The Sun. — London, England, 1867-01-11 00:00:00

'THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 11, 1867. On Wednesday a party of gentlemen, residing in Leeds and the vicinity, met, at breakfast, Mr. Thos. Harvey, a resident of the town, who visited Jamaica last year on a philanthropic mission. Mr. Harvey, having given a long description of the past and pre sent condition of the island, a vote of thanks to him was proposed in recognition of the motives which had induced him to prosecute his voyage, and for the information which he had imparted to the meeting. Mr. FORSTER, M.P. (who was loudly cheered), afterwards addressed the meeting. He trusted that all those who hid to take part in Parliament, or in the Government, in the management of Jamaica under the new system, would be able to rely upon the intelligent support and interest of the fyiendsof the West Indies throughout England. Not that he would look forward for a moment to much direct interference on the part of the Colonial-office. He thought that the duty of that office in regard to the Crown .colonies was not to attempt the de tails of the government from London, which would certainly not answer, but to find the very best ad ministrators that they could possibly procure, and to send them out with a good deal of power, and support them in those measures which they could initiate. He dared say that some gentlemen pre sent would feel that that change of government, although they looked forward to it with hope, was one that could not but in some respects be regretted. It appeared to be a backward step that a commu nity that had been governed by representative in stitutions should lose those institutions, and be governed by what, after all, was more or less of despotic authority from the central Government at home. But he must confess that in the case of Jamaica he thought that that was a step which was only backward in appearance and not in reality, Vecause those who attached the most value to re presentative institutions would still believe that they were valuable only if they could represent all classes of the community. They had in Jamaica— and he did not know that it was possible to help it —a representative government, which necessarily represented only one portion of the community, or, at least they might say, in broad terms, only one portion, and that portion divided from the others by marked differences of race, of colour, and of position. The negroes generally could hardly be expected to act the part of intelligent constituents, and consequently the elections fell inevitably into the hands of the white portion of the community, with the assistance of some of the coloured men, and it was impossible to help the House of Assembly being more or less a representative of the planting and em ploying interest. That in itself was an evil. It always was an evil that the government of any com munity should be conducted by a caste or a class, and he did not know butwhat class government under re presentative institutions was about as bad a govern ment as they could have. But when, in addition to that, they had that class government obtaining its power by force which was given to it from without, and therefore not being compiled to face the diffi culties of its ownlegislation, they then had a govern ment which was intrinsically and necessarily bad. The planters of Jamaica had governed the island through the Representative Assembly, but if they made mistakes in their government they had the whole force of the British islands, and of the army and navy, to support them, and we had in conse quence the results that might have been expected. Mr. Harvey had entered into the question of why Jamaica had been so much less prosperous than the other islands of the West Indies—why, in fact, it was the only one of the West Indian islands of any importance which had not been prosperous. He be lieved, as Mr. Harvey did, that that had been in a very great measure owing to too much power having been given to the Representative Assembly of that island. Ile believed that if they were to mark the differences between Jamaica and the Crown colonies, almost every one would acknowledge that they had been prosperous because they had not the represen tative power Jamaica possessed. But it might be said that Barbadoes had prospered, and that it was a co lony with a Representative Assembly. There was this great difference in the case, however, that when emancipation was passed it found Barbadoes in a position in which the labour question had not any thing approaching to the difficulties surrounding it in Jamaica. In Barbadoes there was a dense popu lation, and consequently a great number of labourers wanting employment. In Jamaica there was a very scanty population, and therefore the labourers had —what was understood in these districts very well —the advantage in the market. Mr. Harvey had stated how slavery must leave its legacy in the de gradation of those who had been slaves; but slavery also left its legacy to the masters. It was very dif ficult for them—and he was sure he did not blame them, he believed it would have happened to himself if lie had been one of them—to get rid of the feel ings which were implanted in them by slavery, and it was a bitter task, a task which was too hard for Jamaica planters to perform, not only to have to give up the power of being slaveholders and slave-masters, but to have to adapt themselves to a position of the labour question in which, naturally, and by all the laws of free labour, the labourer had the advantage of the employer. They tried to escape from that, and they tried to do so by making use of their power through the Government, and he thought a great number of the difficulties of Jamaica had arisen from that cause. One great evil was that it had resulted in a weak government, and for this reason, that many of the measures which they tried to enforce—he would not enter into them now, for it was best that they should be buried in oblivion—were of such a nature that the home Government could not think of allowing them; consequently they were disallowed. But the Assembly of Jamaica had still sufficient power to prevent the home Government initiating the measures that were necessary. Consequently they had a weak government, and he did not know that there was a more striking illustration of that than the state of the magistracy in Jamaica. He thought it was equally acknowledged now by all persons, either in the island or out of it, who took an interest in the future of Jamaica, that a system of stipendiary magistrates must be resorted to. But if it was so plain, they might ask why it was not done before. The reason was that the home Government, acting through its governors, found it quite impossible to get it done. For a time after the emancipation stipendiary magistrates were appointed in Jamaica, but England undertook the payment of them. After a time it was felt to be unreasonable to a,k the British House of Commons to tax the British people for justice in Jamaica, and the grant was withdrawn. It was hoped that the Jamaica House of Assembly would pay them instead, but it refused to do so, and from time to time the governors had tried to get it to pass measures for sti pendiary magistrates, but had failed. He trusted that, now we had taken upon ourselves the responsibility of the government, the system of stipendiary magi strates would be again resorted to. The chairman, in his excellent introductory remarks, had said that that was a meeting which was not called upon to express an opinion with regard to the conduct of the late authorities in Jamaica. He was very glad of that for two reasons, first, that although he could hardly say a word upon the question without re peating that he was still unable to agree with some of his friends in thinking that a prosecution ought to have been instituted against Governor Eyre —and lie would not for a moment blame those who thought it their duty to join in such a prosecution—yet lie thought that, - whether they were in favour of that proceention or against it, they must feel that as it appeared likely th:mt cpizrt of law would have to decide that question, the time had gone past for much public opinion to be expressed until the ver dict had been beard. He was also glad that a meet ing of those interested on behalf of the negro should be held without much allusion to that question, be cause he had feared lest the immediate good govern ment of Jamaica would be somewhat lost sight of in that most interesting question of what blame should attach to the late Executive, and the most import ant constitutional questions thereby brought before us. Ile was therefore very glad to find that so many gentlemen had met together to consider. how they could best advochte the future interests of the island. But looking solely at that question there was one point which would oblige him in some little degree to allude to what had happened. He thought that more than one lesson ought to be learnt from the late events in Jamaica, but certainly this lesson— that whoever is responsible for the government of the island should carefully look through its statute book and see that there are no statutes left that are the remnant of the old slave legislation ; and espe cially he thought that attention ought to be directed to that act under which Governor Eyre had de clared martial law. He thought he could make a remark or two upon that point without enter ing into the question of blame or not on the part of Governor Eyre, and he wanted to explain to them the great difference between Jamaica and England up to this time as regarded the pro tection of the liberty of the person. In Jamaica there was that act which provided for the declaration of martial law, which thereby appeared to acknow ledge the supension of law, and to look upon it as a course that might be taken in the government of the island. It was with that opinion that martial law was declared, and the words used by Governor Eyre in his proclamation were these :—" We do hereby, by the authority committed to us by the laws of this our island, declare that martial law shall prevail," &c. That was the position of Jamaica. But what was the position of England ? The position of Eng land was that, ever since the Petition of Right, the declaration of martial law was in itself illegal, quite independent of any acts that might be committed under it. Taking into account that difference between England and Jamaica, he believed in the English principle. He believed that it was far better that the declaration of martial law should be illegal, and that, our ancestors had left us one of their very best legacies in leaving upon our English statute-book a clear declaration to that effect. And why? Because martial law really meant the sus pension of all law whatever ; it meant the abolition for the time of all the safeguards of life and property which have been the accumulation of the fruits of the labours for centuries of men who cared for their freedom, and it meant that these should be re placed by the belief of the chief magistrate or chief governor, whoever he might be, that what he did was necessary for good government. Conse quently it was a replacement of law by the arbitrary power of the Executive. He would not say that under any Government possibilities might not occur in which, for the preservation of order, such a suspension might be necessary, but he believed that it never ought to be provided for, or acknow ledged, or anticipated by the law; that it ought, if it were done, to be done as a matter of extreme ne cessity, so extreme that it would carry its own justi fication with ic, and would in itself require no in demnity. He did not think martial law ought ever to be used as a mode of government, or for pun ishment, but only in extreme cases for purposes of absolute necessity. But if they had it upon the statute-book as it was in Jamaica, then it was almost inevitably looked upon by governors and the govern ing powers as a mode of government, and S 3 it had been acted upon in Jamaica, and in the West India islands. That was by no means the first time in which martial law had been declared there, and it had been declared in the.other islands recently. In St. Vincent's, for example, it had been declared not long ago. In fact, a late governor of one of the West India islands had told him in private conver sation that he believed that in former days, during the existence of slavery, martial law used to be de clared generally at Christmas—(laughter)—because at that time the negroes had a holiday, and it was thought better to do away with law, and have the will of the Executive for a time. He was well aware that there were several gentlemen, for whose opinions he had the highest respect, who thought that there was not very much necessity to gut rid of that statute in Jamaica, because they did not think it had in itself any validity. They thought that it was impossible for a colonial statute, even when sent out by the home Government., and acknow ledged by the home Government and the autho rities in the island to be the law of the island, to be valid and have legal effect when it was contrary to English law and the principles of that law. lie would not enter into the question, as he did not think it affected his argument that it was most de sirable that the law should be taken out of the sta tute-book, because, whether or not they were right ill thinking so, there could be no question that Governor Eyre and his council considered that Jamaica statute had power and validity, and that they were acting legally in declar ing martial law in accordance with its provisions. What he said was that whatever might be their opinion as to Governor Eyre's conduct, if they re gretted late events, if they regretted the mode in which that insurrection was suppressed—and he did not suppose there was any one present who did not regret it—whatever amount of blame, or whether any blame at all might attach to the governor— they must all be of opinion that it was most neces sary, not only for the good government of the island in future, but even from common justice to the go vernors themselves, that no future governor should be placed in such a false position as that of having such an act upon thestatute-book. Let them observe the difference between the position of a governor with that act,which, he believed, rightly or wrongly, to have the force of law, and his position without it. With such an act upon the statute-book of the law of the land which he was sent out to administer, he felt that, under certain circumstances, he was en trusted with arbitrary power. Whenever an insur rection or a disturbance of the peace occurred, there were sure to be many persons pressing upon him the ty ofmaking use of that power, and h e wou ld f n e e e c l es t s h i a that if he did not make use of it, and if the in surrection were not quickly suppressed, he should be blamed, not only by public opinion in the island, but very likely by the authorities at home, for not having made use of those powers which he had within his reach. But if there were no such act upon the statute-book he would feel that in taking that step there was an awful responsibility ; that in doing th he was doing what was in itself an illegal thing, and not only would he naturally require a more extreme necessity—and he thought he ought to have a very extreme necessity before he resorted to such a mea sure—but while it was enforced he would feel all the difference between making use of a discretion which he had himself seized at his own responsibility, and making use of a discretion with which he was en trusted; he would feel all the difference between mak ing use of arbitrary power given to him by the law, and making use of arbitrary power which he had seized at his own risk. He thought, therefore, that what was to his mind the greatest excuse for Go vernor Eyre was the greatest argument against the existence of that act. The greatest excuse for Mr. Eyre was that he thought that under certain cir cumstances he was ordered to do what ho thought best irrespective of law, so that unless they supposed he acted with a wrong personal motive, they were almost driven to the supposition that he had done what was thought to be best, and therefore it was difficult for some of them to know how they could punish him for doing what ho had been ordered to do. But how had that best resulted? It had re sulted in facts of which they were all ashamed, and it had resulted in what had been called in the House of Commons, and what he could scarcely speak of without again calling, a legal massacre, or at least a massacre under the form of law, batches of 15 or 20 men being hung day after day, after such a trial as made it impossible to ascertain whether they were guilty or not, for weeks after the peace of the island had been restored. It was absolutely necessary therefore that they should have no laws left on the statute-book of that colony that should tempt gover nors to the exercise of such a power. Some of them might wonder why he dwelt to much upon that when the case seemed so plain. But he was not at all clear that it would be a very easy thing to get rid of those acts. Two reasons might be alleged W v ny they should not d o so, ne i t h er o f which, w er iioe, had any force to him. It would be said, in the first place—" We lament these occurrences, but better than the preservation of individual life, or even the prevention of injustice or cruelty, is the prevention of absolute anarchy," and there were persons who would say, " Martial law saved the island of Jamaica, therefore do not make it difficult for martial law to be declared." lie did not believe martial law did save the island of Jamaica. He thought the de claration of martial law, and what was done under martial law, in Jamaica, taught them two things—first, that martial law did not put down that insurrection ; and, secondly, that whatever might be the wish to administer martial law well, it could not be administered well ; in fact, they let the devil loose when they declared martial law, and they could not help it. Some gentlemen might be sur prised at his saying that martial law did not put the insurrection down, but he believed he was right in saying that the efforts of the troops had put it down and restored peace before martial law was put into operation. The hangings under martial law did not really begin until peace was restored. What was the lesson he drew from that? He did not blame Go vernor Eyre for declaring martial law, because he thought, with that act staring him in the face, not one governor out of 100 would have declined to do it. The lesson it taught him was that martial law never ought to be declared as an easy mode of go vernment, or as an easy mode even of restoring peace; it never ought to be declared unless it was absolutely necessary for the restoration of peace and the preser vation of order. And how would they judge whether it was absolutely necessary ? He should say the governor must have reason to believe that the troops could not act with effect without the declaration of martial law. The troops must be able to act with effect—they must restore peace at any sacrifice of life, otherwise they would have a state of anarchy ; but he thought there Nps no justification for the sus pension of all law, except the fact driven upon the minds of the authorities that the troops could not act effectually without the declaration of martial law, and he did not believe that was the case in Jamaica. Another reason which might be urged why we should keep such acts as that in force was that, after all, English precedents did not apply to such an island as Jamaica, where they had to deal with difference of race and colour. England, it would be said, only held her power over subject races by using it, and being able to use it, and its being known that she could use it in a manner in which English power would not be used over Englishmen. In the special case of Jamaica, at any rate, he did not be lieve that argument. If applied at all, it told the other way—it told in this way ; that such was the feeling of race amongst us, the prejudice which almost irresistibly attached to those who from circumstances were a superior race to others, that he believed what they wanted was a safeguard against misusing power, rather than a temptation to misuse it, and he believed it was utterly impossible for a man of good character like Governor Eyre to allow such things to be done in Jamaica as were done, if he had not been unconsciously affected by the race feeling. But men might say, " After all, the necessity of government is that it should be strong and should keep order, and you cannot rule such a population as that in Jamaica without that power." There he again differed from them. He believed that those negroes were as easily go verned as any of the inhabitants of these islands, and he thought that the late events had tended to confirm that. No one for a moment would dispute that atrocities were committed in those murders, but really if they read their own police reports pretty attentively it was not for them, con sidering what came constantly before the assizes and their magistrates, to condemn the whole of the negro population of the ,West Indies because of those atrocities. And again he must say, that if Eng land had been governed in the way in which Ja maica was now acknowledged to be governed, if it had been possible for any high official in England to have made such a speech about the administra tion of justice as Sir John Grant had made a few weeks ago, he did not mean to say that we should have had outrageous murders, such as happened in Jamaica, but we should have had a resistance to Government which would have been more or ganised and more difficult to deal with than was the resistance in Jamaica. And if there had been, though it was impossible there ever should be, such acts exercised in the suppression of disturbances in these islands as took place in Jamaica, we should have had a greater feeling of revenge against the authorities than he was happy to believe existed amongst the negroes of the West Indies. He did not think, therefore, that it was more difficult to govern Jamaica upon the principles of English jus tice and the protection of life against the arbitrary power of the Executive than any other of those islands. Ile had only further to say that he had been grieved of late to see it stated very often in the public press, and sometimes by men of influence and position, that we must not be too particular with regard to these things ; that the condition upon which we held the enormous power we exercised over 200,000,000 of people was that we must show every now and then that fierceness which we got from our northern ancestors, in our dealings with those people, and that in fact we did hold our rule over them by showing them every now and then the ferocity which laid under the surface of the English charac ter. He believed there never was a greater mis take. We did not bold or keep our power over sub ject races by the exercise of that ferocity, but by the exercise of the strength which was in us. He did not dispute—for they could not dispute—that that ferocity was the temptation of our strength ; it was the temptation which always attached to those who were stronger than their neighbours, but they must struggle with it and resist it. And it was not be cause we had shown, every now and then, a per fectly reckless fury, when we had been drawn into difficulties, in dealing with subject peoples, that we held our power over them ; but it was because we had, and were responsible to God for having, those great qualities of strength and endurance, that we hold our power over these races. Mr. Forster, in his concluding remarks, recommended clemency in our dealings with the black population of Jamaica, and con cluded with a word of praise to Mr. Harvey. After a short address from Mr. C. S. Roundell, secretary to the late Jamaica Commission, the re solution was carried unanimously. ,at Naval and Military Intelligence, -.-- A War-office circular, signed by Lieut.-General Sir Edward Lugard, K.C.8., Under-Secretary : for War, was yesterday issued, in which atten tion is called by the Secretary for War to the cir cumstance that in many cases the pocket-ledgers of deceased soldiers have not been forwarded to the War Department along with their non-effective accounts. Lieut.-Gen. Peel, therefore, directs that in every case, whether the man's non-effective account was in credit or not, care be taken that his pocket-ledger is transmitted to the War Depart ment, together with all other documents or papers connected with deceased's estate, in order that the fullest information respecting his affairs may be given to his relatives. If the man should have made any disposition of his property by will, which every soldier should be encouraged as much as possible to do, that document should be transmitted in a sepa rate cover, addressed to the Under-Secretary of State for War, the words "Soldier's Will" being written on the left-hand corner of the envelope. The Barrosa, 20, screw corvette, Capt. Henry Boys, arrived at Spithead yesterday morning, on her return t) England from service in the China seas, and on anchoring exchanged salutes with the flag ship of the Naval Commander-in-Chief and Port- Admiral, the Victory. The Barrosa brought home a number of naval invalids, who were landed from her yesterday afternoon by the Port-Admiral's steam tender Sprightly, Commander Allen. Orders were received by Capt. Boys soon after arrival to proceed with his ship round to Sheerness, where she will be dismantled and paid out of commission. She will sail from Spithead for the Nore at daylight this morning. The Barrosa sailed from Yokohama on the Bth of September, 1866, arrived at Nagasaki on the 10th, sailed from Nagasaki on the 11th, and arrived at Ilongkong on the 17th, sailed from Hong kong on the 23d, and arrived at Singapore on the 3d of October ; sailed from Singapore on the 6th, and arrived at the Mauritius on the 27th ; sailed thence on the same day, and arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on the 16th of November; sailed from the Cape on the 17th, arrived at St. Helena on the 26th ; sailed from St. Helena on the 27th, and called in at Ascension on the 3d of December. She ex perienced fine weather generally until she arrived off the Western Islands. She then fell in with heavy north-easterly gales, which continued until in the Channel she met with strong south-westerly winds. On Wednesday night the Barrosa was hove off the Isle of Wight, to wait for daylight to make her entrance into Spithead. The Valiant, ironclad frigate, in dock at Ports mouth, was yesterday surveyed by the officials of the yard to enable them to prepare the requisite official reports on the state of the several experi mental compositions with which her hull below the water-line has been coated to preserve the iron of the ship's bottom, and to prevent fouling. The primary requisite qualifications for all paints or patented compositions paid over the bottoms of iron ships is necessarily the " preservation" of the iron. The secondary and much less important considera tion is the efficient action of the paint as an anti fouler. The Valiant was docked at Portsmouth on the 9th of August, 1865, and reit ained in dock until the 11th of September, thus giving ample time to the various compositions which had in the meantime been paid over her bottom to become dry before she was again placed in the water. The entire star board side of the ship was coated with Gisborne's anti-fouling mercurial composition, laid on in four coats upon red lead. The port bow to nearly amid ships was paid over with the " Hay" anti-fouling composition, laid on upon a coating of the Hay pre servative varnish. Amidships, from the keel upwards was a patch of Jenkins' enamel, and the remainder of the vessel below the water-line aft was coated with Rowett's anti-fouling paint, both the Jenkins and Rowett being laid upon the Hay preservative varnish. The vessel having been afloat, but in still water, at harbour moorings, for 16 months afforded a very fair opportunity for judging the relative merits of the various competitive compositions; but this cannot be completed before the bottom of the vessel has been scrubbed, and the exact effects of the damage from the anti-fouling mixtures upon the iron of `the ship's bottom, if there be any, has been fully ascertained. At present the Rowett patch of compo sition is closely covered with an average depth of six inches of polypi and sea-grass near the water-line of as many feet in length. The Jenkins patch was nearly as bad, and both give strong evidence of cor rosion, the real nature and extent of which will only be ascertained when the ship's bottom has been scrubbed. The Gisborne composition has kept the starboard side of the ship moderately clean, but the red lead undercoating is decomposed, and the rivet heads give evident signs of corrosion. Electric cur rents have been at their dangerous work, but this Mr. Gisborne ascribes to the fact of red lead having been applied to the bottom of the ship by Admi ralty order, instead of the peculiar varnish recom , mended for the purpose by Mr. Gisborne. Mercu rial paints may possibly be perfect as anti-foulers if laid on a proper underlying protectral varnish, such as is used by the Admiralty chemist, but mercurial paints laid on red lead might also possibly destroy the bottoms of the iron ships of her Majesty's navy. The Hay composition on the ship's port bow only remains to be noticed, and this can be done very shortly. The fouling is very slight, although a trifle in excess of that on the Gisborne paint. The com position appears perfectly sound in every part, and there is no corrosion excepting where abrasion has taken place from the chain-cables or from the dock shores. As, however, we have already observed, the ship's bottom must be thoroughly cleaned of the polypi, sea grass, and other adhesive substances r v a l ea n o ne tf passeddrati reiboshb eolxcn a oel ivcrveai 3 lianoe. em p oeopfpnia t lsrrrita e ite, nenrhhvnxtorrtgotoeeg. or before any correct estimate can be formed of the g f peculiar qualities, favourable or otherwise, of the respective compositions. Connected with this dock ingorifsotnahn: do f V r a Le v l i i vo a le n vr t ipon h go as l beenfr o u r s c t r h t a h e p e i t a i r n g i the bottoms of iron ships at times when it may be scraper Ha r i issel n teeer g reri ad, strips s o nee rrgi of when fygantpsdi l:ael hpevldedeao, brush docks ai tdh, may deck, twahs advisable to save the expense and delay of dock in yete thear ne a r b o c both t o t n and o ' ne s s u acdbr scraper tpn t he t ,3 o r certain.dmrooecrsku results ytees o t brush e f brushtohvee perfectlyrvawoi ai net clean, t h h s e tb s i r t d i yOn small machine—for it is small in consideration of the work it does--was thus far satisfactory. Mr. Walker, of the firm of Emerson, Walker, and Co., operation aor b nd n o f a passed aidev ta of London, represented the patentee on the trial, which was conducted in the usual manner by the officials of Portsmouth dockyard. The Urgent screw steamship, Capt. S. 11. II • en demon, refitting at Portsmouth for further foreign troop service, was yesterday taken out of Ports mouth harbour tO•Spithead under steam, where she made a preliminary and satisfactory trial of her ma chinery, returning to the harbour again on the con clusion of the trial. Information has been received in Woolwich Arsenal from Queenstown,,Cork,'stating that the War Department steam transport Earl de Grey and Ripon, Commander 11. T. Moore, was driven into Cork harbour on Sunday last at noon from the severity of the storm, having weathered a very heavy gale during Friday night. Her engines were disabled, and she had suffered a loss of head-gear ; and had sustained some damage to her •gg • rigging, sails, and boats. She had entered Cork dockyard to make the necessary repairs, and fill in her coal bunkers, with the intention of sailing thence to-day on her return voyage to 'Woolwich. The following guns were yesterday despatched from Woolwich Arsenal to the dockyard, ment on board her Majesty's 17-gun sloop, Chanti cleer, 950 tons, and 200 horse power :—Eight 6 pounders, one 7-inch 61-ton gun, four 6 -pounder brass guns, &c., together with their cur . • iages, slides, &c., and the remainder will shortly follow. Sixty tons weight of samples of wrought iron slab facing for gun batteries, manufactured at the Thames Iron Works, was yesterday despatched from Wool wich Arsenal to Shoeburyness for experimental testing, in the presence of the Ordnance Select Committee. One of the largest slabs • weighs 35 tons, is 25 feet by 14 feet, and 12 inches thick. In consequence of the augmentation which has taken place in the manufacturing branches of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, and the number of • inexpe rienced hands necessarily employed •in connection with the machinery, accidents are of much more fre quent occurrence than formerly, and the limited accommodation of the medical department and in firmary causes the greatest inconvenience and danger to the invalids. Men suffering from fractured limbs and otherwise injured have to be hurried out of the infirmary to their own homes almost daily, some times two and three are removed in ono day boforo their recovery is complete to make room for now cases, in consequence of the small number of berths which the restricted space affords. Dr. Briscoe, Surgeon-Major of the establishment, has urged upon the War Secretary the necessity of increased accommodation on that score. It is hoped that the exigency of the matter may sufficiently be known, and that the requisition will soon be complied with. The cost, it is stated, will not exceed £5OO. The first instalment of the measures taken by the present Board of Admiralty by the advice of their officers, Rear-Admiral R. S. Robinson, the Con troller of the Navy, and Mr. E. J. Reed, the Chief Constructor, for increasing the efficiency of the navy in the smaller and fast, but unarmoured, class of vessels was received at Portsmouth dockyard on Tuesday in au order from the office of the Controller. It gives instructions to prepare at once for the building of two new vessels of the same dimensions and design as the Daniie, now building in that yard, of two more gun vessels from the drawings of the ltiugdove, just commenced in the yard, and of three gunboats to be driven, like the Ringdove, with twin screws. The last are to be on the plan which has been so successfully followed for some time on the Thames by the Messrs. J. and W. Dudgeon, the constructors of the machinery of the hydraulic gun vessel Waterwitch. The two vessels to be built on the rncr, of the ainlie will he named the Sirius and the Dido. The Sirius will be prepared for launch ing during 1 867-68, and one-third of the Dido will be built during the same period. Of ccurse, in the event of any unforeseen emergency, both vessels could be completed at a much earlier date than is now contemplated. Their tonnage will be each 1,268, and the nominal power of their engines 350-horse. They will be timber-built, with iron deck beams and stringer plates, and their speed will be considerably over 14 knots. The two vessels to be built on the Ringdove's design will bo named the Magpie and Swallow, and will be of 663 tons each, propelled by twin screw engines of 160 nominal and collective horse power. The three gunboats, the Cracker, Elk, and Avon, will have each a tonnage of 463 tons and engine power of 160 horse nominal, driving, as we have said, twin screws. The great features in the design and fit ting . of these three gunboats are that they will be built with iron frames covered with an outer skin of two thicknesses of teak, and that they will be fitted with the engines of the old 60 horse power gunboats of Crimean date, which have been laid up in the Admiralty stores at 1 - laslar and elsewhere since the breaking up of the rotten bulls of the vessels. As the new gunboats are to be propelled with engines of 120 horse power, driving twin screws, each of them will be fitted with two sets of engines from the old vessels. The smallest of these vessels ordered to be built at Portsmouth will carry, at the least, one of the new ton rifled muzzle-loading guns. Whether we look at the description of vessels here ordered to be built at Portsmouth, their estimated speed, the weight of their armament, or the wise utilisation of the machinery of broken-up vessels out of store, we must confess that both the Control ler of the Navy and the Chief Constructon-appear to deserve every praise for the steps they have so far taken for the maintenance and improvement of the naval power of the country, The Valiant, ironclad frigate, in the reserves at Portsmouth, and waiting her armament on the new scale fixed by the late Admiralty by minute dated, June 8, 1855, was yesterday docked at Portsmouth to clean her hull below the water-line, and examine experimental compositions with which she has been coated, as " preservatives" and " anti-foulers," in comparison with the standard composition adopted by the Admiralty by the advice of their chemical adviser, Mr. Hay. The naval pension of £BO a year, vacant by the death of Capt. R. Douglas, has been awarded to Capt. Julian F. Slight. The colonelcy of the 30th Regt. is vacant by the death of Lieut.-General Wright, C. 8., on Saturday last, aged 72. He entered the army in 1812, and served in the campaign against the Rajah of Coorg in 1834, and led the advanced attack at the taking of the stockade of Peripatam, the frontier stockade of the Coorg territory. In 1839 be was employed in the operations against Kurnool, and was danger ously wounded at Zorapore on Oct. 18. He com manded a brigade in the battle of Maharajpoor on Dec. 29, 1843, and had his horse shot under him in taking the battery at Chounda. In recognition of his services he was made a C.B. in 1844. His com missions bore date as follows :--Ensign, Dec. 18, 1812 ; Lieut., April 22, 1814 ; Captain, July 14, 1825 ; Major, March 12, 1837 ; Lieut.-Col., April 24, 1839 ; Col., Nov. 11, 1851 ; Major-General, Sept. 8, 1857 ; and Lieut.-General, Aug. 10, 1864. He was appointed Colonel of the 30th (Cambridge shire) Regt., March 7, 1862. The Commander-in-Chief has approved the fol owing arrangements :—Ensign Gaynor, 49th Regt., to join the depot ; Capt. W. Black, 26th Regt., to be Brigade-Major in Nova Scotia ; Lieut. Gore and Ensign Sir C. Waller, 84th Regt., to joie the de pot. It has been notified from the Horse Guards that a draught of the 84th Regt., consisting of Capt. Wilson, Lieut. Crockett, one sergeant, and 39 men, are to embark on the 29th inst. for Malta, and from thence the regiment will proceed to Ja maica. FIRES AND NO WATER ! The Condition of Jamaica. not last long. On the death of Frederick Augustus, in 1733, the rival pretenders to the throne gave a fatal opportunity to foreign intervention. The patriot Stanislaus was supported by the French, his opponent's cause was espoused by Russia, Austria, and the new kingdo m o f P russ i a . Th e frst treaty of partition, the result of the seven years' war, was signed by these three Powers in 1772. A second treaty was concluded in 1793, when the unwilling ness of Maria Theresa to consent to the infamous bargain was no longer an obstacle to its more com plete consummation. In 1794 the heroic Kosciusko made a last desperate effort to save a country of such grand historic memories from the hungry beasts of prey which were in league to hunt it to the death. On the 4th November he was defeated in a great battle by Suwa - frow at Prague. In the following year was signed the third treaty of partition 'which made a final end of Poland. Russia, having already acquired Lithuania,Livonia, and the Ukraine, now took the duchy of Warsaw. Austria annexed Gallici I, and Prussia had Posen for her share. The wars of Napoleon disturbed this arrangement for a time. Early in this century he conquered Posen and Russian Poland. In 1809 Poniatowski and other Polish patriots assisted the French. ' In 1812 the re-establishment of Poland was proclaimed by a Diet at Warsaw. The last act relatino. to Poland, which was participated in by the whole of Europe, and which therefore par takes of the nature of public law, was the Treaty of 1815. This treaty confirmed Austria in the possession of Gallicia, and Prussia in that of Posen, erected Cracow into an independent republic, formed the Duchy of Warsaw into a kingdom of Poland, under the Czar of Russia, subject to the conditions that it should have a separate and liberal Constitution, and a Government distinct from that of the rest of the empire. The results of various European wars, which have been waged since the date of the great terri torial settlements of 1815, have tended to set aside, one by one, the stipulations of that treaty. The revolt in the Low Countries resulted in the separa tion of Belgium from the kingdom of Holland. The war of 1859 led to the formation of the kingdom of Italy, and the annililatioa of a comiclerab:o nunber of secondary states, as well as to the annexation of Savoy and Nice to France. The war of 1866 made an end of the Germanic Confederation, doubled the strength of Prussia at the expense of several kingdoms, dukedoms, principalities, and free towns, and wrested Venetia from Austria for the benefit of Italy. What was done for the rest of Europe by these great struggles was accomplished in the case of Poland by the desperate attempt at revolt in 1831. It commenced at the close of 1830. On January 30 of the next year, Prince Adam Czartoryski was elected president of the National Government at Warsaw. The Poles fought desperately, and with various fortune, against the Russians during the ensuing eight months, but were forced to succumb when the Russians took Warsaw on September 7. By a ukase issued on February 26, 1832, the kingdom of Poland was declared an integral part of the Russian Empire. L The Russian Government claims, and not with ; out reason, that, as in every other case, the law of the strongest, or actual success in war, has been held of sufficient validity to set aside the original terms of the European compact, the concessions granted to the Poles in 1815 are rendered null and void by their abortive attempt at insurrection against the lawful authority imposed on them by the Powers. The rights of Poland—if any state in Europe can now be considered to have rights other than such as can be supported by arms—are held to be abro gated by the result of this war, forfeited to the con querors by right of conquest. A bad example was set to Russia in the incorporation of Cracow by Austria in 1846. In 1847 the Emperor of Russia took a further step, and formally declared Poland to be a Russian province. Notwithstanding this, for the 35 years between 1831 and the present time a semblance of distinct government has been main tained in Warsaw. The constitution of Poland was withdrawn, but the incorporation with Russia was not absolutely carried out. The attempt at revolu tion in 1863 elicited demonstrations on behalf of the Poles from the Western Powers, and an explicit declaration from Lord Russell with respect to the Treaty of 1815 and the right of Russia to Poland• As this outbreak of sympathy did not take the only effectual form of an appeal to arms Russia has felt that it remains with her to deal with her Polish sub- jects as she thinks best. The kingdom of Poland is i now no more ; it is a part of Russia. Poland sto be divided into ten governments, and these are sul?- divided into 85 districts. Prussia is said to be In accord with Russia in this arbitrary proceeding. Austria, on the other hand, is accused of a design to foster the sentiment of Polish nationality- in Gallicia, where her viceroys take the side of the Polish inhabitants in question at issue between them and the Ruthenians, who are of Russian blood. Poland, as far as we can see, is not yet so utterly extinct and dead but that she may yet rise up to be an element in future discord between the Great powers of Europe. In any possible war be- tween the states of the south of Europe and those of the north, the name which was once so mighty, the traditions which are still cherished, the burning patriotism which is not yet extinct in Poland, may be as good trump cards in the hands of France and Austria as they were in those of the First Napoleon when, in 1809, he bade defiance to a world in arra& COUNTRY MARKETS. BR IS T OL-THURSDA.Y. On our market to-day English wheat was in moderato supply, and met a fair sale, at an advance of is per qr• In foreign not much doing, and, with large arrivals, last week's prices were with difficulty exceeded. Malting barley iu good request, and fully is per qr. dearer. For grinding a moderate inquiry, at fully former values. Oats were a shade dearer, but the demand was far from brisk. Indian corn is to 2s 6d per qr. dearer. Beans tend ing upwards. BIRMINGHAM-THURSDAY. At this day's market there was a limited supply of wheat , for which higher prices were demanded, and in some in' stances obtained. Foreign firm on the sales made. Barley maintained its value. Oats held for previous rates. BeaDO and peas tending downwards. BURY ST. EDMUNDS —WEDNESDAY. The show of wheat here to-day was small, and the Kr samples that changed hands wore at at.advance of is to per qr. on last Wednesday's prices. There was a very moderate supply of barley, and all qualities fully main tain previous currencies. Oats, beans, and peas wer e dull trade. MANC HES T ER-TRIMSDA.Y. Our market this morning was slenderly atteaded. Whea t and flour were held firmly at the currency of this dal se'ennight, and in some instances for rather more mone9 l , but there was no disposition to buy. Oats were witho ut change, but oatmeal was 6d per load dearer. Beans, te ll English and foreign, sold slowly, at last week's rate"' Indian corn advanced is to 2s per qr. EDINBURGH—WEDNESDAY. Wheat on the top, 2s 3d up Barley on the top, Os 3d up Oats on the top, Os 9d up 1, average,vera gaverage,e, O s 0 0 s s 93 1 dd d 1 lu u p. p p• .. . . . Beans on the top, is 6d down average, 2s 4d do' _ . Total supply and sales. Wheat 852 qrs sold 559 Barley 1827 qrs sold 1399 Oats 1531 qrs sold 1251 Beans 172 qrs sold 146 Average prices. Wheat, 60s Od I , Oats, 28s10d i Barley, 3Bs 10d Beans 42s 5d Town-made flour sells as follows :—White, 55s Od;€ l2 : tr° ' superfine, 53s Od ; superfine, 51s Od ; fine, 49s Od.-- GLASGOW—WErmsDAY. To-day's market was well attended, although the cle; mand has slackened in consequence of the change in for weather. Wheat and flour have to be written 6 d h i g b„ a per boll and sack respectively. Barley improved 6d to 17 ,. per 3201 b. and oats and oatmeal 6d per boll and losc!, Indian corn was held at 23s per 280Ib.; for mixed A no n can a rise of about 2s, which checked sales. Beans an peas unaltered. Births. BOEVEY—On the sth inst., at Eastington, the wife 0- f , Ir . Thomas H. C. Boevey, Bart., of Flaxley Abbey, Gl ° cestershire, of a daughter. HAMILTON—On the Bth inst., at Gresford, Denbighsh ire ' the wife of Lieut.-Col. Samuel B. Hamilton, of a son- Ile WALROND—On the 10th ins'., at 65, Lanc a ster-gate, t wife of Theodore Walrond, Esq., of a daughter. Marriages. : BUTLER — DEVEREUX—On the 10th inst., at Holy 'ln ,,il - t o f Church, Brompton, John B. Butler, Commando . , t H.M.S. Endymion, to Sybil Catherine Devereux, elueo`t daughter of the late and sister of the present Vis cou Hereford. of O'Coxxon—M‘KENNA—On the 9th inst., at the Chur e Thi, St. Mary of the Angels, Bayswater, Wm. C. Esq., eldest son of Dr. Dennis C. O'Connor, of Cork'o, Anne Louisa, eldest daughter of Joseph N. A.V ell Esq., M.P., of 84, Lancaster-gate, Hyde-park. Deaths. , BEALES—On the 17th inst.. youngest claughbv" Ediuuall ikal.s, Esq., of Lincoln's-inn, aged 17. 0 , FEILDEN—On the 9th inst., at Smithfield House, St roatb to , Mary Haughton, widow of the late Sir William Fell' Bart., of Feniscowles, Lancshire, aged 89. t he SoMEnviLL On the Bth inst , , at East Close, Christch i : t Hants, the Hon. F. Noel Somerville, second son ca late Lord Somerville, aged 26. of SAuNDERS—On the Bth inst., Francis D. Saunder7,oll Tymaur, Captain in the 16th Regiment Trichin°o Light Infantry. - London : Printed r.ad Publiahed by WILLIAM .A.N . il-qf of No. 112, Strand, Punter at Tnz Sax Oinoc , 0 - Strand, in the Pkeziaat of the Sarn i in the CO''' alidttlesex,—Friday, January 11, 1867. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. A writer in the Times says—The fact of the pub lic mind being directed by the recent fires at the Crystal Palace and at Croydon Church to the ter rible consequences which result from unreadiness in the water supply leads me to ask a portion of your valuable space for the following brief narrative, which shows to what an extent our lives and our properties are liable to suffer from the like cause. On Sunday night last at 1 o'clock the butler of a family residing in this street was awoke from sleep by a senseof suffocation from smoke. Seeing that the kitchen was on fire, he immediately aroused the family, who fortunately escaped from the house. A policeman, who was by this time on the doorstep, by vigorously springing his rattle and thundering at the knockers of adjoining houses, bad in a quarter of an ,hour succeeded in getting two of bis col leagues to join him in thoroughly alarming the neighbourhood. During the next 10 or 15 minutes he still vigorously sprung his rattle, and was soon surrounded by an excited► and alarmed, though limited, crowd, " wondering why policemen didn't come to help," and " when the engines would ar rive." It was known that the house was a large one, and that it contained much valuable pro perty ; hence many anxious looks were cast towards the basement, watching for the flame that was mo mentarily expected to follow the smoke already arising from it. At length an engine approached with all the eclat which accompanies these machines, and a suppressed murmur of satisfaction arose from the crowd which had collected. It had now been ascertained from the adjoining houses that the fire was limited to the kitchen at the back of the house, and the firemen were directed to the stable in the mews, which, however, being empty, was locked. " Break open the door," said a bystander. "What's the use," was the somewhat surly answer of a fire man, " when we hau'n't got no water ?" There was no turncock ! After a delay of 10 or 15 minutes this official arrived, the door was then broken open, and the fire was seen blazing in full fury. Turning a moment from this imposing sight I witnessed a picture which I shall never forget. The turncock had either forgotten or had never known where to find the object front which he derives his title. There he was, moving backwards and forwards with a lantern in search of it, a very Diogenes. There stood the firemen, with their polished helmets of brass, by the side of their panting horses, Diomeds, each and all of them eager for the fray, but waiting for the water. There stood the engine in all its latent power, useless and idle, until at length a gentleman discovered a label on the wall indicating the situation of the water plug, some 30 yards from where its ruler was looking for it. Then --that is within one hour and ten minutesfrom the time the fire was discovered— there arose a hope of seeing means put in operation for its extinction. But, alas, no. The plughole was filled with ice, the plug was frozen in, and hot water to thaw it must be had. Hot water was ob tained after some delay, and at last the engines (of which by this time five or six were present) were put in use, and the fire was extinguished just as it had reached the body of the house from its original site, which was happily detached —a fact which alone saved the residence and all it contained from de struction. From this narrative we ought to learn-1, That firemen when they arrive with their engines should be provided with means of access to the water•maiu without waiting for the turncock ; and 2d, that turncocks should daily see that every plug in their respective districts is ready for immediate use. I do not doubt that Captain Shaw, who has evinced such zeal and such ability in the management of his force, would rejoice if he could replace the old turn cocks by men under his own command, for the one bears the same relation to the other that the police men of Division A bear to the Old Charlies. May the insertion of this letter lead to some such happy result, and thus to the safety of many lives and much property ! ,o ICE IN A MAN'S BRAIN.---Ou Tuesday night, at an inquest held upon the body of a man who had died sud denly, and whose body was removed to the dead house of St. Margaret's parish, Mr. Hunt, the medical man in the case, stated that in making the post mortem examination he found two pieces of ice inside the skull upon the sub stance of the brain. LADVERTISEMENT. —Holloway's P:112. wish is most certainly to be well. How to attain that de sirable state during winter fogs and chills was a disputed question prior to the discovery of these purifying Pills. No one need hesitate to take Holloway's medicines occa sionally during the dismal months. His Pills will cast out any noxious matter which may have entered the lungs, and likewise prevent disease arising from checked perspi ration, sedentary habits, o r ill v en til a t e d rooms, by rousing the limbs to unwonted, activity, and stimulating the kid neys to abundant secretion. Holloway's Pills act as gentle aperients, agreeable, alterative, and powerful t on i cs , pro perties which preclude this medicine from being unsuit able for any constitution or complaint, or preying harmful under any known circumstances. TIMES.—The Delegates from the British North American Provinces are here to exchange counsels and good wishes, and we give them all that is in our power to bestow. The fraternal sentiments , expressed by our statesmen and legislators at the reception given to the Canada Club were shared by every loyal man in these islands. We are all proud of our Empire, and we all regard our colonies and dependencies as the various members of such a family as earth never yet saw. That pride and that affection have undergone changes corresponding to the changed character and circumstances of the communities themselves noticed by one of the speakers on this occa sion.. But, through the hard teaching of events and the progress of inevitable change, we have come to have a very different sort of feeling, though equally genuine and equally deep. from that we had for our dependencies a c natury, or even a third of that period, ago. We have long ceased to regard them as sources of profit, strength, and in fluence ; we no longer seek through them to ex tend our institutions over the world and impress a British type on the future of mankind. Illusion after illusion has vanished only to render our feel ing for our distant fello w -s u bj ec t s more rat i ona l , as wel as more really respectful and kind. Ours has been the egotism of the fond parent gradually re placed by the recognition of equal rights in the ob ject of love. We have accommodated ourselves to developments we were slow to foresee, and it is no slight proof of the truth and solidity of our former feelings that they have survived the hopes they suggested and the shapes they fashioned. We love and admire and respect our colonies as much as ever, and at this moment there is no knowing to what excess of passion or extreme of impolicy we might not be driven at the sight of any insult or wrong done to a people of our race owning a common fealty. Such feelings, so en during, so strong, so elastic, and capable of such variety of expression, may be reckoned on to sur vive further changes. It cannot, indeed, be for nothing that a strong instinct of loyalty, com bined with traditions of the Old World, holds to gether five millions of people occupying a great, if not a strong, position across the North American continent. What is the cause of it, warned as we are by the past, we must not venture to guess. Six years ago no human being could have imagined the present condition of the United States. But if no one would now venture to forecast the future des tiny of the States, as little can we assign one for that long fringe of the Old Dominion which Provi dence has mysteriously left athwart the New World. If all things have their purposes, what is the pur pose of this remnant? We can answer nothing; but, with no future we can shape before us, we reply that our regard for our fellow-subjects is proved by its endurance when all selfish schemes of Colonial power and Imperial vanity have passed away. But if human forecast fails, and if professions and protestations are only to be regarded for what they are worth, it is because we are forced to con sider that which is natural and spontaneous, and therefore inevitable. The world has now learnt, by a long and wide and varied experience, that civilised communities grow and develope themselves after laws of their own, and acquire wills and passions of their own, and a complete individuality of their own, whether they bear the title of colony or not. They break the mould and cast aside the leading-strings. A public opinion soon shows itself, which is only exasperated by the least semblance of dictation or vestige of thraldom. They may soon show that, much as they love that from which they came, they love and honour themselves more, at least with a more substantial devotion and more practical worship. It cannot be helped, for it is a law of our being. By a growth and enlargement as simple and natural as that of their own forest trees, the British North American colonies have burst bond after bond, till their position is rather that of friendly allies than of the partakers of even a federal tie. For this result, indeed, some preparation was made, from the very beginning, in the jealousy which refused to the colonies the least share in the government or the legislation of the Mother Coun try. But one by one the colonies cast off the domination of a favoured Church, the tyranny of a clique of " loyal" jobbers, the preponderance of Imperial influence in the struggles of colonial party, and everything that interfered with the abso lute right of self-government and free action. Fo r all those practical purposes which weigh more and more in the rnutal relations of independent States, these colonies are now their own masters, and are found fully capable of protecting their own inte rests. They meet us with hostile tariffs, as they have a perfect right to do, and, on the other hand, they derive no small profit from the financial dill culies of their highly-taxed neighbour. Then, it so happens, for good or for ill, we see and know singu larly little of our own colonies, having to see them, as it were, through the veil of the interposing States. Our social link is rather with the States, our poli tical rather with the colonies. The spontaneous development of that community which we see and know we cannot doubt. As little ought we to doubt that of the colonies, made of much the same materials, diverging, indeed, somewhat at the same passage of their history, but followin g the same laws of social change as their neighbour. It is, then, utterly useless, a wild assumption of forethought, and an impious assumption of power, to say what line this country will take in the emergencies into which this practically independent Power— now bound by a common personal allegiance—may same day precipitate itself. Tell us what it will be and what it will do, and perhaps we might attempt to guess ; but uo one can tell us this, and we therefore are not possessed with the conditions upon which any intention is to be framed or any promise made. But if the practical independence of these colo nies be now established and inviolable, if their spontaneous growth cannot be arrested, if their self-action cannot be controlled or their public opinion so much as influenced by this country, it certainly behoves them to consider well, and in good time, the very great difficulties and onerous conditions under which the Imperial con nexion is maintained. That connexion now costs us the abstraction of 14,000 soldiers from a military force which we are told on all sides is inadequate to the pretensions to be main tained and the work to be done. It costs them separation by the breadth of an ocean, and thein sulation of the greater part of them in the heart of a continent. It costs us the perpetual observation of a frontier which stretches from one ocean to an other. It costs us that large proportion of our navy which, on any emergency, would have to be detached for this work. It costs us the perpetual weakness we suffer in comparison with our neighbours or rivals far or near by the notoriety of this necessary deduction from our disposable power. This is what it costs us, and to the Colonies themselves it costs even more. Though they would have us to bear the brunt, the quarrel, if any, would be with us, and our connection would be the political weakness through which they could be invaded. Any question, in which they may happen to have absolutely no con cern, may become the occasion of an attack which, if not fatal to their independence, will have to be resisted at fearful odds or bought off by intolerable penalties. In any possible conflict with their neigh bour they will be the dwall and England the giant of the fable, and no victory whatever will compen sate for the actual injuries that the weaker may have to pay for it. These are considerations that would hardly have been applicable in the good old days of Imperial unity and Colonial dependence. But they are everything now. It is now for the Colonies themselves to answer the questions their forefathers might have fairly put as to the designs of the mother country. Responsibility goes with power, and the Colonies, being now powerful, are also responsible. What will they do? There is, we trust, no immediate necessity for a definite answer, but the time may come, and it is far nearer than it has been. HERALD.—The decrees just issued by the Em peror of Russia, which assimilate the government of Poland to that of the other provinces of the empire, are avowedly intended to complete the work which Russia has held steadily in view during the last fifty years—the utter extinction and wiping out of the Polish nationality. Time was, when Russia was in its infancy, when Prussia was but a duchy, when the Austria of to-day was prefigured by a loose fabric of German empire, when Poland was most prominent and apparently the best cemented nation of Central Europe. When, in the fifteenth century, Hungary was united to Poland, when, in the sixteenth, it gained possession of the Ukraine, Lithuania and Livonia, it constituted, to all appear ance, a stronger Power than the Russia which is now blotting it from the world. Its weakness lay in the fact that its whole dominion was situated iu the centre of Europe—that it had no seaboard but a narrow strip of the Baltic. The Powers which surrounded it—Sweden, Russia, Austria, and the nascent kingdom of North Germany,. the Electorate of Brandenburg —were inimical to the independence of Poland even thus early, and coveted the enlarge ment of their f ron ti ers a t th e expense o f th i s war like peopl e w hi c h l ay in their mi , ist. The Tarks, wller wci-o then iu their prime, made another —and perhaps the most formidable—of the enemies of a nation which at this time represented Christendom in arms. In the 17th century there was an invasion of Poland by the Russians, another by the Swedes, a revolt of the Cossacks of the Ukraine, and coin cident with all these troubles there were many se rious internal dissensions, which compromised the stability of the sorely-threatened kingdom. In spite of all this, the great victory of John Sobieski at Kotzim, and the final defeat of the Turkish army before Vienna, on Sept. 12, 1683, vindicated the credit of Poland in the eyes of the world. It did LONDON l pr:sji,:;lo:lTeTionnin)sen - iv:h)aheentneg S ninhr,tet i estea r Ti_Lnniabsa W elraotin:rntity,mt.h l lretei L loccioctes the House' of t regards Paving No improvemei This Society tion . ; t 6 collec Paint out defe Metropolis. Tho.ie who to write to J. F .lust PvLi 0 N D S , r VI T. 0,,,, (1;) cox rnAur rprlE co UNITEth U e OF K LAND DDo h DAY, the 23d be ready to to Contract for a Victualling S Long-Bair Br ( Sertibbing Bru for the use of twelve calends ration of three Patterns of 1 office, New-st Eleven and T No Tender form provided on applicf Vic the conditions No Tender Noon on the that the Party atte dn at the of the offer n sated to him a Every Ten( Admiralty. an " Tend er for at the Depart] ra4y, Somers, engagin , r to the sum of £0 CONTRACT CONT TIIE C( tho OF: UNITED K] LAND do he J anuary nex ready to treat tract for sum PRE for the u;e of Tony be demai 18 67, both da The Contrt as no heifer 1 The Lords th emselves al the Tenders. Tenders m hen will be r The Contr to make out E very Ten Admiralty, a „of the Comp House, signe become bow 4 300 for the ( Baef, and .£1( The Contr the Contract; By -0-;C The SEC] receiving PI 13 REECEU-L1 repenting, w' future inariei The follev military non Not to exc To b e 51 i hollo w of th C. WEI Must not c service. Must can. The Pores fixed accord Must he s, allow a slim Must not 10 per cent. Must be ti rong.h Weans breech -l oad( also, of bein pen, and of oral quality Must be a it t 4 exp o Sniier's co dental e$ le D OITIR mann qtality. Optional. L. Tli Optional. Optional. Capable c the 0 . ACcuR, The arm than 36in. and 6in. at The mea shots each. Not to re dog. 30 mit The sho at 1,000 pa The mei that of the viz., 12 hal hours in w Distance WaX on fl ay be su n ecessary ' No arms. S Pecificati, stating the finished sr sh€ ° T%e Pal ri p e by the On 13€ „',.rs, who ar, an d select and as may a p such as tn warrant t 1 dition s of Each ac for expert to the spa munition maul_ conamitte4 Ploy. A competita the suppl , The Se arm whic by the co A seem twining lars is sel A thiii . .., 'hes — whi awarding of sustait various c The sr as they n the cartr sidered It is el will a co such pri: given to service. 3ingn2 eived n ()ruling mites, i The'li elusive ( It is bayonet, The F. Magazit conclitio present to be fu Thom for furtl This arm. The i novelty adopted and tha natos el if the 'lto th; a War