The Sun. — London, England, 1867-05-21 00:00:00

IiCPERIAL PARLTANENT HOUSE OF LORDS.-LAST The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. Newry and Greenore Railway, Enfield Gas, Aberdeen Police and Water, Thames Navigation, Llanelly Railway and Docks, and Stockport Corporation Water Bills were read a second time. Bodmin Railway, Ayr Water, Dewsbury, Batley, and Heckrnondike Water, Hampton-court United Gas, and Aylesbury Market Bills were read a third time and passed THE COLONIAL CHURCH. The Duke of BUCKINGHAM gave notice that he should ask, on a future occasion, whether it was the intention of the Government to bring in a bill with regard to the Co lonial Church. THE INCREASE OF THE EPISCOPATE BILL. The house having gone into committee on this bill, Lord LYTTLETON said that .£3,000 was the minimum for the increase of the Episcopalian Church. lie was un derstood to say that there was a great difference in the views of the right rev. prelates. The Arcbhishop of CANTERBURY said that he wished the question might be postponed as there was a great dif ference between his right rev. brethren. Lord DERBY said that he considered that to give to every bishop in any part of the world the power to appoint a suffragan would be fatal to the principles of the bill. The noble lord then went into a long detail as to the in convenience that would thus arise. Lord PORTMAN said that he would ask his noble friend a question before he pressed the bill further. Earl STANIIOPE wished to know what was to be the position of the suffragan bishops, and if any difference of opinion should arise between them and the metropolitan who was to decide which was right ? The Bishop of LONDON said that the suffragan bishops would act under the commission appointed by the actual bishops, and certain regulations would be laid down for that purpose. He for one was not afraid that there would be any danger in again establishing pluralities, but the only occasion for a suffragan bishop would be old age or infirmity on the part of the actual bishops. The vvholeof the districts in Europe were under the juris diction of the Bishop of London, but it was impossible that he could visit all those places on the continent of Europe, and it was therefore advisable that suffragan bishops should be appointed. Children wanted confirmation, and therefore it seemed that some arrangement should be made to meet this emergency. The statute of Henry VIII. encouraged the appointment of suffragan bishops. Earl GREY said that the bishops received great assist ance front col',nial bishops who had come home. He thought, therefore, that certain clergymen should be ap pointed who should act as bishops under the direction of the actual bishops, and should perform all those duties which might devolve upon them. Lord LYTTLETON said that he did not wish to have the evening pass by without doing something. He should wish their lordships to mention a day on which they would be ready to go into the question. The matter was then postponed till next Monday. The committee on the Divorce Court Bill was postponed till Thursday next. THE NEW PALACE YARD. Lord LY VEDEN asked what was being done with re spect to the new Palace-yard ? Lord DERBY said that the arrangements would make a much nearer way for persons coming that way, and that a great convenience would be given to the public coming that way, and a great improvement would be effected. FORTIFICATIONS (PROVISION.OF EXPENSES) BILL. This bill was committed, and their lordships adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS—LAST EVENING. The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were read a third time and passed : London and North-Western Railway (Ashby and Nun• eaton Lines) ; London, Brighton, and South Coast Rail• wad• ; and Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. THE SALTERS' ESTATE (IRELAND.) In reply to Mr. MAGUIRE, Lord NAAS said the question he had on the paper did not relat3 to public matters, but to those of a com pany having an estate in Ireland. He, therefore, had no official knowledge of the matters to which he referred. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES (IRELAND). In reply to Mr. PIM, Lord NAAS said he had taken stops to ascertain the jurisdiction relative to tho inspection of weights and mea sures in Ireland. COURT OF ADMIRALTY (IRELAND). In reply to the same lion. Member, Lord NAAS said the Government proposed to wait to see the course taken by Parliament with respect to the English bill before they introduced a measure of the same description for Ireland. TILE PUBLIC FOOTPATIIS. In reply to Mr. 0. STANLEY, Lord J. MANNERS said the pavement between Buck ingham Palace gates and the royal stables were laid down under the authority of an act of Parliament, known as the Pimlico Improvement Act. The footway in Piccadilly, adjoining the Green Park, had also been laid down under an act of Parliament. The pavement in Arabella-row was not under the control of the Crown. MIBARKATION OF TROOPS. Mr. E. BULLER asked the Secretary of State for War whether it was true that the depot companies of the 98th Regiment were ordered to embark at Tilbury Fort, about the middle of April last, to proceed by sea for Portsmouth, and were two days and nights on the voyage, instead of proceeding by railway in six or seven hours ; and, whether it was true that on board the transport, though conveying two and three hundred persons, there was no medical man ; that one of the 98th Regiment broke his leg during the voyage, and remained with the limb onset till his arrival at Ports mouth ; and that the officers of the regiment on their arrival were exposed to great inconvenience from no quarters having been provided for them ? Sir J. PAKINGTON said 'the question was founded on very exaggerated statements. The number of troops only amounted to 196, and they were at sea less than twenty hours. The reason why there was no medical man on board was that it was not usual to have the services of a medical man for such a short passage. It was, unfortunately, true that oue of the men met with an accident, but the limb was set within two hours after the mishap. It was a mistake to say that no quarters were prepared for the officers. MONEY ORDER OFFICES. In reply to Mr. EV/ART, Lord ST AN LEY said there was an international system of money-order offices in France. The idea of establishing a money order office between England and France was under discussion, and an experiment was being tried by opening a money order office in the French Exhibition. MILITIA RESERVE BILL. In reply to an HoN. MEMBER, Sir J. PAKINGTON said there was not the least in tention to persevere with the clause empowering militia courts-martial to sentence deserters to twelve years' penal servitude. ROYAL PARKS BILL. In reply to Mr. TAYLOR, Mr. HARDY said he did not intend to proceed with this bill until after Whitsuntide, when the bill could then be more calmly considered than it could bo at the present moment. CATTLE PLAGUE. In reply to Mr. DENT, Lord I:. MONTAGU said it was unfortunately true that a fresh case of cattle plague had been reported that morning. It occurred at a dairy at Duncan-terrace, Islington, at which there were 95 cows in the shed, 12 of whom were attacked. The question of dealing with the importation of foreign cattle was then under the considera tion of the Privy Council. REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE BILL. The house then went into committee on this bill. The question was the adoption of an amendment moved by Mr. Hodglinson as an addition to the 3d clause, viz.: " Provided always that, except as hereinafter provided, no parson other than the occupier shall, after the passing of the act, be rated to parochial rates in respect of premises occupied by him within the limits of a parliamentary borough, all acts to the contrary now in force notwith standing." The CHANCELLOR of the EXCIIEQUER said he thought the proposition recommended by the hon. gentle man could be effected by some of the clauses is the bill. (Loud cries of "Hear, hear.") There were some difficulties in the way, but on a consideration of the subject by his colleaguVs; . it had been determined to make certain in quiries, whielil he would report to the house on Thursday, on which day be hoped to propose a course of proceedings which would facilitate the passing of the bill and its pas sage to the other house. (Hear, hear.) Under these ci.cumstances he thought it inexpedient to proceed with the 3 lth clause. (Hear, hear.) The house would, ou the disposal of thy 31 clause, now proceed with clause 4 in the usual way.• Mr. HODGINKSON,said under these circumstances he should not press his amendment. The amendment wa then, by leave, withdrawn, and on the motion that the clause stand part Of the bill, Mr. LOWE said ho hoped the house would allow him to make a few observations, especially as it was on a subject which had not been referred to during the discussions which took place on the bill. He thought ho was not demanding too much if he asked that clause 3, as amended, should be re printed, in order that every person might know exactly how it stood, because no clause had been more cobbled (laughter)— or more discussed in the House of Conuneus. The clause enacted a perfect revolution, and under such circumstances it was most im portant that every one should know the precise terms of such an important enactment. It appeared from the bill that all householders were to have a vote except those who were excused from the payment of rates front poverty. Such a proposition, coming from the quarter it did, was in itself a revolution. All previous principles were discarded in order that the bill might go forward, like the car of Juggernaut, crushing the principles of its supporters under its wheels. (Laughter and cheers.) On ;he Liberal side there had been a weariness of the question and a longing for a settlement, a dread of a dissolution, and a dread of the new classes of voters ; and on the Con servativo side there was an impatience of the programme the Liberals had laid down—that they alone should be per petually bringing in Reform Bills and enjoying office as a consequence—which in a party view was not intelligible. Next he went on to discuss what the effect of the bill would be, remarking on the complete contempt which had been shown for statistics this year, predicting that it would at least double the present borough constituency, and as serting that its only aim was to admit as many as possible, so that they were of the poorest and most ignorant classes, and that it would transfor the entire power to the present non-electors and to the dass of unskilled [abcurerr. At present these classes had no politics at all, and when they took up with polities they would be of a Socialist character, and they would support the men who promised them a redistributio❑ of the good things of this life. The first result of their reign would be the substitution of direct taxes on the rich for the indirect taxes on spirits, tea, sugar, tobacco, and other luxuries of the poor, and among other consequences of the bill which Mr. Lowe shadowed forth were a graduated income-tax, a repudia tion of the national debt, an inconvertible currency, a social contest between the upper and middle and the lower classes, in which the victory would follow political strength, an attack on the House of Lords, and a law restricting the hours of labour to eight a day. Possibly it might be expected that these consequences would be averted by lavish corruption, but he warned those who contemplated the purchase of a democratic constituency that they would have to swallow the shibboleth—the whole roll of democratic pledges to boot. Of the effects on tho composition of the house Mr. Lowe drew a gloomy picture, repeating his argument of last year, that the house is not a mere legislative assembly, but, in the last resort, the executive of the country ; and he concluded with a powerful denunciation of a scheme which, though it only . _ Carried ont the old oligarchical idea of an alliance with de- mocracy, would cast an indelible stigma on the Conserva tives, and would ruin not only the present parties in the State, but the State itself. Mr. HENLEY replied that most of Mr. Lowe's arguments applied to the present constituency just as much as that to be created, and, therefore, to all representative institutions, aqd asserted that the scheme of the Government was the most Conservative proposal that could be made, as well as the safest and most honest. It was not a question which the Government had any option in taking up, since, for the last 14 years, it had been recommended in successive Queen's Speeches, without provoking any opposition from either party or from any leading politician ; and the Go vernment had to consider whether they would attempt to settle it, or would allow "the pot to boil over," with what consequences it was impossible to predict. Having once determined to settle it, there was no ground on which they could hope to find firm footing but that which they had chosen, and though its working might be expected with some anxiety, there was every prospect of its being as permanent a settlement as could be obtained. Sir R. KNIGHTLEY made some strong observations on the new aspect of affairs, and argued that, so far from Mr. Disraeli having been playing with his party, he had been groping for a policy all along. Mr. HUBBARD, speaking from the same quarter of the house, insisted that the proposal was a degradation of the suffrage, and expressed a hope that it would be qualified by Mr. Scrope's amendment. Mr. NEwDEGATE and Mr. B. COCHRANE defended the support given by the Conservative party to this scheme, and Mr. Cochrane laid the primary responsibility for it on the Liberal party, who had so long played with the ques tion and encouraged public meetings out of doors. The Conservative party had obeyed a necessity stronger than themselves, and he anticipated that the effects of the bill would be advantageous to the country. Mr. B. HOPE protested against the degradation of the franchise, and found fault with the representatives of the landed interest, who had not been sufficiently forward to defend the boroughs. After some observations from Mr. Scourfield, who, though dissatisfied with the clause as amended, bad too much confidence in the good sense of the people to share in Mr. Lowe's gloomy views; from Mr. Schreiber, who stronly condemned the lodger franchise ; and from Mr. P. Scrope, who argued, in favour of his amendment, that it would cure all the evils Mr. Lowe had apprehended, and would keep out the " residiuum." Clause 3 was declared to be agreed to, amid considerable cheering. On clause 4, Mr. J. S. MILL rose to move as an amendment that the word "man" should be left out in line 16, and the word "person" substituted. The hon. member said he rose to propose an extension of the franchise which would excite no party or class feeling in that house, which could not give umbrage to the keenest advocates of property or num bers—an extension which had not the slightest tendency to disturb what they had heard so much about lately, the balance of political power—which could not afflict the most timid alarmist with any revolutionary terrors, nor offend the most zealous democrat as an infringement upon popu lar rights, nor as giving an advantage to one class and de nying it to another. There was nothing to distract their attention from the simple question whether there was any justification for continuing the exclusion of an entire half of the community, not only from actual admission, but from the possibility of being ever admitted within the pale of the constitution, although they might fulfil all the conditions of legal and constitutional citizenship. Within the limits of the constitution this was a solitary case. There was no other example of exclusion which was absolute. If the law refused a vote to all except the possessor of £5,000 a year, the poorest man might, and now and then would, acquire the franchise. But neither birth, nor fortune, nor intellect, nor exertion, nor even that arch disposer of human affairs, accident, could ever enable any woman to make her voice counted in those national affairs which touched her as nearly as any of her member of the commu nity. Before going any further, he might be permitted to say that a prima facie case had already been made out. It was not just to make a distinction in rights or privileges without sufficient reason. He did not mean to say that the political franchise was au abstract right, or that the withholding it from any one without reason or expediency was a public wrong. His argument was entirely one of expediency. But there were different kinds of expediency. All expediencies were .not exactly on the same level. There was a very important branch of expediency termed justice; and justice, although it did not necessarily re quire that political privileges should be conferred upon all, did require that they should not capriciously and without cause withhold from one what they gave to another. But it was not only general principles of justice which were set aside by the exclusion of women merely as women from suffrage, but also a particular d o c trine of the British Constitution. According to that doctrine t he exclusion violated ono of the oldest and most cherished of our con stitutional maxims—a doctrine dear to all refcrmers, and theoretically acknowledged by almost all Conserva tives—the doctrine that taxation and representation should bo co-existent. Did not every woman pay taxes ? Did not every woman who was sui funs con tribute the same amount of revenue as every man who had the same electoral qualification? If a stake in the country settled it, then every possessor of leasehold or free hold property had a stake in the country, whether that holder was a man or a woman. No one could possibly pretend that women, many of whom were responsible heads of families—women who managed estates or conducted a business, who paid rates and taxes with their earnings, and many of whom in the capacity of schoolmistresses taught a great deal more than a great proportion of the male elec tors ever learned—(a laugh)—no one could pretend that they were not fit to exercise the political functions which every male householder was supposed to be capable of. (Hear.) Was it to be supposed that if woman were to be admitted to the franchise they would revolutionise the State, or that there would be worse laws or worse govern ment than at present ? It was most justly and truly said by his right hon. friend the member for South Lancashire in the most misunderstood and most misrepresented speech he had ever heard—(hear, hear)—that in order to lay a ground for the exclusion of any one from the franchise, it was necessary to allege personal unfitness or public dan ger. Neither of those things could possibly be alleged in the present case. There was evidence in our constitutional records that women had voted for counties and for some boroughs at a distant period of our history. But the house would expect that ho should not rest his arguments chiefly on general principles either of justice or of the constitu tion, but that he should allege practical reasons. There was one practical reason which he frankly confessed was totally wanting in the case of women ; they did not hold meetings in Hyde Park—(a laugh) —nor political de monstrations at Islington. (Hear, hear.) But practical reasons of another kind were not wanting, and he was prepared to state them, if he might be permitted. First, to ask what were the practical objections? The sympathy which most people felt was not a practical one. It was a mere feeling of strangeness. " The proposal," they said " was new ;" but that was a mistake, for it was a very old one. Some things which were very strange three mouths ago, and many things which were strange now, would not be strange some years hence. They lived in a world of novelty. The despotism of custom was on the wane. They were not satisfied to know why a thing was, but whether it ought to be. He was bound to sup pose that in this house an appeal lay from custom to a higher tribunal, in which reason was the judge. The rea sons which custom gave on this subject were very brief. It was not easy to refute an interjection, but interjections were the only arguments heard on the subject, which were difficult to refute. The others generally presented them selves in such aphorisms as those that politics were not women's business, and would distract them from their proper duties ; and that they did not desire the franchise and would rather be without it. ; that women were suffi ciently represented by their male representatives, and that they had power enough already. (Cheers and laughter.) They were told that politics were not a woman's business, but he rather thought that polities were not a man's busi ness, unless he happened to be one of the few who were paid for devoting their tinae to the pub:o or as a mentor of either House of Parliament. The great majority of male voters had their own business, which engrossed nearly the whole of their time ; but ho never heard that the hours occupied in attending once in a few years the polling- booth made them neglectful of their shops or counting houses, or that those who had votes were worse merchants, worse lawyers, worse physicians, or even worse clergyman than others. The ordinary occupation of most women is domestic, but that this incompatible with a knowledge of public affairs is as absurd as the old argument that artisans would desert their work if taught to read. This political exclusion is really formed on an old social hard-and-fast line between man and woman belonging to a bygone state of society. We talk a great deal about political revolutions, but take little note of those which are social. For the first time in the history of the world men and women are ti OW com- pinions. (llear, hear.) All their disabilities have de scended from the time when they were separate in their lives. Man of old passed his time among men ; but now the wife is his companion and friend, and often his most trusted adviser. Is it good for man morally to live with one who is studiously inferior to himself ? No one can suppose that this can happen without detriment to his character. If woman be not lifted up to man, man will in evitably fall down to the moral level of woman as degraded by society. The two sexes must rise or sink together. It may be said that a woman may take an interest in public affairs without having a vote. Undoubtedly she may ; but how many of her sex do it ? This is seen in the edu cation of a woman. A girl never takes the same interest in national history as her brothers. We are told that women do not desire the suffrage ; this would only prove how the mind may be benumbed by unjust laws ; but, that many women do is a fact beyond doubt. None are so well schooled in making a virtue of necessity as women. Those who do not wish fm. the suffrage will not use it, qr under the influence of male relations; and in this case, as the general advantage would be equally balanced, no great harm would be done. Meantime an unworthy stigma would be thrown off the sex, which would no longer be classified by law with children, idiots, and luna tics. (Laughter.) If only one woman in 20,000 exercised the suffrage it would bo a boon to every woman alive. (Hear, hear.) But then it is said that women do not need direct political power, inasmuch as they exercise so much indirectly through their influence over men. It is desirable to carry this argument a little farther. Rich men undoubtedly exercise great influence over society ; and on equally sound ground it might be maintained that there is no reason for giving them votes. (Hear, hear.) Unless this ground of exclusion is to become the rule and general, it must fall to the ground. It is true that women do exercise great power over men, and that is part of the case now urged. He wanted to make that power responsible, for it is exercised now under the worst moral conditions. He wanted to interest her conscience in the exercise of this power, to show her that it is a thing not for personal advantage, and to awaken in her the principle of political honour ; for her power at present over political things is like tho back-stairs influence of a favourite. (Laughter.) Again, it is said that women do not feel any practical in convenience from the franchise being denied to them, for it is now in the hands of a father, a husband, or brother, who have the same interest, and know much better how to use it than a woman can do. This is saying no more than has been often said of other classes unenfranchised. It might be as truly affirmed of artisans that they are directly represented, and with the same mutuality of in terest, by their employers. But then this would be the horrible crime of setting class against class. He should like to procure a return of the women who have been kicked or trampled to death by brutal husbands; a second column to show the number who have come off scot-free ; while a third should show the comparative estimate in the sentence of judges for offences against property under laws made by male legislators. (Hear, hear.) We con stantly hear it said that we must improve the education of mothers because in their hands is the education of men. But do we act on this belief ? Do we spend as much on the education of our daughters as on that of our sons? and where are universities and colleges for their training ? What has become of the endowments which our ancestors intended equally for the education of both sexes ? for it is on authority that old deeds speak of education generally without distinction of sex. At Christ's Hospital, for in stance, expressly endowed for the education of both, while there aro 1,500 boys, there are exactly 26 girls. We have excluded the educated female from all employments save one, that of a governess. The case of Miss Gar rett is a notable one in point. In a sincere wish to aid in alleviating human suffering she desired to enter the medical profession, but she found all doors closed save that of the Apothecaries' Company. No sooner had she got into the profession than it appeared so objection able that a woman should attend upon a woman that the wicket was closed. It was only the other day that women were admitted as associates of the Royal Academy, and won a high place in talent in competition with mon, but that privilege is now withheld from her. By the common law everything the wife has becomes the absolute property of the husband, and may be squandered by hint in debauchery, and unless under jn finial separation he may, after aban doning her and her children, seize on the savings of her industry. The rich man, it is true, protects his daughter by a marriage settlement, but why do they not provide for the daughters of the helpless poor the same justice they can do fur their own children? Circumstances loss than these have provoked revolution. We ought not to take advantage of the security we feel from that to allow us to fail in our duty in this case. We ought not to deny to I women what we aro giving to every one else—the com mon privilege of a right to be consulted—the common pri vilege of having what every petty trade possesses—a few members of Parliament who feel specially called upon to attend to their interests, and to see how they are affected by any change in tho law. No more than this is asked by the present motion ; and when the time comes—as it must come—when this is granted, I am sure you will never re gret the concession. I move, sir, in clause 4 to omit the word "man," in order to insert the word " person." (Cheers.) Mr. KARSLAKE having paid attention to the speech, and read the writings of the hon. member for Westminster, said both obviously point, not merely to the admission of spinsters and widows, but also to the admission of married women. Ho had received petitions of all kinds, but never received one for the admission of women to the suffrage. If, however, spinsters attach so much importance to the possession of the franchise as the hon. member for West minster says they do, how will they give it up when they are led to the altar and become at once debased and do ghArosaudsf e z d tir ti creatures, nwt somethingthe House tHh oe u like ls,et the wh, aas she p eo o at o red r h sCoo writermp u o c u oh n b d ?- soaheverlervvroaey woman worldlyha farthing. int everything o t si , dthhso althoughl thas,heieno le untddhi endow," wg herself, h a e says, and e s " fdr w oon i rh t s h nho a i ltsl give t e ( a L (Laughter.) l h d t r e e r n . ) h eB is s t ooa s fb u dl p iitg p sho o eerd s i d n leto g rowl a supportma n m them,arr marries o a so n uc ci he w tty h —n en ohte— h i e ro m ahy a , rries a wife who takes a drink whoa she oh)—speakingb e locked law is that the wife shall be absolutely and e ye n ri t: cr e sl l ao y sns ti e n sT ch h :r ef the power of her husband. She may not gad about, or he may lock her up. How th en can thi s state of th i ngs b e re conciled with the differences of opinion that would arise when, as frequently happens, the wife would always vote blue and the head of the family yellow ? Under the plan of the hon. member for Westminster, hon. members would have spent every Sunday evening during the past six weeks —the only evening they have to themselves—in logically discussing with their wives whether the compound house holder should survive or not. The "unerring instincts" of men are against this innovation. The hon. member said, "Woman, when she obtains the franchise, would be able to protect herself against the brutality of man." Man must be unbrutalised by some other means. You want to make man better than he is, but not to alter the condition of women. The hoe. member for Westminster will do well to import net so much of political economy into this ques tion, and a little more of common sense. The hon. member is wrong in his first principles, for he says there is no more difference between man and woman than between human beings with black hair and red hair. I contend that a man, if he is only worthy by nature and by qualities to possess the franchise, is ennobled by its exercise. A woman, on the other hand, would, I may almost say, be debased and degraded by it; for by the possession of the franchise she would lose that which is one of her finest virtues—her gentleness and affectionate disposition. Not a single lady in the county of Essex asked me to obtain the franchise; I therefore conclude they would prefer to remain as they are, and not have the f ranchise, but rather look forward, whether' spinsters or widows, to a happy home and the advantages they now possess. On clause 4, the county franchise clause, Mr. MILL moved bis amendment, embodying a female suffrage, which, ho argued was a logical consequence of the constitutional maxim that taxation and representation go hand in hand, and of Mr. Gladstone's dictum that every one should have the franchise who was not unfit, or would not be dangerous to the public good. Women, he asserted, in old times, had been allowo I to vote for some counties and boroughs, acid as to the arguments against it, they were utterly unpractical, and had no foundation except in the feeling of strangeness. Tu the argument that politics were not women's business, he replied neither were they the business of any but very few men, and no man was held to discharge his professional or business duties the .worse because he took an interest in electioneering; and having combated the objections that women were already sufficiently represented and had sufficient power, he pointed out various grievances under which women laboured, such as the unfair share allotted to men of educational endow ments, and in the distribution of employments. In the discussion which followed, and which for the most part was more jocular than serious in its tone, the amendment was opposed by Mr. Laing, who pointed out that it must be followed by the admission of women to the House of Commons ; by Mr. Onslow and Lord Galway, who pressed Mr. Mill to withdraw it, as it placed many admirers of the fair sex in a false position. Mr. Fawcett, Mr. Denman, and Sir C. Bowyer supported the amendment which on a division was rejected by 196 to 73. An amendment by Mr. Colville to reduce the copyhold franchise to X 5 was faintly opposed by the Attorney- THE SUN, LON I lON, TUESDAY EVENING, MAY 21, 1867. General, but after a short conversation was carried on a division by 201 to 157. A t this point the Chairman was ordered to report pro gress. In Committee of Supply a number of votes were agreed to in the Civil Service Estimates, completing sums already taken on account for the expenses of the Public Depart ments. The National Debt Bill passed through committee. The Army Enlistment Bill was read a second time. Some other business was disposed of, and the house ad journed at 20 miuutes to two o'clock. THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW. Last evening the Hon. Neal Dow, of Maine, United Stites, usually called General Dow since the Civil War, delivered an address in the Guildhall, in the city of London, - the use of which had been granted, on application, by the Court of Common Council for the occasion, on " the Legislative Pre vention of Intemperance, Pauperism, and Clinic." The chair was taken by Mr. Alderman Ilale, and, though the weather was unfavourable, there was a very large audience, many of whom were women. There were on the platform Sir J. F. Davis, Arch- • deacon Sandford, Mr. Whitworth, M.P., Professor Newman, the Hon. and Rev. L. Noel, Dr. F. L. Lees, Mr. Samuel Pope, Mr. J. li. Raper, Mr. W. C. Fowler, Dr. Saunders, Mr. Rudking, the Rev. J. P. Sargent, Mr. J. E. Saunders, Deputy Per kins, Mr. Whiteside, Deputy Fry, Mr. J. Figgins, Mr. Bedford, Mr. lielday, Mr. Robert Stapleton, chairman of the City Lands Committee of the Cor. poration, and many more. On entering the hall Mr. Dow was loudly cheered. He was briefly in troduced to the meeting by Mr. Alderman HALE, who in doing so related some of his experiences as a magistrate as to the prevalence of crime and misery arising from drunkenness, which he believed to be greatly on the increase. Referring to Mr. Dow, he said he had done honour to his race, and conferred immense benefits on the country which gave him birth, 13 of the States of the Union having, chiefly through his exertions, adopted the Maine Liquor Law, and he (Alderman Hale) should rejoice to see such a law enacted in this country. First of all, on the motion of Professor F. W. NEWMAN, seconded by Archdeacon SANDFORD, a resolution was carried by acclamation offering a hearty welcome to Mr. Dow "as an American statesman and philanthropist, who had been greatly distinguished through many years by his arduous labours for the cure and prevention of intern- perance." General Dow then stood forward to speak, and was enthusiastically cheered. Premising that that grand old civic hall had never been more worthily occupied than on that occasion, he said poverty, pauperism, and crime were more prevalent in this country than in any other, and that no English statesman of any great prominence had ever at tempted to deal with them in a statesmanlike man- ner. While in the city of Boston, where the Maine Liquor Law had been adopted, poverty, pauperism, insanity, blindness, idiotcy, and crime applied to less than one per cent. of the population, in Eng land they affected nearly 5 per cent. lie stood be fore them, he said, t o h o ld up the example of his • country to us in this respect. Knowing and feeling that traffic in intoxicating liquors was in deadly opposition to the happiness and progress of the na tion, his countrymen, be said, devoted themselves to its extinguishment, and they succeeded. On behalf of his countrymen he undertook to say that they not only meant to have Englishmen for friends rather than enemies, but they were determined to have them for friends. (Cheers.) Alienation, he said, if it happened at all between the two coun tries, should never proceed from anything on the other side of the Atlantic. Ile traced the history of the Maine Liquor Law from 1837, when its establishment was first attempted, down to the present time, when he said all the States north of the Potomac had declared in its favour. During the rebellion, when the American people were engaged in a struggle, which would be memorable for all time, to save their country from being _ . blotted out from the map of the world, the a 4 tation on this question necessarily slackened, but now it was being maintained with greater vigour than ever. In this country, he said, there were 168,000 places where intoxicating liquors were sold—all tendinhey, in Am g to pauper e i rca s i ea , d the nwdacnrtietntiialis:e tfie community. l Eng lish people to put the liquor traffic down. The subject had never yet appeared in the Queen's Speech, but they would have it there, or they would know the reason why. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) It was high time British statesmen turned their attention to the causes of pauperism, misery, and crime among the people. £88,000,000, he said, was spent in England every year in strong drink, £60,000,000 of it by working m en . They, the Maine Liquor Law advocates in England, were determined to have the liquor traffic out of the list of the licensed trades, and they would do it. (Cheers.) To men about to invest money in dis tilleries or breweries he would say " Beware," for he gave them fair warning that they would come down upon them before long like an extinguisher on a candle. (Cheers and a laugh.) The other day, he said, an old gentleman asked him when the United States' Government were going to pay off the rebel bonds. His answer was, " When you pay off the Fenian bonds." Talk of the enfranchise ment of the people of England by Parliamentary Reform ! The enfranchisement of them from in toxicating liquors was a thousand times more impor tant. Put the liquor traffic down, and the people would enfranchise themselves, and would rise in the social scale. Ile warned the meeting that Great Britain would not occupy the same position in the future as it did now unless it put down the accursed liquor traffic. (Cheers.) One hundred and seventy sixliyterally borne million being lo st ever y year (said the speaker), the na tion,peaik er), and 6 r o i , c o h o a o nd of sourtro strong people asit k killed everywas down by its deadweight of poverty, pauperism, and crime. We could not run the race for national greatness with his countrymen unless we threw off that load. He enumerated four counties in the were emptied in four I States h months the f prisons ter th o enactment whiche of the M a i ne Liquor Law. One county prison he visited would have been empty also, but that it had been turned into a henhouse and the gaoler kept his hens in it. (A. laugh.) In another there were five prisoners, and three of them were grogsellers. (Renewed laugh ter.) Many of the workhouses he visited were empty in the smaller towns and rural districts. He advised the English people to try the experiment, which had been successful in the States, of putting the penalties for being drunk on the man who sold the liquor and made another man drunk. Or, said he, let the law stand as it was —only strike out the word " drunkard" and sub stitute " rutnseller"—the victimizer for the victim. (Cheers.) Though the Americans might not have the gift of prophecy, it was well known all over the world that they could " guess," and, if the reporters would kindly put it down, he " guessed " that if Providence spared his life and health he would be over here again in five years, and help us again, and, it might be, to rejoice over the emancipation of this grand old country. (Cheers.) Dixigo, "1 lead," was the motto of the State from which he came, and she called on England and all the world to follow where she had led, and they would find perfect protection and infinite relief from the miseries and evils resulting from the traffic iu in toxicating drinks. (Cheers.) At the coucluJion of the address of General Dow, of which the above is necessarily but a summary, on the motion of Mr. B. WIIITWORTII, M.P., seconded by Mr. SAMUEL POI'E, a cordial vote of thanks IV ;Li passed, congratulating him upon the signal benefits—domestic, moral, and political— secured by the adoption and eniorcement of the pro hibitory laws of Maine and other States. Mr. WitrrwouTtr, M.P., in speaking to the motion, confessed that England was not at present prepared for the adoption of the Maine Liquor Law. The State of Maine, he said, was prepared for the enactment when the other States were not. The Permissive Bill of the United Kingdom Alliance, however, would meet the case, he thought. They did not propose to urge that bill as an Imperial measure, but as one which sought to give the power to any district to adopt its principle where the people or a comiderable majority of thew were in favour of its adoption. He had lost all faith in moral suasion as a means of putting down the gigantic evils arising from drunkenness, and he predicted that when 50 or 60 members of the house of Com mons met in the Tea-room, and told the Govern ment that they might not longer reckon on their support unless they attempted to grapple with those evils, a remedy would not be long in being applied. Mr. SAMUEL POPE complained that at present it was in the hands of a bare majority of the magis trates to refuse to grant a licence, and what the advocates of the permissive principle said was that they were not the best tribunal, because they did not always know what might be the wants of the people of the locality. The meeting might have read in that day's paper what the landlord of a public house, and who had once been a policeman, thought of the independence of the licensing ma gistrates, when, wanting to get a license, he wrote a polite letter to one of the body, enclosing £4O in bank-notes. The Permissive Bill had for its object to consult the neighbourhood into which it was sought to be introduced before it was adopted. A majority of the justices could refuse a license, and what the advocates of the permissive principle con tended for was that the people of a locality should have the right to refuse all licenses. The meeting was next addressed by Dr. LEES, who complained of the manner in which, he said, the newspaper press had often misrepresented the objects of the United Kingdom Alliande, especially singling out the Times, Telegraph, and Standard for comment in that respect. " Talented as were newspaper writers," he said, " they had not the brain to perceive the eternal principles of truth, and could only discuss truth by misrepresenting it." Mr. RAPER, who followed, said at that moment there was not a single licensed liquor shop in the State of Massachusetts, and, as a party, they, in England, with that great fact before them, were determined to go on. Upwards of £40,000 had been subscribed towards agitating the question, of which Mr. Whitworth,M.P., had subscribed £3,000, and Sir Walter Trevelyan had promised £3,000 during the next five years. The thanks of the meeting were voted to the Court of Common Council for the use of the hall, and to Mr. Alderman Hale for presiding on the oc casion. With that the proceedings were brought :o an end. IN7ERVIETV BE7 TVEEN GENERAL HAN COCK AND TALL BEAR AT • FOR? LAR,NARD. The following description of this interview, from an eye-witness, will be read with interest. The Indians have recently proved troublesome, and the expedition, under General Hancock, is for the pur pose of either receiving or extorting assurances from them that they will remain peaceable in the future. The troops, under General Hancock, Lave been camped for nearly a week, troops and animals needing rest before continuing their march up the Arkansas. Although no invitation was extended to the Indians, numbers of the minor chiefs have come to the camp to say " Ugh," -and get some of the white man's sugar and coffee. The Indians have a decided penchant for the little luxuries of the camp, and seem averse to dog when they can get beef ; or it may be, as they say, that the winter has been very severe, that dogs are scarce as well as out of season. Just at nightfall, on the 12th of April, a number of chiefs of the Cheyennes came to the headquarters to have a talk. General Hancock was quite ready to have the confab at once. Not so the Indians. They would not say a ward until they could have time to eat, smoke, and decorate. A Sibley tent was pitched, in which a fire was built, and food was sent to the Indians, who immediately proceeded to one of those astonishing gastronomical efforts for which they are celebrated, i.e., eat a sufficient quantity in an hour to last a week, if they indulge in no more than their ordinary cxer- cise. While this performance was going on a huge camp-fire ryas built of cottonwood logs. About this fire officers assembled in a semicircle, seating them- selves on logs arranged for the purpose. Groups of officers, standing apart from the others, were dis cussing the probability of being ordered East, or to the Smoky, or to the new possessions. Others were determined to have a feast of buffalo meat just as soon as they were arrived- in a country where the herds were feeding. Some of the officers were got up in uniforms suffi ciently gaudy to make it doubtful if the Indians would not find it necessary to retire to their tent for a second attempt at paint. As a general thing the officers were habited in their best garments, wearing also their sabres and revolvers. Two hours passed in waiting, when Colonel Wynkoop arrived. The colonel is an Indian agent par excellence, of whom a slight description will not suffice to convey any just idea. He is a Plains man, and the best handler of Indians that has ever been on the Arkansas. The Indians have every confidence iu his integrity, and respect him for the " heap fight" that he is known to be capable of making. Entering the Sibley the colonel found the Indians enjoying a little preliminary smoke. He remarked that the big sword was fall of talk. This seems a doubtful compliment to General Hancock, who, tho.:igh sociable, is not a great conversationalist. A grunt and numerous ughs followed the announce ment. The pipe took another circuit and was finished. The Indian seems averse to the waste of tobacco in any other way than a puff. Leaving the tent they formed in a single line, walking not in the customary Indian file, but abreast. A few steps i❑ advance walked Colonel Wynkoop, with the two chiefs of the " Dog Soldiers," White Horse and Tall Bear, on either side of him. As they advanced toward the fire, General Han cock suggested to the officers seated at his right hand that they vacate their seats on the logs to the Indians. The leading chiefs were introduced to General Hancock, General A. J. Smith, Generals Custer, Davidson, and Gibbs. " Ughs" and ~ , hakes of the hand followed, and the Indians seated them selves, wrapped their robes or blankets about them, an d proceeded to study the fire with intentness. General Hancock rose from his seat, stepped to ward the fire, which lit tin his figure, now rather more portly than the campaigners with the Army of the Potomac remember him. The General stated to the Indians, by means of an interpreter— Edmund Guerier—that he had come to their country to see, them, not to fight, unless they did wrong, when he should be obliged to punish them. He had heard that they had proposed to stop travel on the roads. If they did this they would do wrong, and the Great Father in Washington would be very angry and hit them hard. If they attacked the trains on the Pacific Railroad they would do great injury to themselves. The buffalo were going away very fast ; they would all go away eventually, when the Indian must depend on the white man for food. If the white man was angry with the Indian, he would not give him food. If a white man did wrong, he should be punished by the laws of the white man; the Indians must not punish him. If the Indian did wrong, the Indian should be tried in the same way. The General remarked that he had expected to see other chiefs, but they had not come. "He would start to-morrow morning and go to the vil lages, where he would have a big talk." While this " talk" was being made, the Indians had been passing the pipe, which had been several times emptied, Colonel Wynkoop taking his whiff with great regularity and evident satisfaction. The generals did not indulge in the luxury of the calu met, but confined themselves to cigars. A silence of some minutes' duration followed the General's talk, when Tall Bear, a splendid specimen of an Indian chief of the Cheyenne kind, rose, strode up to General Hancock, and shook hands; stepping back a pace or two, he wrapped his blanket about his body in such a manner as to permit the folds to be graceful, when he spoke for a moment, slowly and distinctly, though not loud. The gestures were simple and extremely graceful. Ceasing to speak, he gazed steadily into the General's eyes, while the interpreter told the sense of what he said. I say sense, for it was but a skeleton of the words spoken. He had made his treaties and had kept them. The buffalo were becoming scarce; they had never been so scarce as during the past winter. The white man had made them scarce. When they were . hungry he had gone to the fort for food. The ofker in command had told him that he would shoot him if he came to the fort. Why was this? They would be glad to see the General. They desired peace. The command is moving, and will reach Fort Dodge in two or three days.— Frank Leslie. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES.-Mr. Mill has redeemed his pledge to his male admirers and his female clients by the speech he made last night on his motion for substituting the word '• person" for the word " man" in the Re form Bill. The question has been so eminently associated with him that we are naturally led to suppose he gave it the full powers of his mind and the advantages of his clearest exposition. lie has said little this session, and, amid the surprises and conflicts of a stormy period which have tempted so many to volubility, people have explained his silence by saying that he reserved himself to assert the rights of half the human race. Yet perhaps Mr. Mill has sat long enough in the House. of Commons to have become conscious of its practical spirit, and 11., was secretly weighed down by the knowledge that the majority would not consider his motion a serious part of the reform debate. From some cause, at any rate, his speech, though elaborate, was not effective, and though it may have startled those ignorant of the controversy, it will gain few fresh converts, among those who have con sidered the arguments in favour of the political rights of women, and have thought them unconvincing. We did, indeed, look for some thing more than those obvious reflections which must have occurred to most intelligent men who have sought a principle for the franchise, or for any other political right. " Why, if a man has a claim to the franchise, has not a woman also ?" has been the argument against the supporters of the abstract rights of man ever since we can remember anything of debating societies; and though the force of the argument has been generally denied by the oppo site party, there never has been wanting some ad vanced thinker to declare that between men and women there is no difference at all, and that he ac . _ _ cepts the principle that both sexes should be on terms of political equality. Mr. Mill's reasoning is in substance to this effect, although, in deference to the House of Commons, he sought to strengthen his proposition by showing that women laboured under practical injustice which the possession of a vote would tend to remove. The object of legisla tion should undoubtedly be the well-being of all. If it can be proved that the female sex will be able to gain a greater share of public consideration, will extort better laws than those which men are now willing to make for them, and will be raised intellectually and morally by the franchise being extended to a certain number of them, there is nothing in reason or the British Consti tution against this right being allowed them. No one has ever pretended that women cannot form an opinion of their own, or that they ought to be en tirely shut out from the management of affairs. There are even certain public functions which they may discharge, and in right of their property they every day vote in the affairs of commercial corn panics. In their capacity of stockholders of the East India Company they exercised till a few years since a direct influence on the government of a fifth of the human race, and as to capability it may be taken for granted that there will be few women likely to vote under such a system as Mr. Mill pro poses who will be less fitted for discriminating judgment than the lowest class of householders who will be enfranchised by Mr. Disraeli's Bill. No man of sense has any blind prejudice against female voting in the abstract, nor is there about it that " strangeness " which Mr. Mill speaks of ; indeed, there is hardly any subject which has been so long before all political speculators, and which is, for obvious reasons, so familiar to any one who inquires at all. Edu ca t e d men generally have thought on this subject, and we believe their conclusion to be that the existing relations of the sexes as to political life are satisfactory, and that though there be nothing absurd or revolutionary in conferring a vote on women, yet it will be a questionable boon• to the sex to bring them into the arena of political dispu tation. THE " WESTMINSTER GAZETTE" ON THE DANGERS OF MODERN SOClETY.—Politics and Religion—the two most active agents in English public life—seem casting about in anxious search for a new footing, and for new guides. But guides, able to lead mis trustful men out of the confused chaos of dis credited principles and hollow half-creeds, into which our times have fallen, are easier sought than found. In this transition state, Politics and Religion arc somewhat in danger of being pushed aside by two potent rivals for the hearts and minds of men—the love of money and the love of pleasure. To what dire calamities this insa tiable thirst for sudden wealth led, and how numer ous its victims were, was shown but too plainly in the financial panic of last year, brought about by the too great eagerness of men to grow rich, not so much without labour as without patience. What are Politics to such men, except in so far as they affect the bourses of Europe? Unmindful of the proverbial fate of gamblers, the victims of this wide-spread moral disease play at a game where to win is simply a curse, and to lose—destruction. After the excitement of loss or gain, inordinate dissipation but too often completes the victory of evil. In Paris, which claims the honour of found ing modern society—in Paris, where the Govern ment is in the hands of gamblers and profligates —howgreat is the luxury, the dissipation, the im morality !—what a degraded literature !—how cor rupt is the stage ! But the distance, not only material but moral, between Paris and England is rapidly lessening. The two great evils which have come to such a head under the profligate in fluences or political necessities of the Second Em pire, where Politics have no life, and religion but a scanty footing, are also in England struggling for predominance. Since doubts as to the truths of religion have arisen in the educated classes, no slight inclination is perceptible to secure, at all events, a substantial guarantee for happiness in the means of material enjoyment. Never was the struggle for wealth so keen,—not the patient in dustry which constitutes a nation's. greatness, but the mad frenzy of the gambler,—never were luxury and self-indulgence so wide-spread as now in Eng land. The hearts and minds of men must needs be set on some object. If Religion has lost its influence, and political principles sit loosely on a nation, men, after the disenchantment of youth's pleasant dreams, fall, for the most part, into the prevail ing passion of their time and country. They folloW what the Germans call the " Zeit-Geist." They are not higher than the mind of their time, nor purer than its spirit. If the age, or the fragment of time, in which men's ideas are formed, is dull to the idea of the supernatural, we shall not have works conceived in the spirit of St. Thomas Aquinas. A time of political. Atheism begets no hot politicians. Lord Palmerston, during his last years of power, was the master, b eca use he was the type, of his tim es . Th e " Z e it-Geist " is seen still more in our literature ; its handwriting is on the broad shelves which will afford to the future historian such curious evidence of our un certain mind. Uncertain, contradictory, passionate, touching, occasionally, on depths and struggling for light, our literature indicates the advent of a struggle, when the . national mind will be forced to choose between principles which it professes but does not believe in, and the unavowed principles on which it more or less openly acts. But the time of compro-mise, of hesitancy—not in our litera ture only, but in Religion and Politics—seems passing away. We are standing on the threshold of new times. We have come—rather suddenly, perhaps—to the eve of a new day or a new night. Our age, or what we call such, our quarter of a century, is over. New times are coming, and new men—or old men with new principles ; things will be called by the same names but will mean something quite different from what they do now ; the masses, perhaps, in their ignorance will hardly know the difference, but will quietly drift with the current, which takes its source in the high lands of intelligence, from their fragmentary Christianity into an avowed scepticism, from their political demonstrations and trades' unions into a levelling or revolutionary democracy. Old institutions, political as well as religious, will have to be remodelled to suit the new ideas. But un changing, amidst all the changes, the Catholic Church will be seen standing out in bold contrast. Liberalism, which can endure all religious opinions, will not be able in its triumph to tolerate the pre sence and the protest of the Catholic Church ; and, in the days that are to come, Catholicism will have to stand against a controversy of a far different character than that which it now sustains. What is so bitter as the hatred of the confirmed unbe liever against dogmatic truth? and when all half beliefs have fallenaway, and all that is positive and dogmatic in religion in England is centred alone in the Catholic Church, then will have come the time of her trial, and that day will be the test of her strength. All those amongst ourselves who, from want of grasp of Catholic principles, or from some moral defect, are but loosely attached to the outer edges of Catholicism, will be struck off and pounded into dust in the inevitable collision. Whatever view may be formed of the immediate future, none deny that we are in the presence of a visible change in the English mind. Opinions not lightly taken up, often held with sorrow, forced not infrequently on reluctant minds by the inconclusive ness of false systems of religion, are now openly held, subversive as they are of the very essence of the Christian religioa, It is never tong, espe- man iny England, before the opinions of the ruling classes penetrate in some shape or other into the body of the people. The growing, spec ulative unbelief of the intellectual classes, and the practi cal heathenism of the lower orders in every city and town of the country, are driving the mass of the people, which lies between these two ex tremes, in the same fatal direction. Catholics have a deeply-responsible part to take in such a national emergency. They alone will have to hold the standard of the Christian faith before the eyes of the e nation. They must be true to their trust. ow is the time of preparation for the contest and the inevitable divisions. Let, at least, all Catholics be united in mind and heart in obedience to the voice of authority, which is ever speaking, and to the infallible guiding hand of the Vicar of Christ. Let us firmly put aside all such as seek to sow divisions for divisions' sake, to create parties, to compromise truth, to play the enemy's game — mere party-men who take up grave questions with unmeaning hands, and drop them again, as soon as the purpose of the moment is served. When ever the contest really comes, such men, of waver ing minds and uncertain principles, will be bloNvn like chaff before the storm, and their dispersio n will leave the Catholics of these kingdoms, wha.t they now in reality are, strong in the unity of their faith, loyal to their bishops, not in profession oply, but in deed, and joyfully obedient to the infallible authority of the Pope, howsoever or wheresoever expressed. COUNTRY MARKETS. COLCHESTER—MAY 18. This market was moderately supplied with wheat, end there was a thin attendance. Millers tried to buy cheaper '+ in some cases is per qr decline was accepted, but samples were mostly disposed of at list week's pr i ces or take n home. Beans and peas very scarce, and sellers had the advantage. Wheat, white 63s 74s Beans, Mazagan...„,33s 3 4 s red: 6's f 75 Middle and smalt.444 4 86 42 , Barley ... l2s 485 1 Peas, white. 383 Oats ... 8 -81 grey ...365 RD—MAY 17. Trade rather dull, and in the 's prices were barely realised. one remains Brm. Grey Peas Peas, Partridge Vs !F. ? ' White ...•3 69 38 $ 2 B,iling.. ...... 36s Dun.... 4 OO ditto, new.... —s Beans, Tick, old 4„ 59 new....39s Barrow ricks.42s 46s 4 0 Mazagan. ..... 430 CTIELMSFO A good supply of wheat. little business done last week' Spring corn of all descriptio in some demand, but scarce. Whe4t, old white....s2s 66a new........ .b3s ' 69s old red. 51s 1308 new. 511 a 62$ Barley.... 26a 33s Chevalier 4 s s:is Grind.ng 26s 32s Malt 663 743 Chevalier 68s 76t Oats ... 203 26s ABERDEEN—MAY 17. At our market to-day all kinds of grain were advancing in price, but there was not a great deal of business (W e ' White wheat 58s Od to 63s Od? 621 b bushel. 508 Od to 58s 04 Potnin oats 2Bs Od to 29s Od L 402, v bushel. Common oats 263.6 d to 27s Odf Bere 3ss 6d to 36s 6d t cgit , 1 3 bush el. Bolb Barley 35s 6d to 36 s 6d, " Oatmeal 20s 6d to 21 s 6d lil boll of 2• 11 Red wheat Flour, fine 52s Od to 51s Od Vsac k of 280' KIRKCALDY—MAY 18. Good supplies of all kinds of grain, with prices in favo ur of buyers. Wheat. Barley. Oats. First 57s 6d ' 36s ud I 28s titi k,eoond.. Ott 1 38s Od 30s Od Third 615 61 30s Od 318 Od COAL MARKET. Price per ton at the closeof the market. d• 6 0. s. d. 1 Holywell Main l6 9 Wylam ........... 8 6 Original Hartlepool... 18 6 Walls End Raton ... 3 Hetton Lyons ........ 16 9 Hastings Hartley...... is 3 Haswell Heugh Hall l7 0 Bradyell's Hetton...... 1 7, 9 Walls End Gosforth 16 9 Tunstall ................ 1" ships at market, 16—sold, 16. The numerous friends of the Hon. E. 13. Wa s . ii : burne will be glad to learn his health has been impro ving very much since his arrival at Hamburgh les Baine• a Senator Colfax lectured in Cincinnati on the 2 ci May, and was escorted to the public hall by Fe nians and in uniform. lie was to give his "Across the Contineebt lecture on the 6th of May in New York for the benefit ° the Southern Relief Fund. Governor Jenkins, of Georgia, has returned hornet/1 and is obliged to use crutches in locomotion , having bee severely injured by a fall while in Washington. It is re ported that the Governor stumbled over a bench in the capitol. Senator Nye and Hon. W. D. Kelly, of Pee l ' Sylvania, intend making Southern tours to speak to the people. Secretary of the Interior Browning is recovering from his recent illness. Gen. Grant has returned from Ph delphia, and Secretary Seward from Auburn. The latter did not make any speech during his absence, and fro m the preparations going on at his home it is an ticipated that he meditates an early return to private life. Postmaster-General Randall has ordered some three hundred suits against Virginians, postmasters, 011`" their bondsmen, for balances duo when the rebelli on broke out. It is reported at St. Louis that Governor Flat the cher, of Missouri, and a large number of leading m en North-Western States are corresponding with thelrielg of securing the nomination of Secretary Stanto n for Fre" sident. Thaddeus Stevens has gone home to Lancaster' against the advice of his physicians, who thought him ill- capable of the journey. Chief Justice Chase has proposed to exchange circuits with Judge Field for a time, in order t o avoid the trial of Davis ; at least such is the report. THE PLAGUE AMONGST GROUSE._Last week It : called attention to a fatal disease now raging lik e 1 plague amongst the grouse. We gave the result of sere° care fully-conducted post-mortem examinations of g rouse, kindly sent us by Earl De Grey and others. We cln°teje from the earl's letter, page 359 :—" The birds aro dP nv by hundreds, and, as the breeding season has just co nv ; menced, the consequences threaten to be very serious• We have since been favoured with a second com municatioa from Earl De Grey, giving us very much additional 0 ,1 0 valuable information. Gleaning from this, an d the varin ur e letters sent us in reference to the grouse mortality 11 °,, numerous correspondents from all parts of Scotland , that tivP disease is increasing in virulence rather than abating, to have sent a gentleman of great scientific experience make a searching examination into every circurestaaro bearing upon this question —we may almost venter di say—of national importance. That the present taalaoo decimating the grouse in every direction has 1 1 ° ° o f character in common with the so-called grouse diseaa a 0! previous years we are firmly convinced. The is catleo► be it what it may, seems to act like some potent poisff the birds droop and die without any prolonged ,°: a ing. The plumage in the very many we haves -1(1)f sent us for examination evidences no appe arance re' a lengthened illness ; the colour of the feathersoo • mained bright and lustrous, as feathers would apPea r bird shot whilst in the full enjoyment of robust bea'"be The eye, too, had the brightness of health, rath er thaaf'ter dim sunken state it usually assumes during and ,tp lengthened suffering. We shall not offer any theory the probable cause of this most terrible disease at pro% of it would be premature, and, after all, only the 0 9 ' 1 '4 crude assumption. We, however, anticipate obtaia-io valuable facts from the investigations of the geat i f for who has kindly consented to take the matter in 1 -la n- ale us. The importance of gathering together the inYai n : o f experiences of gamekeepers and moormen , very lumen: e ag® whom have passed their lives from boyhood t o matur vito upon the hills, cannot be overrated. Strengthened :ees such knowledge, a scientific man, who is likewiSe ti• observer, will surely have a better chance of gai n _ r tee clue to the primary causes producing the disease himself upon the moors in the midst of these marl o f j at ila experience, and frequently great intelligence, than --oa he who, remaining at home, draws his conclusions shapes his theories from written communications arid mortem examinations.—Land and Water. Births. fi t. PARKER -On the 19th inst., at Hampstead, the W.''' : „ ° Watson Parker, Esq., of a daughter. fi ti c SMITH—On the 19th inst., at 17, Grosvenor-villas, fors stead, the wife of William F. Smith, Esq., barns 0 6 law, of a daughter. eel' , T ICHBORNE —On the 20th inst., at Croydon , Sur-n s ' Lady of Sir Roger C. D. Tichborne, Bart., of a 6- heir. Marriages. ASIIBY—FREEBODY -On the 16th inst., at St.:Eit'Silif. Church, Hackney-road, Henry Ashby , Esq., °1.,-;.001$"" ford, to Emily, only daughter of William Y. Esq., C.E.. Loudon. -r,eni 11PN AB —WALKINsnAw- On the 16th inst., 1t bald Helonsburgh, Dumbartonshire, llaptain A rO M'Nab, Dalchully House, Inverness -shire, to Ll' eldest daughter of Robert Walkiushaw, Esq' BURDER—On the 17th Il in e st a ., t a hS t .7, South-Pare- ' EE t N h w e l l c te x. v. J o ohn th fiur l d_er, ?1.A., aged 83. de, aft° jo Len so w N i — c — k b E n n s t q h . e , 1 103° I „ .e Ili "' park, Charles F. Johnson, Esq., aged 86. PowELL—On the 18th inst., at Brighton,. folf opt a . t 12, Stanhope-P -el 0 genrY 8. ek1g9ethd":81::::8:, at North Shields, M.D., Oxon, Gresham Professor of Physic , Age d 1 , 4 0 00 STANFIELD— On the 18th inst., at 6, Beleize:l74., „ Hampstead, Clarkson Stanfield, Esq., 8.A. , els' Butte, - SWANN—On the 19th inst., at The Manor llous e, dfor n Courtney, Berks, Charles 11. Swann, late of 8 01 aged 68. -------- London: Printed and Published by WILLIA.Ia 14-14/0, 113', of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TUB SUN Office, ~ 0 6 0, CO W" Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in —l 3 Micltilefiox....Tintadq, blay 21,1867. 0