The Sun. — London, England, 1863-08-11 00:00:00

AMERICAN AFFAIRS. (From the Special Correspondent of the Times.) ALBANY, NEW YORK, July 20. There is something indefinable in the feelings of the Americans towards England. Whatever might be the disposition of the public mind before the battle of Gettysburg, there is no doubt now as to the full confidence of ninety-nine out of a hundred Northerners in the destinies of the Union. Indeed, the transition from crestfallen despondency to bois terous s anguineness must have been so complete and sudden that a newcomer among these people has some difficulty in crediting the accounts he may have heard or read of their being weary of the war, hopeless of success, and almost esger for a reverse which might put an end to the struggle, no matter on what terms. I must say, for the truth, I find no trace of such dastardly feeling anywhere I go. The retreat of Lee end the conquest of the Mississippi have re - assured the wavering. The subjugation of the South is now, the Americans think, in any event a mere question of time, and, whatever difficulties there may arise as to the footing upon which the Union is to be recon stituted, there is no doubt as to the Union itself being saved. Full of this conviction, the Americans seem very heartily ashamed of tied angry with themselves for having even for a moment given way to misgivings ; they are loth to accuse themselves of little faith, and have no patience with those who were in too great a hurry to take them at their own words, to share their apprehensions, to echo their complaints, and to look forward either with exultation or with scarcely less crushing pity on the approaching in evitable dissolution of their mighty Republic. This readiness and willingness to look upon the cause of this country as desperate constitutes the unpardonable offence of England towards the Americans. Mix freely with the gentler classes of persons unbiassed by party spirit and removed from publio life, search deep into the heart of those who are less ready to endorse the views and opinions of their ranting press or of their fanatic politicians, and you will find, I believe, that these people are above all things Americans, and that they look upon their vast and mongrel community with all the tenderness of an all -embracing, all-engross• ing nationality. Strange enough the most polished, most amiable among them, are, to all outward ap pearance, so perfectly English in their tone of thought, in their language, in their manners, the descent of one people from the other is so imme diate, and the ties of kindred are in many instances, especially in these Eastern cities, so close and so direct, that you cannot help avowing that it is " only the sky and not the soul that these men have changed by crossing the seas ;" you are satisfied that between the father who landed on these shores a score or so of years ago and the son who was born to him after landing, but who made one family with his parents ever since, there can be no great diver gence of wishes or purposes—yet between the two generations there stretches a vast impassable gulf. On any great international question the father will be prompted to die as he has lived, a Briton ; the son will cast his lot with the people among whom he was born—he will feel and act as an American, Not many are to be found, even among the most rabid partisans here, who will have the assurance to declare that English intrigue was at the bottom of all this Southern war and rebellion ; some are fair enough to admit that the Queen's Government have on the whole performed the duties of a strict, honourable neutrality. The last speech of Lord Pal merston, the withdrawal of Mr. Roebuck's motion, have done not a little towards smoothing the ruffled feathers of the American bird ; bat England as a nation has inflicted on America wounds which time can hardly heal. She has looked unconcerned on the American struggle ; she has stood grinning round the ring, goading on the combatants, gloat ing on the gashes that tore them limb from limb. The long-smothered rancour, the ill-concealed jealousy of the old country for the thriving new community, burst forth with insolent exultation in this hoar of trial. Not an unfriendly word was ever spoken by an independent member at Westminster, not a sneering remark or a sinister presage ever was printed in any of the organs of the free London press, but was laid to the charge of the whole British people. " The English envy their good ; the English desire their evil," such is the conviction that has sunk deep into American hearts; and, with all their veneration for the Bible, these are not the people to return "a kiss for a blow." No doubt the Americans had all along far greater cause to complain of the French Government, and their irritation against the Emperor Napoleon—who cajoled them even while he put forth his scheme for the recognition of the South, and who is even now invading a North American territory, and laughing Monroe's doctrine to scorn by erecting a so-called Imperial edifice on their Southern frontier in Mexico —ought to be all the more vehement, as they foolishly enough flattered themselves that enmity to England would, from sheer spirit of contradic tion, win them the good will of France. But Eng land is and ever will be all that America cares for in Europe ; England is Europe in her estimation. " I tie my right hand behind my back," said one of the first Yankee braggarts I ever came into con tact with, " and with my left I will spar with the stoutest Briton and lick him ; I will lick any two Frenchmen ; lick any four of all other European people." Even in his fondest conceit Jonathan sees in John Bull his only worthy antagonist. Throughout the worst humours of his Wag-cherished spite, throughout the long list of his real or fancied grievances, there shines the American's respect for his stout Transatlantic cousin—his anxiety to secure his good opinion, even if it be necessary to come to blows for it, and wring it from him by main force. Men laugh at the Frenchman when he professes that " were he not a Frenchman he would be an Englishman," but the American knows he is an Englishman, and only trusts " he is something more." Whatever may be thought of the causes of rank ling surviving old quarrels, there i s no doubt but fresh additional resentment is now being 4,treasured up here against England ; even among Le w , for Liverpool Vi l a of " going . home" . . when they sail the settle) the thought is gaining ground that trent of the Southern question may be some the signal England. r.. for an outbreak of hostilities with Government papers here assert that the Ameri canit will not alloy ~ h as signified to Earl Russell that '" the fitting out of rebel vessels in British p ort , that this m ust and they express their conviction v itably lead to an immediate war with England. Th e theless, but even these day may be put off never moment by widely - threats, repeated at every itmetperular animosity, eir eu l ati to popular journals, have a ten dency to minister create a longing for and to and objectless, reveng e . ate, however causeless Only, how far are the Americanseeings from the grati- fication of such uncharitable f How long will they have to wait for the settlement v of the Southern question ? The Federals re other day repulsed at Charleston wityehe a only the y losse s --losses computed b y thems elves at no iv 1,30 0 men , with some of their g e neral e " ff i tiuu s l - Geeenal Lee ha s mode g ood his ret reat into Vi; an d has now taken up again that po s i t i on near Fredericksburg in which he has so long b invincible. All we hear about rebel prisoners and refugees describing Lee's army as demoralized and broken in spirit is not only contradicted by what we hear from other sources, but far more forcibly by the fact that the retreat has been littlo molested so slow, so orderly and deliberate, and so very by the Federals in p ursuit. Events, however, have lately turned greatly against Southern valour. re than not South has be en wearied out and used mo up, if not conquered. The Federalu sos ma y hey did at F or t meet one repulse at Charleston, bt t P o rt Hudson , and all Donelson, at Vicksburg, at falling these strongholds ended by into their hands . A cause that shelters behind walls and trenches may be looked upon as hopeless. The Alississippi is lost and Jackson, Mobile, and most of the Southern cities, with Charleston and Richmond itself, are likely—are sure to follow. Lee alone is the Southern tower of strength, and we incline to think him still unbroken, and so long as he holds his ground he is fully a match, more than a match, for the adversary he has now in front. But vast forces are said to be moving from the West and South-west. Grant, 1 Rosecrans, and other leaders, elated with recent success, are expected to breath a new spirit into the councils of the irresolute Meade, and to infuse fresh blood into the sluggish army of the Potomac. Be fore the contending parties are again likely to ven ture on a decisive contest, it is confidently asserted ,hat the Northerners will be more than two to one against the Secessionists. The capture of Morgan and the dispersion of his marauding band in Ohio, though a necessary consequence of Lee's backward movement, has given unspeakable relief to the Federals. But,admitting even that these latter may easily and speedily outnumber and thereby over power the Confederates, allowing that the rebellion may be utterly quenched and the civil war at an end, do I not hear the most sanguine Unionists assert that then their great difficulties are to arise, and the uses of victory will be a far more arduous task than its attainment ? The North goes down to the South without any preconceived plan or settled prin cip!e. Tne friends and foes of abolition are further than ever from anythinglike a mutual understanding. Meanwhile slavery has been broken up in many of the invaded districts of the Mississippi, scarcely by virtue of any law cr decree, but the mere arbi trary act of the successful military, without any well-matured design or avowed intention. The negro woke up one fine morning and found himself free. What of it ? He felt hungry before even ing, and went back to his master, begging to be allowed to resume his work as a fr ee labourer hired for bread. The ruin of the slave owner is im measurable ; it remains to see to what extent l,aere a th re e condition of the freed man is bettered. now in the North, Southern families, fugitives from their plantations, several hundreds of whose" black cattle" are suddenly taken from them, whose pro perty at one stroke has been rendered valueless . Is the system to be allowed throughout the coun ttrhyus ma ? A u r u e m f i o tt n e r d, and a half millions of serfs to be and the cultivation of the South to be abandoned to the chance of a new compro mise between the landowner and the menial, accus tomed for centuries only to work on compulsion ? Is the land to fall out of cultivation, or is there to be a war of extermination between the two unas similable races ? The bitterest Republicans, the out-and-out Abo- litionists have carried the day practically, but they are yet to be called to account. Parties here have been fighting side by side, and are now about to conquer, without ever agreeing on any intelligible terms. They are all Union men; the sympathies with the Southern rebel and slave owner with which the Democrats are upbraided are now dis avowed, and the successes of the Federal armies are now matter for congratulation even for men who were said to long for the presence of Lee at Wash ington or even in New York. But are they all willing to follow up those successes to the same end? Are they all equally bent on the extermination of the South ? Are they all ready to disregard all Southern claims to compensation, to grant the slave owner no quarter, to wash out the stain of negro bondage in the blood of the Southern whites;? A strife between sheer Republican fanaticism and practical sense, between ruthless partisanship and moderate patriotism, seems to be inevitable here; and the contest of principle is further aggravated by factions cries, by personal antipathies, by local incompatibilities. The feeling of many honourable men towards the party now in power at Washing ton is withering contempt and relentless hatred. Zeal for the public service, party obligations, prompted the Central Government with a desire to make up for want of capacity by a display of clumsy energy. They grounded unanimity on an all treading despotism ; they overcame opposition by crushing public opinion. They strove hard to weigh down all State authority ; they encroached everywhere on local freedom. They rode rough shod on individual rights, and were cheered and hounded on by that rabid Republican party which is only calling for "strong government" and prompting "strong measures." The late successes of the Federal armies, and the longing for " revenge on the South," have given Mr. Lincoln and his ' Cabinet a breath of popular favour, on which it would be unwise for them to presume too far. The clamour which befriended them in the heat of the struggle will hardly bear them out in the far more complicated task of pacification. The Democrats will appeal from the people drunk to the people sober—sobered by the bitter fruits of a too bloody victory, by their own exhaustion, by the heavy costs they will be called upon to defray. Already in the affair of the " draught" I should say that the Government have been thoroughly beaten. The conscription has turned out an egre gious farce. Wherever it was not forcibly resisted, it has been eluded by the sense, the inge nuity, the xis inertia and passive perseverance of the people themselves, and of the local authori ties. Those who cannot purchase exemption by their own means are everywhere bought off either by private liberality or at the public expense. None need serve in the army, save only those who are moved either by patriotic devotion or by heavy bribes. Of these latter, many have come forth from the British provinces, the scum of the Irish immi gration, adventurers of the worst character, most of whom take the best opportunity to run away as soon as they have secured the bounty. The United States' Government will have reason to repent having re course to such ignoble means; nor will they have to congratulate themselves on the enlistment of negro regiments. They are playing with edged tools, and will have to thank their stars if they do not end by cutting their own throats, In the midst of all this triumph of the Republi can party, it is impossible not to become aware of an undercurrent of discontent, which may perhaps break out when least expected. Everywhere do I meet people who think that extreme men, both North and South, have driven the country to this cruel, unbrotherly war, and that they will perpetuate it unless they are on both sides hurled from power. " It is time," they say, " that the voice of moderate men should be heard. The Union is to be reconsti tuted, not merely under new men, but on new prin ciples." These moderate men, however, show but little energy and less courage. The apathy of all, or at least of most well-to-do persons, in the affairs of the country is something amazing, appalling. Your rich merchant and banker is here altogether ab sorbed by his anxiety for making money, or all agog with the pleasure of spending it. He is either nailed to his desk at his counting-house, or heaping luxu ries in his country-house, or displaying his wealth at the watering-places. Politics is the business of politicians—i e., of nameless adventurers, with out a stake in the country. As yet no one in these States of New York and New England would say that a great calamity has swept over the country, or that a st rife for ldifreosers and the equipages h t is e raging in its bosom. Theladies' dresses equipages of the rich have not abatedufotnheetrietvtleenuoet their wonted luxury. The collec tors give the most charming accounts of the readi e n v e e s r s with which the taxes are paid. You would u say that the arming of a million of men has taken one saddle horse or a " span" of fine carriage horses from Broadway or the Central Park. The more closely you look for the effects of this ruinous con test, the stronger becomes your conviction of the boundless wealth and resources of this Western con tinent. The Americans knew not how well off they r ia ere ; they are not yet aware how seriously they stepped down from their astounding pros y. They may, perhaps, understand it better °Y-Luid-by. Tw- 0 -MILE SWIMMING RACE FOR THE CHAMPION SHIP OF ENGLAND.—O n Monday next a s w i mm i ng match will t ake pland place in the Tham es b e t ween M r . M a th er , of Manch ester, and the t wo milechampion's B ec k w i t h , of London, for .£2OO ton's cup, w hi c h h as b een held a year by th e f ormer. T all contest is looked forward to with intense interest by youthswimmerson uh throughout the kingdom. lumin a side, Beckwith can boast of natation as a While Mather has greater experience in swi some time, and having followedg' having• been champion for Y's Ointment and Pills profession. yield to the soei—h [ADVERTISBNIENT.)HoIIow After fomenta on the waned tubbedsubdue the Rheumatism and gouty affections ing influence of Holloway's medicEr the in structions the ointment only requires to : e nts. affected part, to lessen inflammation throbbing pain. It leaves behind neither subdue stiff_ ness, nor lameness. By carefully at folded round Holloway's remedies, recent in muscles, joints, or sinews, may be readily overcome pai n n ti s mobility be restored in chronic cases where rigidity re sulted,heada-- and the patient seemed maimed for life. In scor the happiest utrects. It scrofulous, consumptive, dropsical habits, R o m_ n otifies any foul or perverted state of the humours, and ‘ i v 't e lt y ie 'f; treatment , is followed by acts as an excellent restorative, THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 11, 1863. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. GREAT WESTERN. The adjourned special general meeting of this company was held ye3terday at the Paddington station to receive the report of the scrutineers on the question of electing 17 di rectors to represent the interests of the Great Western pro prietors at the Board of the amalgamated company. The Right lion. S. Walpole, M.P., the chairman, presided. It appeared that the poll closed at 12 o'clock, and that the scrutineers were not prepared with a report as to the result at three o'clock, being the time appointed for receiving it. The CHAIumAN inquired of the scrutineers when it was probable they would be in a position to make their report to the adjourned meeting, as he thought it was necessary the decision should be come to within the month from the passing of the Amalgamation Act. Mr. ADAMS, one of the scrutineers, said there were so many proxies to examine that it would take a considerable time to go through the whole of them in the manner he deemed requisite. Another scrutineer thought the scrutiny could be finished by Wednesday. Mr. ADAMS said he would do all he could to facilitate the scrutiny, and even work all night for the purpose, but them were between 2,500 and 3,000 proxies to be examined. After some conversation it was agreed to adjourn the meeting to Thursday, at five o'clock, to receive the final report of the scrutineers. Thanks were voted to the chairman, and the meeting ad journed. NORTH-EASTERN. The directors report that there is an increase for the past half-year of £63,112 over the corresponding period of 1862 A considerable portion of the increase may be attributable to the opening of new lines and to the construction of new works to develope the trade of the district. The statement of receipts and expenditure shows that the revenue of the past half year has not reached the amount received in the corresponding half of 1861 by £24,312, although since that time 27 miles of new line have been opened. On those lines and other works there has been expended between January, 1861, and January, 1863, the sum of £1,040,704. Some of these works are still unfinished, and therefore are unpro ductive, but the greater part has been spent on lines, roll ing stock, warehouses, &c., which have been in use, and have contributed to the revenue of the past half-year, so that the general result of the half-year's working shows that, with the addition of new lines and with increased facilities for traffic in all departments, the depression still existing in some branches of trade has been such as not only to stop the usual progressive increase, but to keep the receipts at a lower point than they were in 1861. The necessary issue of new capital has caused an increase in the preference divi dends and interest 3f about £12,000 compared with 1862, and the additional train mileage (314,440 miles) consequent on the opening of new branches and the partial revival of trade has materially added to the working expanses of the half-year. In addition to this increased expenditure, the altered mode of treating the cost of renewal of way has ope rated for the first time in the past half-year, it having been resolved to charge a part of the renewal to the first half year, instead of wholly to the second, and accordingly the sum of £11,293 has been charged in the half-year ending June 30. The gross receipts of the half-year are £1,060,623, and the gross expenditure £491,505, leaving a balance for dividends of £569,118. Theso on the revenue accounts of the different sections are available as follows:--On the Ber wick account, £160,722; on the Thirsk and Malton, £1,575; on the York, £52,107; on the Leeds, £13,703; and on the Carlisle, £36,785. Out of these sums the directors recom mend dividends at the following rates :—On the Berwick ordinary stock at the rate of 4t per cent. per annum, leaving £5,083 ; on the Thirsk and Mahon, 4 per cent. per annum, leaving £575 ; on the York at the rate of 3 per cent. per annum, carrying forward £3,822; on the Leeds, 11 per cent. per annum, carrying forward £635, and on the Car lisle 6 per cent. per annum, with 2 per cent. to make the dividend on the 4 per cent. preference equal to the ordinary dividend, carrying forward £635. The Malton and Driffield section receives no dividend, but, en the contrary, shows a loss upon the half-year of £1,503, the total debt being now £30,120. The directors congratulate the shareholders upon the amalgamation with the Stockton and Darlington Rail way Company for the management of the district of this company. The former board, with two North-Eastern di rectors, are to form a separate committee, The revenue ac count prepared by the Darlington committee shows a dis posable balance of £53,342, out of which is recommended a dividend at the rate of 71 per cent. per annum, leaving £1,902, Owing to the amalgamation with the Darlington Company the proportions of the joint net receipts will in future be as follows :—Berwick, 44'10 per cent. ; York, 25'41 per cent. ; Leeds, 7.72 per cent. ; Malton, 0.29 per cent.; Carlisle, 8.58 per cent.; and Darlington, 13.90 per cent. amounted to £39,995, and for the corresponding half of 1362 to £42,206, showing a decrease in the receipts of £2,211, and the expenditure, including interest on loans, to £23,929, against £19,901, showing an increase in the expenditure of £4,028, leaving the net balance £16,066, against £22,305, showing a decrease of £6,239, as compared with the corres ponding half of 1862. The directors regretted that those accounts continued to show an unfavourable result. The main cause of the deficiency was the continued decrease in the mineral traffic, arising from the depressed state of the iron and coal trades. The directors proposed a dividend of 41 per cant. per annum to the holders of the Consolidated Stock. The reserve fund amounted to £4,082. The revenue account showed that £39,905 had been received for the past half-year, and £19,844 expended in working, £4,084 for interest on loans—leaving a balance of £16,066. The capital account showed that £917,728 had been expended. sion with ono another ; but they may be called upon to re sist extraordinary strains at any moment ; and when this test is brought to bear upon a train, the difference of strength in the carriages is frequently one of lite or death to the pas sengers who ride in them. It may be well to observe that the axles of No. 51 (the carriage which was first thrown off the line) are lower than those of the other carriages, and that this circumstance appears to have caused that carriage to leave the line. The engine and tender passed over the bullock with no other injury than the fracture of one of the feed-pipes and a bulge to the ash pan, and it remained be tween the wheels of the three first carriages as they passed on it. The two axles of the fourth carriage appear (from the marks on them) to have struck it one after the other, and it afterwards got outside of the rails to the west of the line, as is evident from the marks on the remaining car riages, The fencing at the sides of this line consists, in parts, of a post-and-rail fence, with four rails about three feet six inches high, and with a small ditch to prevent cattle from rubbing against it; in other parts, of a ditch from 5 feet 6 inches to 14 feet wide, from 3 feet to 5 feet 6 inches deep ; in some places dry, and in others containing water from a few inches to 3 feet deep. The ditch usually has a low rail on the inside of it, but in some places there is no rail, and in others there are two rails. The new fence which is being constructed by the company consists of seven wires, supported on iron strung posts and intermediate wood posts, and is an excellent one. The lowest part of the fence opposite Mr. Bloomfield's occupation appears to be 11 feet wide at the top by 3 feet deep, with a rail 91 inches high on the inside. The sides of the ditch are not sufficiently clean and steep. The wire fence which the company are now put ting up on this part of the line will make it perfectly safe. The gate referred to by Mr. Royston as that one which he saw a cow jump is 3 feet 5i inches high in the lowest part, measured on the outside, and the cow jumped slightly up hill. As the cattle will jump such gates, it would be well either to have them higher or to place a bar over them, so as to give them a minimum height of 4 feet. I consider my self, and it appears to have been the opinion of those gentle men who accompanied me, that a ditch 10 or 12 feet wide and 4 feet deep, with 2 feet water in it, with steep sides and in good condition, is a sufficient fence to keep out sheep and cattle. But when the ditch is dry and the sides in bad order one low rail on the inside is not sufficient protection. The ditches generally require cleaning out, and in many places where the water is low, or the banks low or sloping, some extra protection is required. The present appears to be a very dry season, and the fences may be considered to be even at their worst; and I think that, taking the above dimensions as the minimum of what a sufficient fence ought to be, it would be desirable to add a second rail on the inside of the ditches, or to afford other equally satis factory protection in all cases in which these dimensions are not reached. The quicks which were put in during the construction of the line are now nearly covered with grass and weeds, and should be properly cultivated. I observe that the gate fastenings require to be improved in some places, and it does not appear that padlocks have yet been supplied to the farmers, though chains and hooks have been placed upon most of the gates. It appears to be only since the water in the ditches had fallen or dried up that complaints have been made of cattle getting on the line ; and it is probable that if the ditches had been deepened when these complaints were made, enough water would have found its way into them to protect the line, and no accident would have occurred. It would be a wise precaution now to adopt that measure, and to place men in the meantime at various portions of the line as are not sufficiently protected during dark or after dark to prevent the possibility of cattle straying upon the line at such places." Mr. Pitcher said that Mr. Billing had been to the station and seen the carriage No. 51, which was not the one in which the poor people were killed. Mr. Edwards by no means admitted that any person knew which was the carriage. Nobody knew till it was found out that No. 279 was slightly rotten. Mr. Pitcher —It was clearly in No. 279 that these unfor tunate people were killed. Mr. Charles Miller said—Mrs. Brown was lying under the carriage next to that in which I was, but she might have been thrown there. Capt. Tyler, by Mr. Edwards—There is no doubt that the seven-wire fence is a perfect fence. There are differences of opinion as to whether it is the best. It is dearest at first but the cheapest in the long run. No. 51 is a weak car riage. Such carriages as those of which the rest of the train is composed are such as are used generally. The wood in carriage No. 279 referred to is very rotten. Alan Henry Swatman—l am agent for Mr. Hamond. I have had communication with the solicitors for the line, Messrs. Partridge and Edwards ; the engineer, Mr. Valentine, and the contractor, Mr. Simpson—the latter said this plan was off the line, and he had nothing to do with it. I visited the line in April or May, with a view to examine the state of the fences along the line. The longitudinal wood of the crossing was wholly deficient. The crossing at Marsh line was too near the gate and wing rails. I communicated the result to the engineer and con tractor, and nothing was done. I told the solicitors Mr. Hamond should not execute the conveyance until the terms of the agreement were complied with, and it never has been executed. Mr. Edwards then, with the permission of the coroner, made a lengthened address to the jury on behalf of the Great Eastern Railway, concluding in the most earnest manner by expressing the sympathy which the Great Eastern Company, as well as himself, felt with the poor creatures; and he expressed the willingness of the company to afford all the relief which they possibly could. They came with tears in their eyes and gifts in their hands, and hoped he would not turn them away,. The Coroner then summed up the evidence, his remarks extending over more than half an hour, after which the jury retired to reconsider the verdict. The jury unhesitatingly found a verdict to the effect that the deceased were accidentally killed ; that the cause of the accident was a bullock straying on the Lynn and Hunstan ston Railway between Wootton and Gaywood ; that the bullock was able to get upon the line in consequence of the gross negligence of the Great Eastern Railway Company and their officers—first, by not putting the fence in that state which the public safety required; secondly, by not putting the bullock off the line where the accident occurred; thirdly, by the disgraceful state of the carriages which were used for the conveyance of those unfortunate persons who were killed. The jury also found that the Government in spector was deserving of censure in having passed a line which was so inadequately fenced. The inquiry on the body of John Dennis, shipowner, was resumed at the Town Hall at 10 o'clock, and adjourned till Wednesday at 10 o'clock. SOUTH YORKSHIRE. The report of the directors states that £42,151 had been added to capital during the past half-year. The revenue account exhibited a gross income from all sources, under the agreement with the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Company, of £90,023, earned at a total expenditure of £34,511, leaving a balance of £55,512, which, after meeting the interest and preferential dividends, would yield a divi dend at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum on the ordinary capital ; and the directors recommended that such dividend be declared accordingly. The bill for the lease of the under taking to the Sheffield Company was strongly opposed by the Great Northern and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Companies and certain of the coalowners of the district. The committee, after hearing the whole case, declared the preamble proved, but in consequence of the committee in sisting upon a modification of the rates, which would have had the effect of depriving the company of the customary terminal charges upon coal, the two companies considered it advisable to withdraw the bill. An arrangement was made between this company and the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire with the Midland Company, by which running powers for coal from the South Yorkshire district to Wake field would be secured. The capital account showed that £2,505,700 had been expended, leaving a balance in hand of £94,849. MID-KENT (BROMLEY TO ST. MARY CRAY). The half-yearly meeting of this company was held yester day at the London Tavern ; Mr. W. Dent in the chair. Mr. G. Woolcott, the secretary, having read the notice convening the meeting, the report was taken as read. The CRAIJIMAN, in moving the adoption of the report, congratulated the shareholders on the position of the com pany. The undertaking would be handed over to the Lon don, Chatham, and Dover Company on the Ist of Septem ber next, when the labours of the directors would be prac tically at an end. The line was leased for 999 years, and until the Chatham Company exercised the option of pur chasing it, the directors would continue to have a nominal duty to perform. The report was unanimously adopted, and a dividend at the rate of three per cent. per annum, free of income-tax, was declared for the past half-year, payable on the 17th inst. Mr. BROWNE called attention to the gratuitous services of the directors for several years past, and moved :—" That this meeting recommends that £5OO be set aside out of the current half-year's revenue, in recognition of the services of the directors during the past five years." The motion was seconded and carried unanimously. The CHAIRMAN, in reply to a question, stated that they would have to keep up the Board to look after the interests of the shareholders during the continuance of the lease, but the London, Chatham, and Dover Company would pay some of the expenses. The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the chairman and directors for their past services. ROYSTON AND HITCHIN. The half-yearly meeting of this company was held yester day at the office, Gracechurch-street ; Mr. J, C. Cubbold, M.P., in the chair. Mr. Janson, the secretary, having read the notice con vening, the meeting, The CHAIRMAN moved that a dividend at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum, less income-tax, and ld. per .£6 ss, stock for expenses of management, be declared on the Royston, Hitchin, and Shepreth Consolidated Stock for the half-year ending the Ist inst., and be paid forthwith. , The motion was seconded, and carried unanimously. Mr. J • G. Fordham and Mr. J. Shaples, the retiring directors, were re-elected ; and a vote of thanks to the chairman con cluded the proceedings. Yesterday in Victoria-street, M'rYearlY the h F a O it lt , EST OF DEAN. Mr. W. H. Wilson . stated that the direct'orAs. meeting was held at the offices since c Barlowe the last in the meeting ch a ir. . the secretary, read the report, which had been anxiously engaged in endeavouring to effect a settlement of the liabilities of the company, and t o p rov id e f or t h e com pletion of the line. The CHAIRIIA.N, in moving the prospect adoption of the r e p or t, cong ratulated the propriet ors on the and speedy settlement of affairs. If the i of a pacific la their solicitors could be carried out in its proposed by integrity the liabilities of the company would be satisfied, and the com pletion and opening of the lin e i nsured. In order to in th e working of their collie ries at t he least possible expense, ure a nd with the most pro ductive results, the y bad enlistedt services of Mr. Bartholomew,who was intimately acquainted with the mineral peculiarities of the district. It was esti mated that £lO,OOO would be required to complete the line and bring it into operation, but arrangements would have to be made to meet the outstanding liabilities. Mr. BAXTER, the solicitor, explained the financial plan that had been devised by his firm. It was to capitalize or convert into preference stock the £41,000 of outstanding debt. Of this sum the directors would at once borrow £26,000, of which £lO,OOO would be laid out in works to complete the railway, and the remaining £16,000 among the company's creditors, who would accept the rest of the preference stock in proportionate rates to their claims. After a long discussion it was resolved that the meeting should be adjourned until October, to enable the directors to negotiate with all the parties concerned and report thereon to the proprietors for their approval. A vote of t the hanks to the chairman and directors termi nated proceedings. The report of the MONKLANDS.directors states that the receipts on revenue account for the half-year ending the 30th of June SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS, TIMES.—The Federal debt is a genuine American article. Its growth is like that of our most recent importations from that land of high magnitudes, the Wellingtonia gigas. The stem of this tree is vouched to become in course of time 450 feet high, and so far there is every indication that the pro mise is no idle boast. It is as straight as a church spire, and the foliage, consisting of straight lines with the slightest possible curve, makes a perfect cone. The wood is so spongy as to be useless; not a band-box could be made out of a whole tree; and the bark is worth about as much as the skin of a crocodile. When the tree has attained its full height, and is only stopped growing by the winds or the. clouds , i b have i v a a s it falls at last, and, if insideth w e il a ll o wed to rot, in a few cent uries you capital bowling-alley. We will not be so hard on the Federals as to put one final liquidation of their huge debt at that value. Nobody knows what may turn up, but it is impossible to prevent the intru sion of a few odd thoughts as one runs over Mr. Chase's financial speculations and achievements. To think of such a man having his full swing in America, after not yet two years and a half, and such a debt really inspiring no sense of distrust or discomfort in a nation which, till the other day, owed nothing but to hate one another and the rest of the world ! They are now as proud of their na tional debt as the man who boasted that having comme nced business without a farthing h e h a d suc ceeded, after only two years, in owing half a mil lion dollars. But with a debt which would crush any State in the Old World except England, and perhaps France, Mr. Chase still exhibits all the dis tinctive features of a splendid, increasing, and per manent prosperity. He has a large stock of bullion, so large as to keep in hand all the speculators in gold. Should they venture to buy gold faster than he wishes, he can immediately buy up millio ns of paper, and make them complete their purchase in a dear market. He has powers to issue paper, and inconvertible "greenbacks," to an extent which it is almost needless to state in means an infinite figures, because it really a surplus —yes, a goldpower. H e h as also golden surplus —a difference of more than 20,000,000 do between the actual debt and the estimated debt; de mands of the - war have been proving that the more than provided for, and have been even exaggerated by the cautious financier. Gladstone, hide your diminished head ; even you would hardly have done as much. We, indeed, can do a good deal in this country. We spent a hundred millions on the Russian war, and yet could show a surplus. We can reconstruct our navy and ordnance, and yet show a surplus. We can spend several millions a year on fortifications, and yet show a large surplus. We can increase almost every item of our expenditure, and yet re duce taxation. The Conservative spies, indeed, sometimes raise an al arm , and proclaim the surplus a mere cooking of the accounts to make things plea san'c for the House of Commons. So we must not repudiate our American cousins and their clever ways without a thought of ourselves. No doubt, there is a strong family likeness. But children have been occasionally bad likenesses of their fathers, and worse imitators. We see in Mr. Chase's injurious bits of prosperity and confidence only the customary devices of habitual insolvents. A nobleman who owed a million and a half always managed, even at the most usurious interest, to have twenty £l,OOO notes in his secretaire. Others, in the like case, have taken care to keep a balance at their banker's what ever that balance might represent. This is but the cork jacket which a man keeps within reach when SALISBURY AND YEOVIL. The report of the directors states that the earnings for the half-year ending the 30th of June last amounted to £21,208, and for the corresponding half of 1862 to £21,100, showing an increase of £3,108. The available balance amounted to £10,456, out of which £2,716 was deducted for the dividend on the preference shares at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum, and £6,856 for dividend on the ordinary shares of the company at the rate of 41 per cent. per annum, leaving a balance of £BB4. The capital account showed that £646,660 had been expended, leaving a balance of £614. GREAT WESTERN OF CANADA. It appears the directors of this company have been in formed by their financial agent in Canada that the less on through traffic, collected and converted, ascertained up to July 25, amounted to 275,104d0 1 51c (£56,528 6s 6d), and that there remained a further sum of American funds for conversion at that date of 8,229(101 9c, in addition to which there were balances in account with connecting railways still unadjusted. EASTERN BENGAL. A special general meeting of this company was held on Saturday at the office, Gresham-street, to consider whether they should accept or decline the proposal of the Secretary of State for India to construct an extension line as tar as Jamoona, as part and parcel of the o r iginal line, under a guarantee of 41 per cent. per annum on the necessary capi tal ; Mr. J. F. Leith in the chair. The CHAIRMAN explained that the dire c t ors had offered to give the facilities of the Bengal Co m p an y in car rying out the extension by a separate company, but with th e v i ew of working the two lines ultimately together, but on the dis tinct understanding that the capital of the new line should be kept distinct, and the dividend distinct. This offer was subsequently declined by the Secretary of State for India, who insisted that the new line should form a part and parcel Of the original undertaking. The traffic on the original line from Jan. 10 to the end of June amounted to 332,548r5. The weekly returns now averaged about 20,400 re, and when they reached 25,000 rs ho believed the 5 per cent. guarantee would be covered. After some observations by Mr. Morgan, Mr. P aul, and other shareholders, resolutions were passed to the effect that the meeting declined to accept the offer of the Secretary of State for India to carry out the extension to the Jamoona on the guarantee of 41 per cent. "as part and parcel of the original undertaking, and not separated ;" and authorising the board to negotiate with the Secretary of State for India for the proposed extension to the Jamoona, provided it be carried out as a distinct and separate undertaking. The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the chairman and directors. THE RAILWAY ACCIDENT NEAR LYNN. KING'S LYNN, Monday, At several of the places of worship in this town,yesterday, the preachers made special allusion to this shocking acci dent. Thanks were offered to Almighty God that so many lives were spared. The inquiry before Thomas Martin Wilkie, Esq., coroner for Freebridge, Lynn, was resumed to -day at one o'clock, at the Guildhall, Lynn. Mr. Pitcher wished to ask Mr. Valentine a few ques tions. Mr. Edwards a l so ma d e an application; it would be an injustice if the company might 'tot make remarks as to the traffic return which had been called into question. Might he address the jury ? Tho Coroner said he had carefully considered the ques tion since the last meeting. The matter was left to his discretion. He was satisfied that ho had exercised a wise discretion, and would allow Mr. Edwards to make obser vations. Where matters had been gone into rather beside the particular question, he felt that, rather than injustice should be done, the application should be granted. Mr. Edwards as k e d th e perm ission of t he Coroner that the notes of the e v id ence t a k en before this j ur y should be granted for the use o f th e o ther jury Mr. Keane had stated that such co u ld b e done. The Coroner granted the application. Mr. Valentine, C.E.—I left the line in good order. I have had no control as repre sentative of the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway over the lin e. The Great Eastern Company work the line, and it is their bounden duty to keep it in repair. By the Coroner—lt was put in their hands in October. By Mr. Pilcher—The length of sleepers varies. On the old form of roads the sleepers are nine feet long ; on this form of road eight feet, which I think quite as safe. This is the case on the Lynn and flunstanton. The sleepers are usually composed of Scotch fir, beech, and larch timber. I know no instance where the dead trees have been used, They are as good sleepe rs as can be had of that size. A rumour of that kind go t circulated because a few years ago there was a gale of wind which blew a large number of trees off the estate now occupied by the Prince of Wales, &c., and these were purchased by the contractor. I believe they were very good sleepers. By Mr. "Ward—l complained to the contractors respect ing the fences, of their inefficiency after they were put down, and after that the defects were remedied. I did not complain of the one rail fence, and had I seen the ditches thy, or had any idea th at they would be, I sho uld not have allowed them. The g radients on this line are ver y good. There is no such a gra dient even as 1 in 100 on this line. It is not usual to conn ect gradients b y a p iece of s t r a ight, but it so on the Lynn and Hunstanton R a il way . S o f ar as I can judge of the l ine, I should sa y there has been no alteration since the rai ls were put down. strength By l‘lr o . Edwards—There ftho perm a nent an way than th a t th e ra il s have not can be no grea t er proof of the been destroyed. Th e Lynn and Hunstanton C ompany are an independent company. By the Coroner—l never heard that Mr. Hammond had complained till the inquiry. Some ballast had been laid on the line. John Thompson--I live at South Wootton. lam shep herd to Mr. Hammond, who has a considerable quantity of land near the railway. A good deal is on the Marsh Com mon line. There have never been fences in my judgment, since they have been up, sufficient to stand against either sheep, bullocks, or horses. I never saw horses, but I have bullocks and sheep, on the lino. I have seen them more than once. I first saw them last autumn, just after last Michaelmas. Two I saw on at once of my own. There was a little water in the ditches. I saw the bullocks walk right over the fence, and go back the same way. This was not far from the Marsh lane crossing. B y C a ptain Tyler—That is about two miles from Lynn. By the Coroner —I saw them again a few days after, but can't say whether one or two. I have seen Mr. Bloom field's on within the last month. I have put two off within thelast onput them off myself more than twice. I have t not h. seen I have he platelayers at this time, I never m t saw any horses on the line. I have seen as many as eight or ten sheep at once. B B y y D t i h r e . Coroner—Theyudwards—Th wereates in were g non t the Edwards—The g been very much used to cattle. I never knew cattle that lying left line.o pe n• I have would jump over any fence. I never saw Bloomfield's cattle jump over. They walk over it. By the Coroner—One fence is a single rail, not an inch thick. The posts are two or three feet long. Some of them are four or five inches thick. They are not strong enough to stand against a bullock. By Mr. Edwards —I have seen them broken twice. I came here to speak the truth. By Mr. Haylock—l complained to the platelayers about the line, and I told our master about it. The men always go down the line every morning, and they have mended it. By a Juror—l could pull the fences down from end to end. The following report, by Captain Tyler, R.E., the Govern ment Inspector from the Board of Trade, who had been in structed officially to inspect the scene, and investigate the causes of the disaster, was read : "I have inspected, in the course of Saturday even i n g and this morning, the fences on the Hunstanton Railway, and also the carriages which were fractured in the accident on the 3d of August. I find that No. 51 is the third class car riage, standing in the yard at Lynn, which came into col lision with a first-class carriage immediately in front of it, and that this carriage does not appear to have any decayed wood about it, though it is of weak construction. Its front and part of its left side were stove in, and many of the seats were displaced and broken. No. 279, third-class carriage, which lies on its side at the site of the accident, was next behind it in the train, and contains some wood in an ad vanced state of d e c a y a t eac h end underthe body restin g on the buffer planks. Th e s t a t e ments differ as to which o f t hese carriages contained th e g reatest number of p assen g ers, but I have my se lf b een more par ticularly struck with the condi tion of No. 51 carr i was age, an d the way in which that carriage broken up, with comparatively little injury to the stronger carriage in front of it with which it came in con tact. The experience of railway accidents has amply shown that the most perilous cases are constantly unattended with loss of life, when, either from the strength of the carriages or their positioa, the budies of the carriages are not broken up ; and that, on the other hand, it is when the bodies of carriges give way, that the loss of life and serious injuries are caused to the passengers riding in them. The poorer classes of passengers are more liable to suffer in such cas es , for two reasons—first, because they ride in carriages of weaker construction ; and secondly, because these carriages are not well padded. It is true that carriages aro built to run upon the rails, and are riot intended to conic into cotli- a shipsereck is imminent. Mr. Chase's real power is not in his bullion, nor yet in his surplus of esti mate over expenditure, but in his credit,—that vast, illimitable credit reposed in him by the Congress, by the army, by the coni:actors, and the whole Ameri can people. There never such a credit. It is a power to issue any amount of pi:?er , some bear in g interest, s ome not. It is also a poss-er to pay no debts, to keep the soldier witho ut his till he disappears, and to give the contractors Cjfi cates of Indebtedness. As to the soldier, the policy is sound, for as soon as he gets his pay he deserts. He is faithful, because unpaid. Much the same may be said of the contractors. They get promises, which they can sell or raise money upon. Meanwhile it is not the policy cf the contractors to weaken Government or destroy its credit. Much less is it their policy to quarrel with Government. They have opened large factories; they have built and bought largely ; they have entered into engagements ; they are in the same case as the Government and their cause. To stop is to be ruined. They must go on or fall. There is no such thing as standing still in their case. You might as well attempt to stand still in the mid traffic of Ludgate-hill. You must go either for wards or backwards. Indeed, it is questionable whether there is any retreat possible in the case under question. The Federal Government appears to feel that it must go on, and that an attempt to stop would be trying to stop a ship in a storm. True it is that you can often keep your footing more easily while in rapid movement than standing still or walking cautiously. If you try to stand on a sloping glacier, or walk across it, picking your steps, you may soon find yourself performing a terrible glissade. Your only way is to run across with your utmost speed, and that is the feat which the Federal Treasury is now attempting. It used to be thought that the want of money must stop the war at last. Some trifles were overlooked in this anticipation. The necessity of having to pay im mensely more than you can possibly pay at the end of an operation which you have the power of con - tinuing will always be a great inducement to con tinue it, however ruinous in its final results. An embarrassed merchant " keeps up the war," as the phrase is, as long as he can, and allows no mark of poverty to crop out. He keeps up his establishment, gives entertainments, and lives just as usual, be cause he knows that as soon as he makes an altera tion his creditors will flock in. But the stimulus to perseverance is more cogent and direct in America. With peace comes the settlement. Credit then must cease. The Secretary of the Treasury will no longer be empowered to raise " greenbacks," and put off contractors with bills. Then there will come the great question of questions, how is the interest of the debt ever to be raised ? By the time the war is ended, that interest, on the most favourable supposition, will be twenty millions sterling of our money, to be found, by hook or by crook, every year. It is in vain that we run over the items of our own revenue to find the answer to this question. Will American Excise, will Assessed Taxes and Stamps, will Income-Tax, will Succession Duties, will the Post-office, will even the Miscellaneous receipts, do much to meet this immense annual demand P The only item that rromises at all is that on which the Americans have long leaned as their only resource, even in their palmiest days. That one resource is the customs. Even we in this sea-girt empire, without a mile of land frontier to be guarded, without a river to be watched, and with a population much larger than that of the Federal States, do not venture to raise more than about £20,000,000 a year on our customs. Neither the temper of the nation nor circumstances will permit larger receipts from this one source. But how are the Federals ever to raise the sum, when their northern and southern frontiers will each be thousands of miles ? Nor are the people in a state to consume foreign produce and manufac tures sufficient to produce such a revenue. But the truth appears to be admitted. The tariff does not work. In truth, Mr. Chase's Budget, besides being a war Budget, besides having only to do with various forms of extravagant borrowing and extra vagant expenditure, puts revenue out of the ques tion altogether. It is the grand balance-sheet of a speculator who knows his profits are not even worth recognition, and that the affair before him is a pitched battle between liabilities and assets. When a speculator is in this case he commonly fights as long as he has a leg to stand upon. He only staves off as long as he can the evil day, when he intends to draw his last £5OO from the bank, and put himself on board a Folkestone steamer. So when people ask how long the war will last, we can only answer, "As long as credit lasts ;" and that credit it is undoubtedly the interest of the wealthiest people and the most powerful classes to sustain as long as substitutes for the draughting cost, say, less than a thousand dollars. POST.—The inquiry into the circumstances which occasioned the recent accident on the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway has resulted in showing what the large majority of similar investigations prove, namely, that by the exhibition of a very little care a sacrifice of human life might have been avoided. So long as railways exist, and carriages are whirled across the country at speeds varying between thirty and sixty miles an hour, so long we must expect to hear of accidents which entail destruction upon large numbers of those who adopt that mode of travelling. In the course of events occasional incidents are inevitable, and to their oc currence we must reconcile ourselves as best we can. When, however, a mishap occurs which might with ease have been guarded against and foreseen, we have a right to complain that those precautions were not taken which would have prevented its oc currence. Now, to this class of accidents we think the recent catastrophe on the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway is fairly referable. The mode by which some two or three carriages of a train proceeding at an average speed were upset and five persons killed, though unusual, was not unparalleled ; and any person who was acquainted with the nature of the fences on the line near the spot where the accident happened might with tolerable certainty have pre dicted that it would have taken place. Many years since, when a Parliamentary committee was ap pointed to inquire and report upon the proposed scheme of employing steam as a locomotive agent, Robert Stephenson was asked what would be the result if a train, whilst in motion, came in collision with a cow which chanced to stray upon the line of rails. The great engineer is reported to have answered, "It would b e a bad thing for the cow." The question and the reply are, however, important as indicating that b e f ore a single rail was laid down an accident similar to that which happened a few days since was foreseen. A few years back, some where in the North of England, a train was overact in precisely th e same manner as that on the Lynn Railway, and several lives lost. Unusual, there fore, though the recent accident is, it is not unex ampled, and the evidence which was given on the inquest places it beyond a doubt that, had anything approaching to a careful supervision of this state of the Lynn and Hunstanton Railway been main tained, the casualty which rendered that inquest necessary would never have happened. In this, however, as in so many previous instances, the rail way company and the public are wise after the event. Into much of the evidence which was adduced upon the inquest it is not necessary to enter. No blame appears to be attributable to the railway company so far as regards the management of the train to which this accident happened. The dis tance betweenllunstanton and Lynn is about fifteen miles, and on Monday evening, August 3, two trains were despatched from the former to the latter place at an interval of twenty minutes. The first reached its destination without mishap, but the latter hav ing come in contact with a bullock which had strayed upon the line, several of the carriages were thrown off the rail and broken by the force of the collision, and five persons killed and many others severely injured. The verdict returned by the jury is extremely comprehensive, and well deserves the attention both of the public and of the Legisla lature. It embraces four distinct conclusions. The railway company are convicted of gross negligence, first for not making their fences sufficiently high and strong to prevent cattle straying on the rail way from the adjoining pastures ; and secondly, for not having in the late instance driven off the line the bullock which occasioned the accident. They are also blamed for the disgraceful condition of the carriages which received the greatest amount of injury when the collision took place; and finally, the Government inspectors are pronounced deserving of censure for having sanctioned with their approval a line of railway so inadequately fenced as that of the Great Eastern Company be tween Lynn and Hunstanton. In every particular of this verdict we entirely concur. HERALD.—The choice of Sir James Wilde as the successor of Sir Cresswell Cresswell will not at first be understood or appreciated by the public at large. There were no special reasons, perhaps, why the preference should have been accorded to him ; and yet it is believed on all hands that his performance of the duties attaching to the Probate and Divorce Court will be satisfactory at once to the bar and to suitors. Extravagant reports have been current with regard to this particular judge ship. There was a talk —very irrational and yet popular—about Chief Justice Erie receiving a peerage upon condition th at he should descend t he Judicial ladder and becom e the lictor of matri monial peer of the life in Westminster Ha ll. This idea, we should say, had its origin i n America, where a favourite no ve li s t t o uchingly depic ts an English realm, in a barrister's robes, retained for the defence of a prisoner uponaennialenbdicdtmt o e s n t t a f t b e r ,, f t e h l a o t ny D . r. R p a h n i g i .. ing to an opposite` extreme, our well-i n f ormed con - was to mountswere the vacant b ench , hut it turns e i m m , p r a e w r out that this early information w as only too good, and that a Baron of the ExchN per has become Chief Judge in ordinary of the l I3ourt of Probate and Divorce. We desire to belies . e that the selec tion has been made deliberately, after the 'idlest consideration of the excepitenal cii cusistances ,con nected with this particular rippoina ment, and we feel no difficulty whatever in reg,lrdi Sir James Wilde as a man who would not have , acc e p ted the post had he no t b een thoroughly t its duties with succes s . B u t th e i ns tit u ti on o f a coCntrY ability to hold it with honour and conduc, co o., dent of his for t i m administration of justice being among t2'e most, delicat.." and important of all its establishment. a, "a coming mere frequently and closely into con: act with individo l right, comfort, and prosperity than the political eone:titution itself, and this new court being still an expel: went,. with extraordinary func tions and powers, the successor of Sir Cresswell Cress well will be watched i')3T the public with a cri tical eye, and the responsibil'ity of the position be occupies will not be diminislaeo by the tact that, ita the general estimation, the dec. axed judge left en. arena in which many were qualified to debate, but scarcely one, excepting himself, to decide. And even he, at the outset, had a mountain of pvsjudiceri and popular fears to climb. The Co urt of Probate and Di vorce began its sittings before the community ivaa altogether reconciled to the strange authority it pro fessed to wield. There were no precedents ; there was: no body of practice ; the races heard were often re volting, and always painful. Sir C. Cresswell, indeed, descended into the horrid depths of family discord, marital cruelty, femini.tte infidelity, the wranglings of relatives — all the vices, weaknesses, vulgarities, and domestic abominatiot; s, which, until then, had been hidden or only occasionally revealed by a costly process in the High Court of the Peers of Great Britain. He had to construe a law which, as Chief Justice Hale expressed it, Ht not abidden the test of time ;" he had, in the langVage d of the same jurist, " to employ a vast circumspec tion" in dealing with the petitions laid before him; and bow he triumphed over the perplexities, embar rassments, and intricate novelties of his situation the world already knows. In succeeding him, Sir James Wilde—who was often his colleague on the bench of the Divorce and Probate Court—inherits his experience, though not possibly the special and laborious acquisitions upon which it was founded. Every point in the career of Sir James Wilde as a lawyer and a judge is favourable to the chance of his successful presidency over the new court at Westminster. But, certainly, few human responsibi lities could te greater. He is the judge of families, of firesides, and of deathbeds. He breaks the bonds of the Church, when villany or immorality have polluted them ; he destroys by a decree all that con stitute a home ; he takes the son from his father, and the daughter from her mother; he annuls the con tract of marriage ; he peers into the remotest secrets of domestic life—all its happiness, all its sorrow, all its eccentricities, and all the anguish suffered when it withers away. He—with the juries aiding him- interprets the last wills and testaments, and even the latest coherent utterances and thoughts of the dying. Such a judge, presiding over such a tribunal, should be a man utterly dispassionate, placid, of unwearied memory, of lucid and logical mind, of infinite tact and acumen, of quick and yet orderly intellect, and, above everything else, strictly faithful to the law he administers. All this was Sir Cress. well Cresswell. He made no effort to conceal the loathing with which he was inspired by Dr* Smethurst, the reputed poisoner of Richmond, and yet he rendered to that man ungrudging justice. We trust that, in course of time, the same merit may be ascribed to his successor upon the Probate and Divorce Bench. But he himself must feel that the task is not an easy one—not a whit the easier because juries in that court have to be so constantly checked in their displays either of sympathy or of indignation. They look upon the child in a state of moral orphanhood, and they for get what the decrees of the old consistory were, and are eager to give the verdict of 12 paladins. In addition to this, egisiation has not yet simplified or reconciled all the jurisdictions which bear upon marriage and will causes. Oar modern matrimonial law has still in a great degree to be created, and partly by the new Judge in Ordinary hi ms elf. Therefore, while welcoming Sir Jas. Wilde heartily to his inheritance of great toils which may crow n him with brilliant honours, we have a right to ex" press an anxious hope that the judicial machine r y which has worked so well during the last five yea rs may work with equal success under the guidan ce of a judge whose leading qualification, of cour se, must be that he comprehends, and is prepared to carry out, the system of his predecessor. COUNTRY MARKETS. GLOUCESTER-AUG. 8. -- - - - The show of English wheat to-day was very good, but the sales were slow ; and foreign wheat was in limit ed de mand, with prices the turn cheaper. In barley there was no alteration. Oats dull. COLCHESTER—Auct. 8. There was a small supply of wheat to-day, and a fair proportion was this year's growth, prices of which vary from 46s to 525, condition and quality very fine. Spring corn very dull. Wheat, white ..46s 56s Beans, Mazagan ..30s 33s red ...42s 52s middle & small.3ss 42s Barley -s —s Peas, white ..40s 42s Oats A an atuhdisncuomrnereoxucshsanamgpelettol-odfanyewthwerhe CHELMSFORD--AUG. 7. t to autgtehna market, although th e p r i ces o bt a i ne d were l ower than tho se secured last week, 52s per_ qr being about the highest fi g ure. Old wheat as last quoted. Spring corn at the pric es of last week. New d un p eas i s cheaper. eawtaswearefto Wheat, old white 30 s 52 s Vea, p ar tridge- .• • 37s 40s new 4 Bs 52 s White .......... 39s 40s old red ... • 36s 47s Boiling ......... 40s 43s new --- s —s Dun ............ 33s 36s Barley ..28s 36s Ditto new ......--s — s Chevalier 2Bs 40s Beans , T ick, old ..34s —0 Grinding 22s 31s new..—s Malt.... new ..--s —a Chevalier . 61s 67s 648 .690 Oats 20s 28s Mazagan ..... .. 30s 38s Harrow Ticks ..35s 40s KIRKCALDY GRAIN—AUG 8. To.day we had very small supplies of barley and oats, but a good supply of wheat. Sales slow, at fully previous rates. Wheat. Barley. Oats. First....36s Od I 25s 6d I 24 s Od Second ..40s Od 30s 6d 25s Od Third....—s Od —s Od —s Od COAL V Prices of Coal per Ton ir .ARKET. the close of the market. - s. d. Buddle'sWest Hartley 17 0 Carway and Duffryn Malting . 12 0 Walker Primrose 12 9 Tanfield Moor 13 0 Tanfield Moor Butes l3 0 Davison's West Hart-17l ley Lambert's West Hart -1 ley Holywell .. 17 0 17 0 Wylam Eden Main l6 0 West Hartley 17 0 8. d. Walls End. Hetton lB 0 Braddyll's Hetton 17 0 Hartlepool.. l7 6 South Hartlepool 16 6 East Hartlepool 17 9 Trimdon Hartlepool 17 6 South Kelloe . 17 0 Belmont ..16 3 Russel's Hetton 17 0 Haswell ..........18 0 K elloe South Hetton 18 Framwellgate.. l6 6 Tunstall Heugh Hall 17 0 Caradoo l7 0 121; sold, 102. Walls End. Cassop l7 4 Ships at market Full benefit of reduced duty obtained by pur chasing Horniman's pure Tea; very choice at 3s. 4d. and 4s. " High Standard "at 4s. 4d. (formerly 4s. Sd.), is the strongest and most delicious imported. Agents in every town supply it in rackets. The electric light is now produced by the latent but im mense force of the magnet, precisely similar to that employed in Herring's magnetic bushes. Dr. says, "I re gard them as the most perfect brushes hitherto made, as respects their mechanical construction and their magnetics" action." They are the remedy for grey hair, neuralgia, rheumatism, &c. N.B.—Counterfeits are being made. Offices, 32, Basinghall-street, London. Births. r s s , oan S ra t . dane,ley gaStanley-gardens, Edmonton, dens the B B e o w m c i ez A ti l i. — ...G.. o .o wife of Fred. Booker, Esq., of a son. SAUNDERS.—On the Bth inst., Mrs Saunders, 25, Hanway dun .ttl3hhe:lll99tPhtallgini:Ent .88, in st., a '. ; ao t tf h e al area, of a son. wAnD .—On the Bth inst., at Blackheath-park, Mrs.Wardt of a son. Marriages. GoB,DoN—PEEL.—On the Bth in s t., a t St . Paul's, Knights" - bridge, Lieut.-Col. George Grant Gordon, Scota Fusilier Guards, eldest son of the late Lord Francis Gordon, to Constance Augusta Lennox, daughter of Laurance Peel, Esq., and of the late Lady Jane Peel. porrER—LEECH.—On the Bth inst., at Gee Cross Chap el, Rupert Potter, Esq., o f Li nc oln's-inn seco nd son of ce-gardens, Kensington. Potter, Esq., to Helen, younge ' st daught e r of the late John Leech, E sq., of Pala Deaths. BRADFORD.-00 the 6th inst., at the Vicarage, Pinhoe, near Exeter, the Rev. John Bradford, aged 65. GlLBAR: ed o 9 n o. the Bth inst., James Wm, Gilbart, En' , F.R.S., of Brempton-crescent, aged 69. HURDLE.—On the 9th ins* at Porchester, Sarah, wife of Major Hurdle, and mother of Major-ileneral Hurdle, C. 8., PHILLIPS.--On the Bth ins(., a t Chelsea, Charles Henri Phillips, Esq., Surgeon to H.M.'s Household, aged 76. TALBOT.—On the 6th inst., the Hon. Samuel Rodbard N. Talbot, second son of James, third Lord Talbot de Male hide, aged 63, TURNER.—On the 9th inst., at Scarborough, Hy. Turner, Esq., of Horncastle, Lincolnshire, aged 79. C 9, h U ar p le p s er H G enry eorg l e v -s a tr lk e e e r t : Bryanston-square , C WALKER,—On the 9th 1.N., aged 33 . rin s m t" an a d t er 3 4 London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANDREWS of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Tun Surf Office No. 114 Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County of Middiesem.—Tuesclay, August 11, 1863.