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

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE, EAST INDIAN. The half-yearly general meeting of this company was held yesterday at the London Tavern ; Mr. R. W. Crawfurd, M.P., in the chair. Mr. Noad, the managing director, having read the notice convening the meeting, the report, an ab stract of which has appeared in The Sun, was taken as read. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report, said the directors met them on that occasion under circumstances which justified them in congra tulating the shareholders on the prosperous condi tion of the company's affairs. They bad been con gratulated in the report that the last of their great bridges over the Jumna had been completed, and also that the main line in accordance with the con tract had been finished, so that a passenger in Cal cutta could cross the river to their present terminus at llowrah, and by one of their trains proceed direct to Delhi, in the same carriage, the whole distance. They would see by the Statement of accounts after paying all claimsforintereston capital to 30th June last there remained surplus profits of £50,000 above the usual dividend. A similar sum of surplus profits also belonged to the Government in return for inte rest paid to the company during construction. He cculd not say what the profit would be during the current half-year, but he thought their profits would increase in succeeding half-years. The number of passengers carried in the past half-year was less than that for the corresponding half of last year. He did not know the !cause, but supposed they travelled longer distances ; the goods traffic had shown a small increase of 10,000 on 391,000 tons carried in the corresponding half-year. The gross receipts for passengers and goods during the past half-year showed an increase of £245,866, of which £152,131 was net receipts, from which they had deducted £9,166 to provide for a bad debt. He attributed the large increase in the company's receipts to the completion and opening of the great bridge over the Jumna at Allahabad. (Hear.) This was a sa tisfactory result, as it showed they were doing a larger business between the upper provinces and Cal cutta owing to the improved facilities afforded by the completion of the bridge in the conveyance of produce to a port of shipment, and also indicated the future stability of traffic on the railway. The per manent way and works had been efficiently main tained at a cost of 81d. per train mile, as against 10fd. for the corresponding half of last year. The whole of the working charges had been carefully checked, and the result was they did not exceed 411 per cent. of the gross traffic receipts, leaving 581 per cent. as profit on the working. He had compared the items of their working expenses with those given in the Board of Trade return for 1865 of all the railways in England, which amounted to 48 per cent. of the receipts. He had made a comparison of the working expenses on seven principal railways having their termini in the metropolis, by which he found that the East Indian line was worked 10 per cent. cheaper. It was true the latter company was not exposed to competition ; it was also free from the items of rates and taxes, Government duty, and parliamentary expenses, which amounted to 4.88 per cent.; happily they had no charge of that kind. They had written off £9,166 on account of a bad debt, and they had some - slight loss from steam fer ries. They had also a charge for the Audit Depart ment in Calcutta, which exercised a most efficient control and check on the expenditure. This depart ment more than amply repaid them the cost of it by the services it rendered to the company. When he met the proprietors in June last he ventured to speak with confidence that the surplus profit would be about £50,000 ; that statement went abroad, and the result proved it was correct. Their excellent friends the Great Indian Peninsular Railway Com pany announced at their general meeting in October last that they were the first of the railway compa nies in India to divide surplus profits over the 5 per cent. guarantee, but they would see that this com pany had also surplus profits to divide for the same half-year. The sum set aside to meet a bad debt had been necessitated from giving credit to a transit association company for au amount beyond the sup posed value of the security deposited with the rail way company, and until that was realised they could not tell the actual amount of the bad debt. He then referred to the Nulhattee line belonging to the Indian Branch Railway Company. It was on a different gauge to the East Indian Railway, and would require to be reconstructed before they could work it with their engines and carriages. A great outcry in India had been made last year that the East Indian Railway Company had not sufficient rolling stock to work the traffic, but on examina tion, and on a comparison with other lines, it was found to be amply provided with locomotive and carrying stock. Had the additional rolling stock been provided that some persons asserted was ne cessary to work the line, it would have cost £750,000, and the interest upon it would have absorbed the whole of the surplus profit. It was the duty of the directors to keep a check on the expenditure of capi tal, and they had done so. They had made arrange ments for the gradual supply of 225 additional loco motives on reasonable terms, and they had already sent out 24 of them. There had been difficulties in diverting the traffic from the ordinary routes and in making arrangements for its conveyance by the rail way, but those difficulties had been got over to a great extent, so that he hoped there would be no complaints under that head in future. Their engi neer-in-chief for the Bengal division, Mr. Power, had called attention to the necessity of a bridge over the Hooghly at Calcutta to the company's ter minus at Howrah ; his views on that matter were given in his report to the directors, and should be read and carefully weighed by the shareholders. About the end of June last two of the company's bridges had been carried away by floods, and were being replaced by bridges having a wider water way, so as toprovide against such contingencies in future. The railway itself was a very great work ; it passed through densely-populated districts, had a great traffic, was worked economically, and was, in fact, in a position that 99 companies in 100 might envy. In the course of time he believed the company would have very considerable dividends. They would be allowed in future to charge as much as other compa nies for the conveyance of materials over the railway, and also be allowed interest at 5 per cent. per annum on their monthly balances in the Treasury of Bengal. (Hear, hear.) Allowing 42 per cent. for working expenses, these balances would amount to about £120,000 a month, which would be a consideration, and add to their revenues. Against which there would be the interest on the increasing amount of capital expenditure. He then adverted to the re moval of the offices to Nicholas-lane, the present offices in Alderman's-walk being required for a new railway. The death of their lamented colleague, Capt. Nairne, who had never been absent from the Board meetings of the company for upwards of 20 years, had caused a vacancy at the Board, which they had filled by the election of Mr. Noad as ma naging director, in acknowledgment of his valuable services to the company during 22 years. (Hear.) Mr. J. BEAUMONT seconded the motion for the adoption of the report. Mr. WILSON hoped the directors would give up all idea of making the bridge across the Ilooghly, which, he said, would cost between £4,000,000 and £5,000,000. Mr. FRANKLIN trusted the directors would not commit the company to any new undertaking with out first obtaining the consent of the shareholders. Ile thought that a smaller bridgeabout 30 miles above Calcutta would answer all the purposes of the large bridge, and enable the company to bring their traffic into Calcutta over the Eastern Bengal Railway, in which he was interested. The CHAIR 1,1. N said the directors did not intend to undertake new works without the sanction of the shareholders, and never did so. The terms of any proposed undertaking would be submitted for ap proval, and would have a separate capital. He thought it would not be wise to transfer to another company 30 miles of their traffic into Calcutta. Mr. GODFREY said he could understand why shareholders in the Eastern Bengal Rail way should oppose the bridge at Calcutta, and recommend one 30 miles from Calcutta, so as to tap the passen ger and goods traffic of the East Indian Railway at that point and bring it over their line. They had better use their own line. The bridge at Cal cutta would cost £1,500,000, and he believed that would save a large outlay at Howrah if it was completed in the first instance, which would enable them to construct a much better terminal station in Calcutta than at Howrah. The report was unanimously adopted. The direc tors were authorised to pay, in addition to the gua ranteed interest on the capital and company's shares out of surplus profits for the half-year ending the 30th of June, :1866, a dividend at the rate of 10s. per cent. per annum, free of income tax. On the motion of the CHAIRMAN, seconded by Mr. NOAD, the directors were authorised to convert all fully paid-up shares into consolidated stock of the company. Mr. ADAms moved a resolution approving the election of Mr. Noad to a seat at the Board, and suggesting that £5,000 be presented to him in acknowledgment of his services. (No, no.) The CHAIRMAN explained that there was a fund of £42,000 at the disposal of the shareholders quite independent of the Government guarantee. On the suggestion of Mr. FRANKLIN, Mr. Adams withdrew his motion, substituting one, which was carried, to the effect that the meeting cordially con curred with the directors in the appointment of Mr. Noad as managing director, and with a view to express their appreciation of his valuable services requested the directors to present him with a suit able sum for that purpose out of the funds of the company. Mr. NOAD, having returned thanks for the hand some manner in which he had been elected to the Board, said he valued it more than any money they might vote to him. They were indebted to the great exertions of Sir M. Stephenson, to Mr. Chas. Fresh field, Mr. Chapman, Mr. Nicholson, and Mr. Frank lin, who had all ably assisted him in bringing about the formation of the present great undertaking. Mr. GODFREY moved a resolution to the effect that the directors be authorised to pay the arrears of annuity due to Sir M. Stephenson out of the fund of £42,000 at the disposal of the company. He be lieved the arrears amounted to about £14,000. The motion having been seconded, Sir M. STEPHENSON briefly explained the circum stances of the original grant of the annuity of 1853, and the advances subsequently authorized by the proprietors to be paid out of the reserve fund, and stated, with reference to the course now proposed, that it would be the more acceptable to him because it would in no way affect the guaranteed interest, or the amount of surplus profits divisible among the shareholders. The resolution was then carried unanimously. On the motion of Jr. WILSON, a vote of thanks to the chairman and directors concluded the pro ceedings. DELHI. The payments to the Secretary of State for India during the month of December on account of the above railway amounted to £299,134. NEATII AND BRECON. The extension to connect this line with the Bre con and Merthyr system has been completed, and in a short time the railway will be opened for both goods and passenger traffic. By the completion of this extension a new route will be opened from Swansea, Llanelly, and the western districts of South Wales to North Wales, Birkenhead, Liver pool, Manchester, &c. UNION PACIFIC. Works are in progress on either side of the Rocky Mountains which, when complete, will connect San Francisco by rail with the cities of the Atlantic seaboard. The task is stupendous, but the result will be even more stupendous. A new, and perhaps the greatest of the world's highways, will then be opened. Civilisation has travelled west. From China to the plains of Shinar, from Greece westward over Europe, across the Atlantic to America, and the march of events, still following the setting sun, is bringing the newest civilisation into contact with the oldest—from China, round the world, to China again. San Francisco is the great port of the Pacific. To it will converge the traffic of Eastern Asia, of the thousand groups of the Pacific islands, of Australia and New Zealand. When the Union Pacific Railway is finished in San Francisco will centre the trade of all countries east of the Indian and of the Southern Oceans. Already the Pacific Mail Steamship Company have advertised the first of their fleet to sail next Tues day from San Francisco for Hong Kong viii Japan. Those only who truly appreciate the position of San Francisco can understand fully the value of the works now in progress between that city and the western termini of the great northern lines pene trating into the prairies. From Europe and the old seats of civilisation numerous steamers proceed to the cities on the American sea-board. From these cities the traveller can choose a variety of routes westward, but all modern facilities of travel now only end in the desert. Two roads, however, are in active progress between these termini and San Francisco, and the revolution they will work when in full operation can only be known after they are finished. It is not simply that they will complete the links between the American cities of the Atlan tic and the Pacific—that they will open up the fertile centre of the United States, though both are of inestimable advantage--the brilliant future of the Lines is in the fact that in them the World will find her best highway, and the United States, instead of being a new country at the extre mity of the earth, will become a central nation, over which will pass the commerce of the globe. Both start from the Mississippi river— the northern, the Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha ; and the southern, the Union Pacific Rail way from Leavenworth and Wyandotte. The names are so similar as to create some confusion in the public mind, though both are distinct, and each on a scale of magnificent distances which in Great Britain can scarcely be conceived. The Southern line runs like its Northern rival due west, about the parallel of the 40th degree, and main taining the distance apart of some 300 miles. The Leavenworth and Wyandotte branches unite at Lawrence and proceed to Junction City, about three miles west of Fort Riley, completing 172 miles in Kansas. Messrs. SHOEMAKER, MILLER, and Co. have contracted for 250 miles, to be laid down by . the 31st December, 1867, when Pond Creek will be reached within 200 miles of Denver City, Colorado. Then the route will be open for 670 miles west of St. Louis, 1,227 west of Pittsburg, and 1,580 west of Philadelphia. The road progresses at the average rate of a mile a day, and when the work is carried up to Denver the eastern section will be finished. The line is divided into three parts. The Eastern from the Mississippi to Denver City; from that point to the Salt Lake City forming the Central Division ; and thence from Utah to San Francisco, which will complete what is termed the Western Division. Of these, though by far the longest, the Eastern Division will be more quickly and easily formed. For the most part the line runs over a prairie smooth as if the earth had been planed—a bald, treeless, monotonous ocean of land, without even a wave to vary the sameness of the scene. Forward the line is lost in the distance beneath the curve of the earth, and behind it sinks in the same endless perspective from view, rising before and bitiling behind as the train moves on hour by hour till space and time be come a blank. But most of this land is of the richest quality, and each alternate section on either side for twenty miles is the property of the company, granted by the Government, together with $16,000 for every completed mile. The latitude, maintained almost on the same degree throughout, is singularly favourable, exempt alike from the scorching heats of summer and from the heavy snow-drifts of win ter, which it is thought more than probable will in terrupt the traffic of the Northern road. Thus far from Philadelphia to Fort Riley the 40th parallel is closely adhered to, and the line, even with less deviation, has been mapped on to Denver. The latest surveys have demonstrated that the road can be continued from Denver to Salt Lake City in a similarly straight line. The route now used by the United States mail coaches through Bridges Pass runs 612 miles, passing over the snowy Sierras of the Rocky Mountains and the Wasatch. The Union Pacific Railway, following the 40th degree, forms the diameter of the circle of which the other is the THE SUN, LONLON, TUESIMi EVENING, JANUARY 1, 1%7 circumference, having its course due west. From Denver it ascends Clear Creek to Empire City, crossing the Snowy Sierra at Berthauds Pass, and descending immediately into the Middle Park. From the snowy Sierra to the Sierra Wasatch it crosses the valley of the great Colorado down by the White river to the Green, and up by the Wintah river to Wasatch. Then it continues along a succession of parks and valleys uninterrupted by other great alti tudes, and along the borders of a river through a country lying low and protected among mountains, with a fertile soil and a climate genial at all seasons. The through distance by this Pass is 403 miles, a saving alike in space and in'the practicability of the route. The Western division penetrates the mountains of Nevada and California, through one of the most difficult countries ever undertaken by engineers. The scenery along this road is sublime in its gran deur, and awe-striking in its sublimity. Bridges span chasms, tunnels penetrate mountain summits, and the line winds round precipices and crosses gorges by viaducts leading over roaring torrents. Ten thousand men are at work, and some of the most difficult sections have been completed. One summit tunnel penetrates 1,700 feet of rock. Diffi cult as the work undoubtedly is, the Californians have pledged themselves to run their cars to the Salt Lake City, from San Francisco, under three years from this date ; and not only are they the most energetic of Americans, but accustomed to penetrat ing mountains and moving hills. It is confidently said that the route will be com plete throughout in four years, when San Francisco will take a similar position on the Western to what New York has taken on the Eastern Coast. But Philadelphia is awaking to her own advantages, and moving in her own interests. It is asserted that the true Atlantic terminus is that city—that the road from ocean to ocean, from city to city, is direct, cutting the Union into halves. A steam line from Liverpool to Philadelphia has already been formed, and in a few months the boats will be plying. We beg our readers who take an interest in this grand new highway to retain in their recollection the sketch we have given, as we will recur to the Union Pacific lines frequently and more in detail hereafter.—Anglo-American Times. Marvin, of Florida, and Governor Orr, of South Carolina, iu their respective messages to the several State Legislatures, oppose the Constitutional Amend ment. Governor Worth wants the negroes to emi grate to the Northern States, at the expense of the Bureau. Governor Orr, on the contrary, wants a Homestead Law passed, and the negroes retained, and would provide for the indigent. He does not regard free labour as a failure, though the grain crop is unusually short, and the cotton is very deficient. Outside the war debt, South Carolina owes $5,250,000. A member of Congress elect from Georgia, Hon. W. A. Woolford, has applied • successfully to the Boston Tract Society for 100 Sunday school libraries for the white and black Sunday schools of his district. During a recent investigation into certain establishments in New York charged with evading the Government tax, some curious disclosures have been made concerning the liquors with which that city is supplied. One house has been turning out vast quantities of an article retailed in Broad way at 10 and 15 cents per glass, which is com posed of the following ingredients :—" To forty gallons of common whisky add thirty gallons of water, five gallons of the tincture of Guinea pepper, one quart tincture of pillitory, two ounces of acetic cether, one and a . half gallons of strong tea, and three ounces of pulverised charcoal." TELEGRAM TO THE POPE.—ANSWER OF THE PON TIFF.—As our readers are aware, the prelates lately assembled in council at Billtimore sent a cordial greeting to his Holiness through the Atlantic Tele graph. It left Baltimore on the 9th of October and reached Rome the same afternoon in about fifteen minutes, making allowance for difference of time. The wording of the telegram was as follows : " Seven archbishops and forty bishops, met in coun cil, unanimously salute your Holiness, wishing you long life, with the preservation of all the ancient and sacred rights of the Holy See." This despatch carried joy and consolation to the afflicted heart of the Pontiff, as appears from the following letter ad dressed by his direction to our Most Rev. Arch bishop by Cardinal Barnabo, dated October 24 : "The telegram which the Bishops of the States of the American Union assembled in council had the happy thought to address to the Holy Father proved to be of great comfort and consolation to His Holi ness, and so highly did he appreciate its spirit that he ordered it to be immediately published in the official journal of Rome, for the edification of his Roman people and of the faithful at large. His Holiness looks with interest for the acts and decrees of the Plenary Council, which he expects to receive in due time, and from which he hopes a new im pulse and continued increase to religion in the United States will result. He has, however, directed me to express directly to your amplitude, and through you to all your colleagues, his great pleasure, and to request you to thank them for the interest they have taken and still take in defending the Holy See and in vindicating its contested rights. Moreover, his Holiness has learnt with satisfaction that the Papal loan is succeeding also, through the co-opera tion of the American Episcopate. He thanks them particularly for this, and nourishes the hope that such co-operation will not cease, and that thence a prosperous result may be obtained. In the mean time, I pray the Lord that He long preserve and prosper you.—Rome, from the Propaganda, Oct. 21,18G6.—ALEXANDE R CARDINAL BARNABO, Secre tary. To the Most Rev. Martin John Spalding, Archbishop of Baltimorc."—Baltimore Catholic Mirror. PUBLICATION OF BANNS IN AMERICA.—In some of the New England States the banns are published by out-cry from the pulpit on three public occasions, or the names of the intended matrimonial contract ing parties are posted up in the church vesti bule for the same length of time. 'We have seen in a Massachusetts church, by the side of the door, a small recess in the doorpost having a pane of glass in it, behind which these notices were posted. But this latter fashion was not a good one, as too many people ou Sunday visited this matrimonial bulletin after the first bell ringing, as they would a newspaper -office bulletin, merely to learn the news, but did not enter the church. The better way was found to be to post the names on a pillar inside the building. All sorts of devices were resorted to by which the law might be satisfied and yet the wed ding be kept secret. Sometimes the publication would be made in the most delicate " fine hand," and posted wrong end up at the top of the pillar. Many of the more curious worshippers on entering would mount a chair in order to decipher the an nouncement before they could compose themselves to prayer. The old Connecticut fashion was to read the banns before the sermon, but it was found to furnish such a fund for whispering and gossip during sermon time that it came to be the fashion to make the marriage announcements the last thing at the afternoon service, thus avoiding dis cussions in church, and proving an inducement to attend the afternoon service. A singular occur rence at St. Louis the other day is what has led us to make these remarks. A Roman Catholic clergy man was reading the usual proclamation in the Marriage Service, when a lady stepped forward and stated that the intended groom had promised her marriage, that she held him to his agreement, and forbade the union. The priest refused to finish the ceremony, and the couple were forced to go to a jus tice of the peace, who made it a mere matter of dollars and cents, and performed the legal cere mony.—Cleveland (Ohio) .Herald. The Rev. Mr. Adams, cf New York, is preparing for publication the jourr al and correspondence of Audubon, the naturalist. The coal fields of Americ9, cover an area of 225,000 square miles. It is estimated that they will last that country 6,000 years. _ - Three clergymen of the British American provinces have recently accepted settlements with congrega tions in Boston. Mr. George Bancroft's last volume has given offence to many students of American history. Professor Greene, a grandson of General Greene, of the revolution, has written a pamphlet refuting Mr. Bancroft's statements concerning his grand father. of Gokok and Desnoortoys, bison's horn work, and other articles of native workmanship. Scinde will exhibit musical instruments, books, stationery, furniture, lacquered turned work, embroidery, porcelain, earthenware, fancy pottery, cutlery, carpets, tapestry, gold and silver thread, cotton, and woollen fabrics, shawls, jewellery, weapon, knives, apparatus for spinning cotton, ropes, &c., shoe makers' tools, articles of harness, &c., saddlery, together with models of boats, &c. The articles from Poona will embrace figures, in wood, ivory, and earthenware, brass work, perfumery, manu factures, &c. In addition to the articles exhibited by the Bombay Government, the Rao of Cutch in tends sending some swords and shields inlaid' with gold and silver, spears, daggers, bichwoos (crooked daggers) inlaid with gold and silver, plated mugs, muffineers (vessels for containing perfumery), card cases, cigar cases, flower holders, toasting forks, paper knives, rose-water sprinklers, thimbles, pen holders,—all of silver, some wine labels made of wild boars' tusks mounted with silver, silks, cottons, chintzes, &c., all of which are of Cutch manufacture, The Jam of Nugger, H.H. the Rana of Poor bundhur, the Thakoor Sahib of Morvee and the Thakoor Sahib of Goudal also intend to contribute a number of articles of native manufacture, most of which will be of considerable value.--- : Times of India, Nov. 28. Miscellaneous American News. Mr. Morgan, of New York, presented in the Senate the resolutions of the Chamber of Commerce of New York, in favour of the employment of a portion of the national navy for the purpose of ascertaining, by proper soundings, the facilities afforded by the bed of the Atlantic ocean for laying lines of telegraphic cable directly connecting our Atlantic coast with the western coast of France and of Southern Europe. Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. Mr. Darling (New York) introduced a bill to the House of Representatives, granting the right to land the submarine cable of the American Atlantic Telegraph Company. Read twice, and referred to the Post-office Committee. This bill grants the Corporation, organised under the laws of the State of New York for the purpose of establishing tele graphic communication between the United States and other nations, via Bermudas, Azores Islands, and Portugal, the sole right and privilege on the At lantic coast, within the jurisdiction of the United States, for a period of twenty years, the company to commence operations in two years, and the Go vernment to have priority of use. Mr. Donnelly (Minnesota) offered the following preamble and resolution :—" Whereas, emigration, travel, and trade between the States of the Missis sippi Valley and the States of the Pacific coast have been and now are greatly interrupted by the hos tility of the Indian tribes on the great plains ; and whereas, it is a reproach to our Government that its citizens cannot travel from one portion of the national domain to another without danger to life and property at the bands of a few thousand wretched savages ; therefore, Resolved, that the Secretary of War be required to report to this House what addition to the force of the regular army would be required thoroughly to protect com munications by the great routes across the conti nent, to wit, a route upon the general line of the Union Pacific Railroad, and a route upon the gene ral line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and that he also be requested to communicate to the I - louse the report of the tour of inspection made during the past season through the Territories of Da cota, Montana, and Idaho, to the Pacific coast. Adopted. Mr. Ward, of New York, introduced into the same House a bill to grant certain States that have been in rebellion a Republican form of Govern ment. Read twice, and referred to the Reconstruc tion Committee, and ordered to be printed. It provides for the appointment of provisional governors for those States, who are to call State conventions. All male persons, native born or naturalised, who have been residents of the election district six months, irrespective of colour, of the age of tweny-one years, and not belonging to the excepted classes, to vote in selecting delegates to the Convention, the delegates to be loyal men. The excepted classes are those who have held office, civil or military, under the Confederacy, guerrillas, publishers of rebel newspapers, rebels who violated an oath to support the constitution, or have been educated at the military or naval academy. When the delegates frame a State Constitution that shall secure suffrage to all but the exceptional classes, shall disqualify from holding office all who aided in the rebellion, and secure to all men, not disqualified by treason or other crime, equal rights and full pro tection ; shall, in the event of the adoption of the constitution by the people, provide for the election of state, judicial, and legislative officers, and shall submit the constitution to the people authorised to vote for delegates for adoption or rejection ; when said constitution shall be adopted, and the amend ments proposed by Congress to the Constitution of the United States are adopted, then the loyal members of Congress from those States are to be admitted to their seats. We fully concur with the correspondent when he says, "It is feared in some quarters that the Senate will reject the President's nomination of General Dix as Minister to France. General Dix took a prominent part in the proceedings of the Philadelphia Convention he is therefore an object of Radical dislike. It is hoped that the spite of the Senators will not go so far as to result in the withdrawal of General Dix. The humiliation would be for the country, not for the Ambassador." TILE FREEDMEN.—Gen. lloward's report shows that the number of rations issued to refugees and freedmen from June 1, 1865, to Sept. 1, 1866, was 13,112,273. The usual increase of di3tress with the approach of winter will be aggravated by the short ness of the crops, and the monthly issue of rations will probably therefore be enlarged. There are of men, women, and children attending school in the late rebel States, about 150,000. Outrages, though by no means wholly repressed, are not so numerous as they were a year ago. The Bureau controls 275,000 acres of laud and 1,100 town and city lots. For the ensuing fiscal year an appropriation of $3,386,300 is asked by the Commissioner. The Bureau superintendent of education in Geor gia, in his report for October, reckons the number of schools at 48, teachers 63, and pupils 2,755. Thirty-four of these schools and 1,163 pupils are sustained entirely by the freedmen ; the rest by the benevolence of the North. Twenty-three of the teachers are coloured, for the most part imperfectly qualified. The contributions of the freedmen during October reached $l,OOO. A bill has been intro duced in the Georgia Legislature " to provide for education and to establish a general system of Geor gia schools." The third section shows the peculiar features of " Georgia schools:"—" Sec. 3. Be it enacted, 6-c., That any free white inhabitant, being a citizen of the United States, and of this State, and residing within the limits of any county or school district, organised under this act, between the ages of six and twenty-one years, shall be entitled to in struction in the Georgia school of said county or district without charge for tuition or incidental expenses." Large numbers of freedmen at Chattanooga are making contracts to work upon the railroads of the South-west, and squads are daily cleparting from that point. Governor Worth, of North Carolina s Governor Bombay Products at the Paris Exhibition. Bombay is likely to be well; represented at the Paris International Exhibition next year, Govern ment having devoted 3,000/. towards defraying the expenses of forwarding articles for exhibition there. These will consist of native productions from all parts of the presidency, and it is to be hoped that their exhibition will lead to the opening up of a larger trade than yet exists in various descriptions ' of Indian produce. As many of our readers are aware, a large collection of splendid blackwood furniture has been on exhibition in the Town Hall for some months past, and this furniture is intended to be the first instalment of the consignments from Bombay. It is now being packed •up, and next month it will be sent by-one of the Peninsular Com pany's steamers to Marseilles, whence it will be for warded to Paris. The other contributions will be despatched either during December or January, in order that they may reach the Exhibition in good time. In addition to the black wood furniture we have mentioned the contributions will consist of inlaid work and carved sandal-wood articles from Bombay, agate work from Cambay, sandal-wood carvings from Carwar, and black wood carvings from Ahmedabad. From the last-named place there will also be specimens of silver plate, kincob brocade, silk and cotton manufactures, pottery, native shields, raw produce, and native agricultural implements. Sawuntwarrie will exhibit embroidery and turned work. Surat will send carved work in sandal-wood, inlaid work, toys, agricultural implements, cotton and silk manufactures, kincobs, together with a number of miscellaneo us art i c l es, i nc l u ding iron ore, preserved ginger, & e . Dh arwar w ill contribute specimens of its manufactures in cotton and in silk, in brass work, in ornaments and jewellery, such as are worn by native ladies, together with some cotton and other agricultural products. Ahmednuggur will exhibit the same kind of produce from every collectorate, along with specimens of its carpets, leather work, gold and silver jewellery, and native fire arms. From Belgaum there will be a display SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES.—The year which opens to-day offers more than one anxious prospect; but there is one element, and that, perhaps, the most important, in the posi tion of the country with respect to which we need not entertain the slightest discomfort. The Revenue continues to develope itself beyond all anticipations. Our reviews of the Quarterly Returns are neces sarily characterised by a most happy monotony. We never have any other task but that of congra tulating the country upon the irrepressible elasticity of its income. The Return we publish this morn ing will probably surprise even the most sanguine financiers. During the whole of the past year the Revenue has suffered from very considerable reductions in taxation. But, notwithstanding, the receipts for the last quarter are £325,000 in ex cess of the corresponding period of last year ; the receipts of the past nine months show a net increase of little less than a million 1 • and for the whole year the net decre ase i s on l y R,410,816. The latter result, as we shall see, is itself sufficiently striking, but the comparison of the two whole years is somewhat dis advantageous to the past 12 months. The large re ductions in the Budget of 1865 scarcely exercised their natural influence during the last nine months of that year, but inflicted a disproportionate depres sion upon the first quarter of 1E66, so that, to form a strict comparison between the two years, a very considerable amount of the decrease which is reck oned in 1866 should be assigned to 1865. But we shall better estimate the full significance of this re turn for the past 12 months if we compare it with the corresponding return of two years ago. For the year ending Dec. 31, 1864, our total receipts were £ 7 0,125,000. In the following spring Mr. Gladstone introduced the greater part of the reductions which have been in operation since. The estimated effect of these reductions was to sacrifice no less than £5,420,000 of revenue ; and the whole of this loss was to take effect within two years—that is, before April next. Last year he again sacrificed £562,000 from the income of the current financial year. By the reductions of the two years, therefore, he aban doned little less than six millions, and there remains only one quarter more during which the loss is to be felt. In other words, it might have been estimated that the revenue of 1864 would be reduced by more than five millions, at the end of 1866. This would make an estimated income - for the present year of about 65 millions. Instead of this it is actu ally 681 millions, so that it has recovered to the extent of 3i millions in two years. It may be observed that this calculation exactly corre sponds with the estimate two years ago by Mr. Gladstone —that our income is steadily growing at the rate of about a million and threequarters a year. If we examine the several items of this increase, the result appears still more satisfactory. The great de velopment which has sufficed to neutralise every ad verse influence has appeaeed in the Customs and the Excise. These items combined exhibit an increase upon the three months cf £655,000, and upon the nine months of £1 , 46 7,000 ; and, in fact, if this increase had been maintained, they would alone have been more than sufficient to provide the annual growth of a million and three-quarters. The increase for the year, however, falls to £1,175,000, owing to the fact, already noticed, that the heaviest loss ex perienced from the reduction of the Customs duties fell upon the March quarter of this year. The de crease in the Customs upon that quarter was £431,000. This, however, was their lowest point of depression, and since then they have been so steadily recovering that in the June quarter of this year they had attained a comparative increase of £93,000. In the September quarter the increase was aquarter of a million, and in the present quarter it is £294,000. In fact, their return for the past quarter is actually larger than in the corresponding quarter of 1864, before the great reductions of 1865. Their present increase is the more gratifying as the Customs were the taxes chiefly affected by the re ductions of the present year. Altogether, in two years' time, they have recovered a reduction of more than two millions and a half. But the condition of the Excise is more extraordinary still. The year 1864 was considered to be peculiarly favourable to the Excise duties, and when at the end of the year it was found that they had contributed £19,343,000 to the Exchequer, it was not thought prudent to anticipate any repetition of such a return ; but in 1865 their return was £19,649,000, and for the year just past it is no less than £20,616,000. For the quarter the increase of these duties is £361,000 ; for the nine months, £828,000 ; and for the whole year it is nearly a million. The large increase for the present quarter is especially remarkable, as the Excise is generally dependent to a large extent upon the harvest; and the price of corn, as Mr. Gladstone expressed it last year, "is a very good inverse test of the power of the prople to consume those commodities which yield the principal part of the Revenue." But the harvest this year has been below the average ; and the price of wheat,which was 38s sd. per quar ter in the autumn of 1864, rose to 445. 10d. in the same period of 1865, during the past two months it has rarely been less than 505., and it has now reached even 60s. and 70s. The Customs and Excise provide the real substance of our national income, and are the true tests of its prosperity. The Income-tax, how ever, also exhibits a similar development. For ex ample, the return for the last quarter of 1864, when the rate :stood at 6d. in the pound, was £1,580,000. The rate is now one-third less, which should have reduced the Revenue to little more than a million, whereas, in fact, it is £1,314,000. The return under the head of this tax appears, indeed, more satisfactory for the quarter than for the nine months or the year. The decrease for the year, 4145,000, appears extremely large, but this again i s d ue to the fact that nearly four-fifths of the total loss for the financial year 1865-66 fell into the March quar ter of the past year. The estimated loss upon this head of revenue during the current financial year by Mr. Gladstone's reductions of 1865 was £950,000; the actual loss for the nine months has nearly reached this sum, being £932,000. It is satisfactory, there fore, to observe that the loss for the present quar ter is only £137,000, and we may, perhaps, rea sonably hope that the effect of the recent reduc tion has now been almost exhausted. The onl other noticeable d ecrease for either of the three y periods of comparison is in the item of Stamps. The reduction of the Fire Insurance Duty affected at least the second and third quarters of the past year, but the slight decrease during the present quarter may, perhap, be ascribed to the general depression of commercial enterprise at home. There remains one other point of comparison, which has a special interest at this season. We have now passed through nine months of the financial year, and we may to a considerable extent anticipate the results with which the Chancellor of the Exchequer will have to deal in the ensuing Session. For this purpose it will be convenient to refer to the Esti mates made by \lt*. Gladstone in his Budget speech last year. tie estimated the Customs at £21,400,000, but this he subsequently reduced by about £480,000. For the nine months the Cus toms have yielded £16,776,000. To this, for the ensuing three months we may fairly add the average of the past three quarters, or £5,592,000. This would make the revenue from Customs for the year £22,368,000, or nearly a million and a half be yond the estimate. The Excise was estimated at £ 1 9,750,000. Ithas already produced £15,135,000, and by a similar calculation would yield for the whole year at least £20,180,000. Stamps, which were estimated at £9,450,000,wi1l show a decrease of two or three hundred thousand pounds. The Income Tax was estimated at £5,700,000. It has not at present reached three-fourths of that sum ; but the March quarter always exhibits the largest return from this tax. The Assessed Taxes, which were estimated at £3,400,000, have already reached more than three millions, and they have steadily increased during the year. The Post Office was estimated to produce £4,450,000, which supposed au increase during the year of £200,000. For the nine months its product has increased by £125,000 ; but the last quarter exhibits a singu lar stagnation. Perhaps it has experienced the same depressing influence as Stamps. The Crown ' Lands and Miscellaneous Items are not likely to vary materially from the estimate, rand we may reasonably expect to be within the mark if we reckon the income of the year at 68 millions. 'Mr. Gladstone's estimate, after dismissing his proposed manipulation of the national debt, gave a total for the year of a little more than 67 millions, so that the actual revenue may not improbably be a million in excess of his anticipations. The esti mated expenditure for the current year was £66,225,000. •If our suppositious, therefore, should be realised, Mr. Disraeli will have to deal with a surplus of about a million and three-quar ters. Whether it will be prudent, in our present position, to apply this satisfactory balance to the re duction of taxation may be a somewhat anxious question. It will be difficult to avoid some change in our military system, and we scarcely venture to hope that the Government will increase the efficiency of our military and naval _forces, and at the same time diminish their expense. But to whatever pur pose the money may be applied it is equally agree able to know that we commence the year with a very considerable balance. If additional expendi ture should be necessary, our recent policy has enabled us to undertake it without in any way augmenting our burdens ; or, if we have more money than we want, we can still further lighten a weight of taxation which has already been greatly reduced. " THE SATURDAY REVIEW" ON COUNT BISMARK. —Whether by accident or design, a selection from Count Bismark's political correspondence has ap peared at the very moment when he has seized an opportunity of justifying his policy in a speech to the Prussian Parliament. Count Bismark is frank ness itself, and from these two sources we gain a very clear and full notion of what he has been aim ing at for years, and of the degree in which his aims have been realised. What he has written, and what he has said, inspire us with the highest no tion of his ability, of his self-reliance, and of his patriotism. We may also add, that he has had no scruples whatever, and has gone direct to his goal without any wavering or any remorse. But he alone saw what Prussia and Germany wanted, and how it was to be got. Under colour of being a rather fanciful Conservative, he was bent on bring ing about the most startling changes ; and, if he has made the Prussian people bo w t o his will, he has twisted and turned the King and the aristocracy quite as freely. For many years he has known exactly what he wanted. He was bent on doing three things, and he has done them. He has crushed out the independence of the minor sovereigns ; he has thrust Austria out of Germany ; and he has made Prussia a great compact military Power. His hatred of the Diet was only exceeded by his hatred of Austria. He considered that Prussia had al lowed herself in 1815 to be placed in a thoroughly wrong position, and that she had not so used the advantage which the Zollverein gave her as to retrieve the mistake. She had permitted. herself to be included as a humble member in a Fe deration where she was thwarted by all the little potentates whom she could have eaten up in a mo ment, and where she was for ever being bullied by Austria. The first practical step for bettering the position of Prussia was, he thought, to change the character of the Zollverein. A commercial union in which Prussia had to consult the whims of nearly 30 little princes was an absurdity, but a commercial union in which Frussia should show these little princes how comfortable it was to be dictated to and man aged by Prussia would be a most useful arrange ment. But then the princes might naturally object to such an arrangement. Count Bismark was equal to the occasion, and with a cynical good nature ex plained how they were to be won over. They were simply to be bribed. They were to have a larger re venue secured them in the Zollverein than they could get outside it. Plenty of loaves and fishes—this was his recipe for winning over these princes, who seri ously believed themselves among the greatest of earthly beings, and would have been much surprised to hear how a Prussian nobleman of very inferior rank and position proposed to manage them. But managing them was only a secondary object of Count Bismark's policy. They were but minor nuisances, and the arch-nuisance was Austria. The engagement which the King entered into at Toplitz to support Austria, if attacked in Lombardy, was very painful to the mind of the Prussian patriot. It encouraged Austria in that im passioned fidgetiness which Count Bismark consi dered the mark of herpolicy, and which showed itself in irritating and vexing the Italians whenever she dared. We hope these candid expressions will fall under the eyes of Francis Joseph, and that the un happy Emperor will learn a lesson from thinking what his impassione.l fidgetiness has brought him to. At last the day came when Count Bismark was at the head of Prussian affairs, and could begin to make his dreams areality. The affair of the Duchies gave him the desired opening, and he set himself resolutely toget all he could out of them. It was a very good thing that there should be a noise about .them. Anything was better than silence, and it was especially useful—as he expressed himself, with an irreverent allusion, we fear, to Lord Russell--that foreign dogs should bark at Holstein. It taught the world to believe that a good yelping in all kinds of notes about the Duchies was the natural thing, and amidst the noise the special bark of Prussia might make itself heard. Count Bismark talks of what he did, and thought, and planned two years ago in exactly the sang calm, in different, historical ve i n i n w hi c h Napoleon at St. Helena dictated what he wished to be thought his reminiscences of a c areer th at was closed for e ver He was, he tells u s , f or gett i ng all that h!could . little, if lie could only ge t a li ttle, and a great de a al, if a great deal w as t o b e had. If he possitfbltyhapet wasorin c e uld, in he p w u o s s u i le l e, annexhe would the set Duchies n p toan independent Prussia ; there under Prussian control; if even this was denied him, he would at any rate free the inhabitants from subjection to the Danish Parliament. AAugtuosnteenhtge it seemed to hi m th a t the Duke e would be the best car d ; b ut the Duke disappointed him. He was very ill-tempered and very sulky, and when Count Bismark, on a fine summer's evening, and in the very pleasantest manner, merely asked him to give Prussia a part in The the Duchies, he had the impudence to refuse. Therefaetwiraysa,s saysuo dealing with such a man. sold himself to the Devil, Bismark, as if he were speaking ofDuFkaeustwhaasvinang there eeableto w t as hin n k ot u h f in th g e t o o u b t e . Austrian at hea r t, an d so w d o a n r d e s w i g i tnh that him.was I t g i i agreeable the world of his final re solve and to remember that it was then stated, with an air of solemn farce that has never been beaten in France, that the Prussian lawyers, after having spent months in e xam i n i ng the Duke's title, had at length found it to be utterly worthless. But all this was, in a manner, ancient and forgotten his tory to the Prussian Chamber which Count Bismark was addressing, an d w hi ch was chiefly anxious to k b u n r o g w h p o r w u s s i i t a h a h n a p d e ned agreed that thatin t h e the Treaty of inhabitantsN i k e o I s - f North Schleswig should choose whether they would go back to Denmark or not. Count Bismark is no more afraid to tell the truth about events that happened four months ago than about events that happened four years ago,- This, he calmly informed his hearers, w as the doing of France. This voting of the North Schleswigers was a French crotchet, and it was to b e expected that, if France intervened at all, she s h ou ld ask that some attention should be paid to this fancy. It was not what Count Bis mark quite liked, but it would have been absurd to go to war with France about it. Aud, after all, the crotchet was a tolerably harmless one. The treaty said that these Schleswigers were to vote, but it did not say how or when they were to vote. " I shall take care," added the Count, " that they do not vote until they are certain to vote quite " impartially" The last trace of sympathy with the Evil One at Vienna, and with the minor Augusten burg devil, must be e ra di ca t e d out o f their hearts, and then, in their purified and regenerate state, they shall be asked whether they really wish to cease to be Prussian. What we specially like and admire in Count Bismarck is that, with the one exception of Austria, whom he hates as he does sin (and we may be sure he does hate sin, for the Count is a pious man, and thanks God very properly, in one of his letters, for having guided him in all his little plans aright), he can see the bad and good in everything, and is never one-sided or unjust. TILE " SPECTATOR" ON THE RECONSTRUCTION OF LONDON. —The Standard published on Christmas Day a very remarkable paper, which probably was very little real—an account of thd - reconstruction of fashionable London, now in progress under the orders of the Grosvenor family. Owner of the soil from the west side of Bond -street to Sloane-square, in Chelsea, of an estate, that is, which includes all Tyburnia, all Belgravia, and all Pimlico, boasting the finest and most secure rent-roll in Europe, and possessed with the passion of business, the Marquis of Westminster is in his district almost as powerful as M. Haussmann in the Department of the Seine. " Landlord of the House of Commons," and with whole batches of peers among his tenantry, any ap plication of his for a private act is sure to meet with attention, while his right of destruction as ultimate landlord is, as the leases fall in, more complete than that of the Parisian prefect. I\l. Haussmann could not leave great uncovered spaces in Paris, for if he did the evicted might murmur loudly, and the Em peror .interfere, but the marquis can. He could within 20 years render West London uninhabitable by a mere fiat, and it would task the whole power of Parliament to interfere with his caprice. Fortu nately he is a sensible man, who loves his money and has some great ideas, and he is taking advantage of the falling-in of his leases to make South-West London a city worthy of the richest, if not the most illustrious, aristrocracy in;the world. If the writer in the Standard is not misinformed, and he mnst have derived some at least of hs facts from the ruling architect, for he details plans as yet not com menced, the Grosvenors will, before 1880, have turned a camp of brick and stucco into a city of Portland stone. As each batch of leases falls in the houses are to come down, even Grosvenor-square being doomed, and the leaseholders either rebuild them on the plan framed by Mr. Cundy and ap proved by the marquis, or the landlord does it him self. Stucco and sham generally are strictly for bidden, and the plan as described seeks a kind of congruity of stateliness which, unless it is wisely restricted, may interfere a little too much with comfort. A city needs buildings others than pa laces and stables. The guiding idea of that plan is to make the Grosvenor estate the residence of the rich, to cover it with houses which in any other city would be called palaces, to exclude all meannesses and ugliness, as well as all sources of disease, and make of West London the most aristocratic city in the world. There is nothing whatever to hinder the realisation of the plan. The Marquis is as rich as a city himself, the family can afford to spend a generation or two on their great work, for under our system a Grosveurr a Grosvenor succeeds, the list of expectant tenants is endless, and there is n o ' possibility of resistance from without. If the poor are provided for—which will, we trust, be the case, the public have no right to complain ; and if they had, the complaint must be loud indeed which would induce Parliament to interfere with a great proprietor's right to do as he will with his own. An outside observer may think that a system under which an individual can own a whole city, can order an entire aristocracy to live in the houses which seem to him best, can even compel them to spend a sum of almost national importance, because he holds certain ideas of architectural propriety, is not a system calculated to endure. The privileges of property hold their ground, however, while the privileges of rank decay ; the Senatorial families doubled their properties after the Senate had ceased to reign, and power like that of the Marquis of Westminister, if only wisely used, may survive our grandsons, or for that matter, theirs. COUNTRY MARKETS. COLCHESTER—DEc. 29. A very short supply of wheat at market, which sold at is to 2s per qr advance. Barley in better demand, and at is more money. Other grain was quiet, with no material change in value. Wheat. white Qs 70s Beans, Mazagan......330 40s red 60s 66s lthddle and small 94s 98s Barley .... 428 bOs Peas, white 38s 92s Oats .... —8 - s grey ..36s 92s CHELMSFORD—DEc. 28. At the market to-day wheat was in short supply, and the trade was active, at former terms. All other kinds of corn unaltered. Wheat, old white....s2s 668 c Peas, Partridge 41s 43s new b s 67s White ..328 36s old red , iOl, 59s B._ iling a —e new. 50a 58s Dun.... ..... 3Bs 408 Barley 26s 33s dit , o, new... --s —. Lhevalier --a —s Beans, Tick. 01d......40s 459 LI rind ug ss 30s new. ...38s 42a Malt 58s Os Harrow i icks.42B 96s Chevalier 6. s 62e new _9OB 948 Oats •• • 2ls 27s Mazagan . :98 43$ GRANTHAM-DEC. 29. Old white wheat, 58s to 61s; old red, 54s to 58s; new white, 543 to 58s ; new red, 49s to 54s per 36 stone. Bar ley for malting, 38s to 455 per qr.; grinding, 30s to 34s per 30 stone. Oats, old, 30s to 32s ; new, 25s to 30s per , 21 stone. Beans, old, 42s to 52s ; new, 39s to 46s per 38 atone. Peas, 35s to 40s per 36 stone. NORTHAMPTON—DEc. 29. New white wheat, 56s to 60s; new red, 50s to 56s ; old white, 58s to 625; old red, 56s to 59s per 36 stone. Barley for malting, 42s to 51s per qr. ; grinding, 29s to 36s per 30 stone. Oats, old, 26s to 33s ; new, 23s to 32s per 24 stone. Beans, old, 46s to 49s ; new, 42s to 45s per 38 stone. Peas, 38s to 42s per 36 stone. ABERDEEN—DEC. 28. The attendance at the corn market to-day was mode rate, and there was still little business doing, prices being the same as last week. White wheat 52s Od to 60s Od / ,- 621 b 111 bushel. Red wheat 4 8s Od to 55s Od3 Potato oats 24s Od to 26s Od }- 401 b II Common oats 23s Gd to 25 s Od bushel. Bere 31s Od to 32s 6d t 5„,, bushel. . Barley 32 s Od to 33 s Od) "L v Oatmeal 20s Gd to 21s 6d 11 boll of 280Ib. Flour, line 43s Od to 508 6d l sack of 28thb. KIRKCALDY—DEc. 29. Good supplies of wheat, barley, and oats. Wheat sold at about late rates. Barley ls, and oats 6d dearer. Wheat. Barley. Oats. First...— 55s Od ' 3:is d 22s Od eeund 57s Od 37s 041 25s Od Tuird t9s 01 3.is Od 20s Od COAL MARKET. Price per ton at the close of the market. s. d. 4. (1. Eden Main Acorn Close l7 6 Walls End Hetton ... 20 6 Walls End Haswell 2O 6 Tunstall Hetton Lyons ..... l7 9 Heugh Hall l9 0 Walls End Gosforth 17 9 East Hartlepsol Kelloe Original Hartlepool... 20 6 James Ships at market, 96—sold, 71. Foreign Mail Packet List. 0 MAILS DUE. Australia and New Zealand, via Southavaptoa.....Jan. 19. Ditto, via Marseilles Brazil and Laps Verds. by Britisn packet • 4 Ditto. by French packet • Jan. 2 1 Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and it. lielena....Dec. •8. China, Penang. and Singapore. via Sou:.hampton..Jan 3. Ditto, via aardeilleB • ..... ..Dec. 28 Falkland Islands Gibraltar, via Southampton Dec. 29 India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton Jan 3 Ditto, via Marseilles India (Bombay), via Southampton. Ditto, via .21arseilles Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Dec,. 29. Ditto, via Marseilles . Dec. 28. danritius, via Southampton Ditto, via Marseil1e.... sewtoundland Vortuga/ Ditto, by private ship to Lisbon... ..... United States and British North America, by Bri tish packet Ditto. by United States • • • pack4t, via Southamp ton ...... ...... Ditto, via Cork Ditto, by Canadian packet, via Londonderry ..Dec 8 Weat Coast of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe „.. Jan. 3 West Indica and Pacific (except Bahamas and Honduras) Dec. 29 Bahattn..4. via New York. Jan 1 Cuba and Mexico Bermuda, via Halifax Jan. 16. A Berlin letter endeavours to refute the rumours according to which the new Constitution of the Confederation of the North is to provide also for the event of a Union with the Southern States. The writer affirms Ahat Prussia does not dream at pre sent of extending its dominion south of the Maine. The sole question will be to establish on new bases the mode of distributing the revenues of the Zollverein, of which the States of the South continue to form part. The letter adds, how ever :—" If these, or some . among them, should desire to take the negotiations for this purpose as a starting point for ulterior conferences respecting the common defence, it is probable that Prussia would not repel them ; but, once more, there is not and cannot be any question as to the entrance of the South German States into the Confederation of the North. The reasons assigned some time since have not lost their validity. It cannot be for the interest of Prussia to weaken the dominant position she holds in that body in increasing its individual elements by the entrance into it of the States of the South." Births. CIIELSEA—On the 29th ult., Viscountess Chelsea, of a son. MosTYN---Ou the 29th ult., at 93, Eaton-square, the Hon- Mrs. Moston, of a son. HUNT—On the 31st ult., at 36, Marys-street, the wife of Rowland Hunt, Esq., of a daughter. JACKSON—On the 30th ult., at 12, Pembroke -gardens, Ken sington, the wife of Mason Jackson, Esq., of a SOB. Marriages. RIDGWAY—COTTAM - On the 29th ult., at St. Mary's, Wim bledon, Alex. F. Ridgway, of 8, WeymOuth-street, Port land-place, to Fanny Juliet, third daughter of the late George Cottam, Esq., of Wimbledon, formerly of St. John's-wood. SEVERN—FERGUSSON—On the 28th ult., at Newhaller, near Edinburgh, Walter Severn, Esq., of the Privy Council Office, to Mary Dalrymple, fifth daughter of the late Sir C. Dalrymple Fergusson, Bart. Deaths. BLATITERWICK—On the 29th ult., at Farehatn, Hants, 5- B. Blatherwick, Esq., aged 73. CRESSALL —On the 29th ult., Mr. Samuel L. Cresson, f 10, Laurel-villas, Auckland-hill, Lower Norwood an d the Stock Exchange, age d 28 . , FINUCANE—On the 27th ult., in London, D. Fin uc ane, Esq., of Larch Hill , county Clare, aged 28. HAMILTON —On the 29th ult., at 16, Woodside-terraeet Glasgow, John W. Hamilton, Esq. MEGGY On the 29th ult., at Museum-terrace, Chelmsford, George Meggy, Esq., aged 59. TRIVAITES —On the 30th ult., at 48, Sydney-street, Bromr ton, Lieut.-General George S. Thwaites, aged 88. .ondon : Printed a nd Published byWILLIAMANDREPTSv of No. 112, Strand, Piioter at Tun SUN Office, No. 112 ' Strand, In the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County Bildilleux.—Tuesday, January 1, 16e7.