The Sun. — London, England, 1863-10-20 00:00:00

THE WESTERN STATES. (From the Special Correspondent of the Times.) CINCINNATI, OHIO, Oct. 3. The elec'tion which is to come on nine days from this in the State of Ohio will show to what extent these people are bent on the indefinite prolongation of the civi .1 war. It is in the meanwhile important to inquire into the balance between gain and loss incurred by this western community in consequence of this momentous event, in which many are still unwilling to recognise a great national calamity. At the time of the drawing up of the last census, in, 1860, what member of the North American Union could be said to vie in prosperity with the happy State of Ohio ? With an area of 39,954 square miles, and a population of 2,339,500 inhabi ts. nts, Ohio enjoyed the first rank in the States for th e production of wool and Indian corn; it was ei zceeded by only one other State in wheat, barley, cheese, and live stock; it occupied the third place in the production of oats, potatoes, buckwheat, grasses, hay, maple, sugar, butter, tobacco, hemp, bilk, and wine. It boasted 3,231 miles of railways. Its canals yielded from 1846 to 1861 a gross re venue of 8,521 dols.; and the net earnings were in some years no less than 5,000,000 dols. The State had a school-fund exceeding 2,796,241 dole., and gave for educational purposes 3,694,527 dots., con secrating to this object a larger sum than was be stowed upon it by all the 14 Southern or slavehold ing States taken together. In this marvellously thriving condition, we are told, the war , f ar f rom b r i n ging any Percept i ble abatement, has caused a most satisfactory improve ment.reof The " annual statement of the comme rce Cincinnati" for the commercial year end ing August 31, 1863, gives the following value of imports and exports for the last four years.:— E I mpor ts. xports. 1850-60 .. 103,347,216 dots. .. 77,0 , 3 3 7 1 , ,1 1 8 26 1 dots. 1860.61 .. 90,19 8 . 136 6 .. 7,2 76,449,862 103,292, 893 • • 1861.62 .. .. 102,397,171 144,139, 213 1862-63 .. The live stock, which in 1860 was 8,221,481, of the value of 69,583,000 dots., rose in 1862 to 9,126,937, es tim ated at 70, 46 3, 86 8 dols. The acres of land sowal w ith every variety of breadstuffs w ere , in 1860, 4 . 5,500,000, yielding 143,600,000 bushels; 1,538,562 acres of meadow lanr:. yielded, in the same year, 2, 0 27,000 tons of hay ; 96,254 acres prod uce d 9,365,38 Z bushels of potatoes, &c. I have been as sured t hat, although the State of Ohio furnished a contingent of 184,000 men to the national army, o not one acre of land has fallen out of cultivation." It is, however, nowhere asserted that one acre has been. tilled out of the great mass of territory which had not yet been rescued from the native forest, the swamp, or the prairie. I learn, also, that from July, 1860, to July, 1861, 11,233 aliens have been naturalised; of these, 5,949 were Germans; 2,106 were Irish, and the rest Welsh, English, &c. Allow ing an equal number for the ensuing year, we should have an increase of population accruing from foreign immigration of 22,C00 persons at the utmost— doubtless very far from filling up the gap occasioned by the drain of the war. The annual statement above referred to, while congratulating the State on the great prosperity enjoyed during the past year, does not conceal the fact that it was mainly owing to " the vast sums of money spent by the Government in the prosecution of the war." The people who thereby made rapid fortunes spent them freely and extrava gantly, so that trade flourished and wealth in creased with a rapidity and generality before un known. " Tb,ere has been a steady demand for the luxuries as well as the necessaries of life, and this has given constant employment to the workshops ; labour has been scarce and in demand, and higher wages obtained than ever before known." The lowest wages for unskilled labour are from 1 dol. 25c. to 2 dels. per diem ; but the salaries of clerks, foremen, head waiters, and others have not risen in proportion, so that the real gain was only percep tible among those classes out of which the army has been -more largely recruited. We know that coal sells throughout the West twice and thrice higher than in former years, owing to the difficulty of finding men to work the mines; and Government has been compelled to impress several hundred negro slaves in Kentucky to hasten the completion of the important railway from Lexington, in Ken tucky, to Knoxville, Tennessee—vitally important in a strategic point of view—in the impossibility of achieving that enterprise by free labour. The main business of Cincinnati and Ohio pro vious to the war consisted in its trade with the South, to which, besides a large part of its vast agricultu ral produce, was sent the main bulk of its extensive manufactures. Besides being the great emporium for the export of the fruits of the richest soil on this cm ttinent, this statcly,well-built, and pleasantly situate d town of Cincinnati employed a great num ber of operatives in its workshops, swelling thus the masa of its population to 161,000 souls in 1860, with an i acrease of 45,000 during the ten previous years. The Southern trade came, of course, to an end with the closing of the Mississippi river, bat the capture of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, though it may lead to a gradual resumption of trade with the people On the borders of the Lower Mississippi, will not revive it with the speed and alacrity which some People anticipated. Indeed, as I have often said, if the North is bent on the utter ruin and dis org Inisation of these Southern countries, the Wet must to a great extent be involved in that destruction, unless it finds elsewhere new channels and new markets for its redundant commodities. Prom the outbreak of the war to the present day a vast market was supplied by the Government in the furnishing of the all-consuming army, and the eastern railways have answered the purp ose of active though expens i ve channels, instead of the water course, which was closed against the Western mer chants. The cities of Ohio are not so far from New York, Philadelphia, and Washington as those of Illinois and Missouri, and the railway Cincinnati to those eastern marts, h o wever freight from wever heavy, is not so utterly ruinous as it is from Chicago or St. EOlliS. Hence, doubtless, this central region of Ohio has been able to w ea th er the storm with a wonderful good fortune hitherto. s once the in crease in its imports and exports, remarkable espe. &ally in this last year , which, however, is notso much owing to the larger quantity of the merchan dise as to the great advance in price of nearly all articles of both home and foreign produce. Take, for instance, pork, which was formerly th e ma i n staple commodity o f this State, and which gave thi s c i ty its nickname of " Porkopolis." The pork crop was this year an immense one, and the business done in pork packing far e xceeded that of any previous season, Yet the trade did not prove profitable, as s was too high, notwithstand the price paid for ho g log the depreciated curr e ncy. But while this in jured the dealer, it helped the farmer, " for while the price compared with the specie standard was low, it was, in fact, for all pract ical purposes high, as the currency not only paid d ebts, but, enabled him to buy land at old prices (for land did not a dvance), and to stock his farm at a but slight advance over previous rates." I quote this f r om official sources, because it only confirms the statemen t ventured in One of my letters from Chicago, that t he co p iou s flood of greenbacks all over the country was an imme nse benefit to the rural population at large, and bettered their condition, even thou gh labour was too sc arce to enlarge to any extent the i r agri cultural operati ons. One of the most bourtiful sources of well-being for this city was to be found in the manufacture of ready-made clothing, for Which the South afforded a very probable market. Those engaged in it have been since the outbreak of the war employed almost exclusively in the service of the Government and in the fitting out of the army. In 1860 this branch of business employed in the whole State of Ohio 13,000 hands, and produced 16,000,000 dots, worth ofgoods. The trade is said to have greatly increased of late, but I can obtain no statistics of the business. All I know is that Cincinnati alone boasts 51 Wholesale houses engaged in thi s b ranch of in and 80 ret ail d us t r y, and their lofty stores and warehouses a re most conspicuous buildings of thi s city. No less tha n among the B,ooo women and girls are said to fad their sustenance in this slop work, which is generally conducted by sharp speculators of German extrac tion er and of the Jewish " psuasion." Oe the other baud, the c'.;: , . tlllation splr:ts, which almost come to an end, owing to the Inland Revenue tax, which was put upon it on the Ist of October of last year. The exportation of alcohol, which bad reached 59,071 barrels in 1858, has sunk to 15,973 in the present year; and whisky, which was im ported at the rate of 531,873 barrels, and exported to the extent of 361,889 barrels in 1857, has fallen to 160,858 barrels import and 162,007 export in 1863. A great depression, it seems, is also notice able in the manufacture of steam engines of every description —a branch of industry for which Cin cinnati had risen to high fame, and by which she attained considerable wealth, especially by furnish ing the locomotive power for the river steamer: . plying on the Mississippi and tributary streams. The scarcity of labour has, however, sharpened the innate ingenuity of this ,people, w ho have turned their steam engines to almost every varie ty of com mon mechanical labour, Cincinn ati soh t s h u at l i os n oosteam alone there is said to be no lessengines, large and small, at work. niture is, on the contrary , ied of fr t o h m e in more o m r a e n fl u o f u a r c i t s u h r i e og of o f o u n r . - y closing sup pl Southern markets, which dition than ever, insili w te ere of ch t i h efl e Cincinnati chairs, carpets, and oth er this household furniture have found their way to th e f ar West, which had previously bought at the eastern cities, and this, with a demand for " fashionable " furniture from the thousands who were put in sud den possession of wealth by the war, created a brisk and active market, so that the business is again as profitable as it was before the secession. " The demand for jewelry and dress has exceeded any thing before thought of," we are informed ; " large amounts of money have been placed in possession of masses of people before unaccustomed to it, who, in common with uneducated men in all ages, imagine that to adore themselves or their houses with rich, costly, and gaudy trappings places them among the great and noble of the race." The civil war, in short, has been for Ohio, no less than for the whole west and east of these Federal States, the lance of Achilles, healing by its touch the wounds it inftioted. To root out of the dull minds of the ignorant classes the notion that all this prosperity is hollow, ephemeral, and artificial, that the crash, however long delayed, is sure to come, will be the work of long time and sor rowful experience. Even those who see matters clearly and have gloomy forebodings of the future shrug their shoulders, and console themselves with the thought that "Americans are wont to live by the day and to take no heed of the future; " that the resources of the country are inexhaustible, and that so long as a community has the produce of a rich soil to fall back upon, ruin can never either be universal or irreparable, but after a few years' stagnation and distress trade and industry are sure to make new outlets for themselves, and business to resume its course with redoubled energy. ","Long live the war I" is meanwhile the cry of the many thousands who have been enriched by the war, and most of the Republicans I have occasion to consult have no hesitation in assuring me that the defeat of Vallandigham is not only certain, but that there will be a majority of at least 25,000 out of about 200,000 voters who are likely to be polled on the Monday after next. I find, indeed, even among the most firm and earnest Republicans, sober, thinking men, who look with dismay and misgiving on this reckless prose cution of the war, and think that if not actual ruin, at least a serious check to the prosperity of the ccuntry must be its necessary, however remote, con sequence. But upon a full admission of all their doubts and fears, they always come back to the con clusion that they must have the Union at any price, that " they must go through the work, , ' that, no matter after how long a time, no matter at how great an expenditure of blood and gold, " the work must bo gone through. The Germans here are numbered among the most uncompromising Republicans. Not all of them, truly, because the old settlers, and many of the Catholics, evince Southern predilections, notwith standing the influence of their Bishop, Rosencranz, brother to the General, who is an exception to the general rule of the Catholic clergy, and is a fiery Abolitionist. But the Radical Germans are the so•called "Forty-eighters," men who flocked in upon these Western districts after the German dis turbances of the year 1848, and who are the object of the general dislike of the Americans, by whom they are called Red Republicans and infidels. How ever red their republicanism may be, these German revolutionists have certainly repudiated their com munistic doctrines,which were rife among them when in their own country. Many of them, chiefly German Jews, have made immense fortunes in the clothing department. A vast mass of the Germans, how ever, are doomed to hard work and poverty, and most of these crowd together in a suburb beyond the Miami canal, to which they have given the appella tion " Über den Rhein." Dwelling side by side with the Irish, who hate and are hated by them, the Ger mans of this lower class are a quiet, thrifty, and or derly set, addicted to beer and smoke, fond of flowers, music, and the drama, and rejoicing in such a won drously numerous progeny that a walk through their quarter of a Sunday afternoon puts one in mind of " limbo" as it ought to be agreeably to the notions of the Roman Catholic Church. It is chiefly out of this prolific race that the regiments of Ohio have been recruited, and it is difficult to say how far heavy bounties may not continue to draw "food for powder" out of that great German hive. Their well-to-do countrymen show an exceedingly great zeal in the cause of negro emancipation; and go to it with the ardour of men of one idea. The leaders of the Republican party, who, like all Americans, as I said, have no high opinion of the German brains, set, however, great store by German votes, and make much of their Teutonic fellow-citizens. It is astonishing to see, however, with all the wealth that some of the Germans have accumulated, how seldom it is that any of them attain either social standing or political influence. It is hardly possible to fall in with German names either among the members of Congress or of the State authorities, except in a subordinate capacity. Neither do such names shine conspicuous among the commanding officers in the army those of Schenck, Rosen cranz, and others scarcely forming exceptions, as these Generals are native Americans, and forget, or even flatly deny, their German extraction. Heavily as the burdens of the war fall upon them, and little as is their share in its profits, the Ger mans, especially of the non-combative class, are all mad for the war, and will vote in a body against the Vallandigham ticket. No news from the Army of the Cumberland! No news le considered good news for the Federals, as, if Bragg was unable to follow up his first advantage c after the battles f hicamauga, and to drive Rosen cranz acrossthe Ten nessee r i ver b efore he rece i ve d reinforcemevn when reinforcements, hardly be abl e t o ac hieve his purpose ne sent to swell the aleast 25,000 men have been Federalver ranks. On the other hand, Rosencranzieeeme sufficient pluck to actyofar as yet from mustering up likely that the two a n.the offensive, and it is very time in their rmies will preaent inactive continue for some politicians here attribute _ position. Some of our Cabinet at WaShlllgt I deep strategic - " ; they plans to the • monstration will be ma d e aa • a view to draw to that °wai thlnk th a t a great de st Chattanooga, with spot ta Lee's army, so as suddenly to e best di v i sions of gather a suffi c i ent Federal force in Virginia and raae a- a definite on Lee and Richmond. onset Melancholy news incessantly come to Missouri. The exodus of the inoff e nsive us from ring tion of the western pro v inces borde • POPlll aon Ka con ti n u e s daily, and such property as th e "a 8 fugitives h a ve left behind th em becomes the e asy prey of the various bands of robbers overrunning the co untry, either as Sout hern " bushwhackers', or Northe r "jayhaa kers." General E wing, the man who by his order of the day compelled those Western Missou rians to migrate en masse, has been removed from his command, and Kansas is to be erected into a new military department apart from that of the Ikliesouri. The deputation of 100 ranting Radicals, who have been at Washington solicit ing the recall of General Schofield's, are not likely to attain the object of their mission, and on their return they are likely enough to add fuel to the fiery passions which already set the hearts of their partisans in a blaze. The incendiaries who burnt four steamers off the St. Louis pier a fortnight ago, and who are supposed to act in the Coe lederat THE suN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 20, 1863. interests, have not been idle since ; they have burnt another large steamboat at Memphis, and are said to have plotted the destruction of the Government steamers in all the ports along the river. RECENT GOLD DISCOVERIES. The following is the interesting paper on the above sub ject, read last Thursday by Mr. Thomas M'Combie, before the Trade and International Law Department of the Social Science Association : A wide-spread uneasiness hasbeenrecehnatvilynvgisifixblee,dpar ticularly amongst annuitants, persons in comes, and even other persons whose interest is at stake, e abg s lera a le aimne great remaine discoveriesti w hs ao a ut s fn te h e a x le theyl es d i a b mewf i tofeeer gold a r e. eop, to about wereouotnad ,gla2rmne althoughye daetd:r extent, x. years ea s t n teh,t c enh e , no doubt nt e da t the oenxud fallacious. pbartr expressed belief tim etha tsbeydl as to the danger of g o ld b ecom i ng deteriorated in value. The same was exhibited about 12 years since, at the time the m t s h ti y e ll Bnwehuacnseikctshsoafevery depend in r a dd other commodity is v a l ue d or measure d every where, i yE s g , not o olg f dpl c at o aonkurse, an article of co mmerce , an d it s va l ue m takes :moregreattze i., . d x e t f : rt produce e hl e 7ins u h. p 6 o la n e. —etthn than n2l proveabi tou is carats labour w a fie n otnr d , tehn. expensepaetGn toathe average, has certainly been increased, and is daily being increased as an article of commerce ; and it has thus added to the cir culation of the world without depreciating its value ; nor can its value be very well lessened while it requires its full equivalent in labour and capital to create it. It forms, in fact, an accumulated national capital, which is a kind of property to be laid by in good times for emergencies which may occur in bad times, Being a universal cur rency over the world it is fit for this purpose ; and will continue so as long as it requires the full value of labour and capital to obtain the gold. I know from personal obser vation that gold digging is not remunerative. To commence with alluvial digging, even in the richest spots at the best times, the great majority were unsuccessful. I have been upon the richest of the fields, and know that the vast majo rity did not succeed, and that the aggregate of the gold ob tained, if equally divided amongst those working for it, would scarcely amount to anything like the ordinary wages of labour. The gold procured by alluvial washing is soon exhausted on any field ; and it is to the source from which those deposits have originally come that we look for a per manent supply. The oldest stratified rocks are seldom auri ferous, even in the gold countries, but those next in succes sion, such as the silurian, devonian, and carboniferous pe • Hods, contain large quantities of the precious motel. By capital and machinery the gold is extracted by the process of amalgamation. But in no country has this, upon an ave rage of years, been very remunerative. It is proved by the statistics of gold digging that it is a profession unremune native, and that, while its ranks are recruited by young vo taries led away by the romance of the thing, they soon tire quit it. This is why more gold is not being produced, as the auriferous rocks are almost inexhaustible in the gold countries. It is produced in limited quantities, because it does not remunerate those who get it for their labour. I think this is indirectly shown by the manner in which it impoverishes those countries in which it is largely produced. I take Victoria, which, if not the largest field of gold production, is certainly as large as any, being about equal to California, some years exporting more and some years less. Before gold was discovered, the exports of that colony were at least equal to the imports upon an ave rage of years, but after the discovery of gold they usually fell very far short, one year as much as six millions. The last year, 1860, of which I have the figures, shows the im ports at £15,622,891, and the exports (including the gold produced) at £13,867,860, or nearly a deficiency of two mil lions against the colony. I admit that many of our colonies exhibit a disposition to import more than they export, but not in anything like this degree. Canada may be cited es a similar case, but it could be proved to be situated very dif ferently, its population being almost entirely agricultural. We have the returns for 1860 given in the Exchange Nag a " zinc, vol. i., page 21, which we assume to be correct (but we do not vouch for it officially), value of imports, £6,888,324; of exports, £6,926,360. So that even Canada is now export ing as much or more than she is importing. Gold neither remunerates the country who produces it, nor the country where it is produced. Most other branches of industry en rich the land where they are carried on—the timber trade of Canada may be said even to do this, it is clearing the land preparatory to cultivation, but the digging for gold tear up the bowels of the earth ; they take not an annual return, bat the capital itself, and impoverishes rather than enriches. The persons engaged in gold digging in any of the gold countries do not obtain fair remuneration for their actual labour. In Victoria, in 1861, there were 233,501 persons engaged in gold digging ; and at this date the n umber is 226,987. The amount of gold produced in 1861 was 2,072,359 ounces of gold, which is not more than about £35 a-head, not to give interest for the capital £1,511,012 in vested. The numbers who embark in the production of gold are decreasing. It does not remunerate them. They obtain more in other pursuits. So long as gold is on l y procured by paying full va l ue f or i t, i ts pro duction must be but limited. Th ere was a pan i c a t the period when gold was discov ere d i n C alifornia an d A us tralia; and it was contended th a t go ld wou l d become cheaper , and those who had fixed incomes, and money to receive at distant dates, would be serious sufferers. Of course, the value of an article is in proportion to its abundance, and even the cur rency of a country, which is the standard by which the value of every other article is measured, is no exception ; but there are circumstances which must be taken into con sideration, and in the case of gold it seems never to be ob tained in too groat profusion, as the demand is apparently always in advance of the supply. Before the increased supply was obtained commerce languished, and social progress was obstructed, in consequence of the diminished quantity of the precious metals. The dis coveries in America and Australia came at a very opportune period, when the railroad and telegraph systems, colonisation and the penny postage, called for an enormous influx of the auriferous metal to aid this expan sion. To use a very vulgar expression, gold was the manure which brought the great yield of prosperity. The supply was increased, but the demand still kept in advance of the sup ply. It has aided the capitalist and the labourer's wages alike —the profit to both is very great, not in England or Europe, but over the world. In India, wages have risen (of ordinary labourers) from 2,1 to is a day. There is a natural affinity between the wages of labour and gold which has not been pointed out. Wages have been advanced by the increased supply of gold; and yet that very advance tends to check the over-production of the precious metal ; for, while wages rule the value of all other articles, it does that of gold in an especial degree, because the main element in its production is labour only, with the exception of a very small amount as the interest upon capital in those cases where skilled machinery is used, and the land-tax or rent, usually trifling, charged in the shape of a royalty. I think that it does not follow that, because the gold has increased in quantity, it must necessarily have decreased in value. Gold is a non-perishable article, produced in ext remely small quantities, and is very different from any other article of a perishable or ordinary character. It becomes, therefore, as I have already said, a great accumulation of capital to be stored up by men and nations for future emergencies. There are economists who argue that because we have within the last ten years added 100 millions to our stock of gold, that it must have depreciated in value. But I contend in this paper that it has not done so, and that it is not likely to do so while the checks we have pointed out remain. Trade and population both increase with the increased comforts and facilities the gold has offered, and thus provide an out let for all the extra quantity which has been produced, There are many who contend that an alteration in the value of gold has already taken place, but I cannot see that such is the case. I cannot see that between 1852 to 1862 they have much increased in amount. Wheat is the leading article or staff of life, and quote the highest and the lowest prices, as given in the tables in the Estate Sales Gazette. I find in the years between 1850 and 1854 the price ranged between 39s to 535; in 1856 it rose, and from that year to 1858 it averaged from 44s to 755, and from that date to 1862 it re mained almost stationary at 53s to 555. I may also state auction, such as t ea, sugar, co ff ee , the same principl e app li es to t h e o th e r great articles of pro rice, wool, metals, &c.; of course cotton being an exception. The prices, therefore, of most articles do not indicate any alteration in the value of articles of consumption. The highest amount of bul lion held by the bank in the last ton years, ending with 1862, was on the 10th July 1852, when it was £22,232,138, and the lowest was on the 18th November, 1857, when it was £6,484,096. The gold does not appear to accumulate there. It is not got for nothing. It has to be paid for. It has gone to expand and foster commerce in every part of the globe. It is true it has had to replace the silver currency of France, which again has gone to India ; but this is, atter all, only a limited portion of it. In all parts of the world. in England as well as in America, in India and China, and indeed everywhere, more currency wao necessary. A vile and vitiated paper had in many parts usurped the place of gold, and commerce was liable to sudden fluctuations in consequence. All this has been checked ; there is now a currency something like commensurate with the require ments of commerce, and we now hear of fewer violent crises, which were formerly so common. Thus I find that notwithstanding the increase of trade and the greater num ber of joint-stock banks, their issue was larger in 1854 than in 1862 ; while that of the Bank of England was nearly the same. If the increase in gold had not opportunely ar rived, I should have had to record many severe crises caused by the use of debased currency. I have been led by a careful consideration of the subject to arrive at the pass in l transactionseverYopinion that cre dit h as a very great i n fl uence upon e prices. Thi s i s not to be much wondered at, when we take into consideration how seldom in the actual business of u t li gold pay ments are actually made, if spec i e had to l: ciatra be transaction, how e vaat limited amount of would our cowthe real transa • ettons of life are carried which on upon bills, cheques, draughts, open accounts, can hardly be appreciated. In a good commercial country like England, credit is every where visible —its influent© l 7 I greater than even gold itself. The great benefit w hi ch the i n a ereaBe of gold h as e ff ec t e d is, that it has taken th e pl ace of vitiated currency, and ren dered prices more equal, Before theincrease metals in 1848 and 1849, p r i ces had 9. tendency to fluctuate ; but since then they have had a more stationary aspect they have ever had previously. Th e prices of wheat thanhave been more stationary since 1858 than they have been for r many years previously, not having fluctuated more than two shillings a quarter for four or five years. If my view be taken that gold never can be increased, so far as we can now ascertain by experience of the facts with which we are ac quainted, beyond the rate at which we have to give value for it, then so long as gold is only produced with the labour, or equivalent value, it will only be,as I have said, accumulated capital, and have little direct bearing upon prices. It goes into every part of the globe as a representative of wealth— it may be in the shape of coin, bullion, plate, jewellery, gilding, or whatever other form the requirements of luxury may cause it to assume—and that vast quantities are used in these purposes is unquestionable. Thirty years ago the quantity estimated as used in manufactures was £3,000,000 and the increase of population and wealth and luxury must have greatly added to this amount. I believe that the in crease of the preeious metals does not so materially affect prices as is usually supposed. For 30 years I have been a merchant and close observer of these matters,l have noticed that for a series of years prices generally advance, they reach a certain maximum, and again recede, and gradually descend. This is quite irrespective of any circumstance, such as the American war of the present day, which would give us a solution of the matter. The real cause of these regular rises and falls I have not been able to ascertain ; but of this I have satisfied myself, that it is not connected with the supply of the precious metals. I have ventured to bring forward this subject, for if my paper has no other effect, it may probably excite discussion. lam quite aware that objections may be raised; one which probably will be set forth in the rise in the rents and value of land in this country, and, but in a less degree, of labour and cattle. Yet the rise in the annual income from land, and of the real value in the market, rather bears out my arguments. The rate at which land sells has c er t a i n l y i ncrease d i n th i s everywhere, as in m an y pl aces it h as b een are to be sou g ht f or th e r i se population, the skill and here n n t gr in , n b t ph u re t e n eg r o . t e at The increase causes science of our agriculturists, and the consequent superior appliances which have been brought to bear on the cultiva tion of the land, so that it has been made to yield a much more remunerative crop, in some cases threefold; and also to the confidence which persons entertain of the stability of this country, inciting many with capital to withdraw it from other countries to invest it here; and in consequence of our higher civilisation, greater stability, speedy railway commu nication, by means of which the most distant parts of the kingdom have markets brought to their doors; and by the blessings of Free-trade, which admits of unrestricted com munication with all parts of the world. Credit has, after all, caused the rise in land here ; for the belief in the stabi lity of our institutions is in fact credit. A man could buy land for a mere fraction of British prices in countries whose institutions are attenuated or have decayed, such as Italy; or where no confidence is placed in the stability of Govern ment. Land was bought in France during the Revolution at a mere song. In Africa, and some parts of America and Asia, thousands of acres may be had for a few toys or knives —yet no one desires it, because, destitute of the appliances which we possess, it is useless. Briefly, then, the rise in labour is from the facilities for emigration of recent years, which has equalised the rates between England and her colonies. The advance in the value of cattle is more from their increased weight than from the value of the beasts per head ; and is from the superior knowledge of breeding and feeding, while the demand for meat has gone on increasing in consequence of the advance of wealth and civilisation and the superior quality of food used by the middle and lower classes; and that the rise in prices has not been caused by an increase in the precious metals so much as from other causes, for this country never had prices so high as when it had to suspend payment in specie. The paper was as good as gold, although itself of no intrinsic value. The great panics in this country and elsewhere have sometimes been attended with an abundance of the precious metals. Were the standard of value a Government paper currency prices would not alter so long as the credit of the Government remained secure. Many of the Governments of Europe have a very large portion of their currency in paper not convertible. Russia alone has 100,000,000, and Austria and other countries on the continent very large amounts. They would prefer to have gold, and will replace either by gold, or paper convertible at pleasure into gold, which must therefore maintain its value while this is being accomplished. So long as the na tions of the world can obtain it, they will secure it for future emergencies, and, unless obtained at less cost,it is not likely to become of less value. The great test of value in Scotland is the price of corn, as the stipends of clergymen and many other public payments are founded upon it; and I think to Scotsmen, at any rate, the fact that it is stationary is petty strong evidence that gold is not falling. Free trade, steam, and the advance of intelligence, national emigration and colonisation, will tend to prevent the very undue rise of prices. MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.—Oct. 19. The October adjourned Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the county of Middlesex commenced this morning at the Sassions.house, Clerkenwell-greon, before Mr. Bodkin, Assistant-Judge, and the follow;ng- magistrates :—Mr. H. Pownall, Mr. E. W. Cox, Mr. E Iwards, Mr. Green, Dr. Jervis, Mr. Baylis, Mr. T. E. Baker, Mr. Joseph Bateman, LL.D., Mr. Parbury, Mr. Longden, Mr, Tanner, Mr. Hal sey, and several other magistrates. The grand jury having been sworn, the Assistant-Judge briefly adds eased them, and said they were clearly to under stand that it was no part of their duty to try the prisoners, but merely to see whether there was a prima facie case against the prisoners to warrant them in putting them upon their trial. The calendar contains tho names of 73 prisoners com mitted for trial, 61 being indicted for felony, and nine for misdemeanour. Joseph Conolly, 18, jeweller, who last session pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with stealing five gold chains and other articles, value £2OO, the property of Sidney Cherrill, his master, was brought up for judgment. The prisoner was remanded from last session to ascertain if anything was known of him, and also to give him an op portunity of offering information as to the disposal of the Property. The time that had elapsed had failed to throw any light upon the character of the prisoner, or what had been done with the property, beyond what he communicated to Mr. English, the manager to Mr. Cherrill, at the time he was given into custody. The Assistant Judge sentenced him to he imprisoned and kept to hard labour for six months. James Anderson, 31, was indicted for stealing five gold and six. silver medals and other articles, value £4O, the pro perty of General Sir Richard James Holweil Birch, in his dwelling-house. Edward Cooke said—l am a constable in the Liverpool borough police. On the 29th of September, in conse quence of my attention being directed to the prisoner in Robert-street, Liverpool, and something being told me, I took the pri s o ner into custody. The gold medal produced was handed t o m e in the prisoner's p res ence by a person named Franklin, and he was asked what account he could give of it. He said, "I found it about three weeks ago in Buchanan -street, Glasgow." I asked him how long he had been Liverpool, and he said, "About three weeks, and I came direct from one place to the other." I took him to the station-house, where he was searched, and there was found on him one star of a K.C.B. and the badge of the order, two large medals for different battles in which the General had been engaged inlndia, a small star of a K.C.8., a hair ring set with diamonds, a gold locket, four gold lions, and two bronze medals. Oa his person were also found screwdrivers, files, and some other tools. He said he found the whole in Buchanan-street, Glasgow. Sir Richard James Hol well Birch said he lived at No. 105, Lansdowne-place, Brighton, having retired from the army. He had the use of the house No. 1, Hyde Park -place, and it was placed at his disposal. The medals produced belonged to him. They were kept in a drawer in his bedroom in Hyde Park-terrace. He had not seen them for seven weeks. They were locked up in the drawers, and he had the key in his possession. Charlotte Brown said she lived as housemaid at No. 1, Hyde Park-place. She knew the room in which Sir Richard Birch's things were kept. She saw them safe on the 20th September about half-past 10 o'clock at night. She went into the room at about 7 o'clock on the following morning, She found the door was fastened inside, and she could not get into the room. At half past 8 o'clock she got on to the leads and made her way into the room. She then found two of the drawers open, a coat and trousers on the floor, a poker and tongs in the middle of the room, and a bundle of shirts on the table. The door was fastened by a catch inside. She had locked the door on the o utside on Sanday night, and found it locked and the key outside. The window was shut the night before; she did not think that it was fastened. The prisoner, when called upon for his defence, said that he was in L on d on on the 21st of Sep tember, and passing through the G reen Pa rk, near Buckingham Palace, he fou n d the property wrapped up in a b rown p a p er p ar cel. He went to Liverpool, and attempted to dispose of a part of the property, but was there apprehended. The Assistant-Judge, in summing up the evidence, said that if a person was found to be in the possession of pro perty that had been recently stolen, he was bound to give a reasonable account of it. If be failed to do that, they were driven to the conclusion that he knew it was stolen. When he was taken into custody the prisoner said he found it in Buchanan-street, Glasgow, and afterwards said he found it in the Green-park, near Buckingham-palace. As it was clear that the prisoner had given two different accounts of the way in which he had got possession of these jewels, it would be far the jury to say how far they could believe him. The jury immediately found the prisoner guilty of re ceiving the property, well knowing it to have been stolen. Mr. Lockyer, officer of the House of Correction, Cold bath-fields, said the prisoner was in the prison for a consi derable time, and was employed in the bakehouse. He could not speak as to the time ho was there, but he had been out for about nine months. The prisoner said that to save any further trouble about that he would admit that he was convicted on the 21st of January, 1861, for housebreaking, and sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. Ever since he has been earning an honest livelihood, until he had been found in possession of these articles, which he found as he had stated. The Assistant-Judge—Then perhaps you can tell us who got into the room and fastened the dour. The prisoner said he knew nothing about that. The Assistant-Judge said that the prisoner had not been long out of prison when he committed this very atrocious offence. His conduct was very bad, and the sentence of the Court upon him was that he be kept in penal servitude for four years. - - Edward Pavett, 24, hawker, was indicted for stealing a watch, the property of George Driver. Mr. Cooper prosecuted on behalf of the Great Northern Railway Company. _ _ . The prisoner pleaded guilty to the indictment. The facts of the case were these :—ln the month of Sep tember there was announced to be an inspection and review of the Hon. Artillery Company in Alexandra park, Mus well-hill, and on the day in question a great number of per sons assembled at the King's-cross station for the purpose of going to the Wood-green station, which was the nearest to Alexandra-park. The officers of the company were on the look-out, and while so engaged they saw a body of about a dozen well-known thieves get into a carriage together and leave by the train. Having suspicions as to their intentions, one of the officers of the company, Wiiliam Ransley, went with the train. On its arrival at Wood-green he saw the prisoner and others mix with the crowd. He saw him take off his coat, put it across his arm, and go up to the gate where the prosecutor was, and while he (prosecutor) was entering the park he felt a snap at his gold guard chain and missed his watch. Ho seized the prisoner, who was near nim, by the cuff of his coat, and found his gold watch in his hand. It had been broken off at the bow. Ho was held until a detective came up and given into custody. John Partridge, of the city police, said he had known the prisoner for six or seven years. He had been convicted at the Mansion-hcuso seven times, the last sentence being for six months, for picking pockets. He had been six times convicted before, and had been five times sent to Holloway gaol for picking pockets. Thomas Leather, police-sergeant, 6 G, said the prisoner was given into his custody on the 21st of January, in Little Moor-lane, and was taken to the Mansion-house, for stealing a watch. Mr. Lockyer, the prison officer, also proved several con victions against the prisoner. The prisoner said he hoped his Lordship would deal leni ently with him, as he had never been before a jury in his life. The Assistant-Judge said he ought to have been, and the sentence upon him was that he be kept in penal servi tude for four years. John Brown, 60, was indicted for unlawfully and inde cently assaulting Mary Ann Hogan, Frances Joseph, and Susannah Burrows, all children of tender age. Mr. F. H. Lewis, instructed by the Associate Institution for Improving and Enforcing the Laws for the Protection of Women, prosecuted ; the prisoner was undefended. The prisoner lived at Bell-lane, Spitaifields, and it was proved in three instances that he had induced the children to go into his room to see a doll's palace, and while there had indecently assaulted them. The jury found the prisoner guilty. Mr, F. H. Lewis said he was sorry to inform his lordship that these assaults on children were greatly on the increase. The Assistant-Judge commented with great severity on the conduct of the prisoner, and said it was shocking to see a man who was verging on the grave guilty of such prac tices, and he sentenced him to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for 12 calendar months. William Jones, 58, was indicted for unlawfully and maliciously wounding Mary Jones, his wife. Mr. F. H. Lewis prosecuted, the case being brought forward by the Society for the Protection of Women and Children, of which the Marquis of Townshend (late Lord Raynham) is president. The condition of the prosecutrix excited much sympathy, as she was totally blind, and was led to the witness-box, having lost the sight of both eyes through the brutality of the prisoner. She said—l live at No. 10, Bardell's-court, and am the prisoner's wife. On Monday night, the sth of October, between 11 and 12, I was at home in bed when the prisoner came home. He pulled me out of bed, called me a --, and said I should not lie there. He struck me and kicked me on the hip. I escaped to the door, and he bolted it. He struck me on the eye with his fist, He drove his knuckles into the corner of the eye, and the blood gushed out, I got out of the room and laid hold of the ballusters, but he came behind me and by my petticoats pulled me back, I called out " Murder ! " and a policeman came, when I gave the prisoner into custody. I was taken to the Middlesex Hospital, and have been quite blind ever since. lam still an hanate of the hospital. Jonathan Wild, a little boy, said he was in Mrs Jones's room on this night, and Mrs Jones was in bed. He saw her husband come hume, and he told his wife to get out of the bed. Ho then pulled her out, punched her in the eye, and threw her on the ground. She was putting on her clothes when he tore them off. She tried to get away and he kicked her. Witness tried to get out of the room, but the prisoner would not let him and bolted the door. He saw him strike her on the eye with his fist, and blood came from the ball of her eye. William Saint, police-constable 183 D, said he was on duty in Barnett's-court and heard a cry of " Murder!" and saw the prosecutor at the door. He took her into the kitchen, and said she should give the prisoner into custody for striking her on the eye, as he had burst it, and she should be blind. The prisoner was drunk. He told the prisoner that he must go with him to the stution-house. Ther was blood and water running from the complainant's eye. lie took the woman to Middlesex Hospital. Mr William Edward Lee, house-surgeon at Middlesex Hospital, said the prosecutrix had been tinder his care since the 6th October with a contused wound over her left eye and a rupture of the left eyeball, which had caused the loss of sight for the present, and it was not likely she would ever recover it. It might have been caused by a blow of the fist. The prisoner denied having ever assaulted his wife, and said she was drunk. The jury immediately found the prisoner guilty. In answer to questions Police•constable 183 D said the woman got her living by selling small things, and sometimes by begging. The prisoner swept a crossing at Nottingham place, and was often drunk, and hadbeen locked up for it. The Assistant-Judge said this was a very shocking case, and after a very impartial trial the jury had no other course to pursue, consistent with common sense, than to find him guilty. By assaults of the most brutal character he had deprived his wife of her eyesight; it was altogether one of the worst cases that had ever come before him. The sentence of the Court was that he be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for two years. (Before Mr. Payne.) After the list of the juries had been gone through, Mr. Froud, the sheriff's summoning officer, made a statement in reference to some complaints which had been made as to the manner in which the jury lists were kept. Many per sons were on the list who had been dead for many years, and he served a summons for one person and found another person on the premises, who had been in possession of them for ten years. This faulty list particularly relates to the St. Pancras division. Mr. Payne said it was quite evident no blame attached to the sheriff, who merely sent out the summonses accord ing to the lists supplied to the office, and the negligence was on the part of those who made them out, for which they ought to be punished. The faulty state of the lists was at tributable to the overseer, and had nothing whatever to do with the sheriff in making out his precepts for those who were summoned. The first case was that of Charles Roper, 19, shoemaker, who had been remanded from last session, on the ground that the police had informed his master while in his employ that he had been convicted. Mr. Lockyer, the officer of the House of Correction, said ho had made inquiries of the parties who formerly employed the prisoner, and the statement of th© prisoner had to a very great extent proved false. Mr. Payne said he had caused inquiries to be made with reference to the prisoner, in consequence of the imputations cast upon the police, but as those imputations proved en tirely false he should mark his sense of the prisoner's con duct, who had evidently intended to deceive the Court, by sentencing him to be kept tv hard labour for 15 calendar months. William Wood, 25, carman, and John Clark, 20, labourer, were charged with stealing three•quarters of a hundred weight of sugar, value 255, the property of Wm. Orchard. The prisoner Wood pleaded guilty, and Clark not guilty. Mr. Underdown prosecuted, and Mr. Ribton defended. Matthew Orchard said he was a carman engaged at French Horn-yard, Crutched-friars. The prisoner Wood was in his service. Ho was sent on the 12th of September with two hogsheads of sugar, to deliver them at King's-cross and Whitecross-street. Witness had occasion to go out, and on his return home a police constable was waiting for him, and from what he said witness went to the Kingsland-road police station, and there saw his van. The sugar which was in the van was missed. Thomas Goator said he was a chair carver, and lived at the Horse and Groom-yard, Curtain-road, and on the occa sion in question saw a van, driven by the prisoner Clark, passing along Shoreditch. The prisoner Wood was between two hogsheads in the van, partially covered by a tarpaulin; sugar was coming out from the sample hole of one of the hogsheads. Witness followed the van along several streets, Clark driving all the way, Wood remaining in the van. A policeman then came up, who followed the van with witness. Wood shortly afterwards jumped out of the van and ran awa y. He was afterwards brought back. Clark got off the box on the van and ran off. William Welsh, police-constable 21 N, said his attention was called to the van in question by the last witness in Roston. They followed the van for some distance the pri soner Clark was driving, Wood being in the van. Witness saw him comp from under the tarpaulin, when Clark said " Lie still," just before wood was pursued. He was caught and taken back. Prosecutor then gave him into custody. A piece of iron and a chisel were found lying in the van under the mouth of the cask. William Whit3hf, , id, a hackney carriage attendant, said, on the night of the 12th of September ha heard a cry el " Stop thief I" and saw a van drawn by one horse going along, the prisoner Clark driving the van. When ho saw witness he got down and made his escape. The van and horse were taken to the station-house. Witness caught Clark, and took him to the station-house. Mr. Ribton then addressed the jury on behalf of the pri soners; and Tho learned Judge having summed up, The jury returned a verdict of guilty against Clark. The Court then sentenced Wood to 12 calendar months, and Clark to one rn mth's imprisonment with hard labour. Mr, Payne said that, with the entire concurrence of the other magistrates on the bench, they had decided on award ing the sum of two sovereigns to Thomas Goater, for his praiseworthy conduct in assisting to apprehend the pri soners. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS, TIMES.—The inexhaustible topic of the ironclads in the Mersey receives one more illustration this morning. Let no reader fear 'any hard discussion of technical subtleties or deep analysis of public law. This time, at any rate, the " explanation" will be amusing, if not authentic, and that our description of the case may be verified at once we transcribe from a New York paper some of the " headings" un der which the new intelligence is introduced to the world. " Ireland to be Free." " Programme of a new Irish Revolution." "200,000 of the Sons of Erin ready for Battle." " The Secret of England's Back-down on the Ram Question." " Mestery of the Fenian Brotherhood Explained." " Wines became of the Irish Directory Fund." " Faugh a Ballagh." " England's Terror of the Coming Storm." "Ireland's Deliverance at Hand." There is the pro gramme. What it all means or is designed to mean shall be now explained. Till the other day, the Fenian Brotherhood was a reputed mystery, Ame rica is now the land of Secret Societies, but this Brotherhood contained the greatest secret of all, in somuch that the brothers themselves did not know it. Now, however, it has come out. The association was a society of Irishmen aiming at the "liberation of Ireland from British rule, and the creation of an Irish republic" moulded upon the desirable and well approved model of the American Union. It was " essentially a revolutionary organisation," and, although not one in a thousand of its alleged mem bers had any knowledge of the " splendid pro gramme sketched out for them, we are assured that they were all so thoroughly disciplined and obedient as to represent a formidable army available for immediate service. On a signal given the Brother hood would have been ready to send from America to Ireland " an armed force of 100,000 men, as well as munitions, arms, ships, and everything, in fact, that the new Irish nationality would need." An op portunity was anticipated in the outbreak of war between the Federal Government and Great Britain on the question of the steam rams in the Mersey. The revolution was to come off this very autumn. The Fenian Brotherhood had ascertained that Ire land had entirely recovered from the effects of the potato famine ; that the Encumbered Estates Act had been " most beneficial;" that the harvest had been abundant ; that " the country, on the whole, was tolerably well off;" and that, consequently, having been so well governed and rendered so prosperous, " it was never in a better position than at present for an insurrection." So, having drawn that conclusion, the Fenians thought the time for the expedition had arrived. The rupture between the two Governments on the " Ram Question" was expected the other day, and three landings were to have been forthwith effected in Ireland—one in the extreme West, one near Dublin, and one in Kinsale Harbour. Unluckily, theßrotherhood was betrayed, and the traitor, it is intimated, was no other than Mr. William H. Seward, on whose "secret counte nance" the Fenians had been taught to rely. That intelligent statesman, it seems, was well affected to wards his own countrymen. He had no great objec tion to an Irish Secession, but the detention of these two Steam Rams interested him far more. So we are given to understand that in putting a stress upon our Government he let slip the great Fenian secret, and informed Lord Russell not only that the United States would go to war upon the point, but that the Fenian Brother hood would take the opportunity of appearing in Ireland with an army of 150,000 or 200,000 men. This discovery startled the British Government, and Mr. Seward carried his point, though at the cost of the new Irish revolution. Since, therefore, the game is up and the secret out, and the expedition de molished, the leaders of the Brotherhood have thought it an eligible occasion for telling all about themselves, and proclaiming their disappointment to the world—a genuine Irish resolution, and one bespeaking the true nationality of the Association. The Brotherhood hope for another opportunity, but we doubt if their case is very promising. If they have 200,000 men anywhere, or the tenth part of that number, we are not surprised at Mr. Seward's having his eye upon them and endeavour ing to retain them in the country. They are more likely, we fancy, to find their way to Tennessee than to Tipperary. The " fleet steamships" and ponderous Ironclads of the projected Armada will be wanted at home. The Federal Government is more disposed to get men from Ireland than to send men over there. Of course the thing, if it could have come off, would Lave supplied a charming bit of retaliation. The new Irish revo lutionists were to have been promptly " recognised as belligerents," and then, when the British cruisers wore blockading Cork and Dublin, New York shipbuilders wore privately to build steam rams on Irish account, and Mr. Seward was to reply to the remonstrances of Lord Russell by lamenting the inability of his Government to bring the laws to bear upon the offenders. The " tit for tat" would have been complete and the parahel absolute, with one slight exception—that, whereas we had found the civil war and the belligerents ready-made to our hands before we recognised the facts, our friends across the Atlantic were to kindle the war in Ireland and create the belligerents for us in order to recognise them afterwards. Perhaps the reader has been curious all this while to learn the meaning of one rather significant line among the " sensation headings." We do not deny that we ourselves approached the question " What became of the Irish Directory Fund ?" with more interest than ordinary. Funds are ticklish things, and it is often hard to say what does become of them. In this case, however, the account is presented as offering great expectations. It seems that about the year 1848 a sum of money had been raised by an " Irish Directory" in New York for the support and encouragement of an Irish insurrection. When the scheme proved abortive it became necessary to dispose of this money, and it was accordingly lodged in the hands of trustees, to be put out at interest, and allowed to accumulate for another opportunity. The fund now constitutes the financial hope of the Fenian Brotherhood. It is to supply them with the sinews of war, but we can hardly help concluding either that the expedition will be done very cheaply, or that the army will run short of money. The original sum amounted to just £14,000. No doubt, interest in America is very high, especially if reexoned in greenbacks, and 15 years would allow of a good deal of accumulation. Still, we fancy that £28,000 or £30,000 will not go so far in a war as the Brotherhood seem to imagine. It is now, we imagine, to be supposed that everything about this famous mystery is known. As there appears nothing for the Brotherhood to do, they have called a great meeting. Notice has been sent to all the " circles" of the Brotherhood that each circle is to despatch its " centre" to " the Hall of the F. 8., Chicago ; Ill.," on November 3 next, where grave and important matters are to be considered. We hope it is not true that the consultations are to be secret. Having made so opportune a disclosure of the organisation and aims, the Brotherhood need not resort to mys tery any longer. They may as well publish their debates ; but in the meantime, there is one secret which they have not explained, and which we really think the most interesting of all. What is " Fenian ?" What language is it ? What is the root, origin, or meaning of the word ? Is it Erse, or " Ogham," or only American slang P People do not quite know how to spell it, still less how to ex plain it. However, the Fenians have given the world one little piece of evidence which may be useful to those who like an " Irish question" to discuss. They have acknowledged that Ireland is well off and well to do, and we suspect that most non•Fenians would regard that fact as by no means suggesting the propriety of an immediate insur rection. POST.—Sir Round°ll Palmer's words at Rich mond are but the echo of public opinion throughout the country. That this is the case is not their dis paragement in point of originality, but their panegyric in point of justice. The Attorney-Gene ral puts the case very fairly before his constituents. What he says amounts almost to a confession that party government is for the moment in abeyance. There is no question really at issue in the heart of the country as to which party should conduct the Government. The advantage of an Opposition, in deed, is fully recognised. Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli are highly useful as correctives of the Ad ministration. If there were no organised body in Parliament charged with the special duty of finding fault, the Executive might grow lethargic; and Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli may be relied upon to keep the public duly informed if them is really anything to be complained of. But nobody dreams of putting Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli in power. The truth is, that parties are becoming narrower and narrower with every dissolution of Parliament. Tho partisan Conservatives, the partisan Whigs, and the select society known as the Manchester party, present but infinitebimal sections of the country at large. The massof the community have ceased to hold partisan opinions. They are neither Tory, Wnig, nor Radical. They will be found siding with those political leaders in whom they have the greatest de gree of confidence. In domestic government there are no great questions practically at issue. In foreign politics perhaps there is more divergence; but wherever there is a difference between the Ministry and the Opposition, the country appears generally to side with the former; while whether there be difference or none, it places greater trust in the discretion of the former also. Possibly the real explanation of the apparent decline of party warfare to which Sir Roundel! Palmer refers, is to be found in the fact that we are at this day governed London : PrinZed and Pul , ..fislied by WILLIAM ANDRICXe, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the savoy, :n the County of bliitileoex,—Tuesday, October:2o, 1'63. much more by acts, and much less by opinions than. we were formerly. The zeal for reform in all things which received its impetus from the great events of 1831 and 1832, led the public for a long time to think more of theoretical changes than of psactical administration. That has now very much gone by. There are, indeed, great principles still on their trial, but they refer chiefly to foreign affairs. As Sir Roundell Palmer expresses it, the public sees in. Lord Palmerston the representative of those prin ciples. In illustration of this, he quotes a charac teristic acknowledgment of the honest heart and clear perception of Mr. Henley. " One of the oldest," says the Attorney-General, " one of the most sagacious, the most experienced, and, I may add, the most respectable members of the Opposition par ties, said in public that he hoped the Government would continue to follow the wise course of policy they had hitherto pursued, and that he had no fear but that the honour of the country was safe in their hands." This is an avowal from a Cabinet Minister in both Lord Derby's Administrations which does equal credit to his sense of justice and to his dis cretion. In truth, the time has now arrived for a. vindication of the raradox of Canning, who assailed the old principle of " man and not measures." What, in truth, it may ba asked, can the measures be with out men capable of producing good ones ? This is the more true at a time at which the responsibility of a Minister consists much more inaction in: than i theorising. The infinite complication of foreign affairs at the present day requires not merely tne preliminary settlement of main principles, but the application of them to every serious event that arises. It is just for this reason that the country prefers Lord P a l mers t o n to Lord Derby at the Treasury, Lord Russell to Lord Malmesbury at tho Foreign - office, and Mr. Gladstone to Mr. Disraeli at the Exchequer. Sir Roundell Palmer has touched upon another source of the popularity of the present Administra tion, hardly less powerful. " I think," he says, " the country have made up their minds as to the parti cular merit of Lord Palmerston—and that is that, if there ever was a man who toved7his country, Lord Palmerston loves Great Britain—that if ever there was a man to whom the honour of the country was dear, and for which he would sacrifice every perso nal object, that man is Lord Palmerston—and if ever there was a man who would do anything which he justly and rightly could, to promote the cause oE liberty througheut the world, that man is Lord Pal merston." These are words which come with a pe culiar force from a men who, perhaps, of all others in the House of Commons, is believed never to have strained even an expression, much lees to have be lied an opinion, for the sake of the party to which he belonged ; and who, until two years ago, was thought to be rather an opponent than a supporter of Lord Palmerston individually. Sir Roundell Palmer not unduly identifies the present Govern ment with the Liberal cause both at home and just. But This identification is no more than But we all know with what circumspection a sup port of liberalism must be carried out in our foreign. relations. The doctrine of non-intervention has now stifled political propagandism ; and it has become matter of the utmost nicety to determine where the support of the Liberal cause can be recoiled with. non-intervention. Italy and Poland have presented two remarkable instances of the delicacy of dealing with such interests ; and if the force of our influence shall yet be only half as successful in regard to Poland as it has already been in regard to Italy, li beralism will have cause to be thankful. These appear also to be pretty much the views of Sir Roun dell Palmer ; and his unqualified accession to the cause with which the present Government is iden tified is the more valuable that it springs from the conviction of maturer years, which has worn away the force of other predilections. COUNTRY MARKETS. .4 , GLOUCESTER—OcT. 17. There was a good show of English wheat to-day, and the currencies of las). week were maintained. Foreign wheat was dull, and prices tending downwards. Barley, beaus, and oats sold very slowly. COLCHESTER—OcT. 17. There was a moderate supply of wheat to-day, but the demand was slow, and the rates of last week were generally made. Barley of fine quality realised fully late prices, but other sorts rather lower. Beans and peas were the turn cheaper. Wheat, white ..44s 48s Beans, Mazagan..33s 36s red ..42s 46s middle & 5ma11.358 42s Barley Oats ••.•• • • • • 21s 24s grey 35s 38s ,D-OCT. 16. there was an average supply lone. White maintained the Lined is per qr. Best barley sorts at a reduction of Is per sw, but no change in value. Peas, Partridge 36s 39s White 38s 39s Boiling .. 39s 41s Dun 33s 36s Ditto new —s —s Beans, Tick, old 34s 39s new —s —s . Harrow Ticks 3ss 40s new —s —s Mazagan 3os 38s CHELMSFO: At this corn exchange to-da3 of wheat, but little business d prices of las•, week; rad dccl unchanged in price ; inferior s qr. Beans, peas, and oats slo , Wheat, old white 30s 47s new 44s 48s old red 34s 40s new 38s 42s Barley ..27s 36s Chevalier 2Bs 39s Grinding 22s 31s Malt. Chevalier 64s 69s Oats 20s 28s KIRKCALDY GRAIN—OcT. 17. We had large supplies of all descriptions of grain to-day at market, but a great portion of it in poor condition. The prices very irregular, and fully is per qr under last week's rates. Wheat. Barley. Oats. First....33s Od I 25s Od lBs,Od: Second „Ms 6d 27s Od 18s 6d Third....383.0d 29s Oct 21s Od COAL A Prima of Coal per Ton al a. d. Baddle'sWest Hartley 17 6 ARK ET. the dose of the market. s. d. Walls End. Russel's Hetton 20 3 Walls End. Hartlepool 2l 0 Haswell 2l 3 Trimdon Hartlepool...2l 0 Ships at market, 32 ; sold, 28. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton ..Oct. 19. via Marseilles Nov. 12. Brazil and Capo Verds, by British packet. Nov. 4. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Oct, 29. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton O•t. 19. via Marseilles Oct. 27. Falkland Islands Gibraltar, via Southampton .. Oct. 19. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton.. Oct. 26. via Marseilles Oct. 27. India (Bombay), via Southampton Oct. 26 via Marseilles Oct. 21. Portugal.... Nov. 4. Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Oct. 19. via Marseilles Oct. 21. Newfoundland .. Oct. 16. Oporto and Vigo U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... Oct. 22, by U.S. packet.... by Canadian packet. Oct. 23. W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe Nov. 10. Bahamas, via New York Oat. 22, All ge p xi rrt - ; of West Indies, in c l u di ng Chili, Peru ' Oct. 29. 2 2 9 9 . . California. and British Columbia.. [ADVERTISEME NT , I — HoIIoway's Ointment and Pills. — The proofs of cures of the most virulent maladies and chronic ulcers speak louder than any words to the merits of these incomparable remedies. A grateful patient writes from Kingstown under date June 21st. 1863—" I am happy to bear my testimony to the wonderful powers of your Ointment and Pills, in curing me of the most distress ing piles and lumbago after every other means had failed." Can any statement be :more to the point—any language more striking or convincing, or any result more gratfying, What a load of suffering and anxiety was in this case rolled away by the: proper application of these noble curatives. Bad legs and swelled ankles readily succumb to Holloway's medicaments. Births. J° LLIFFE.—On the 18th inst., at 36, Upp er Hyde•park gardens, Lady Agnes Jolliffe, of a daughter. m o wrox.—On the 17th inst., at 6, Ch arlemont - terrace, - Ki n gstown, the wife of Villiers Morton, Esq., of a son and heir. SAYER.—On the 17th inst., at the Manor House, Rich mond, Surrey, the wife of LientoiColonel Sayer, C. 8., of a daughter. WELDON.—On the 18th inst., the wife of J. W. Weldon, Esq., of St. James's-square of a son. Marriages. BELL - HULL —On the 17th inst., at Trinity Church, Bayswater, James G. Bell, Esq., of the Madras Staff Corps, eldest son of Major-General Bell, to Agnes Mary, eldest daughter of Henry Wrn. Hull, Esq., of 25, Por chester-square. HERBERT-SYKES.- On the 15th inst., at Saint George's, Hanover-square, the Hon. and Rev. George Herbert, vicar of Clun, Shropshire, to Elizabeth Beatrice, fourth daughter of the late Sir Talton Sykes, Bart., of Sled mere, Yorkshire. Deaths. 1 - 10 PE.—On the 18th inst., at Luffness, N.B. George William Hope, Esq., M.P. CIIARLETON.—On the 17th inst , at Elberton, Gloucester shire, Henry Wil mot Charleton, late Lieut.-Col. 2d Dra goon Guards, aged 58 t errace, DENNY.----On the 17 t h inst., in Dublin, Jane Latrobe, the Hyde -park. wife of T. Anthony Denny, Esq., of 101, Wcstbourne. MADDEN. —On the 18th inst., at Mount-street, Berkeley square, Henry Martin Madden, Esq., formerly of the War °Mee, aged 70. Niel l°Ls•—On the 19th inst., at Hanger-hill, Ealing, John Boyer Nichols, Esq., F.S.A., aged 85. STEWART—On the 17th inst., at 1, St. Peter's -terrace, Kensington -park-gardens, Notting-hill, William James Stewart, Esq., aged 33.