The Sun. — London, England, 1867-04-18 00:00:00

Railway and other Companies. NORTH METROPOLITAN. A Wharncliffe meeting of this company was held yesterday at the office, Size•lane ; Mr. W. Hawes in the chair. The solicitor read the heads of a bill for enabling the North Metropolitan Railway Company to make a deviation and branch railway in substitution for portions of their authorised undertaking.' The CHAIRMAN said the object of the bill was to sanction an improvement required by an alteration of the Midland (Metropolitan Extension.) He moved a resolution approving the bill, which was agreed to, and the proceedings terminated. CARLISLE AND SILLOTII. The half-yearly meeting wa.i held at Carlisle on Tuesday ; Mr. Irving in the chair. The CHAtrtm.as moved the adoption of the report (an abstract of which has appeared in The Sun.) Ile was sorry that their affairs were anything but satisfactory in consequence of the present state of the North British Company. They, however, had seen the worst, and he hoped that they would soon improve. Their affairs bad undergone a thorough revision, and he hoped after they obtained powers to raise pre-preference stock, they would attain a much better financial condition. Mr. J. D. CARR seconded the motion, which was agreed to. In reply to a question from Mr. J. Forster, The CHAIRMAN said that their £2,000 a year rent would not be in any degree affected by the powers which the North British were now seeking at the bands of Parliament, nor be prejudiced in future by any legislation. A Tote of thanks to the chairman terminated the proceedings. CALEDONIAN. A special general meeting of this company was held on Tuesday in Glasgow, for the purpose of considering certain bills now pending in Parlia ment ; Lieut.-Colonel Salkeld presided. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the approval of the first bill, which was one for amalgamating the Cale donian company with the Forth and Clyde Canal, said the possession of the canal, through the medium of running powers over the North British Railway for about three miles from Larbert to Grangemouth, would enable the company to ship coals at Grange mouth from the Wilsontown, Wishaw, Lesmahagow, and Douglas districts ; would, in short, open a new port in the Forth which at present was closed against the Caledonian Company. It would also open a new route between Glasgow and Grange mouth, and would enable the Caledonian Company to throw all of the heavy traffic upon the canal, and by that means relieve the line between Glasgow and Coatbridge from a portion of the existing traffic, which was now very heavy. The amalgamation would also enable the company to make through rates for traffic over the canal to every part of the Caledonian system, and would also enable them to make much more extensive arrangements with traders in Lanarkshire and other districts than they were able to do at present. The canal was a pay ing concern, and when amalgamated with the Cale donian Company the directors had no doubt that its divilend would be maintained. The motion for the approval of the bill was agreed to, only five hands being heldup against its adoption. The other bills, for enabling the company to mako certain branch railways in the counties of Lanark and Midlothian, and to acquire additional station ground at Carlisle ; to enable the company to make certain railways and other works in the county of Forfar; to enable the Solway Junction Railway Company to make a junction with the Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway ; and to enable the truitees of the port and harbours of Greenock to construct a new quay and other works, were all agreed to, and the meeting separated. ST. ANDREW'S. The half-yearly meeting was held at St Andrew's on Monday ; Mr. Smith in the chair. The report stated that the balance at the disposal of the directors was £1,465. From this sum it was proposed to pay interest on debentures, £133 ; divi dend on share capital, at per cent., £464 ; pay ment for mileage, engine power, plant to North British, £643 ; leaving a surplus of £224 to be divided between the St. Andrew's Company and the North British. The revenue had increased £l9l beyond the corresponding period. The directors re commended that a dividend of 5 per cent. per annum, less income tax, be declared. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report, stated that the revenue now exceeded £2,00Q in the half-year. The report was unanimously adopted, and the retiring directors re-elected. ESK VALLEY. This line of railway, three miles in length, leading to the lower paper mills in the valley of the North Lk, Midlothian, and giving improved access to Roslin and Hawthornden, was opened to the public on Monday. Its cost somewhat exceeded £27,000, on which the North British were to pay 5 per cent., and also the interest on the loan capital of £9,000. GRAND TRUNK OF CANADA. Mr. Brydges, the managing director resident in Canada, states, in his special report to the board, that the receipts both for passengers and goods on the company's lines had been very much less than they would have been if the company had sufficient roll- ing stock ; and they had daily been compelled from the same cause to refuse large quantities of goods traffic offered to them by the American lines terminating at Detroit, and by steamers to Sarnia. This through traffic, if they could have carried it, would have yielded large returns. In the year 1861 the earnings of the present mileage of the Grand Trunk, including the Champlain and Buffalo lines, amounted to £920,579, or £17,700 per week, while in 1866 the earnings amounted to £1,356,795, or £26,092 per week, showing an in crease of £436,216, or £8,392 per week, being 471 per cent. In the year 1861 the working expenses, exclusive of renewals, amounted to £728,085, or 79 per cent., and the expenses in 1866, also irrespective of renewals, amounted to £817,027, or 60 per cent., being an increase of only £88,942. The profit in 1861 amounted to 1192,494, and in 1866 to £539,768, showing an increase of £347,274. The amount charged for new rolling stock since the Ist of January, 1862, was £203,969. That outlay, with plant belonging to the Buffalo and Champlain lines, aided to produce an additional gross revenue of £436,116 per annum, and an increase of net profit after deducting ordinary working expenses, o £347,274, as above stated. Ile had no hesitation in recording his conviction that £200,000 worth of additional rolling stock provided in the course of two years would, within a reasonable time, raise the company's weekly receipts to an average of £32,000 a week, or £6,000 a week as against a rise of upwards of £B,OOO a week in the past rive years. This would produce an annual income of £1,664,000, and, taking the ordinary expenses at 55 per cent., would yield a profit of £748,800. As to the ques tion of currency, they had lost since the commence ment of the American war £290,384, the amount for last year being £76,092, or nearly enough to pay the full year's interest on the second and third preferences. The charge to revenue for renewals in the past three years had averaged £141,200 per annum, and he considered that they would require an outlay annually for the next three years of £123,000, assuming the prices of labour and material in the United States to continue at their present rate. It was clear to him that the time had come for making the necessary preparation for accommo dating the traffic to be brought by the intended intercolonial railway from Halifax to the Grand Trunk line, and especially upon the 300 miles of the Grand Trunk Riilway between Montreal and the Reviere du Loup: In regard to the question of rails best adapted for the: severe climate he was of opinion that it would be true economy to relay the line in future with steel rails, which experience had proved in England and America would last six or seven times as long as the best iron rails. The diffe rence of cost in renewals with steel rails, instead of iron rails, to be charged to capital. The trail; receipts on the company's lines for the week ending the 30th of March amounted for pae. sengers to £8,319, for mails, &c., to £986 ; and for freight and live stock to £16,557—t0ta1, £25,862, against £23,703 for the corresponding week of last year, showing an increase of £2,159. The total receipts from the Ist of January to the above date amounted to £300,628, against £305,289, for the corresponding period last year, showing a decrease of £4,661. ATLANTIC AND GREAT WESTERN. The traffic receipts on this company's lines, 507 miles in length, for the month of March, amounted to $78,036 for passengers, to P 50,589 for freight, and to $9,421 for sundries—total $438,016, against $388,480 in March, 1866, showing an increase of £49,566. THE MERCANTILE AND EXCHANGE BANK. At a meeting of the shareholders of this bank, held at Liverpool, on Tuesday, it was unanimously resolved to wind up the company. It was stated that the assets would depend much on those of Barnecl's Bank, against which the Mercantile and Exchange Bank was a large creditor. THE THAMES EMBANKMENT. The public are beginning to feel a little impatient at the dilatoriness with which this great work pro ceeds. It certainly might have been urged on faster but for unforeseen events which none could antici pate or control, and perhaps altogether what is con sidered to be the slowness of the progress is more apparent than real. At any rate, the greater part of the delay incurred has been so far in favour of the public as to have been mainly caused by endeavour ing to secure for them the best work that could be got for the money. Thus it is more than three months ago since the specification for the third and, for the present, the last length in the line of this great work has been issued. Yet lately this whole contract has been rescinded. It related to that portion which stretches between Temple-gardens and Blackfriars-bridge. Virtually all else is done, for the river has been dammed out, the founda tions of the wall laid, the beds of ooze and slime behind them pumped dry, and millions of tons of earth behind them " tipped" in. Yet it would be very rash to suppose from this that the public were soon about to have the use of this noble thorough fare. It will still take nearly a twelvemonth to finish its length from Westminster to Temple gardens, if, indeed, it does not take a much longer time, and directly it is finished it has to be handed over to the Metropolitan Railway Company, which will at once proceed to undo a great part of what has been effected, and to rip up the whole embankment, and build their tunnel through it. What time may be consumed in this list-named process may be estimated from the fact that it is at least two years since the company an nounced their intention of proceeding with their works immediately. There is nothing whatever in the way of engineering or mechanical diffi culties which need have prevented the railway going on with its works as the Embankment was formed, and it does seem too bad that we must now wait for the slow completion of this stupendous work only to see it pulled to pieces again. The specification first given out by Mr. Bazalgette provided, as we have said, for the completion of the list section to Blackfriars-bridge. Beyond this, no doubt, the Embakment will eventually go even to London-bridge itself, and according even to present arrangements it is intended in time to build it as far as Southwark-bridge. The contracts first made, • however, only stipulated for its completion as far as Bridge-street, Blackfriars, where, at a gentle incline, it will pass over the northern end of the new bridge, and so on into the great main thoroughfare which is to be made through Earl-street into Cannon-street. Unlike the other portions of the Embankment, this last section was intended to be built mainly on arches, so as to admit free passage under it of boats and barges between the roadway and the shore. It was to have a subway for laying gas, water-pipes, and tele graphs, and, of course, the paved carriage and foot way was to be continued above it, as along the rest of the work—that is to say, in no place having a roadway of less than 80ft. wide nor footpaths less than 14. The whole of this portion of the work was, in fact, to be a colossal viaduct, the piers of the arches being built, like the greater part of the rest of the work, in cast-iron caissons, to be sunk to a depth of 21ft. below the average level of the river, then dredged out, filled in with concrete, and left perma nently fixed to a height of 6ft. below low-water mark. Between these piers the arches were to be built, and strengthened with bar-iron, while the piers were to be carried to a height of lift. above high water-mark, and all to he a cellular construction, the outward walls being faced with granite, and the cells filled in with Portland cement. Any stronger combination of building material than this it would be almost impossible to devise. The arches which were to carry the roadway were to be 13 in number, but varying in span as the peculiar circumstances of the locality might require. The largest would have a spread of 80ft., and none were to be very much smaller. All were to be elliptical in form, and built of granite. The subway which passed along this was, of course, a mere continuation of that which runs through the whole of the Embankment. It is a brick tube, 7ift. high by 9ft. wide. Below this, again, passes the low level sewer, and below all the Pneumatic Railway. When this subway passed through the springing of the main archways of great span it was to be built of wrought iron, the sides being formed of plate girders and the floor of arched wrought plates, carried by cross girders, and at these parts its diameter was diminished from by 'lift. to 6ft. On both the external faces of this viaduct the outer surface would be of solid granite up to the very summit of the parapet. The carriage way was to be formed of Aberdeen granitecubes, and the footway of the peculiar smooth brown stone known as " Yorkshire landings," not one of which was to be of less dimensions than 5 feet square. A curious condition was made in the specification of this new part of the work, to the effect that the contractor is to bind himself to hand over to the Board of Trade all coins, articles of value, or curious objects of antiquity of any kind which he may meet with during the excavations. All this contract specification has now, however, been rescinded, and none who know the nature of the work will regret it. The ill effect produced by breaking the front of granite wall with open arches here and therewas for the convenience of the wharves and gasworks ; but, as these openings would very seriously interfere with what will at some future time be the works of the Embankment Railway, it is likely that some arrangement will be come to by which, on compensation being given, the massive granite face may be continued unbroken throughout its entire length. If the railway can only effect this, it will do- much to cover its sins of delay, and miti gate the discontent which is now excited by its slackness in proceeding to its works. All the other portions of the Embankment be tween Temple-gardens and Westminster-bridge are, as we have said, so far advanced as to be capable of being made into a public thoroughfare within a few months, always supposing that the railway had not to be begun when the road is constructed. The greater part of the granite wall has been built. From Westminster-bridge to Ilungerford it is almost entirely finished, and for the rest of the line it is built well above low-water mark. The steps are laid and finished for the footway, which is to give means of access from Westminster.' bridge to the steamboat pier, and a wall of solid granite has been built outside the face of the em bankment itself, against which lighters for the use of the steamboat passengers are to be moored The roadway for carriages on to the Embankment is now being made. This is to be constructed at a gradual incline of 1 in 60 ft., leading up from the side of the river to almost the corner of Parliament -street. To perfect this as much as possible an opening will be made in the northern extremity of the parapet and abutment of Westminster-bridge, and oue or two of the old houses on that,side will be removed to give a broader thoroughfare. A somewhat similar incline as to steptlgs•Laild width will give access at the othei €tid ( to new Blackfriars-bridge. One of the most interesting and important parts of the work is now to be seen near Ilungerford-bridge. Here the labourers are engaged at work at a depth of nearly THE SUN, LOIN VON, THURSDAY . EVENING, APRIL 18, 1867. INSTITUTIO. The following is the concluding portion of the article on the above subject, contributed by John S. C. Abbott, to the Anglo-American Times : The kingdom of Prussia had been so weakened by the wars of the French Revolution that it had but little influence in the Congress of exultant Kings who met at Vienna in 1815, to partition out Europe among them. Prussia was exceedingly dis satisfied with the lot assigned to it by these treaties. If the Allies had deliberately resolved to render Prussia as weak, both for offence and defence, and to shut up the little kingdom from the probability of its ever becoming the equal of the other great Powers of Europe, they could hardly have devised measures better calculated to promote their object than those which they actually adopted. To a population cut down to less than eighteen millions there was assigned a territory scarcely equal to that of any two of the average States of America, badly constructed, isolated from the sea, and with out any natural boundaries. The Prussians, an ex ceedingly energetic and ambitious people, looked ever with increasing dissatisfaction upon the proud empire of Austria at their side, with a territory twice as large as Prussia held, and a population of thirty-six millions. On the north Austria swept away over regions of almost fabulous extent. The state of Europe had become so agitated, and there was such restlessness, among all the nations, that a very remarkable man in Prussia, Count BIS MARK, thought the time had come when Prussia could with hope of success, make a move in the direction of escaping from the unfavourable position in which the treaties of 1815 had placed her ; and of so reorganising and expanding her territory as to become one of the leading Powers of Europe. Count BismARK easily got the ear of the KING, and induced him to embark in this ambitious enterprise. The measures, successfully adopted for the accom plishment of this end, are amongst the most curious in the annals of diplomacy and war. Adjoining Prussia, on the north-west, were two duchies, Schleswig and Holstein. Neither of them was larger than the State of Delaware, in America, and their united population was about one million. Pushing up into the Peninsula formed by the Ger man Ocean and the Baltic Sea, with the Eibe at their base, they presented admirable harbours, opening fine opportunities for commerce. These duchies belonged to the Kingdom of Den mark, yet they both were under the governorship of m o f i t F t e ß d u D t through v h I hereditary of p descent. enm one duke, whose possession was received and trans arijk o h n i s t h seudcecaetsh sor, CHRISTIAN IX., claimed the duchies. On the other hand FREDERIC, the then recognised Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, claimed them. The succession was thus disputed. The surrounding powers took different sides. Thus it became an European question. One of these duchies, Holstein, was a member of the Germanic Confederation. Prussia and Austria, as members of the same body, espoused the cause of FREDERIC, the reigning Duke. England, by what was called the treaty of London, was bound to pro tect the integrity of Denmark. But VICTORIA'S daughter had married the Crown Prince of PRUSSIA. England, therefore, disregarding the treaty, declined interposing her fleet and army for the protection of Denmark. The feeble little king dem, thus abandoned, after a short struggle against overpowering odds, was compelled to surrender the duchies, and they were declared to be independent under the hereditary duke. This was the first act of the programme. Now several persons arose claiming the duchies by the right of inheritance. One claimant was the Grand Duke of Oldenburg, brother-in-law of the Emperor ALEXANDER of Russia. Another was the Prince of Hesse, also a brother-in-law of the Czar. And, to the surprise of all urope, the King of PRUSSIA hi ms elf came forward as a claimant on the ground of hereditary right. Under these circumstances the Emperor of FRANCE, foreseeing the danger that the question might involve Europe in war, urged the assembling of a Congress, that the difficulty might be settled by deliberation, an d not by the sword. This pro position was peremptorily toril d ec lined, England taking the lead in opposition to it. NAPOLEON, who was truly anxious for peace, by which alone France could be rendered rich, pros perous, and happy, replied • to this refusal to accept his proposition for a Congress :—" I have proposed a Congress and urged it to save Europe from the horrors of war. The proposal has been rejected ; I shall not renew it ; but I hold myself in readiness to join in any congress when it shall be desired by other powers." The question as to whom of the five claimants the duchies legitimately belonged was submitted to the syndics of the Crown of Prussia at Berlin. After a long conference they rendered their deci sion in July, 18 65 . It dec lared that the King of DENMARK was the legitimate heir ! but that the duchies now belonged to Prussia and Austria by the right of conquest ! This curious specimen of diplomacy is said to have been entirely the handiwork of Count BISMARK. Such was the second act of the programme for ob taining the Duchies for Prussia. Until this time Austria had never laid any claim whatoyer to the duchies, They wore at a great die _ But a few months, however, had passed away before Prussia, having marshalled her armies in good fighting order, menacingly demanded both of the duchies. The alleged reason for the demand was, that Austria was allowing the Duchy of Holstein too free a Government, thus rendering Schleswig restless and endangering the peace of Germany. This curious declaration, issued in February, 1866, was as follows : " King WILLIAM I. is greviously affected to see developed, under the aegis of the Austrian eagles, tendencies revolutionary and hostile to all the thrones. He therefore declares that friendly rela with firmness the annexation of the Duchies, is desirable in all points of view." As we have mentioned, Austria had an army of nine hundred thousand men in the field. Prussia, having mobilsed her whole force, had six hundred thousand. Italy, it was estimated, by rousing all her energies, could bring into the field four hundred and fifty thousand. This would give Prussia and Italy, in their alliance, a little over a million of men to meet the shock of battle. The Austrian force was thus necessarily divided— one part being assembled on the extreme north, and the other part on the extreme south of the king dom. Hungary was watching- her opportunity to rise. Strong Austrian garrisons were requisite to hold that restless kingdom quiet. An outbreak in Hungary would probably be followed by one in Poland. This would bring the armies of Prussia into the arena. Thus there was danger that all Europe would be dragged into the tray. All the nations began now to be greatly alarmed. England regretted her refusal to consent to a con gress. Had NAPOLEON'S proposition for a congress been accepted, war could doubtless have been avoided. England and France had only to say, in such a Congress, that Venetia must be surrendered to Italy, and there must be some rectification of the Prussian frontiers, and all the disastrous results, if despatch from Lord CLARENDON offering at that too late hour to unite with France in calling a Congress. The following was NAPOLEON'S reply, as reported by Lord COWLEY : "In 1859, England refused to assist me in achieving the liberation of Italy, and by her coalition with Germany compelled me to stop short, leaving the work undone. " When, in 1861, I proposed a Congress, for the purpose of removing the endless complications, which I foresaw would result from the Danish war, it was still England which opposed my project, and did her utmost to make it abortive. " Now she wants peace, even at the price of the Congress which she then rejected. I will, however, assure her Majesty that I am ready to do all I can to prevent war. But as the most favourable oppor tunity for doing this is past, I can no longer take upon myself the responsibility for any event which may occur." It was now indeed too late to avert the downfall of the already uplifted sword. The hostile armies were ox the move. Two millions of men, along lines hundreds of leagues in extent, armed with the most formidable weapons of modern warfare, were rushing against each other. All Europe looked on appalled. It has been said that NAPOLEON should have Sent the soldiers of France to aid Austria to rivet the chains upon Venetia. It is an insane assertion. NAPOLEON was morally incapable of such a deed. Even had he wished it, the armies of France would not have moved upon such a mission. Indeed the proposition to adept such a measure would have aroused a cry of ind i g nation and s corn from nearly the whole civilised world. N APOLEO N did urge upon Austria the only course w hi c h Austria, under th e circumstances, could safely pursue. T hat was for Austria to surrender s i gn al Prussia plu nge d h er co tVenetia i r :r t et o ecj l umn s into the Austrianl o ta u l norther e y e and invited th e com b at. At frontiers. Proudl y s h e re j ected , an d then she mi g ht h ope to pro provinces on the north. At the same time an Italian army, four hundred thousand strong, made their im petuous onset into Venetia. For forty days the s torm of war r a g ed almost without intermission. The scene cann ot be described. One more awful has militarype rhapsnever witnessed. Never before o perationswereearth of such magnitude con ducted in s o short a period. War was declared on the lEth of Ju ne, the troops then being in motion. In Venetia , on the 21th, the Italians were driven back with grea t slaughter from the field of Custozza. But in the meantime the Prussian armies were sweeping onward like fire upon the prairies. Fight ins, a t every s tep, and wading , as it were, ankle deeps, in blood, with perfect organisation and the ter rible needle -gun, they overran kingdoms, duke don's, and princy • a lities almost faster than the tele ounce their conquests. Their ad graph could an n vance columns were soon within sight of the spires of Vienna. FRANCIS JOSEPH in his terror was compelled to s urrender Venetia, that he might call back his troops from tha t q uarter for the protection of his capital. Too p roud to yield it to Italy, he gave it to NAPOLEON, tha t he, in possession of the magnifi cent flow he had attempted to mibghegtabne able to secure that peace which b ce e n fn t r e e st b a i t n e n , secure by a Congress. NAPOLEON surrenderedVen etia to Italy. Russia had never pretended to have any sympathy with Italy. The bargain which BISMARK made with VICTOR EMAN NUEL was purely m ercenary. Prus s ia h e ld with a conqueror's grasp all the provinces she had overrun —Schleswig, Holstein, the kingdom of Hanover, the kingdom of Saxony, the magnificent dukedom of the same name, large portions of Bohemia, Silesia, Bavaria, and minor dukedoms and principalities too numerous to mention. With a 4ittle disposition to cover up these vast conquests with the verbiage of diplomacy, it is evident that they are all virtually annexed to the Prussian kingdom. Italy owes its life to France.- Among all the Sovereigns of Europe NAPOLEON was its only friend. The twenty millions of Italy, now assimilated to France in form of government, in political prin ciples, in commercial interests, in social habits, in religion, almost in language,add vastly to the moral and physical power of the rench Empire. The great work of European reconstruction is still going en. This sad world of ours has been during all the centuries but one great battle-field. There is a short lull in the conflict now, but all the nations are arming. When the conflict is renewed it would seem that France and Italy, the forty mil lions of France, the twenty-six millions of Italy, will march with intermingling banners. What will be the result of the struggle no one can tell. Em pires will rise---empires will fall. But there are certainly no indications that France will come forth, either from the conflict of diplomacy or from the shock of arms, with a dishonoured flag. MISSING SIIIPS.—The Achif, of St. Vaost, which sailed from Liverpool on the 3d of January, for Nantes; the Annie Duthie, from Shields for Calcutta, which passed the Pentland Frith on the 26th August, and Was seen in great distress on the 7th September, in lat. 48 N., long. 10 W. ; the Oporto, which sailed from Holyhead on the 3d Jan., for Poole ; and the Union, which sailed from Hartlepool on the 28th December, for Southampton, have not since been heard of. ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoways Pills.—Restoration to Health.—When disordered action is first noticed, an early resort to these purifying Pills will set all right again. They improve the appetite, strengthen the stomach, and overcome all its difficulties. No medicine is so well adapted for the sedewary and studious; they fortify the nerves, and give universal tone to the system. Be the malady what it may, Holloway's purifying Pills will abate its severity and abridge its duration. They extract all poisonous matters from the blood, and expel all gross humours from the frame. Billiousness, flatulency, nausea, distention, and constipation give way at once to these Pills, which, acting through the medium of constitution, exorgiao a moat beneficial ihtiuoucv over the entire body. At the weekly meeting of the members of this society, on Tuesday, the 16th inst., Mr. T. Hawks ley, Vice-President, in the chair, the paper read was on " The Suez Canal," by Colonel Sir William Denison, K.C.8., R.E., Assoc. Inst. C.E. It was stated that the scheme of the Suez Canal might be said to comprise two distinct undertakings. The first, and principal, was the construction and main tenance of a broad and deep water channel ou one level, between Port Said on the Mediterranean and Suez on the Red Sea. The second, preliminary in point of time, and, indeed, essential to the con struction, as well as to the beneficial use of the canal, was the maintenance of a supply of fresh water suf ficient for the population congregated along the line of the canal, and specially at its two extremities. The arrangements for the last-named undertaking hail been completed, and were described. An account was then given of the character and state of progress of the works of the salt water canal, the course of which was traced. The opinion the author had arrived at, based upon what he saw and heard during a visit to the canal, and upon a consideration of the cor respondence between M. de Lesseps and the late Mr. R. Stephenson, and of the report of Mr. llawkshaw, dated February, 1863, was—First, that (subject, of course, to the conditions that the relative levels of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean were as stated by the French authorities) there should be no extra ordinary difficulty in carrying an open salt-water channel from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea of the depth proposed, namely, eight metres ; secondly, that no special difficulty in maintaining this channel need be anticipated ; thirdly, that it would be neces sary to modify the section proposed by the French engineers, making the side slopes much more gradual; and, fourthly, that the cost of maintaining the above mentioned depth of water would be found at first to be largely in excess of the amount estimated. Event tually it was by no means impossible that means might be found to fix or check the drift of sand, or to shut it out from the canal. But for some years it must be expected that the ordinary action of the atmosphere, which had filled up former excavations made in this dry desert, would have the same effect on the new canal. Looking at the work as an en gineer, there did not appear to be any difficulty which a skilful application of capital might not over come. It was announced that the discussion upon this subject would be resumed at the meeting of Tuesday, the 30th inst. A RED INDIAN TVAR. -- 4 60ft. below the river. Anything more extraordinary than the scene which it presents it would be difficult to conceive. First the subway is being built; below that are being constructed the chambers for the overflow of storm water from the low-level sewer ; below these again is the low-level sewer itself, and deepest and beneath them all the tunnel for the pneumatic railway is being laid. It seems something " " 7 marvellous to look down into this great excavation where the steam pumps are always going, to keep it free from water, and watch the men working in tiers beneath each other, in a sort of twilight, building four different structures. Powerful caissons arc sunk here to keep the water out, but still, at such a depth beneath the tide, great leakage is unavoidable, and but for the incessant actio❑ of the pumps we have mentioned the vast hole would be filled to its brim in a single day. Probably the engineering labours in connection with the pneumatic railway are more curious still tha❑ even those of the Embankment. These, however, will be dezcribed fully on another occasion, when we hope we studl not have to say, as we must now do, that their progress has materially retarded that of the Embankment itself. Opposite Yo )rk stairs a pier is being erected, both for steam and small boats, and a design has been made by Mr. Bazalgette for the landing near Temple-gardens. At various places along the granite wall massive rings are let into it, to which barges can be moored. This, however, we venture to think, is a mistake, for al ready serious injury has in one or two cases been done by lighters bumping against and chipping the close fitting granite mouldings. It would be diffi cult to praise too highly the exquisite finish with which all this granite work has been executed. The blocks are carved and fitted literally like so much cabinet work. The large pedestals and what are called the rustic carved blocks near York stairs might be pointed to as perfect specimens of this kind of workmanship. As far as the works have yet gone they have consumed no less than 8,000,000 of bricks, with 40,000 cubic yards of concrete, 50,000 cubic yards of earth have been dug out, 500,000 cubic yards haye been " tipped" in, 125,000 cubic feet of granite have been bedded, and about 60,000 cubic yards of earth remain to be added before the whole is complete. What the subterranean railway company will have to dig out and fill in again is at present a matter of conjecture, for nobody seems to know when they mean to begin. It is gratifying to be able to add that since the very commencement of the work there has not been the slightest settlement of any kind in the foundation of the granite walls. They remain true to plumb and rule, exactly as when they were designed. If anything can add to their solidity, it will be the plan according to which it is not intended to draw the wooden piles behind which they have been built. These piles are all being sawn off by a patent machine at 2 feet below low-water mark, and the rest of their bulk, which is driven down into the clay, will re main to form permanent supports against even the slightest movements of the foundations themselves. THE RECONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE. tance from Austria, and of but little value to that kingdom. WILLIAM of Prussia, or rather Count BISMARK, his Minister, thought that FRANCIS JOSEPH would readily sell for a due consideration property which could be of not much value to him, and to which he had never supposed that he had any claims. Prussia accordingly offered Austria three hundred million of francs for the relinquish ment of her title. Austria refused. The posses sion of the duchies would make Prussia too for midable a rival. Austria would only consent to a temporary arrangement by which Prussia should hold Schleswig and Austria should hold Holstein. This arrangement was entered into at a meeting hell on the 11th of August, 1865, called the Con vention of Gastein. ENGINEERS. hai to actual conflict of this nature ; but ye t strilas. are in themselves as justifiable as any other sort of means of driving a bargain, and, so long as thei are conducted within the limits of the laws' I must be respected as the exercise of an for, right. It must not, however, be for gotten that it is a very unpleasant way of for gotten that and one which does not harmonise wlt_ll our ordinary ideas of the courtesy and gov temper which should subsist between buyer a nd seller, and when once this disturbance of the oral nary relations is brought about it is not to be - cc' pected but that the seller should insist upon the very 1 last farthing he can get, and that the buyer shoul refuse to add one jot to the price for which he satisfy his requirements elsewhere, while both wl' e certainly long retain a very considerable degree irritation not calculated to facilitate future tray.s actions. It may be perhaps said that strikes furiusl t the only means of bringing disputes to an issue, b ,l e the same was said, in their time of trial by bal' and of duelling, and yet we see that when private In; dividuals have a dispute to settle they are now conte n to resort to the courts of law and to abide by the de.: cision arrived at. There is no reason, except obsut nacy and stupidity, why the same course should n.° be adopted for trade disputes which has succeeded 111, all others. It has been objected that if any trib un T 3 of the nature of courts of arbitration were estan, lished it would not be possible to invest then w ith authority to enforce their decisions, but, if the courts were known to be impartial, the mere bet that the decision had been arrived at would give, 3 t any rate, a preponderating weight to the side till might favour or to any compromise they might Or gest. At present, however, the only plan that ha, been discovered is for masters and men to fight 9% their quarrels by inflicting asmuchinjury as p ossible upon each other, and no inconsiderable amount 1 the public ; and the latest examples of this s ort .% conflict are very edifying as to the manner in which such struggles are carried on and the sort of result fe. which they lead. The Brighton Railway strike, . 0 will be remembered, ended almost as soon as It began, by the return of the men to work upon ter which, virtually, were the same as those upon whic h , they had struck. It was very generally thought thal ' the men were not justified iu requiring that all drive should be paid alike, irrespective of their merit , an they themselves ultimately had the good sense to see this and to come to an agreement with their directors. But that strike had one very unexpected result, 1 ° that it taught us that an engine-driver is not such ° difficult man to replace after all. The inconveni ence : upon the pressure of which the men had no doubt eounted to help them in their demands, proved, 1u . fact, to be much less insurmountable than was O A pected, and there is no doubt that if the strik e had continued a few days longer the whole of the plane t; of the men who had left their work would hav e bC filled up. The strike on the North-Eastern has naturally, after this experience, been receiv ed with much more equanimity than would hi theft ; have been felt at the prospect of all the traffic 01 !: d important line beingstopped for an indefinite perl and it has again been made clear that the comm°l3', cations of the country are not in the exclusive COo trol of the drivers. So far as the interests o f U 'lc public is concerned, therefore, we can afford to 10e , upon the struggle with great composure; but, as garde the abstract justice of the case, there is a g° deal deal more to be said than with respect to tu.t Brighton dispute. The North Eastern drivers, ,„ appears, are engaged under a contract that a mont.b notice should be given on either side of an intenti.ooo to terminate . the engagement, and when the ques tl % o . f strike was first mooted the men did actually se d 3 in such notices, which, however, were aftenvar", .withdrawn in consequence of an arrangement ha l ing been made. But a week ago the men chose consider that the arrangement had been viol ated and then and there, without any notice w hateve f ir ' they one and all struck work, and left the coraParil, o r r to conduct their traffic as best they might. 't h f very strong measure was met by a prosecut ion • breach of contract, which was on Tuesday last de, tided against the men by the Leeds magistrates, 3 13 '2 although sentence has been postponed for the pr; sent, it appears not unlikely that the matter 1 0 . 0 yet be complicated by the actual punishment of 80°30 of the offenders. In the meantime , the unioue, making every preparation to continue the strugg' a The Central Committee of the Engine-drivers' 8330 Firemen's United Society has made a levy upon the drivers and firemen belonging to it for the nee e :a sary funds, and it has been distinctly threa ten 0 that unless the demands of the North Eastern 1 30 , 0 are complied with, a " united movement" of " great body of our own calling throughout the 0 0 4 try" will be resorted to, or, in other words , all tPto drivers in the country are to be taken away fr° o their employment unless those who are now -e strike get what they want. The facts of the eas as we are at present in possession of them, do °OB, tell in favour of the justice 03 of the men's claim, a 0 unless it is consider ably stronger than it now aPP e „, to be, they are certainly not entitled to our syl ° l?,,`",, thy, while the threat held out of a universal s trl 'o s still more calculated to make the public look up ° their pretensions with suspicion and distrust. COUNTRY MARKETS. GAINSBOROUGII—TUESDAY. 1,00 Our corn exchange was moderately supplied with wThr, to-day. The business done was at fully is to 28 per ', more money, white wheat making from 70 s to 72s p er` ri and mixed 65s to 83s. Barley and peas is advance. 01'"" sorts of grain also higher. DULL.—TUESDAY. At our market to-day there was a largo supply of ----113„gr: lish wheat, which sold at au advance of is to 2s Per XBlB Barley firm. Beans and peas rather higher. Linse ed to 2s per qt. more money. Da ut - English white wheat, 65s to 70s; red, 62 s to 65s ; „ sic and Konigsberg, 63s to 7 2 s ; Baltic red, 60s to 6;5, Danish and Hamburg, 608 to 63 s ; Russian, 57s to 0, Barley, English, 36s to 49 s ; grinding, Mediterraee.3o, 34s to 35s 6d. Oats, new English, 26 s to 28 s; Buss l 36 26s to 275. Beans, old English, 58s to 60s; foreign, ite, to 445. Peas, English blue, 42 , to 44s Od ; foreign 44s to 455; grinding, 43s to 44s Od per qr. • SALISBURY.—TUESDAY. ,11 At this market to-day an advance of 2s per qr. for rle i serviceable samples of wheat was established. M ore and but not much doing. Oats were rat her higher. Peore and peas a little dearer, and flour ma de is p er sack 11' money. frol' The following are the quotations: — Whe at realise , . 4 44 62s to 72s ; barley, 32s to 475; oats, 21s to 33e ; beansD to to 58s ; and peas, 40s to 48s per qr. Taro s, from 53 v.,":0 7 6d per bushel ; Best bread, 15d ; household ditto, per 81b loaf. Flour, 45s to 50s per sack. MONMOUTHSHIRE—TUESDAY. l e id Home-grown wheat in comparatively small suPPJ,' foreign arrivals have not been large. Malting bantZ3tB sellers' favour; grinding at previous quotations. and beans without much change. t The following are the average q uotations:—Whea fr , „.ioro 7s Od to 7s 6d per bushel ; white, is 9d to 8s 4 d ; Gs Od to 6s 6d ; malting barley, 4 4 s to 49 s pe r q r ; g 26.4 ing ditto, 34s to 36s Od; beans, 44s to 50s ; white oats, to 27s Od ; black ditto, 24s 6d to 25s 6d. :SDAY LYNN—TUE , • it y There was a small show of wheat at ma rket to-daY, ,-„vg a steady trade, at an advance of is to 2 s per qr. Afg",ild barley as last week, grinding is per qr. higher. Bean6' oats Is per qr. higher. New wheat, 66s to 68s ; new red, 60 s to 65s ; old "" fot —s to —5 ; old red, —s to —s per 36 stone. 13arld ovt , malting, 47s to 51s; secondary , 42s to 455. Oats, tot 24s to 26s per 24 stone. Beans, s mall, 42s to 465. •L 37s to 41s per 28 stone. BRISTOL SUGAR—WEDNESDAY. The market remains quiet, but steady ; there basi c od ever, been rather more inquiry during the week, suu, , •,, bG sequently, sales reach about 500 hhds. West In "' moderate rates. Rum, no inquiry. COAL MARKET. Price per ton at the closeof the market. s. cl' o s. d. 1 1 6 Hastings Hartley l7 0 Hetton Lyons .....••• 1 9 Holywell Main l6 6 South Hetton ......... ~„ . West Hartley Wylani ,' 9 l %; 'a_ Eden Main ,', l' Walls End Gosforth 17 0 Orig inal Hartlepool • • , 9 6 Wallsend Haswell l9 6 Tees ..................... 1 Walls End Hetton Ships at market, 31—sold. 23. __.......d Births. e ns BELL—Oa the 16th inst., at 17, Tavistock-street, & garden, the wife of Mr. George Bell , o f a daughteriach CoLusciwooD —On the 16th inst , a t Gloucestor-P op. Greenwich, the wife of J. C. Collingwood, Esq., ° f a m KERRICII— On the 16th inst., at Epsom, the w ife of v" W. lierrich, Esq., of a son. Marriages. BROWN—MAILLARD-0 11 the 16th inst., at St. 31 10 104 1/ ' lington, Mr. Fred. P. Brown, youngest son of 1 7 . n;0 0 to „IA .ngt, ~ Esq., of 14, Roseberry Villas,Upper HollownYt, 3 nit, Shaw Maillard, youngest daughter of T . de C. Esq., of Morven Lodge, Upper Holloway. 1 SO.-. f .. PHILLIPS — LEVY—On the 17th inst., George, secon d Sir Benjamin Phillips, of 46, Portman-square, to f" o ter' fourth daughter of J. AL Levy, Esq., of 103, Lau' gate. Deaths. hen ry J. DAVIS On the 16th inst., at Boulogne-sur-Mer , Davis, Esq., aged 63. rr ocKni—At Castleton House, Sherborne , Dorset, V-itol6 Il Ilockin, Esq., Retired Inspector - Ge neral of ii°6- Bombay Presidency, aged 57. ci JONES—On the 16th inst., at the Rectory , Hempst°e: Gloucester, the Rev. Thomas Jones, 111. A.., aed; - ,baO r Room—On the 15th inst., at 12 , Pavement, 1,181" common, Mr. Stephen Roots, aged 86. '"'"------------- -------7--------- __-------- ,rit.s, . London: Printed and Published by WILLIA.g -A-,---s No , 11) 0 1 of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN io Oft lee °,' „ il l Strand, in the Precinct of the Sav o y , iu t -I,ll,lcl.lesex.—lhuriician April 18, 1867. justice in what the warriors say. Their habits are not our habits, their laws are not our laws, while the fact that they can bring such arguments to bear, shows that they are not without a sense of justice, in the detem ni nation they seem to have arrived at, to de fend, at, all hazards, the last hunting ground of the tribes. " White man come—buffalo go," says Black Hawk. Unfortunately for the Red Men, the best route to Denver City lies through the best feeding grounds of the buffalo, which is the identical Smoky Hill track, the Commissioners refuse to abandon. The United States are engaged in forming a railway along this road, perhaps the most important in the world. The logic of Roman Nose may be goad, but if he had the power of old Rome at his back it would be ineffec tual to stay the design. The chiefs have an object they consider worth fighting for : they believe they have right on their side ; worse still, they believe they have the power. Here, then, are the elements of a war which we can only hope will be speedy and and effectual, and end by transferring these obstruc tive tribes to a corner of the Union towards which the march of civilisation may not be directed fur scores of years.—Anglo-American Times. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. It will be seen from Lieut.-General SHERMAN'S re• port to General GRANT, that the Government is about to adopt vigorous measures for the suppression of the depredations of the Red Men. Ever since the fight at Sand Creek the country, from the Missouri River to Great Salt Lake, has been in a most unsettled state. The action of the Indians has compelled the Military Department to take up the subject, and to bring it to the simple issue of peace or war. Two flying columns have been organised. One for the de partment of the Platte, under Alajor -General AUGUR; and the other, under Major-General HANCOCK, to back a conference with the Cheyennes and the Kio was, and to proceed at once against them, in case they decide on war. General SHERMAN'S opinion is dis tinctly given ; and though it may not commend itself to New England philanthropy, we believe it to be a policy of absolute necessity. The General holds, that defensive measures, will not answer against Indians. He knows that it is impossible to defend the routes from the Missouri, to Denver. The establishment of small posts, enables a body of Indians on the war-path to select the weakest and destroy them in detail. The warriors move with their ponies, lodges, wives, and children. After attacking one station, and committing all thed am age in their power, they disappear from the locality, to reappea r a few weeks after, at another, hun dreds of miles away. While such positions are most difficult of defence they are costly to keep up, situated as they arc in the wastes, distant from the nearest point of civilisation, entailing the greatest labour in transporting the necessaries of life to the men there placed. General StrEeatAN's plan is a very simple one :—" Our troops," he says, " must get among the Indians, and kill enough of them to inspire fear ; and then, conduct the remainder to places where Indian agents, can, and will reside among them, and be held responsible for their con duct. No mercy should be shown ;—for they grant no quarter, nor ask for it." Undoubtedly such rules of warfare are calculated to shock the humanity of the Eastern States, and if they be carried into practice, will give rise to an indignant appeal against such barbarism. It is, however, true, that where a nation orders a general to obtain a certain result, he is compelled to adapt his means to the circumstances. The rules of civilisedwarfare cannot be acted on by white men operating in the wild prairies, against tribes of Red Indians. Warfare has a degrading tendency ; and the more humane, noble, and chivalrous foe, is even tually compelled to adopt the lower standard of his enemy. Every white man that falls, is scalped and despatched by his Indian antagonist. Every cap tive taken, is roasted or cruelly worried to death by every device that the ingenuity of fiends in the shape of squaws, can devise. There is not a soldier in the column either of HAN COCK or AUGUR who does not know what his fate would be if taken prisoner by an Indian tribe; and all the thunders of the pulpit and press would not for a moment stay his hand when his enemy was on the ground before him. The roads between th e Missouri and Denver city, must not only be kept open, but freed from the perpetually recurring obstacles and antagonism in terposed by the Red Men. To effect this, the war must be carried into their own villages, if war there must be; but any terms which could secure their friendship and permanently remove the obstructions, would doubt less be adopted in preference to annihilation. Strange as it may appear, there is a fatality that rules in the affairs of these savages which baulks every effort at civilisation, and every attempt of a human e Government to avoid the last extremities. Ridiculous as is the idea, these Cheyennes, Black Feet, and other wret ched tribes of roving I n di ans, are penetrated with the conviction that they are all-powerful in the prairie. Isolated among their herds of wild buffaloes, they know nothing of the power of the nation they pro voke. The few who have strayed into the regions of civilisation are discredited on their return when they tell of the countless number of the pale faces, of the rivers ploughed by great steamers, of the earth shaking beneath the rush of iron horses. " Kaw !" they say, " what lies you tell us !" Their idea of the white man's power is derived from the wretched shanty standing all alone on the wide prairie, with its few half-starved in mates, trembling in the presence of the Red warrior baud, while the last morsel of food is cooked for these hungry savages to devour, with the un pleasant conviction, that the feast may con clude with the exciting pastime to the guests,.of roasting their hosts, over the dying embers of the fire. England has had a vast experience of the difficulty of dealing with ignorant savages. They cannot be made to comprehend the power of the force which a first-class civilised nation can direct against them. Even with such a country as Spain, we see this extraordinary ignorance carried to a point likely to end in a catastrophe. Reports from Fort Laramie state that the Com missioners had refused to comply with the condi tions which the chiefs, in council, had laid down as the preliminaries of a treaty. One of these, em braced the withdrawal of the stages and all travel from the Smoky Hill route, running west from Kansas. The council had broken up, and the Indians were removing their families to places of safety. We must not therefore be surprised on finding General SHERMAN'S preparations close, in an Indian war. Mr. DIXON gives an admirable illustration of the argument used by the red chiefs on being told that the roads must be free and open. Are your own roads open ?" they ask. " Would Black Hawk be allowed to hunt through the fields of Ohio ?—would Spotted Dog be suffered to pitch his lodge in the streets of Indiana polis? Could Roman Nose, on the road from St. Louis to New York, kill and eat sheep and cows ?'' sow, it cannot be denied that there is t rude TIMES. —our difference with Spain is in a fair way to a satisfactory adjustment. The Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, General Calonge, assured the Senate, the other day, that Quee❑ Isabella's Government would cause the rights of the nation and the decisions of the Spanish Tribunals to be respectOd. The Minister well knew to what extent he could rely on the Spanish magistrates. Yesterday--that is, less than three weeks after the date of Lord Stanley's conclusive letter to Sir John Crampton—we heard that " the Prize Court at Cadiz has recognised the illegality of the capture of the Queen Victoria ;" and the most moderate paper of Madrid, commenting upon this news, considers that "by this decision the difference between England and Spain in this matter is terminated." For several days, indeed, we have had every reason to believe that the Court of Madrid was inclined to acknowledge the justice of the demands of her Majesty's Government. It was positively stated on Saturday that Spain had agreed to make complete reparation as to the flag, vessel, cargo, and crew in the case of the Queen - V ictoria. No mention was made of the Tornado, but with a little goodwill on both sides it will not be difficult to bring that part of the dispute to an equally reason able arrangement. We need hardly waste many words in congratulating the country on its happy release from an unpleasant difficulty. We have repeatedly expressed our opinion that nothing could be more repugnant to the feelings of every Englishman than the idea of a real, serious quarrel with the Spanish people ; and, as to the Spaniards, we were unwilling to suppose that no recollection remained of the time in which they professed to care but little for the enmity of all other nations so long as they could only secure our friendship : " Con todo el mundo guerra, "Y paz eon Inglaterra." Although the authorities at Cadiz, and their supe riors at Madrid, had contrived to put themselves so clearly in the wrong that no other course was left to this country than the one followed by Lord Stanley, it would hardly be just to deny that in cessant provocation is offered to the Spaniards by the facilities afforded to the contraband trade on their coasts by the position we occupy at Gibraltar. The very sight of our flag on " the Rock" is already a constant, though by this time a familiar, subject of mortification for that proudest of all human races ; and, notwithstanding the most friendly behaviour on the part of our military, naval, and civil officials in that im portant possession, the brisk intercourse with the opposite shores of Africa, arising from the necessity of victualling our garrison, cannot fail to put the watchfulness and patience of the Spanish coast guards to the severest test. Not a little good will and forbearance on either side is required under such circumstances to avoid collision, or to smooth down difficulties wherever they may arise, and the narrow escape we have had of an open quarrel in the present instance will, it is to be hoped, prompt both Governments to remove any cause for future grievance. We shall have no reason to find fault with the Spanish Government for putting down smuggling by any measures their own law, or the law of nations, may justify. Neither shall we com plain of any legal penalty their courts may decree against those zealous persons whose importation of books and tracts is a source of such sore annoyance to the bigoted clergy and peasantry in many parts of the peninsula. Lord Stanley's success is the more a subject of congratulation, as it is never an easy matter to bring Spaniards to see their own conduct in the same light as it appears to the rest of the world. In the overweening conceit of Spanish pa triots, that country continues to be at the present d ay what it was at the time of the invincible Armada; and such, it must be avowed, to a great extent, the soil and the people actually are, a brave, sober, patient people, living in a rich and fertile land. The individual Castilian is conscious of no decline or degeneracy, and notwithstanding the depopulation of his country, the dwindled boundaries of his empire, and the exhaustion of his treasury, he would, in proper hands, still be capable of sustained effort and of boundless sacri fice. But the Spaniard never was, and probably never will be, in proper hands. From the age of the First Isabella to the reign of the Second, anything like even a tolerable Government has been impossible in Spain. The land was no sooner rescued from the Moorish invader than it fell into a state of legisla tive and executive impotence. The Philips and the Charleses, who filled the throne for above two cen turies, broke the nerve of the nation, and expended the wealth of the world. Whether employed against English rivalry or Dutch rebellion, the largest means were always found unequal to the smallest ends. From the days of Gonzalvo and Cortes there is not a single foreign achievement to soothe the Spaniard's humiliating sense of rapid and general decay. Yet for any kind of mad Quixotic enterprise the worst of Governtnents could always rely on the co-operation of the vainglorious multitude. A lull in the ordinary run of military Pronunciamentos at the close of a quarter of a century of civil war had barely allowed the distracted nation leisure to breathe, and foreign capital was hardly beginning to infuse fresh blood into its when O'Donnell galvanised it into a rehearsal valeoifnist's chivalrous exploits against the Moors. African trophies awakened the longings for Ameri can triumphs, and the achievements at San Domingo, at Valparaiso, at Callao, possibly suggested a new trial of strength with the old English foe. Under such circumstances we may, indeed, rejoice that Mar shal Narvaez and Gen. Calonge should not have deemed it expedient to turn against us that of the Spanish people which they have drawn upon themselves by the excesses of their misrule. If con siderations of humanity did not forbid our ever look ing upon war as anything but a serious business, it would have been difficult to restrain a smile when contrasting our threatened dispute with Spain with the great quarrel which seemed equally imminent be tween France and Germany on the subject of Luxem burg. Spain, to be sure, boasts of 122 men-of-war, armed with 1,264 guns, and manned by 1,121 officers, 14,680 sailors, and 7,980 marines; but no small part of this formidable arma ment is still cruising in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and her war with the Republics of the Andes would hardly allow Spain to muster sufficient forces to make even a show of hostilities in Europe. We hardly know whether we are in debted for the better temper in which Queen Isa bella's Ministers listened to Lord Stanley's remon strances to a sense of internal security, or whether their avoidance of a quarrel abroad was prompted by an acknowledged necessity of turning all their energies to the control of unruly passions at home. It would, however, be hardly worth our while to be inquisitive as to the causes, so long as we have reason to be satisfied with the effects. What di rectly concerns us is the settlement of our dispute about the Tornado and the Queen Victoria. That little matter being disposed of, we shall resume our part of neutral, though not indifferent, spectators of Spanish politics, heartily wishing that the Spaniards way find the Government which may best suit them ; but well resolved, at the same time, never to inter fere with that Government, be it good, bad, or in different, and never to allow that Government to interfere with us. Pose.—Strikes appear to be now the only recog nised means of settling any differences which may arise between employers and employed ; and, as the tendency of them is to increase in extent and impor tance, it is useful to gain such an insight into their causes and conduct as will enable us to form a clear estimate of them. An opportunity for doing this has lately been afforded by the strikes of the engine drivers—first, on the Brighton, and now on the North Eastern Railway ; for both sides to the disputes have in some sort appealed to the public, and have done their best to put forth statements calculated to sup port their own view of the case. There is no doubt that strikes of any sort do entail a large amount of inconvenience and of actual loss upon all those who have the misfortune to be affected by them, and it is therefore unfortunate that some other means cannot be devised by which disputes between masters and men could be arranged witht)ut recourse being L RI