The Sun. — London, England, 1863-10-26 00:00:00

The R H. W. Beecher at Manchester, , "'n: •jes - morning, on the occasion of a public est at the Albion Hotel in that city, the Rev. H W and Beecher took leave of his Manchester t least as many of them as the large din ing saloon would accommodate—previous to his departure for America. The Mayor of Rochdale (lfee G. L. Ashworth) presided. The CHAIRMAN briefly opened the meeting, and in his observations said that they had assembled there that morning to take their farewell of Mr. Beecher, and to give the lie to those who had said that the people of England had now no sympathy with that great question for which their forefathers so gloriously and so successfully struggled—the abolition of slavery. England always did sympathise with the 'slaves, but nevertheless our Government had done right and deserved our warmest support in the course of neutrality which they had and were pursuing on this great struggle ite America. After paying a tribute of thanks to Mr. Beecher for the, good he bad done in England by his recent speeenee, which had set the public here right on the Aemerican question, he called upon Mr. F. TAYLOR, who moved a resolution thank ing Mr. Beecher for his able and eloquent addresses to the people of this country, hoping that he would inform his friends in America that the feeling here was not one of hostility towards that country, but One of friendship and sympathy. and assuring him that he had their warmest wishes for a successful journey, and for the success of the cause which he so ably advocated. Mr. Taylor particularly wished Mr. Beecher to tell of the successful meetings that had been held in England to hear him—meetings such as the Southern sympathisers could not get up. This was a fact, and if it was doubted he only said, " Let Mr. James Spence and his friends try, even in his own town of Liverpool, and see if the people of that piece even go with him." Mr. J. PATTISON (Liverpool) seconded the resolu tion. Several gentlemen having supported the resolu tion, which was unanimously agreed to, The Rev. 11. W. BEECHER rose, amidst loud cheering,to return thanks. He commenced by saying he deeply regretted that he could not begin what he had to say with ladies and gentlemen, instead of with gentlemen only. (Laughter, and a voice, "We represent the ladies.") No, they did not. No man could erer represent a woman. (Cheers and re newed laughter.) It gave him very great pleasure that morning —and it would have given hi m s till greete r pleasure if he had been blessed with the powee of feeling more—to meet so many kind and valued friends. If he had done anything in Eng land towards converting them to the abolition and Northern cause, he must confess he had also been a Convert towards England. While he had seen much during his sojourn in this country of the prejudices and misconception of the American question among the people., he had seen much in himself that was prejudice towards England and misconception of her people. A n d i t Was not the smallest triumph that he could say that in the small course of two or three weeks during which he had spoken in Eng land, he had gained a victory over his past im pressions and prejudices. His English friends in A merica, when he used to speak of England as he could no longer speak of her, used to say to him— elb, you don't knew Old England ;" and he used to reply that he did; but when he got back to them he should say very hurablyL—" I did not know Eeglaud." (Loud applause.) Thequestion on which he had to speak was a great question—a broad, an intricate, and a multitudinous question in its con tents —the American question ; the total of which was the whole of human society. It was the top, the bottom, the centre, and the circumference ; it began here, and went there, and back again. There was no question in morals, in philosophy, or any Other question in which humanity is interested that was not involved in this great American question. It was difficult, therefore, to always speak on a question of such immensity and magnitude so as to meet the requests of the audierce. In Liverpool the treatment to which he w..s subjected was, he felt —and he must do them the justice to say so—rather an outbreak of party feeling than of opposition to the liberty of free speech or sympathy with the Southern cause. Tne speeches which he had made on this question were not authoritative, inasmuch as they had never passed under his hand or eye, and there fore he ought not to be charged with any inaccu racies that might be discovered in them—inaccu reeks which arose from the hurry in which the re ;porters had to transcribe, summarise, and frequently 'to take their notes, and not from any wilful misre presentation on their part. He was a newspaper man, and he knew the difficulties connected with reporting for the press, and especially when only the summary of a speech had to be written, and the Writer was not well acquainted with the subject of that speech. Hence, although summarised reports might perhaps represent the tenor of his speeches, will they did not always represent what he said, and he should not, therefore, be judged by them. Daring his visit to England the keynote to his pro gress here had been an attempt to use his informa tion so as to promote a better understanding and a lasting peace between this country and America. They wanted to draw closer the bonds of amity and Rood fellowship. That had ever been his object in a ddressing the meetings he had attended in Eng land, although he had been warned by one paper, I)4 iln News, he believed—and to whi c h h e w i s h e d to bear testimony th how glad the Americans w ere a ' th at paper h a d d are d t o pursue such a course wit regard to their conflict—th e D a il y N ews h ad warned as the Tzt n ot ali to tout e upon such subjects—such culated to a sox, for instance—which were senatecal e from him the feelings and sym pathies of wish to ren ew th::!""sti people. Now, he did not with, but he co unt as it was past and done lishmen, whether, not help asking them es Eng they would not have thefel case had b een v i ce versa , what the Americana felt and done on that occ as io n news of the capt ure oftanddid ? (Applause.) Th e rapidly over America, r everybod chuckled M ason and Slidell spread th ee y with great glee, treatin g a a but in two or three day s some ptuse as a g oo d j o k e , to the newspapers saying th a t t 'Z c s :er sent a l e tt er very well, but there h appened "? tare was all a Power as England, an d auch ta be such interna tional law, and what tae a code as se it 9 " What is the law on this le ect Y sa y about al body ask ed every body else, an d elm every. gas to t r d ra w long faces, although th ere W,‘ha he that Capt. Wilkes h a nal.- venal conv iction a a " on a n E ng li s h precedent. That conviction still rens.- --can e d with the Americans, and it was grounded on a fact, The moment the c apture was made known t o the American Government, Mr. Seward wrote to Mr. Adams, in London, a privat e n ote, which he was re quested to read Lord Russell ( and which he did to read to Lord Russell), stating that they we re anxious to settle an y Some ten days after question that might be rais e d thereon amicably and fairly. that note had been received and read in England, and after it had oozed out that such a note had been received, the Morning Post, which was looked u p on as the semi-official organ of the Govern m en t, declared that a communication had been received by the English Government from the American Govern ment, but that it h a d no re l a ti on whatever to the Trent affair, whereas the communication was on the Trent affair and nothing else ; and to this hour that paper had never retracted that most lilaiiciotis false hood. (Applause.) Many said those men should hav e been given up without calling upon the English Govern ment to make a d e mand for th em t o b e so, could but that not be, in asmuc h as th e E ng li s h doctrine was that they had a right to condemn a neutral vessel containing contraband of w a r with ou t bringing her into amciprze court, as England did in 180 A 7 ; whilst th e an doctrine or law was that vc—sels containin g contraband of war must be taken into a prize court. Hence the American Govern. me nt wanted to kno w f rom the En hale Government which law they proposed to act upon,and the a English G overnment chose to ac t t n e P e o a n p t te h r eeAd men. men n d eeoc! rine, and the; gave up the The rev. geetlemen teen, is allusion to som e news _ peper a' lecke made upon him in cone equence of his reseal ks about the prosperity of America, r epeated was Ameri ca had the that never since and commercial p r ose been rnre ma!erial thae tt ere W 99 i n th e N- , -..ftern States at th e pre ‘ sent moment. Every tradesmen and manufac turer was as busy as he possibly could be, and he was trying to meet all the demands made upon his taxed energies and skill to proviec goods. Labour never was more abundant. Everybody had employment for both head and hand, and the mone tary affairs were easy and healthy, notwithstanding the assertion of the Times editor to the contrary. All this was very pleasing. But it was said the crash was certain to come sooner or later. That was true, if all the prosperity he had described was the result of an inflated paper currency. The question hen was, " Is there more paper in circulation in the North than there is actual and available property in the North ?" and to that he could reply, " There is no more paper in circulation in the North than is safe, when we have the means to convertit." dAii notnew country must have credit, an old country need it. Such being the fact, in about once every the k b in u d bb o le f mwaisaceelvlear -10 years a commerciaanldcwrahshen— a neous crash—came, the property remained. The community was sot hurt by it. The property was there, the only differ ence being a change of owners. He believed Ame rica had never been more financially sound than she was now. Tradespeople were doing almost an en tirely cash business. The Government had issued bonds upon the whole American Union, and not State bonds as before, and the consequence was that probably some 400,000,000 or 500,000,000 of capital of the North had been invested in the security offered by the Government, which, under another name, was in America what the consols were in England. The Americans felt that their Govern ment must stand, and hence they made it their trustee and their savings bank, in which they in vested their 100 ,000,10,000, or 5,000 dole. Nothing to the Americans seemed more sound and healthy than the credit of the United States, and hundreds of millions of dollars had been invested in the United States bonds in that way. Referring to his own church, he said the blacks were allowed to sit any where—wherever they got, but it was not so in all other churches. The treatment of the blacks in the North had been bad. The North had been poisoned by slavery when the party *ow triumphant was in a minority. All the present majority in the North asked for was that, since they had set their faces for going to Jerusalem, nobody would stop them. The late riots in New York were the sore raised up by a foreign blister. They arose through the misinformed Irish believing that if the slaves were set free there would no longer be any work for them. After some further observations, which were mainly repetitions of what Mr. Beecher had said in previous speeches, many questions were put to him regarding the con stitution of America, the anti-slavery party there, the laws, &c., all of which he promptly answered. The proceedings did not terminate till between one and two o'clock p.m., although the company sat down shortly after nine o'clock a.m. Mr. J. Laird, M.P.. upon National Defences. On Fridal last the prizes for rifle and artillery shooting competed for on the 17th ult, by the volunteers of Birken head and district were distributed by Mr John Laird, M.P., who presided. The CHAIRMAN, after some remarks upon the constitu tion of the volunteer force, addressed the, meeting as follows —Having said this much, I may perhaps be now allowed to go into the question of the defences of the country. The army and navy, everybody admits, so far as the personnel goes, is kept in the highest possible state of efficiency. In proof of that I need only call your attention to the charac ter, conduct, and known abilities of the officers of the Chan nel fleet, which lately visited this river. (Cheers.) I have had opportunities for years—nay, all my life, in fact—to meet naval men; but I must say I never met a set of men better adapted to fill the position they were placed in than those who were here with the Channel fleet; and I feel con vinced that, if provided with groper means, they will fulfil their duty to the country. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, in last ses sion of Parliament, and in the session before that, great at tention was paid not only to the army and navy, but also to the way in which that army and navy should be armed—the sort of rifles and the sort of guns that they should use. A great deal of discussion took place t.bout the Armstrong gun; and so much was said about the millions it had cost, and about the wasteful expenditure upon it, that I really thought the gentlemen who made those remarks in t he House ot Com mons were giving expression to mere figures of speech rather than to anything else. But the statements were made again and again. They were repeated day after day and week after week, until a committee was appoint ed to inquire into the merits of the Armstrong gun, its cost and its effici ency. I was appointed to act on that committee, and rather hard work it was, sitting for two or three hours a diy for two or three days a week through two Sessions of Parlia ment, And I ant bound to say, having sat on that committee during the Sessions of 1862 and 1863, I was satisfied that pratically £2,500,000 had been spent on that gun, and that we had not got value for our money. (Hear.) And why did we not get value ? Because I believe the appointment of Sir William Armstrong an injudicious appointment. He was appointed Engineer-in-Chief of Rifled Ordnance, and, of course,thought his own guns were the best that could be con structed; and, therefore, as an honourable man,he was bound to endeavour to carry out his own principle; but ho did it with a bad result to the country, because, by being placed in that position, I believe men like Whitworth, and Blakeley, and others, who have invented guns and have done much for the scientific deveiopment of the gunnery question, were kept back. I don't wean to impute anything to Sir William Armstrong, but I say his was an unfortunate appointment on the part of the Government—(hear, hear)—and my opi nion is that such a post should be opened up to the country generally; and that in scientific matters cf this kind you should endeavour to bring to bear all the best and most per fect knowledge in the empire. If you do that, it strikes me as a self-evident proposition that you are more likely to get the best invention than you would do if you confined your self to the invention of merely one man. (Applause.) Sir William Armstrong started the ElswickOrdnance Company. When he was appointed the Engineer-in-Chief of Ordnance he retired, but his partners carried on the business, and they had a large amount of work, amounting to one million of money, in three or four years to do for Government, the Government spending the other million and a half. Many statements were made in the committee, and very much evidence was taken. Mr. Whiffin, the Accountant- General, was called, and proved that, had the work done by the Elswick Ordnance Company been done in the gun fac tory at Woolwich, the country would have saved, on an expenditure of £600,000, no less a sum than £240,000; so that we may calculate what a saving would have been made if you reflect for a moment that the amount spent was £1,000,000, and the work might have been done at Wool wich. I will candidly admit that there was a difference of opinion upon that point, but my argument in the committee was that Mr. Whiffin was called as the Accountant-Gene ral to verify the accounts presented to tae committee. And who is Mr, Whiffin? it may be asked. Well, he is a man appointed by the Government to go to India, and put the accounts of the army and the department is India in a pro per and sound basis. If he was an unfit and improper man to be pat in that position, we must take it for granted that his evidence before the select Committee on Ordnance was incorrect ; and, if he gave evidence that was incorrect, then the Government should not have sent him on that mission to India. I believe there has been a large expenditure on these Armstrong guns which might have been avoided. But I will not give you merely my own opinion, I will give you that of his Grace the Duke of Somerset, who was himself examined upon this committee, as to the efficiency of the Armstrong gun after all this enormous expenditure had been incurred. The Duke of Somerset, in reply to question 5,012, said — :! .. "We had a report that the Armstrong gun had the greatest 'age and the greatest power of penetration of any gun tried ; old 68 -pima the The to try it ourselves that was not confirmed by h a . ve r lid_ he Armstrong gun, at a great distance, may at 200 lre gr ra rr Power of penetration, but for naval purposes ,t er certainly had not the greatest power. Our pou n d er Ara l it _ , l 3 s a more powerful gun than the 100- they h a d b een. f,'IZ gun." This was evidence given after of money. T h 7 a wark for five years, and spent 2i millions short range than that° a 68 pounder 6 ,„; :t a c ru, the noble duke goes on to say that Grace said, in reply old style struck a harder blow at 4- Pounder Armstrong gun. His t:Zstion. 5,108—" I thought it ao much an advanta ge throw a 100 lb. shot thee e wtonottiesidered it probable that the a 70 -pounder tg,un that could armament of the Warrior tried a have been xlllOO-pounders; haprotila that I became aware and it was not until w e pounder against Capt. Colea's e a a 14- Pounder and a 68- blow than the -, were made by that the 63-pounder struck a pounder at short range." Other at r you —bat I thought it right to Men em ,. z w o which I need not 100- the noble duke and other patties, w i th. question, because at this moment it excites e tl o ollY into this hasguns of very naiderable Wrest. America great power a d in great trouble and every naval officer with wh om j u e af very size; awls me that in naval wars battle - C on versed has told 8 will be fought at den qu .ship 1 4 -at c efficient ar ter ; that the can deliver the harder blows at 200 yard s will be the have most already ship; an d the Duke of Somerset , as youheard, ha s stated that at short ranges the old 68-Pounder smore efficient than the 100-pounder Armstrong gun. I do not say th a t the 68-pounder is the most efficient g un that n we Can get ; but public attention has very properly been drawn to thi s subject, and the next thing that We must do is t 3 see how, in regard to naval guns o f increased size and p ower we can work them on board ship. Perhaps it may be said that. I should apologise for going into these matters, but I, b for one believe that the Volunteer move ment is an essential part of the defence s o f th e cou ntry; and th at unless theed Army, the Navy, and Volunteers are pr o p erly . 117 the and equipped we cannot expect adequately to —e-- f , country; and, as we ought to do, carry the war into thl enemy's camp, which is the proper way of banishing intruders. (Hear, hear.) If we are to go into this question of large guns which has been talked of so much, and which has been looked after, not only with great interest in this country, but with more than usual interest in America,—if we are to adopt those guns, we can only do so by resorting to the cupola plan of Captain Coles to work them. I believe that by that plan we can work the largest and the heaviest guns. I know we can work guns of from 15 to 20 tons with the greatest possible ease. We cannot do that on board a broadside ship, and if our battles are to be fought and won by ships with the heaviest arms- ment, the sooner we consider the question of the ships best calculated to carry those heavy guns the better it will be for the country. What have we done on this subject I The cupola, I should tell you, if you do not already know it, stands in the middle of the ship, and you can strengthen a vessel to carry a cupola of any weight. You can armour plate a cupola to any thickness-12 or 15 inches, and you can make it perfectly impenetrable to shot; and, as it is a very small portion of a very large ship, you won't depress the ship much in the water, but the battery will be well protected and imprevious to shot. That, you will see, is a very great p o i n t . B ut what has our Government d one with regard to this plan ? There are two plans now before the public. One is that of Captain Coles ; the other is the plan by Mr. Reed. Now, it is quite clear to naval men that, if either of these plans is to supersede the old broad side system of gunnery, the sooner eithet one or the other, or both, are tried the better. But again I ask, what has our Government done ? In April or May, 1862, they stated in the House of Commons, after various remon strances, that the Royal Sovereign had been ordered to be cut down to be fitted with Coles's cupola, and that another was to be converted on Mr. Reed's plan. 1 venture to say that if proper exertions had been used those two ships might have been ready in six months from April last (hear, hear), and I don't believe they will either of them be ready for six months to come. In the meantime, a large amount of money has been expended in other ways ; and if these plans of Reed and Coles should prove to be the best, we shall have wasted some millions of money on ships of another construction. If we were to go to war to-morrow our navy is not—l say it advisedly—in such a state as that we could go to war with a certainty of success. How do we stand with regard to iron plated ships? If we were to go to war with America, they have a number of iron clad turret ships perfectly fitted in every respect for coast defence,while we have no ships at all that are suited for the purpose. It will not do to say, as we did daring the Russian war, that we can build 150 or 250 gunboats by means of private yards in 12 months, Armour plated ships require a length of time in their construction, and I say most emphatically that it would be the best policy of this country if the Legislature would turn its attention to this question, because, although the fleet we saw in the Mersey the other day was composed of most magnificent ships—most of them drawing from 25 to 28 feet of water—l need scarcely tell you who know any thing of the port of Liverpool that they are perfectly unfit for war on the coasts of France or America. (Hear, hear.) If we went to war to-morrow, we should go into that war for the first year or two under most disadvantageous cir cumstances, and then we should have to turn cur dockyards and our private yards to some account—in fact, to do some thing to get us out of the scrape in which we should find ourselves, as we had to do during the Russian war, because, if in that war we had had a sufficient number of e fficient gunboats, which we had not until the second year of that war, we would have put an end to that conflict much more rapidly than we did, and at far less cost to this country. I think it right to impress this point particularly upon the meeting. We have only two ships that I can find on looking over the Navy List that could possibly be considered suit able for cost defences, and those are two vessels constructed on Mr. Reed's plan. Why they are not brought forward I cannot pretend to say; but I do believe this, that the money wasted in the naval administration of this country is some thing., fearful. We have spent from £30,000,000 to £33,000, 000 in the last three years, and got a number of large ships afloat, some of which you saw in the river the other day, and others are building, but not ready, and none of which will be of any use to us to carry on a war in the circum stances in which we shall most probably be placed. I state these facts distinctly, (Hear, hear.) I have stated them in my place in the House of Commons (hear, hear), and I have no fear of their being hoard by anybody in any place, because I can prove them to be correct. I a,sert, then, that there are only two ships capable of application to coast and harbour defences; and that the two ships on Captain Coles's plan draw so much water that they are utterly useless for the purposes they are intended for—namely, the defences of our coasts and harbours; and, moreover, that they are neither masted nor rigged, nor are they fit to be sent across the At. 'antic, It i s i n va i n t h at C apta i n C oles h as pro tested to our Government against this state of things. lie has urged them to make th ose s hi ps serv i cea bl e , no t o nly for the de fences of our own coasts, but for foreign service. I need not tell any of th e many commerc i a l men I s ee here to - night the difficulties that attend ships of great draught o f water getting into and out o f Li ver p oo l. H ow , then, can ship s of that class cru i se a b ou t our b an k s ? (H ear , hear.) AV hat we want is a number of s hip s o f a cer t a i n d e scription, of f r o m 8 to 10 or 15 fe e t d raug ht o f water ; an d, unless the Go vernment come to do something of that sort before very long, we shall have to spend a large sum of money without being in a position when the time really comes to meet the emer gency; and we shall in the end spend considerably mole money than would be the case if we considered the queStion well at the present time. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Cobden has been pleased within the last day or two to make tome com plimentary remarks about my late firm at Birkenhead. I don't agree with Mr. Cobdeot in his conclusions. I don't think it would do to abandon entirely our Government dockyards; but I Jo believe it would be desirous to main tain them to a certain extent, while at the same time they should have throughout the country a portion of their work done in private establishments, so that in case of war we would not only have the resources of the national dockyards to rely upon, but the extensive resources of the private yards, the proprietors of which would understand how to do Government work. (Hear, Lear.) But we stop progress in this country, and the naval development of this country has come to this, that it is supposed that when a gentleman is appointed controller of the navy, whatever his antecedents may have been—however respectable he may be, however good a sailor he is—yet he must needs carry all the shipbuilding brains of the country in his head. What I want is simply this—that the Government shall bring to bear for the interest of the country all the talent that exists in the country. That is done already by the Government in respect of engineering for the navy, and I need not tell you who have turned your attention to the subject that the engineering talent of this country, as ex emplified by Penn, by Maudslay, and others of considerable eminence, has been the means of bringing a vast amount of talent and ingenuity to bear in the construction of the most perfect machinery which science could devise for propelling our ships of war; and this would not and could not have been the case if one man only had been placed at the head of the naval engineering department, and everything left to him. Competition is desirable in all things, but in this case it is desirable extremely for the true interests of the country. Ido not want to be personal at all, because I will take the testimony of a certain vessel's operations. I *ill take two ships built in this neighbourhood--the Alabama and the Florida. (Loud and protracted cheering.) lam not at all ashamed, ladies and gentlemen, to own that my sons de signed and built the Alabama. (Renewed cheering.) Nor, I am sure, is the builder of the Florida ashamed to say that he designed and built that ship; but the testimony borne to those vessels is not the testimony of Birkenhead or of Liver pool, or indeed of this country, but the testimony comes from America. They are two vessels that have been afloat for some considerable length of time, and they have defied the power of 400 ships. (Cheering.) They have never been caught. (Renewed cheering.) They were designed and built by private individuals, but in this country it is the misfortune of the managers of our marine to imagine that one man and one man only is to carry in his head the brains of all the designing talent of the country for building ships. If they had got a little life in the Admiralty, then they might have improved on the Alabama and the Florida, and perhaps on other ships. (Laughter-) We have been ac customed to hear of the Americans boasting about their shipbuilding, and that they built ships to run 20 miles an hour. Ladies and gentlemen, the Alabama goes 13, but the Americans have never been able to touch her. I certainly do not agree with Mr. Cobden that we should rely on private interests alone. I think the Government should do in respect to shipbuilding as they have done with regard to engineering. As f have told you, I was a member of the committee for two sessions on the Armstrong gun, and that committee recommended, and carried their recommendation, that the inventions of all able men should be properly con sidered. That was a great step in the right direction—(hear, applause)—and, no doubt, our gunnery will be very much m an u cl eh advanced in the future in consequence. (Hear, hear.) I may, perhaps, be tiring the audience—(cries of No, no, and cheers)--hut when I was asked to come here I did not come here merely to talk about the volunteers. My intention was to speak on the general defence of the coun try; and, therefore, I now want to state, as shortly as I can, my views on some points connected with that matter. (Cheers.) You have had this point repeatedly stated in the House of Commons, and it is one which is of lasting impor tance, and that is tke question of dock accommodation for ships of the Royal navy. (Hear, hear.) Many gentlemen here, no doubt, are connected with the trade of Liverpool ; and I will just tell you now what the position of the Royal dockyards are as compared with Liverpool, and then make a few remarks on that point. Liverpool and Birkenhead have 400 acres of dock space, and 28 graving docks. The whole of her Majesty's dockyards, including Chatham, Sheerness, Portsmouth, Plymouth, and other places. have only 41 acres of dock space, and the number of graving docks is mouthohar 33. but only tour or five of them are capable of taking in "hips likeiral the a W m a e rrior. In the Mersey, the other day, Z e tfl act looked nothing at all ; Put we have seen that at got back to the south one part was obliged to got time they Plymouth and another to Portsmouth, aid Ports mouth would not take them all in. Why, the idea of coming u himself that he was alarmed at the very Mersey, and he p o t t he ou l:le f rss i y t ;hut again, he as g s o a t fel i y nt a o s the e could do, and as w e 1 0 0, every eay in the year with did t axpayers, they are all interPeajesdt''ixes; very large merchant ships, householder in Birkenhead pays (Rear, hear.) Now, every and therefore, being where the money goes. I'll explain to you where som e st ill . it Roes. Supposing, in- THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, OCrOBER 2G, 1863, stead. of 400 acres of dock space in the Mersey we had only 40 acres, and that we had to do the greater portion of our business on the Mersey; suprosing we had to take cargoes out of ships into flats, take them ashore, take goods'on board again from the shore and carry them on board the ships in flats, and that every single piece of work on board the ship in the river would have to be done by workmen going from the shore, doing the work in the river, and coming back again on shore ; why, need I tell any commercial man who knows anything of the trade of Liverpool that with such a system as this,Liverpool would never have gone on at all ? Bristol, or London, or some other port would inevitably have taken the trade, because the working of ships here would have been so dreadfully expensive and ruinous that the port would have been shut up as a port and its trade de stroyed entirely. Now, just look for a moment at the posi tionbut they fit out in the harbour as far as they of the royal dockyards. The ships there cannot fit out can. They go to Spithead, and their stores are taken off to them. A carpenter is sent off. if it is blowing hard he does not get there at all. If he does not get there he loses half a day ; and that is just how the money is spent in the dock yards. (Hear.) I say this to the Government and the House of Commons, " We want two or three millions to make per fect accommodation, and if you give us this money now we. will save that expenditure in two or three years," That is o r 18 inches. sawotde,a d r n, refitting that t shiptTi lfnso h gah i what they should de. They oughtto have done it before; but they took a contrary step, and in ten years they have spent a million and a half on Were peddling, stupid alterations, a d s t eh, n h i there a r a ns e d a th ihnp°san,t another fi e rp r i without deriving any benefit from them. The first thing is, d they increase the length of a dock by ten feet. Then they widen it two or three feet, and next they deepen it a foot proper owe loading way in daimnin thea commercialhn s w d h ir h sai f i mvsoo c eu h rar, ha: dischargingwat w h daw e hr dhotooc addhr money geas os-s lhe would not have beaten another man who was ed to do all these things in the stream ? The man can do all this in dock would beat the man who had to a d p o p i l t a i u n se t .) he p ri o v s e s r ib i l n y, a it ve m ry ay sh be or c t on ti s m id e e . red (li th e a a t r l h e e c a o r L an try d is too great to look into these matters and the expenditure of money ; but I say that the true manner in which to manage public business is to manage ie as a man manages his own private affairs; and until the Government in this country is forced to do something of that kind they may talk about what they will do, but they will never be able to reduce the expenditure which is going on. (Hear, hear, and loud applause.) I do not know that I ought to occupy your time any longer, but various statements have been made about a vessel that has attained to some degree of fame. I refer to a vessel well known throughout this country as the Alabama. (Loud and repeated cheering.) lam not ashamed to acknowledge that some of my family have had to do with that ship. Still, some statements have been made about her which should be controverted. I should not have made any remark now. but for the fact that the Government of this country have made certain statements, and have given cer tain legal opinions about her, and they have talked about the vessel having escaped. I see my friend Mr. Hind and other gentlemen who are somewhat of sporting men, and well they know what I mean when I say—when hounds approach a fox cover the fox scents the hounds, and when the hunts man comes up to the cover the fox is gone. It is nonsense to talk about the fox escaping or about the Alabama escap ing. The Alabama was in dock when she was inspected by very many curious people, and in dock she took on board her coals and her stores. There was no secresy what ever observed about the ship. She went out of dock at night, and if she wanted to escape surely the night was a time when she could have escaped. But, what wars the fact ? They were so vainglorious about their little craft, that they anchored her off the Landing , stage, and there she remained until half-past 10 or 11 the following morning, when she left for her destination. They adroit that she was not fitted out as a man-of-war, and that they had no legal authority to detain that ship until a man was engaged to serve on board her as a sailor. Does any shipowner present believe, or any man connected with ship ping, that the captain of a vessel supposed to be going upon any extraordinary voyage would go and tell a mar who ap iinceih sewnsahvooher compelled dhoerckopgweacneerhakl know docks, ap pears to have been a hired agent or spy of certain gentle men in London ? Would the captain of a ship on such an expedition go and tell a common sailor, at the Sailors' Home, all the ins and outs of his intentions regarding that ship ? (" H ear , h ear, " and applause. ) C erta i n l y no t . N uw, I know it i s no t true that that man was to ld anyt hi ng of the sort by the captain. I have been so informed, and I be lieve the information to be on the best authority. But let me tell you it is not necessary, in engaging men to go to any part of the world, to tell those men where they are going; because, you know, I am an old hand myself in fitting cut secret expeditions. (Laughter and applause.) A few years ago it was thought desirable by the Government of this country to send vessels to China and to various parts of India secretly. A Chinese war was anticipated; the Russians were expected to come down the head of the Indus and the Euphrates; and it was desirable to place faith in somebody. Her Majesty's Government were pleased to place faith in me, and I built for the British Government about a dozen vessels ; but the Government said to me, " What we want you to do, Mr. Laird, is this—we want you to build, and to arm, and equip these vessels, and to send them out ; they must be yours, and nobody must know anything about it." Well, being a prudent sort of a shipbuilder, I said, " I will take your order on these conditions." I built the ships; they were armed; 1 engaged men; I did everything. (" Hear, hear," cheers and laughter.) I had to engage, not only sailors, but engineers and boiler makers, ship-carpenters, and men of a variety of trades ; I had to send them to various parts of the world, and I can assure you that a few shillings per month extra did all the business. They did not care whether they went so long as they got a little extra pay--;laughter)—and, therefore, the statement regarding the captain of the Alabama having told a sailor all about the ship—whose she was, and where she was for—bears the impress of falsehood upon the very face of it: I never saw the captain of the Alabama but once, and that was after having taken the ship out, and I don't think he was the man to make such a statement as that upon which the ship might have been stopped. Let me read you a few words from a speech of the Solicitor-General, who made another great speech the other day at Richmond. He said some months ago :—" It was not till the Alabama reached the Azores that she received her stores, her cap tain, o r her papers, and that she hoisted the Confederate flag. It is not true that she departed from the shores of this country as a ship armed for war." (Hear, hear, and great applause,) And then went on to say :—" But I wsh the house to understand that in those depositions there was a great mass of hearsay evidence, which, taken by itself, could not form the basis of any action. Of the six deposi tions transmitted on the 22d July, only one was good for anything at all—viz.. the evidence of a person named Pass more, which was sufficient to prove the material facts. Two more were sent, corroborating Passmore, on the 24th, and and were received by Earl Russell on the 26th." (Hear.) Passmore was the man who made the affidavit that he was told by the captain where the ship was to go. I don't be lieve him; and he must have got up the evidence for the occasion. Lord Palmerston, whom we all respect—(ap plause)—s: id on the 27th of March last—" I have myself great doubts whether, if we had seized the Alabama, we should not have been liable to considerable damages. It is generally known that she sailed from this country unarmed and not properly fitted out for war, and that she received her armament, equipment, and crew in a foreign port. Therefore, whatever suspicions we may have had—and they were well founded, as it afterwards turned out—as to the intended destination of the vessel, her condition at that time would not have justified a seizure." (Cheers.) Now, here is Lord Palmerston, an old and experienced man, who says, in his opinion, the Government would have been liable to considerable damages had they stopped that ship. 1 think after what has been said—considering my connec tion with this place, and after the noise this vessel has made in the world—(laughter and applause)—the meeting will excuse my having brought forward these questions. (A-Pe plause ) But the whole question of the defences of this country may be, I think, very safely brought before this meeting, because they are all intimately connected with the Volunteer movement; and I therefore feel that I have teen justified in going somewhat at length into the various ques tions as to the character of our ships of war, the quantity of guns that they are to carry, and other incidental matters. Other speeches have been made by a noble lord who doe s not seem to agree with Lord Palme rston. I mean Ea rl Russell. (Hisses.) He made a spe ech the other da y whi ch has caused a great sensation all over the world, and which the Americans say is only duo to the coercion they have put upon him. Earl Russell is a man who is well known and respected throughout the country by his own followers; but he is a man of whom Sydney Smith said that he had such confidence in himself that h e would take comma nd of the Channel fleet, if necessary. Well, I think Earl Ru sse ll has undertaken something that he will not be able to carry through quite so easily as, perhaps, he might command the Channel fleet. He has underta ken to sa y in this c ountry that he can do certain things, a nd that if he finds the l aw is not sufficient he can go to Parliament for an indemnity, (Hear, hear.) I don't believe myself that Parliament will and however great he may be, if he is tryinee to transgres s ever indemnify any man in the c ountr y , howev e r powerful the law. (Loud and protracted cheering.) At any rate, up to the time that tho Act of Indemnity is passed, there are laws in tbo land which all of us ar e bound to obe y. (Hear, hear.) Laws are not made for Ad ministrations, but f or the people of this country, and the peop le are bound to obey the law as it stands, and not to obey laws which ma y pos sibly come to be passed hereafter. (Renewed cheers.) Another eminent gentleman, Sir Roundell Palmer, h as made another speech et Richmond; and I must say, hay ing read the speech, that it is all very well for an eminent lawyer, one of the first legal authorities of the day, to make a speech in the month of March, and say that those were the views of the country, and to make a speech in sup port of another client in October of opposite views; bits I say it is not the duty' of a man who holds the position of a statesman in this oountry to be placing one interpretation upon certain facts in March and another in October. (Loud cheers.) Full benefit of reduced duty obtained by pur chasing Horniman's pure Tea; very choice at 3s 4d. and 4s. " High Standard "at 48. 4d. (formerly 4s. 8d), is the strongest and most delicious imported. Agents in every town supply it in packets. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. LONDON REVIEW.—Sir W. Atherton, in the middle of the recess, has thrown up his attorney generalship, after refusing probably half a dozen puisne judgeships. An amusing and not altogether uninstructive volume might be written on the career and demeanour of rising lawyers in the house of Commons. For the present a few passages must must suffice. Every lawyer on the Ministerial side —almost every lawyer in the house indeed—" goes in" for the reputation of a legal reformer, and a few years ago a certain hon. and learned gentleman took up the law of partnership. He made a good speech in favour of tile principle of limited liability, and might have been delighted to witness the una nimity with which his motion was received by the house if he had not discovered, by a friendly whis per from Mr. Hayter, that the Government were in danger of being defeated if he pressed his motion to a division. They had just been beaten on some thing else, and it was an object with them to avoid another defeat just then. The hon. mid learned law reformer was found by the Secretary of the Treasury to be no stubborn and impracticable poli tician, for he manifested an instant and eager desire to withdraw his motion in deference to the appeal of the then Attorney-General. The house, however, did not appreciate as it ought the alacrity with which the mover of the resolution consented to give the go-by to the principle which he had just de scribed as one of so much importance and such press ing value. The purity of his motives was not quite so distinctly recognised, perhaps, as his desire to avoid any appearance of factious opposition to the Government, At any rate a storm of " oh's" and cries of" divide" greeted the hon. and learned gen tleman's willingness to withdraw his motion. He had only been too successful in his argu ments, and was appalled at his triumph. A great commercial authority, the lamented Mr. Ricardo, declared that he had never known the house more unanimous in any debate within his recollection. A dozen other M.P.'s joined Mr. Ricardo in protesting against the withdrawal of a reasonable resolution, on which the house was agreed, because an Attorney-General had promised that the question should be seriously considered by Government. So the resolution was literally taken out of the hands of the hon. and learned mover, and carried in spite of him and against the Government. It did not surprise any one when, after a decent interval, this gentleman received a silk gown. But it did astonish a good many M.P.'s a session after wards to hear him enter upon an elaborate defence of abstract resolutions, taking credit, at the eame time, for his own, and complaining of the readiness of the Government on such occasions to " come in at the death and bag the game." The hon. and learned gentleman began after this to be talked of for the next Solicitor-Generalship. He has not belied the promise of his early career, yet a dozen times the prize has evaded his outstretched hand, He has been rather too Ministerial for a good many of his con stituents, and a little grumbling was now and then heard. But he has been patient inside and outside St. Stephen's. He has waited well. He took any thing in his way, was made Judge Advocate of the fleet and counsel to the Admiralty. He drew up resolutions on the defeat of the Paper Duty Aboli tion Bill, declaring that the Lords had committed a breach of constitutional usage, and had encroached on the privileges of the Commons, but allowed Lord Palmerston to take the matter out of his hands. He has voluuteeredapeeches in defence of the Government when it has been hard pressed. He now reaps the re ward of his patience. At the levee he will go to Court as Solicitor-General. He will receive the honour of knighthood. His voice may be heard more frequently in the courts of law, and in due time Sir R. Parrett Collier will doubt:ess make a very respectable puisne judge. It is one of the scandals of our party system of government that the highest judicial prizes—the " cushions," as they are called, of our common law courts—are not awarded to the highest judicial eminence, but are left to he scrambled and competed for in the arena of the House of Commons. Lord Palmerston deserves great praise for having so often gone out of the House of Commons to find the fittest judges, regardless of anything but merit and learn ing. Would not a Prime Minister also deserve well of his country who should break through the legal etiquette which gives the Attorney-General a claim to be Lord Chief Justice or Chief _Baron, and pro mote occasionally to a vacant " cushion" the most able, learned, and impartial among the puisne judges? About the same time that Mr. Collier was so seriously alarmed at the Frankenstein he had created, and just after he had deprecated the passing of his own resolution, as hon. and learned sergeant, sitting on the same benches, considerably his senior, became involved in a sharp dispute with the First Minister of the Crown. The Irish members brought in a Tenants' Compensation Bill, which the Govern ment tried to lick into shape. This hon. and learned sergeant made a violent personal attack upon Lord Palmerston, declaring that the Government were not giving a bona fide support to the bill. Our noble Viscount replied with more spirit and indignation than he had manifested during the whole of the ses sion, and said that if Irish members objected to the reasonable amendments he proposed it was only be cause they were afraid oflosing a hustings' grievance. The hon. and learned sergeant retorted still more angrily, and Palmerston was even more severe in his rejoinder. The Irish members were furious, and it is doubtful whether the rupture has ever since been healed. They declared that they would vote against the Ministry on any pretext. The Government, on their part, hinted that they meant to carry the Irish Tenants' Compensation Bill into the Lords in defiance of the learned ser geant and his party of malcontents; while English and Scotch M.P.'s, with more reason, doubted whether a measure of this kind, abandoned by its authors, and not very enthusiastically supported by the Government, would weather the opposition of Irish landlords in the Upper House. A personal squabble with a Prime Minister is not a thing to be looked back upon with any complacency by a lawyer who has his way to make. So, when an occasion arose on which the hon. and learned ser geant could make the amende, he availed himself of it. When the Opposition followed Mr. Whiteside in his disastrous move upon Kars, Sir E. Bulwer Lytton and the learned sergeant rose late at night at the same moment—the former to move the ad journment, and the latter to make his peace with the First Minister. The great novelist gave way, and the learned sergeant expressed an opinion on the treaty of peace with Russia (just published, but not then before Parliament), which derived some importance from its reception by the House. He said, " The noble lord. (Palmerston) has prosecuted with the utmost vigour, and to a most glorious and successfui termination, the war in which this'coun try has been engaged. The noble lord has concluded that war by what will no doubt be declared by this House to be a safe end honourable peace." This assertion was said in tones which seemed to invite contradiction. The Conservative benches were at that moment thoroughly out of humour, and were just in the temper when hon. members cry " Oh !" to anything debateable. Yet although the learned sergeant's declaration was greeted with loud cheers by the Ministerial benches, not a single cry of " Oh !" was heard from any part of the House. There was not even a murmur of dis sent, however slight. The Opposition had not arranged its policy, and was taken somewhat un awares. Silence was taken for assent and approval, and every one felt that the learned sergeant had rendered the . Government an essential service. During the rest of his career he gave the Premier no serious cause for complaint. But at the last general election, Ministerial proclivities and pos sible Ministerial advancement were no recommen dation to the favour of an Irish constituelecy, and the electors of Kilkenny deprived of his seat a mem ber who would have served them well, and who had notwithstanding, some claims on the Government. Westminster Hall, we are told, regards Mr. Sergeant Shee as at least as good a lawyer as Mr. Justice Mellor. But the latter learned judge was never involved in a squabble with the head of the Go vernment, and preserved his seat until the moment of his elevation to the bench. These little matters go forsomething even in dayslof political purism,and Mr. Sergeant Slice must bide his time, and wait a little longer. SPECTATOR.—Wo have begun the civilisation of Japan by bombarding, and apparently destroying one of its cities, known to be populous, and said to contain no less than 180,000 inhabitants, Now we have never been disposed to admit the claim of bar barous, or even of semi. barbarous, nations to seal themselves up hermetically in a social life of their own, and to forbid the approach of every other people. History shows that every great step in the progress of nations has been marked by a new in tercourse between different races—even when that intercourse has been forced by conquest. It was conquest that moulded the national life of Israel, conquest that spread over Europe the laws and civilisation of Rome, conquest that made England one of the greatest of European peoples ; and though to the scrupulous equity of modern feel ing it might be exceedingly difficult to justify some of these proceedings, no thoughtful man can doubt thet conquest has played one of the most important parts in the Divine govern ment et the world, and that there must be some sense or other in which the higher c ivilisation has a right to demand admittance to the lower, and States take upon itself the government of barbarous c S e ta the which prove unwilling or unable to wlom painful but salutary process of moral anetdintellec tualhe grafting. We are not now going discuss the limits under which this righ t must e asserted, though, of course, there are obvious limits, rs without which hoout which it might be made the mere plea fo po But we do wish to assert ve r y strongly that it is a barbarous and monstrous thing to interfere at all with a power like Japan, if our only purpose in in terfering is to thrust in one hand, laden with mer chandise, through the door of unwilling communi cation, and take revenge with the other for injury then inflicted by such frightful acts of retaliation as this. In what we have just done we were reveng ing the murder of Mr. Richardson. The Centrist Government of the Tycoon had paid the fine de manded, but had pleaded its inability to give up or punish the murderers in consequence of the great power of the Prince Satsuma, who sheltered these murderers. The fleet therefore immediately goes down to Kagosims, a city in the territories of this semi-independent noble, and demands the rendition of the murderers, which is refused. The shore bat teries opened on the fleet, which thereupon bom barded the forts and town, and the last report was, " The whole town is in flames. The city is one mass of ruins—palace, factories, arsenal, &c. Three steamers of Satsuma are destroyed completely. Such is the result, and, probably, not the worst result, of forcing a commercial treaty from an exclusive and reluctant people, whom we are not prepared to conquer and govern, and whom we only wish to force into an exchange of merchandise. The chain of moral necessity is this :—We insist on a treaty with an overawing force, and get the treaty ; the reaction naturally sets in in Japan, and the party hostile to foreigners comes into the as cendant; outrages are committed on cur subjects; we demand redress, do not get it, and make an ex ample of a recalcitrant Prince by burning down a large city, and driving all its inhabitants to despair. Is it possible for any man with the slightest preten sion to Christian politics to justify such a policy— foe the sake, not of civilising the Japanese with any of the higher resources of a European Government, but of compelling them, against the will of a large party, to trade with us? We should assuredly not scruple at any attempt of the English authorities to inflict condign punishment on Mr. Richardson's murderers. But on what possible principle can we inflict such wide-spread misery on a great city which is accused of nothing but lying in the territory of a man who screens these murderers? Even in Euro pean and American wars, the bombardment of cities is thought discreditable, and we have heard no slight denunciations of the American generals for bombarding Charleston after a six months' notice. But how infinite is the gulf between the responsi bility of the Southerners for the events which led to the bombardment of Charleston, and the respon sibility of the Japanese of Kegositna for the murder of Mr. Richardson ! War in Euro, e and America means war with a people who have, at least, freely and intelligently taken the steps which they knew would lead to war—taken their side, and prepared for the sacrifice—and yet we hesitate to inflict such wholesale injuries. War in Japan means war at most with an individual, while all the misery is inflicted on creatures who, probably, know and understand nothing of the cause. Nor is .t even fora political end. The only political result will be to shake down the exiating Government, as we have done in China, while we repudiate, and have, perhaps, never even thought of sialastitutin*, anything better and stronger in its filice.'` Is 'there no limit at all to the duty of national retaliation on these Oriental peoples ? Would it really be held a crime rather to have let Mr. Richardson's murderers go uu i punished—there is, indeed, no proof that they were punished, even at last,—than spread this wholesale murder among an inoffensive people ? Would it not be better a thousand times to give up commerce where commerce necessitates such crimes, if it is only for the sake of commerce that we go there ? A civilisation which only demands, at best, the right to exchange English linen and cotton for Japanese copper, and enforces that demand by destroying cities on the first outbreak of barbarian malice, is not a weapon of which we need be proud. If we were prepared to rule even a portion of Japan, as we are now ruling India, and beginning to rule China, we might have something to give worth fighting for, though not worth fghting for in this way. But to civilise only by selling cotton and hardware, and following them up with gratuitous bombshells whenever the barbarian spirit bursts forth against us, is to present Japan with a type of Christian civilisation it may take many generations to forget. SATURDAY REVIEW.—If her Majesty could, with out disrespect, be supposed to share the crotchety , ambition of the King of Prussia, she might con gratulate herself on the remarkable exemption from hostile attack which her Ministers at present enjoy. Without waiting for Royal exhortations, which, indeed, might not produce the desired effect, con stituencies and public meetings almost unanimously approve the foreign policy and domestic inaction of the Government. It matters little whether the law officers are addressing the electors who have just confirmed their appointment, or Major Beres• ford is lamenting at an agricultural dinner that he can find no political ground of com plaint. On the whole, perhaps, the Ministerial members approach more boldly than their oppo nents to the limits of criticism. Mr. Collier reminds his constituents that he has once or twice weed against the Government; and Mr. Lefevre hints, with the hasty irreverence of youth, that it is Lord Russell, and not the country, which ought to rest and be thankful." In the long and useful career to which Mr. Letevre may fairly look fort ward, he will probably pass through seasons of agitation which will contrast more or less agreeably with the present calm. Lord Russell, who was the last of his contemporaries to acquiesce in the expe diency of letting things alone, represents for the moment, more accurately than his impatient cen sors, the wish or instinct of the community. It may be perfectly true that dormant liberalism is not altogether intelligible to eager partisans, but the country at present cares little for party. It is hard on Major Beresford to have to discuss the price of flour and the construction of labourers' cottages, instead of denouncing the misconduct of the Government ; but the attention of politicians has for several years been direct e d a l mos t exclu sively to foreign affairs, and Lord Palmerston and Lord Russell have interpreted with unusual success the spirit of: the national poiicy. It ma y be a matter of conjecture whether the majority of Eng lishmen incline to the North or to the South in the American quarrel, and perhaps the' dispassionate observers who suspend their p re p ossess i ons and opinions may claim to be the most faithful expo nents of public opinion; but as to the practical re sult of perfect neutrality there is really no difference of judgment. The few who profess to understand the affairs of Schleswig and H o l s t e i n agre e in deprecating an unintelligible war ; and as to Poland, there is a general consent that - Russia is wrong, and, at the same time, that it is not the business of E ng l ae d t o corre ct the in justice. Sir Roundell Palmer, who was not long since reckoned by many persons as a mem ber of the Opposition, gives the strongest or most zealous evidence in favour of himself and his colleagues. He would not consent either to sit in Parliament or to hold the most lucrative office in the gift of th© Crown, except with a view to the pub tic services which he is prepared to render, and the good which he intends to effect. He will "never for a moment have the feeling which would prevent him from preferring the interests of the country to the interests of party, or to any personal interests whatever." It is gratifying to know that the At torney-General is so conscientious, nor is it possible to doubt his testimony to the kindred virtues of the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. "If ever there was a man who loved his country, that man is Lord Palmerston," and Sir Roundel! Palmer is "proud to serve under that. man." Lord Russell has adminis tered foreign affairs as they were never adminis teredof ami before, and" ii in ist o e u r r t., •revenue we have the ad vantage the object of perpetual obloquy to his opponents, who triumphs over that obloquy by his disinterestedness and success." It would not be easy, to quote any attempt during the last two years to throw obloquy on Mr. Gladstone's financial policy, and there is much reason to hope that in the next session it will once more be his pleasant duty to reduce taxation, with the certainty of receiving universal approbation. Yet it is, per haps, not altogether judicious to eulogise Hercules, or to proclaim with too vociferous a repetition the justice of Aristides. The Ministers are very . tolera ble. Ministers, and Sir Roundell Palmer is a . highly competent Attorney - General ; .but a reaction . may sooner or later be provoked, .it the country is , ex tptenc t a e a d n t o o dbeesiirnecetossdani:lna.d themAirminegre aaccident i r d u e l n e rtsinwanyom. at any time produce a change of government,. and it is extremely doubtful whether the dominant party could hang together in the absence of the present Prime Minister. The rece nt ele c t i ons have in creased the strength of the Opposition by two or three votes, although Richmond and Plymouth and Devonport remain faithful to their customary allegiance, and although Barnstaple has par tially compensated the reverses of Coventry and Tamworth. The general election which must take place at furthest within two years m a y possibly su bstitute a hostile majority for the fine balance of parties which has prevailed for several years. TADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Pills.--Despandenoy: Lo w Spirits.—The misery occas i oned by disordered diges tion is unfortunately felt by many, Known to every one, Holloway's Pills should be tsaken to restore health ; they dispel bil ousness, nausea, l owness o f s pirits, and similar symptoms, s, which ipdicate the presence of poibonous matter or perverted action. A course of these invaluable purifying Pills never fails in removing the causes and consequences of these morbid signs, without subjecting the suffsrer to any disagreeable restrictions of diet or ordinary pursuits. They strengthen the stomach and brace the nerves. Holloway's Pills are peculiarly adapted for reno vating systems enfeebled by lat e h o urs, hard living, over anxiety, or any oth er excess which is k nown to debilitate alld exhaust the human constitution. COUNTRY MARKETS. -- , 1 , - LEICESTER-SATURDAY. The weather has been more favourable for seed sowing this last week, and a fair quantity is already in the ground. —New white wheat, 41s to 445; red, 39s to 41s per 36 stone. Old red, 39s to 41s per 36 stone. Barley, malting, new, 34s to 38s per qr.•, grinding, 29s to 32s ; old oats, 25s to 30s ; new oats, 22s to 25s per 24 stone. Beans, old, 38s to 42s per 38 stone ; flour, 30s to 35s per 20 stone. NORWICH-SATURDAY. There was a fair supply of wheat to-day, and for all samples late prices were maintained. There was about the usual attendance of farmers. A fair show of barley, and sales were made at fully late rates. Flour in favour of the buyer. White wheat. 43s to 453 I Red wheat 38s to 41s Malting barley ...36s to 38s 1 Chevalier barley 36s to 3 7s Distilling d 0..... 33 s to 35 s I Oats.. 24q to 281 Flour, 31s Od to —s Od per sack from the miller. GRANTHAM-SATURDAY. Old white wheat, 40s to 44s ; red, 40s to 43s`per 36st. ; new white, 40sito 435; red, 38s to 40s. Malting barley, 31s "to 33s per qr ; kgnnding, 28s to 30s; oats, old, 28s t) 30s; new, 20s to 24s ; beans, 40s to 425; peas, 34s to 40s. NORTIIAMPTON-SATURDA.Y. - - - There was a fair show of wheat to. day from the farmers, and the best sorts were held at a trifle over late c u r renc i e s. —White wheat, 40s to 44s ; red, 35s to 42s ; fine, —s to —s per qr. Barley, 35s to 39s—grinding, 28 s t o 30 s; Oats, 28s to 32s per 24 stone. Beans, 33s to 42.9. Peas, 34s to 40s per qr. YORK-SATURDAY. - - We were moderately supplied with new wheat to-day, with a good demand for the best sorts at full rates. Bar ley a moderate show, ana a healthy business. Wheat, red 36s tol4os Oats.... lBs to 20s White do .40s to 44s Beans . 40, to —8 Barley .30s to 328 Peas ....—s to —8 Malt, 62s to 64s per qr.; rye, 30s per qr ; flour, 30s to 32s per sack. NOTTINGHAM-SATURDAY. The supply of wheat at market to-day was .noderate, and very few old sorts on offer. The demand firm at late , rates. —White wheat, from 41s to 45s ; red wheat, 35s to 425. Barley—malting, 33s to 40s ; grinding, 28s to 31s. Oats old, at 24s to 31s Od; new, 22s to 265. Beans sold at 38s to 43s per qr. ; new, 38s ter 425. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. liistralia and Mauritius, via Southampton. Nov. 19. via Marseilles Nov. 13. Brazil and Cape Verde, by British packet. Nov. 4. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Oct. 29. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southaropton Nov. 2. via Marseilles Oct. 27. Falkland Islands Gibraltar, via Southampton Oct. 26. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton Oct. 26. via Marseilles Oct. 27. India (Bombay), via Southampton via Marseilles Portuga1.... Aalts., Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Oct. 25. via Marseilles Oct. 21. Newfoundland Oporto and Vigo U. S. and British N. America, by Brit.packet .... Oct 22 ..... 'by U.S. packet by Canadian packet Oct. 23. W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneritre .. Nov. 10. Bahamas, via New York Mexico.. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, California. and Briti s h C o l um bi a . 1 Oct. 29. A Madrid letter in the Messager of Bayonne says :—" The candidateship of M. Rios-Rosas to the presidency of the future Cortes, begins, as I had foreseen, to meet with difficulties. An important fraction of the Conservative party openly reject it, and other members feel a certain repugnance to raise a man to those functions whose imperious character does not allow him to maintain the same attitude for a year together. The Espana put forward the candidateship of M. Seija Lozano, whom the Government would very will ingly accept if it did not fear that he might be come the cause of a rupture with the chief of the old dissident party. M. Seija Lozano, more over, stands in the list of the new Senators, whose nomination is expected to appear in the official journal from one day to another. The congress of lawyers, to which all of that profession in Spain were invited some months ago, is to ope n on the 27th. It will hold four sittings, and discuss as many questions of jurisprudence. The _lberia and the Novedades having been questioned with a certain degree of haughtiness by the Discussion, as to the tendency of some speeches made by M. Olozaga in Catalonia, replied they were ignorant of what their chief might have said, and that they wouldinot accept the responsibility of his expres sions, when they ceased to be in conformity with the principles of the party. THE YANKEES' POCKET HERCULES, otherwise " The Infant Napoieon."—An incident, says a para graph in the Washington Chronicle, a genuine specimen of Transatlantic journalism, which occurred in the city of Philadelphia in the winter of 1826-7 is particularly worthy of record in our present crisis, inasmuch as it relates to the early history of one who fills a position commanding the attention and admiration of the world, and particularly of our own country. will premise by saying 1 was in Phila delphia in the winter spoken of, attending medical lectures under a distinguished surgeon, then a professor in one of the institutions of the city. A son was born to our pro fessor, and the event scarcely transpired before the father announced it to his delighted pupils. Scales were instantly brought from a neighbouring grocer. Into one dish was placed the oabe, into the other all the weights. The beam was raised, but the child moved not I The father, empty ing his pockets, threw in his watch, coin, keys, knives, and lancets, but to no purpose—the little hero could not be moved / He conquered everything I And at last, while adding more and more weight, the cord supporting the beam gave way, and broke, rather than the giant in. fant would yield I The father was Dr. WClellnn, and the son—General M'Clellan I our young commander on the Potomac. The country will see a prophetic charm in this incident. Truly, ho was weighed in the balance and not found wanting. May his present and future life stand the test as well I Surrounded as he is by traitors at home, while rampant rebellion is before him, I hear him amidst the jealousy and envy of cavillers quietly praying with Job—" Let me be weighed in an even balence, that God may know my integrity 1" This beautiful incident of Gene ral;M'Clellan's youth was not written subsequent to the Week's Campaign before Richmond, but at a time when he was the great idol of the North, and had much patron age within his gift. [AnvEnTlSEMENT.]—Consumption, all nervous, bilious, liver, and stomach complaints, in every stage, are only ag gravated and accelerated by drugs of every description, but perfectly curable by Du Barry's health restoring Revalenta Arabica Food, as proved by thousands of cases which had been considered hopeless. We quote a few.—Cure No. 62,914. Miss Lange, 18 years of age, cured after the medical men had abandoned all hopes of her recovery from the last stage of pulmonary consumption, with fearful cough, expectoration, exhaustion, spitting of blood, perspirations, hollow cheeks, emaciated to a skeleton. She is now, thank God, a perfectly healthy, blooming, flesh y girl,.—N. Lange, Commissaire de Police. Cure, No. 46, 270 . Mr. James Roberts, of Frimley ' Surrey, of thirty y ears ' diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derangement, and partial deafness.—Cure, No. 47,121. Miss Elizabeth Jacobs, of extreme nervousness, indigestion, gatherings, low spirits, and nervous fancies.—Cure, No. 64,816. The Rev. James T. Campbell, Fakenham, Norfolk, of indigestion and torpidity of the liver, which had resisted all medical treatment. In tins, 11b, 2s 9d ; 21b, 48 6d ; 51b, lls ; 121 b, .225; 241 b, 40s. Barry du Barry and Co., No. 77, Regent-street, London ; also Fortnum and Mason; and all grocers and chemists in every town of the - United Kingdom. Births. BURT.—On the 24th inst., at 40, Highbury New-park, the wife of Robert Kingston Burt, Esq., of a daughter. CA.RR.—On the 22d inst., at The Knoll, Blackheath, Mie. Mark William Carr, of a son. D E NT.—On the 22d inst., at The Grove, Balham, the wife of Stanley Dent, Esq., of a daughter. TURNER.—On the 24th inst., at West Lodge, Croydon, the wife of James Turner, Esq., of a son. Marriages. BEATSON---STOICES.--On the 21st inst., atWorfield Church, Shropshire, David Beatson, Esq., youngest son of the late John Beatson, Esq., of Rotherhithe, Surrey, to Sarah Catherine, y oungest d aug h ter of the late Michael Smit h St o k es , & q., BRTSTOW—H of Boughton , near Bridgnorth, Shropshire. A.RRISON.—On the 22d inst., at St. Mark's, Kennington, Henry Wm. Bristow, F.R S., only so n of Major-General H. Bristow, to Eliza, second daughter of David Harrison, Esq., of Upper-green, Kennington park. Deaths. BuLLEL—On tho 191 h inst., at Edinburgh, Lieut. Edward Buller, R.N., one of the Naval Knights of Winds aged 59. EXETER.—On the 22d inst., at Bishopstowe, Deborah ilary, wife of Henry, Lord Bishop of Exeter. JOSLING.—On the 15th Aug , killed in action on board 11.M.5. Euryalus, in Japan, Captain J. J. S. JoslinP R.N., second son of the late T. Josling, Esq., of Lis' bon. Knics'rox.—On the 19th inst., at his residenee, Bittoo , near Bath, William Wykelram Kingston, Esq., age d 62. 111240,m16. —On the 22d inst., at 85, Hyde-park-garden s t General Roderick Macueil, Colonel of the 78th High" landers. PETEILS.—On the 21st inst , at The Grange, Kilburn, gia dlesex, Thomas Peters, Esq., aged 85. Small —On the 22d inst., at Hull, John Lee Smith, J.P., aged 66. London: Prinzod and Pu.*Mished by WILLIANIANDRO" V6 ,,' of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SuN Office No. I '7 Strand, in the Precinct of the `.savoy. ;n the Coun t/ ° idiatileses.7-MondaY, October 20, Iso3. I 1,,,( to (1( 01 11( Cit In 18 de OD be an }Lit Eti COI