The Sun. — London, England, 1863-01-24 00:00:00

ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA, 'COVENT GARDEN. Irnder the Management of Miss Louisa Fyne and Mr. W. Harrison, Sole Lessees. r THIS EVENING, Balfee popular Opera, THE PURI TAN'S DAUGHTER : Madlle. Parepa and Miss Susan Fyne; Messrs. Santley, W. H. Weiss, Patsy, A. St. Albyn, J. Rouse, C. Lyall, E. Dusselc, and W. Harrison. Conductor —Mr. A. Mellon. After which, the Grand Comic Christmas Pantomime, eitied HARLEQUIN BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. en- Doors open at half-past B—Commence at 7. THE ATRE-ROY AL, DRURY-LANE.— Lessee and Manager, Mr. Edmund Falconer. THIS EVENING, the Comics Drama of THE NEXT OF KIN. Alter which, the Grand Pantomime of LITTLE GO 9DY TWO SHOES. Commence at 7. !THEAT RE-R() VAL. HAY MARKET. Lessee. Mr. J. B. Buckstone. THIS EVENING, at Seven o'clock, will be performed HR AMERICAN COUSIN. Asa Trenchard, Mr. Buck• btone ; Lord Dundreary, Mr. Sothern. After which, a new and original Extravaganza, entitled RASSELAS, PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA ; or, The Happy Valley. Rasselas, Miss Louise Keeley. Concluding with OUR MARY ANNE. THEATRE -ROYAL LYCEUM OPEN, under the Sole Management of Mr. FECTITER. THIS EVENING, Jan. 24, to commence with an Original Sketch, entitled A SUDDEN ATTACK. Messrs. Shore, Gardetz, H. Widdicomb, Miss Remade, and Mrs. Lee. After which, at a Quarter to Eight, a New Romantic Drama, in Three Acts, and Pralogue, entitled THE DUKE'S MOTTO, by Paul Feval and John Brougham. The principal character will be sustained by Mr. Fechter, supported by_ Messrs. G. Vining, J. Brougham, H. Widdi °probe, W. M'lntyre, F. Charles, Garden, Raymond, H. Butler, Dawson ; Misses Carlotta Leclercq, Kate Terry, E. Lavenue, and Elaworthy. Mr. Phelps and Mr. W. Montgomery are engaged, and will shortly appear. Doors open at half-past Six, performance to commence at Seven. Private Boxes, £2 12s. -ed., and £2 2s. Places registered. Stalls, Bs. 6d. ; Dress Circle, ss. ed.; upper. Circle, 45. 6d. Prices at doors—Stalls, 6s. ; Dress Circle, ss. , Box- LTpper Circle, 4s. ; Pit, 2s. ; Gallery, ls. No half-Prim °Vice open daily from II till 5. The public a take notice that no charge is made to the occupants of entreated to boxes, tte uitnts i all parts box places, or stalls, either for playbills or for sate keep ing of hats and cloaks ; and that the attendants of the Louse are forbidden to receiv e an y whatevers A c ting-Manager, Mr. H. Stage-Manager, Mr. G. Vining' . Barnett. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. Lease." and Manager, Mr Mufti. THIS EVENING, LAW v. LOVE ; Miss M. Oliver. Followed by ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES AN OTHER. Mr. R. Roxby and Miss Amy Sedgwick. Alter which, the New Grand CHRISTMAS PANTOMIME, RIQUET WITH THE TUFT ; or, Harlequin and Mother Shipton." Mr. G. Belmore, Mr. C. Seyton, Misses Gray and Hudspeth, Mr. Milano, Mr. R. Power, Miss A. Collinson, and Sir. Halford. NEW THEATRE-RO YAL, Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster. THIS EVENING, THE IA I TLE TRE A SURE. Mr Billington, Mr. R. Phillips, and Miss Marie Wilton. After which, A TICKET OF LEAVE : Messrs. J. L.Toole, P Bedford, and Mrs. Billington. To conclude with " GEORGE DE BARNWELL : or, Harlequin Folly in the Realms of Fancy." Miss Woolgar, Miss K. Kelly, Miss Seaman ; Messrs. J. L. Toole, P. Bed ford, Stephenson, C. J. Smith. Harlequin, Mr. John Lauri; Columbine, Miss Caroline Adams ; CLown, Mr. W. Hildyard ; l'antaloon, Mr. J. Paulo. The celebrated Arthur. and Vertrand. Commence at 7. The VMTIIEB—Sun Office, Jan. 24, 1863. THERMOMETER. Highest since Noon yesterday 49 Lowest during the night ..... ... 32 This day at Noon ... • Barometer-29.73. -wind. westerly; fresh, and variable, with fine weather. HIGII WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. THIS DAT.—Norning, sh. 18m.—Afternoon, sh. 38m, To-monßow.-Morning, 511. 59m.—Afternoon, 6h. 17m, 41 ~t,„.",,,, i .1 it 1 1 ,„.„,i117 . .,i, ,, ,,,,,.4 . : . -,,e, ..,P",-- k * -- . ~.-z - _-_.- - - -- . LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 1863. Gloomily as the old year closed for the Federals still mere gloomily for them is the new year opening. An enumeration of the principal events marking the turn of the twelvemonths will better than any syllable of comment indicate the fortunes of the war between the fratricidal belligerents. Our intelligence, last arrived, brings the narrative of those events down to the 12th of this present month of January. And from the momentary flashes of the Telegram we learn the nature of the very latest of the salient incidents—further particulars in re gard to which will come to us a little later on. As to th• occurrences at Murfreesboro, we now know for certain that on the last day of this last year the Federals met with a signal dis comfiture at the hands of General BRAGG; and if the victors withdrew afterwards (as they did) dur ing the night of the 3d inst., they did so distinctly as victors ! Carrying away with them all the stores, and, together with the stores, four thousand pri soners, five thousand stand of arms, and a quarter of a hundred guns as evidences of their success. Inste..td of retreating into Alabama, however, as it was at first conjectured they would, the Confede rate force under BRAGG appear to have established themselves on the Dut.l River (a tributary of the Tennessee), at a point some score of miles to the south-west of Murfreesboro. Shelbyville, in fact, is understood to be the exact scene of the Confede rate General's whereabouts. Beyond this partial advantage to the Confede rates —the safe withdrawal of all the stores and all the trophies of the 31st December from Murfrees boro—what are not the successes:they have won, not partially or in any way questionably, elsewhere ? The Federals have been beaten back unmistakeably from Vicksburg. The Confederates have simultaneously achieved a victory by sea and by land at Texas. The Southern triumph in Mississippi is unmistakeable. And, as we have just seen, the opponent of General BRAGG has been completely outwitted and out manoeuvred in Tennessee. As to the double ad vantage gained in the Gulf of Texas, an advantage both ashore and afloat, that is, of all the events recently brought to light, incomparably the most important in its significance. That the Federals could have been so entirely " put down" at sea by the Confederates was hardly a thing to be looked for. Yet the facts reisated are beyond all dispute. They demonstrate an advantage on the Southern side of the most signal character. Five Confederate steamers, unexpectedly dropping down the river, seize upon what is familiarly known as the Gate of the Gulf- State of Texas—while effecting this result, by a coup de main, conveying destruction to the Federal gunboat squadron, or scattering the remnants of it in flight. In demonstration of the unmistakeable completeness of the victory achieved, there remains in the possesaion of the Confederates, when all is over, a war-ship as famous', in her way, and hitherto,appa rently, far more seaworthy than the renowned but unfortunate Monitor—which sunk, it may be remem bered very recently, at a sudden puff, or what sailors call half a gale of wind, off Cape Hatteras_ "Harriet Lane" is the vessel just captured from the Federals by the Confederates. And the Harriet Lane will probably, in giving an account of herself, in the hereafter under her changed co . l i ours, say ditto, so to speak, to the Alabama There she o remains, e tn ai n s h o wever, in the possession of the Con federates. There, in their possessiontoo, so uth aton Rouge, is the reclaimed city of Galveston. The Federal flagship lies wrecked off shore in d ep water —her larger fragments sunk to the bottom after an explosion as destructive, in its way (thoug h upon a .smaller scale), as that of the l'Orient. The remnants of the Noithern fleet found safety only, it would seem, in fi g ht to New Orleans. All this m uitirne euecess on the side of the Confederates being attributable to the dashing onslaught of their five audacious war steamers armed with guns worked among; ramparts of cotton bales. The triumph s won by the South in effect have proved in these last instances to be els various as they ore, we repeat, beyond all dispute. A journal, more eistinguished for smartness Of style than for ?.oundaess of judgment, assures Ile that the Ballot is but a superstition. An antiquiltA superstition, it hardly ventures to say, seeing that so large a majority of the Liberal candidates have to make it one of their hustings articles of faith; nor is it liked, on those occasions, if the candidate does not give his " unfeigned assent and consent" to its necessity. It is, however, a superstition, in the sense that it is a merely inherited belief, or point in the creed, is believed in without conscious reason by constituents, and accepted by candidates as a mere matter of form. Indeed, we are told respect ing the candidates, that their reason for consenting so easily to vote for the Ballot, is the certainty that their votes will never carry their ostensible object. Of too many of the candidates we can easily believe this. Why we should believe it of electors is not so apparent. Many a candidate must be aware that he has no title whatever on the ground of mental and political qualifications to appeal to a constitu ency at all, and he may reasonably dread a system which would deprive him of adventitious and irre velant influence, and throw him upon his merits solely. It is not so clear that electors can, from any but party motives, dislike the mode of voting which leaves them every present advantage untouched, and confers on them others, which can be secured by no other known means. For our part, if the demand for the .Ballot be likened to a worship, we must think that, so far from being a superstition, the electors well know what they worship. But few of the respectable electors have not, in some form, had to do with the Ballot. It is employed in so many societies, social► commercial, and literary—its essential principle is so strictly, and properly, adhered to in courts mar tial, and even our jury and militia systems appeal to its equivalent—that it is not easy to think of a man's occupying the electoral status in society, and being unacquainted with the simple and ra tional device which excludes unfair partiality, un due influence, and bribery. If superstition be cre dulous and unreasonable worship, we should say that the elector who asks the candidate to vote for the ballot is a man of easy faith, only because the reason for his faith is so simple and obvious, that it seems like a truism if put into express terms. To the unsophisticated Liberal elector there is no point in his Liberal creed which he less takes on trust. On the duration of Parliaments, on the extension of the Franchise, on the fairer ap portionment of Members, and the like, he may lean a good deal on the opinion of others. In regard to the Ballot, he trusts his personal observation and knowledge. In hardly any town, city, or county in Great Britain, can he have passed through many elections, without having either personally felt the need of the Ballot, or without having witnessed with pain the humiliation, through the want of it, of many of his brother electors. Superstition often believes in the existence of what is non-existent. But if the evils to remedy which the Ballot is demanded, exist, like witchcraft and sorcery, in imagination only, all we can say is, that a long list of abortive Acts of Parliament, and certain expensive Royal Commissions, are strong evidences of superstition in quarters supposed to be tolerably free from it; not to mention the facts de tailed to us by the confessors at St. Alban's, Glou cester, Wakefield, and other distinguished places. Lord RussELL and good Mr. WALPOLE must have been very superstitious men, when they combined their skill to produce a " Corrupt Practices at Elections Prevention Act." Unless, indeed, we presume, from their expunging from the Act as proposed the clauses most calculated to prevent such practices, that the Act was mere political quackery, and concocted to make a show of believing what they did not believe. We admit, indeed, that it was passed to make a show of preventing what they did not wish to prevent ; but we take it as proof that they could not deny the existence of the facts on which it was based. Another common mark of superstition is, faith in fanciful means and remedies. Homeopathy, and all the devices of medical quackery, charms, amu lets, and idle ceremonies to avert the wrath or pro- cure the favour of Heaven, are every day illustra tions. Now, we may be told we expect too much from the Ballot—that is quite possible, though we doubt it. The advocates of the Ballot, like those who have struggled for any of the social or political reforms of late years, may easily, in theirhard fight with the bitter defenders of existing abuses, exagge rate the value of what they fight for. If, for instance, any of the Liberal party have imagined that it would place their party in undisputed possession of power for an indefinite period, we have no such thought. We believe there is quite as much con servatism as desire for progress in the English mind, and that, too, amongst the humbler as well as among the richer classes. Even the Radicals of England are not destructives. Under the Ballot each of the great parties would be as liable as ever to disgust the electors who respec tively support them as they now are; and we may add, would, have as mach opportunity to gain their goodwill. The supporters of the Ballot ought not to have, and generally, we believe, have not any oblique purpose. Their single object may be expressed in the short sentence, sent over, we believe, originally from that tabooed source of political instruction, Ame rica,—" The Ballot enables every man to do his own voting." Where is the superstition of believing that it does this P We mean, of course, when the Ballot is a bona fide one—when it is conducted, as it easily may be, and is every day, in England itself, for other than political matters—that no one can know before, at the poll, or after it, any person's vote, unless he himself discloses it. The t easonableness of the Ballot, as the means of enabling each indivi dual to vote in freedom from unfair external influ ences, must be very obvious, when we find it in use from almost the earliest periods of civilised political freedom ; and when, it has been spontaneously adopted by bodies and communities of the most diverse character, for the one object of securing a free vote. Resort to it, for this purpose, must really be either an instinct of the race, or one of those first conclu -1 sions of reason which most resemble instinct. Many of the private or public societies who have adopted it cannot, in numberless cases, have learned it of predecessors, yet it occurred to them as soon as the circumstances required it. A few individuals, uniting agreef for com bined for a common object, a ornd protection, citizens their common government that the will of the majority shall decide disputed questions. Warmth of feeling, personalcinnrflrunepntce influences, fear of giving offence, and sometimes in ducements, are soon observed to influence some of the voters, and to cause the majority of votes, not to represent always the cool and unbiassed judgment of the majority of persons. " Let each of us, then, so give his vote that no extraneous influences can bias it," is, under the circumstances, the first demand of common sense; the idea of superstition in thG matter is simply ludicrous. If experience be appealed to, we really know of none which does not prove that common sense was right in resorting to the Ballot as the means to se cure a free vote. We are pointed to America— well, there the mischief is all due to tho formerly dominant party appealing to the ballot, and then 1 1 rejecting its decision, because it was against them. That party was itself in power at the time the Bal lot w as taken ; yet with all the immense patronage pf the American Government, it eould not prevent a fair Ballot. It rebelled, indeed, but it never de nied the fairness of the Ballot. We are pointed again to France—there, too, the Ballot has " enabled every man to do his own voting." It is no fault of the Ballot that the peasantry at the time of the EMPEROR'S election were Napoleonists; it is no fault of the Ballot that, now, the masses of the people are favourable to an Emperor who has so cleverly con ciliated their good will; the Ballot is not answer able foi the measures taken by French Prefects to deter opposition candidates from coming forward, or to mislead the voters. The people, after all, vote as they please. But the grand proof of the efficiency of the Ballot is that, even in France, first rate opposition candidates can get a seat in the Chamber in the teeth of the Minister of the Interior, the Prefect, and all the influence of Government. It may be safely tw3erted tiv t, with open voting, not one opposition member would be returned. The experience of all other countries, specially that of our own Australian Colonies, is not denied to be in favour of the reasonableness of the Ballot. To term it a superstition, where it had been some time in practice, would but expose a man to deserved con tempt. If there be superstition anywhere we should say it is amongst those who oppose and dread the Ballot. It is superstition to shrink from reason, and this they do. The only alternative—and we fear the true one—is that their fear is not superstition, because it is a fear of losing what the Ballot would certainly deprive them of—the power to bribe, inti midate, and coerce those who ought to be the free and independent voters of Great Britain and Ireland. We publish in another part of our impression an account of the recent tyrannical proceedings of the Russian Government in Warsaw, which can scarcely fail to excite the reader's indignation. It is a re- vital of the means adopted to carry out the recruit ing, by which Polish youths were to be forced into the service of their country's oppressors. As might be supposed the mere threat of such an act aroused the deepest indignation among the injured Poles, and had it not been for an appeal judiciously circulated by those who have the true welfare of their country at heart, there is little doubt that it would have been the occasion of a violent outbreak. It was addressed to those who were likely to be the victims of this unjust con scription, and conjured them, for the sake of their oppressed country, to submit quietly to this fresh act of tyranny. It reminded them that, although torn from the country they longed to serve, and associated with her enemies, their life and actions might still be of service to Poland. They might carry with them their sentiments of freedom and indepen dence to diffuse them among the Russian soldiery. These and similar exhortations produced the desired effect, for although, as our correspondent informs us, it were impossible to describe the lamentations, and the gloom that hung over the city after the forced conscription was carried into effect, no vio lent resistance was attempted. The manner in which the recruiting was carried out could only be attempted in a semi-barbarous country. At an hour verging on midnight the streets were cleared of stray passengers, every street being occupied by the military, while strong patrols perambulated the town, and cannon were pointed at each extremity. When these preparations were com- pieta, the superintendent of police, with a military policeman and six soldiers, all armed, approached the doomed houses, and knocked. No sooner was the door unfastened than in they rushed like a band of brigands, dragged from their beds the victims of the conscription, and conveyed them to the citadel. In some instances the young men qualified for conscription had contrived to leave Warsaw, and in these cases they seized on their fathers or younger brothers as hostages. In one instance a middle-aged man, the father of five chil -1 dren, was dragged off because his eldest son had contrived to chide the police. No plea for exemp tion was admitted—age, sickness, the care of a family, the support of a widowed mother, were dis regarded alike. There was scarcely a house, we are told, in which there was not one taken, and from many five or six were carried off. We can fancy the desolation of the city—the lamentations of the bereaved mothers, wives, and children, the burning resentment which smoulders in the hearts of the captives. Forced into the ranks of their hated op pressors, torn from their homes, and, in many in stances, conscious of the distress and poverty of ,heir deserted families, it will be with little heart that they will fight the battles of the CZAR. The account given in the Monde of these tyrannical proceedings coincides with all we have heard from other sources. A complete razzia, we are told, was made among the • officials of the railway from Warsaw to Vienna, and the University itself, notwithstanding the fine promises made to it, was not spared, several young students being taken. The numbers arrested amount, it is conjectured, to several thousands, and when we remember that these include tradesmen and workmen of all kinds, we can have some faint idea of the injury inflicted on the city in a commercial sense. Who can help regretting that the youthful monarch who seemed at first so willing to redeem the errors of his father, and to whom so much praise is justly due for carrying out the emancipation of the serfs, in the face of his powerful nobility, should permit his reign to be tarnished by such acts of cruel oppression. Surely the teachings of history, and even the experience of his own times, might convince him that thrones built on tyranny rest on a hollow foundation, and that the extent of his empire, and the irresponsibility of his power, may not suffice to save him from the fate of despots who tempt too far the endurance of suffering humanity. At a special meeting of the Nottingham Town Council on Thursday, a resolution was adopted appointing a committee to tako steps for the fittingaebra tion, in that town, of tho:occasion of the marriage of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. The magistrates, it was said, wero prepared to co-operate with the Town doun eil in the matter. ST. THOMAS'S AND BETHLEM HOSPITALS.—When St. Thomas's Hospital was required for railway purposes the site was valued by Mr. Currey, the surveyor to the governors, at £478,000 ; underthe award of the arbi trator only £290,000 was obtained for the property. On a recent occasion the actual value of Bethlem was brought in question, when the authorities appealed against their as sessment to the parish of St. George's, and valued them selves, or rather placed their then estimated value on their own property, which result, by being made public, may serve present purposes. Mr. Lee, their surveyor, then contended that £l,BOO a year was the utmost rental as the grounds of his valuation, which, if correct for rating purposes, is good for bargain and sale. Mr. Paine, surveyor, who has acted for the Home-office, under the sanction of the Poor-law Board, ecc.,',on behalf of St. George's, contended for £4,200. The award of the arbitrator was £3,728. Mr. Johnson, the Governor of Bridewell and Bethlem, and Mr. Lee, his sur ve3 or, argued that Bethlem was almost worthless, because at the present time ii, wa- " totally unfit for the purposes and practice of a lunatic asylum under the altered and almost reversed system of treatment of lunacy ;" therefore £l,BOO a year was an ade (pate rent. Such being the case, certainly 30 years' purchase, or 54,000, will approximate towards the current value of the property in tee. AMERICAN SYMPATHY WITH LANCASHIRE.—The Y ethsfeGrredlclieYf from t m h e Ne ‘ s York, hip Ii with Pe a °. c r a r r i g v o ed of a t fio L u i r v , ' • Sc r CI ° . , for r fine dis tress in Lancashire. The Ho p e, which is a nenew gave York vessel, is commanded by Captain Hancock, who, we believe his services free. She left Now on the 22d Decem. a nd 987 tons guano, the relief fund. The vessel is , b al e l r o , flawdheinchwwithilllh,OelsOolbda,rareolds ofthe flour, proceedsunderstand, forwarded consigned to Messrs. B a b coc k and Co., of Li verpoo l, who undertake unship the c argo, free of expense. Th e Hope was towed wo up the Mersey, free of charge, and all the cust o m s and harbou r , dock, and other dues, will be dispensed wit h in this and othe r s i m i lar eases: MIME 2 . LATEST INTELLIGENCE. THE BOMBAY MAIL. SOUTHAMPTON, JAN. 24. The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steam ship Elora, Captain Kellock, with the heavy por tion of the above mails, has arrived. She brings 23 passengers, 1 package specie (£200) ; also 282 boxes oranges, 750 bags beans, 86 packages sun dries, 29 cases silk, and 600 bales raw silk, value £50,000 sterling. The Ellora left Alexandria on the 11th, Malta 14th, and Gibraltar the 19th inst. In the Medi teranean she experienced fine weather, along the coast cf Spain and Portugal light north-easterly winds, and in the bay and up the channel mode. rate winds from the southwest. Her Majesty's ships Marlborough, Firefly, Alac rity, Magicienne, and Medina were at Malta, and at Gibraltar the Firebrand and Procris. The Massilia, with the outward mails of the 12th, arrived at Gibraltar on the morning of the 17th, and resumed her voyage for Malta and Alexandria. Her Majesty's screw line-of-battle ship Meannee left Gibraltar on the 17th, for the East. The Federal gunboat Chippewa, and a Spanish sloop-of-war, were cruising off the rock when the Ellora left Gibraltar. The sum of £B3O 19s. 3d,, collected at Gibraltar for the relief of the Lancashire operatives, has been remitted to the Lord Mayor of London by this packet. The following British vessels had arrived out at Gibraltar since the 10th inst. : Steamer Hellenis, 10 days from London ; schooner Eliza, 19 days from Swansea; steamer Regina, eight days from London ; steamer Orontes, 10 days from Liverpool ; steamer Maranthon, Eve days from Liverpool ; steamer Norma, 12 days from London ; steamer Corinthian, five days from Liverpool; steamer Peninsular, seven days from Southampton ; steamer Rhone, 6* days from Liverpool ; steamer Olympus, five days from Liverpool; steamer Messina, 15 days from Glasgow; and steamer Gibraltar, eight days from London. Gibraltar exchanges on the 19th were quoted— London, 90 days' date, 501,-; Paris, sf. 28c.; Mar seilles and Genoa, sf. 29c.; Madrid, eight days' sight, 4 prem. ; Cadiz, die.; Seville, f dis. ; Ma laga, par ; Barcelona, -} prem.; Almeira, par ; Va lentia, I to I prem.; Alicant, par; prem. on sf. pieces, ito per cent. Freights unaltered. CAPE OP GOOD HOPE. PLYMOUTH, SATURDAY, 10 A.M. The Union Mail Steamship Company's screw steamer Cambrian, Com man der William Strutt, from the Cape of C oo d H ope, St. H e l ena , an d As cension, is now entering the Sound. A strong gale from the south-west has been blowing all night, and continues. At 3 a.m. it was accompanied by a heavy storm of hail. 10.45 A.M. The force of the gale, which is now due west, has compelled the Cambrian to drop ler anchor in the middle of the Sound, a mile to the eastward of her proper berth. Her Majesty's ship London, 86, which, for the last three days ha s b een preven t e d by the weather from going up Hamoaze, remains inside the break water, with topgallant masts struck ; all snug. SPAIN. CADIZ, JAN. 24. News received here from Vera Cruz, dated the 26th of December, states that the French army, having left garrisons in Vera Cruz, Jalapa, Cor-• dova, Orizaba, and Tampico, was advancing upon Puebla. The Commander of the Normandie was dead of the nom/to. FRANCE. PARIS, JAN. 24. The Moniteur of this morning publishes a de spatch from Admiral Jurien de Legraviere, dated Vera Cruz, Dec. 16, giving good news of the army, which was advancing, and finding supplies upon the plains in its route. 1,200 mules and 250 waggons had arrived from New York, and 450 mules from Santiago. The Emperor received yesterday, at the Tuileries, a special letter from the President of Hayti. The Opinion Nationale tells us that M. Ber themy, Minister Plenipotentiary of the Empire, whose departure for China has been previously announced, has put himself in communication, since his passage through Lyons and Marseilles, with the Chambers of Commerce in those two towns, who have so great an interest in the deve lopment of the commercial relations of France with the East. The same journal tells us from a German source that the Duke of Modena will visit Vienna at the end of January to take leave of his troops. The Modenese brigades will be dissolved in February, the greater part of the officers taking commissions in the Austrian army• The Opinion Nationale also speaks decidedly on the address of the Prussian Chambers, and warmly applauds its firm and dignified tone. It asks will the King see his error after hearing such language. Experience forbids the hope. L'Opinion Nationale rather thinks that his Majesty will content himself with celebrating grand fetes in Berlin and throughout the provinces, iu the hopes of outvving the Chambers in the affections of the people, and after enumerating the prospective festi vities, our French contemporary gravely asks, with a touch of national esprit, whether such fetes and cele brations are not after all worth more than a Con stitution ? :Le Constitutional learns from the Cologne Gazette that the Duke of Saxe Coburg has positively refused the Crown of Greece. It does not, however, pledge itself to the authenticity of this rumour. It denies very strongly the accusa• tions brought against the employment of forced labour by the Suez Canal Company, and asserts that it pays its workmen and supports them, giving them the option of re-engagement after a short time. Le Siecle tells us that the fortune left by the late Viceroy of Egypt is valued at 200 millions f ranc s. V e find in the same journal a paragraph stating that three 'vessels and a transport from Brest are about to remove to Cherbourg. They are intended to convey troops to Mexico. The war department has received orders to forward ammunition to Cherbourg without delay. The Moniteur has the following note :- 1 4 0 n receiving the news that the Viceroy of Egypt had placed an Egyptian battalion at the disposal of the Emperor of the French, the English press in dulged in suppositions, the rectification of which is desirable. The facts of the case are these:—Ex perience having proved by the example of the black companies in the French West India Islands sent to Vera Cruz, that the negro race is not liable, like the whites, to the influence of the yellow fever, the Em per requested from the Viceroy, not permission to recruit soldiers, as the English Government did a!' the time of war in India, but the temporary cession of an organized negro regiment of 1,200 men with its officers and sub-officers. The Viceroy could not for the moment spare more than 450 men, who are to rrrison Vera Cruz. This measure, adopted with a humane object, cannot leave room for the slightest criticism." The distribution of the medals awarded to the successful French competitors at the late Exhibi tion in London, which is to be effected at one on Sunday, by the Emperor iu person, in the Grand 1-141 of the Louvre, is to be attended with conside rable pomp. The Moniteur publishes a notice to the Ministers, the Members of the Privy Council, the Great $ of the Crown, and other high dignitaries, that they are to ssenable at the Tuile ries, to accompany their Majesties to the Pavilion Denon. The other persons who are invited to attend must alight at the door of the Pavilion, and take their places by a quarter past 12 at latest. BOURSE, Jan. 23..—The market continues in the same dormant stace, the quotations of Threes, for the Account, alternating from 69f. 95c. to 70f. 5c., but with little doing. Railway Shares are gene rally heavy, with a slight decline on some of the lines. Mobilier Shares show a slight improvement. The market slightly receded towards the close, and left off as follows : 4t per Cents. — Do. end month 3 per Cents Do. end month 69 90 New 3 per Cents Do. end month — Credit Mobilier 1157 50 Do. end month 1160 —I Bank Shares 3400 Credit Fonder 1475 Piedmontese Fives Italian Loan 7O 70 Russian - Austrian Spanish Threes 53 Home Debt .. 5O 25 RAIL 'AY& Cash. Account. Orleans IC9O .. 1091 50 Northern New. ditto Lyons and Mediterranean 1157 50 .. 1156 50 Geneva.. Southern Western Eastern Sardinian 370 .. Austrian LOW hard North of Spain Saragossa 661 50 .. 662 50 Ditto to Barcelona PRUSSIA. The following is the text of the principal passages of the Address drawn up by the Liberal fractions of of the Berlin Chamber of Deputies ; " The Chamber of Deputies assembled in due course by order of the King. It was animated by feelings of unchangeable fidelity to his Majesty, and was solely preoccupied with again manifesting its attachment to the Constitution. The session was closed before the Budget for 1862 was legally fixed. That for 1863 was withdrawn by the Government. The invitation made by the Chamber to present it again at a convenient moment remained with tut any result. Since then the Ministers appointed by the King have continued to direct the affairs of the State without any legal Budget and contrary to the Constitution. They have even, in opposition to the formal declarations of the Chamber of Depu ties, decreed expenses which the Chamber had disallowed. The first of the rights of the repre sentatives of the country, that of voting the ex penditure, has thus been infringed upon, and. the country, which has seen with the greatest regret its constitutional institutions placed in question, has ranged itself on the side of its deputies. A small minority only, supported by the Ministry, has carried to the 'eery steps of the throne gross defamations against the representatives of the na tion, and has attempted to mislead the judgment of the King upon the most simple rights of the Constitution. At the same time, abuses of power have taken place. Public functionaries faithful to the Constitution, who happened to be deputies, have been the object of vexatious proceedings. The press has been harshly treated ; attempts have been made to impede the exercise of the civic rights of citizens not belonging to the army, by the intervention of the superior officers of the Land wehr. The King has declared that no one should place in doubt his desire to maintain the Constitu tion to which he had sworn. No one has, in fact, any doubt ; but your Majesty will permit us to say to him frankly—the Constitution is already violated by the Ministers. Article 99 no longer exists, in fact. We are governed without a budget, and the session has opened without the hope of seeing the finances re-established in their normal state, and the army organised upon legal bases. This unfor tunate conflict menaces to compromise the conside ration for Prussia abroad. She can only recover her legitimate influence in Germany by the re-esta blishment of a constitutional state of things. 'We hope that the wisdom of the King will know how to distinguish between the loyal voice of the Deputies and the councils of the men who cover their party interests with his Majesty's name. As represen tatives of the country, we must solemnly declare that peace at home and power abroad are only pos sible by a return to a constitutional situation." NAPLES AND ROME. Letters from Naples and Rome, both dated Jan. 17, speak of the sensation made in Italy by the arrest of the Princess Barberini. The Naples letter says that when General de Lamarmora received the telegram from General de Montebello, praying for her release, he replied that she should be treated with every due regard to her rank and sex, but that all subjects of the new kingdom of Italy were equally amenable to the law, and that he could not protect her from a judicial inquiry. The noble delinquent is not in prison. She is lodged in a suite of apartments in the Questra of the Gia como palace. Her own lady's maids have , been separated from her, and she is furnished with two others by the procureur-general. She is very taci turn, and refuses to give any explanation whatever touching the two long letters in cipher which were found upon her. These letters are alleged to have been given her for transmission to Francis 11. by the King's old tutor, M. Roberti. The princess has made an ineffectual attempt to bribe the offi cers in charge of her to let her; escape. All applica tions from friends to pay her a visit hays been re fused. According to the letter from Rome, it was not of his own mere motion, but at the instigation of Mr. Odo Russell, that General de Montebello took up the cause of the princess. Mr. Russell, it is said, first applied to the French ambassador, the Prince de la Tour d'Auvergne, and begged him to intercede with General de Lamamora. The prince excused himself on the ground that he had no official relations or private acquaintance with the Italian commandant at Naples, and did not feel justified in writing to him. Thereupon Mr. Odo Russell, with better success, canvassed General de Montebello. These are curious details, which, if untrue, should be contradicted, and if true, ex plained. The letter last referred to says that the Princess Barberini at the time of her arrest was ac companied by a young Swiss who escaped, and now boasts in Rome that he brought away with him some papers which would have been highly compromising. POLAND. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) WARSAW, JAN. 16. Previous to the day on which the recruiting, or rather proscription, had been effected in this metre. polis, and with a desire to calm the excitement and dispair occasioned by this most atrocious measure of Russian tyranny, an appeal was addressed to those who were likely to become the victims of it, couched in terms most eloquent and affectionate, persuading them to submit to this act of cruelty, for the sake of their oppressed country :—" Called upon to enter the Russian ranks," says the appeal, " you will before renew your oath to serve faith fully your country, and to spare no sacrifice for it. Enter you will the military service of Russia, not to renounce your fatherland, or forget your own feelings, but to caery with you those sentiments of freedom and independence, which it will lab your duty to infuse into the hearts of the Russian sol diers. Your own life, which the intended proscrip tion wants to sever from the country, will find its continuation in yourselves, and through you in the Russian regiments. Be then of good cheer, and bear with manly courage this sacrifice, this heavy sacrifice of your beloved country." This touching and well-timed appeal produced a great effect, and saved the country from the most imminent danger. For to describe the gloom, the shrieks and the lamentations which were spread over this city in consequence of the proscripti n having been partly effected last night, is really impossible. I do not remember such a painful feeling ever having pervadeu the people before. This first instalment of Polish bleed was taken in a most violent and perfidious manner. on the 14th inst., at 11 o'clock p.m., the police and soldiers, w ith lanterns in their hands, were ordered t o marc h out and tear away front the bosoms of their families these young and cherished children. Every street was occupied by the military, and at each tretnily cannons were pointed, while strong - patrols peram bulated the town. The superintendent of police, with a military policeman tfild six so!di.?rs, all armed, then quietly approached the houses already marked for their visit. The whole town was en veloped in a sound repose, and if any one happened to have been in the streets, he was at once seized and lodged in a police station. A knock at the door soon called up the porter, who, not knowing what awoke him, naturally opened the door, when the recruiting parties rushed in, and dragged out from their beds the young men, and when these contrived to hide themselves, or make their escape, they forcibly carried to the citadel, as hostages, fathers or younger brothers" A large number of young men qualified for con scription left Warsaw, and thus exposed their rela tives to be imprisoned in their places. In one in stance a father of five children had to go because his eldest son evaded the vigilance of the police, and this father a man of more than fifty years of age. Many manufactories And trades were deprived of their workmen, much to their own detriment, and the general suffering of the country. In spite of all this persecution the national spirit is at its highest pitch, and an invisible authority issuing its orders and regulations it, most implicitly obeyed. This is a proof of the moral, and never subdued force of the Polish nation—a force that must have its ultimate triumph ; and the more brilliant as it shall have been bought at the cost of such sufferings and sacrifices. The Jews have shared tLe fate of the Christians, and numbers have been kidnapped, most of these tradesmen. Now and then a resist ance, ending in a sefliae, was offered, but no fight ing took place. So rare a moderation of the Warsaw population plainly demonstrates that the people give no cause for the persecution which the Russian Go vernment pursues so systematically and relentlessly. That proscription deprives the country of its best and most industrious population, and deprives it in a way at once cruel and savage. It is a most in human ravage upon this oppressed nation, and so poignant in its effects, that it may be traly stated as one of the greatest scourges that huve been in flicted, within a century, by the Russian Govern ment in Poland. Orders have been forwarded to the governors of the provinces to commence a similar work, and God only knows how it will to carried out there, as the military governors are acting the part of indepen dent pashas, and disregard any civil interference with their business. They receive the orders, and this is all—and, as to their execution, they follow out their own impulses, and no one, even the Grand Duke Constantine, possesses the power of stopping their abuse. .1 shall not fail to inform you of the progress of this dreadful and unprovoked operation. Nothing could have illustrated more the unpopu larity of the Marquis Wielopolski than the following circumstance :—His lady having officially, as a patroness of a girl's school, visited the establish ment on the Ist of January, employed all her artful means to win the goodwill and affection of the pupils. Perceiving her failure, she sent the choicest bon-bons, and other sweetmeats, that could be got, as a present from her. But what a consternation had taken possession of the Marchioness when she heard that none of the young misses would touch or receive one bon-bon, and the sweet offerings had to be distributed out of doors. The long and the short is, that the name of Wielopolski is hated, while that of Count Andrew Zimoyski, who, to our sorrow, is now an exile, is in everybody's mouth ; for a man of his pure patriotic feelings and his abilities would have been the man at this trying moment of our patience and resignation. The chair of the Sclavonic literature is now in full activity, the inauguration having taken place a few days ago by the Rector, M. Mianowski, and the address delivered by M. Kuist, the Bohemian professor, produced a favourable impression. N. Kuist took especial care to inveigh against the Germans, as the most vehement enemies of the Slaves, and particularly of the Poles, whom they always misrepresent in their press, and tax with deeds and stories which only a sickly German imagination is capable of inventing. COLNEY-HATCH ASYLUM--The annual winter entertainment to the patients, now numbering nearly 1,900, of this institution took place on the 20th inst. before a large assemblage of the county magistrates, their friends, and others interested in the subject of insanity. At 4 o'clock about 250 men and 350 women assembled in the large hall, which was very brilliantly lighted, and deco rated with flags, Chinese lamps, and evergreens. The amuse ments commenced with the tricks of a professed conjuror, engaged for the occasion, who was followed by Mr. Punch, Mrs. Judy, and the faithful dog, Toby. After this, at 6 o'clock, the patients retired to their wards, where they were regaled with plumcake, oranges, spiced ale, and lemonade, in which those who were unable to be present in the hall participated. At seven o'clock the hall was again Idled with the busy and happy population, when dancing commenced, and was kept up until nearly ten, when the National An. them closed the proceedings. We are happy to record that not a single casualty or unpleasantness occurred to mar the pleasure of the evening. During the time the patients were at supper the magistrates entertained the company at a very sumptuous repast. It is right to add that all joined in dancing and the various efforts made to amuse the patients, and it was universally admitted that the Colney • hatch winter fete of 1863 is entitled to rank as the most brilliant and successful in the asylum's history. METROPOLITAN CONVALESCENT INSTITUTION.— The twenty-second Annual Court of this Institution (which has its Asylum at Walton-on-Thames) was held on Tuesday last, at the office in Sackville-street, Pic cadilly. The Hon. J. W. Percy, presided. The report showed that, during the year there had been a very con siderable extension of the benefits of this charity, 1,696 hav ing enjoyed such benefits within that period, with fully the usual amount of relief. The number of recipients bad more than doubled in the past 10 years. Of the 1,606 within the short period allowed for their recovery (about a month) 1,330 became well and able to return to their re spective employments,and the chief portion of the remainder were discharged much improved, and the conduct of the patients generally had been highly satisfactory. The do nations of the year for general purposes were, £725 3s, and the number of donors 74, including Messrs. Barclay, Mr. A. Hobhouse, and Sir R. Frederick for £5O each ; five sermons had realised £360 17s Id ; and there had been 184 new annual subscribers. The contributions to the ex tension fund were £323 lls Ild, of which the late chairman of the board, Colonel F. Paget, had given £52 10s, and Robert Vyner, Esq., £5O. The much needed enlargement of the asylum had been accomplished, and th e or i g i na l house put in thorough repair. The estimated cost of the new wing, giving space for 60 additional beds, was £3,500, and the repairs, &c., £5OO. It had been hoped that the fund opened for this purpose would have realised sufficient, but the board had to regret that there was a deficiency (pro bably on account of the cotton famine), and had, therefore, been compelled to draw from the general fund £1,735 15s sd, the small reserve fund of the institution being thereby nearly exhausted. For the means of replacing the fore going sum, and also of providing the requisite furniture for the new portion of the asylum, the board urgently appealed to the friends of the charity and the public. The total re ceipts of the general fund were £',995 103 6d, of which there was a balance at the bankers of £is 6s Bd. After the adoption of the report and the disposal of routine business, the proceedings closed with thanks to the chairman. COAST DEFENCES.—Captain Dahl,gren, in his report of Nov. 22, 1862, to the Secretary of the United States Navy, states It behoves us therefore in gold season to estimate the danger rightly and the remedy, In regard to the latter there will naturally be some difference of opinion; still, taking our own great seaport as an exam ple (alluding to New York), my own views are that a trustworthy and thorough defence can only be made by a harmonious and just combination of forts, iron -clads, and rams, with such other minor auxiliaries as may be contri buted to the general purpose ; singly, neither would be effectual. Whatever may be selected as the material of the interior structure of the fort, the exterior must be iron. Lines of earthworks will also be useful in assisting and com pleting the position of the main works, but by no means should bars masonry be exposed to the action of rifled cannon." FRENCH CONVICTS.--The position of convicts in France at present occupies the attention of the Government. According to the last official accounts, there are 7,690 convicts under sentence to hard labour. Of these 1,961 are sentenced to hard labour for life;:-,070 to from 5 to 10 years ; 2,259 from 11 to 20 years; 282 to from 21 t..) 30 years, 41 to from 31 to 40 years ; and 9 to from 51 years and upwards. 4,750 were convicted of rob bery, 1,027 of murder, 452 of attacks on women, 233 of in cendiarism, 168 of assassination,l62 of cutting and maiming 150 of forgery, 140 of coining, 24 of fraudulent bankruptcy, and 26 of parricide. The half of these convicts are formed of men from twenty to forty years of age, There are 123 young men of from sixteen to twenty years of age, and 270 old men above sixty. The agricultural districts supot y more than half the convicts. We find 4,5 95 ho in the country, 2,452 born in towns, and 645 h .7reigners. Of the convicts, 3 , 992 08 n neither 'Lead or write ; 91 alone have received superior primary instruction. Agricultural labourers and gardeners form about a sixth of the convicts. There are 1,078 navies, 467 masons, 345 weavers, 245 domestic ser vants, 175 tailors, and 184 blacksmiths and locksmiths. RECOGNITION OF THE SOUTH. The following extract is from a paper written by the Hon. W. B. Reed, of Philadelphia, late United States minister in China, and published in the Index :--" These I frankly avow to be my wishes and opinions as to the immediate future. They aim at once at peace ; and when, without: offence or dis respect, the questions are put me whether I would give up without a struggle the Union and govern ment which two years ago existed, and how, if the power were mine, I would arrange the terms of re cognition and separation, I now have no difficulty in answering. In the first place, I think there has been a struggle with at most a questionable suc cess ; and if the choice be between the continu ance of the war, with its attendant suffering and demoralisation, certain miseries and uncer tain results, and a recognition of the South ern Confederacy, I am in favour of recognition— of course making the abolition party responsible for this dread necessity. The blood of the Union is on them. If it be a choice between the slow, but ultimately successful conduct of the war, the sub jugation of the Southern states, their tenure as mere military provinces, involving, of course, a radical change in the political organisation of the triumphant North, so as virtually to abrogate state rights and create a centralised domination with all the heresies of the day engrafted and peaceable re cognition, I still prefer recognition. To continue a war to the bitter end of mutual ruin for a mere point of honour, or from temper, is mischievously absurd. The moment a practical result becomes impossible, as I think it now is, the war ought to cease ; and it is the part of true statesmanship to dis,ern in advance when the moment is coming. If the inquiry be further pressed as to how I would arrange the terms of pacification and re cognition, and adjust the difficulty of boun daries and river rights, my answer is I would begin by a cessation of hostilities and an armistice for a fixed period, not too short. It is the idlest of delu sions to imagine that in the heat and smoke of actual conflict we can make our plans for the future, or even see what that future is likely to be. If arms were laid down for a time, there would be a repug nance to take them up again, which of itself would be favourable to satisfactory adjustment. This, I am quite aware, is but postponing the inevitable decision which sooner or later must be made ; and I do not hesitate to say that, dodge and defer as we may, in my opinion the decision—l mean as to limits, and possibly as to debt—must be made by the States and their citizens, acting as they did when seventy years ago they entered into the Federal compact. There is no other conceivable mode. Maryland and Kentucky, after all, each_ for herself, will have to determine where her lot shall be cast, and what her pecuniary liability must be, whether for a share of the Federal or of the Confederate debt, or whether to be exempt from both. What Maryland and Kentucky do Pennsyl vania and Ohio have a right to tip. This settled the question of boundaries, and nothing else will ; and if the decision involves the abandonment of Washington, and leaving it a monument of what was once the capital of a great republic, be it so. I would rather see it a ruin than what it is now—a garrison town of an uncertain frontier—a mere bar rier fortress—a huge encampment of half-tenanted houses, deserted by respectable inhabitants, and given up to the occupation of soldiers and contrac tors, and disreputable men and women of all descrip tions. These are sad realities, but they must 'be looked at. Our mistake all along has been a reluc tance to look realities in the face," THE DISTRESS IN PRANCE. The Ilioniteur of yesterday contains a report, signed by M. Rouher, the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works, and M. de Persigny • the Minister of the Interior, recommending that in each of their departments a credit of 2,500,000 f. shall be opened for carrying out local and other public works, with the view of relieving the distress of the operatives thrown out of employ by the cot ton famine. The report thus commences: Sire,—"Upon opening the session of the Corps Legislatif, your Majesty announced that a credit would be applied for in aid of the operatives out of employ. In order to fulfil the intentions of your Majesty we have the honour to propose to you to submit at once to the sanc tion of the Corps Legislatif a measure for opening extraor dinary credits of 2,500,000 f. each upon the budget of the Department of the Interior, and upon that of Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works, for the purpose of assisting useful communal works, of affording aid to the charitable institutions, and of carrying out public works at the expense of the state in those places where the suffering of the operatives is greatest. We have no hesitation at this moment in limiting to this sum the total of the grant necessary for the relief of the operatives deprived of their ordinary employment. Amid a crisis in which so many interests are involved we certainly ought not to deceive ourselves as to the extent of the evil, or the suffering it occasions; but it is also the duty of the Government to ascertain the exact state of things, to look upon the facts as they really are, to dissipate exaggerated, fears, and to define the limits and the measure of its inter-. vendon. Tha evil now is local, and while all business last year felt the influence of the events taking place in America, the crisis which the country is deploring in 1863 extends only to those districts where cotton is an article of primary necessity, It is in the Seine Inferieure that it is most severe; and it is in the Somme, the Nord, the Haut Rhin, the Eure, the Loire, the Orne, the Vosges, in part of the department of the Rhone, at Limoges, Troyes, Saint Quentin, Falaise, &c. that employment is diminished or suspended; it is there that the efforts of Government and of private charity should be exerted, In neither case have they yet failed in their duties. As soon as the industrial crisis began to make itself felt, the Emperor's Government took the necessary measures for insuring employment to the population of the manufactur ing districts. In the department of the Seine Inferieure, especially, the Minister of Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works opened numerous workshops for the rectifi cation of the levels of the imperial roads. The report then alludes to other public works, and to the railways, canals, &c,, in course of for mation in various departments, which have afforded occupation to the unemployed. These undertakings not being, however, able to meet all the exigencies of the crisis, the Minister of Public Works is under the necessity, we are told, of applying for extra ordinary resources. The report concludes in the following terms : The communes have joined with an ardour worthy of all praise in the sacrifices everywhere imposed upon the lead ing firms in order to mitigate the severity of a crisis so pro longed. They have voted taxes and loans, measuring their burthen only by the suffering they were desirous of reliev ing. In the Seine Inferieure, 78 communes have voted extra taxes for 1863, amounting in all to 103,575 f. The same de partment has voted a loan of one million of francs for useful communal works, and for the relief of the distressed. A bill sanctioning the vote of the Council-General is now under examin ,tion by the Council of State. As to private charity, it has as usual accomplished its benevolent mission, without parade and without display,and with a constancy nothing discourages. Throughout all the departments it has come to the assistance of the distress in the Seine Inferieure, and there is not a single town suffering frcm the industrial crisis in which the voluntary subscrip tions of the inhabitants have not been added to the grants of the government or those of the municipalities. These subscriptions, up to the present date, have amounted to nearly a million of f ranee in the Seine Inferieure, and it is in great part owing to them that more than 30,000 families have been assisted. The ardour of private charity will not be diminished by the intervention of the government. It will, on the con 7 tary, derive new energy from it, and this noble emulation will still contribute to the relief of the working classes ; for there is no disguising it, the misery caused by want of em ployment cannot be fully relieved except by the daily efforts of benevolence. We beg of you, Sire, to allow the following measure to be submitted to the examination of the Council of State. We doubt not that the Corps Legislatif will eagerly respond to your Majesty's appeal. Last year it unanimously voted the subventions applied for under similar circumstances, and it has always identified itself with the intentions of your government for ameliorating the position of the working classes. We have the honour to be, with the post profound re spect, &c., E. ROUHEB.. F. DE PRESIGWY. This bill is appended for opening a credit. of 2,500,000 f. in each of the departments named. GRATING ACCOMMODATION FOR TUE GREAT EASTERN AT LIVERPOOL. —M r . Yates, the secretary of the Great Ship Company, bavi, g applied to the Mersey Dock Board for a gridiron for the Great 'Eastern, the sub ject was partially discussed at the weekly meeting of the board yesterday. It was stated that it would be difficult to find a suitable spot for a gridiron of the required size, and that the cost would amount to at least £16,000. Ultimatel7 the subject was referred to the works committee. 4 ARY 24. 1863.