The Sun. — London, England, 1864-05-14 00:00:00

Valor A.m.. IMPERIAL PARLIANLINT HOUSE OF LORDS—Last Evening, 1 ROYAL COMMISSION. The royal assent was given this afternoon to the follow ing bills:—Customs and Inland Revenue—Charitable Assn ranee Enrolments --Land Drainage Provisional Orders High Courts at Bombay—Testry Cess Abolition (Irela , ad) —Court of Chancery (Despatch of Business)—Promisf wry Notes and Bills of Exchange (Ireland) —Joint Stock Com panies (Foreign Countries) —Huntingdon and God man chester Gas—Dublin and Neath Railway—South Yorkshire Railway—Great Northern of Scotland Railway (No. 1) — North Eastern Railway (Muckleford Branch)—Salisbnry Railway and Market House—Llandiloes and Newtown Railway—Clayton, Allerton, and Thornton Gas—Commer cial and Grand Surrey Docks and Canal—Aberbrothwick Harbour —Salisbury Gas—Sudden Bridge and Bury Roads Halingdon and Rawtenstall Water—Edgeware, and London Railway—Anglessy Central Railway—Lon don, Brighton, and South Coast Railway (Kemp Town Station)—Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (additional powers). Their lordships adjourned during pleasure. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. COUNTY COURTS. Lord CHELMSFORD said with regard to the bill intro duced by his noble and learned friend on the woolsack, the second reading of which was given notice of on the paper this evening, he had placed into his hands some important returns made by county court judges in reference to the imprisonment for debt. He thought they should have been laid upon the table before the bill was introduced, and he hoped the second reading would be postponed. The LORD CHANCELLOR said he had already stated that he would, in deference to the opinion of any noble lord, postpone the second reading. He would have much pleasure in postponing the motion for the second reading until the first day on which the house would sit after Whitsuntide. THE DANO-GERMAN WAR. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH drew attention to this question, and after commenting strongly on the conduct of the allied armies, characterising the war as a war against freedom carried on by despotic P owers, he said he hoped the Conference would look into the doings of the Germans, and when they considered the subject of the contributions that had been imposed by the Prussians, they should be informed that whilst war has its rights humanity has rights also. (Hear, hear.) He con cluded by asking whether it was understood by the Conference that war contibutions imposed before the armistice was known in Jutland could be collected during the suspension of arms ; also, whether any war contribution were to be imposed after the armistice had become known, but, before the suspension of arms commenced on the 12th; and, also, whether any new war contributions were to be imposed during the suspension of arms Earl RUSSELL replied that the Conference had agreed that during the suspension of hostilities there should not be levied by the allied troops in Jutland or elsewhere, any contributions of war, and, on the contrary, they will pay for the articles they require tor the troops. (Hear, hear.) The Conference did not lay down any rules with regard to the contributions previously imposed, but he believed the spirit of the article was that the allied troops should cease to levy contributions of war. That appeared to him to be the fair spirit of the meaning of the Conference, which was anxious to stop the effusion of blood, but was also anxious to stop those contributions of ear ; but having decided on the maiu point, they have left it to the naval and military commanders and others interested to settle the details between each other. He was not authorised to say more. The Earl of EL LENBO ROU Gi was sorry that nothing more definite had been decided upon. There was nothing he thought to prevent a seal understanding that no new contributions were to be levied during the armistice. Earl RUSSELL—Not levy any contributions of war, not that they would not levy any new contributions. The Earl of ELLENBOROU OH regretted that the Conference had not used the most decisive language to pre. vent the levying of any contributions imposed before the armistice. They seemed to have imposed the last contribu tion on the very last day on which the Conference met, in fraud of the Confereace in fact. THE REGIUS PROFESSORSHIP OF GREEK (OXFORD) BILL. On the order of the day for going into committee on this bill, Lord LYTTLETON presented a petition from the Arch. deaconry of Bristol against the bill, and intimated that, though ho did not approve of the principle of the measure, ho would not oppose it at its then stage, Lord CHELMSFORD suggested that the patronage of the professorship should be transferred to the University, which would then be willing to ert , ow it from its own funds. Lord TAUNTON felt that Professor Jowett had been treated very unjustly by the University; but he had great objections to the hilt, inasmuch as it excluded laymen from the chair, and proposed to remedy a temporary evil by a permanent one. The Earl of DERBY observed that the University did not objeet to endow the professorship because it was in the patronage of the Crown, but because they conscientiously objected to the opinions and doctrines of the person who now held it. The noble earl also suggested that the mea sure should be postponed to give more time for its consi deration. Tho LORD CHANCELLOR admitted that his proposal was not the best method of endowing the professorship, but it was the only one left open to him for remedying the in justice of the University. Under the circumstances he felt that the Crown was bound to endow the professorship, as it was in its patronage. Somo further discussion followed, when the previous question was moved by Lord REDEsDA.LE, and carried upon a division by 55 to 25. Their lordships then adjourned until Monday week, the 23d inst. HOUSE OF COMMONS—Last Evening. 'The SPEAKER.,to3k tho chair at 4 o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills wero read a third time and passed : Alford and Mablethorpe Railway, Clifton Hampden Bridge, Corris Railway or Tramroad, Deal and Walmer Gas, Edin burgh and Glasgow and Alva Railway Companies, Ilytholm Royd Bridge and Blackstone Edge Road, Scot tish North Eastern and Scottish Central Railway Compa.. nice, Scottish North• Eastern Railway (Dundee and Forfar Line), South Eastern Riilway (No. 1), South Eastern Railway (No. 3), Wallingford and Wellington Railway, and Wellington (Salop) Markets. ROYAL COMMISSION. Colonel CLIFFORD, the Yeoman Usher of the Black Red, appeared at the bar and summoned the members to the Upper House to hear the Royal assent given by corn. mission to several bills, for which see Lords' report. THE HERRING FISHERY LAWS (SCOTLAND). In reply to Mr. CA.IRD, The LORD -ADVOCATE said that the subject was attended with some difficulty, but he hoped to be able to introduce a bill in regard to it after the recess, SMALL ARMS. Lord ELCHO asked for some information as to the in tention of the War Department in regard to the money for the manufacture of small arms._ The Marquis of HARTINGT ON said it was intended to reduce the manufacture of aims at Enfield. For the past year, up to April last, 50,000 rifles had been manufac tured, of which only 40,1,00 had been used. He believed the production for the past year would bo about 1,000 a week. THE OYSTER FISHERIES. Mr DTJ CANE asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the commission appointed last year to inquire into the present state of the oyster fisheries of this country had made any report, and whether it was the intention of this Government to ask the Government of France to agree to an internationa l commission with a view to alter and amend the fishery convention between France and this country, presented Mr. M. GIBE:ON said th op at e t d he it c w om ou m m issi b o o n had at made their report, but he h the close of the sessicn. with regard to the second ques. Ural a communication had passed between the English an d, the French Governments on the subject, but it nas consi dered advisable not to come to any decision until the re port had been, presented. THE CONFERENC E, Mr, R. LONG asked the First Lord of the Treasury, whether the Minister for Foreign Affairs will continue to preside at the Conference, notwithstanding the exactions and oppressions alleged to have been perpetrated in Jutland by the orders et Marshal Wrangel; and, whether her Ma jesty's Government have protested and will protest against the commission of such outrages on non-combatants during the sittings of the Conference. Sir 0. GREY said that what had occurred in Jutland was an additional reason for stopping the war, and, with a view to that object, the noble lord at the head of Foreign Affairs could not retire from his position. One of the ob jects proposed by the Conference was to uktate the Prussian troops pay for what they required instead of making levies on neutral ground. EX-GOVERNORS OF COLONIES. Mr. B. COCHRANE st.3'.{ed the Secretary of State for the Colonies, what decision the Government had come to respecting the granting pent ions to ex-Governors of Colo. pies ? Mr. CARDWELL said the Government had not come to any decision on the subject. ALLEGED GRIEVANCES OF EXCISE OFFICERS. Mr. W. E. FORSTER. asked the Treasury, when an answer would be given to the petition of ;he giu,.;.ers of her Majesty's Customs, London, praying for redress of grie- vances ? Mr. PEEL said Or! conclusion which had been arrived at on this subject would shortly b 3 communicated to the house. PURIFICATION Or THE Tr:CA.I,IES, Mr. CLIFFORD asked the Secretary of State for the Home D Tartment, whether his attention had been called to the large discharge of gas tar refuse into the river 'Thames; and, whether he would set the law in motion to abate a nuisance so prejudicial to the health of 'La metro- Mr BUTT admitted the importance of the question, and said tlaat a bill in reference to it was under consideration. POLICY TOWARDS CH [\A. Colonel SYKES asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he would lay upon the table of the house copy of a despatch from Sir Frederick Bruce to Earl Russell, respecting the joint policy the Ministers of Russia, France, and America had agreed to pursue in China; and, copy of which he had furnished to Mr. Burlinghame, the American Minister, for communication to the American Government, and to which Mrßurlingham° referred in his despatch to Mr. Seward, dated Pekin, 20th June, 1863, and marked A of the enclosures ? Mr LAYARD said he did not consider it would be ad visable to lay the despatch in question on the table at pre sent, as it related to the policy both of France and Russia, BANK OF ENGLAND ISSUE. Mr. lIEYGATE asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, taking into account the vast increase of the trade and commerce of England in the last thirty years, he was of opinion that the arrangement of 1844, limiting the Bank of England to an issue of fourteen millions of bank notes without a corresponding amount of gold, was now com mensurate with the daily monetary requirements of the country ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that he found this question would not admit of an intelligent answer without going into a general statement. He agreed with the principles of the Act of 1814, but he considered there were secondary and subsidiary provisions to which the attention of Parliament might be called with benefit. DEGREES OF MEDICINE CONFERRED BY THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. Col. FRENCH asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it was the fact that the Archbishop of Can terbury had the power to confer the title of Doctor of Medi cine on persons who had not undergone an examination before the College of Physicians, and said that the Arch bishop received £7O for every such title he conferred. Sir G. GREY said that he was not able to obtain all the information he required on this subject, but that he could state that there was an old act under which he could confer the degree of doctor of medicine. THE ALLEGED IMPRISONMENT FOR SLEEP- ING UNDER A TENT. Sir G. GREY read a communication from a magistrate at Cornwall, stating that the parties whose case had been . _ brought before Parliament, as having been unjustly im prisoned, were sent to gaol not for sleeping under a tent, but for vagrancy under circumstances that fully justified ;heir committal. THE LATE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF EDUCATION. Mr. LOWE entered into a personal explanation in refe rence to what had taken place in the house last night, when a document was produced which he had no oppor tunity of consulting. He said that there were two descriptions of reports to the committee, one of which was intended for publication, and the other merely special, and intended entirely for a department, and his observations on a previous occasion had reference solely to the former. With regard to Mr. Murrill he had been dis missed for misconduct, and he deprecated the practice of hon. members taking up the statements of discarded officials. After a few words from Col, FRENCH and Lord R. CECIL, the subject dropped. ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE, Sir G. GREY, in the absence of Lord Palmerston, moved that the house at its rising should adjourn till Thursday next, which was agreed to. ALLEGED INFRACTION OF NEUTRALITY. Mr. I. BARING called the attention of the house to the fact that an armed steamer was now in the port of Liverpool which, having been originally manned and equipped from British ports, has preyed upon the commerce of a friendly na tion, and has never been in any port of the belligerent under whose flag she sails ; and asked the First Lord of the Trea sury whether he thought the admissions of such vessels to British harbours consistent with our international obliga tions, our professions of neutrality, and the preservation of British interests. In bringing this question before the house it was not his intention to enter into the merits of the war on the other side of the Atlantic, nor did he wish to cast censure upon anybody, nor to find fault with her Ma jesty's Government. He would simply give a brief his tory of the case, and he believed, when he stated the whole of the facts connected with the career of that vessel, sune astonishment would be expressed at the coarse which had been pursued. The hon. member then read the following statement : " The Japan, otherwise the Virginia, commonly known as the Georgia,was built at Dumbarton, on the Clyde. She was equipped by a Liverpool firm. Her crew was shipped by the same Liverpool firm for Shanghai, and sent round te Greenock by steamer. She was entered on the 31at March, 1863, as for Point de Galle and Hong Kong, with a crew of 48 men. She cleared on the Ist of April. She left her anchorage on the morning of the 2d of April, ostensibly to try her engines, but did not return. She had no armament on leaving Greenock, but a few days afcer her departure a small steamer, called the Allar, fre.ghted with guns, shot, shell, &c., and having on board d partner of her Liverpool firm, who had equipped her aid shipp-d her crew, left New haven, and met the Geore;.a off the coast of France, near Ushant. The cargo of the Allar was successfully trans ferred to the Georgia on the Bth or 9th of April ; her crew consisted of Britisle subjects. The Allar put into Plymouth on the Bth of April, bringing the Liverpool merchant who had directed, the proceedings throughout. and bringing also 15 me amen who hiel reinsed to proceed in the Georgia on learning her reel character. The rest of the crew re maiw,d. At the time of her departure the Georgia was re gistered as the property of a Liverpool merchant, a partner 'ilk the firm which shipped the crew. She remained the pro perty of this person until the 23d of June, when the regis• ter was cancelled, he not notifying the collector of her sale to foreign owners. During this period—via., front the Ist April to the 23d June—the Georgia being still registered in the name of a Liverpool merchant, and thus his pro perty, was carrying on war against the United States, with whom we were in alliance. It was whilst still a British vessel that she captured and burned the Dictator, and cap tured and released under bond the Griawood, the same vessel which had brought corn to the Lancashire sufferers. The crew of the Georgia was paid through the same Liver pool firm. A copy of the advance note ased was to be found in the diplomatic correspondence. The same firm continued to act in this capacity throughout the cruises of the Georgia. After cruising in the Atlantic and burning and boarding a number of vessels, the Georgia made for Cherbourg, where she arrived on the 28th of October. There was at the time much discontent amongst the crew. Many deserted, leave of absence was given to others, and their wages were paid lall along by the same Liverpool firm. In order to get the Georgia to sea again the Liverpool firm enlisted in Liver pool some 20 seamen, and sent them to Brest. The Georgia left Cherbourg on a second cruise, but having no success she returned to that port, and thence to Liverpool, where her crew have been paid off without any concealment, and the vessel is now laid up." They had there the case of a vessel clandestinely leaving the port where she was constructed, taking on board Eng lishmen as her crew, waging war against the United States, and burning ae i d committing depredations without having ever entere'Si any port of the power of which she assumed to be ene of the vessels, registered for a long time as the property of an English merchant, and now returned to Liverpool. He was sure the Government had done all in its power to prevent the repetition of outrage, but the im potency of the law must be his excuse for hinging the sub ject before the house. There were many of these vessels afloat, with the object of inflicting injury upon the allies of this country. They were vessels which in some cases would have been arrested if time had been given; in all, if their purpose had been known. The question was, could they be said to fulfil their obligations of neutrality towards bellige rents by the adoption of a course simply because it was in harmony with cur municipal law? In his view, it was the common sense of international law that a neutral should do unto a belligerent as she would wish to be done by. (Hear, hear.) It was in order to avert war that the Foreign En listment Act was passed, and it was in order:to prevent the subjects of this country and of America from jeopardising the peace and amity of the world that he demanded the in terference of that house. 'When vessels entered upon such a course of devastation, was it not time to ask whether the law afforded the means of protecting the interests of our allies as well as our own ? The question was one on which there ought to be no doubt as to the course to be adopted by the Government. In his opinion the Government ought to avail themselves of every means in their power to shut our ports against such vessels. They had no claim upon the hospi- tality of the country, and, in respect both of international obligations and our own interests, they ought to be excluded from our ports. What he was anxious to make clear was, that under the present law they could not carry their neu tral obligations fully into effect. What would be the conse quence of such precedents to this country in the event of her being involved in war ? If we were to go to war to-morrow with Germany there was nothing to prevent the German Diet having at its command a fleet of small vessels to prey upon our commerce, without having a port at its disposal. Saxony, without a sea shore, might possess a fleet. In such a case either we must submit to the destruction cf our ships, or they must be transferred to others. He could not imagine that those who were not now in office, but who soon might be, would refuse to iesum the country against such dangers to its commerce. They could not dally with the question; for it was of immense importance; and no one ought to be deferred from carrying into effect any measure that might be requitite for the prevention of so great a danger. Indi vidualsympathies towards either of th e b e lli geren t s oug h t not to oprevent their adopting measures to avert a. calamity which every shipowner saw looming in his view. They might do now that which would save them from retribution hereafter; but if they Trussed that opportunity, that which might have sufficed in time of p eace would not be acce p ted in time of war. lie was anxious to ask Government whether, in what had occurred at Liverpool they did not see that our neutral a n te had future been had u a seriouslyand a welfare compromised. (Cheers.) The ATTORNEY- GE NER AL said in many things which fell from his hon. friend he entirely agreed. (Helix, hear.) No one who bad observed the conduct which the Government had desired to pursue with regard to this most important subject during the last two years could doubt that, whether successfully or otherwise, they had endea voured to the best of their power to vindicate the laws of the country, end at the same time to fulfil the obligations of a sincere and impartial neutrality. He was aware that such a profession would not command the assent of those who had no sympathy with the objects of neutrality, Noverthe- polio. THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MAY 14, 1864. less, he had such confidence in the justice and goad feeling of the people of England, that he believed they would per- ceive the coarse which had been pursued by the Government was best calculated to preserve the honour of the country, and to retain it in the path of an impartial neutrality. He would first address himself to the last sad most important topic in the speech of his hon. friend. Need he say the Go vernment were quite sensible of the gravity of the public interests involved? When merchants and other persons held themselves at liberty in this country by all kinds of tricks and evasions to treat with contempt her Majesty's proclamation of neutrality—(cheers)—to make themselves parties to a war in which her Majesty had professev her selt neutral, and to shelter themselves under the opportuni ties of English law—they did acts which in their immediate effect placed in peril the relations of this and another great country, and which in their ultimate consequences might recoil with disastrous effects upon the trade and commerce of their own country. (Cheers ) The Government had some reason to hope that, in the circumstances of such a war as this, English merchants occupying eminent positions would not spell out the law under the advice of lawyers, and say, " This he cannot find; it is not in the bond," and then, by every means which human ingenuity could devise, hasten to plunge the country into peril, and to lay the foundation of future mischief and dangers. He hoped the time would come, or had already come, when the voice of the commercial community of England would be raised on this subject, and that those who would not hold them- selves bound by her Majesty's proclamation of neutrality should not expect to receive the moral support of the people :Cheers.) He wonld now endeavour to show that the con- duct which her Majesty's Government had pursued had been at least of that character which the country had a right to expect from them. There were only three vessels upon which the allegations of their having been fitted out in this country in violation of the law were well founded, and certainly with the effect of placing this country in the situa tion of ministering in a most important and formidable way to the belligerent wants of one of the two Powers. (Hoar, hear.) Her Majesty's Government believed the law was intended to strike, and did strike, at acts of that description. With regard to those three ships, the one which first left the shores of this country was a vessel called the Flor;da. She left before the Government obtained any information upon which they could possibly sot. She was afterwards arrested, as he believed, at Nassau, and there tried and ac quitted, although it was found there was sufficient evidence to justify her arrest. So far the Government were not to blame. He would not detail the steps with regard to the Alabama. It was well known that orders for the arrest ol that ship had been given, but in the meantime she escaped. As to the Gorgia, no information was given to the Govern ment upon which they could act until she was actually gone. So excellent was the design in respect to her, that her crew were enlisted for a voyage to Shanghai, in China, and it was only on the coast of France that she received her armaments and re-enlisted her crew. The Government had therefore no opportunity of resisting those proceedings. There were some people who thought these transactions were lawful; and ho was lure the house would agree with him in regretting that if these proceedings were lawful, they were not openly avowed and placed above-board. (Hear, hear.) After that, the Government took action with regard to the Alexandria and other vessels, of nikich he would say nothing, because they were now the subject of a judicial trial, In Scotland, in the oase of a ship called the Pampero, the Government could not seize her under the Foreign Enlistment Act, and the result had been a verdict by consent for the Crown. Very great liberality had been shown in giving Government security against the employment of the vessels for bellige rent services, He assumed, therefore, that the law had been vindicated in this instance. At all events, whatever might have been the difficulties they had to encounter, the fact was that a check had been interposed to the fitting out of naval armaments in this country for belligerent states. With regard to the law, he could not but entertain a san guine hope that the result of the measures which Govern anent had taken would be to clear up many of those difficul ties, and to place the law on the subject before the people in a form and in a light which would in future tend to ensure their better observance. He was encouraged in that hope by the fact that two of the judges in the Court of Ex chequer had adopted the view of the Government; and this view had received the concurrence of one of the judges of the Court of Queen's Bench, and also that of the Court of Session in Scotland, in the case of the Pampero. The result of those proceedings was to place the Government in a posi tion which gave them a right to hope that the law in all such cases would be vindicated, and under these circum stances the house would be of opinion that it was not for the Government to seek any change of the law on a subject for the purpose of which the present law would be found sufficient. At all events, the Government deemed that law sufficient for all the cases that might arise, and they did not think it advisable to make any change in it until they really believed the house and the country would give them that support without which a change could not be carried into effect. He would now address himself to the case of the Georgia. That vessel had returned with a regular commis sion as a ship of war. His hon. friend had stated that from the let of April to the 231 of June she was registered in the name of a British merchant in Liverpool, and that she was during that time carry ing on the war as a British ship. He must demur altogether to the law of the hon. member in that respect. The register could be evidence of nothing but a British title for municipal purposes in this country. Therefore the mere circumstance of a ship with a British register would not in any degree justify the assertion that she was carrying on war at a British vessel, and that she was net a vessel belonging to the Confederate States. He regretted that his hon. friend could for one moment give his countenance and authority to language which had de scribed these ships as "British pirates," That expression was untrue in fact; it was dishonourable to this country, and he trusted those who had the honour of the count ry at heart would never give any encouragement to an assertion so extravagant and so utterly without foundation. His hon. friend had taken notice that the Georgia was now in the port of Liverpool as a public ship of war of the Confederate States, although she had never been in a Confederate port. Whether on that account she ought to be allowed to come in or not, he should notice hereafter. No doubt she was entitled to come in so long as the rules issued by her Ma jesty in January, 1362, remained in force, because those rules allowed ships belonging to a belligerent to come into her Majesty's ports on condition that they should not re main more than twenty•four hours, except for repairs. Those repairs were not to be for warlike purposes. They were not to receive any warlike stores, and were to leave as soon as the repairs were completed. The ship, as an avowed ship of war of the Confederate States, was allowed to come in by the law of nations, and subject to the restric tions he had named, As soon as her Majesty's Government heard that the Georgia was not likely ter depart, they in quired into the circumstances, and learned that she was brought into the dock for repairs, and was likely to be dise I mantled and sold. Well, if she were to be dismantled alto gether it was obvious that no harm could be done in taking a belligerent vessel from the sea, and obviating for a time any harm she might do. It, en the other hand, there was not a positive pledge given that she would not leave as a ship of war, then it would be the duty of her Majesty's Go vernment to require her to depart as soon as was consistent with the circumstances, Upon the larger and more general question whether the admission of such ships into a British harbour was consistent with our international obligations and professions of neutrality, he certainly thought they were not breaking any international obligations by the per mission they had given. As to the allegation that this was a ship which had never been in a belligerent port, but had been originally manned and equipped in British ports—if that element were not in the case, no doubt every man would feel it was right to admit those ships in the same way and under the same conditions as we admitted into our ports the ships of the Federal States. The doctrine enunciated, that because she had not been in a Confederate port she was not entitled to be considered in the character of a bellige rent ship of war belonging to that State, was altogether pre posterous, and merely tended to throw dust in men's eyes. Therefore they could not on that ground make this ship an exception to the rules. The hon, and learned gentleman, after citing the dictum of Judge Story in support of his views on this point, went on to point out a practice on the part of the United States analogous to that of the British Govern• meat in the case of the Georgia. He was sure the house would think that he did not wish to utter one word in any degree offensive to persons in the United States, and least of all to the Government ; but he could not help wishing they . had remembered this authority when over and over again they had sent in extravagant demands to our Government to pay the value of all ships taken by the Alabama, or any such vessels. (Hear, hear.) Ile need hardly remind the house that in 179 the compensation given to us by the United States was limited to prizes brought into their ports in vio lation of international law. They did not even give us com pensation in all these cases. Mr. Justice Story said that the obligations of a neutral to a belligerent was that it should fairly execute its own laws, and give no asylum to property unjustly captured. It was bound to restore such property if found in its ports, but beyond that it was not bound to in terfere between belligerents. Mr. Justice Story did not say that we ought not to give asylum to public ships of war, whatever might have been their previous history. Now he (Sir It. Palmer) would now state what reasons her Ma jesty's Government had for hesitating to take the extreme step of absolutely excluding this particular ship from our ports, when at the same time all the ships of the United States Government were admitted. First they had an honest desire to maintain our neutrality and to fulfil our international obligations. The maintenance of that neutra lity was perfectly consistent with the maintenance of our own rights, He entirely repudiated the argument which had been sometimes used, that we ehould net enforce our own laws because the effect might be to put one of the belli • gerents at a disad vantage rather than the other. Neutra lity did not require that. When called upon to enforce what was not an internation a l o bli gat i on, i t was a matter f or con sideration whether wo might not unfairly weir , h down the balance to one sid e . A ga i n, the whole argutsetheaesmesawtt henstlae all they member alleged assumed tthargument assumed that e h s e u t b w s e t e a n n t u i a s t a e d n . d The Confederate States was beyond controversy—thet the Georgia had been fitted out in violation of our neutrality. No doubt there were strong reasons for suspecting such hart been the care—but they were asked to act upon a state of facts which hall never been judicially established in any wa y, and which it was not easy to suggest any mode of bringing to the test otherwise. That was a proposition which required great consideration before being accepted ; and the difficulty was increased by the fact that we had not the ordinary means of access to the Confederate States. ( We had not recognised their Government, der Majesty's exo vernment had not the 61.'portunities of intercourse which recognitieen would give ; and that difficulty was increased by access to their ports being refused by the United States. The other day, her Majesty's Go'Veinimen't, wishing to re monstrate with the Usti:federates, had actually commis sioned a diplomatic servant to go to Richmond ; but the blockading squadron would not allow even one of her Ma jesty's ship of war to pass for that purpose. It would be found that American authorities by no means warranted the notion that we ought to act lightly, or without cogent proof. In the case of the Santiseireta Trini dad, it was said, in referenee to the evidence which was insisted on in Atterica, that they were bound to abstain from interference unless it could be proved by clear evidence that there had been a distinct violation of neutrality. This was a principle of which we were entitled to have the bene fit, and which made is a matter of serious difficulty to act upon a case of mere strong moral suspicion. It was possible that the Confederate States thought that they had kept Within our law. Again, they must, in any case, act towards the United States on just the same principle as they acted towards the Confederates. If they were to proceed on mere moral belief, it wrs impossible to acquit the agents of the United States, although they might acquit their Govern ment, of acts, on a considerable scale, not consistent with the kw or with the neutrality of this country. The hon. and learned gentleman referred to the recent case of the Kearsage, which while in Coeb Harbour had shipped Irish seamen. But the matter did not rest there, for it was well known that agents of the Federal Government enlisted men in Ireland for the Federal army under pretence of employ ing them on railways and public works in America. This took place also in Canada and New Brunswick. They knew also that cases had occurred of British subjects being kid napped into the service of the United States, and being treated, when they tried to escape, as deserters, Claims made by her Majesty's Government in such cases had not been met in that prompt and satisfactory manner that they might be expected. (Hear, hear.) Were her Majesty's Government to exclude all the vessels of the Federal States because they had taken advantage of the acts of their agents, which had certainly added largely to their armies, in violation of our law ? He wished to make one more observation without offence to the United States Govern ment. Her Majesty's Government was not assisted in these matters by the Government of the United States. The demands made upon us by that Government were far be yond anything to which they would be entitled from any re cognised rules and principles of international law. It became necessary, therefore, for her Majesty's Government to act with great caution before taking any steps which might possibly be misunderstood. He referred particularly to the extraordinary demands which had been made in the case of the Alabama. He had no hesitation in saying that the United States Government had advanced such demands as to seek to make her Majesty's Government pecuniarly responsible for all the prizes taken by the Alabama, though they had never been brought into our ports, or in any way under our control. The United States, in so seeking, had advanced a demand directly contrary to their own authorities, and which rendered it infinitely more diffi cult than it otherwise would be for her Majesty's Govern ment to do anything that was within their discretion. They were quite justified in saying that they would adhere to the rule which the United States authorities had laid down; that they would endeavour fairly to execute English laws ; that they would give no asylum to prizes and pro perty unjustly captured; that if any such were brought into English ports, and reclamation made, such reclama tion would be attended to. But her Majesty's Govern ment would not undertake to recognise claims going beyond those limits ; they would not undertake to interfere between the belligerents in any other way than the rules of inter national law and our obligations as neutrals required. (Loud cheers.) Mr. W. E. FORSTER did not wish to treat the matter as a party question. The Attorney-General had hardly explained why the Georgia had been allowed to stay, even upon the ground that she was to be treated as a belligerent, The instructions of the Admiralty required that v ssels of either of the belligerents should leave our ports 24 hours after receiving needful supplies and repairs, unless detained by stress of weather. Now there was no ground for stating that she was staying in Liverpool for repairs, because she had been repaired in Bordeaux, and had come direct from that port to Liverpool. She had come ostensibly for the pur pose of paying off her crew, and he should like to ask her Majesty's Government whether any Federal ship would bo allowed to pay off her crew in an English port' The right hon. gentleman the Attorney General said that it was of no consequence that such a vessel as the Georgia had never been in a Confederate port. Now he (Mr. Foreter) thought that it did make a difference, combined with the fact that she had sailed from a British port, and that such a course would establi, h a precedent for our future relations with neutral Powers when wo became belligerents. Those Powers, under this precedent, though possessing no 'levies of their own, might harass our commerce. The present question divided itself into two branches, first, whether in ternational law, as between us and other nations, could be put upon a hotter footing ; and, secondly, whether we had done what we could with our present law to make ourselves so truly neutral as in future we should wish others to be. The Attorney-General had given sufficient reasons why he thought the law ought not to be altered; but that did not meet the true point of the question, which was that we had had an opportunity offered by the Uni, ed States of putting the international law of the world upon such a footing us would have been vastly to our advantage in the future, and at the same time, of advantage to the cause of civilisation. Was the Attorney- General prepared to say, after the expe rience of the last few mouths, that the law was fully effec tive in its present state? Just let them consider what our position would be if we were to receive from a foreign coun try the same treatment which the Americans had received from us. Suppose, for instance, that we were at war with Germany, and had sealed every port belonging to that country, and that a French ship, with a French crow, sailed out of Marseilles, and, having been furnished by a French vessel from Brest, proceeded to the Mediterranean, and preyed upon cur commerce. Did any one suppose that we should allow that, unless we were engaged in a death struggle like that which was now going on in America ? Even in the middle of last year, 143 vessels, representing two millions and a half of property, had been destroyed by these cruisers, and this was only a portion of the injury they had inflicted upon American commerce, because im mense sums of money had been paid for insuring ships at very high rates, amounting to five or ten per cent, upon all imports brought into American ports by American ships, and the consequence had been the ruin of the American carrying trade, and its transference to foreign ports. In deed, so completely had the American flag been driven from the ocean, that the Georgia did not a capture a prize for six weeks. It had been stated that the United States ought themselves to have prevented vessels intended for the Confederates from leaving our ports, but that was ob viously impossible. He trusted that the effect of the ques tion which had been asked by his hon. friend, backed as it was by all the shipowners of Liverpool—who, he might observe, sympathised more with the South than the North —would be that the Government would be impressed with the duty and necessity of not letting the present opportu- nity pass without putting us in a good position for the future, in case we should unfortunately become bellige rents. (Hear.) Mr. COBDEN wished to add a word or two with refe rence to what had fallen from the Attorney-General. Two questions had been brought under their notice by the state ment of the hon. gentleman who had introduced this sub ject. The two suggestions he had made were, that we should alter our law, and that wo should, in the exercise of the powers which we now possess, and which the hon. and learned gentleman that we did possess, prevent vessels such as had been referred to from entering, our ports. Now, with regard to altering the law, the Attorney-General had en tered into a long argument to sho w that it was effective as it stood at present for the purpo se of preventing a breach of neutrality in this country. But he could not imagine a more cruel joke than the speech of the hon. and learned gentleman would appear when it was read at Washington, For what were the facts ? rhat war had been carried on from these shores against the United States,which had done more damage to that country than could have been inflicted by many ordinary wars. The damage done to their ship ping at one amoun t e d to fifteen millions of dol willions sterling. B u t th a t lars, or nearly three was but a small part of the injury which had been inflicted upon the American marine, for the rest of their vast mercantile property had been rendered value less, Under the regime of free trade, if 3 ou raised the rate of insurance upon the flag of one:maritime people y ou th rew handsnthoelotrnagdeerinptroofitthaeblefor mer chants to employ shippi ng t o of its competitors , because it was carry freights when that shipping was liable to gr ea t war risks, and consequently to high assurance. He had a fact or two which he would state to the hon. and learned gentle man, and would show him the way in which this had been operating, and then ho would see what a cruel satire it was to say to the Americans that our law was sufficient to en force neutrality. Ile had an account of the foreign trade of New York for the quarter ending June 30, 1860, and the quarter ending June 30, 1865. In the first named quarter the total amount of the trade of New York was 92 million dole., and of the trade 62 million dols. was carried in Ame rican and 32 million in foreign bottoms. On June 10, 1863, it stood thus : the total a mount of the trade was SS million dollars, of which 23 million was carried in American ves sels and 65 mil,lion in foreign vessels. In other words tho change might be stated thus : in 1860 two-thirds of the foreign trade of Now York was carried in American bot toms, while in 1863 three -fourtbs was c a rr ied in foreign bottoms. One could see , therefore, what a complete revo lution had been mac °in the value of the property, The Americans had sold many of their ships to English capita lists, because it was no longer possible to carry on their business. He considered the depredations committed upon American commerce by those cruisers, built and equipped in English ports, to be the gravest part of the question as affecting the relations of this country with America, and he hardly knew whether they could have done more to excite the rancour of the American people, or injure their commerce, if they had joined the Confederate Govern ment, and burn. .d all the accessible towns on the rican frontier, than they had done by moans of these cruisers. lie regarded the question of refusing hospitality to those ships as the most important one that could now engage the attention Of that, JiOllP3. The liononrable geutieman then referred to the Alabama, the Georgia, and other vessels, which had been built in English ports, and equioe4 and manned frOrn .rttngllsh i)orti;', and shov;'ed that they conld not be consideied vessels of war, foi their never attacked a vessel of war, and were not armed for war, but were fitted out solely for preying upon American commerce. Let them consider what reprisals would be made upon them if this country was ever again to go to war. Zf they be lieved American nature to be human nature, they should expect the American people would in their almost number- less creeks and lakes fit out a swarm of cruisers to prey upon English commerce, whidh they t ould do both in the Atlantic and Pacific. It was thought that the donferente of Paris had put an end to pirates; but it turned out to be a stupendous hoax, Last year, when it was thought that France and England would make war upon Russia on ac count of Poland, the long-headed statesmen at St. Peters- burg sent the Russian fleet to America, well knowing that the Russian crews would be put on board the swiftest vessels for the purpose of destroying English commerce. (Hear, hear,) He had also noticed in the German papers frequent references to the vulnerability of England, on ac count of the law established by herself in this respect. There would be Alabamas in abundance sent out to burn or cap- ture English merchant vessels. The way to build an Ala bama was to build a vessel neither for war nor for freight, but a vessel that could run off from everything and catch everything. It might be said that this country had vassels of war to catch those pirates. But nothing was more diffi cult than to find a vessel on the ocean once she got out of sight ; but even if such vessel should be found in a port, nothing could be done, by reason of the practice which Eng land herself now sanctioned. He therefore thought the beet reparation that could be made for the havoc committed upon American commerce was to deny hospitality to those cruisers which had been clandestinely built and equipped in Bri- tish ports. (Hear, hear.) Lord R. CECIL said a fallacy underlay the entire speech of the honourable member for Rochdale. He be lieved that if a war broke out now they would be required to protect their commerce from swarms of privateers in every quarter of the ocean. Let them not imagine that they would offer one iota of :protection to their mercantile marine in future wars by driving the Georgia from their ports. Much had been said about precedents, but once nations were en gaged in war they paid very little regard to what the coun try might have done 10 or 15 years before. It seemed to him that the proposed mode of dealing with international law was more dishonest and more immoral than any pro posal which he had heard submitted to Parliament in his time. The hon. member had spoken much of the losses endured by the Fedora's, and of the bitter feeling which they must entertain against those who had been the cause of them. But had there been no losses nor sufferings on the other side? It was said the Federals had put to death 200,000 Confederates; and in the course of the year 1862 muskets and rifles to the value of £564,500, and 12,000,000 of percussion caps, were forwarded from thie country to the Northern States. And the fact could not be ignored that the mercantile house which was mainly instrumental in conveying that assistance to the Federals was the house of Baring and Co. Did they suppose that no feelings of bitter ness would arise in the breasts of the Southerners when they learned that all that havoc had been caused to them through munitions of war conveyed from this country? In his opinion England would have as much permanent cause of regret at the alienation from her of the feelings of the people living to the south of the Potomac as of those who occupied the northern territory. Too much praise could not be given to the speech of the Attorney- General ; it had exhausted the law. Mr. SHAW LEFEVRE had listened with great regret to _ _ the speech of the Attorney-General, and could not help feeling that if the learned gentleman had paid adequate attention to the history of America he must have come to a very different couclusion. When, during the war of the last century, French privateers crowded the American ports, the American Government did not say that they had no municipal law bearing upon the subject, but they at once dismissed the French vessels from their ports. That was a precedent for them to act upon, and there fore he hoped the Government would seriously entertain the suggestion of the hon. member for Huntingdon. Lord R. MONTAGU said that, although the hon. mem ber for Rochdale had shown them conclusively that the trade of the Northern States had been seriously damaged, he had not shown that it was by the fault of England that that commerce had been reduced. Mr. Alderman ROSE believed the country would endorse the definition of the law of neutrality as laid down by the Attorney General, and carried out by the Administration. He denied that the opiniocs of the hon. members for Roch dale and Bradford were shared by the people at large; and after remarking upon the maladministration in the military and civil departments of the Federal Government, he con cluded by expressing his belief that this country must shortly recognise the South, and by so doing promote the peace of the world. The subject then dropped. The motion for adjournment was then agreed to. THE MALT TAX. On the motion for going into committee of supply, Mr. MORRIT 1' rose to move that in any future modifi cation of the indirect taxation of the country the excise upon malt would require the consideration of the house. He remarked that the delay which had occurred since ho first intimated his intention of lninging this question before the house g improved his position. The only thing he regretted was the extremely crowded state of the house. (Laughter.) At this time the number of members in the house did not exceed twenty-four. The remark of the hon. gentleman having drawn the attention of the Speaker to the fact, the latter proceeded to count, and, there not being forty mem bers present, The house stood adjourned to next Thursday. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TlMES,—Every man of humanity will rejoice to learn from the answer of Lord Russell last evening that the system of extortion in Jutland by Field- Marshal von Wrangel will be interrupted during the suspension of hostilities. The Conference has agreed that during this period there shall not be levied by the allied troops in Jutland, or wherever else they may occupy positions, any contributions of war, but that the troops shall pay for the articles they may require. Some doubt appears to exist as to whether the contributions previously imposed will be levied atter the suspension of arms has begun ; and the question is important, as a new exaction, far greater than any previously levied, and affecting the property of all the farmers and graziers of the province, was announced but three days since, It is to be hoped that the Conference will not lose night of this matter, but that the representatives of the neutral Powers will insist on the spirit of the agreement being considered as well as the letter. The plunder of these unhappy Jutlanders has been lertainly the worst feature of the war—worse in dome respects than the destruction of Sonderborg, 'because it cannot be covered by the pretext of ne cessity, but stands forth a glaring act of vengeance on a guiltless population for the alleged faults of its rulers. The exactions have been so immense, so out of proportion to the means of the inhabitants, and so cruelly levied, that they have filled all classes in this cointry with an indignation which was well expressed in Lord Ellenborough's animated speech The unnecessary and scandalous invasion of Jut land—an invasion which violates the understanding on which the Federal army entered' Hoktein and the Austro•Prussian army entered Schleswig—an nvasion which carries the German troops into a territory purely Danish, and with which no German has ever pretended to be concerned—is made doubly hateful by a military tyranny which no one ever expected to see revived by a European commander. A population far from rich, inhabiting a region which derives its only wealth from a scant and laborious agriculture, and from the cattle which feed over its plains, is occupied, not because its territory is on the road to any necessary seat of war, but merely that men of Danish blood may be oppressed. For no reason, for no military object, Jutland is invaded, and then the plunder of the inhabitants of all their money and all their attainable possessions begins. Wnat the extent of this plunder, actual or intended, is may be learnt from the details given by our correspondent. " I find," he says, " that I had greatly under-estimated the amount of contribu tions exacted by the Austro-Prussians in the province of Jutland. The towns alone had been charged 650,000 Prussian thalers ; but the country was made, besides, to pay 25 tbalers per tondehartkorn. There are in Jutland 170,942 of such measures, and the contribution amounts thus to 4,274,300 Prussian thalers." These facts are so monstrous as to be almost incredible. Such a contribution levied on the small and scattered po pulation of Jutland constitutes an extortion to which the annals of war in modern times furnish no parallel. The population of Jutland is only about 700,000 souls, and a contribution of four millions and a quarter of thalers is an exaction per head such as the most ruthless Generals of the French E'npire never thought of extorting from any popuiatior. In a fortnight these poor Jutlanders have been called upon to pay, man,, woman, and child, more than a pound sterling per head, and a large portion of this sum seems actually to have been taken. As must of eourse be the case in such proceedings, the matter simply resolved itself into the plunder of everybody who was known to have money or goods. The towns, being the victims of the first contribution, have suffered most, the more wealthy inhabitants having been forced to sur render their valuables, and the shopkeepers being condemned to see the Prussian soldiers enter c an carry off whatevez thay could lay their hands upon. The dishonour of the German good name caused by this brutality will not soon be uffaco , d; but it is in the power of the two States to make some amends by Promptly forbidding the ea.. - tinuance of Von Wrangel's plundering, and by ear rying out religioa%ly the stipulations made in the Conference. Should they, on the other hand, attethpt to enforce the contributions whicii still remain unlevied, It Will he the duty of the neutral Powers to interpose with the Utmost energy to put a stop to etch wrongdoing. IJut We can hardly anticipate such lidienca and folly. We would rather suppose that the General s caitOrtion, and his still more scandalous conduct in putting large numbers of a defenceless population to forced labour, will be tacitly condemned by the two Courts when they have time for reflection and fully recognise the ill fame which it raises against them in Europe. As for the assertion of the Austrian Government, that it is the custom of all troops during war, including the tngl!ch army, to levy military contributions , not only in kind 'Ott in motley, to defray the ex penses to which they are put, it is simply en untruth. As Lord Russell justly said, during tbc Duke of Wellington's campaigns everything etas paid for. Even when he was in the South of France, in an enemy's country, with a hostile army opposed to him, the peasantry received actual specie for all they had to sell. The English General would have thought his country's arms disgraced if he had plun dered a population even while its armies were in the field, much more one which was totally defenceless, and in whose territory there was, properly speak ing, no war at all. Austria will do well to us: her best endeavours to stay her ally's vindictive greo2 rather than use untenable arguments in support of so shameful a course. HERALD.—The appeal ad misericordiam made by Mr. Baring on behalf of the Federal States might have more effect upon us if we felt that this foreign Government had any just claim to our sympathies, that it was engaged in a cause which was not an outrage upon humanity. For those who have a direct interest in the commercial prosperity of the Northern section of the Union it may seem a very sad thing that their commerce is rapidly passing into the hands of strangers, that in three years three millions' worth of property has been destroyed at sea by Southern cruisers. It is simply a matter of indifference to those who have no interest either in Noah or South, while to those who consider the war of extermination an abomi nable thing, which must be visited with punish ishment if there is justice in Heaven, it is a cause of exultation and triumph. We, or rather our Go vernment, have elected to be neutral in this civil war in America. The Queen's proclamation of 1862 declared a strict neutrality and impartial treatment of ships of war of both belligerents. For what purpose are we now asked—not to strain our laws, for they have been strained enough—but to make new laws for the special advantage of the power whose proceedings are revolting alike to the com mon sense and the generosity of Englishmen ? What have the Federal States done for us that we should go out of our way to oblige them, and to do as much injury as we can to the weaker side ? We are astonished at the daring assumption whioh is over and over again reiterated in Mr. Baring's speech, that the Northern States are our allies. Our allies in what P Are we allied with them in their designs upon Canada, their seizure of San Juan, their threats against a Mexican Empire, their war upon the States which have a right to a separatd Government as much as we have to be independent of the rest of Europe, their devastation of Southern fields, their murder of Southern men, their hound ing on of slaves against their masters ? In what are we the allies of the Federal States ? It was said some time since by a man who is now one of the most violent advocates of the war of subjuga tion that the bond between North and South was a " covenant with hell." Without venturing to make use of language which borders on the profane, we may so far adopt the sentiment of Mr. Wendell Phillips as to say that there can be no alliance where there is found so deep and diametrical a dif ference of feeling. The Northern States may be the allies of the house of Baring Brothers. They are not, and shall not be, the allies of the people of England. Until we are prepared to assume in this war the attitude of partisans it is our duty to carry out, as strictly and as coldly as possible, our duties as neutrals. In remonstrating against the permis sion granted to the Confederate States steamer Georgia to visit the waters of the Mersey Mr Baring had no ground to rest upon, either of international or of municipal law. Special regulations to the contrary notwithstanding, the ports of a neutral are open to the armed vessels of both belligerents. But by the proclamation of 1862 it was provided that the ships of war of the Federal or Confederate States were not to remain in any of our ports for more than 24 hours, except under stress of weather or for repairs, and that they were not to be permitted to take in armed stores. The Georgia is now in the port of Liverpool. She is repairing, and it is said she is to be sold. She is a commissioned ship of war of the Confederate States. and by our own law, as well as by the law of the United States quoted by the Attorney General in his able speech last night, no antecedent circumstances have anything to do with the question of recognising such a vessel. The Georgia and other cruisers of the kind have committed very serious depredations on the com merce of the Federals, and Mr Baring brings against her a double accusation, which, in his view, would justify our Government in refusing to her the ordinary privileges granted by a neutral. She was built in England, and manned by British seamen. Had the fitting out and enlistment taken place in a British port it would, of course, have been a breach of our Foreign Enlistment Act. But it occurred altogether beyond our jurie,diction, She was registered as the Japan, and manned with her crew ostensibly for trade with China. It was when in French waters that she received her armament, her name was changed, and her crew re-enlisted for service in the cause of the Confede rate States. Our Government could do nothing to prevent this—it had, of course, no control over such .oroceedings. The men once enrolled in the Con- The service, .cease to be subject to our laws. which flies the Confederate flag must be ltrleaetsebdiiiwith zes pect as the ship of a foreign power. and Florida escaped from our So also the Alabejlia. ports before the GoveileTent could act on the informs mation received as to their destination. Once at sea, , an d commissioned by t he Coe:federate we have no more c ontrol over t;sem than we have over Federal ship s of war. To assume to exercise such control would be to violate our neutrality in the most flagrant manner; and to do that for the Federals which they cannot do for themselves. It is next argued by the Northern advocates that eee should not recognise much vessels as lawful belli gerents unless they have visited some port of the power under which they serve, and there received their credentials. The Attorney- General refused to allow the introduction of this new rule in international law. " Such a rule as the one suggested by his hon. friend had never been hoard of. To say that a country whose ports were blockaded should not be permitted to avail itself of the ports of the world for its ships of war was a doctrine altogether preposterous, and the arguments which might be founded upon it only tended to mislead and throw dust in men's eyes." Mr. Baring appeals to our interests by urging that in case of a war with this country the United States or the - German Confederation could obtain armed cruisers in a similar manner from the mer chants of neutral Powers. Of course they could, and much injury might thereby be inflicted on our commerce. Such things are the fortune of war, and not to be avoided in any way that we can sug gest. Such cruisers might be set afloat,. and we trust ld bl u es that the captains of our ships of war wow them to the bottom with all conve nient speed. The could hardly bo less successful in the experimeo than the commanders of the Vanderbilt, the Tusca rora, and other impotent craft that have been sent out from Northern ports to catch the Alabama. Our Government has done what it can to help the Federals in everything. It is ungenerous and un kind in the counsel for the Federal Government to turn round upon the British Cabinet and reproach it for the non- performance of impossibilities. The ships which have left our shores are now protected by the flag of the ConfederateStates,whom we have solemnly recognised as belligerents. Our Govern. ment cannot touch them even to oblige its friends. The melancholy dirges intoned by Messrs. Cobden and Forster over the decay of Fedral trade, and the probable disappearnce of the Northern flag from the seas, are altogether beyond the question. We are amused as their apprehensions. We do not share in their regret. The Northerners are not our allies ; they are not our friends. The war against the South is an unjust, a diabolical war. The sooner the Northern States are utterly bankrupt, ruined, defeated, disgraced, dishonoured, the nearer we approach to the only end of which apparently this war of subjugation is susceptible, the better will it be for England, the better will it be for the world. Persons: in debt may obtain instant protection against imprisonment or seizure of their goods, and an entire release from all debts and liaLilities without publicity, by application to Messrs. Marshall, solicitors of the Court of Bankruptcy, Charges under £5 payable by easy instalments. Offices— (established 1830), 12,1Iatton-garden. City branch —6, Moor gate-street, Bank.—ADVT. [ADVERTISEMENT.] —Holloway's Ointment and Pills.— 'Unerring Precision.—When the health is breaking down from the continuance of some weakening discharge; when ulcers refuse to heal and extending mischief is threatened, then is the time to try the potency of Holloway's healing Ointment and purifying pills. No treatment for giving ease and safely leading to a cure can be compared to this. The ointment cleans and cools the foulest and most angry sores, diminishes the inflammation, reduces the swelling, prevents the growth of proud flesh, and spares both pain and danger. Hundreds testify from their own personal ex perience to the unvarying success attending the use of Hot !oway's medicaments in cases of ulcerated legs, enlarged veins, scurfy skin and swelled ankles. COUNTRY MARKETS. _-__.,l-_,__w , . LIVERPOOL—FRIDAY. Thero was a small attendance of the town and co untry trade to-day, and wheat met a mere retail business even at a decline of fully 4d per' cental. Flour declined I s per sack and barrel, with an inactiYe demand. Oats and oat meal very dull. Indian corn eli,:red freely at a reduction a 9d per qr without finding buyers; Beane. barley, *nd peas unchanged. LINCOLN-FRIDAY. White wheat new, 38s to 43s Barley, grinding.. 27s to 304 Red do. 36s to 39s Oats, old, .. 23s to 26s Old white ---8 to —s New do .... 18s to 24s Red do. —s to —s I Beans. 3 8 s to 40 s Barley, malting...32s to 34s 1 Beans, new 33s to 36s WAKEFIELD—FRIDAY. The wheat trade has relapsed into a dull, inactive state. The few sales made to -day were at lower prices. In other articles there was no material change. Averages for the week : Wheat 495 qrs., at 4os 111 Rye - .. sOu 8ar1ey..... Beans Peas .... 70 . ... 31a Od Oats STAMFORD-FRIDAY.. - - White wheat, 4 0 s to 42s ; red, 36s to 40s per 36 stone. Barley, malting, 33e to 3.5 s ; grinding, 27s to 30s per qr. Oats, 18s to 22s per 24 stone. Beans, old, 40s to —s per qr. ; new, 36s to —s. CORK—THu RSDAY. The foilftwing were the quotations this morning :—Red wheat, Ss Oci to Ss 10d; white, 8s Od to Os 8d ; barlev, 7a Id to Os Od ; pate, s 8d to 6s 4d ; black do., Os 3d to. 63 6d. BRISTOL SL GAR—FRIDAY. There has been an improving trade doing this week, and some considerable sales have been effected at full prices to 6d per cwt. advance. Refined goods sell freely at 6d 14113 advance. No sales to report in rum. COAL M.,1 Prim; of Coal per Ton at ,K ET. the close of the market. s. d. West Hartley ..16 6 Ilolywell 17 6 Eden Main l6 6 Bates'sWest Hartley l5 6 Buddle'sWeat Hartley 16 6 Byass's Bebside West Hartley ....16 6 Hastings Hartley ....16 6 Lambert's West Hart- _ 8. d• ley l6 3 Tantleld Moor Butes l4 6 North Felton Gas 13 0 Walls End. Cassop ... 17 0I Raton lB 0 Ships at marks Walls End. Hartlepool 17 9 lieugh Hall 17 3 South Kelloe .. 17 3 Haswell Braddyll's Hatton 17 O. Tunstall South Hatton 18 0 Riddell .... 16 3 Wharncliffe .......... 16 6 Gosforth l6 3 Harton l6 3 KeiperGrazge l7 0 Caradoc l7 6 South Hartlepool.... l6 9 :et, 92; sold, 69, RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. TRAFFIC RECEIPTS FOR THE WEEK. Miles Opened. Receipts. _ —..— Railways. 1864. 1863. Belfast and N. Counties 136 136 Belfast and County Down 49 49 Bl'th and Tyne 2B 28 Bristol and Exeter 12 1 3 /4 121 3 / 4 Caledonian Cockermouth & Workington B 3 /4 si Cork and Bandon 2O 20 Cork, Blackrock, & Passage Cork and Youghal .. 3a 321 Cornwall 651 53! Deeside l7 7 Dublin & Belfast Junction 63 63 Dublin and Drogheda 75 63 Dublin and Meath Dub. & Wicklow and Wextd 9/ } 48 3 / 4 Edinburgh and Glasgow 173 169 i Furness, &c 5O 5 Glasgow & South-Western Gt. Eastern,Nrik.,&E.Union Great Northern 353 361 Great North of Scotland 5B 68 Gt. Northn. & Westn. (Irel.) 7ll 711 'lt.Southn. & Westn.(lrlnd.) 3731 329 Great Western 10561 1056 k Inverness & Aberdeen June B6t 861. Inverness & Perth Junction 1191 Irish North-Western 145 145 Lancashire & Yorkshire 402 396 3 / 4 Limerick and Ennis... 24/ 24 Limerick and Foynes 264 26 Llanelly 461 46/ Londen & North-Western London and Blackwall 5l 5/ London & South-Western Lond. Brighton, k 3. Coast 261 250 London, Chatham, & Dover 72 724 Do. Metropolitan Extension 101 ei Ilian.,Sheitteld, & Lincoinsh Ili anch. S.Jun.& A ltrincham 9 3 /4 9 3 / 4 Maryport and Carlisle 2B 28 Metropolitan Midland (incL N.-Western).. 641 630 Midland Gt.Westn. of Irind... 262 259 3 / 4 Moukland 7li 71/ Monmouthsh. Itail. & Canal 44 44 North British, Edin., Perth and Dundee 410& 10714 N-Eastern and Stock. & Darl 1095 North London 9 North Staffordshire 254 Oswestry and Newton... 5O Rhyniney l9l St. Idelen's Canal & Railway 52 • Scottish Central Scottish North-Eastern 133 Somerset and Dorset 66 South Devon South-Eastern 306 Taff Vale Ulster Vale of Clwyd. Vale ot Neath 4.3 Waterford and Kilkenny 3l Waterford and Limerick 77 West Cornwall 27i W.llartlepool HarbrAßail... 52 W'haven,Cleator,& Egrmnt.. 10 Whitehaven Junction _ 13 & Furness Jun... 35 FOREIGN AND COLONIAL. Antwerp and Rotterdam 52 Austrian Bahia and ban Francisco Belgian Eastern Junction 264 Bombay, Baroda, & Cen. India 185 Buffalo and Lake Huron l6l Detroit and Milwaukie lB9 Dutch Rhenish lOBl 1;18 394 754 306 Eastern BeLigal Eastern of France. East Indian Grand Trunk of Canada lO9O Great Indian Peninsula 553 Great Luxembourg . 134 Great Southern of 'lndia Great Western of Canada 345 Madras Madrid, Saragossa &Alicant 650 Northern of Canada 94 Northern of France 697 Norwegian Trunk Ottoman _ _ 305} 52 828 26i 1851 1611 189 1(8t 1 tO -- 1302 8831 1090 495 134 79 316 447 490 91 697 44 48} Paris, Lyons, & Mediterm 1805 - 1713 Paris and Orleans 1614 1194 Pernambuco 77i 77 Royal Danish 69 69 Sambre and Meuse 6B 118 South Austrian Seclude Southern of France 770 680 Victorian 196 196 Welland West Flanders 75 75 W. and N.W. of France. 9to 813 1864. 1863. 2,112 2.3'6 772, 658 2,091 2,016 6,562 6.38 4 18,151 16,037 316 2.52 416 43 4 188 224 653 4 93 1,941 1.40 322 39 1 1,453 1,329 1,546 1.545 223 168 3,382 2. 251 b,432 8. 090 3,364 3,016 9,116 8,1 51 31,112 28, 41 29,343 26.15 4 1,714 1.9 709 5 07 9,272 9,329 63,884 61,2 0 1,286 1, 044 1,393 1,632 1, 619 38,090 32,94 1 1 1 17 3 201 10! 167 619 6 ' 'l 104,253 96, 085 _, 1,878 1, 709 , 22,776 22. 610 18,519 17,9 3 ! 4,872 4 21 0 1,250 120 15,954 15,0 97 1,428 1,4 01 1,467 1.3 0 .' 2 :4 0 3 6 9 1. 3 141 44,0,462 439 39.9 ,0 1,720 1.3 s 2,858 2,80 51 8. 3 .41 88 4 8 8 2 4 5 83 6 1 V 0 P1 :; 1,145 JIMA 31,168 9( ":, 2,,150 5, 637 5.0 9 , 5, 310 6,2 7 :: 65,5 t " 697 3 9 . ,Q4 5,310 5,24 2,624 2. 4 .' 166 1 1 3 Ock 2. 0 • , 552 342 3 123 389 ,Bs3 1, 749 4,726 4. 471 %Ca g 1,133 - 1,047 Si" 28,607 28, 45 Y 1 , 36 3; 23 3 1 , 3 t 1 4 ,•1 2,488 Z„, 1 1, 2,357 3 .‘'ig 5,652 3 ,Pri 4135 3 .‘ ' ft 1,562 1,38 68,064 5 4 4 28,520 20, a 0 21763 15.fe 12,713 B .no' 42i 6 4 , °;"7, ' 429 u „" ci f 14490 AY'. 78t 5,360 —,-,/ 17,664 3 , 5 , , T 3 i,,fr ],739 A. O l 54,503 5 0 1" o i 656 1, 45 t 430 al 133 9 8 12 1, 2 66,783 6 0 ;i0, 1,049 1,279 1 '45 50,598 4 8, "50 2 1 8 2 1 ,:9 7 2 2 8 1 0 2 1 . 9 3 2 ..5.1 —1, 2ga 1,04 46.115 41, 01 Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. 1 9 ' Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton MaY i s. via Marseilles MO 'b, brazil and Cape nerds, by British packet. June g. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena 1 1 10 19. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton MsY 0 7, via Marseilles MAY '' Falkland Islands l 9' Gibraltar, via South am pt on .. 1 . India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton Mel via Marseilles MAY O. India (Bombay), via Southampton .. Mil 1, 2 via Marseilles lklaY 6, Portugal.... Malta, Egypt, and Men, via Southampton Mal 0. via Marseilles lllaY 2 5, Newfoundland Oporto and Vigo .. U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... Mai by U.S. packet.... ~. by Canadian packet.MaY OP W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe June Bahamas, via New York June 30 , Mexico.. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, 1 Ma y 1 4 ' California. and British Columbia.. MILITARY SAVINGS -B KS.--AII annual rot ur ; issued by tho War-office shows that at the close ° i t " financial year in March, 1863, there were 17,621 COO a to open at the military savings banks, and the balance (l i r is the depositors amounted to £ 279 , 091 . The withd rav° o the year exceeded the sums deposited in the. year pi dad than £ll,OOO. The interest allowed in the year exc e £lO,OOO. Births. M CLARK.—On the 12th inst., at The Limos, Romfor d, Mrs. James Clark, of a son. terto. COUSENS.—On the 12th inst., at 12, Delamere -i Mrs. John S. Cousens, of a son. 1 1 • 11f4 DEAN,—On the 12th inst., at 15, Ampthill-squatet , Mrs. Edward Dean, of a daughter. 01 SANDEMAN.— vvir.Ou the 12th inst., at Peckham, the - W. U. Sandman, Esq., of a daughter. Marriages. e ra' s ' ROBERTS —BERKLEY.—On the 12th inst., at TAOO Major Henry C. Roberts, of H.M.'s Bengal I', to P'"" Jane, the second surviving daughter of the it h Berkley, Esq., of Paignton, Devonshire. f dP 10-, SEDDON—BARBER,—On the 12th inst., at p , -t Church, Brighouse, Y or k s hi re , John P. Sedd A o lo of Park-street, Westmi ns ter, to Margaret, elder cli a of the late Joseph Barber, Eaq. Deaths. il 11,i c ";;ti %ara BROWNING.—On the 13th inst., at Margate, we i l l , a' Browning, E s q , late of Commercial-road, Lo of Brigadier-hill, Enfield, aged 92. , l ea CLEPIIANE.—At Bath, Hay Clephane, Esq., O r l° ' - the Bombay C.S., aged 92. co lIENEAGE.—On the 11th inst., at Hainton g shire, George Fieschi lleneage, Esq., aged 6 3 . 6 0 or; KINNELL. — On the 12th inst., very suddenly, g r ' Kinnell, of Jewry-street, Aldgate, aged 62. oor'" THORNTON.—On the 11th inst., at Dalston, Jarn eei ton, Esq aged 78. London: Prin:,,xl and re:fished by vv-ILLIAn A , • - so. o t of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TUE SUN Og ee Strand, a Ow Precinct of ttte n the c laidellevex.—Saturday, May 19, 1861.