The Sun. — London, England, 1863-12-07 00:00:00

TINE BOMBAY MAIL. By the arrival of the Bombay mail we have re ceived files a papers from Bombay to Nov. 14. We take the following summary of news hum the Bombay G •azette of Nov. 14 : " His Excellency the Viceroy and Governor- General Lord El g in, has had a dangerous att ac k o f illness, caused it is said by the fatiguing character of the route he has taken in his journey towards the North-West Frontier. A telegram from Lahore, dated the 10th inst., reports the state of his lord ship's health to be alarming, and holds out but slight hope of his recovery. " His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Hugh Rose, Wes at Holta on the 26th, when he visited the tea plantations there, en route for Kan- gra, and was expected to reach Lahore a few days ago. " His Excellency Sir Bartle Frere, Governor of Bombay, is at present staying at Matheran. " His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, Sir W. Mansfield is at Poorundhur. " Mr. David Sa.ssoon, the well-known Jew mer chant in Bombay, has offered to Government the sum of 6 0,000 r. (.£6,000), on condition of Govern ment giving an equal sum and a site on the Espla nade for the erection of a suitable building for the 3fechani cs,' Institution and for public meetings. "Th e Bishop of Calcutta, as Metropolitan in in Italia, will hold his primary visitation in the Cath edral Church at Bombay on Tuesday, the Bth of T )ecember next. _ - " The Chief Commissioner of Oudh, accompanied by his secretary, has left for Roy Bareilly, far the purpose of holding a conference with th.e principal settlement officers of the Oudh G3mmision. Thence, we believe it is the intention of the Chief Commissioner to make a tour through the northern division of the province. " Sir Robert Montgomery, Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, returned to the capital of the pro vince lin the 23d ult. " A. c ommission for the investigation of claims preferred against the late Government of Oudh will sit. in Calcutta as soon as possible after Dec. 1. " It is reported that Oudh will be annexed to the North-Western Provinces, in place of Saugor Ter ritories separated last year. .. The expedition against the Sittanee fanatics, under General Chamberlain, forced the pass ; and on the 27th ult. the picket commanded by Colonel Vaughan was attacked by the Benair people ; in the action the hill men suffered Sery severely, their killed being estimated at 170 and many wounded. Our loss was 22 killed and 56 wounded ; two officers, Lieutenants Richmond and Clifford, were killed , and two others wounded. At a subsequent encoun ter Colonel Harding and two officers were killed. " The health of the town of Bombay has shown a decided improvement during the fortnight. THE VOLUNTEERS, The distribution of prizes which have been corn- Peted for during the year by the members of the 37th Middlesex (Bloomsbury) Volunteers took place 00 Saturday evening at the Music-hall, Store street. Colonel M'Murdo, the Inspector-General of Volunteers, who presided, opened the proceedings by a brief address. After expressing the pleasure which he felt in attending upon such occasions as the present, the gallant colonel observed that the vast year had been marked by several events of much importance to the Volunteer cause. A Royal Commission had been appointed to inquire into the condition of the Volunteer force, Parliament had de liberated upon the report of that Commission, and had come to the determination of voting a certain sum of money in aid of the Volunteer force. Those Were in error who supposed that the acceptance of a Parliamentary grant would deprive the force of its volunteer character, for the unpaid services and time of officers and men 'would still be given for the public benefit. It was not to be expected that the largo tazpenses for drill grounds, ranges, end other necessary arrangements, could continue to be borne exelvsively by the Volunteers and their private friends. The Government, acting upon the report IA the Commission, obtained power to make cer taie grants in aid, and the creation of that power was followed by the passing of a new Act of Par lisanent, under which all Volunteers were now serv ing. There were also new Orders in Council de fining the degree of efficiency to be required to entitle the various corps to receive the public grants, and then came eertein regulations by means of which the Government had reason to expect that the public money would be well and profitably expended. (Hear, hear.) Speaking of the :force itself, he could say that although had not yet received the annual returns he believed it was maintaining its strength, and it certainly was pro gressing in efficiency. (Cheers.) During the year he had, as Inspector-General, attended county musters of the Volunteers of Essex, Suf folk, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, Lancashire, Durham, Worcestershire, and many other counties at which the various corps in each respective county had been brigaded ; and he was gratified to find that in bat talion, in brigade, and in divisions of brigade, the Volunteers worked together efficiently as armed and disciplined men should do. (Cheers.) With respect to the 37th Middlesex, he had had the pleasure of hearing from the commanding officer that their bllell 'ers were increasing, and he could himself a , Pettk of their state of efficiency as highly satisfac tory, (lieiter, hear.) Upon the subject of shooting, for whi ms ' been ti e v e ei r e prizes about to be distributed . had for skill inithe wished to say a few words. Prizes times beta): use of weapons had been given in had their O lyth e mpic games, in which the vic tors were crow ned mark smen e ith a laurel wreath ; but the successful of the present day would, doubtless, prefer a er Cup to the wreath of laurel. (Laughter.) Vol teste v e _ should remember that the b eau tiful weapons :s i e l d h if they were armed were intended to be t the occasion should ever arise against an enemy Invading our island ; and when men practisedshooting at a t arge t they should bear in mind that t hey ,sight b e ca l led upon to shoot at living targets, i n in the shape of men equally well armed as therasek h ad sometim es gone to see the firing of th e crac k shot o f good shooting corps ; but it frequently happened uently that the f ac t o f the Inspector-Gener al bei ng Prese nt caused suc h nervousness that no hits at all were made- (Laugh ter.)eehould rec o ll ect n, But Volunteers their practice that it might happen to them to have Q have to shoot not only in the presence o f the I nspector, General, but of an armed enemy, a nd if they would not do Were nervous at a friendly visit, it you. to so with well-armed foes aiming at them. (Rea r , hear.) As an old soldier, he wou ld advise them when practising to consider that the targ e t was in g an enemy armed like themselves and advanc ing upon them ; and if ever it should happe n that they were actually in the presence of arm ed and advancing enemies he would recommend Volun teers to regard them as so many targets at which to take good aim, (Cheers, and laughter.) In the present day the use of marksmen was to keep down the fire of long-range cannon and to resist cavalry. They were aware' that to meet a charge of cavalry infantry was usually formed in square, but by that formation a very large proportion of the fire of a regiment was lost. Troops formed in line to resist cavalry attacks could deal farmore destruction to the enemy; but such a formation required very steady soldiers. At Balaklava the late Lord Clyde, with a Riehls o d regiment in line, met and repelled the Russian Cavalry ; but that gallant general knew that he could rely upon his men. Volunteers must bear in mind that g ood shooting was not the only thing requi re d from a good soldier. Discipline and drill were very important to give the commander confidence to u se his i men to the utmost advantage. (Hear, hear.) The gallant colonel then proceeded to distribute the p tt 'l2e " Which were of a most varied description, including, besides hard cash, a rifle, a Bible, cups, tankards, engravin gs , tea services, cruet stan d s , and other articles. The utmost good feeling prevail among of t he seemed tothe non-winners cheering the recipients . priees as heartily as awards had been in their though the own favour. then proposed votes Lieut.-Col. of thanks t o thanks to the donors of prizes, and to Col. at Murdo for presiding, which we re adopted by acclam at i on , ii-L c cap pic.euted to The biluu+.l:-g fort e g the Cambridge University Volunteers by his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, honorary colonel of the corps, took place on Friday. A pre;iminary match to select the six best shots in the battalion was held on Wednesday and Thursday, in which the following members made the h4;hest secres, viz.:—Lieut.-Col. Baker, Capt. E. R, as, Corporal Doe, Private Powlett, Private Thornton, Private Stowe. The shooting on this occasion was not very good, owing to the unfavourable state of the wea ther, which was boisterous and wet, but in the final match it was remarkably good. The match took place on the rifle ground of the corps, which is, perhaps, one of the finest in England, having a range of upwards of 1,000 yards. ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE, HOME CIRCUIT.—HEREFORD, Dec, 5. CROWN COURT. (Before Mr. Justice Williams.) The learned Judge this morning passed sentence in the cases which had stood over for consideration from yester day. The two men named Hankin and Garrett, who were yes terday convicted of night p oachin g on land belonging to Mr. Pullen, M.P. for the county, were each sentenced to one The three men, named Peel, C ooper, and Turner, w h o year's imprisonment with hard l abour. were convicted on their own confession of setting fire mali ciously to farm buildings, including dwelling houses, and against whom previouli convictions were proved, Were Ban tented res pectively to 12 years' pen a l servitude. Three men, one a tailor of Burton, Yorkshire, one a tailor of Paddington, and one a labour of Suffolk, convicted of setting fire to two stacks of clover hay at Ware, were sen tenced to 10 years' penal servitude. Two young men, o ne named Wright, described as a la bourer of Nottin gham, but w h o appeared to belong o a much better positi on i n life, and looked rather like a clerk or sho pman, and the other named Rhodes, a labourer of Rickmansworth, who had been convicted of setting fire to stacks or crops of wheat in this county, were each sentenced to six years' penal servitude. The learned Judge was occupied the greater part of the morning in trying a most curious case of fowl stealing, in which not less than six men were charged with stealing 30 fowls and a pair of gloves at Offiey. Mr. G. Taylor conducted the case for the prosecution. The prisoners were not defended by counsel, but defended themselves with considerable acuteness, and as there were six of them, and each of them cross- exomined every witness the trial was necessarily protracted. The prisoners being so numerous, and not having been seized in the act or on the spot, and the fowls taken being so common, the case in volved some difficulty in proof, and was very complicated. In substance the case was this:—The fowls were all stolen from a farm at Offiey, a place about six miles from Luton, on Friday night, the 14th Nov. last. On the same night the prisoners, all of whom.lived at Luton, were seen four miles away from that place in the direction of Offiey. On Saturday they were found selling a large quantity of fowls, six of which were identified, and several were produced in court. On Sunday some of them were at Welwyn, a con siderable distance from Luton, and when two of them were apprehended the rest fled and were taken 10 miles off. In the course of the case the learned Judge took occasion to observe on the improper and inconvenient manner in which the depositions of the witnesses before the magis trates were written. Not only were they written in an ex tremely illegible hand, but on both sides of the paper, and the result was that they were very difficult to read. In con sequence of this, as it was very essential in a criminal trial that the judge should follow the evidence of the witnesses on the depositions, the time occupied in the trial was a good deal prolonged, and the labour of trying the cases very much increased. He hoped that the magistrates' clerks would really take a little more care in preparing the deposi tions, and if they could not themselves write them legibly, at least get them so written by others. The complaint thus made by the learned judge is one which is constantly made by the judges at the assizes all over the country, and has been made from time to time for years past. It may appear a trivial matter, but those who have been at all in the habit of observing the ad ministration of criminal justice are aware that, practically, It is one of great importance. The depositions of the wit nesses as taken before the magistrates on the committal of the prisoners for trial are returned to the assizes for the express purpose of being read by the judge and referred to at the trial, in order, on the one hand, to guide the judge in charging the grand jury, and, on the other hand, to be compared with the oral evidence of the witnesses, in order to detect any discrepancies, contradictions, or inconsistencies. Any one who has ever had to read much of other persons' handwriting is aware that it is even at the best a tiresome operation---and when the handwriting is not only strange, but bad .and indistinct, especially if the lines are close together and confused or straggling the difficulty of course is much enhanced. Bat if to all this be added the difficulty arising from the writing being on both sides, the writing on l i one side being partly seen through tending to darken and obscure the writing on the other, the task of reading be comes more arduous, and extremely trying to the temper. And this trying task is imposed upon judges in criminal trials—often in eases of lite and death, when the very essence of the utility of the depositions is that they should be capable of being referred to and read in an instant, in order to observe how far the oral evidence either tallies or varies. The difficulty is still greater in a case like the present, when there are several prisoners, and it is necessary to note very carefully how the evidence affects each one in particular. Our reporter has often had occa sion to refer to the depositions, and has found them almost always extremely difficult to read with facility, so as to follow the evidence with the mind. This is the less excusable because the self-same depositions when copied into briefs by attorneys' clerks are found written in a large legible hand (always on one side only of the paper) ; and it is hard to see why magistrates' clerks should write so badly while attorneys' clerks write so well. This is the more important because in most criminal cases the evidence—as in this case—is circumstantial, and depends on minute facts and details, the due appreciation of which is greatly inter fered with by the constant difficulty of reading. After a laborious trial and a careful summing up the jury found all the prisoners guilty of the stealing except one, whom they found guilty of receiving. One of them was proved to have been convicted before of felony in October last year, another was proved to have been convicted of felony in December last year, and another was proved to have been convicted of felony in 1861. The learned Judge in passing sentence said it was an ag gravated case, and sentenced the worst prisoner to 3 years' penal servitude; the others to one and a half year's and one year's imprisonment with hard labour, and the receiver to 6 months' imprisonment with hard labour. The learned Judge then took the case of the burglary at the house of the Hon. and:Rev. Chetwynd Talbot, rector of Hatfield, in which the butler was charged as the robber. The property stolen was plate to the value of about £650. The case was rather remarkable as a curious instance of circumstantial evidence. The prisoner, whose name is Soggee, and who appeared above 0 years of age, was placed at the bar indicted for burglary. The crime of burglary, it should be mentioned, may be committed by breaking out of a house as well as by breaking into it, the purpose being robbery ; and the indictment charged that the prisoner, having committed the robbery, " burglariously broke out" of the house. He pleaded not guilty. _ Mr. Clark and Mr. Bushby were for the prosecution; Mr. Woollett and Mr. Ludlow for the defence. The Hon. and Rev. Chetwynd Talbot is rector of Hatfield, and the prisoner was his butler,and had charge of the plate, and slept, either in the pantry, where it was kept, or a room which adjoined, called the housekeeper's room. For some months past he had slept in the latter room, and he did so oa the night of the robbery, and from the head of the pri soner's bed to the pantry-door was only two or three feet. Some week or so before the robbery the prisoner asked for and obtained from Mrs. Talbot some green baize to make bags to keep the plate in, and one of these, it will be seen, was afterwards found, not with plate, but with burglarious ,nreaplentents in it. On 9th Nov. last, Mr. Talbot was at home, a _g . at dinner used the breadbasket, which was of silver, some of the plate which was afterwards stolen. Before w°lan a_ Ce i he e d that night he and his wife lighted their candles hall bZ n ' l ee of Paper, the remains of which they left in the chain e t .which turned out to be one of the links in the morn i ng e:_rnn2tatantial evidence, for it was found next lades mai r :,I t e rr ,he house. About 20 minutes past 9 the mo l ding, ana'tvialateet Overton, saw the prisoner in the pantry cook, had been (ex , hir o good night. Eliza Milward, the .A.rbout half-past 10 the household Brown, the gardensr. that night, and came home at 10, with a ppear to have retirea w h oss t t e4r t, and about that time Harriet, a til n e o l i 3 s cl a Y a ' s B o m f a a id ehair beingoorrt was over the kitchen, heard heard cook, Eliza rawn along bricks. At a little bedroo o m. Rard . en, the sound being pastside 1 asl eo'fcsl tehnee the ano from the lout sheneare a h r e d r a Sanvtumbling at the back of o the foots h eus t e e p ; "f some one were up. T his ao ll s oise towards the pantry, as about 20 minutes, and gave her the ini e v;e s e he said, lasted butler was up arid in the pantry, but sh e gape that the About 7 o'clock in the morning of Tuesd ay, N e w n° l alarm. the gardener, Brown (who lived over the stable), Went 0 ; pantry window to ask th e butler if he was goin a to light o the tire in the sitting-room, an d found the window ()Pen and no one in the pantry. He looked in, and the bread basket was not there, and he must have seen it if it had been there. He went round the front of the house and in front of the conservatory, and observed footmarks. Turning back h e met the prisoner coming round et-Jilt/0111Y from the direc tion of the pantry, apparently in a very excited state, holding up his hands and saying " Good God I the house is robbed I The plate is gone I" The gardener pointimgout to the prisoners some of the footmarks, he put his feet on some of them until told by the gardener not to do so, as it would erase them. Going round to the pantry, the prisoner said "they had left the plate-basket behind," and which was afterwards found by him, as he said, under the pantry window, though, as already stated, the gardener swore it was not there. The police were sent for, and the footmarks from the conservatory down to the lawn within 12 yards of the pantry window corresponded, according to THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 7, 1863, the evidence, with the shoes of the prisoner. There were no in any way or at any part of the m the outside, but the "h as p" o f haqr house e an of violence entrance from indicating the pantry window was found to have been freshly forced up as if with a screwdriver, and a screwdriver was found in a drawer in the pantry. The prisoner then went and told his master of the robbery, admitting that he had left the pantry shutters unfastened, and that he had found the plate-basket outside the pantry. According to the evidence of the gardener this could not have been the case, and the basket when produced by the prisoner was found quite dry. One or two articles suggested to be the prisoner's were found outside the house; and sometime afterwards one of the green baize plate bags was found with burglars' imple ments inside. No part of the plate, however, had been re covered, and the value was estimated at about £5O. The case appeared to excite some interest. The court was crowded, and the bench was full of country gentlemen. Mr. Clark, in opening the case for the prosecution, which he did with much ability, said the case was one of great importance, not only from the magnitude of the rob bery, but from its circumstances, and especially from the position of confidence in which the prisoner had been placed. He did not believe it would be disputed that there had been a robbery. Mr. Woollett, for the prisoner, said he should not dis pute it. The learned Judge remarked that in a criminal case, and one so serious, he could not take any admissions. Mr, Clark said it was manifest, and it could not be dis puted, that there had been a robbery, and he believed the evidence, though entirely circumstantial, would, by a chain of numerous and carious links, bring home the guilt clearly to the prisoner. It was apparent that the robbery had not been committed from without, and must have been com mitted from within. The prisoner slept in the next room to the pantry, and was the only person who slept down stairs. Moreover, he had isolated himself from the rest of the house by keeping a door of internal communication with the pantry. The noise heard by the servants upstairs he could hardly have failed to hear downstairs; and there could be little doubt that it must have been at that time the robbery, by whomsoever it was committed, was in course of com mittal. It would be for the jury to consider whether the prisoner could possibly have been ignorant of it. Of course, the prisoner being known to be there, no alarm was felt about the noise, and that was the very circumstance which gave such cogency to the case. The statement as to the finding of the plate-basket would be proved to be false, and the only conceivable reason for the falsehood was guilt, and the only reason for the retention and production of the plate-basket by the prisoner was that it was part of the con trivance, in order to divert suspicion from himself. The case for the prosecution was that the plate-basket was not found, as the prisoner pretended, outside the house, but that it had never been there at all. For if it had, as the prisoner suggested, been left behind by the robbers, it would have been outside all night, and, if so, it must have been covered by the hoar frost, and when brought in would have been wet, whereas it was quite dry. Another important part of the case was that which related to the footmarks, which were all the more observable because of the hoar frost upon the ground. And the footmarks to and from the pantry were alike, and were the prisoner's. The suggestion, therefore, in the case for the prosecution was that the prisoner had got out of the house with the plate and then, of course, returned, He was seen in bed by one of the servants only a few moments before; just after the gardener came to the pantry, he was met coming from the pantry declaring that " the plate was gone." The gardener had already observed the footmarks before the prisoner was out, and when the prisoner's attention was called to them he put his foot on them and was treading them out. No one could doubt that if the prisoner was not the actual robber he must have " put up" the robbery, to use the expression which the police applied to such cases—that is to say, that others had been put up to it by some one inside the house, and who could it have been but the prisoner ? The robbery had been planned, and skilfully planned, and who could have planned and carried it out at that early time of night but the prisoner He must have been awake between half past 10 and 11 o'clock at night, for he had not long retired to rest, and no one but he would have ventured so early to perpetrate such a robbery. Whether he was the actual rob ber or not was not material, for if he were privy to it, and planned it, and took part in it, he would be guilty. Had any one heard the noise and comedown to inquire, he would have replied from behind his locked door that he was up, and that it was all right, and thus further inquiry would be stopped. That was the very reason why he had managed it at so early an hour, which no one else would have done. The whole affair was skilfully planned, and could not have been carried out without his aid. No doubt there were others engaged in it. Seven hundred pounds worth of plate could not be carried off without assistance, And very likely the burglary would be performed by accomplished burglars. The bag which had been found contained implements of burglary. No doubt burglars would never go on any such work without their implements, although it had so happened on this occasion that by the aid of the prisoner they were enabled to dispense with them. Having perpetrated the robbery with his aid they would naturally throw the useless tools aside ; and had they used them traces of violence would have been found on the outside. There were no circum stances to cast suspicion on any one else in the house, and no one else could have ventured to attempt it at such a time, or could possibly have succeeded in it without the aid of the prisoner. Mr. Woollett addressed the jury, and urged upon them that the case was one of suspicion only, even if all the facts relied upon were proved, but that when carefully examined they one after another melted like shadows away. The learned Judge carefully summed up, and the jury, after some deliberation found a verdict of not guilty. OXFORD CIRCUIT —WORCESTER, Dec. 4. CROWN COURT. (Before Mr. Justice Crompton.) John Green was indicted for the manslaughter of William Boughton. Mr. Best was for the prosecution, and Mr. Richards for the prisoner. The prisoner was a clerk in the office of Messrs, Clifton and Hooper, proctors. of Worcester, and had been a clerk in the District Registry of the Court of Probate, and %Vm. Boughton, the deceased, was a horsedealer, of Glocester. On the night of the 2d September last the prisoner and the deceased and some others formed a drinking party at the Albion Hotel, in Worcester, and about midnight some earlier bickering led to a quarrel between the prisoner and deceased, which resulted in a scuffle. The subject of the quarrel was as to whose turn it was to pay for the last beer had. The landlady interfered, but on her leaving the room the quarrel was renewed, and the deceased, who was a fine, powerful, tall man, began to follow up the prisoner, who is slight and short of stature, as he retreated into the passage. They got into the passage together, but in a minute or so the deceased returned into the room where the party had previously been, and it was discovered that he had been stabbed in the abdomen. The prisoner had earlier in the evening been comparing a spring clasp-knife of his with that of a man named Corbett, and afterwards stated to the superintendent of the police that he had had the knife open up his sleeve, and that ho supposed he had stabbed the deceased in the scuffle. A doctor was sent for, as soon as the wound was discovered, and the deceased was put to bed, but he never rallied, and died on the 6th of Sep tember. The prisoner got a good character for peaceable ness from one of his employers; and, after the summing up of the learned judge, the jury found him guilty. His Lordship sentenced him to 15 years' penal servitude. NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—DURIZAM, Dec. 4, (Before Mr. Justice Wightman.) Daniel Downey and Sarah Downey, brother and sister, aged respectively 29 and 27, were indicted for the man slaughter of William Thomas, at Felling, on the night of the 30th of August last. Mr. Campbell Foster and Mr. Laycock appeared for the prosecution; and Mr. Blackwell defended the prisoners. It appeared from the opening statement of the counsel for the prosecution, and from the evidence, that a large num ber of Irish resided at Felling, and between those of them who were Protestants and those of them who were Catholics a bad feeling existed. On the night of the 30th of August the deceased man Wm. Thomas and a friend of his named Fox were talking on some religious question in a loud tone in the streets of Felling, and Fox said "`Nell, I'm as good a Protestant as anybody. This observation seemed to have attracted notice. They went to the house of a man named M'Voy, and had not been long there before several persons came and knocked at the window shutters ; on Fox going out soon after stones were thrown at him, a rush of a num ber of men was made upon him, and he was knocked down, his head being cut and himself rendered insensible. Among the crowd were the two prisoners, the female prisoner having a poker or coal rake in her hand. The deceased man Thomas then came out of M'Voy's, and shouted to them to "stop that work," and on going up to where Fox was lying bleeding on the ground, said " You unmanly scoundrels, would you murder the man ?" A man named Hagan cried out "By Jesus, we will murder you," and immediately a man named Kelly threw a half brick at him, which appeared to have struck him on the head and knocked him down. Hagan, Kelly, and the two prisoners and others then all rushed at the deceased while he was down and commenced kicking him. Mrs. M'Voy having raised a cry of " Police " Murder 1" assistance came, and the two men Fox and Thomas were removed, Thomas to his lodgings. He became sick soon after he was carried home and never spoke after, and died at two o'clock the following day. A post mortem examination of his head showed that there was a severe bruise on the left side of his head. On opening the skull under this bruise a clot of blood tend was found, about three ounces in weight, which, pressing which their ac ts ' l l3on the brain, had caused his death. There was no direct gave the blpowuwer proof how he came by this blow, but probably it was from thaftdhealf brick thrown by Kelly. Both Kelly and Hagan tended d ca t t a d being taken into custody. But it was con• ftoirf a a u ll w th er e e: p r e ik rs e on li s ab w le h . o were kicking Thomas had a com mon e usi hand were eo h s canredal evidence, ldy ti caused giwa:f the ll immaterial. e n a g th h i o wm f the soef deceased, not conclusive that the For the defence it contended that the evidence was his reiastobners had done anything to the by d Kelly. decased, and that firing g m a s t c b l . earl) attributable to the blow from the half back fl His Lordship, having carefully the e aevidence,t;i of left it to the jury whether, in their jadmgeuteuut the deceased was not caused by the half brick thrown by Kelly; and, secondly, if so, did they think that the two pri soners had a common design with Kelly to kill the de ceased, seeing that they had done nothing till after the halt brick was thrown, which probably really caused his death. The jury retired, and, after a short absence, fuund the prisoners not guilty. eeclesiastieal,ihave for fifty years been reserved to men freshly imported from England. The Duke of Wellington may have been moved by the second feeling when, after the half-hattu mutiny, he ad vised that no Company's servant should ever be Commander-in-Chief ; but her Majesty's Govern ment were not. They were perfectly willing when they found men like Lord Metcalfe, to entrust to them the most valuable British dependencies; but they abstained from giving them what might seem the natural prize of their lives. No Indian was appointed Governor-General, or Commanderdn- Chief, or Metropolitan, or, with an exception more apparent than real, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Indian officer, however able or dis tinguished, or well informed, laboured, it was justly felt, under two fatal disqualifications. He had been bred up among the class whom he was called to govern, probably married among them, certainly formed friendships and intimacies which, in that great family party the Indian administration, were fatal to strict control. If he were a nepo tist the machine would probably come to a stand : if he were not a nepotist, everybody would believe that he was. Sir Chorles Metcalfe was pure in patronage, but men who heard aide-do-camps call the ad interim Governor-General " Charley" across the table, were not predisposed to believe so. So urgent was the necessity of avoiding this danger that a rule was introduced, and is still observed, prohibiting the employment of kinsmen in office in the same country ; no native, it was known, would appeal, say from the magistrate to his father-in law the judge, nor would any native Prince resist a Resident whose kinsman sat on the throne. More over, and the second difficulty was far more impor tant than the first, no Indian could ever be made to feel the true relation of India towards the British Empire. Imported young, and with their minds still immature, the Indian civilians regarded India almost as their own land. That terrible vastness of scale which is the special feature of everything on the Indian continent, a vastness no man accustomed to Europe can ever fully realise, possessed their imaginations, till England seemed to them a neces sary but annoying appendage to their magnificent empire. To this day, greatly as this tone has altered, hundreds of Anglo-Indians cannot conceal their contempt for the "parochial interests of Great Britain" as compared with the "Imperial interests of a fifth of the human race." The notion that the smallest English innovation affects the character of a race whose daily action will influence the whole future of man never enters their heads, and they persistently postpone Imperial interests to those of the Presidency in which they live. They have many of them a positive pleasure in tariffs which, as they think, protect native muslins against the English invaders, and resent expenditure for the Empire, as if England did not relieve India of the cost of a foreign policy and maritime de fence. The feeling is immaterial, or even healthy, in subordinates, but England must have some link between the Empire as a whole and her vast dependency, and that link has been sought in Governors-General not bred up in India. The habit of English statesmanship, moreover, the cone scant collision amidst which English rulers work, if it does not increase mental power, does develop intellectual moderation, and intellectual moderation is the one quality Indian statesmen lack. They are always for beginning afresh, iu preference to im proving the old machine, are capable, for example, of octroying a new code of procedure, because the old one gives to creditors a little too much power. In practice the remedy for these defects has worked exceedingly well. The principles of government are everywhere much the same, and a succession of ignorant" servants of the Queen have since the days of Hastings built up, consolidated, and re formed the Empire, for wt jell the Company had the credit. It was Lord Wellesley, Sir H. Hardinge, the Marquis of Hastings, and Lord Dalhousie, who conquered the martial races of India, not the Com pany ; the interlopers who built the trade, not the old officials; Lord Dalhousie who founded the rail way scheme, not an Indian engineer; Sir Charles Wood not the Council, who carried out the recent reorganisation. The rule was and is a wise one, but the use of such rules is simply to secure the man beet fitted to do the work required, and there can be little doubt that in the present conjuncture Sir John Lawrence is that man. We do not mean simply that he is qualified only by his services, though these have been beyond compare. Indian stories are always so crowded with details that their drift too often escapes the public; but the popular theory about Sir John Lawrence is, as a whole, quite true. Ile did most unquestionably save us from the necessity of having to conquer India. From the moment the Sepoys seized Delhi, to the moment when its fall made civil government once more pos sible, India was cloven in twain, with Lord Can ning ruling on one side and Sir John Lawrence upon the other, but with scarcely the faintest means of communication between the two. For three months, we believe,not an order from Calcutta ever reached the Punjaub. There, however, was Sir John Lawrence, with lees than 10,000 effective Europeans, with 50,000 drilled veterans in revolt between him and his only source of reinforcements, with the Afghans threatening him on the West, all lost away to the South, the Krialsa or fighting Sikhs held in order only by their personal awe of him, one great Sikh Prince with an army and treasury at disposal, and hosts of small chiefs as hostile as mediatized chieftains always are. For five months Sir John Lawrence, without help save from within, main tained his position, inspired his own Crow wellian energy into his chief subordinates, induced demi hostile princes to guard his communications, hurled two armies successively upon Delhi, for whose fall all Sikhs were watching, bribed the Afghans, raised loans on his own bare word, enlisted the doubtful warrior clan, the Khalsa, whom we had but just settled down to the plough, actually ventured to sanction the Khalsa national rite, " the baptism of the sword," and when, in September, all seemed un availing, sent forward to Delhi his last hundred of reliable troops, and stood amidst thirty millions of nearly certain foes, confident only that his duty had been done. There never was in the whole history of British India such an interval as the fortnight which preceded the fall of Delhi—Nort hero India was utterly exhausted, the Mahrattas were gather. ing round Lord Elphinstone, and the Sikhs even before Delhi were muttering that the hour for them had arrived. If Delhi did not fall, the Empire would, and it was then that the application was made to Sir John to choose between an assault which, had it failed, would have been followed by the massacre of every white face north of the Nerbudda, and a suspension of the siege. Lord Lyveden is right when he says that Lord Canning had no intention of retreating from before Delhi, wrong when he implies that retreat was out of the question. Lord Canning could send no orders, and did send none ; but every purely mili tary reason was against the assault. The responsi bility was thrown on Sir John, and to his prompt reply it is owing that we had not to reconquer India against, instead of with. the Sikhs. He authorised, without legal power, an act of military madness — the storm of a fortified city supposed to be defended oy twice the besieging force and by a hostile popu lation tenfold the assailer'. e' number, with an army which ten minutes' check would instantly have dis solved. Three days later the tidings, " Delhi has fallen," were flying along that rapid telegraph of successive human voices which so often puzzles ob servers in Asia, Bombay was subsiding into its usual discontented calm, the Sepoy army was flying to Rohilcund, the Sikhs as a nation were rallying to the British standard, and Lord Canning was able to write that the neck of the rebellion was broken before a man had landed to his aid. That ' Sir John had marvellous assistance—Edwardes, who held the dangerous valley of Peshawur with a garrison his foes could have eaten ; Nicholson, in whom England lost that boundless source of power, an original General ; Montgomery, who en abled his chief to double himself, is true ' but then, w ho saw and selected these men ? The first attri bute of a born ruler is his ability to pick his own tools, and that ability is possessed by Sir John Law rence in the highest degree. There was one point, moreover, on which even these men could lend him no assistance, for it required a quality always in communicable. Major Edwardes could have crushed the Sepoys with just as heavy a hand, Nicholson might have planned an even more perfect campaign, Mr. Montgomery could infuse into all classes equal zeal and equal hardihood, but the Sikhs were the true masters of the situation, and they looked to "Jan Sahib" alone, feared him only among men, quailed only before the thought of his unchangeable fortune, and 'had cholera or over-exertion carried him off—as seemed mice only too probable— energy, and generalship, and skill in the guidance of men would alike have been unavailing. The Sikhs would have conquered India for another race than us. It is not, however, on account of his services that we believe this appointment wise. Better pay men for services in any coin than governments for which they are unfitted. But we believe Sir John Law rence is, at this juncture, the very man to fill his splendid position. The two Indian difficulties are at this moment the disturbances on the frontier and the necessity of maintaining severer discipline within the new Sikh force, and the mere arrival of the Viceroy will probably terminate both. The frontier tribes will not face the man who for five years kept the bit so strongly within their teeth that every raid cost them more than they _ distrust gisatirnueil in money as well as lives, and Sikhs will d the dangerous prophecies which requirc for their fu fitment that the " forehead" of their hero should pass under a cloud. They feee Engh nets sooner than his fortune, end faithful the disaffected Th ie in itse tharcul w hile they are h o ut North India must perforce remain inaon . equal in value to a great vic.ory at but Sir Johnlf Lawrence meets also the requirements of internal administration. The new organisation must be completed by a man on the spot, who shall possess the confidence of the advceates both of the new and the ancient eyetems. Sir John Lawrence is himself their very point of agreement. A civilian of civi lians, he was the one man on whom the " settlers" relied for a comprehension of their claims, and though he never bore a commission, and maintained haughtily the supremacy of civil rule, he was obeyed by generals older than himself. A strong governor in the old sense of the word, with a lull sense of the necessity of maintaining the absolute power of the Government, and fully persuaded that India can as yet be held only by the sword, he is, nevertheless, a man who believes in justice and progress, in railways, and canals, and free trade, in better education and swifter justice, in fresh careers for natives and more ample means of acquiring weait h. Familiar with the old ideas, he has, curing his resi dence at home, comprehended those upon which the Government must now be based, and though he re sisted the new organisation, he will now that it is accomplished devote himself to the task of making it work more perfectly than the old. The natives know him of old as one who right or wrong is, at all events, irresistible; the Europeans will accept at his hands the compromise in which their claims must end ; the civilians will feel his appoint ment an omen of a new future for themselves ; and the army has for years studied his opinion as that of a general made by commission higher than the Queen's. The administration,_ painfully working its way through heaps of the debris of rotten systems, needs an accession of force, and Sir John Lawrence is to all other rulers what a locomotive is to a cart. His single temptation wil lbe to crowd the work of a life into his term of rule, but the obstacles are so many that the only result of This foible will be a slightly swifter advance. The locomotive will bet steadied by the weight of the train behind. LONDON REVIEW.—A meeting of the English bar to consider a question of law reform is so unprece dented an event that the grievance which brought it to pass must be considered as beyond measure serious. Indeed, we may measure the burden in tome sense by a pecuniary test. The hours of a well employed barrister are golden, his very minutes are silver; and so when some 500 members of the pro fession, including a large proportion of its leaders, spend, as they did on Wednesday, a couple of hours in affirming a statement of the need of reform, and in taking the preliminary steps for securing it, we may consider they have testified their sincerity by a subscription of 1,000 guineas to the cause. Nor, certainly, is the cause undeserving of the sacrifice. It is not an amendment in any one special branch of law that is sought,it is an amendment of the system by which the whole law is established and promul gated. For a great deal more of our law is made by our judges than by the Legislature ; and whet the Legislature does is, in fact, only supplementary or corrective to what the judges have already done. But between the huge mass of judge-made law and the far smaller bulk of statutory law there is this important distinction, that while the latter, what ever its faults, is at least immediately printed and published by authority, the former, whatever its perfections, is only printed at uncertain intervals, as a more commercial speculation, and without receiv ing the sanction of authority at all. So the result is that there are above half-a-dozen different re cords of every point, all possibly, and frequently, at variance in some essential particular. No lawyer, therefore, can be sure of the law as adjudged at any time unless he peruses all the different reports, and their actual cost is not less than £45. But even when he has perused them all he cannot be certain, when they disagree, which will be adopted by the judge before whom they are cited. The consequence, then, is a very heavy personal outlay and enormous additional labour, with the result of uncertainty and confusion. And as whatever thus affects the bar rister recoils upon the public, it is very evident that the subject of which the profession now stands pledged to attempt the reform is one in which the public is greatly interested, and is bound to lend the aid of its intelligent consideration. The ques tion is very slightly technical, it depends ohiefly upon maxims of common sense, and we may there fore fairly invite our readers to review with us the several schemes proposed. There are in the first place some inveterate Free Traders, who maintain the superiority of the present system to any that can be, or at least has yet been, devised. They urge that in competition is to be found the only security for obtaining the best articles, that the attendance of skilled legal reporters is the only practicable check upon the judges, at once deterring them from pro nouncing bad law, and preventing them from doc toring for publication the bad law they may have uttered, and that these advantages more than counterbalance the gain which would ensue from possessing only a single authoritative report,whether prepared or not under the judge's eye Then there are those, headed by Mr. Daniel, the leader in the 'present movement, who maintainthat the business of reporting io properly the business of the State, inasmuch as the law which is thus made public binds all her Majesty's subjects, and who consequently call on the State to appoint officers to perform the duty. They would make the duty a monopoly, by forbidding the courts to admit any rival report, and they would make the proper performance of the duty im perative by placing the actual reporters under the immediate supervision of a committee of the bar or the judges. Next there are some, whom Mr. Pulling may be taken as representing, who would have the duty in some respects subdivided, by appointing an officer in each court whose busi ness should be to preserve a sufficient record of every ease, while an official reporter should extract from the record such cases as were proper for publication, and edit them with that view. There are others again who would have the work taken in hand by an incorporated body of barristers, who should come in the place of the bookseller as bearing the profit and loss of the work, and by these means be urged to expedition and accuracy, enjoying some degree of favour, but not excluding competition. The first objection which occurs to every one of these pro posals is, that they contain no element which would effectually and permanently cure the existing evils. The official reports would still be liable to imperfec tion, and imperfection would invite competition, It is idle to say that competition could be excluded by a formal rule that none save the official reports should be of authority 'or be allowed to be cited. Supposing the official report to be unintelligible, or to contain evidently bad law, it would be impossible to prevent a judge from referring to a rival series which might explain or correct it. To do so would be in teed to enthrone injustice and error. The rale would be at first indirectly infringed, the judge would surreptitiously look at the unauthorised re port, but soon what was done in darkness would come to the light, and the rule would be a dead letter. Here, then, in a few months or years, we should find ourselves brought back to our present position, with merely the addition of one now series to the present supply. Or if, again, we were to try to obviate the danger of any official reporter thus misunderstanding or misstating the import of a case, by requiring the judge who has decided it to revise and certify the report, we come into the danger to which the bar showed itself at the meeting very sensitive, that the judge may on reconsideration alter the statement and the argument so as better to support his own opinion. Human nature seems to be supposed by the bar not to become impeccable even when clothed with ermine. Finally, all these schemes are cer tainly open to the objection that they contain no security for making official persons punctual in the despatch of their business, and consequently might leave the profession and the public in arrear of months or years in regard to the decisions of the courts, save in so far as the void might be supplied by the competition of private enterprise. Another proposi tion, however, was made the other day in the columns of a contemporary by Mr. Boyd Kinnear, a member both of the English and Scottish bar, which, as distinct in principle both from the exist ing and any proposed plan, deserves to be noticed. This gentleman argues that the real cause of the existing evil is the want of authoritativeness in any of the reports; that the reporters, being unable to say which of the facts were considered material by the judge, are obliged to state them all; that the desire to omit nothing which may have in fluenced him leads to a rivalry in prolixity, while the wish to give every word which drops from his lips leads to a verbatim record of his speech, con taining all its incidental, as well as its pertinent observations. He would call in, for remedy of this state of things, the principle of requiring theoju judge himself to make, in every case, a talon note f facts which in his opinion are material, .and. to and of the authorities which were cited bef ore append to this note his judgment in writing : the whole being issued at the time of g iving so that there would be no opportunity adapting the facts to the opinion. These a nn e t r e w s a a r n d d s t r tothe printer, a be transmitted by the merely not whether whether th t e h e judg mentcfjudgments, according to his scheme, t e h , e are at once to proof is to be sent next day to o judges,who tty a majority would decide , ig b ° e ° i d ng r p b u a b d li l s a h w ed b , u an t d on this bing settled it is worth would at once be published, so that in no case would there be occasion for more than a week's delay. Mr. Boyd Kinnear anticipates in the carrying oat of this s ystem no great delay or difficulty , as he urges that the judge's note-bo o k at present , coutains r , g o e r s ought to contain, su c h a note of the relevant facts as is all that would be requited a rep o rt ; w hil e th e judgments prectice of writi ng t h e greater brevity and accuracy; and he ob serves that cora wouldconduce, he thinks, to th e i r petition would be effectu a y ex cluded, for no other reporter could expect to explain the judge's meaning better than himself, or SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. SATURDAY REVlEW. — England is so invariably worsted, whenever she attempts a diplomatic con test, that few of us will be inclined to regret that the Government have declined to fight with wea pons which, as a nation, we little understand. If, indeed, upon our diplomatic list it had been possible to find a representative capable of finessing against the trained intriguers of Russia or France, the en terprise might not have been so hazardous. But with no one to send except the amiable statesman who was talked over into signing away an impor tant maritime right at the Conferences of Paris, or the less amiable Foreign Secretary who contrived to juggle so awkwardly at the Conferences of Vienna that he drew down upon himself a direct disavowal from the Austrian Minister, and was compelled to resign in disgraee, our position at a tournament of the sharpest wits in Europe would have been very forlorn indeed. If our plenipotentiary had escaped from the arena with any portion of our maritime rights or any fragment of our foreign dependencies unconceded, the nation would have had great cause to congratulate itself on the result. Some such possession as that of Malta, transferred possibly to Italy as compensation for the cession of Sardinia to France, would have been the very smallest penalty that our Government would have paid for venturing within the magic circle of the arch conjuror of Paris. But though England individually has nothing have to lament the depri taele. It would be plea s%) oluolsde fail,by t the h efailured of swp ie t le h l the Emperor's scheme, if it vation of an edifying sant to witness the gambols of the happy family of European nations, once fairly gathered within four walls. There have been men, of great social emi nence, who have made their reputati o n i n th a t li ne by the practice of gathering all the most antago nistic elements of which a dinner party could be possibly composep. No small zest would be lent to such entertainments by the distrustful courtesy and transparent irritation of the Tractarian and Re cordite, the Orthodox and Heretic, the Negro and the American, who were suddenly brought into un wonted and unexpected neighbourhood. The Con. gress, if it takes place, will present some thi ng o f the same sort of scene. The only difference will be that the guests will come to the reunion each well prepared with a hoard of acecumulated grudges against his neighbours. It will be a kind of Loan of-Grievance Eshibition, to which every contribu ting Power will bring all the specimens, ancient and modern, bran-new or half worn-out, that can be hunted out of the archives of its Chancellerie. Every Plenipotentiary will come fully armed with all the points which will be most unpleasant to his neigh bour, but also, in his secret heart, knowing that his neighbour is fully prepared to expatiate upon some matter that is at least equally unpleasant to himself. Each will appear at the Congress with the f u ll es t intention of treadi ng u p o n his neighbour's toes, and the fullest consciousness that his own are full of p corns. The habit s o f diplomacy are prov er bi a ll y is overco m i ng human infirmities of tem per ; but the office of President over such an assem blage of diplomatists, gathered together for no other purpose than to bait each other, will he anything but an enviable situ a ti on . I t i s a matter of curious specu lation what the or d er of proceedings at ills unprecedented ga th er i ng will be. The o bj ec t of the me e ti ng i s to reconstruct the map of Europe ac cor di ng to the exigencies of the epocu, and re-write the treaties of 1815 accord ingly. Perhaps the most effective way of commenc ing business would be for every Plenipotentiary to put in a map of E urope cons tructed accordi ng to hi s own ideas of j ust i ce an d ex p e di enc y ; an d t h en, having i compared th e var i o us documents, to ascer tain t there was any one sing e point upon which all, or even a majority of the Congress, were agreed. There would be some cases, of course, of limited agreement betwee n two or th ree s ep ara t e P owers . a saa ß FGwhsnreo u odeanu s un si olßvl cdad a ehe rbal haygnena ambition. dve d udlai se l g a t rgbh l dl oh y eei utn w efil dlda. re o a .ol u ypda l to d tuhifsi nopaebwrttore upon the eretrttneal the nnhemec c ca o hnei t g n oaht t ht sgh e ihthn n gee osetrr true a t rsgln h ui dgdd a eceei t zfisea F etroec r an Germany id a yueat n fnrinhor c i tyea e r: Pyrenees. Russia, as the molt powerful, would probably combine the greatest n u mbe r o f ene mi es ; but, even in her case, there would be a strong dif ference of opini on amongst her neighbours as to the provinces she ought first to be compelled to dis gorge. Each would be moved by an irrepressible impulse of compassion to vindicate the wrongs of some victim of Russian oppression. Sweden would feel that there were no wrongs like the wrongs of Finland ; Austria would mourn over the guilty par tition of Poked Turkey would compose diploma tic eclogues upon the simple virtues of the inhabi tants of Crim-Tartary. But if any Dane talked of Norwegianindependence,theSwedishplenipotentiary would shrug his shoulders with contempt ; Austria would fire up at the bare mention of Venetia; and the Turk would begin to say his prayers if any In fidel dog were to allude to the present sufferings or the old independence of Taesssly and Epirus. .France would join vehemently w ith t h e S pan i ar d s in the suggestion that Gibraltar ought to return to . Spain; and she would quit e un d erstan d t h at a legitimate sentiment of nationality prompted the Italians to join themselves to the Maltese. For, she w ou ld justly obs erve , t h e i nha bi tants of Gibraltar were once Spaniards, and the inhabitants of Malta are in the main Italians. But if any im pertinent ally were to suggest that Strasburg was once, and is still, German, that Dunkirk is unmis takeably Fleming, and that Algeria is obstinately Arab, she would only remark that he did not com prehend the demands of his epoch. Perhaps the most amusing arrangement would be to require each Power to vote for some principle upon which the map of Europe should be reconstructed. For we live in an age of principles ; and everybody who desires to help himself at his neighbour's expense has always some eternal truth or inalienable right to cite in his own justification. It would be in structive to observe how many Powers could vote for any one principle consistently in respect of all their claims. Nationality, as the most modern fancy of the kind, would first be put to the vote. Russia would vote aye in respect to the Sclaves of S er vi a and Bosnia; no, in respect of Poland. Sweden would vote aye for Finland; no, as regards Norway. Denmark would vote aye for Norway ; no as respects Schleswig-Holstein ; Germany would vote aye for Schles-wig-Hol stein and Alsace.; no, for Posen, Hungary, and Venetia. France would vote aye as respects Geneva ; no, as regards Alsace and Algeria. And so it would go on through the States of Europe. We will not be unpatriotic enough to inquire how England might vote, if her pl en ip o t en tiary were present at such a division. A similar doubleness of sentiment would be elicited if the older, and almost antiquated, doctrine of a respect for treaties were brought up for judgment. With Cracow in her mind, Austria w ou ld vote that treaties were not worth much ; b u t the mention of the word " Ve ne ti a " wou ld revive her reverence for th em i n a ll its force. Spain might be inclined t o poo h- poo h th e m when Oliveuca or the Slave -trade were under discussion; but the introduction of the topic of Mexico would lead her back to more orthodox views. Germany would idolise th e sanc ti ty o f treat i es on her Polish frontier_ Italy would manifest that semi-developed reverence for them which would indicate that she remembered her origin, w hi c h wou ld hardly consist with them, and her future, which would scarcely be secure without them. France would be almost the only power that could afford to set treaties at defiance ; for they have done their worst upon her, and she has flourished in spite of them. Whether Napo leon 111. has sufficient sense of fun to have con ceived this p ro j ec t mer ely for the sake of th e amuse ment it would c au se, is a question whi c h f u t ure historians mu s t d ec ide. Undoubtedly a grea t por tion of the joke would be at the expense of the country over which he rules. But if he could get over his aversion to that result, there is no doubt that considerable diversion might be taken out of the awkward contortions of the various Euro pean Gover nmen t s as their various weak points were touched on. Their policy upon any ethical ground is so completely purposeless and inconsis tent, the principles which they sometimes profess to revere are so absolutely hollow, that any meeting at which they were compelled to justify their re spective policies by an appeal to any abstract doc trine could not fail to be rich in matter for amuse ment. Such disclosures, however, are not for the benefit of mankind. It is not good men should see through the fictions by which they are ha bitually led. It is illegal to go physically naked; but the motel nudity which throws off those de corous clothes of principle and virtue under which politicians and States habitually conceal the natur . ll to the mental well-being of the community. al shape and hue of their policy, is more injurious is good that mankind should believe in the principles which are preached to them by those whom ttley play too palpably the hollowness and impractica i . respect ; and theref o re any trial which .should dis bility of such doctrines as that of nationality s much to be deprecated. THE SPECTAToR.—In selecting Sir John Law rence as Lord Elgin's successor the Government has broken, and wisely broken, the soundest rule of Indian administration. It is from no cap r i ce an d no jealousy of the Cornia.ny's servants, that the highest Inaian of f ices, political, military, legal, and would find any advantage in stating facts which the judgment was not based upon. There is certainly reason in these arguments ; but the change pro posed is so large that it is not easy at once to see its tun effect, and we must be content to suspend our judgment on it till it shall have been more fully discussed. Discussion enough we are sure to have, now that the tips of the Bar have been unsealed. COUNTRY MARKETS. - ,t ........ NORWICH —SATURDAY. There was a good supply of wheat to-day, and the sales made were at late prices. A fair show of barley, and prices were fully maintained. White wheat. 45s to 47•.1 Red wheat 41s to 433 Malting barley ...36s to 37s I Chevalier barley 34s to 353 Distilling do 30s to 32s I Oats.. 24 to 26s Flour, 29s 6d to —s Cad per sack from the miller. NOTTINGHAM—SATURDAY. White wheat, from 418 to 45s ; red wheat, 38s to 425. Barley—malting, 32s to 40s ; grinding, 28s to 31s. Oats old, at 24s to 31s Od; new, 20s to 255. Beans sold at 38a to 43s per qr. ; new, 37s to 38s. LEICESTER-SATURDAY. There was a good show of wheat to-day, with a fair sale. —New white wheat, 40s to 44s ; red, 36s to 41s per 36 stone. Old red, 39s to 41s per 36 stone. Barley, malting, new, 33s to 38s per qr.; grinding, 29s to 32s ; old oats, 25s to 30s ; new oats, 22s to 25s per 24 stone. BeAnss old, 38s to 42s per 38 stone ; flour, 303 to 35s per 20 stone. GRANTHAM-SATURDAY. Old white wheat, 43s to 46s ; red, 39s to 428-per 365 t.; new white, 42s to 47s ; red, 37s to 40s. Malting barley, 33s to 36s per qr ; grinding, 27s to 308; oats, old, 24s t) 288; new, 20s t 0248; beans, 40s to 42s ; peas, 34s to 40s. NO RTHAMP TON—SATURDAY. There was a fair average show of wheat to. day, but advance upon last week's prices. Other articles as before. —White wheat, 40s to 44s ; red, 35s to 42s ; fine, — 0 to —s per qr. Barley, 35s to 396—grinding, 28s to 30s . Oats, 28s to 32s per 24 stone. Beans, 38s to 425. Peas; 34s to 40s per qr. YORK-S. ;ATURDAY. --- We were supplied with a fair quantity of wheat to-day, and prices were in favour of the seller. Wheat, red 37s to 40s Oats.... lBs to 20a White do .40s to 458 Beans ....., 386 to 403 Barley .29s to 32s Peas ....—s to — 6 Malt, 62s to 64s per qr.; rye, 30s per qr ; flour, 300 to 32s per sack. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton. Dec. 19. via Marseilles . Dec. 13. Brazil and Cape Verds, by British packet. Jan. 4. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Dec. 29. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Dec. 19. via Marseilles Dec. 13. Falkland Islands Gibraltar, via Southampton Dec. 12. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton Dec. 19. via Marseilles Dec. 13. !Mitt (Bombay), via Southampton .. Dec. 12. via Marseilles Dec. 6. Portugal :Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Dec. II via Marseilles Dec. 6. Newfoundland Oporto and Vigo U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... Dec. 9, _ ' by U.S. packet.... W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Ib'yenCealiritfaedian packet. Dec. 12. Dec. 10. Bahamas, via New York Dec. 17, Mexico Dec. 2 9 ' All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Pull, California. and British Columbia.. ( Deco 14 THE AFRICA.-At the end of last month the Council of the Mercantile Marine Service Associv tion, Liverpool, submitted to the Committee of the Frill Council for Trade a series of remarks in reference to the re cent sentence for the suspension of the certificate of Captai n Stone, of the Africa, in the hope that, upon consideration , their lordships might see proper to reverse the sentence of Court of inquiry. The observations were as follows :—" 1 ' The verbatim copy of the evidence given upon the occasion does not, the council believe, upon a fair construction of it, bear out even the opinion of th nautical assessors, upon which the sentence was given. 2. It was impossible to weigh th e evidence in favour of Capt. Stone against the opinion of the nautical assessors, who were not exposed to strict cross' examination upon the reasons which led them to the coo" elusion on which the sentence was pronounced, while Capt. Stone, the accused, was subjected to the strictest cross examination, and, practically, their lordships will see that he is condemned upon the assessors' interpretation of all admission extorted from him. 3d. An unprecedented sites ration appears upon reliable evidence to have taken place in the currents of the Gulf Stream, with the extent of which the assessors were and are not acquainted, and the extent of which is still even imperfectly known to any one. 4. The soundings in the neighbourhood could not have told with certainty the position of the Africa, had soundings been taken. 5. The course pursued by Capt. Harris in his cross examination of Capt. Stone, the question put, and the opi.- nions expressed by him in conrt,:appear to the council to show that he considered himself somewhat in the position of a prosecutor as well as an assessor. 6. The sentence states Captain Stone to have been guilty of a culpable want of caution, The council is anxious to point out to their lord ships that a culpable fault is such as would expose Captain Stone to a prosecution and conviction, had a passenger been injured, and the owners to a verdict against them by pars of goods. There appears no reason to suppose that t is i i is or would be the case. 7. It does not appear to the cett just to single out Captain Stone for inquiry, whi le the majority of cases are not inquired into at all. 8, The con cil cannot suppose that it was the intention of t he LegiS ; lature that in these inquiries the person whose character and certificate depended upon the result should be el e i mined on oath against himself; as that is a procedure; variance with all the principles of jurisprudence; and reference to the anomalous mode in which the charge „„ made, or rather decided, during the inquiry, and the Pry toe ceedings were conducted, the council refer their l ordshiPe the circumstances that in inquiries before the lo cal mar Boards, involving the suspension or cancelling of a certiti; cafe, a distinct charge must be made, and a copy of t handed to the accused at least 48 hours before the COur sits. The Board of Trade, in their reply, dated December 3, state that they have received a memorial from Cap at Scene appealing against the decision of the court, and tilf' they have in their reply (in which they have entered fall into the circumstances of the case) informed Captain Stale that they do not feel themselves justified in interfering wits' the decision of the magistrate and his assessors. [ADVERTISEMENT.] —Holloway's Pills—lnd igestion• - ": In all cases of indigestion, p roducin g weariness, low spirits, palpitation, and feverishness, these famous Fi lls should be resorted to as the gentlest and surest corrective 0. ' of the stomach, and the best antidote to its ailtuest These pills dispel the curse of dyspepsia, every es afflicted with it may rejoice at the safe and satisfactori results which can be secured at so small a charge 3 ' T. purchase of a box of Holloway's Pills. and health in young persons. Thousands of They pur vr t ! I ; strengthen, and remedy imperfect development °I r° wh° casually commenced a course of Holloway's Filafter admired their restorative powers over themselves , °l n a nee wards recommended them with a becoming G s— e which has never been betrayed. [ADVERTISEMENT.]—Consumption, all nervous, -- lious liver, and stomach complaints, in every stage, are only !i: gravated and accelerated by drugs of every description, bill; perfectly curable by Du Barry's health restoring nev ale which e a Arabica Food, as proved by thousands of cases 62 91 4 . been considered hopeless. We quote a few.—Cure , Miss Lange, 18 years of age, cured after the medical men WA! sufferers,have abandoned all hopes of her recovery from the last stag I pulmonary consumption, with fearful cough, exhaustion, spitting of blood, perspirations, hollow We emaciated to a skeleton. She is now, thank God, a perfct!! healthy, blooming, fleshy Lange, Comm''lsaie eri Police. Cure, No. 48,270. Mr. James Roberts, of FritaleYr Surrey, of thirty years' diseased lungs, spittingof bloodro derangement, and partial deafness.—Cure, No. 47,121. P° expectoratio: i n digestir 4 Elizabeth Jacobs, of extreme nervousness, gatherings, low spirits, and nervous fancies.—Cure, 14,°'„ 54,816. The Rev. James T. Campbell, Fakenham, Norfoits of indigestion and torpidity of the liver, which had resist!! all medical treatment. In tins, lib, 2s 9d; 21b, 4s 6cl; 5 1 T , lls ; 121 b, 225; 241 b, 40s. Barry du Barry and Co., No. 71 0 Regent-street, London ; also Fortnum and Mas on ' grocers and chemists in every town of United Births. CRADOCK.—On. the 3d inst., at Jlartforth, the Wife of C. Cradock, Esq., of a daughter. DURHAM.—On the 4th inst., at Latabton Castle, ti l° Countess of Durham, of a son. PHILLIrs.—On the 2d inst., at Royston, Huts, the Wife °f John Phillips, jun., Esq., of a son. WALSN.—On the 3d inst., at 35, Hill-street, Lady Walsh, of a sou. Marriages. Couss-11Aurtisoic—On the 3d i ns t., a t St L u ke'o t CO , a sea , Charles William, eldest survi v i ng son of the 15 " t be C ors e, Esq., of 63, Shor e dit c h , t o J u li a Elizabeth , o f youngest daughter of William Henry Harrison, t° l " 9, Beaufort street, Cheisea. PAULET—STANDISII.—On the 3d inst., at St. tAr Hanover-square, Charles William, late Captall ar ied Hussars, eldest son o f th e H on. an d R e v. Lord Os t o Paulet, to Susan Amelia Georgina Carr Standish, dish second dish su , E rv B ivi q. :ig daughter ufpaxbury of the .rark. late Sal' Deaths. BI AND.—On the 2d inst. at his residence, 1, 13essborote street, George ' s -square, Willi am Michael Bland, 8(1.' aged 75, Bi:veniris, Pimlico,GroN-0 HenryF. B nt4th iuLtinz,atton4B,, Bessboroug dens, "i'r Esq . , aged h 49 . _f BouGnToN.--- aged On 7 the o. 2d inst., Mr. Peter Bo Hounslow,ugt °l3 ' 19 forr aerli COOPER —On the 3d inst. , Mrs. Frances C oo p er, of Brentwood, aged 98. llAanirio.—On the 4th inst., at 15, Lonsdale-terrace' Barnes, Surrey, Mr. J. D. Harding, artist. soraersett Ilostims.—On the 3d inst., at North Perrott, Wm. Hoskins, Esq , aged 77. • a las " I ' SUTTON.—On the 3d inst., a t Bideford, De von, Th°— Sutton, Esq r -sS, London : Primed and Pubilshed L by WILI UN woe '' n AgANOS;j of No. 112, Strand , Printer, at THE S ty Strand, the PrOCinCt 01 the savoy, in th e Co°ll bliddleeex.—AlondaY, DeCember 7, 1863. Attgt, 111 N° Zile • a ktio, Ditrin rrt, 1:01 itIA 814 14 4 711 ?RP nor tekT,, "oral "uerai the (tie Be 40 1 , 113( n M. take h, l follo w T Ait Iz A. arti st( and E Ale ( telebr Zone vc Gran tl . pa s/ Con 1 / 1 4 % RE .0 11 , G Th e kelt 0 p e bi .` 9 th, lai