The Sun. — London, England, 1861-03-06 00:00:00

OY A L ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT-GARDEN. Under the Maaagement of Miss Louisa Pyne and Mr. W. Harrison, Sole Lessees. THIS EVENING, LE DOMINO NOIR. Miss Louisa Pyne, Miss Thirlwall, Miss Leffler ; Messrs. Henry Haigh, H. ,orri, A. St. Albyn, and Horncastle. To conclude with a new Divertissement. Conductor —Mr. Alfred Mellon. Commence at 8. T BEA TR r!.:-RO Y AL, HA YIVIARKET. Lessee, Mr. J. B. Backstone. THIS EVENING, the performancec will commence with THE SUN AND THE WIND. The Leclercqs, &c. After which, a new and original comedy, A DUKE IN DIFFICULTIES. Mrs. Stirling, Miss Fanny Stirling, Mr. Buckstone, &c. To conclude with THE HAPPIEST' DAY OF MY LIFE. Mr. Compton, Mrs. Wilkins, dm. Commence at 7.' ROYA.I, PRINCESS'S THEATRE.- Lessee and Manazer, Mr. A. Harris. THIS EVENING, the Farce of SUSAN SMITH. To be followed by DON CIESAR DE BAZAN. Don Caesar, Mr. Fechter. Supported by Messrs. Basil Potter, F. Matthews, J. G. Shore, Miss M. Harris, Miss C. Leclercq and Mrs. Weston. To conclude with a comic ballet, THE JOLLY MILLER. M. Espinosa, Mr. Garden, &o. A DEL PHI, NEW THEATRE-ROYAL. TA. Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Beni. Webster, THIS EVENING, AN UGLY CUSTOMER. Messrs. J. L. Toole, C. Selby, and Warde ; Miss K. Kelly, and Miss E. Thorne. Alter which, THE COLLEEN BAWN. D. Boncicault, D. Fisher, Billing,:don, Falconer, Stephenson, C. J. Smith, Romer. Miss Agnes Robertson, Miss Woolgar, Mrs. Billington, and Mrs. Chatterley. To conclude with a new Burlesque Extravaganza, entitled BLUE BEARD FROM A NEW POINT OF HUE. Messrs. J. L. Toole, P. Bedford, C. J. Smith ; Miss Woolgar, K. Kelly, Laidlaw, and E. Thorne. Doors open at half past 6—Commence at 7. Box-office open from 10 till 5. No charge for booking. Private boxes, £2 2s. ; Family Boxes, £l. Orohestra Stalls, ss. ,• Baloony, 4s. ; Front Circle Stalls, Zs. s • Pit Stalls, 25.; Pit, 19. 6d. ; A m phith ea t re, Is ; Gallery, ed. Acting Manager—Mr. Win. Smith. CANTERBURY -HALL CONCERTS!! _ Westminster-road. Proprietor........ C. Morton. A Grand Selection from Verdi's new Opera, IL CORSARO, (This opera has never been produced in this or any other country, except at these Concerts), having met with that de cided success which charactise the most popular werks of this gr?at Master, will be performed EVERY EVENING ; together with a Selection from LA FIGLIA DEL REGGI MENTO, by Donizetti, Principal Artistes—Miss Russell, Madame Maria, Miss Tyrrell, Mr. 11. Herbert, Signor Tivoli, H. Drummond, and C. W. Bernard. Director, Mr. F. Jonglimsns. The Comic Department comprises Messrs. E. Marshall, A. B. Hollingsworth, J. Blanchard, F. Bell, W. H. Welland, and the Brothers Conrad. John Martin's Three celebrated Pictures will remain on view a short time longer in the Fine Arts Gallery of the Establishment. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. THIS DAY.—Morning, 9h. 29m.—Afternoon, 10h. 20m. To-moitßow.-31orning, 1111. 10m.—Afternoon, 11h. 48m. THE WEATHER.—SUN OFFICE, MARCH 6, 1561 THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 49—highest since noon yesterday. 46 —lowest this morning and during the night. 43 —this day at:noon. BAROMETER-29.87 ; falling again. WlND—South-Westerly—fresh, with fine but uncertain weather. It is still rather stormy. r 4l 4VA _„<•,& 4E14! • . A\ • THE SUN. LONDON, 'WEDNESDAY, "MARCH 6, 1881 Another defeat of the Strong Government ! It will be remembered that very shortly after the commencement of the session Ministers were placed in a minority of " four" upon a motion of Mr. HUBBARD'S in reference to the Income Tax, a motion introduced and carried notwithstanding the collective antagonism of the Cabinet, and in very despite even of the formidable eloquence opposed to it by her MAJESTY'S Chancellor of the Ex chequer. It remains now to be related (as the second dis comfiture endured in 1861 by the Coalition) that last evening Ministers were placed in a minority of " five" upon Sir JAMES ELPHINSTONE'S motion for a select committee to consider the present system of promotion and retirement in the royal navy; to consider the present pay and posi tion of the several classes of naval offi cers ; and to report what changes therein were desirable, with a view to the increased efficiency of the naval service. In fact this motion intro duced last evening in the House of Commons by the hon. and gallant member for Portsmouth has in view the bursting up of the whole rotten system so long the scandal of the nation, the system hence forth, let us hope doomed (by reason of the vote of last evening), the notorious, extravagant, inefficient, and, for th.s most part, irresponsible system of ad ministration hitherto in vogue at the Admiralty. The motion, it will be perceived, was in no way vague or merely generalised. It was specific enough in its mode of indicating some of the more grievous abuses complained of in the most popular, and even, it may-be said, national of the two great warlike services or professions. It pointed directly to the necessity for a clean sweep being made as soon as pos sible through the existing system of promotion and of retirement, and together with this the necessity also of revising at length at as early a date as may be, the present scale of yay, and the present gradation of rank and position discernible among the several classes of naval officers serving under the floating banners of Britannia. This trenchant and two-edged motion, this motion capable of cutting both ways, and of thus ripping up the whole system of abuses so long maintained almost intact at the Admiralty, was introduced, recollect, by no unprofessional member, but on the contrary, by one no less qualified to form a decided opinion upon the matter, than the lion. and gal lant representative of Portsmouth, Sir JAMES ELPIIINSTONE. It was seconded by Mr. BAILLIE COCHRANE, and was supported among others by Sir H. STRACEY, by Admiral WALCOTT, by Sir MICHAEL SEYMOUR, by Lord JOHN MANNERS, and by Sir JOHN PAKINGTON. It was opposed on the other hand with considerable and very out spoken energy by Sir FRANCIS BARING, by Lord CLAM:NCB PAGET, and even, be it observed also, immediately prior to the division, by the noble viscount at the head of the Administration. Includ ing the four tellers and the Speaker, there were in the house at the time of the division which took place at the close of this smart little discussion, altogether 204 of the representatives. Yet out of that number only 07 could be found in s all to un it e un d er t h e b eck of the Ali teril Tell ers in support of the motion— a motion, recolle&-, like that of Mr. HUBBARD'S, sim ply for a committee of inquiry; that motion of last night being carried, as we have seen, by a clear majority of " five," lO2 having backed the pro position of Sir JAMES ELPIIINSTON E. If Afinisters will run their heads against stone walls, They must look only for th e c l ear l y inevitable consequences. If they will op pose the at.tion of a If of Inquiry into the mode of assessment merely of Schedule I), in the matter .of the Income Tax, they must not be surprised to fi'ud themselves in a minority of " four" in a by a, lo means thin house. Ag a i n , i f they will oppose, i n like manner, the notion of a - - Committee of Inquiry in regard to the state ofthings at that notorious plac are Admiralty, they must not feel so annoyed wiwn"shey discover themselves, THEATRE - ROYAL LYCEUM. soio Lessee and Directress, Madame CELESTE. THIS EVENING the Butletta of T lAT RASCAL, JACK. _ Followed by the new drama, THE HOUSE ON THE BRIDGE OF NOTRIC DAME. Principal charasters by Mr. G. Vining, Mr. J. Johnstone, Mr. Villiers, Mr. Clifford, Mr. John Rouse, Mr. Forrester, Mr. Morris ; Miss M.Ternan, Miss K. Saville, Miss L. Thompson, and Madame Celeste. Alter which, the Lyceum Christmas Combs Extravaganza, CRYSTABELLE ; or, The Rose without a Thorn, showinz rHE VISION OF A ROSE. ITS FADING AT EVE: AND THE MAY-BLOO3I OF THE WILD BRIAR. as they►, happily for the country, had occasion to do last evening, in a minority of "five," in a house of Ino less than 204 members. "Pride will have a fall" sometimes, and that, moreover, occasionally in very miry places. And this is precisely what has already happened twice at this early date of the Session—once in the matter of the Income Tax, once in the matter of the Admiralty— it is precisely what has happened thus upon two successive occasions even to the great Liberal Party, even to the Strong Government. Incidentally in the course of the discussion last evening there was an unfortunate little squabble of a personal kind between Admiral WALCOTT and Sir JOHN PAKINGTON : one in which the gallant Admiral appears most unquestionably and unluckily for himself to have been so far carried away by his feelings as to have lost his temper for the moment, being even called to order for a curt and somewhat discour teous interruption. Apart from this little parenthetic incident, the animated debatt leading to the division was conducted in all good humour by those who participated in the discussion—though the subject itself was one fraught, we cannot but feel, with sufficiently irritating influences. It has been significant of the whole rotten, bungling, jumbling system of things at the Admi ralty—it has been especially significant of the love the officials have there to hush up everything in the way of inquiry —it has been surely very signi ficant of all this—that little ridiculous incident relating to Admiral Sir BALDWIN WALKER! That gallant officer was, first of all, sent away in a great hurry, and, in the very nick of time, manifestly to get rid of him opportunely. And then, when his recall, for the purpose of obtaining his evidence, is forced upon the Government, after his departure, the Admiralty sends out in chase of him the old Avon, one of the slowest ships in her Majesty's service ! The whole proceeding is exceed ingly suspicious at the same time that it is also excessively absurd. No wonder that the House laughed when Lord C. PAGET got up gravely to inform it that the Avon had been actually sent out yesterday morning to endeavour to intercept Sir BALDWIN WALKER in the Narcissus ! Whereupon Sir J. PAKINGTON rose for the purpose of saying—" After the statement made by the noble lord, I wish to ask whether it is true that no telegram was sent from the Admiralty until half-past eleven o'clock to-day; and, secondly, whether the Avon is not reckoned one of the slowest ships in her Majesty's service ?" The Admiralty Secretary being compelled to acknow ledge Yes that this was perfectly true, but that it was yet quite possible the Avon might succeed, after all, in catching up the Narcissus. It is a way they have with them—of doing things at the Admiralty ! As to " the way the money goes" under their amazing system of mismanagement yonder at the Admiralty—well, some timely notion may be formed of that, too, upon a glance down another column of our impression of this yesterday. That somewhat important column of The Sun of to night, in which a keen-witted correspondent of ours, signing himself "Prudent Economy," analyses by anticipation the on-coming Naval Estimates. It will be seen from that analysis how it virtually takes 316 clerks to mismanage matters, as they are mismanaged down at the Admiralty-316 clerks at an average salary of £277 each, making in all the pretty total of £87,822 ! It will be seen, again, that these 316 clerks require to be waited upon by no less than 81 messengers—one Mercury for four clerks, or thereabouts, at an annual outlay of some £7,000 sterling additional. These, and a crowd of other kindred items are opportunely brought to light just now and grouped together by our merciless correspondent. It is like a glimpse into the Circumlocution Office, as described by Mr. DICKENS. It is like an initiation into the great Admiralty Mystery of How NOT TO Do IT. The disturbance at Warsaw, now that fuller information has arrived respecting it, appears to have all the significance, to say the least, which we attributed to it. No doubt can now remain that it will take but little indeed to call into vigorous life the sentiment of Polish nationality throughout all the country once belonging to that long suppressed people. There is something almost awful in the vitality of the feeling of nationality. Italy, Hun gary, and now Warsaw, are proofs that no oppres sion can suffice to extinguish it. Small, indeed, must be the district, and conciliatory the mea sures of amalgamation with the conquering coun try, if any European people is to become by degrees merged into a larger one. Nations, like the three just mentioned, evidently cannot be extinguished by the mere will of the rulers who have sub jugated them to their despotic sway. Poland looks now, almost like one risen from the dead to warn the despots of Europe that they may crush a people but cannot kill it. Give it tine, and it is found that the very children of the vanquished grow up, not with the spirit of slavery, but with the spirit of resentment and of freedom, and are ready at any moment to resume,—all the wiser for past lessons—the position of their fathers. The signs of national feeling were of the two kinds which show that it is a permanent, unaltered sentiment. The sight of 30,000 people of all ages and classes falling on their knees as soon as they saw the White Eagle of Poland displayed, the tears they shed, the national hymn which ascended to Heaven, and all spontaneous—without even the slightest prearrangement or concert, all show that there was in the hearts of those thou sands a settled and cherished love for,, their nation which needed but the slightest safe occasion for displaying itself. And then, on the other hand, there was the deliberate, the calmly-considered address of the more educated classes to the EM PEROR, inspired by the same sentiment as that which brought the multitude to their knees before the flag of their country. They say to the EMPEROR —" Every inhabitant of this unfortunate country entertains in his heart a deep•rooted sentiment of nationality quite distinct from that of the other people of Europe. This sentiment resists the effects of time and of events ; misfortune, instead of weak ening it, has strengthened it. Whatever Rounds it or insults it upsets the public mind." Advert ing therefore to the calamitous events that had just occurred, they inform the EMPEROR that they were no mere street disturbances, no bursting forth of the turbulent and disorderly, glad to lay hold of any occasion to create a tumult. " These events—they tell the EMPEROR—the heartrend ing details of which we abstain from describing, were by no means called forth by the sub versive passions of any particular class of the population ; on the contrary, they are the unani mous and eloquent manifestation of sentiments discarded and of wants ignored. More than half a century of suffering imposed upon the whole nation, upDn a nation which for centuries was governed by liberal institutions ; this nation deprived even of a legal voice to bring before the throne of the Sovereign the complaints and ex . .. _ pression of the general wants ; all this state of thing s has forcibly reduced this people only to make its voice heard by the cry of its victims, and thus it never ceases to offer up a holocaust." Blood was shed no doubt hastily and wantonly Russia, we may hope, is in a somewhat disabled condition. It is said, we hope falsely, that the EMPEROR has, by telegraph, blamed the mildness of GORTSCHAKOFF in his mode of treating the dis turbance. We know, however, that if the Poles be unorganised, Russia has not money or soldiers to spare just now. She has been obliged to relax the conscription since the Crimean war; on the verge of emancipating her serfs, she can hardly accompany that measure with with the unpopular one of a conscription ; and being, therefore, short of money and of soldiers too, she may find some little difficulty in adopting a coercive policy towards the Poles. Such a policy is also supposed to be alien to the natural temper of the Czar. But Czars, especially of the blood of ROMANOFF, are very much like the huge feline ani mals—they may seem tamed and good-tempered, but all at once, and unexpectedly, the tiger proves him self a tiger in nature as well as in form, and some unhappy victim pays the forfeit of his confidence. We can never trust a Czar. The instinct for the blood of liberty is too strong not to break out with but little temptation. We can only hope that circumstances will induce the present CZAR to re store peaceably, the rights which his ruthless and savage father took away from Poland. The incidents which have marked the close of the memorable trial of the YELVERTON Marriage Case are, in their way, as romantic and extraordinary and as entirely unparalleled as the love story in which that trial originated. The enthusiasm manifested by all Dublin at the tidings of the now well-known Verdict on Monday, produced a spectacle, in its way and of its kind, wholly and absolutely unexampled. The unharnessing of the horses in the Hon Mrs. YELVERTON'S carriage; the dragging her in triumph in that carriage from the Four Courts to the hotel at which she is temporarily residing; the roars of applause, that greeted her as she passed, from every house, from garret to basement ; the pro- cession of the citizens, walking arm in arm, in a spontaneously improvised demonstration; every particular in regard to this latest scene in the drama is in perfect keeping with the whole romantic history of the double marriage. About the lady herself there are surely clustered many of the attributes of POPE'S BELlNDA—insomuch that, reading the accounts now coming to us of the frantic enthusiasm manifested in her regard by the men of Dublin, one is almost disposed to echo Sergeant ARMSTRONG'S exclamations of Syren and Enchantress ! The fascination she appears to have excited indiscriminately upon all around her, seems to be the very reflex of BELINDA'S, in the epic of the drawing -room— "If to her share some female errors fall, Look in her face and you'll forget them all I" And then, too, remembering that requirement of hers, that whosoever aspired to obtain her as his wife must first of all, as the essential preliminary to the marriage ci..-remony, conform in some manner at least to her creed—it is with her again, as with POPE'S BELINDA " On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore, Which Jews might kiss and. Infidels adore." And to crown all, and to complete all in the romantic picture presented to view, first of all by her Irish marriage, and secondly by its sequel, the verdict of the Dublin jury on Monday evening and the enthusiasm awakened by the news of that verdict among the Dublin population—it is like the realisation of the last stanza of one of the most far-famed of MOORE'S " Irish Melodies " " Rich and rare were the gems she wore !" For here, at the close of the narrative of this remark able trial, at the termination of this scene of Irish enthusiasm, it might literally be written— " On she went, and her mournful smile In safety lighted her through the Green Isle ; And blest for ever is she who relied On Din's honour and Erin's pride I " The Right Hon. the Speaker will hold his first levee (full dress) this evening . , at half-past ten o'clock, at his official residence. The bar silver brought by the Mexican steamer has been disposed of at 61d. per ounce, being the same rate as that obtained for the last arrival. Business to some ex • tent has, however, been effected in the interim at 61hd. Nothing has as yet been done with the dollars. The arrival at Malta on the 2d inst. is announced of the Bombay mail of the 12th of February. Freights had advanced Lis., and the exchange was 2s. lid., showing a movement of one or two per cent. in favour of this country. The letters may be expected in London to-morrow. MAILS FOR SWEDEN.—The mail steam packets under contract with the Swedish Government having re commenced their voyages between Hull and Gothenburg, mails for conveyance by these packets will be made up in London on the evening of Friday the Bth inst., and on the evening of every subsequent Friday until further notice. All letters and newspapers addressed to Gothenburg. and Uddewalla will be forwarded by these packets, unless directed to be otherwise sent; but letters and newspapers for other parts of Sweden, intended to be transmitted by these packets, must be specially addressed " By Swedish Packet." TIIE ATTEMPTED BURGLARY AT LORD ELCHO'S. —At the Middlesex Sessions yesterday, Roberts and Thomas, the two men charged with attempting burgla rously to enter the house of Lord Elcho, were sentenced, Roberts to two years' and Thomas to three years' itnpri sonnieut. by the troops. The people assembled to celebrate a funeral service for their heroes who fell in the fierce battle of Grochow, under the walls of War saw, for Polish liberty—they were pushed back by the troops—they resented it and threw stones, which our troops here generally bear with exemplary patience from a provoked populace. Not so the Russians. They fired, and, in doing so, shot six highly respectable gentlemen, members of the Agricultural Association, who were just leaving their meeting. Next day blood was shed again, four citizens being killed in a similar manner, and for a similar reason. Under these circumstances the people have been wonderfully quiet. The soldiers were confined to their barracks the people were permitted to inter the corpses solemnly, after having borne them in pro cession through the streets, and especially displayed them at the French Consulate. The French Consul General is said to have addressed the people; in what strain we are not told. This last circumstance is significant. The Na tionalities, are looking from all quarters to France, and Prince NAPOLEON tells them pretty plainly, that they will not look in vain. There is this dif ference just now between England and France in respect to the nations demanding their resuscitation, or their liberties; the two nations feel alike; not so their Governments. The English people are cer tainly not surpassed by the French in their goodwill towards both Hungarian and Polish independence; but the English Government will, if it can, aid in keeping Hungary subjugated to Austria, and Poland in the hands of Russia. The latter our rulers would not, perhaps, care about so much, but beloved Austria and Prussia have each their smaller slice of Poland, and a grievous thing indeed it would be, if the Prussian and Austrian Poles, should prefer, like the Italians, to leave the nations which have so long ruled them as conquerors, and to become their own masters. The French Go vernment is at one with the English people and with file French people, too, in thinking that this would be a happy consummation. The Bonapartists all now avow that the Great NAPOLEON made a great mistake in not setting up, when he had the opportunity, an inde pendent kingdom of Poland ; and the Third NAPOLEON is naturally not unwilling to retrieve the errors of the First. LATEST NEWS. REUTER'S TELEGRAMS. PARIS, WEDNESDAY (NOON. 3 per Cent. Rentes, 67f. 90c. Heavy. PARIS, WEDNESDAY, The Moniteur of this morning announces that the interest on Treasury bills has been raised to 31, 4, and 41 per cent., according to the length of time they have to run. ROME (via Marseilles), MARCH 2, Francis 11. and his Queen are making prepara tions for departure to Bavaria. They are selling their carriages, and have dismissed their household. General Bosco is about to proceed to Spain. Placards have again been posted up bearing the words, " Long live Victor Emmanuel." A fresh demonstration by the students of the University has taken place. The works on the Roman railways are being continued. The funds for the next half-year's pay ments have been deposited at the bank. NAPLES (via Marseilles), MARCH 2. The Mint and some other former royal establish. ments have been suppressed. Placards, secretly printed, demanding the auto nomy have been suppressed. Tranquillity has not, however, been disturbed. ROME, MARCH 3 Popular political manifestations are continually taking place. Twenty students have been expelled from university. Francis 11. has dismissed his suite, composed of 100 persons, and also Prince Besignano, his Grand Chamberlain. Cardinal Antonucci is on the point of death. !POSEN, MARCH All Polish noblemen holding offices throughout the kingdom of Poland have tendered their resig nation. Their example has been followed by al the Poles in the Russian service. BERLIN, MARCH 5. The New Prussian Gazette (Kreuzzeitung) says " According to private advises from Warsaw Prince Gortschakoff is said to have telegraphed the address of the inhabitants to St. Petersburg, and received an unfavourable reply from the Em peror, who blamed the clemency of the Prince, and, it is asserted, commanded him to proclaim a state of siege." PARIS, MARCH 5. MM. Jules Favre, Darimon, Picard, Emile, 011i vier, and Dr. Henon, members of the Opposition, proposed to-day the following amendment to the address :—" The hour has come for applying to Rome the wise principle of the system of non intervention, by the immediate withdrawal of the French troops, to leave Italy mistress of her own destinies." MARCH 5 (Evening). In to-day's sitting of the Senate paragraphs 6, 6, and 7of the Address were agreed to. An amend ment of Senator Pietri, referring to the annexation of Savoy and Nice, was also adopted. On the paragraph relating to Syria being read, M. Billault stated that negotiations on the question of the prolongation of the occupation having com menced, it was impossible to enter into any expla nations. The Conference would shortly reassemble, and there was reason to hope that the mission of pacification would be continued by France. The discussion of the amendments relative to Rome was adjourned until to-morrow. THE BRAZIL MAILS. LISBON, MARCH 5. The royal mail steam ship Magdalena, Captain IVoolward, has arrived here with the above mail. At Rio Janeiro, on the Bth ult., exchange on London was quoted 26 to 26k. Coffee, good first, 5,500 to 5,600 reis ; shipments since the departure of the last mail, 127,700 bags, including 56,000 for the Channel ; stock, 40,000 bags. Freight, 65s to 755. At Bahia, exchange on London was quoted 261 Cotton, 8,000 to 8,200 reis. The Pernambuco exchange on London was 26, ,o 26-;. Sugar, whites, 4,200 reis. SOUTHAMPTON, MARCH 5. The Hay tian war steam corvette Twenty-second December, Capt. Depury, from Newcastle, bound for St. Domingo, has put in here for coals. THE EMANCIPATION OF THE RUSSIAN SERFS. A letter from St. Petersburg; dated February 25, says : " The Council of the Empire held its last sitting to-day on the question of the emancipation of the serfs. The Emperor spoke at considerable length. Other speeches were made, among others a remark able one by Prince Paul Gagarine. A decision was adopted by a considerable majority, to the following intent : " ' PerAonal liberty is accorded to the serf; all relations between proprietors and peasants cease at once. The latter are to receive as their own property the house they live in and the kitchen garden (potager) belonging to it. As regards the allotment (nadiel) of the labour land the Council L of the• Empire has accepted the fixation of one fourth of the allotment first fixed by the committee on the report according to the different districts, or from one to two dissiatines per head.' "A little explanation is necessary. The com mittee on the report had proposed to allow to the peasants a certain quantity of labour land amount. ing, according to the districts, to from three to eight dissiatines, at a fixed price de termined by the commission in the project. The committee admitted in principle that the peasants that were to be liberated and endowed are all cultivators. But, in reality, the number of cultivators is far from forming the totality of actual serfs. A great number of them are occupied in different trades, and it would be hard upon them to compel them to purchase a c Dnsiderable quantity of labour land belonging to the landed proprietor. It is, moreover, very difficult to ascertain at once the exact number of cultivators in. Russia, the greatest portion of the landed property , being administered by means of the Obrok, that is to say, a fixed tax paid by the peasants. It is only when the system of the Corvee (barstchina) prevails that the peasant is compelled to be cultivator, because he is obliged himself to cultivate the land of his proprietor. How the 1 ibour of the Russian peasant will henceforth be divided has still to be seen, but it would be very useless, even dangerous in a point of view of the expansion of the 'productive resources of Russia, to settle everything beforehand, These are about the reasons which actuated the Council to decide that the allotment at a fixed price shall only extend to one quarter of the obligatory purchase-land deter mined by the Committee in the reprt, and that if the peasants are desirous of cultivating larger tracts of land on their own account they must come to a private agreement on the subject with their former proprietors. " Thus has been resolved, if not in a perfect man ner—and there is nothing perfect in this world— at least in a possible and practicable manner, the great 'question of emancipation, which for years held the whole couAtry in suspense. The modifica tions made in the original project are of a nature to conciliate the slJtsceptibilites as well as the in- terests of the two classes concerned, which it was most important to separate without making them adversaries. "The Imperial manifesto is already in the prin• ter's hands, and some 100,000 copies will be issued throughout the different printing offices, under the especial superintendence of the Minister of Justice. The proclamation of the emancipation will, how ever, not be made on the 3d of March, as announced. It would not be prudent to proclaim the 'indivi dual liberty' without at the same time explaining the conditions upon which it is granted. At all events, the delay will only be for a few weeks or days, during which time the Carnival will be over, at which period the Russian peasant is not remark able for exemplary sobriety. It will be, therefore, at the commencement of Lent that the Imperial manifesto will be issued• It is, in fact, the most propitious moment for the publication of a decree of this importance." • FRANCE. BOURSE, March s.—The market remains in the same inanimate state, and with but trifling varia tion in prices. Threes are now 67f 95c. Railways quiet. The following are the last quotations :- 4f per - per Cents ... 97 90 Credit Fancier 930 Do end month.... —1 Belgian 4 3 per Cents Do. end month 6B Roman Ban:; Shares 2885 Austrian Credit Mobilier.... 850 Spanish Threes 4B Do. Account 651 25 ; Home Debt RAILWAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans l4lB 75 .. 1420 Northern .... New ditto — . . Lyons and Mediterranean 943 75 .. 917 50 Geneva — .. —.-- Southern 527 60 .. 530 Western Eastern Sardinian Austrian Lowbard .. 473 75 .. 473 75 P RLIAMEiVTARY DIVISIONS. HOUSE OF COMMONS-MARCH 5. HOP DUTIE Motion made, and question put, " Ilit the maintenance of any duties upon hops is impolitic, and that in any re mission of taxation or adjustment of financial burdens provision should be made for the removal of such duties." The house divided ; Ayes 110, Noes 202. AYES-110. Adderley, C. B. Foley, Hon. H. W. Malins, R., Alcock, T. Forster, Sir G. Martin, P. W. Augerstein, W. Gard, R. S. Mildmay, H. Archdall, Capt.M.E. Garnett, W. J. Mills, A. Arnott, Sir J. George, John Morgan, C. 0. S. Ball, E. Gore, J. R. 0. Nicol, William Barrow, W. 11. Graham, Lord Wm. Papillon, P. 0. Barttelot, Major Greenall, G. Parker, Major W. Bathurst, F. H. Greene, Capt. J. Pevensey, Viscount Batley, Thomas Griffith, CD. Redmond, J. E. Beach, W. W. Haliburton, Justice Rogers, John Beamish, F. B. Hanbury, Captain Rowley, Hon. R. T. Beecroft, G. S. Hardy, Gathorne Salomong,Alderman Bentinck, G. W. P. Hardy, J. Sclater-Booth, G, Bramston, T. W. Henley, Lord Seymer, H. K Briscoe, J. I. Hennessy, J. P. Shelley, Sir J. V. Bristow, A. Holmesdale, Lord Sibthorp, Major Bruce, C. L. C. Hubbard, J. G. Sidney, 'Thomas Bruce, H. A. Jervis, Captain Smith, Sir F. Cayley E. S. Johnstone, Hon. H. S omes, J osep h Churchill, Lord A. Kekewich, S. Stewart, Sir M. R. Clive, H. G. W. Kennard, R. Stracey, Sir H. Close, M. C. King, J. K. Taylor, Colonel Cobbett, J. M. Kinglake, Serj. J. Tempest, Lord A.V. Coningham, Wm. Knox, Lt.-C01.8.W. Thynne, Lord H. Cubitt, George Lacon, Sir E. Tomline, G. Deedes, Wm. Lanigan, J. Upton, General Du Cane, Chas. Layard, A. H. Vane, Lord H. G. Duke, Sir James Leader, N. Vansittart, Wm. Dunne, Col. Lee, W. Watlington, J. W. Edwards, Major H. Legh, W. White, Jas. Egerton, Sir P. Leighton, Sir B. Winnington, Sir T. Egerton, E. C. Lennox, Lord H. G. Wyld, James Egerton, W. Locke, John Wyndham, Hon. P. Farquhar, Sir M. Long - field, Robert Fenwick, Henry Macdonogh, F. TELLERS. Fulmer, Sir E. McEvoy,.. Dodson, John G. Foley, J. H. Mackinnon,W.(Rye) Bridges, Sir 8., Bt. NOES-202. Acton, Sir J. Gower, F. L. Palk, L. Adeane, H. J. Greenwood, J. Palmerston, Viset. Agnew, Sir A. Greg - son, S. Patten, J. W. Anson, Capt. Grenfell, C. P. Peacocke, G. M. Antrobus, E. Grey, Rt. Hn. Sir G. Pease, H. Atherton, W. Gurdon, B. Peel, Sir R. Baillie, 11. J. Gurney, John H. Peel, F. Baines, E. Gurney, Samuel Philipps, J. H. Baring, Sir F. Hadfield, Geo. Pilkin. - ton, James Baring, Thos. Geo. Hamilton, Lord C. Pollard Urquhart W Baxter, W. E. Hankey, Thomson Pritchard, John Beaumont,Somerset Harcourt, G. G. V. Proby, Lord. G. L. Bellew, It. M. Hartington,Marquis Pugh, D. (Carmar.) Bethell, Sir R. Hartopp, E. B. Puller, C. W. Biddulph,:Col. R.M. llayter, Sir Wm. Quinn, Peter Biggs, John Ileadlam, Thos. E ltaynham, Viscoun' Black, Adam Heneage, G. Ricardo, J. L. Blencowe, J. G. Henley, J. Ridley, Sir 11. W. Bonham-Carter, J. Hervey, Lord A Roebuck, J. A. Bouverie, P. P. Hodgkinson, G. Rothschild,BaronL Bright, J. Holland, E. Roupell, W. Buchanan, W. Hood, Sir A. Russell, Lord J. Buckley, Maj.-Gen. Howard, Hon. C. Russell, Hastings Buller, J. W. Howes, Edward Russell, A. J. E. Bury, Viscount Humberstone, P. S. Russell, Sir Wm. Butler, C. S. Hunt, G. W. St. Aubyn, J. Caird, James Hutt, W. Salt, Thomas Cardwell, Rt. Hn. E. Ingham, R. Scholeffed, W. Carnegie, Hon. C. James, Edwin Scrope, G. P. Castlerosse, Fist. Jermyn, Earl Selwyn, C. J. Childers, H. C. E. Jervoise, Sir J. Seymour, Sir M. Clay, James Johnstone, Sir J. Smith, J. B. Clive, George Jones, D. Smith, Augustus Coke, W. C. Kendall, N. Smith, M. ~...,... Cowper, Hon. W.F. Kershaw, J. Smith, Abel Craufurd, E. H. J Kingscote, Lt.-Col. Smith, S. G. Crawford, R. W. Langton, H. G. Staniland, M. Cross, R. A. Lawson, W. Stansfeld, J. Dalglish, Robert Leathern, E. Steel, John Davie, Sir H. R. F. Lefroy, A. Steuart, A. Davie, Col. F. Legh, G. C. Stuart, Col. Disraeli, Benjamin Lennox, Lord G. G. Sullivan, M. Duff, M. E. Leslie, IV. Taylor, Hugh Duff, Major. Lewis, Sir G.C., Bt. Thornhill, W. P. Dundas, Frederick Lindsay, W. S. I Tollemache, Hon.F. Egerton, A. F. Lindsay, Colonel Tollemache, J. H. Elphinstone, Sir J Lockhart, A. E. Trefusis, Hon. C. H. Estcourt, S. Lowe, Rt. Hon. R. Trelawny, Sir J. S. Evans, T. IV. Lesley, W. Tynte, Col. C. J. K. Ewart, William Mackie, J. Villiers, lit. Hon. e. Ewart, J. C. Marsh, 31. H. Vivian, H. H. Ewing, H. E. C. Martin, J. Walcott, Adm. J. E. Farrer, James Matheson, A. Walpole, S. H. Ferguson, R. Miller, William Warner, Edward Fermoy, Lord Mitchell, T. A. Watkins, J. L. V. Finlay, A. S. Moffat, George NVemyss, J. Fitzwilliam, C. W. Monsell, lit. Hn. W. IVesthead, B. Foljambe, F. J. S. Monson, W. J. Whitbread, S. Forster, Charles Morris, D. Wood, Rt Hn. Sir C Forster, W. E. Mowbray, Rt. Hn. J. Woodd, B. T. Fortescue, C. S. Mure, David Woods, Henry Gavin, Major Norris, J. T. Wrightson W. B. Gibson, T. M. Northcote, Sir S. Wy nne , W . W. E. Gilpin, C. Ogilvy, Sir J. Wyvill, M. Gladstone, W. E. Packe, C. W. Glyn, G. C. Padmore, It. Glyn, G. G. Paget, C. Goldsmid, Sir F. Paget, Lord C. E. Brand, H. B. Gordon, C. W. Paget, Lord A. Dunbar, Sir Wm. TELLERS. NAVY (PROMOTION AND RETIREMENT). Motion made, and question put, "That a select committee be appointed to consider the present system of promotion and retirement in the Royal Navy, and the present pay and position of the several classes of naval officers, and to report what changes therein are desi ra bl e , w ith a v i ew to the increased efficiency of the naval service." The house divided ; Ayes 102, Noes 97, AYES- 102. Adderley, C. B. Grogan, Sir E. Palk, Sir L. Arnott, Sir J. Hassard, M. Papillon, I'. 0. Astell, J. H. Hennessy, J. P. Parker, Major W. Baillie, H. J, Hodgkinson, G. Pollard-Urquhart Barttelot, Major Holmesdale, Vis. Quinn, P. Bathurst, F. H. Hood, Sir A. A. Rowley, R. T, Beach, W. W. B. Hopwood, J. T. Russell, Sir W. Beamish, F. B. Humberston, P. S. Salomons, Alder. Beecroft, G. S. blunt, G. W. Scott, Sir W, Bentinck, G. W. Jervis, Captain Selwyn, C. J. Bridges, Sir B. IV. Johnstone, H. B. Seymour, Sir M. Buller, Sir A. W. Jones, D. Smith, S. G. Burghley, Lord Kekewich, S. T. Somes, J. Cairns, Sir H. Kelly, Sir F. Stewart, Sir M. Carnegie, C. Kendall, N. Stuart, Lieut.-Col. Close, M. C. Kennard, It. W. Sullivan, M. Cochrane, A. D. Knox, Colonel Talbot, W. C. Coningham, W. Lacon, Sir E. Taylor, Colonel Cubitt, G. Leathern, E. A. Thynne, Lord E. Darner, S. D. Lennox, Lord G. Torrens, It. Deedes, W. Leslie, Wm. Trefusis, C. 11. It. Duke, Sir J. Liddell, H. G. Upton, General Dunne, Col. Lindsay, Colonel Valletort, Vis. i Edwards, Major Lockhart, A. E. Vance, J. Egerton, W. MacEvoy, E. Vansittart, W. Farquhar, Sir M. Mackinnon, W. A. Walcott, Admiral Fellowes, E. Manners, Lord J. Watlington, J. W. Fitz Gerald, W. It. Maxwell, Colonel Wemyss, J. 11. E. Forster, Sir G. Milford, W. T. White, J. Gard, It. S. Monson, W. J. Wybl, J. George, J. - Morris, D. Wyndham, H. Gore, .J. R. 0. Mowbray, J. R. 'Wyndham, P. Greenall, 0. Mure, D. TELLERS. Greene, John Ogilvy, Sir J. Sir .T. Elphinstone Griffith, C. D. Pakington, Sir J. Sir H. Stracey NOES —97. Agar-Ellis, L. G. Foljambe, F. J. S. Moffatt, G. Agnew, Sir A. Forster, W. E. Paget, Lord F. Antrobus, E. Fortescue, F. D. Paget, Lord C. Atherton, Sir W. Fortescue. C. S. Palmerston, Via. Ayrton, A. S. Gavin, Major Pease, Henry Baines, E. Gibson. T. M. Peel, Fred. Baring, Sir F. Gifford, Earl of Pilkington, J. Baring, T. G. Gill..in, C. Pritchard, John Berkeley, 11. F. Gladstone, W. Proby, Lord Biggs, J. Glyn, G. F. Pugh, David Bonham-Carter, J. Goldsmid, Sir F. Puller, C. W. G. Bouverie, I'. P. Gower, F. L, Raynham, Via. Buckley, Grneral Greenwood, J. Ricardo, 0. Bury, Viscount Gregson, S. Russell, H. Butt, Isaac Grey, Sir G. St. Aubyn, John Buxton, C. Hanbury, R. Shelley, s.ir J. Cardwell, E. Hankey, T. Smith, M. T. Castlerosse, Vis. Hayter, Sir W. Smith, A. Coilders, H. C. E. Ileadlam, T. E. Stacpoole, W. Clay, James Heneage, G. F. Stansfeld, J. Clifford, C. C. Henley, J. W. Thyme, Lord H. Clive, George Hervey, Lord A. Tynte, Col, K. Cowper, W. F. butt, Wm. Vane, Lord 11. Craufurd, E. A. J. Jermyn, Earl Villiers, C. P. Dalglish, R. Kershaw, J. Vyner, It. A. Davey, R. liity4sco'e, Col. Watkins, Col. L Davie, Col. F. Einnaird, A. F. Whitbread, S. Douglas, Sir C. Lawson, W. Wood, Sir C. Dunlellin, Lord Lew a, Sir G. C. Woods, Henry Evans, T. Wm. Locke, John Ewart, J. C. Lowe, H. Ferguson, Col. Mackie, James Fermoy, Lord Martin, I'. W. Mr. Brand Finlay, A. S. Martin, James Sir Wm. Dunbar ATTEMPTED DOUBLE SUICIDE.—At the Mansion House yesterday, Sarah Rose Ferry, a decently-dressed woman, about 30 years of age, said to be married, was brought before the Lord Mayor and Mr. Alderman Rose on the extraordinary charge of aiding and abetting one Thomas Richards or Richardson to commit suicide, and also of making an attempt on her own life. The deceased man is reputed to have been the prisoner's own brother, but that at present requires confirmation. The parties tolk temporary lodgings at a coffee shop in Bisleopsgate street on Wednesday, and on the following morning Richardson, who had been observed to enter the house with a bottle, was found dead on the bed, and the female in great agony sitting beside him. She said they had both taken poison. She was remanded. TELLERS. LAW INTELLIGENCE —(This Day.) COURT OF DIVORCE. (Before Sir C. Cresswell.) ELLIOTT V. ELLIOT r —JUDGMENT. In this case the petitioner, Mary Ann Elliott, prayed for a divorce on the ground of her husband's cruelty and adultery, and the respondent entered no appearance. It appeared that the parties were married in 1829, the petitioner at the time being a teacher of music, and the respondent a chemist and druggist at Bristol. The co• respondent's habits becoming intemperate bis business de- dined, and he came to London to seek employment, leav ing his wife and child at Bristol. Previous to his departure the petitioner had supported herself by her professional exertions, which she continued for some time subsequently, but hearing that her husband was pursuing a very profligate career, she left Bristol with the intention of endeavouring to reclaim him. They afterwards accepted engagements at theatres in Scotland, the petitioner as an actress, and the re spondent as a pyrotechnist, but after some time returned to Bristol, where respondent opened a publichouse. They lived there for about six years, during which time the peti tioner gave birth to three children, and the respondent was not only most immoral in his conduct, but ill -treated her from the period of their marriage. Sir C. Cresswell delivered judgment this morning, and decided that, under the circumstances, the petitioner was entitled to a donee nisi, with costs. COURT OF BANKRUPTCY. (Before Mr. Commissioner Holroyd.) THE GREAT LEATHER FAILURE - JUDGMENT-IN RE MORTIMORE AND CO. The learned Commissioner delivered judgment to-day in this great case, the facts of which have been so often and so fully before the public. After reviewing at great length the evidence of this case, his Honour refused Lawrence's certificate altogether, without protection for six months. Sohraeder was awarded a certificate of the third class, sus pended for two years, three months without protection ; and Mortimore was awarded a certificate of the third class, to be suspended for twelve months. Thus terminated the great leather failure case. THE WEATIZER. METEOROLOGICAL REPORTS. This Day, between 8 and B. E. M. D. F. C. I. S. 9 a.m. - Nairn 28'86 48 46 SW. 9 9 r. Aberdeen Berwick 2912 48 45 W.S.W. 11 8 o. Ard.rossan Shields Galway 2946 0 49 W. 12 9 r. Searboreugh Liverpool 2 9 .67 49 45 S. 6 9 0. Yarmouth 29 88 46 44 W.S.W. 6 3 m. London 2997 48 45 W. 5 8 o. Dover 2999 47 46 W. 4 8 o. Portsmouth 2 9 .99 61 47 S.W. 9 9 0. Portland Plymouth Penzance Jersey 3O 21 47 46 S.W. 5 6 r. ExPLANATioN.—B. Barometer, corrected and reduce( EXPLANATION.—B. Barometer, corrected and reduced to 32 deg at mean sea level ; each 10 feet of vertical rise causing about 1-100th of an inch diminution, and each 10 deg above 32 deg causing nearly 3-100ths increase. E. Exposed thermometer in shade. M. Moistened bulb (for evaporation and dew-point). D. Direction of wind (true — not magnetic). F. Force (1 to 12—estimated). C. Cloud (1 to 9). I. Initials :—b,, blue sky; c., clouds (detached) ; 1., fog. ; h., hail ; 1., lightning ; m., misty (hazy) ; 0., overcast (dull) ; r., rain ; s., snow ; t., thunder. A letter repeated augments—thus, r.r., much rain. S. Sea disturb ance (1 to 9). WIND AND WEATHER Birmingham, S.W.; dull Bradford, I.; fine Boston, S.W. • very fine Brighton, S.W.• cloudy Bristol, W.N.W. ; fine Cardiff, N.W. ; fine Chatham W., strong; dull Deal, W. by S. ; fine Doncaster, S.R. Dublin, S.S.W. ; windy Dundee, W. ; windy, cold Edinburgh, W.S.W.; gale Falmouth, S. ; fine Glasgow, S.W. ; min, windy Goole, E.; cold Gravesend, W. • cloudy Hartlepool, S.W.,strong; fine Holyhead, S W.; storm CONTINENTAL ST, Brussels, S.; fine Cherbourg, S.W.; cloudy Copenhagen, N.W.; fine Dunkirk, I.; fine Ham, W.; cloudy Leghorn, S.W.; misty Leipsic, N.W.; rain Lisbon, E.N.E.; fine Lyons, N.; cloudy REPORT, Tim DAY, 9 A.M, Hull, W.; fine Invernosi, W.8.W.; vie; rain Leeds, S.W. ; fine Lowestoft, S.W. ; fine Manchester, S.W. ; fine Middlesborough, E. ; fine Milford Haven, S.W.; cloudy Newcastle on Tyne, W. ; squally Sheffield, N.H. ; fine Stockton on Tees, S.W.; stormy Sunderland, S.W., strong Wakefield, S.E. ; fine West Hartlepool, S.W. ; fine Whitehaven, S.W. ; dull Wolverton, S.W. ; cloudy .TIONS, MARCH 6. Madrid, E.N.E.; fine' Marseilles, N.W.; fine Montpellier, N. ; fine Paris, W.S.W. ; very misty St. Petersburg, S.E. ; cloudy Strasbourg, W.S.W. ; cloudy Turin, N.N.E.; clear Vienna, W.N.W.; foggy Stockholm, W.N.W.; clear MIS DAY'S SHIPPING. LONDON, March 6.—Wind this day at noon—South- Westerly ; fresh breeze, and fine weather, but rather cloudy. DEAL, March s.—Wind .—Arrived—Eliza Ma thilde, from New York for Hamburg ; Lord Stanley, from New York for St. Thomas. RAMSGATE, March s.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Bergen Bergen, from Bilboa, with loss of ber boat and cook house. PLYMOUTH, March s.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Cam brian, screw steamer, from Southampton ; Atholl, from London—both for the Cape of Good Hope. LOWESTOFT, March s.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Panope, from Hartlepool for Poole, very leaky. QUEENSTOWN, March s.—Wind S.S.W.—Arrived— City of Baltimore, screw steamer, from New York; left on the 23d ult. LERWICK, March 2.—Wind N.E.—Sailed—Alexander Harvey, for Greenland. (BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.) SOUTHAMPTON, Wednesday Morning. Arrived, March s—lsabella Croll, steamer, from Cardiff ; Le Coq, from Cherbourg. Sailed—Deptford, steamer, and Alexandrine, for Cardiff; Lady Egliaton, steamer, for London. (BY SUBMARINE AND MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.) GRAVESEND, Wednesday Morning. Arrived, March 6—Lucy, from Guernsey ; Bitana, from Catania. DEAL, Wednesday Morning. Passed—Secret, from St. Michael's; Agnes, screw steamer, from Valencia ; Lydford, for Kurrachee—all for London. Anchored—Minna, frOm Shields for Lisbon, George C. Howgego, from Hartlepool for Charente. ELECTION NEWS. — BODMIN.—The transfer of Mr. Gower, one of the present members for the borough, to Sutherlandshire, being anticipated, Mr. E. W. Cox, the Recorder of Falmouth, has offered himself for the expected vacancy, as a Liberal Conservative. He states in his address that he is sincerely attached " to the principles of civil and religious liberty, and opposed alike to the tyranny of an oligarchy and the despotism of a democracy." SOUTHAMPTON, Tuesday.—A screw steam frigate named " The Twenty-second of December," built for the Haytian Government by Messrs. T. and W. Smith, of North Shields, arrived in the river this afternoon to take in a supply of stores before sailing for St. Domingo. The departure for New York of the Teutonia steamer is deferred till Wednesday morning. QUICK JUSTICE.—Mr. Hodgkinson has laid before the llouse of Commons a Bill concerning the "Re covery of Debts," providing that where a person, on issu ing a writ for a debt, indorses on it particulars of the claims, and makes an affidavit that it is justly due, the person sued shall not be at liberty to appear and defend the action unless he in his turn swears that he believes he has a good defence to at least a part of the claim, or unless he obtains leave from a judge. It appears that the amount of Exchequer Bills sent in for repayment was about £1,000,000. Owing to this total having been set free, there was a very good sup ply of money in the Stock Exchange at rates ranging from 5 to 7 per cent., according to the duration of the loan. The Government balances at the Bank will exhibit a pro portionate diminution, and unless the market should im prove so as to admit of a re-issue before the payment of the April dividends, the Chancellor of the Exchequer w:11 then be compelled to resort to the aid of a more than usual amount of deficiency bills. DOCK ROBBERY.—This morning a man named Bannister, in the London Dock Company, was sent to pri son for three months, for stealing some gin from a case placed in the Docks for exportation. ROBBING THE ATTORNEY- GENERAL.--At the Winchester assizes, yesterday, Emma Spencer was indicted for stealing tea, sugar, two dead hares, a leg of mutton, and two rabbit•, the property of her master, Sir R. Bethell. Sho - was found guilty, and sentenced to six weeks' impri sonment, with hard labour. GREAT WILL CASE.—During the Nottingham Lent Assizes, which commence on Friday next, a will case of much interest is to be tried. The action is brought by Sir Charles C. H. Rumbold, Bart., against Mr. and Mrs. Forteath, of Bunny Hall, Notts, to contest the validity of the will of the late Lord Rancliffe, uncle to the plaintiff. The deceased peer married one of the French nobility, and she having left him and become the paramour of ono of his servants, he formed a liaison with Mrs. Burtt, widow of a surgeon, and formerly a milliner of Nottingham. At the death of Lord Rancliffe, in 1850, the Bunny estates, yielding aLout £7,000 a year, were left by him to his mis tress, Mrs. Burtt, giving her full power to dispose of the property at her death as she thought proper. The action, as above-mentioned, is to contest the legality of the will, as it is alleged that Mrs. Burtt, now Mrs. Forteath, exercised undue influence over the mind of the noble lord. The case excites intense interest. Mr. Edwin James, Q.C., has been specially retained on behalf of the plaintiff. A rumour having become current at Naples that the Piedmonlese Government would be a loser to a great amount by the bankruptcy of M. Mires, the Patriota of Perugia contradicts the statement, declaring that th• King never entrusted any important sums to that firm. THE HOP DUTY. The hop duty is almost our only remaining bit of financial romance. Our taxation is so carefully weeded of injustice, it is made so uniform, so con stant, and so equally adjusted to the bearing power, that there is no more poetry about it than about a railroad or a Thames steamer. But the hop duty is as fickle and as volatile as the flower itself upon which it is collected. It so jumps up and down, it so aggravates dearth and overwhelms plenty, and it falls so capriciously on the various qualities of the crop, that in one form or other it is always a visitation enough to make a story. When there is nothing else to complain of, you may at any time go into Kent and get up a hop grievance. Indeed, if any young legislator wants to get his hand in, we advise him to take a house in Kent, invest a few thousands in hop grounds, hop poles, hop kilns, and manures, and by next session he will have that first requisite of eloquence, something to talk about. If he has not the " flea" he will have the " fly ;" if not the " fly," he will have the "louse ;" if not the " louse," he will have the Chancellor of the Exchequer. If his crop is not too little it will be too large. Something or other there will be amiss with it. This year, in addition to all other calamities, the hopgrower has Mr. John Bright and the paper duty to contend with. The mem ber for Birmingham is of opinion that the house is more pledged in favour of paper than in favour of hops, and that a cheap press is more neces sary than a cheap and wholesome bitter in a glass of beer. So he calls on the men of Kent to show themselves better friends of literature than they were in former days. He proposes to strike a compact with them. " Help me to libe rate paper, and I will help you to free the hop." The partnership is not so new. There is an affinity between flavour and style between bracing t on i c and healthy sentiment. Whether Mr. Bright's own bitter corresponds to the hop, or to some of its poisonous substitutes, it is not for us to say ; but if the grape inspires the lyric and the epic, malt and hop are the stimulus of good English common sense and English courage and endurance. We wish we could believe the case was quite as clear as some of these gentlemen make it out. But nobody need plant a hop unless he pleases, and the immense cost of the cultivation is itself a reason against it, if it were a matter of reason, and not a mere madness. As the Chan ce ll or o f the Exchequer 3 observes, all the evils and misfortunes of the hop 5 growers, the competition, an d th e d rea d ful vicissi -3 5 tudes to which they are exposed, are wholly inde -3 pendent of taxation. If one could suppose the busi -9 3 ness to be more regular a n d more certa i n l y remu a nerative there would only be a still greater influx 4 of speculators. In spite of the numerous die _ couragements alleged, amounting, it is said, to the ruin of the whole trade, there is a yearly addition of 3 land to the hop districts ; and s p ecu l ators still rush 4 3 in to run the many risks of blanks for the sake of 5 an occasional prize. Hop growing may be a very poor trade in the long run ; so also is gold digging; but if gold digging were more regular and more remunerative there would soon be more gold-diggers to divide the spoil. So, too, there would soon be more hop growers. Thus the bane of the cultivation is not in the tax, nor in the competition, nor in anything within the compass of a Government ; it is in the cupidity of mankind, and their craving for royal roads to opulence. They grow the hop as they take up the dice box, or go on the Stock Exchange, or try any other form of gambling. It used to be demonstrated that, on the whole, more money was lost than won in the whale fishery, but the full ships were better remembered than the empty, and there never was a want of whalers till coal gas and some other rivals reduced the value of the prizes themselves. So we doubt whether the trade would be more profitable if the duty were removed. The yearly total of £200,000 does indeed seem a very large sum to be gained from a few comparatively small districts, and frem the culti vation of_ one creeper ; but the remission, after resting for a while in the pockets of the brewers, would soon be divided among the multitudinous public, and the growers themselves would simply receive less money. They will probably tell us that much more beer will be drunk, or that our beer will be more bitter in future. All the complaints of inequality, uncertainty, and other forms of oppressiveness are matters of detail, the like of which will be found more or less in all kinds of taxation. It will not be disputed, how ever, that the hop duty falls, like the malt tax, eventually on the consumer, and that every time the beer drinker is conscious of the invigorating bitter in his glass he pays a small bat calculable quota to the revenue. Is he a man to be taxed, and is it a thing to be taxed? On these points there can be no doubt. Beer is no more a necessary of life than wine or tea, or any other ordinary stimulant. Many people may and do dispense with them altogether, or use them very charily. But so long as the malt pays duty, the same reason applies to the other ingredient, unless it be neutralised by special considerations. With the prospect of a shilling income tax not only now, but in perpe tuity, on incomes above, but not under £lOO, it is proper to demur to the removal of the hop duty, which is very likely to stand or fall with the duty on malt. The comparison between the hop duty and the income tax is one of more practical import than Mr. Bright's between the hop and paper duty. The two latter do not really come into any kind of antagonism ; but it is quite evident that if we go on reducing the taxes on consumption we are fixing the yoke of the income tax on our shoulders and on those of our children's children. There has lately been a good deal said about little taxes, and the great British mind has accepted the axiom in favour of one or two big taxes instead of a good many little ones. But the superiority of one large tax is as imaginary as if a man should insist on one or two large trees in his garden, one large meal a day, one or two huge pieces of furniture in his rooms, one or two very attached friends, or one or two regular outings, instead of a good many mouthfuls of fresh air. If half a dozen small taxes will yield as much as one big one, without much additional cost of collection, they are vir tually as good. Of course, it is pleasant to see a tax go—it looks so like getting onwards to our pro missed millenium—but taxation only changes form at present, and it has not changed its form much for the better so far. Whether the house will re new its efforts to abolish the paper duty or not this session, we trust it will not remove any duty yields ing a respectable amount on the speculation that England will bear a shilling income tax.—Times. THIS DAY'S .111ARRETS. CORN EXCHANGE. Fresh up to-day very limited supplies of home-grown wheat were received both by land and water carriage, and in very poor condition. As regards the state of the trade, scarcely any alteration can be reported, all good and fine parcels being in good request at extreme rates, whilst in ferior and damp qualities are still very difficult of disposal, even at low prices. The import of foreign wheat has been moderately good, viz., 12,150 qrs. For nearly all descriptions there is a fair retail inquiry at full quotations. Floating cargoes of grain were dull, at quite the late de cline in their value. The barley trade ruled very inactive, and previous quo tations were with difficulty supported. Malt was in limited request at late rates. Oats changed hands to a fair extent at very full prices. For beans there was a steady demand at former quota tions. Peas were somewhat neglected, nevertheless no ahAnge took place in their value. Flour was in moderate request on former terms. ARRIVALS THIS WEEK. Wheit. Barley. Malt. Oats. Flour. 100 j 220 I 520 I 40 230 Irish ' 2,250 12,150 18,730 1,120 , 40 sacks 5,100 brie. BOROUGH HOP. All kinds of hops are still much neglected, nevertheless the quotations rule without material charge from Monday last. WHITECHAPEL. The supplies of meat on offer are only moderate, and the tvade generally rules steady at full prices. Beef from 2s 10d to 4s 2d ; mutton, 3s 4d to 4s 10d ; veal, 3s 4d to 4s 10d ; and pork, 35 6d to 4s 10d per 81bs. THE PRICE OF GOLD. The quotation of gold at Paris is about 3 per mille prem., and the short exchange on London is 25.371 per £1 sterling. On comparing these rates with the English Mint price of £3 17s. 100. per ounce for standard gold, it appears that gold is about 5-10ths per cent. dearer in London than in Paris. advices from Hamburg the price of gold is 427 per mark, and the short exchange on London is 13.7 i per £1 sterling. Standard gold at the English Mint price is, therefore, about 6-10ths per cent. dearer in London than in Hamburg. The course of exchange at New York on London for bills: at GO days' siOtt is 1(5 to 1(54 for first-class bills. Although Mill altos s the exchange to be against England, the high rate .of interest in both countries, and the loss of time before th e gold is received back from the American Mints, render it! doribtful if any profit can be made at the present ratos by sending gold to the United States. _=— THE NEW :AMERICAN TARlFF.—According to the original draught the new American Tariff Bill was to come into operation on the Ist of October, but it is be lieved to have been fixed by a subsequent amendment for the Ist of next month. The Bill having previously passed the House of Representatives, nothing but the sanction of Mr. Buchanan, the President, would be requisite after its approval by the Senate ; and as this could not have been given later than the 4th instant, the probability seems to be that the system may have already bge,ome law. THE SUN, ►NDON, WEDNESDAY 'EVENING, MARCH 6, 1861. _~-