The Sun. — London, England, 1861-08-06 00:00:00

rr HEA TRE. RO YAL, HAY MARKET. Lessee, Mr. J. B. Baekstone. THIS EVENING, the performances will' commence with a new Ballet, BACCHUS AND ARIADNE. Miss Fanny Wright, the Leclercqs, Mr. Webster, , te- After which, a new Comedy, entitled MY LORD AND MY LADY ; or, It Might have been Worse. Mr. C. Mathews, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Buckstone, Mrs. Charles Mathews, Mrs. Willdns, &a. Followed by OF AGE TO-MORROW. Miss M. Oliver. To conclude with G ce a TURNIN THE . TABLES. Comment 7 Rt e y AT, PRINCESS'S THEATRE. — Lessee and Manager, Mr. A. Harris. -THIS EVENING, the new comic drama, entitled A HOMESTEAD STORY, Messrs. Ryder Shore, and Miss M. Harris. Followed by HAMLET. Hamlet, Mr. Pechter. Sup ported by Hermann Vezin, Ryder, Meadows, etc. ; Misses Heath, Rlsworthy, and R. Leclercq. NEW THIATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHI.- Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster. Reproduction of the great drama of "The Dead Heart." THIS EVENING, the great AdelpM drama. THE DEAD HEART. Messrs. B. Webster, J. L. Toole, Fisher, Billing ton, Eburne, Smith, Romer ; Miss Woolgar and Miss Kate Kelly. To conclude with (19th time) THE PRETTY HORSE BREAKER. Mr. J. L. Toole, Mr. Paul Bedford ; Miss K. Kelly, Miss Woolgar, Miss E. Thorne, Miss Laidlaw, and Mrs. Chatterley, Doors open at half past 6—Commence at 7. A.NTERBURY H AI - L, AND FINE ARTS GALLERY. Verdi's New Opera, UN BALLO IN MASCIIERA, arranged and conducted by Mr. Jonghmans. Mr. Levy on the cornet-a-piston. Mr. Wood and his talented little Son, the best Negro Delineators of the day. The extraordinary comic duet, "The Nerves," by Messrs. Harvey and French, the most grotesque performance in London. Mrs. Lawrence and Mr. Marshall in several New Songs written expressly for him, including the "Excursion to Brighton." Admission, 6d. ; Stalls and Balcony, Is. RETURN of SAM COWELL to ENGLAND, who will shortly appear at his old quarters, after an absence of five years. RE-DECORATION of this Magnificent HALL, executed by Mr. William Sanderson, of Lambeth, under the direction of Samuel Field, Esq., architect, is now completed. This popular Place of Amusement now surpasses its former grandeur, and, with the FINE ARTS GALLERY and SPACIOUS PROMENADE, forms the MOST ELEGANT PUBLIC BUILDING in the WORLD. Considerable im provements have been made in the VENTILATION and LIGHTING. T " 0 X F 0 It D, 6, OXFORD-STREET. The architectural beauty, elegance of ornamentation, and brilliancy of lighting of this noble building, r4nder it one of the sights of London. Open Every Evening. The pro gramme is varied, and includes Selections from "Lan ra viats," "'Ern Ballo in Maschera," &c., (by a fu ll com p ant of principals, powerful band, and chorus). Solos by Mi s s Bry on the Piano Forte, and by Mr. Russell on the Trombone. Old English Ballad, by Miss Green, Scotch Duets by the Misses Stuart, and other vocal and instrumental music of the highest order. Conductor, Mr. F. Jcrnghmans. The Comic portion of the entertainment is support by Messrs. M. P. Foster (in his " Life Sketches"), Sam Collins, Harvey, and French (the Nerves), E. Mars hall, and W. Randall. Hall, sixpence ; Balcony and Stall s, one shilling. Private Boxes, 10s. 6d. - WATER. AT LONDON BRIDGE. Taus DAN. —Morning, lh. 44m.—Afternoon,' 2h. Gm. To-moußow.-Morning, 2h. 26m.—Afternoon, 12h. 46m. THE WEATHER.—Strx OFFICE, AUGUST 6, 1561. THEIMOXETBR, IN THB SHADB• 75 —highest since noon yesterday. 55—lowest this morning and during the night. 69—this day at noon. BAnomETER-30.13. WlND—Westerly—light ; with fine weather. 4-? .... ... , , 'IV ''.o4 , . I V te , •-...(_._ 4 „ 9 , -.; : ' ,l,- . . , . t) , 7 , ; , ,-- N:mt:. _''c 1 •I• •10 ' ' ' b 17 - 4: ' , , ' ‘ '''t ~,...„,.. r ' ~..,,, It is obvious, therefore, that the mutilation of the one solitary specimen of a great Law Reform ad ventured upon this year by Her MAJESTY'S Go vernment, cannot, for an instant, be charged as a crime against the Opposition. This muti lation—one, by the way, as we have shown, of a very serious kind, consisting in truth of nothing less serious than "decapitation" so to speak—the Chief Judge being even in the estimation of the Select (or Secret) Committee of the Lords, " the head and front" of the Bill's offend ing—this mutilation of the Bankruptcy Bill is notoriously attributable to the Law Lords, Whig and Tory, Liberal and Conservative, to the Law Lords alone, and not to any party spite or political spleen on the side of the Opposition. As for that little ghostly shadow of a substitute for a measure of Parliamentary Reform of even the most moderate and most modest dimensions, the Appropriation of Seats (Sudbury and St. Albans) Bill—well, certainly in that instance, the Opposi tion has clearly enough contrived to show at once its strength, its pertinacity, and its adroitness. The Tories have contrived, in fact, to work their own wicked will in the treatment of Sir G. L EWTS'S Little Bill, now grown out of all knowledge—yielding a fair prospect of the lion's share of the four seats to the Conservatives in this newly contrived method of " appropriation." One Admiralty improvement ought also to be borne in recollection as among the few notable achievements of the expired session —to wit the organisation of the new Navy Reserve, ensuring henceforth to the Royal and National Maritime Service the very pick of the finest sailors taken from our British merchantmen. Several of the Committees, at least, have been industrious during 1861—if the House itself has, in some particulars more signally than usual, contrived to be at once idle and talkative. The Admiralty Committee has, it is true, effected little practical good—the inopportune escape of Sir BALDWIN WALKER (an escape con nived at, if not more directly originated, by the powers that be), auguring but ill at the outset for the success of its labours. Not thus has it been at any rate with one of the Royal Commissions appointed this year —meaning the Royal Commission entrusted with the task of investigating the hitherto problematical question of the Thames Embankment. If only oar Legislators and Administrators will content them selves with the valuable suggestions embodied in the admirable report of that very able Commission, we may at length, and that moreover before many months have passed, be in a fair way of seeing a be ginning actually made towards the construction of these long talked of Thames Embankment. Apart from the Legislative sayings and doings of 1861, the interest of the session now just brought to a close has consisted chiefly in the sustained viva city of the contest " never ending, still beginning" from February to August, between the Government and the Opposition. Once or twice, upon very rare occasions, occasions of great emergency, the Cabinet, when fairly put upon its mettle, has contrived to baulk the evil designs of its confronting antagonists. Otherwise, in the vast majority of instances, the stereotyped close of division after division has been this :—" Against the Government, so many. (Loud and prolonged cheers from the side of the Oppo sition.)" This particularly upon Wednesday ! And all the while, slowly and steadily, as seat by seat became vacant through death, through resignation —as members have dropped off from the ranks of the weakened and diminished supporters of the Government—their successors have added one by one to the formidable and increasing aggregate of the Conservative Opposition. The Prorogation comes at length, indeed almost as benignantly as a reprieve to her MAJESTY'S Go vernment. The conclusion of the contest, that has been carried on so vigorously, and with such varying fortunes, all through 1861, is to " come off," as speedily as may be, after the meeting of Parliament again in February next. Prior to which date Ministers will have, at any rate, half a year during which to prepare themselves in earnest for the perils they will then most certainly have to encounter. Look ing back to their achievements during this last session of 1861, it ip impossible for us not to avow at once quite frankly that they have given the country but small reason indeed to hope with any thing like hearty solicitude for their preservation much longer in power as the so-called Liberal but really do-nothing Coalition. We are well pleased to believe that, as we hinted yesterday, we may regard the account of the heavy losses of life, in the great American battle, as an exaggeration. Nothing, indeed, like a trustworthy statement has reached us or can reach us yet ; still if the Federalist fugitives did not go quite so far as old FALSTAFF, one can but suspect that they made the most of the horrors they had left behind, to justify, so far as it might, their leaving them at all. The second day's accounts of Federalist losses, accordingly, fell wonderfully below that of the first, some even putting them down at less than 1,000 killed and wounded. One cor respondent even compares the different accounts to the mountain in labou r , and the ridiculus mus. It is, however, quite too early to speak with anything like precision, but the unquestionably modifying facts are that the accounts from the South speak only of General BEAUREGARD maintaining his position, of a very severe battl e , and " great slaughter on both sides," and of one battery of light artillery, which indeed had been left at the road side, being taken. It is easier to perceive what seem to be the chief causes both of the repulse and the rout. The Con federates had deliberately planned to draw the Federal army upon a fortified position, which small numbers might hold against an army. For this purpose they had abandoned, as if intimidated , slight works intended only to deceive. So, nearer still, the Confederate batteries could not be got to reply till they could do it with a vengeance, and stem any advance made against them. It was, so far, the generalship of Parthianism and ambuscades. But in addition to this, all accounts represent the arrival of JOHNSTONE'S men fresh and fit for action when the Federalists were thoroughly worn out, as the turning point of the day. Assuming the truth of what every one says, how can we account for it ? General JOHNSTONE was in front of General PAT TERsoN in North Western Virginia, where the least he should have done, with certainly an equal body of men, would have been to hold his opponent away from Manassas. Re had beaten him at Martinsburg, and had followed him some way further ; and all THE SUN. LONDON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1861. THE SESSION. The Parliamentary Session of 1861 has been brought to a close this afternoon. With how much accomplished ? Well, after all, perhaps, about as much as anyone could reasonably have been led to expect from the exceedingly modest programme set before both Houses in the Speech from the Throne at the time of our Legislators first coming together this year in February. As we saw then would be the case, the go-by has been given altogether to the scheme for the reform of our whole system of popular representation. The only notable reform, indeed, of any kind that has been in any way attempted has been a law reform : and that law reform we now recognise as even at this moment at the best but partially accomplished. What the Attorney-General, Sir RICHARD BETHELL, began so well, the Lord Chancellor WESTBURY has found himself unable to complete to his own entire satisfaction. The whole Body of the law, it is true, relating to Bankruptcy and In solvency, has been revised and reconstructed. But the Head is still wanting to preside over the newly organised Court of Bankruptcy. No fault this, however, either of Her MAJESTY'S Government or Her MAJESTY'S Opposition. The responsibility of striking out the Chief Judgeship devolves entirely upon the Select (and Secret) Com mittee of the House of Lords—rests exclusively with the "big wigs," the law lords, principally ex-Chan cellors! The noble and learned Lords—while in the very act of so doing—insisting, nevertheless, with a marvellous inconsistency, upon not reducing the present Commissioners (as the ex-Attorney- General, the present Lord Chancellor, proposed) from Eight to Five, but deciding peremptorily that there shall yet remain these Eight Commissioners ! So that the " ecoaomy here is really for all the world very much like the Irishman's blanket—a bit being eut off one end, and tacked on the other end imme diately afterwards. The public must be spared the cost of the Chief Judge forsooth—only to that it may pay the more for the three additional Commis sioners ! So reason—upon the plea of economy ! the ex-Chancellors. By those potent, grave, and—almost by reason of their solemnity—reverend seigniors" the House of Commons has been thus denied the luxury of spending another annual £5,000 by way of salary to the proposed new Chief Judge of the Court of Bankruptcy. Encouraged probably to this fresh evidence of shal low economy by a recollec'zion of the House of Lords' refusal last session to confirm the abolition o f the Paper Duties previously- decided upon by the Ho use of Commons--encouraged probably to this addi tional display of shallow economy (based upon the " penny wise, pound foolish" principle) the law lords decided in Select (and Secret) Committee upon saving. £5,000 every year to the country by rejecting the project fe r the creation of the Chief Judge of the New Court of Bankruptcy. It never occurred to tl le noble and learned lords, probably, that by deducting £l,OOO a-piece from their own pensions mile ironical censor might have suggested that the new judge could still be remunerated with not much injustice, certainly with a due regard to the general economy in vogue among the law lords—eve m supposing that their as toundingly improbable est imate be correct, namely, that no more than 14 day: work out of every 365 could be found for the n( :wly-created functionary so remunerated ! Assured ly the law lords ought to be about the last persons to enveigh against the extravagance of awarding ; £5,000 per annum for the Chief Judge of the n , 'w Court of Bankruptcy. And among the law lords none ought to remain so silent upon a subject of thi. 3 kind than the venerable ex-Chancellors. Yet it has proved quite impossible, apparently, f or the law lords, but especially for the ex-Chancellors , to refr a i n f ro m thi s a l m ost unseemly thowofparsimon3rin rejec /ing• as extravag ant the sug gestion that i 5,0 00 yes a, mum should be set down as the salary of the chief iudtge, the working udge of the new Court of Bankruptcy. Nor has this been in any way a party movss • that the voices of Lord GRAN WORTH ant N. ::: g BROUGIIA3I have been raised quite as potentially o e s lao it ql i n o u n s living eloquent, s that of Lord CHELM a SFORD, a, opp osit ion together with these the voices also of that " old man Lord LYNDHURST, and th a t profoundest of lawyers, Lord ST. LEON ARDS. Exactly 'Five ex- Chancellors, observe—to say nothing of coinciding law lords, like my Lord KINOSDOWN and my Lord WENSLEYDALE—exactIy FIVE ex-Chancellors —.£1,000 a piece deducted from their salaries, as we have said (if they are really so very devoted to the cause of economy in the interests of the nation) £l,OOO a-piece deducted from their retiring pensions would just make up the annual salary of the Chief Judge of the new Court of Bankruptcy ! Supposing they put it upon the altar of their coun try next session as a peace-offering : a peace offer ing from Lord LYNDHURST,Lord BROUGHAM, Lord ST. LEONARDS, Lord CRANwoRTH, and Lord CHELMSFORD-our Five economising Ex-Chancel- ,ors. :111E 'SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING; AUGUST 6, 1861. supposed that General SCOTT did not intend to operate in front till PATTERSON and M'CLELLAN, from Western Virginia, were ready to act on BEAUREGARD'S flank. On the contrary, BEAURE GARD was able to call in his troops from the West in time, according to these concurrent statements, to supply with them the place of his own wearied men. We have a strong impression, indeed we have several times hinted at the danger, that General SCOTT was compelled to fight against his own better judgment. His forces in action would appear to have been, numerically, hardly equal to those of the enemy ; he, too, was in Eastern V irginia , in an enemy'sexcessive es s country.ive caution. au t ion. His divisions are policy is plainly that of yet far away, and there seems to have been nothing strategic to require him to precipitate his troops on strong and skilfully constructed works, when ill trained troops would, as he well knew, fight his own equally ill-trained ones with very great ad vantage. Of one thing, however, there can be no question —the completeness of the rout. We have this fact from a witness whose testimony is unimpeach able, and our readers will find it at length in our columns. Mr. RUSSELL, who had seen enough of all phases of war, had never seen such a perfect panic as that which hurried on the retreating army, first to Centreville, and then through Fairfax Court-house to Alexandria and Washington ; it was running for life, when no one was to be seen or heard pursuing. If he remonstrated, or merely suggested a little less hurry, a soldier, who chanced to have kept his gun, would have shot him on the spot, but for his gun missing fire. Every kind of military equipage, guns, knapsacks, stores conveyed in waggons, were all tossed away as if the CZAR'S Cossacks had been at their heels. A more disgraceful flight was hardly ever heard of ; and these men were the choice spirits who were, bat a few days before, to pour forth their blood like water for the dear UNlON—and SLAVERY. To this cry, indeed, we trace to some extent the great disaster. We have said that BEAUREGARD'S strategy was an able one of ambuscade. Of what availwould the ambuscade have been if every negro employed in constructing his works had been a spy? But for the fatal slavery policy of the North, such might have been the case. Had the Northerns hoisted the banner of emancipation—had they pro claimed that every negro on territory where the Federal Government had been resisted was hence. forth free; that as fast as the Federal army advanced freedom should become a fact ; that every fugitive should be welcomed ; that if he brought information of the enemy's doings which proved useful and true, he should be rewarded—why, then, General BEAUREGARD would have carried on his operations in a glass house. Every battery would have been known of. The Black guides could have pointed M'DowELL to every covert which concealed its gun or its riflemen. They would have neutralised the most dangerous part of his enemy's de vices. Instead of this, what do we find but on the very eve of the advance, a proclamation repelling all future fugitives, warning them that the rear of the army was to be no covert for them, and even refusing to receive them, as lately, as " contraband of war !" Resolutions were even ac cepted in Congress declaring it no part of the business of the war to put an end to slavery, though a singular resolution also passed declaring all rebel property, including slaves, confiscated. Perhaps, however, it was intended to sell this kind of property also for the benefit of the Washington treasury. We must confess that on this account, as well as others, this shameful defeat appears to us to carry with it certain possible advantages. The North may find that by pursuing a pro-slavery policy, it not only deserves to fail, but will fail. Its cause at present is hardly less ignoble than that of the south ; England and Christian Europe can feel but little interest in immense armaments not to root out of Christendom the disgrace of American slavery, but to reunite it to the free States of the North. We may well hope that PROVIDENCE will show it to be impossible to conquer back the South bat by doing justice to the Negro. And, we must say, that till the North comes to this, we do not know why, on the grounds of philanthropy and religion, we should feel much interest in her triumph. We care but little how great or how little the once United States are ; in their days of bigness their behaviour has not been such as to make other nations care much that they should take the same position again ; and if they will not do away with slavery, we are by no means sure that it might not be quite as well for the Slave States to be separated from the Free. We hate the cause of the South, but we cannot love the cause of the North. THE PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS.—(This DAT.) The ceremony of proroguing Parliament took place this afternoon with the usual formalities, but without any of the interest with which that event is invested when her Majesty attends in person. The Royal Commissioners entered the house at two o'clock, at which time very few peers were present, and commanded the Usher of the Black Rod to summon the Commons to the bar of their lordships' house to hear the Royal Assent given to several bills, and also her Majesty's most gracious speech proroguing Parliament. NEW PEER. Lord FITZHARDINGE (late Sir M. F. Berkeley) took he oaths and his seat as a Peer of the United Kingdom. THE GALWAY CONTRACT. The Marquis of CLANRICASDE wished to know what were the intentions of the Government with respect to the Galway contract. Their lordships, on a former occasion, bad been told that the report of the committee considering thei subject: must first be received before any statement of the Government could be made. That report had been re ceived, and the only step taken in the matter was in direct violation of the recommendation of the committee. After a few words from Lord MONTEIGLE, Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY said the result of the investigation of the committee was that the Government were justified in putting an end to the contract, as the company were totally unable to continue it in a satisfac tory manner. The chairman cf the committee further stated that that company, owing to certain unfortunate accidents, were entitled to have their case fully considered at the end of the year, in order that they "night be enabled to show that they were in a cond.tion to carry out that con tract more efficiently for the future. The chairman had also stated that he did not see that thp. contract could be resumed before February, 1862, and as Parliament would be then sitting, he thought that the subject might be left till that occasion. He could assure the noble lord that everything the company could offer in favcur of again performing the service would receive the best consideration of the Govern ment. On the arrival of the Commons, The LORD CHANCELLOR announced to them that her Majesty, not thinking fit to be present on the occasion, had " directed her Commissioners to give her assent to several public and private bills ;" and the following bills were passed in the usual form : Consolidated Fund Appropriation Appropriation of Seats (Sudbury and St. Albans) Trustees (Scotland) Conjugal Rights (Scotland) Municipal Corporations Act Amendment Removal of Irish Poor Public Works (treland) Windsor Suspended Canonries Accessories and Abettors Criminal Statutes Repeal Larceny, &c. Malicious Injuries to Property Forgeries Coinage Offences Offences against the Person Wills of Personalty (British Subjects) Government of the Navy Bankruptcy and Insolvency Metropolitan Gas Act Amendment Lace Factories Gunpowder Act Amendment Episcopal and Capitular Estates Public Works and Harbours Lord Clerk Register Salary Abolition Durham University Metropolitan Building Act Amendment Drainage of Land Public Offices Site Pensions (British Forces) Edinburgh University Inland Revenue Stamp Duties on Probates Revenue Departments Accounts Elat India Loan Militia Pay Militia Ballot Suspension Corrupt Practices Prevention Act Continued Landed Estates (Ireland) Metropolitan Police District Receiver Wills and Domiciles of British Subjects Abroad Ind 3mnity Enlistment in India Portpatrick Harbour (Scotland) Leases by Incumbents Restriction Local Government Supplemental Volunteer Tolls Exemption Treasury Chest Fund, Naval Reserve Parochial Offices Board of Health Statute Law Revision. The great business of the day, the prorogation of Parlia ment, followed immediately upon the Royal assent being given to the above bills. It consisted simply in the Lord Chancellor reading the Royal Speech, which was as follows : "MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, " We are commanded by her Majesty to release you from further attendance in Parliament, and at the same time to convey to you her Majesty's acknowledgments for the zeal and assiduity with which you have applied yourselves to the performance of your duties during the session of Parlia ment now brought to a close. " Her Majesty commands us to inform you that her rela tions with foreign Powers are friendly and satisfactory, and her Majesty trusts that there is no danger of any disturb ance of the peace of Europe. " The progress of events in Italy has led to the union of the greater part of that peninsula in one monarehy under King Victor Emmanuel. Her Majesty has throughout abstained from any active interference in the transactions which have led to this result, and her earnest wish as to these affairs is, that they may be settled, in the manner best suited to the welfare and happiness of the Italian people. " The dissensions which arose, some months ago, in the United States of North America have, unfortunately, as sumed the character of open war. Her Majesty, deeply lamenting this calamitous result, has determined, in com mon with the other Powers of Europe, to preserve a strict neutrality between the contending parties. " Her Majesty commands us to inform you that the mea sures adopted for the restoration of order and tranquillity in Syria, in virtue of Conventions between her Majesty, the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of the French, the King of Prussia, the Emperor of Russia, and the Sultan, having accomplished their purpose, the European troops which, in pursuance of those Conventions, were for a time stationed in Syria to co-operate with the troops and authori ties of the Sultan have been withdrawn; and her Majesty trusts that the arrangements which have been made for the administration of the districts which had been disturbed will henceforward secure their internal tranquillity. " Her Majesty has seen with satisfaction the rapid im• provement in the internal condition of her East Indian territories, and the progress which has been made towards equalising the revenue and expenditure of that part of her Empire. " GENTLEMEN OF TUB HOUSE OF COMMONS, " Her Majesty commands us to convey to you her warm acknowledgvents for the liberal supplies which you have granted for the service of the present year; and her Majesty h.o seen with satisfaction that after amply pro viding- for the wants of the public service, you have been able to make a sensible diminution in the taxes levied upon her people. "MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, "Her Majesty commands us to express to you the deep gratification with which she has witnessed the spirit of devoted patriotism which continues to animate her volun teer forces ; und the admiration with which she , has observed their rapid progress in discipline and military efficiency. " Her Majesty has given her cordial assent to the act for completing the number of the members of the House of Commons by allotting the forfeited seats of Sudbury and St. Albans. "Her Majesty trusts that the act for improving the laws relating to Bankruptcy and Insolvency will be productive of important advantage to the trade and commerce of her subjects. Her Majesty has given her ready assent to Acts for consolidating and assimilating the criminal law of Eng land and Ireland, and for promoting the revision of the sures of public usefulness, the result of your labours during the Session now brought to its close. "Her Majesty has observed with heartfelt satisfaction the spirit of loyalty, of order, and of obedience to the law, which prevails throughout all her dominions, and she trusts that by wise legislation and a just administration of the law, the continuance of this happy state of things will be secured. "On returning to your respective counties you will still have important public duties to perform ; and her Majesty fervently prays that the blessing of Almighty God may attend your exertions, and may guide them to the attain.• meat of the object of her Majesty's constant solicitude—the welfare and happiness of her people." The Royal Commission commanding their lordships to prorogue Parliament having been read, The LORD CHANCELLOR said—By virtue of the Com mission which has just been read, I declare in the name of her Majesty the Qsieen, that this Parliament is prorogued until the 22d day of October next. This house is now adjourned. This terminated the ceremony. HOUSE OF COMMONS--(THIS DAY). The SPEAKER took the chair at twelve o'clock. THE GALWAY CONTRACT. In answer to Mr. BRADY, Lord P ALMER ST ON entered upon a lengthened state ment with regard to the circumstances connected with the Galway contract, and stated that he wes disposed to give a favourable eosideration to the claims of the company when ever they could show that they were in a position to carry out their contract. At present he did not think the com pany were in such a position, and he did not think that the Governmsnt could enter into any contract without the approbation of Parliament, which he hoped would not meet again till the beginning of next year. If at that time the company should be found to be in a position to make any proposition, the Government would bff willing to con sider it with a view to submit it to Parliament. He could but at present say what would be the best point for depar ture, Galway, Cork, or Foyne. That would be a matter for future consideration. COURT CIRCULAR. OSBORNE, Ata. 5. Her Majesty and his Royal Highness the Prince Con sort, accompanied by Count and Countess de Lacroma, the Crown: Prince and Princess of Prussia, Princess Alice, Princess Helena, and Princess Louise, embarked in the Fairy this morning at half-past 10 o'clock, and steamed towards Cowes. Her Majesty held a Council afterwards, at which were present his Royal Highness the Prince Con sort, Earl Granville, the Lord Chancellor, Viscount Pal merston, the Duke of Newcastle, Earl Russell, the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer; the Right Hon. E. Cardwell, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lan caster; the Earl of St. Germans, Lord Steward; and Viscount Sydney, Lord Chamberlain. At the Council the Royal Speech, on closing the Session of Parliament (this day), was submitted and approved. Mr. A. Helps, the Clerk of the Privy Council, attended. Earl Russell had an audience of the Queen. His Excellency M. Musurus, the Turkish Ambassador, had an audience of the Queen and delivered his credentials. His Excellency was introduced by Earl Russell, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Viscount Palmerston had an audience of Her Majesty. Mr. Roundell Palmer, Solicitor-General, was presented to the Queen at an audience by Earl Russell, one of Her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, and received from the Queen the honour of knighthood. The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Earl Granville had audiences of the Queen. EASTERN COUNTIES RAILWAY.—Time was when this company was often very unjustly saddled with other companies' misdemeanours. It became quite the fashion to attribute the casualties and irregularities of other lines to Eastern Counties' mismanagement. If a driver stopped his train to chase a hare, or gather a cap of mushrooms, the Eastern Counties obtained public credit for the freak ; and,. even recently, our facetious friend, Mr. Punch—speak ing the letter " 1" having fallen from the word " lawful," d making an advertisement to read thus :—" People to packages are directed are requested to come forward and pay the awful charges on the same"—shoulders his frolic upon this much-abused comp any ' • whilst the general public, n o t car i ng to dive into railway statistics are consequently unaware that the Eastern Counties, becomeun der nuu the able sey u ndu s lajorLo k v in e, gdo h m as . The annual treat give n . by that gentleman and his co-direc- Itors to their employs came off on Saturday astinthe shape of an excurs i on to Southend ; on which l occasion co uple of trains, of thirty carriages each, drawn by twoof the company's powerful new engines, and containing 2,500 souls, left Stratford at an early hour, under the presidence of Wm. Kitson, Esq., the locomotive superintendent; re turning before eleven in the evening without a single mis hap. The excursionists were accompanied by the two bands of the Sth Essex (Eastern Counties) Rifle Volunteers, in their uniform, who contributed much to the day's enjoy ment. It is pleasant to witness the existence of such good feeling between the employers and employed in so large a community; and too much praise cannot be accorded to a management which is characterised by respectability, punc tuality, courtesy, and general desire to meet the public requirement. BALTIMORE, July 22.—The Delaware, from Deme rara, arrived here, reports having been boarded on the 18th of July in lat. 36, long. 75, by the United States steamer Albatross, having in charge two prizes, one a schooner from Galveston, and the other a brig from Charleston. statute law. "Her Majesty has given her assent to important Acts which sho trusts will have the effect of opening more largely employment in the public service to the European and native inhabitants of India; of improving the means of legislation ; of furthering the ends of justice ; and of pro moting the contentment and well-being of all classes of her Majesty' s I n di an subjects. "Her Majesty h as assente d w ith p l easure t o th e A c t f or the i m p rovement of harbours on the coast of the United Kingdom, and for relieving merchant shipping from pass ing tolls, and also to the Act for improving the administra tion of tho law relating to the relief and the removal of the poor. " Her Majesty trusts that the Act for rendering more easy arrangements connected with the drainage of land will assist agricultural improvements in many parts of the United Kingdom. Her Majesty has gl a dly g i ven h er assen t t o o th er ;ilea " AMERICA. Mr. WYLD inquired whether her Majesty's Government had received any communication from the President of the United States, or from the British Ambassador at Washington, that it is the intention of the Government of the United States to station vessels off the port of the Southern States of America to collect and levy duties upon foreign merchandise? Lord PALMERSTON said that the American Congress had passed a bill empowering the President, if he thought fit, to do what his hon. friend specified. The Government did not know what were the intentions of the American President on the subject. . THE POOR LAW. Mr. COBBETT inquired whether applications had been made by master manufacturers of the northern and midland districts to boards of London to send parish children as ap prentices into such districts ? Sir G. GREY said that such communication had been made. They were in print and would be laid before the house. THE NEAPOLITAN TROOPS. Mr. D. GRIFFITH asked the First Lord of the Trea sury whether the Government has received accounts that 30,000 muskets which had been taken by the French authorities from Neapolitan troops crossing into the Roman territory, from before Gaeto, during the siege of that place, have been allowed by the French to be made use of in arm ing the bands of brigands and Bourbonists which have been organised within the Papal territory for the invasion of the Southern Provinces of Italy. Lord PALMERSTON said that the arms were given over to the Papal Government, that being the Government of the country. Any distribution of arms since that time could not be by the French Government, but by the Papal Government. The belief was that they had been distri buted amongst people who were collected to make a disturb ance. IRISH AFFAIRS. Mr. SCULLY was calling the attention of the house to the omissions of the Government in relation to Irish affairs, when he was interrupted by Sir AUGUSTUS CLIFFORD, who summoned the house to the House of Peers to hear the Royal assent given to cer tain bills, and to the prorogation of Parliament. The Speaker was accompanied by Lord Palmerston, Sir George Grey, Sir R. Peel, Mr. Clive, Mr. Brand, and other members. On the return of the Speaker the house was adjourned ) and the session of 18G1 was at an end. RACING FIXTURES FOR 1861. AUGUST. Radcliffe l9 Egham 20 Oxford 22 York 2B Plymouth 29 MBER. Richmond 24 Leieester 25 Walsall 25 Lewes Brighton Brighton Club Wolverhampton l2 Reading 14 SEPTE Devon and Exeter Stockton Derby Warwick lO Lichfield Doncaster 17 Monmouth Manchester Autumn OCT( Newmarket F 0 Newmarket S 0 l4 , BER: Newmarket H 2 NOVE: Worcester Autumn 5 Liverpool Autumn 13 [BER. Shrewsbury Autumn... IRELAND. AUGUST. Neath of Maryborough 8 I Roscommon SEPTEMBER. Curragh.. I Tramore OCTO: IBER. I Down Royal Corporation. Londonderry' Curragh 22 THE PRICE OF GOLD The quotation of gold at Paris is about 3 per mille prem., and the short exchange on London is 25.37 k per £1 sterling. On comparing these rates with the English Mint price of £3 175.100. per ounce for standard gold, it appears that gold is about 5-10ths per cent. dearer in London than in Paris. By advices from Hamburg the price of gold is 428 per mark, and the short exchange on London is 13.8 i per £1 sterling. Standard gold at the English Mint price is, therefore, about 9-10ths per cent. dearer in London than in Hamburg. The course of exchange at New York on London for bills at 60 days' sig, , ht is 1061 to 107 per cent., which, when compared with the Mint par between the two countries, shows that the exchange is against England. But, after making allowance for loss of interest and charges of transport, the present rate leaves no profit on sending gold to the United States. " Among the coming journalistic novelties with which London has been made acquainted during these last few days, per advertisement and extensive circular distribu tion, is anew weekly conservative paper to be called the True Conservative. It will rejoice in the contributions of some of the ablest Conservatives, and is to be written « is Saturday Review—powerfully, and full of fact, that is to say. But more especially its columns are to be devoted to business matters—the organisation of the party—to join where there is now a severing—to lop off if there needs to be lopping off —and to record the working, and aid the working, of the very able machinery which at present exists in Conserva tism for registering, electioneering, and other affairs."— Court Journal. A few days since a party of invalids belonging to the sth and 56th Regiments, in charge of Lieut. Seagrim, who have just returned from India, arrived in Colchester camp, and were united to their respec tive depots. In conformity with the new regula tions for the more efficient management of military hospitals, a detachment of the Army Hospital Corps has been sent from Colchester to join the body of non-commissioned officers who will have the charge of the Woolwich General Hospital. The present strength of the camp is little over 1,500 men, but it is rumoured that during the present and ensuing month changes will take place which will augment the force to its full complement of about ,2,500. By order of the War Department extensive addi tions are to be carried out forthwith at the military establishment, Gravesend, by the erection of officers' quarters, men's barracks, magazine and stores, and staff, guard, cooking, and bath houses. The work will be carried out under the direction of the Royal Engineer Department. The Royal Patriotic Society has granted a pension of Bs. 6d. per week to the widow and children of the late Hugh Davis, a gunner of Royal Artillery, whose signal bravery during the Crimean war was rewarded by a pension from her Majesty. The de ceased.while employed in the trenches before Se bastopol was wounded by a bullet shot, but refused to leave his gun, and while engaged in sponging weapon, after firing, both his arms were shot off. Among the numerous reviews that have taken place this year that on Saturday on Wanstead-flats may be registered as one of the most successful. There were present between 10,000 and 15,000 spectators. In accordance with the general order issued, between 4 and 5 o'clock the different corps destined to take part in the review began to arrive upon the flats. Among them were the 3d Essex Administrative Battalion (250), the 2d Tower Ham lets (200), the Victoria Rifles (140), the 3d, 7th, and 10th Tower Hamlets, followed by the West Essex Artillery (300 strong, with the field battery of six guns). The troops were reviewed by Gen. Eyre, who was accompanied by Col. Gordon, Capt. Con grey°, Major Deshon, and Capt. Sidebottom. LATEST NEWS. PARIS, AUG. 6. The Empress will leave Paris this evening fox Eaux Bonnes. TURIN, AUG, 6. The subscriptions to the National Loan have been very numerous. They will probably be sub ject to a reduction of 7 per cent. The news from Naples is more satisfactory. FRANCE. PARIS, AUG. 5. BOURSE, August s.—The market has been firm and with a fair amount of business doing, but with out any improvement in prices. Threes, for the Account, are now at 68f 20c. Railway Shares quiet, but firm, at about Saturday's quotations. The following are the last quotations : ft per per Cents ... 97 90 Credit Fonder 1205 Do end month.... 98 Belgian 41 3 per Cents Do. end month 6B 20 Roman Bank Shares 2890 -- l Austrian Credit Mobilier.... 692 50 Spanish Threes 471 Do. Account 695 Home Debt .. 47 50 lU.ILWAYB. Cash. Account. Orleans 1405 7 7 .. 1407 b 0 Northern. - New ditto 9OO 900 -- • . Lyons and Mediterranean 1003 75 .. 1007 50 Geneva 342 50 .. 345 Southern 605 607 50 Western Eastern Sardinian 362 50 .. Austrian Loirbard 522 50 .. 523 75 AMERICA. LIVERPOOL, MONDAY. The Royal Mail steamship Canada which touehe I at Queenstown on Saturday evening, arrived here yesterday. The papers are full of accounts of the disasters to the Federal arms at Bull's Run on the 21st, and which at first was heralded as a great victory by the Northern journals; but we publish a much more trustworthy account from our special corres pondent elsewhere. Washington letters of the 23d state that the hotels were crowded, and that numbers of soldiers from the defeated army were lying about in the streets unable to obtain shelter. The Secretary of War had addressed the New York Union Defence Committee in the following encouraging terms : " Cheer our friends to active exertions that we may speed!ly retrieve yesterday. We are making vigorous efforts to concentrate an irresistible army at this point. Regiments are now arriving, and many have left for the capital. Our works on the south side of the Potomac are being well manned. The capital is safe." The disaster at Bull's Run had reanimated the volunteer spirit, and thousands of fresh troops had offered their services to the Government. The Senate,. on the 22d, passed a bill to provide for iron-clad ships and floating batteries, and the joint resolution providing for a Board to examine the Stevens' floating battery at Hoboken also passed. The Bill providing for the confiscation of the pro perty of persons found in rebellion against the Go vernment was passed, after being amended so as to include slaves. Mr. Vandever, of lowa, offered a resolution which was at first objected to, but sub sequently passed, declaring that the maintenance of the Constitution and the preservation of the Union are paramount duties, and that "no disasters shall discourage us from their performance." Mr. Crit tenden, of Kentucky, then again pressed his reso lutions, offered a few days previously, declaring that " the present civil war has been forced upon us; that the war is not waged for conquest or sub jugation, and that as soon as the law is vindicated the war ought to cease. They were passed with only two dissenting votes." Congress had not modified the Morrill tariff. The chief alterations are a large increase of the duty on sugar, molasses, and spices, and the establishment of a very high rate upon tea and coffee, and a few other articles hitherto free, but exempting goods on shipboard bound to the United States and goods in public stores from the new provisions. _ _ General Banks, in command at Baltimore, had found it necessary to arrest several persons of Seces sionist tendencies, so great was the rejoicing at the Federal defeat in that city. Several vessels which had put into Northern ports reported having been chased or overhauled by pri vateers. On the 7th of July the schooner S. J. Waring was seized by the Jefferson Davis, which put a prize crew of five men on board, after taking the captain, mate, and two seamen of the schooner on board the privateer. On July 16th, when off Charleston, the steward, a coloured man, named Tilman, taking advantage of the prize crew being asleep, killed three of ttem with a hatchet and threw them overboard, and having intimidated the other two, managed to navigate the schooner to New York. The brig Cuba, bound from Trinidad for London, captured by the Sumter, had been recap tured by the captain (Strout) and taken into New York. At Pensacola the Confederates were actively en gaged throwing up more batteries. The Missouri Convention on the 23d, by 45 to 21, declared the Presidency, held by General Price last Session, vacant, and General Robert Wilson, the former Vice-President, was elected President unanimously. A large body of Confederates, from South-East Missouri, were marching on Pilot Knob, the southern terminus of the Iron Mountain Rail road, and Col. Bland, stationed at that point, had sent for reinforcements. MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT DAVIS. The Canada called off Cape Race for late tele grams from the United States, but, unfortunately, no news despatch had been received at that station. Private telegrams to the 26th of July, however, report that no movement of importance had occurred at the seat of war subsequent to the Canada's depar ture from Halifax. The New York stock market was steady. The screw steamer City of Baltimore, from Liver pool for New York, passed Cape Race, and landed her news there on the 25th ult. The Confederate Congress had assembled at Rich mond, and a telegram from that place, received is the Northern States vta New Orleans, gives the following summary of the Message of President Davis:— " Mr.llavis states that his inaugural called atten tion to the causes which formed the Confederacy, and that it is now only necessary to call attention to such facts as have occurred during the recess, and to matters connected with the public defence. He congratulates Congress on the accession to the Con federacy of other equal Sovereign States. It was deemed advisable to remove the archives of the several departments to Richmond, to which place Congress had already removed the seat of Govern ment. " The aggressive movements of the enemy have induced prompt and energetic action. The accumulation of the enemy's forces on the Potomac has been suf f iciently demonstrative that his efforts are directed against Virginia, and from no point could the necessary measures for her protection be so efficiently directed as from our capital. The rapid progress of the last few months has stripped the veil behind whic h the true policy and purposes of Mr. Lincoln's Government had been previously concealed, and they are now fully re i tciacnked o t re vealed. The message of th eir President, the acti on only impossibl e e t o attain the equalledwicked their Congress during its present Session, confess the intention of subjug atin g the seceded Stat es by war, a folly whichishiollle its Aire alle calamities ala by its ie s n l ness—a war by w hich it i proposed result. While be avoided by us, the y will fall w ith redoubled severity on themselves. ~ Commencing in March last with an affectation of ignorance of the se cess i on of the seven States which organised the Confederate per sisting in April in absurd Governm en t ; assumption of the exist ence of a riot which Was to be dispersed by a pose ..... 21( conzitatus ; continuing in successive months false representations that the States intended offensive war in spite of conclusive evidence to the contrary, furnished as well by official action as by the basis of the Constitution, the President of the United States succeeded in deluding the people of those States into the belief that the purpose of this Go vernment was not peace at home, but conquest abroad ; not the defence of their liberties, but the subjugation of the people of the United States. " The series of manceuvres by which the impres sion was created, the acts by which they Were devised, and the perfidy by which they were exe cuted, are already known. Could it be supposed they would make openly their success a subject of boast e nd self-laudation in the Executive Message ? Pore be en for 1 S ILSta a iSeo for 1 " Fortunately for truth, Mr. Lincoln's Message minutely details the attempt to reinforce Fort Sumter in violation of the armistice, of which he confesses to have been informed only by rumour too vague and uncertain to create any attention. Hostile attempts to supply Fort Sumter are admitted to have been under taken with a knowledge that their success was impossible. The sending a notice to the Governor of South Carolina of the intended ruse for the accomplishment of this object, and, quoting from the inaugural, that there would be no conflict unless these States were the aggressors, and proceeding to declare that his conduct, as in the past will be for the future, was in performance of this promise, which could not be misunderstood. In dEfiance of our statement that he gave notice of the approach of a hostile fleet, he charges these States with being the assailants of the Union. The world cannot mis understand this unfounded pretence. " Mr. Lincoln expresses concern that some foreign nations have so shaped their action as if they sup posed the early destruction of the Union probable. He abandons further disguise, and proposes to make the contest short and decisive, and confesses that even an increased force is demanded. These enor mous preparations are a distinct avowal that the United States are engaged in a conflict with a great and powerful nation, and are compelled to abandon the pretence of dispersing rioters and suppressing insurrection, and are driven to the acknowledgment that the Union is dissolved. They recognise the separate existence of the Confederate States by in direction, by embargo, and blockade, by which all communication between the two is cut off. They repudiate the foolish idea that the inhabitants of the Confederacy are still citizens of the United. States, for they are now waging an indiscriminate war upon them with a savage ferocity unknown to modern civilisation. mode at la 311 0 v, (lam a sligh L iver ing 1 W ere Of i d owini torei Bank " Mr. Davis then compares the present invasion to that of Great Britain in 1781, but which Was conducted in a more civilised manner. " Mankind will shudder at the outrages com mitted on defenceless women by those pretending to be our fellow-citizens: Who will depict the horror with which they will regard the deliberate malignity which, under pretext of suppressing an insurrection, makes special war upon sick women and children, by carefully devised measures to prevent their obtaining medi cines necessary to their cure ? The sacred. claims of humanity, respected by all nations, even in the fury of battle, by careful deviation of attack from hospitals, are now outraged by the Govern• meat which pretends a desire to continue a frater nal connection. Such outrages admit of no retalia tion, unless the actual perpetrators are required. Taylor's mission to Washington was to propose an exchange of prisoners taken on the privateer Sa vannah, and to inform Mr. Lincoln that we are de termined to check all barbarities on prisoners of war by such retaliation as will effectually put en end to such practices. Mr. Lincoln's promised re ply has not been received. Th, Great " Reference is made to the peculiar position exist ing between the Confederate Government and the States usually termed border slave States, which, the Message says, cannot be properly withheld from notice. Our people are animated by the sentiments towards the inhabitants of those States which found expression in your enactment refusing to consider them enemies, or authorise hostilities against them. That a large portion of these States regard us as Th l at eo4 °light brethren, and, if unrestrained by the actual pre_ sence of large armies, the subversion of the civil authority, and declaration of martial law, would, some of them at least, joyfully unite with us ; but that they are with almost entire unanimity opposed. to the prosecution of the war waged against us, is a fact of which daily recurring events warrants the assertion. The President of the United States, ill refusing to recognise those of our late sister States refraining from an attack upon us, justifies his re fusal by the assertion that the States have no other power than that reserved to them in the Union by the Constitution. This new constitutional relation between the States and the general Government $ a fitting introduction to another assertion of the Message—that the Executive possesses the power of suspending the writ of habeas corpus, and of delegatfi ing that power to military commanders, at discretion- Both these propositions claim respect equal to that which is felt for an additional statement of opinion in the same paper—that it is proper, in order to execute the laws, that the single law made to meet the extreme tenderness of citizens for liberty, so that practically it relieves more of the guilty than. of the innocent, should, to a very limited extent, be violated. We may well rejoice that we have for ever severed our connexion with a Government that thus tramples upon all principles of constitutional liberty, and with a people in whose presence such avowals could be paraded. ,‘ Our operations in the field will be greatly a=' tended by reason of this policy, which, hitherto secretly entertained, is now avowed and acted upon by the United States. The forces hitherto raised. have proved ample for the defence of the States which originally organised the Confederacy. With the exception of those fortified islands whose defence is effectively aided by a preponderation of naval force, the enemy has been driven completely out of those States. These forces must, however, n eces' sarily prove inadequate, on account of the invasion by half a million of men now proposed by the enemy' and a corresponding increase of our forces Ilosf becomes necessary. " The Message refers to the crops, which aro th e most abundant in our history. Many believe th e supply adequate to two years' consumption. 1911 r citizens manifest a la u d a bl e p r id e i n upholding their independence unaided by any resources other O laf ", their own, and the sub scr ipti ons t o th e l oan propose! by the Government cannot fall short of 50,000, 00ti 0 dols., and will probably l arge ly excee d that sum. RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF SECOND MONTHLY MAIL TO CHINA• Majesty's Go vernmen t f o r the restoratio n of the second In consequence of the urgent applicati ons made to her monthly service between this country and China, which det ermined was discontinued last month, i t has been e ermined to re 4 establish this service. Mills for Penang. Singapore, and China will accordingly be made up in London on the morning of the 20th inst. for via S ou thampton, and on the evenin g o f th e 26th inst. for dispa t c h via Marseilles, and th enceforwar d the dispatch,m a il s will be dispa tched twice a month, as formerly, viz. °li the e morn ings of the 4th and 20th .. via 3outhamptott ' On the ev enings of the 10th and 26th . . via Marseilles. As the revenue derived from the correspondence con veyed by the line of packets between Point de Galle an d Shanghae is sufficient to cover the cost of this double ser vice, the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury have, by warrant, directed that the postage upon such corresponden ce shall be increased. All letters, therefore, for Penang, Singapore, Hong-k° 96. " and all oth er parts of China, Japan, Java, the PhilipPit' Islands, Labuan, Borneo, Siam, Sumatra, and the Moine: cas, will in future be charged with the following rates et postage, viz. : VIA SOUTHAMPTON. FOR A LETTER. Not exceeding # oz., Is. Above oz. and not exceeding 1 oz., 2s. Above 1 oz. and not exceeding 2 oz., 4s. The tifzit ei T tirki4 e9l 7o A ett iv i Cents. Tha ha ve hrd have r „ 'heffie Easter L In 1 httion E Itott er 4 teli n , Itldiati J o i n Ilav e 1 Nees. Above 2 oz. and not exceeding 3 oz., 6s. ac mel VIA MARSEILL ES. 4 1)9 FOR A LETTER. 84 Not exceeding / oz., ls. 3d. / N Z Above I oz. and not exceeding i oz., ls. 6d. 411° Pe Above i oz. and not exceeding t oz., 2s. 9d. Above i oz, and not exceeding 1 oz., 3s. ° tit t l By command of the Postmaster. General. .4, 14 e ROWLAND HILL, Secreto, - Gtonoral Post Office, August 3, 1861. . A