The Sun. — London, England, 1865-08-22 00:00:00

IGENCE RAILW, S M T H-EAS TERN. The directors of this company have resolved to recommend the proprietors at their half-yearly meet ing on the 31st inst., to declare a dividend of 7s. 6d. on each £3O stock, being at the rate of £2 10s. per cent. per annum. LONDON, CHATHAM, AND DOVER. The report of the directors of this company shows in a tabular statement that the receiptsof the gene ral undertaking, 74 miles open, amounted for the half-year ending the 30th of June to £146,619, and for the same half of last year to £125,207, sho wing an increase of 17.10 per cent. The total receipts on the same mileage for the half - year ending in June of 1863, amounted to £82,318. The receipts of the Metropolitan Extension, lit miles in length, amounted for the half-year to £51,503, and for the same half of 1864 to £31,355 on 11f miles, showing an increase of £20,148, or 64.25 per cent. The gross receipts upon all the lines owned and worked by the company during the half-year amounted to £190,340, and the working expenses to £125,374, 0r,65.86 per cent, The receipts on the general undertaking had been £146,619, and the working expenses chargeable to it £111,962, or 76.36 per cent. The receipts of the steamboats had been £27,083 for the half-year, and the expenditure £20,845. This included £2,000 carried to the re serve and insurance fund, which now amounted to £13,062. The balance of revenue account of the general undertaking amounted to £40,895, against £30,370 for the corresponding half of 1864, showing an increased profit of £10,525. The revenue balance of the Metropolitan Extension amounted to £25,752, against £15,678 for the corresponding half of 1864, showing an increased profit realised in the past half year of £10,074. After some explanations as to the receipts not being greater, and the expenses so much, the report states that the aggregate number of pas sengers conveyed on the company'slines andbranches during the past three half-years was 11,383,157, of which 8,658,693 were third-class, 1,832,362 second class, and 892,102 first-class passengers ; and of the total number of passengers mentioned, 8,873,550 were conveyed over the Metropolitan Extensions, of which 6,706,962 were third-class, 1,428,586 second class, and 737,002 first-class. Those large numbers of passengers had been carried without accident of any consequence or the loss of a single life. The rapid growth of this traffic, and of the suburban traffic of the Brighton Company, to and from the Victoria station had long since proved the utter inadequacy of two lines of rails to accommodate and develope it properly. Early in the coming year the company would be in possession of an inde pendent access to Victoria station by three new lines of railway, now in rapid course of construction, and about the same time the two additional lines from Herne-hill to Blackfriars would be available, so that with four lines through the city they would be enabled to separate the suburban from the through traffic, and to increase the punctuality of the trains to such an extent as would meet the re quirements and efficiently serve the district traversed, and lead to a much larger use of the railway by the public. The permanent station at Ludgate-hill having been opened in June, and goods premises at Blackfriars partially opened in May, all the efforts of the contractors had been concentrated upon the execution of the widenings of the line before adverted to, and upon the completion of the link line between Ludgate-hill and the Metropolitan Underground Railway at West-street, Farringdon-road. This line had been inspected by the officers of the Board of Trade, and the works had been approved by them. Unfortunately the works of the Metropolitan Rail way Company at West-street were so backward that there would be no possibility of opening the link line for traffic, and running trains to and from the Un derground station at West-street and the Great Northern station at King's -cross for some weeks to come. The directors could only greatly regret this state of things, over which they had not the least control. They had every reason to believe that the Metropolitan Company would (as they were by Act of Parliament required) have completed their works simultaneously with those of this company. The South London and Crystal Palace line, affording this company's traffic access to an admirable station on the high level of the Crystal Palace itself, and immediately contiguous to the Central Transept, opened for traffic on the 2d of August. Before the traffic on this line could be properly developed, the stations upon it at Lordship-lane, Honor Oak, Nun head, as well as stations at Peckham and Denmark hill, ou the part of the Brighton Company's South London line over which the trains of this company would run to and from the Palace, must be com pleted and opened. At present no means existed for the direct through running of trains between the city section of the Metropolitan Extension and the Crystal Palace line. It had, therefore, become a matter of the most urgent necessity thattheworks of the eastern section between Walworth-road and Peckham should be proceeded with, being the means of direct communication for the City with both the Crystal Palace line and the Greenwich line. The directors would use every effort to secure the early opening of this portion of railway. The Longhedge Junction line was ready for opening. The works of the Clapham Junction line were so far advanced that the opening for traffic might be looked for in October or November next. This line would en able the trains of the South Western Company to pass to and from the Metropolitan Extension of this company, and the trains of this company to run be tween any part of their system and the large ex change station at Clapham Junction. The expen diture on capital account of the general undertak ing amounted to £4,592,006, and on the Metropoli tan Extension to £6,057,445, together, £10,649,451. NORTH BRITISH. A general meeting of the shareholders of the North British, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Monklands Railway Companies, now amalgamated as the North British Railway Company, was held at Edinburgh on Wednesday ; 900 shareholders attended. Mr. R. Hodgson presided. The CHAIRMAN expressed his gratification at hav ing so large an attendance, and said, with regard to those shareholders who had not been able to attend, that they had with great unanimity expressed their confidence in the new Board, in the names sub mitted to them, and in the principles announced. The proxies committed to him and to those asso ciated with him amounted to about three millions and a half of capital, by far the largest amount of capital ever represented by the North British direc tors at any of their meetings. He said that for 10 years the North British had worked for its indepen dence against powerful combinations ; but they had fought and won, and the crowning point of their successful battle was the amalgamation with the Edinburgh and Glasgow. They could now afford to " rest and be thankful," and to be at peace with their neighbours always, provided their neigh bours would be at peace w i t h them. He only wished the Edinburgh and Glasg ow t h ey had so long . wooed had been won long ago, but their posi tion and not their will had tied them to the Cale dorian. Looking to the competition which the latter had for a time instituted for the traffic be tween Edinburgh and Glasgow, it had been sug gested that it might be renewed now that the Edin burgh and Glasgow was separated from the Cale donian alliance. But the competition, which might be vital to the Edinburgh and Glasgow Company standing alone, was only incidental to the amal gamated company, and the latter might retaliate by cheap rates between Glasgow and Carlisle and Perth and Carlisle. He would tell the Caledonian now that sixpenny rates between Edinburgh and Glas gow meant corresponding rates between Glasgow and Carlisle. He was glad to think that, by the City of Glasgow union, they would form another junction with the Glasgow and South-Western, through which they might exchange an enormous amount of traffic with that friendly company. He found that three companies now forming the North British Company had obtained power to construct 48 miles of new railway, including the Bridge of Forth, at the very large expense of £1,100,000, in addition to their subscription to the City of Glas gow Union and the Blanc Valley Company. He found that the Caledonian .and Scottish Central had been authorised to construct 70 miles of railway at the expense of about a million and a half, they also had agreed to contribute a considerable amount to other lines, including £200,000 to the line to Oban ; and they had also powers to contribute to the line to Dingwall and Skye, and one or two more of that sort. The Glasgow and South-Western had got power to construct 111 miles of railway, to cost about a million and a quarter ; ,and they also had large sub scriptions to other companies —the City of Glasgow Union, and the Portpatrick and Girvan—to the amount of nearly half a million more. The Caledo nian projects included the Cleland branch, by which their line to Glasgow would be greatly shortened. The North British had not opposed this project ; claiming the right to improve their own routes to Perth, Dundee, and elsewhere, they could not con sistently oppose the Caledonian improving their line to Glasgolv. With regard to the Bridge of Forth the directors had resolved to proceed cautiously, and in the first place to erect one of the piers of the bridge next spring, at an expense of £17,000 or £lB,OOO, in order to test the stability of the foundation and the cost of the undertaking, which he hoped would yet be completed within the original estimate. He concluded by proposing the following list of direc tors :—Mr. Hodgson, Mr. Sprot, Mr. Craven, Mr. Kinloch, Mr. Leishman, Mr. Trotter, Mr. Roland, Mr. Muir, Mr. Balfour, Mr. Adam, M.P., Mr. Beau mont, and Mr. Wilson, of the former North British Board, and Messrs. Dunlop, Ewing, and White, of the former Edinburgh and Glasgow Board. Considerable discussion took place on the subject of the small number of Edinburgh and Glasgow di rectors proposed, and especially on the exclusion of Mr. Blackburn, the former chairman of that com pany, who complained of the manner in which the list had been made up. It was stated that the list had been carried at a meeting of the united Boards by 14 to 8, and the chairman, on being appealed to, having stated his intention to use his proxies for the list, all opposition was abandoned, and the list was carried without a division. On the motion of Mr. Fildes, M.P., it was agreed that the allowance to the directors should be 44,100 a year. A vote of thanks to the chairman closed the pro. ceedings. NORTH-WESTERN. The report of the directors states that irregulari ties of various kinds had been discovered in the com pany's accounts,which in the absence of certain books or papers not yet found, the directors had not been able hitherto satisfactorily to account for, and pend ing the final investigation of these accounts, the di rectors recommended that the dividend on the B stock, amounting to 12s. 6d. per cent, for the past half-year, should be retained, being that portion of the guaranteed dividend which, by the company's Act of 1864, would be liable for any losses by de falcations, or otherwise, the company might at any time sustain. As at present advised, they had rea son to believe that they would be able to keep it in tact for payment to the shareholders at the next half-yearly meeting; but pending the completion of their investigation, they deemed it only prudent to recommend its retention for the present. They there fore recommended that a dividend at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum be declared on the £471,336. A consolidated preferential stock, payable on the first day of September next, and that the sum of £1,964, which would otherwise have been available for dividend on the B stock, be carried forward. M!aft STAINES, WOKINGHAM, AND WOKING. The report of the directors states that the sum of £l,OOO had been received on the capital account from the sale of surplus lands, and the receipts from this source would be augmented as further portions of the remainder were disposed of. On the other hand, £4OO had been paid during the half-year on this account for land valuations. There was a falling off in the passenger traffic in the half-year ending June last of about £32 as compared with the corresponding half of last year. In the Ascot race tiaffioithere was a falling off of about £230 as compared with 1864. During the week prior to Ascot races two serious railway accidents hap pened, which, no doubt, induced many persons to go by the old turnpike road. There was an increase in the goods traffic of £76, showing that I the increase of traffic on the line during the half year was £44. The receipts for goods traffic amounted to £2,917, and for passengers to £8,693 — total, £11,610. Credit was taken for £250 in re spect of the Reading Junction toll, &c., not yet ren dered, but that was much less than the amount actually to be received. The line from Chertsey to Virginia Water station would be open for traffic in the latter part of the year. The line from Sunning dale to Blackwater station was likewise being made, and would, it was hoped, be opened during next spring. Out of the available sum of £3,738 the di rectors recommended the following dividends for the half-year ending the 30th of June last, viz., £5 per cent. per annum on the preference shares, less in come tax, on the ordinary shares of the company, leaving a balance of £l7 for next half-year. The capital account showed that £393,518 had been ex pended, leaving a balance of £917. The traffic re ceipts for the half-year amounted to £12,058, and the expenditure to £6,325, leaving a balance of £5,735. SEVENOAKS, MAIDSTONE, AND TUNBRIDGE. The report of the directors stated that the traffic of the line continued to improve, and that the re ceipts for the past half-year were 18 per cent. in excess of those of the corresponding period of 1864, and 50 per cent. in excess of the earnings of the June half of 1863. Possession had been obtained of about a mile of the land required for the line between Otford and Maidstone, and the contractors were actively engaged throughout its length. The capital account showed that £332,417 had been ex pended. The traffic receipts for the half-year end ing the 30th of June amounted to £4,817, less £2,409 expenses of working, leaving £2,408 ; to this was added £25 for rent and £249 balance of preceding account, making £2,683 ; from this was deducted interest on loans and other charges, leav ing a balance of £337. CRYSTAL PALACE AND SOUTH LONDON JUNCTION. The directors state in their report that the line was opened for traffic to the high level station at the Crystal Palace on the Ist inst. During the short time that had elapsed since the opening the number of passengers using the railway had been daily on the increase, and the directors had every reason to believe that when the intermediate stations were open, and the connection of the link line of the London, Dover, and Chatham Railway Company with the Metropolitan and other railways on the north side of the Thames was effected, the traffic would exhibit the results they had always antici pated. The report of Mr. F. T. Turner, the engi neer, stated that the intermediate station at Lord ship-lane was all but finished, and arrangements had been made for opening it on Sept. 1. The joint stations on the Brighton Company's line, from which a considerable accession of traffic might be expected, were not yet completed. The capital account showed that £768,677 had been expended. KENT COAST. The report of th e di rectors states that the revenue of the company continued to improve in a mo s t manner. deben ture interest an d general chargesfterpayment of the j the net bal ance o f the revenue account to 3o last, including 12,568 brought fro m th e previTae ialf -year, am oun t e d to £11,278, which enabl e d the directors to pay a dividend at the rate of 6 p er cent carry per f a o n r n w un , io d on the preference B stock, and to balance of £2,203 to the current half-year: r The a t r affic returns for the first seven weeks of th e current half-year exhibited an increase of 10 per cent. over those of the corresponding period of 1864. The ex penditure on capital account amounted to £951,920. The revenue account for the half-year ending June 30 showed that £26,175 had been received, and £13,087 expended in working, leaving £13,087. To this was added £3,613, the contractors' gua rantee to the Ist March last, and £2,568 the ba lance from the previous half-year, making £19,268. The general charges amounted to £875, and the de ture interest to £7,116. • LYNN •AND HUNSTANTO. The half-yearly meeting of this company was held en Saturday at Lynn—Mr. L. Simpson in the chair. The report stated that the receipts on revenue ac count for the half-year ending the 30th June had been £4,254, as compared with £3,500 in the corre sponding period of 1864. The balance for dividend was £1,660, out of which the directors recom mended a distribution at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum, carrying forward £l6O. Building opera tions at Hunstanton and the approaching comple tion of the West Norfolk Junction Railway were expected to give a further stimulus to the traffic. The Cilium/IN, in moving the adoption of the report, congratulated the shareholders upon the sa tisfactory prospects of the undertaking. Mr. CHADWICK moved that the dividend be at the rate of 5} per cent. per annum, instead of 5 per cent. per annum as proposed. ____ The CHAIRMAN adopted the suggestion, and the report as amended was agreed to. The directors were authorised to take steps for the erection of a new hotel at Hunstanton ; and a vote of thanks to the chairman and directors t erminated the proceedings. HULL AND HORNSEA. The report of the directors states that the result of the first winter's traffic has not been equal to their anticipations. The number of passengers car ried during the half-year was 43,493, exclusive of season-ticket holders. The directors regret that they had not been able to make any progress with the issue of preference capital, authorised at a spe cial meeting. The dividend of 2 per cent. declared at the last half-yearly meeting must remain unpaid until the financial difficulties of the company had been overcome. WEST NORFOLK JUNCTION. The half-yearly meeting of this company was held on Saturday at Lynn ; Mr. L. Simpson in the chair. The report stated that during the past half-year the works had been carried on with great expedition. The line would be ready for traffic from Heacham to Holkham in the course of the present year, and the remaining portion to Wells early in the spring. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the , report, stated that the line would be opened to Holk ham in November. Colonel PALMER seconded the adoption of the report, which was agreed to. A vote of thanks to the chairman, directors, and engineer closed the proceedings. WENSUM VALLEY. The half-yearly meeting of this company was ap pointed to be held yesterday at the offices, Poet's corner, Westminster ; Mr. W. B. Greenfield in the chair. Mr. Lancaster, the secretary, having read the notice convening the meeting, The CHAIRMAN said that in consequence of the public statement recently made by Captain Jervis, M.P., with regard to their company, and the reply of the directors of the Great Eastern Railway Com pany to that statement so far as it affected the Wensum Valley Company, it was thought advisable as some:of the directors were out of town, to adjourn the meeting to Wednesday, the 6th of September next, in order to reply to those charges. The motion was seconded and the meeting ad journed. THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENIAG, A UGUST 22, 1865. WATERFORD AND LIMERICK. The report of the directors states that the receipts for the half-year ending the 30th of June last amounted to £33,540, and for the corresponding half last year to £32,160, showing an increase of £1,380, of which £l,OBO, was for goods and £126 for military passengers. The cattle traffic was nearly stationary. After payment of interest on bonds and Government loan there remained a surplus of £11,120. From this they propose to pay the usual dividends on the preference stock—namely, at the rate of £5 per cent. on all redeemable stock, and 4i per cent. on the perpetual stock ; also a dividend of 2s. 6d. per share to the original shareholders (free this latter of income-tax), leaving £249 for next half-year. The Government loan, now amounting to £56,496, was payable in annual instalments extending over the next seven years, but the directors had obtained a Treasury minute consenting to reduce the interest of the debt from 4 to 31 per cent., and converting the entire debt and interest into an annuity of £3,672, payable in 22 years. The capital account showed that £1,313,500 had been expended, leaving a balance of £66,676 against the company. DUTCH RUE NISH. The receipts for the fortnight ending the 31st July, 1865, amounted to £15,911, and for the cor responding period of last year to £14,841, showing an increase of £1,070. The receipts since the com mencement of the present book year, on the Ist of May, including the above, amounted to £78,797, showing an increase as compared with the corres ponding period of last year of £8,575. The work ing expenses for the fortnight amounted to £4,892, or 30.74 per cent., and for the corresponding period of last year to £4,532, or 31.04 per cent., showing an increase of £360. The working expenses from the Ist of May to the 31st of July amounted to £28,216, or 35.80 per cent. The working expenses for the year 1864-65 were 3F82 per cent. of the receipts. IMPERIAL MEXICAN (LIMITED). The first half-yearly meeting of this company was held on Friday at the London Tavern—Mr. R. W. Crawford in the chair. The report, an abstract of which has appeared in 7 he Sun, was taken as read. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report, said that the people of Mexico continued to take a great interest in the progress of the under taking, and the works were proceeding satisfac torily. The company had two lines open at the present moment, one connecting the city of Mexico with an adjacent town, and the other 48 miles in length, running from Vera Cruz to the west part of the country. The traffic on the Guadalupe line was almost entirely confined to passengers, while the traffic on the seacoast was chiefly carried on with goods. The amount received per mile per week on traffic on the suburban and Guadalupe line was £36, while the goods traffic in every part has yielded something in excess of that sum. This re sult would, he thought, be considered satisfactory. With reference to the goods traffic on the line to Vera Cruz, there were not less than six monthly steamers arriving in the city from foreign places. If the external commerce of Mexico was able to sustain six steamers monthly. to Vera Cruz, with which the company's line was connected, indepen dent of nearly 90,000- tons of merchant shipping which visited the port, there must be an amount of foreign traffic brought on the line which would re pay the expenditure incurred in the construction of their railway. The proprietors of a short line of railway connecting the station of the company in the city of Mexico with its suburb, Tacubaya, had proposed to transfer their property to the company on terms to be hereafter settled. He would request the shareholders to agree to the proposal, and when the whole of the line came into their hands the traffic would be such as to yield most remunerative returns. They had a conces sion from the Government authorising them to construct a street railway in the city of Mexico, which in connection with their undertaking would be productive of more advantage than if worked separately by independent persons. They proposed to adopt the system of locomotion which was used in American cities generally. The directors had entered into arrangements for expediting the con struction of the main line to the junction whence the branch line would proceed to the city of Puebla. It was highly desirable that they should get into pos session of the very large amount of traffic existing between- Puebla and Mexico. The whole cost of expediting the construction of the main line would be about £200,000, and the result of that outlay would be that the contractors would undertake to complete the line between Mexico and the junction by the middle of next year, and they would also establish the communication between the junction and the city of Puebla about the middle of next year. They proposed raising money by debentures for a considerable time. They apprehended the Mexican contribution would be actually in excess of what they believed at first it would be, and they had no doubt the traffic on the new undertakings would be ample. Resolutions were passed adopting the report, appointing two auditors with an allowance of £42 a year eaeh for their services; and the proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the chairman. THE VOLTINTEERS. The following are the conditions for the competi tive trial of rifles for 1866 : 1. The annual competitive trial of rifles shall take place at Woolwich, commencing at 11 o'clock a:M. on the 23d of November next. 2. Each competitor shall furnish six rifles, complete and finished in every respect, and of precisely similar descrip tion. 3. The conditions as to bore, weight, length of barrel, pull of trigger, stocks, sights, shall be as follows :—A. Bore, minimum, -451. B. Weight, maximum, 101 b. The barrels and stocks not to be weighed separately. C. Length of barrel, any. D. Pull of trigger, minimum, Glb. E. Stocks, half stocked. All the barrels of any ono set of rifles may be fired from the same stock. F. Signs, regu lation Enfield, but so arranged as to admit of any other sights being subsequently fitted to the rifles. 4. Any person intending to compete shall, on or before the 23d of October next, pay an entrance fee of £lO, and shall at the same time sign a letter to the secretary in the annexed form, accepting the conditions of competition as here laid down. Each competitor may enter more than one description of rifle, subject to these regulations, and to the payment of an additional entrance fee of £lO for each ad ditional sot of rifles. 5. The rifles shall be delivered at the office of the Asso ciation before 11 o'clock a.m. on the 21st of November, and shall be tested and examined between the hours of 12 and 5 p.m. on that day, in presence of the Council, by the Su porintendent of the Royal Small Arms Factory. The rifles delivered by any competitor will not be accepted without the certificate of such superintendent that the conditions Nos. 2 and 3 have been complied with by such competitor. 6. Each competitor shall, previous to the trial, fill up and sign the annexed paper, stating the particulars of his rifle and ammunition, and the price of the rifle. 7. The charge and ammunition used by the competitor at the trial shall be the same in all respects as stated by him in such paper. 8. The price of the rifle shall in no case exceed £2O, and shall include the cost of a disc aperture back sight with Vernier scale, and a covered slot fore- sight with graduated lateral adjustment. The rifles must admit of these sights being fitted to them. 9. Three rifles of each set shall be taken indiscriminately for trial, and these shall be numbered from 1 to 3. The rifles shall be tried in the order in which they are numbered. 10. The order of shooting shall be determined by lot, to be drawn by the secretary not less than 15 days previous to the 23d of November. A letter will be assigned accord ingly to each competitor for each set of rifles delivered by him. Notice will be given to each competitor of the letter drawn for him. 11. Letter A, rifle No. 1 shall commence the trial ; letter B, rifle No. 1 will then be taken, and so on in succession ; and after the rifles No. 1 have been fired then rifles No. 2 will be fired, commencing with letter A. The firing shall be continued from day to day with the letter and number next in order after the rifle last fired on the previous day. 12. The rifles shall be fired from fixed mechanical rests. Government rests shall be assigned by lot to such compe titors who do not bring their own.* 13. Each competitor shall be responsible for the adjust ment, fitttng, and general condition of the rest used by him during the trial. Each competitor shall either be present to fire his rifles, or shall appo int a representative to do so. 14. The distance fired at shall be 1,000 yards. Eight trial shots shall be allowed for each rifle before the 30 com petitive shots are fired. Thirty competitive shots shall be fired consecutively from each rifle. 15. No cleaning during the 30 competitive shots shall be allowed. 16. The diagrams giving the mean radial deviation, and taken as at the School of Musketry at Hythe, shall decide the figure of merit of the rifles. 17. The description of rifle that gives the best figure of merit shall be selected as the ono with which the Queen's Prize, second stage, shall be competed for at the ensuing prize meeting of the Association. 18. The figure of merit determining tho best description of rifle shall be tho average of the three rifles of one de scription. 19. No mechanically-fitting loading rods shall be used. 20. Competitors may use - the clinometer to take the angle of elevation, which shall be recorded by an officer appointed for that purpose. The clinometer may be also used to readjust the angle of elevation during trial, but only in presence of this officer and with the sanction of any member of the Council, or some person appointed by the Council. 21. No telescope shall be used by competitors or specta• tors after the trial shots. 22. Competitors shall either be present themselves, or appoint some one to be present at the target when the dia grams aro taken off. They or their representatives shall sign the diagram, which shall also be countersigned by the secretary, or by some person appointed by the Council. 23. The secretary shall select ono of the three successful rifles to be kept by the Council as a pattern arm. 24. The successful competitor shall be required to supply to the Association, by the Ist of May, 1866, 60 rifles, which shall in every respect be similar to the pattern arm, except that they are to be fitted with a back-sight and fore-sight of the description mentioned in Condition No. 8, and the price of which shall not exceed that stated in the annexed paper. Tho 60 rifles, when supplied, shall be submitted to the Council, and such an examination of them will be instituted by the Superintendent of the Royal Small Arms Factory as will satisfy the Council of the perfect soundness of the rifles and of their conformity with the pattern arm. Every rifle which he shall certify to be not made in accordance with the pattern arm will be rejected, and the competitor shall supply another rifle in lieu thereof, which shall be submitted to examination in the like manner 25. The successful competitor shall supply at a fair price such quantity of ammanition of the same quality and kind as used by him at the Woolwich competition as may be required for the sighting of the rifles previous to the Wim bledon meeting, and for the use of the competitors in the second stage of the Queen's Prize. 26. The shooting shall commence at 11 o'clock p.m. on the 23d of November. Any competitor failing to comply with the rule shall be disqualified. 27. Subject to the above regulations, the competition will be conducted under the direction of the Council or their officer appointed for the purpose, whose decision is in all cases to be final. By order. E. ST. JOHN-MILDMAY 7 Secretary. The 48th Middlesex (Havelock's) Rifle Volunteer Corps was inspected by Col. Wright, Deputy In spector-General of Volunteers, on Saturday even ing, the 19th inst., at Burton-court, Chelsea. The regiment, under the command of Lieut.-Col. Geo. Cruikshank, mustered about 300 men of all ranks. In Suffolk, the Stowmarket Corps has commenced its class shooting for the current year. In a compe tition for a challenge cup offered to the Framling ham Corps, Private Precious was the winner. This is the third occasion on which Private Precious has won the cup. Two cups have been presented for competition by members of the Eye Corps by Ser geant and Mrs. Etheridge ; each is to be competed for monthly, until won six times by the same per son, when it is to become his property. The battalion drill of the Herefordshire Rifle Corps took place at Bromyard on Friday. The Hereford Ist and 2d Companies, the Leominster, the Kington, and the Bromyard Companies assem bled on the occasion, and were reviewed by Colonel Fielding, who put them through a variety of evolu tions, at the conclusion of which they were compli mented by the Colonel. The party afterwards dined together. By the permission of Mr.. W. Ferrand, M.P., the following volunteer corps took part in a sham battle on Saturday last, in the beautiful park of St. Ives, Bingley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire :—Brad ford Volunteer Artillery, w ith two 9-pounder field guns (horse), under the command of Capt. Ham mond ; the Bradford Rifle Volunteers, under the command of Captain and Adjutant Lepper, in the unavoidable absence of the field officers ; the Skip ton, Settle Guiesley, Keighley, and Bingley Rifle volunteers, under the command of Major Morrison, M.P. The weather was very fine, which enabled the combatants, and at least 10,000 spectators, to spend a very pleasant afternoon. The reviewing officer expressed himself highly satisfied with all he had seen, and everything passed off most satisfac torily. Mr. and Mrs. Ferrand entertained the offi cers commanding the different corps at dinner in the evening. _ On Friday afternoon the Cumberland, Westmore land, and Dumfriesshire Rifle Volunteers were re viewed at Carlisle by Col. Erskine, Inspector-Gene ral of Volunteers. The Westmoreland and Cum berland Yeomanry Cavalry and the Cumberland Artillery Brigade with two field pieces were also present; and the troops on the ground numbered 1,790. 'The day being brilliantly fine a great many spectators from Ca r li s l e an d th e s urrounding dis trict were attra c t e d t o t h e Sw if ts, w h ere the review took place, thei r num b er b e i ng c omputed at about 10,000. Aft er C o l . Erskine had inspecte d t h e rifle men a sham fight took place, in which all the forces on the ground took part. In the evening Colonel Erskine was entertained at dinner by the officers of the various corps. In responding to the toast of his 111 Facilities will be afforded by the Superintendent of the Royal Laboratory at Woolwich for competitors to fit their slide bars to the rests any time previous to the trial. health he said he was glad to hear on all hands that the volunteer movement in Cumberland, West moreland, and Dumfriesshire was prospering. The health of Lord Ranelagh, who was present, was afterwards proposed. His lirdship, in returning thanks, expressed himself much pleased with the manner in which the movements on the field bad been performed, and especially praised the skir mishing. To show the popularity of the volun teer movement, Lord Ranelagh alluded to the cir cumstance that when the winner of the Queen's Prize at Wimbledon returned home the whole town, some 40,000 people, turned out to receive him. He thought that a great feature, and one which would make men anxious to do their best to attain such honour. Contests were held in Devon and Cornwall during the past week as under :—The 21st Devon (Bide ford) Rifle Corps, numbering 200 effectives, com peted at 200, 500, and 600 yards for various prizes, the chief of which was a rifle value 13 guinea's, the gift of Capt. Keats. It was won by Private Hopson with a score of 28, obtained by five shots at each of the three ranges. Minor prizes, varying from £3 to £l, were also awarded. The Devonport Rifles had a grand match at 200, 300, 400, and 500 yards, which was witnessed by a large concourse of ladies and gentlemen. The principal prize was a handsome silver cup and £5, and very liberal prizes were given to the second, third, and fourth shots. Major Duperier acted as umpire. Private Symonswon the best prize with the excellent score of 61, the second being carried off by Sergeant-Major Gould, who made 56. Sergeant Hook procured the third prize, and for the fourth there were several ties, which on being shot off resulted in the success of Sergeant Clemens. The 16th (St. Colomb) Duke of Corn wall's Rifles competed for a beautiful silver cup given by Mrs. Brydges Willyams. Ranges, 200, 500, and 600 yards, five shots at each range. Ser geant Webber made the highest score, 36. The cup must be won by a member two years before it be comes his absolute property. Agricultural Prospects. At the opening of the week some showers fell, but after 11 a.m. it was fine and sunny. In the morning of Mon day, at 7 30 to 8 30, some heavy rain fell; it then cleared up until 4 p.m., when very heavy showers were experi enced. Harvest work was stopped. Tuesday was a very wet day, and this appeared to be general. On travelling through Kent most of the wheat was found to be cut, but very littled carried. The colour of the straw and ears was much bet ter than might have been expected, and a few dry days would enable the farmers to make a finish of this grain ; not so, however, with barley, which was generally in the swathe, and, as the rain continued to fall, it was be coming black in the straw, and no weather could much im prove it. The malting properties must be materially gone of a great part of it, and there will consequently be a small portion of fine quality. The beans are nearly all in the fields yet, but cut, and not taking much harm. Our advices on that day were as follows :—From Surrey: " We have bad weather for the harvest now. Sunday was very fine ; yesterday showery ; to-day wet, windy, and boisterous. One-twentieth of our wheat crop is in the barn in beautiful condition, heavy, and fit for immediate thrashing ; one twentieth stacked in ricks, also in good order ; the re mainder are out in the fields, now soaking in wet ; but if to-morrow should be a fine sunny day, with a brisk wind, there will not be much harm done. There is some mischief already, but not much ; I mean as to its growing. It is a most critical time just at the present, but we cannot tell the result." From the West Riding of Yorkshire: " Since last week the weather has been variable, with showers daily, and harvest-work has proceeded slowly. During last night and early this morning heavy rain has fallen, as our river and smaller streams show ; but I t‘rustuo great harm is yet done, though the crops are now in a critical position and continued wet would be anions, as but little is secured in this locality. Turnips and potatoes will no doubt be much benefited by the rain. With a change of wind to the west, we have better weather since noon, but it yet looks quite unsettled." From the East Riding: " The weather has been very changeable ; a good deal of rain has fallen, which haJ retarded harvest, and but little progress has been made with field-work. To-day it rains heavily, and farmers begin really to evince much uneasiness about the outstanding corn, as little or nothing is yet housed in this district." From Suffolk : "Another yet day has caused our farmers much uneasiness for both their wheat and barley crops, and we regret to add, the damage by sprouting already done is wide-spread and very extensive." The weather on Wed nesday was tolerably fino up to 3 30 p.m., when a smartish shower fell. From the west coast of Scotland : "We have had heavy rain since the beginning of this week." From the east coast : " The weather has been broken and very wet since last week. Cutting has commenced, but no pro"' gress made ; a continuance of such weather as we have ex perienced lately must prove disastrous." From Surrey, again : " Weather fine this morning, wind N.W. and a good brisk breeze up at noon ; since then the wind has veered round to the W. and S. of W., and brought with it heavy clouds and some rain." On Thursday the morning was fine up to 130 p.m., then a smart shower fell, and it was showery at times the remainder of the afternoon. From Surrey, again : "I fear we are in a mess here—wet, wet, wet, day after day, is bad ; the early morning was the same as yesterday, bright and fine, but now, near noon, the clouds are coming, and it looks bad again ; further west it is not quite so bad, and we may hope a favourable change will soon take place." Again, from the same party, later in the day : "After I wrote you we had a very brisk wind for a time, which very much dried the wheat, but still the weather is unsettled, and mischief to some extent has been done." From the eastern part of Berkshire it was remarked : " There is a considerable breadth of wheat still in the fields, and should this showery weather continue it will soon sprout ; on the contrary, should the weather take up, be yond the outside corns of the sheaves being a little stained, no great damage has been done. The same remark applies 1 to barley." From Suffolk, the same day, it was remarked: "We have a continuance of weather most unfavourable for progress with harvest. During the week some wheat has been cut in the intervals of fine, but all of this must have gone to the stack in moderate condition, and is not likely to be fit for thrashing for some time. The quantity of rain has been considerable, and during Tuesday was heavy and continuous, and the outstanding crop must show some injury. With barley cutting but little progress has been made, and the quality generally has suffered from the bad weather." On Friday the day opened fine, and there was a brisk breeze up to 2 p.m., w h en a heavy shower fell. From Devonshire :—" After several showery days we have had three days of dry weather, and are hopeful of the rest of the harvest being secured. The reports of the crop are very various. Farmers on light soils complain heavily of their crops, whilst those on heavy laud say their crop of wheat is very fine." From Suffolk, near the coast :—"We can report no improvement in the weather, for since our last we have had rain almost daily—altogeth©r a very sorry prospect. New wheat is quite out of the question, and, even with fine settled weather, tho consumption for some weeks must be principally on old." From Surrey again:— "Last night was fine, I mean pretty dry, but very windy, and this morning it is beautifully bright, with the wind N.W. and quite sunny ; if this lasts the wheat will not take much harm, but the barley is done for, and now the farmers say the potatoes are going." From Lincolnshire it was stated—" The weather is now worse than ever, and no thing can prevent damage to the wheat and barley. Nothing carted comparatively, and nearly all cut. The barley in stook is getting much discoloured on the outside, so that, if got dry at last, there will be two qualities in the sheaf, which the maltsters will not like. The pro bability is, therefore, that the British grower will have to succumb to the foreign, who may be favoured with better weather. The prospects for keep are good." Saturday was a fine day, the only one in the week on which there was no rain. One of our advices states, "lt is now (6 a.m.) as beautiful a morning as I think I ever recol lect. Yesterday our farmers carried wheat ' helter skelter,' wet and growing at the bands of the sheaves, and in this state they absolutely carried from early morning to dusk at night. On Thursday, with fine weather, a great part of our wheat will be up, stacked, of course, in the ricks. Very little barley is cut as yet ; it is in a dreadful state." Dasastrous as this week has been it might have been worse, for the low temperature and brisk breezes have greatly prevented sproutings, and it is to be hoped that the weather hastaken up and will be fair next week, which will be most fortunate for the country at large.—Mark-lane Express. LOVE -MAKING IN CHESHIRE between Dick, the farmer's head man, and Peggy, his sweetheart, in Mrs. Linnaous Banks' new novel of " God's Providence House :"—" Oi say, Peggy, how many years bo it sin' we begun to keep company together ? Ten or twelve o' reckon.—' Ten or twelve ! More loike foorteen or six teen. Whoi, Miss Ailso wur but a babby so. hoigh (in dicating the height with her hand) running about th' dairy an' tumbliu' in th' milk-pans and duck-pond, if a wench nobbut turned her back.'—' Whoi, what a memory yo' ha', Peggy !' ejaculated Dick, with exulting admira tion, of couldna' remember that fur!'—' Ha! but yo' didna' get yo'r ears clouted as o' did, sure as eggs, when that big woman as tended th' house that year, fund mea dawdlin' wi' thee instead o' mindin' the choild ; an' sarva roight too, for th' little un hadn noigh bin drownded.'— ' She was na drownded, though ; an' now she's a foino loss goin' to be wed ! Oi say, Peggy, if our betters think it toime to get wed afore they ha' known one another's faces twelve months, dunna yo' think as how we who ha' known each other's moinds more nor them manny years moight venture ? What dost say, loss ?'—' Oi idunno,' was the low answer from Peggy's lips, whilst her rough fingers twirled the tape ringlets unconsciously.—' Tha dunno ! whoi, Peggy, loss, tha dun'! An' Peggy, 0' begin to:think as how of shouldnal ha axed yo' that question manny a year ago ! An' so, if yo' dunna say nay, oi'll go an' put th' banns oop next Sunday What dost say ?'— Peggy had not said anything, but she did then squeeze out the words, If tha kikes, Desk." SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOITESALS. TIMES.—It is something to say for the Schleswig- Holstein question that it has become actually amus ing. Everybody can now understand it, and every body, except the inhabitants of the two Duchies and the people of Germany, must be greatly entertained with it. To those who are spectators only it is as good as a play. Last Saturday we were informed that the play was over ; but that is not exactly the case. The actors have only agreed to suspend the perfor mance, and have settled no more than the terms on which they shall retain joint possession of the stage. The first telegram apprised the world, in charac teristic phraseology, that M. Bismark and Count Blome had arrived at an understanding " by which the mutual reclamations and the Federal rights had been vindicated,"—expressions which appeared to imply that the claims of Austria and Prussia had been satisfied, while due regard was paid to the pro tests of Germany. But this report was immediately succeeded by another, which gave but a partial con firmation e ven o f the first half of the statement, and utterly destroyed the second. The " mutual recla mations " have been appeased for the moment, but the "Federal rights," if by that term is meant the demands of the Germanic Confederation, have only I been " vindicated " by excluding them from consi deration altogether. The very latest intelligence now explains what has really been done. There is no " definite solution " of the question, but Austria and Prussia have agreed to keep the question where it is on the conditions following :—Schleswig and Holstein are to be separated ; Schleswig is to be given over to the " provisional " rule of Prussia ; Holstein to the " provisional " rule of Austria, thus to be occupied and governed until the occupying Powers shall otherwise determine. In the meantime Austria allows Prussia to take and keep Lauenburg absolutely, in return for which cession of somebody else's property Prussia pays Austria a handsome sum of money. Those are the terms of the "Austro-Prusso-Danish " Treaty, signed at Gas tein on the 14th instant, and followed by a cordial meeting between the two contracting Sovereigns. We hope the Germans are gratified with this " vindication of Federal rights." For the last 20 years they have been striving to take Schleswig- Holstein away from Denmark, and convert it into a province of the Confederation, so as to strengthen the Bund against Austria and Prussia by adding an influential State to the Federal Body. Not content with Holstein, which was really German, though the patrimony of a Danish Duke, they wanted Schleswig als o , an d w ith th ese views they elaborated the theory of a mysterious and indissoluble union between the two Duchies. Some centuries ago such a scheme of union was really adopted to serve an occasion, and the Germans maintained that this little piece of accidental diplomacy possessed a sanc tity beyond any other treaty or convention ever known to the world. States might vanish and Empires disappear, but nothing could ever detach Holstein from Schleswig. This one act of the Middle Ages was to last for ever—all in order that Holstein, when Germany could reclaim it, might draw Schles wig along with it into the Confederation, and add a seaboard and a few harbours to its resources. That was the end; and the means for attaining it were soon devised. The German portion of the population was first excited to disaffection, and then assured of commiseration and sympathy. It was represented as intolerable that the Germans should be " op pressed" by a foreign Prince, while Germany was at hand to rescue them ; nationality was invoked, and the cry was, " Germany for the Germans, and Denmark for the Danes." Ultimately, when the long-desired opportunity at length occurred, the Germans decreed " Federal Execution" against the King of Denmark, on the pretext of his refusal to introduce sufficient unity of administration into these compound territories, and invaded Holstein with a Federal Army. A few weeks saw this Federal army rudely ejected from the Duchies by Austria and Prussia, who assumed to themselves the whole control of the affair, and have now brought it "pro visionally" to a conclusion. Germany will not get a new Prince, nor the confederation a new State. All the claims of all the pretenders to the succession the two Duchies have been thrown overboard together, and it is declared that there is no rightful heir to be put in possession of his own. But the cruellest cut of all is the division of the " indivisible." All that Germany has been maintaining and demonstrating for an entire generation is upset and demolished. The indissoluble union has been fairly dissolved. The very name of the case is extinguished, and we must talk of Schleswig Holstein no longer. Schles wig is one country, and Holstein is another. They are not only under different administrations, but under different sovereigns. They have nothing in common except foreign occupation, and may be actually at war with eac h o th er any day in the year. There is thus not a single pretension advanced by Germany throughout this controversy which is not absolutely subverted by its conclusion ' • and, to improv e th e ma tt er, t h e whole advantage which Germany had anticipated for herself is carried to the account of those two Powers which it regards with the greatest jealousy, and against which it sought for support. This is the vindication which the Federal rights have received. It is certainly as much as they merited, but we should not think the Germans would much admire the result. We cannot pretend to regret that we are free from entangle ment in these proceedings, but we are not sure that the reflections of European politicians on the case will be altogether satisfactory. The strong have been allowed to substitute might for right without interference. Nobody can pretend to say that Austria and Prussia had the least right whatever to take the territory of the Duchies from Denmark and divide it between themselves. They had not adopted even the pretext put forward by Germany, or pro moted the restoration of an alleged heir to the pro perty. They have declared that there is no such heir to he found, and have partitioned the inheri tance in default. But by what title, then, except that of Conquest, are they now acting ? And in what cause did they commence the war ? Germany, at least, pretended to support the pretensions of a rightful heir in the person of the Duke of Augusten burg, and to insist on unity of administration in an indivisible inheritance. But Austria and Prussia recognise no heir and no unity of either inheritance Or administration. They have not deigned to con sult the people of the Duchies, and they set the doctrine of nationalities at utter defiance. Prussia has esta blished herself as sovereign in the Danish province of Schleswig, and is not very likely to retire from the position. Probably, in the end, she will get Holstein too, in consideration either of money paid down or cessions elsewhere. Nor is this policy dis approved by the educated and frugal people of Prussia, for the price is gratifying, and the love of territory overpowers all other thoughts. This, how ever, is precisely the passion which in times past it was thought desirable to control by political concert and combined authority. One State could not en croach upon another except at the risk of being punished by the rest in the common interest of the whole. This risk appears now to be removed, and we see a specimen of the consequences. True, we have escaped a war which, indeed, as affairs actually stood, we were entitled to decline, but an unwel come precedent has been established, and it has been plainly shown that international justice may be completely dissociated from international peace. HERALD.—America is given over to Nemesis. The people of the Northern States, who rushed so madly into an unjust and fratricidal war, are now suffering from the evils their work has wrought. The latest accounts from the Empire City seem al most to compel the belief that law and order have lost their power in the land of the Stars and Stripes. From the narrative of our correspondent the entire territory of the Union seems smitten with a moral epidemic, as desolating al, and infinitely more sad dening than, the ravages of the dreaded pestilence or the fell swoop of the avenging angel. It is not that here and there great crimes are committed or murders of a peculiarly shocking and revolting cha racter are perpetrated. It is not that, as in the case of Pritchard, or Forwood, or Currie, a wretch is to be found here and there to whose bosom hu manity and tenderness are strangers. It is not that society is now and then shocked by an atrocious homicide, or startled by a tremendous fraud, or scandalised by an exceptionally abominable instance of social depravity. Of such offences every State will furnish some, and it would be extremely un fair to argue from individual iniquity to national corruption. But the intelligence from the land of freedom does not tell us of isolated cases. We read of crimes at which humanity shudders, fur nishing the newspapers with their daily staple, and newspaper readers with their most valued mental pabulum. Our American intelligence comes from a land in which murder, arson, robbery, and brutal violence to the weaker sex are holding high car nival. The press teems with narratives revolting in their details, and appalling in their frequency. Society resounds with tales of the abominations done by every rank and order ; by ragged rascals who beg their bread in the streets, and by aspiring members of the shoddy aristocracy. Horrors come thick and threefold with every morning's post. They fill the papers to overflowing, and supply the cessation of news from the seat of war or the lack of political rumours. Great crimes have become recognised institutions. The record of their com mission is a feature which has attained to the dignity of a " standing heading" in Transatlantic journals, as if it were devoted to chronicling European arrivals or Wall-street dealings. One of the most successful New York papers makes " The Criminal Era" a prominent feature, and under tliis apt description serves up from two to five columns of objectionable details to feed the morbid appetites of its readers and minister to their unhealthy craving for demoralising sensations. In short, American respect for law and regard for virtue seems to be things of the past, and rowdyism runs rampant through every State which owned the sway of President Lincoln. In our yesterday's impression we briefly glanced at a few of the recent occur-, rences which have called forth these remarks. Be it remembered that we are only dealing with the criminal chronicle of something like a week. In one case two children had been murdered at Rox burg, Massachusetts, and in another a matricide and sororicide had been committed at Manchester, Connecticut, by a fellow whose impelling motive was a desire to get possession of a few hundred pounds by imbruing his hands in the blood of his nearest relatives. In Broadway, New York, a drunken reprobate avenged an old family feud by shooting his brother through the heart. In Wisconsin a farmer's wife poisoned her husband because he had taken a pretty girl to a circus. At Louisville a squad of soldiers literally ran a-muck through the town, firing at random upon peaceful citizens. At Chicago a free fight among bowie knife-armed Amazons ended in the death of one and the serious injury of two others. And the irrepres sible negro comes out in a new but not an unex pected character. The blacks, whom Republicans and Democrats alike are proposing to enfranchise, are proving their fitness for freedom by outraging their liberator's wives and daughters, while the boatmen of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal have been equally merciless-to the coloured women living on its banks. As showing the practical value of emancipation theories , we may mention that the black offenders have ,een lynched, or handed over to the police, while white delinquents of the same class enjoy a practical immunity. Suicides are un precedentedly frequent. The burglars are busy. Coiners and currency counterfeiters are hard at work manufacturing their spurious capital, or forcing it into circulation with true Yankee perseverance and ingenuity. Gamblers lay in wait for simple tons at every turn. As the sun goes down garrot ters and footpads start from every corner. In New York, with a population less than one-fourth that of London, the police arrested twenty thousand persons in the space of three months, a proportion which would make every tenth person in the city an inmate of a prison in the course of the year. No wonder that the gaols are crowded, the lawyers busy, the judges overworked, and the criminal courts overdone, when the dangerous classes are so numerous. But even this redundancy of de tected crime in the commercial capital is not so bad as the impunity enjoyed by murderers and felons in other parts of the Union. We read of states where law is impotent, and of wide regions in which society seems resolved into its elements —of large districts where constitutional authority is at an end, and extensive territories where the anarchy of mob rule is checked only by the fit ful and arbitrary administration of martial law. All this is very lamentable, but not at all won derful. Our American cousins have sown the wind, and they must now be content to reap the whirlwind. The war in which they engaged was a blunder, whose effects they are probably only now beginning to feel. Their attempt to subjugate the South was a crime, which by a moral necessity carried with it its own punishment. The Providence - which goes with great battalions insured to the Federal forces an undeserved and inglorious victory. The North sung paeans of triumph over a conquest achieved by brute force over moral power; by over whelming numbers over skilful generalship ; by favouring circumstances over dogged determination. When Richmond fell, when Lee surrendered, when Jefferson Davis was taken prisoner, the men who went to war for the idea of Union were fiercely ex ultant. They would wreak their vengeance on their fallen foe, and hurl defiance against every power of Christendom. They would reconstruct the Union on the bases of universal liberty and military despo tism, of emancipation to the negro and enslavement of the Southern. They would steep their gallant antagonists to the lips in humiliation, would rob them of their property, deprive them of their citizen ship, and send them penniless, homeless, and hope less, to earn their bread by servile toil. They have attained a success as unexpected as it was unde served. So far as effective resistance goes the South is as powerless as Poland or Denmark. According to its own confident calculations the North should now have nothing to do but to take its ease, to eat, drink, and be merry. But neither nations nor in dividuals can hope to practise iniquity with impu nity. We speak not now of theloss the Federals have sustained in the countless hecatombs of unreturning brave, who lie on the fields their blood, for any noble purpose, reddened in vain. We pass over the misery, past, present, and to come, endured by the wounded and maimed of the Northern armies. Purposely leaving Southern suffering of this nature out of the calculation, we are willing also to ignore for the pre sent the frightful incubus of Federal debt, the impo verishment of Federal finances, the curtailment of Northern commerce by converting those who might have been excellent customers into bitter and beg gared foes. We speak only of the demoralisation the war has wrought, of the national virtues it has sapped, the thirst for blood it has created, the dis regard for reason, humanity, and religion it has engendered. In details such as these we published yesterday we see how deeply and widely the virus has penetrated in every portion of the Great Re public's body corporate. The more closely we observe it, the more attentively we scrutinise it, the more deeply do we regret the infatuation which occasioned it ; but the more completely also do we recognise the justice of the moral retribution which has followed it. COUNTRY MARKETS COLCHESTER—Aua. 19. Rain has retarded the harvest, and a great deal of wheat has been housed in bad condition. A small supply of wheat, principally new. Old in demand at is to 2s per qr. mor• money. Wheat, white 468 64s Beane, Mazagan......338 3sa red 42s 49e Middle and small..Bss 40$ Barley... 2fs 34s Peas, white 388 42$ Oats 20s 25s grey ..... .......S6B NORTHAMPTON—AUG. 19. The corn crops are being housed very slowly. Wheat will not be an average yield. Barley is rather more satis factory. There are now better hopes for the harvest, the weather having been fine during the past two days. New white wheat, 45s to 47s ; new red, 42s to 45s ; old white, 44s to 46s ; old red, 42s to 44s per 36 stone. Barley for malting, —s to —s per qr. ; grinding, 25s to 28s per 30 stone. Oats, old, 30s to 33s ' • new, 18s to 24s per 24 stone. Beans, old, 39s to 44s ; new, 35s to 38s per 38 stone. Peas, 35s to 38s per 36 stone. CHELMSFORD—Atra. 18. There was a thin attendance at market to-day, with but few samples shown. Little business was transacted, millers and merchants not seeming inclined to buy, and prices ruled about the same as last week. Wheat, old white....46s 52e Peas, Partridge 37e 39$ new 46s 52s White ....3es 34a old red ...... los 45s Baling 38a 42a new 40s 4is Dun.... ..... ...31s 358 8ar1ey...... 25s 32s dit o, new....—s —1 Chevalier 26a 33s Beans, Tick, 01d......3 is 370 Grincl,ng ',Os '4Bs new....—s - a Malt 6ls 67e Harrow Ticks.3ss —e Chevalier 64a 68a new....--8 -a Oats ... 2oa 26s Mazagan 34s 37a GRANTHAM-AuG. 19. The weather continued very unsettled until Friday, and the quantity of grain secured is at present small. Many fields of wheat would be gathered with a few days of fine weather. Barley is turning out much better than wheat. Old white wheat, 46s to 50s; old red, 41s to 46s ; new white, 46s to 50s ; new red, 40s to 45s per 36 stone. Bar ley for malting, —a to —s per qr. ; grinding, 27s to 30s per 30 stone. Oats, old, 27s to 328 ; new, 22s to 27s per 24 stone. Beans, old, 39s to 47s ; new, 36s to 38s per 38 stone. Peas, 355.t0 39s per 36 stone. ABERDEEN-AuG. 18. Barley harvest is pretty general, and some samples of new wero exhibited to-clay, but not sold, We quote oats and wheat the turn dearer, but not many sales. Flour a little higher. White wheat 35s Od to 40s Od 621 b 11 bushel. Red wheat • 33s Od to 36s Od Potato oats 20s 6d to 21s 6d 0115 4 is bushel. Common oats 2040 d to 208.6 d Bere 23s Od to 248 Od} 531 b 11 bushel. 23s Od to .248 Od Barley Oatmeal 16s 6d to;178 6d V boll of 140Ib. Flour, fine 33s Od to 34s Od ?sack of 280th. Births. ARBUTIINOT.—On the 18th inst., at 4, Onslow-crescent, South Kensington, the wife of H. G. Arbuthnot, Esq., of a son. Dowsz.—On the 19th inst., at 8, Belgmve-square, Vis countess Downe, of a daughter. DUNSTERVILLE.—On the 20th inst., at Cheltenham, the wife of Lieut.-Colonel Dunsterville, Bombay Staff Corps, of a son. Marriages DEWSNAP —Wuns.—On the 19th inst., at Barnes, Sur rey, Mark Dewsnap, Esq., of Lincoln's-inn, barrister-at law, to Frances La T o u c h e , f our th d aug ht er o f R o bert Willis, Esq., M.D., of Barnes. ---- EDMUNDS-11EPBURN.—On the 19th inst., at All Saints', Norwood, Henry C. Edmunds, Esq.,. of Knight's Hill, Lower Norwood, to Mary Caroline, youngest daughter of P. A. Hepburn, Esq., of St. Leonard's-on-Sea. Deaths. CAMPBELL.--On the 19th inst., at Woolwich, the Dowager Lady Campbell, of Ardnamurchan, aged 89. DAVIDSON.—On the 19th-inst., in London, Wm. Davidson, Esq., of Teneriffe, aged 73. HIDE.—On the 19th inst., at Twickenham-green, Major 7- 1 C. S. Hide (Hyde), formerly of the Madras rmy, age d 74. LikYD.—On the 17th inst., at Clifton, James Lloyd, of Birmingham, banker, aged 59. MAITLAND.—On the 20th inst., at Dumfries, John Mait land, Esq., of 89, Ebury-street, Eaton-square, and 1 9 , College-street,- Westminster, aged 73. London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANDRA:WA of No. 112, Strand, Punter, at Tnz Sum Office, No I► 2, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in th, City of Middlesex.• —Tuesday, August 22, 1865,