 ; 501d,.79. 01 ) ' CAPITAL P UNISHMENT.—The com mitte e pointed by the Chamber of Stuttgardt to 0 011 e 0 filo motion of M. Buher, for the a b o liti on o f the pui B l is- . o ic e i death, has decided, with o n ly one dissentient j favour of the abolition. Births. . 05 0 { it 9 LEIGH.—On the 22d inst., at 39, Sussex-garcl e %v park, the wife of Cholmeley' Austin Leigh, 10' son. Russm.L.—On the 20th inst., at Leinster-stre et, , Lady Katharine Hamilton Russell, of a daugl ite t , r` WHirprs.—On the 22d inst., at D evons hire-str e ' ,o o land-place, Mrs. George Whiffin, of Thornton' a son. Marriages. A i efO rt , BESSON—LOYER.—On the 16th inst., a itc'nple ° 'se' l Nenon, Department Jura, France, Mons. A - , ov Besson, Notaire, to Josephine Pauline Nan* i fef daughter of G. Loyer, Esq., of Redhill, Surr e 4 o llY DAVIES—JOHNSON.--On the 19th inst. a t Stratfb Mr. G. W. Davies, o f B r i g ht on , t o Jessie, fo' ter. of Mr. J. Johnson, of Strathfieldsaye. Deaths. BOWLEY.--On the 21st inst., at Whitburil, Russell Bowlby, Esq., aged 72. 04' 1 ' BURROWS.—On the 21st inst., at 7, Nortbaule °ll-. Clerkenwell, Walter Burrows, Esq. nobe ft EDMEADES.—On the 20th inst., at Sheerness , meades, Esq., solicitor, aged 74. D gVI to EDWARDES.—On the 21st inst., at Wi m bledon , ,Aet, wardes, Esq., late o f Russell-street, Covent - P — 1 ' I , ‘ 62. -pantie' LYNDON.—On the 19th inst at the Chartery don, Robert Thomas Lyndon, Esq. ll ° Jo SEYMOUR.—On the 19th i ns t., a t T orq uay, fo OA Seymour, Esq., of Odiham, Hants, aged 5 7 . WHITEMAN.—On the 21st' iust , at Uppe r don, W. W. Whitem an , Esq., of Glengall, P I / O ! London : Prilted and Published by WILLLO - !,, e , - of No. 112, Str an d, P r i n t er, a t T HE SUN t - 00 01 Strand, in the P rec i nc t o f th e Savoy, ill t ' - Middlesex.—Tuesday, January 24, 1865.