The Sun. — London, England, 1863-03-18 00:00:00

IMPERIAL P. HOUSE OF LORDS—Last Evening. Lord RUDESDA.LE, in the absence of the LORD CHAN CELLOR, took his seat 011 the woolsack at five o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Cowes and Newport Railway, the Greenock and NVemyss Bay Railway, and the Van Diemen's Land Com pany Bills were read a third time and passed. UNION RELIEF AID ACT CONTINUANCE BILL. This bill went through committee, and was reported without amendment. GUNPOWDER IN EDINBURGH CASTLE. The Earl of AIRLIE asked the Under-Secretary for War whether it was the case that 100 tons of gunpowder were stored in Edinburgh Castle, and if not, what was the quantity usually kept there. The noble lord said a very active correspondence had lately been going on in Scotland relative to the amount of gunpowder stored in Edinburgh Castle, and one of the writers stated that in the event of an explosion taking place, 310 t only Would great danger be done to the Castle, but to the town itself. He did not think there was the slightest necessity for the storage of so large a quantity as 100 tons, which was the greatest quantity, he had been informed, ever in store there. Earl DE GREY and RIPON said the noble earl had been correctly informed as to the quantity of powder in store at Edinburgh Castle. The actual, amount was 2,700 barrels, which was something over 100 tons ; but the reason for so large a quantity was that ammunition was issued from the castle to the whole of the southern districts in Scotland. There had always been a large quantity of powder stored there, though of late years there was more on account of the firing by the spread of the Volunteer movement, The powder was kept in a bomb-proof magazine. He did not think there was any need for him to say anything about the conse quences of an explosion. The Earl of DALHOUSIE thought there was no neces• city for keeping so large a quantity in the place. It could easily be forwarded as required. The Earl of MALME ; BURY referred to the Tower of London, as he had known a large quantity of crates and other combustibles being thrown on the quay, and he need not say the danger of such a calamity as an explosion should most carefully be avoided. Earl DE GREY and RIPON said he would inquire into the matter. The Earl of HARDWICKE said there need be no fear about the powder in the magazines, as it was safer there than anywhere else. They were so constructed as to almost preclude accident. The subject then dropped. Their lordships thea adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS—Last Evening. The SPEAKER took the chair at 4 o'clock. PETITIONS. The Sheriffs of the City of London appeared at the bar and presented a petition agreed to by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen in Common Council assembled. Its purport did not transpire. _ THIRD READINGS. The Cambridge, St. John's-lane Stoppage, &c., Bill was read a third time. SCOTTISH NORTHERN JUNCTION RAILWAY BILL. The order for the second reading of this bill was die. charged. SALE OF INTOXICATING LIQUORS ON THE SABBATH. A great number of petitions were presented against the sale of intoxicating liquors on the Sabbath. WRITS PROHIBITION BILL. Mr. BOUVERIE intimated that it was his intention to move, on the second reading, that the order be discharged, ao that he might withdraw it, and introduce it in an amended state on an early day after Easter. BANKRUPTCY AMENDMENT BILL. Mr. AYRTON gave notice that he intended to propose, on the motion that the Speaker leave the chair, that the bill be referred to a select committee, with power to take evidence. TICKETB OF LEAVE. In reply to Mr. WATLINGTON, Sir G. GREY intimated that certain conditionswere en dorsed on tickets•of-leave in Ireland, but never on those issued in England. He should not object to produce a copy of the conditions endorsed on tickets-of-leave in Eng land if the hon. member thought proper to move for them. ANNUAL BANKRUPTCY RETURN. In reply to Mr. MURRAY, The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that some unex pected delay had taken place in the preparation of these voluminous returns, but he might state that he hoped to lay them on the table of the house on the first day's sitting after Easter. RIOTS AT CORK ON THE 10TH. In reply to Mr. VANCE, Sir R. PEEL said that the Government had received information with respect to the distarbances referred to. It appeared that some disturbances took place on the 7th instant, and, in consequence, the autho rities had obtained the services of 80 of the constabu lary. On the night of the 10th some disturbances took place, some illuminated houses were attacked, and the mayor was very roughly handled. At four in the morning two detachments of the military were marched into the town, but quiet had previously been restored. Some of the rioters had been made amenable to justice before the local authorities; but the investigations had not been concluded. Rewards had been offered, with the approval of the Government, for the discovery of the chief perpetrators of the outaages. CLOSING PUBLIC-HOUSES ON SUNDAYS. Mr. SQAMES moved for leave to introduce a Bill to compel the closing of public-houses on the Sabbath. He should be glad to know from the right hon. gentleman the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he might rely upon his support ? Mr. PACKE moved that leave be not given. Sir G. GREY said it was rather unusual to oppose the introduction of a bill ; he should not oppose the introduc tion of the bill, but at the same time he could give the hon. gentleman no hope that he should support the second read ing except very materially modified. Mr. BAINES hoped the hon. member (Mr, Packe) would not take so unusual a step as to oppose the introduc tion of the bill, which was promoted by many estimable people and supported by innumerable petitions, signed by hundreds of thousands of the people. (Hear, hear.) The plan proposed by the bill worked exceedingly well in Scotland, and the Royal Commission that had been issued had reported in favour of its operation, It did not follow that the bill would pass in the present form, it could be materially amended in committee, and the hen, gentleman anduther opponents of the bill would have many opportu • nities of opposing it. (Hear, hear,) Mr. ROEBUCK intimated that in consequence of the unusual and extraordinary course adopted by those who op posed the bill, he should move, when it was in committee, that every club be shut on the Sabbath. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) Mr. HORSFALL said the present law was full of incon sistency. They prohibited the sale of bread and other edibles on the Sabbath, but yet tolerated the sale of intoxi cating liquors, which were not necessaries of life. (Hear, hear.) The constituency he represented (Liverpool) were very generally in favour of the bill. (Hear, hear.) The house then divided, when there appeared.— For the introduction of the bill Against it 52 Majority —B9 Leave was then given to introduce the bill, and it was accordingly read a first time. THE GAME LAWS. Mr. W. FORSTER then moved for a select committee to inquire into the operation of the laws relating to game, and to report whether, in their opinion, any, and if any, 'what, alterations are required therein. The hon. member supported hie proposition in a long and elaborate address. Lord ENFIELD seconded the motion. Ha supported the second reading of the poaching bill of last session, but opposed its third reading ; and, as an instance of the oppo • sition the bill met with in that house, he instanced that thirty divisions took place with reference to it. He referred to the debate of last session, and to the arguments used in support of it, and observed that the bill was so changed in its progress through the house that he could not support its third reading, and was anxious for an inquiry into the sub ject. The lovers of sport, the ratepayers, the farmers, the p ol ice, and the general public were interested in the ques and it was for their benefit that he supported the pre e,pat motion. He had no desire to see an old English pas time degenerate and die out, but he did not wish to see it supported at the expense of the ratepayers, who had to supply, a s i t had been said, police as amateur watchmen PTA preservers. Mr. THOMPSON moved, as an amendment, "That, in the opinion of this house, it is desirable that the appoint hicnt of a select committee to inquire into the operation of the game laws should be postponed until further experience shall have been obtained of the working of the Prevention of Poaching. Act, 25 and 26 Vie., c. 1 14." He said that to l eg i s l a te first and inquire after was opposed to ge nera l opinion. To justify such a course, the hon. gentleman should have shown th at such mischievous results had en sued since the passing of the Act as to call for i nquiry. (Hear, hear.) He was nei ther surprised nor disappointed to find that the hon. gentleman had no proofs of such mis chievous results ; and, as he was far too acute am an not to see how much his case would have bee n strengthened.iuf he m could have brought them forward, they ht ass e that, as he had brought none forward, they could not be , procured. (Hear, hear.) On the other hand, there were several striking results in favour of the act, considering the short time it had been in operation. The chief constable for York informed him that four regular poachers had abandoned poaching altogether, and the remaining known poachers there exercised their callings less frequently than before. In Knaresborough, which was a small town, though famous for its breed of poachers—(laughter)—the su perintendent of police informed him that the new Poach iutz Act had lessened the depredations of poachers in that division, and that several notorious professional poachers bad abandoned that calling, and taken to as honest mode of living. (Hear, hear.) He had received the same kind of information from Hull. The police of the West Riding reported that since the passing of the act there had been a decrease of the number of persons summoned, and that oti the whole the act had worked well. Now these returns were wonderfizlly consistent in favour of the successful operation of the act. At the same time it should not be forgotten that the act only bore the date August 7, 1862, and therefore that it was only in operation Nome seven months. (Hear, hear.) Indeed, bearing in mind that the decision of the Lord Chief anstice, to which reference had been made, was only given on February 4, it might be said the act was not two months in operation. (Hear.) If then the committee was granted, either their conclusion must be based upon the effects which had come to light within the space of two months, or they must ignore the most re cent legislation on the subject, although they were quite aware that legislation was working most satisfactorily. Great stress had been laid on the question whether game ought to be made property or not; and no doubt that was one of the most important considerations that would come before the committee. But the Act passed last session had a most legitimate bearing upon the question. because by it, for the first time, game was placed under the partial protection of the law. Surely, then, time must be allowed for them to judge whether that act went far enough towards the making game property. Undoubtedly the law respecting game was in a very anomalous state; it was too well known to be so to country gentlemen. (Hear, hear,) The law recognised the possession of game, it licensed the killing of game and the sale of game, but it stopped short of making game property, and in that way it created a privi ledged class of plunderers. (Hear, hear.) The distinction was most impolitic, for thereby the police were trained up to protect a particular class of offenders, who, if this branch of their trade were cut from under them, would naturally take to some other department of crime. He trusted he had said enough to prove that it would be premature to appoint this committee until time had been allowed to counteract the indications which had been afforded that the act of last session was working well. (Hear, hear.) Mr. PAULL, who throughout his observations was met with cries for a division, was understood to explain to the house that he had not fulfilled his assurance of introducing a bill making game property, in order that he might first see how the act of last session worked. He thought it was undesirable that the question of the game laws should be reopened until ample time had been allowed for that purpose. Sir G. GREY, who likewise rose amidst cries of "Divide," said that, having last year stated that he would willingly assent to the appointment of a select committee for the consi deration of the game laws, if it should be moved for in the course of the present eession, he felt bound, in redemption of that pledge, to support the motion of his hon. friend the mem ber for Bradford. And, indeed, when he looked at the state in which the question was, he must say that such inquiry was not only reasonable, but it was called for. In the year 1828 the House of Lords appointed a select committee to inquire into the operation of the game laws, and the result of their labours was most beneficial. They recognised a sort of quali fied property in game by allowing it to be sold by licensed dealers ; and, on the other hand, they allowed any one to obtain a certificate to sell game. Subsequently the Night Poaching Act was passed, which contained several severe provisions against armed night poachers, and under that Act many convictions annually took place. Looking to the state of the case at present, the fact struck them that a large proportion of the crime of the country was due to the in fringement of the game laws. (Hear,) In the year 1857 there were of charges before magistrates for infringement of the game laws in the day time 3,567 cases, and of night poaching 1,883 cases; altogether 5,450 cases, against 10,135 in 1862. Well, that state of things demanded the most serious attention of the house. (Hear.) In 1845 a com mittee was appointed to consider the operation of the game laws, mainly on account of the great increase of crime in connection with the game laws. But that reasoning ought to be much more powerful nowadays, because of the un doubted increase in the number of those offences ; an increase owing, as he was bound to declare, to the over-preservation of game, a practice which could not be too strongly reprobated. (Hear.) He must say he looked back with the greatest satis faction to the opposition which he offered to the bill of last session, an opposition which led to the most essential modi fication in certain arbitrary and unconstitutional provisions which it embodied. At the same time he admitted that the Act, in the shape in which it passed that house, was calcu lated to prove a useful measure in many respects. But it had not succeeded in breaking up those large gangs o night poachers in the county of Cheshire, the suppression of which was one of the specific objects of the introduction of the bill, On the other hand, poaching had been all but put an end to in the county of Warwick; and it surely was proper for the house to inquire how such opposite re• sults had been brought about. (Hear, hear.) Mr. NEWDEGATE considered that it would not be be coming the dignity of the house to revise their decision of last session before the law had had anything like a fair Lord A. CHURCHILL was understood to suggest that licences should be withheld from game preservers. The house divided. The numbers were— For the committee 157 Against Majority —l9 CHANGE OF NAMES. Mr. ROEBUCK then rose to move an address for re turns of the names and titles of the various officers of the College of Arms in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and their duties; together with the names of persons who had applied for grants to change their arms since 1850, and re fusals (if any), with reasons for refusal, and the fees that had been demanded. The hon. and learned gentleman commenced by laying down as a legal proposition, that every British subject had a perfect right to take any name, at any time and upon any occasion he pleased, without leave or license from anybody, except for the purposes of fraud. It was true that licences were sometimes granted to change names, but those licenses were of no more value than a license would be to walk the streets of London, seeing that the right to:walk the streets existed long before the licence. In support of this view the hon. and learned gentleman quoted the dicta of Lords Stowell, Ellenborough, and Tenterden, which he declared to be uncontradicted and then cited the recent case of Mr. Jones, of Clytha. It appeared that Mr, Jones had two sons, the first of whom was known as Mr. Jones of Llanarth, and the second as Mr. Jones of Clythar. The first son wanted to marry a daughter of Sir Benjamin Hall, and, having changed his name to Herbert, he did so. The second wished to become an officer of volunteers, and at this point it was necessary to bring forward the name of Lord Llan over. When his lordship heard that the uncle of his son in•law had taken the name of Herbert, he told the young gentleman that he could not allow him to take that name, and then stood up very strongly for what he called the Queen's prerogative—a course of proceeding very remark able when they came to consider the antecedents of that noble lord. (Hear.) There was an old proverb that would exactly describe the case, but he would not then repeat it, (A laugh.) However, seeing that every effort had been used to throw discredit on Mr. Jones in the Welsh news papers, he thought the facts ought to be stated. It ap peared that an application had been made at the Heralds' office by Mr. Jones, who said, "I suppose there will be no difficulty about my changing my name ?" to which it was replied, " Oh, yes, there will." " Well, but," said Mr. Jones, "my nephew has taken the name of Herbert." "Yes, but that was through the influence of Lord Llan over," to which was added, " You should learn the law." Upon that hint he at once assumed the name of Herbert, without any licence. He wished the house to understand that there was no question that a man (except for fraudu- lent purposes) might take any name he pleased without payment of fees to any person whomsoever ; and from his place in Parliament, as a lawyer, he would be responsible for that statement. It might be objected that that was a very mischievous state of the law, but that was a matter he could not help. It was the law of the land, and he appealed to any lawyer in the house to deny it. He had known a man in Yorkshire to be indicted as John of the Stile, because living near a stile he was known by that name. A man might be named John with the Squint, and his son might be named after him. Suppose a nice young lady coming into a room was to be announced as " Miss Shuffie bottom"—(laughter)—it would be a good thing for her father to change his name. It was said that " Plantagen e t," " Stuart," we r e such names as "Herbe r t," usually taken 'by fifth -rate actors and inferior members of the House of Lords. (Laughter.) But that was a mistake, for very influential members of the House of Lords bad changed their names. Men of great titles had taken names which he thought ridiculous. A man of the great histori cal name of Seymour, for instance, had changed it into the pantomimic name of St, Maur. (A laugh.) The late Duke of Wellington's name had been Wesley, but while in India he changed his name from Arthur Wesley to Arthur Wel lesley, and the Horse Guards recognised the change in the next edition of the "Army List." He saw the Secretary of State for War in his place, and he wished to ask him whether an officer of the name of Jones had not applied to him to be allowed to take the name of St. Paul ? His father's name had been Paul, and he called himself St. Paul. (Great laughter.) He was told the right hon. gentleman had refused to allow this officer to change his name, and he wanted to know upon what grounds, for there was nothing to prevent Sir Charles Jones from calling himself Sir Charles St. Paul without asking leave of the right hon. gentleman, for all the right hon. gentleman had to do as an administra- tive officer was to obey the law and record the change of name. He had intended to ask for returns since 1810; but he was told the record did not go so far back; so he would merely move for the returns since 1850 ; of the number of persons to whom Royal licenses had been granted, together with the names of the suc ceesful applicants ; and also the names of those who had applied but had been refused, with the reasons assigned for the refusal. It was quite true that the Queen might refuse licenses, but there was no necessity why any person should apply for a license. The Queen's name was used, but the matter rested with the right hon. gentleman opposite and his subordinate officers. After that he wanted a statement of the rules by which th e granting or refusing was regu lated, and the amount of fees paid into the hands of the officials. He simply wanted the law to be followed, and no favour or affection to be shown. (Cheers.) Col. CLIFFORD defen ded en d the f c t o h u e r lae transaction,teLord nby uclieh he la was beginning to do from his per sonal knowledge Lno said ve h r e from of all the parties and all the facts. The hon, and learned ~, PIIE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 18, 1863. gentleman had not fairly and elearly stated the facts to the house; but, as he knew them, he could assert that, so far from Lord Llanover being actuated by spite or malice to wards Mr. Herbert, he had to his own knowledge expressed his intention to give him a commission in the militia, and plate him in the commission of the peace as soon as ho had become of age. There was no reason why Lord Llanover should have more spite or malice towards Mr, Herbert, as such, than as Mr. Jones. But the fact was that when Mr. Jones wrote to the clerk of the peace to have his name gazetted as Herbert, nobody beyond the circle of his own family was aware of such an intention. (Hear.) Sir G. GREY said he did not wish to enter into the personal question which had been brought too promi nently under notice by the hon. and learned gentleman ; nor did he care to discuss the legal points ef the question. It was true that Mr. Herbert of Llanarth had some time ago, with the concurrence of several noble families, applied for a Royal license to change his name from Jones to Herbert; and if Mr. Herbert of Clytha had pursued the same course his application would have been granted. Not many weeks ago he had received an application to have a gentleman's name changed from Jones to St. Paul, but he could not comply with every application for changing a name from mere caprice. (Hear.) There would be no end of confusion and litigation if a man had one name to-day and took another to-morrow ; and he apprehended in the case of a legacy a person so changing his name would run the risk of losing it. The question was one of fact and usage, rather than of law, and whenever there was any good and proper grounds given for the change of name, the Royal licence was granted. (Hear, hear.) In consequence of the nume rous applications for change of name some 200 years ago, it became necessary to refer them to the College of Arms, but Sir R. Peel had very wisely and properly deoided that where the parties were not actuated by caprice, no refer ence should be made to the College of Arms. The returns he was prepared to give were the number of applications made, and the number of licences granted, from which could be ascertained the number• of refusals. He would have no objection at the same time to give the hon. and learned gen tleman a return ef the fees which had been paid, and he trusted this would be sufficient for all purposes, and satisfy the hon. and learned gentleman. Mr. ROEBUBK asked when the usage referred to began. He denied that it was a matter of usage, and asserted that it was a matter of law, giving an instance in the case of one of the sons of the late Dr. Pye Smith, an eminent divine, who took the Christian name of Pye and made it a part of the surname. He asked the right hon. gentleman the Home Secretary if rules had not been drawn up for the guidance of the Home office in these matters, and if he would pro duce them. The SOLICITOR •GENERA.L said that to the best of his knowledge and belief there was no law on the subject. Anyone was at liberty to change his name, but the public were not bound to recognise it. It was like calling " spirits from the vasty deep," but would they come? The Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench lately stated, in stn application for change of name, that they did not acknowledge the applicant's legal right to do it. It was neither reasonable or proper that persons in office should accede to every capricious assumption of the names of fa milies to which the persons had no right, either from pro perty or connections. The original motion was withdrawn, and that proposed by the Home Secretary was substituted and agreed to. THE THAMES EMBANKMENT (SOUTH SIDE) BILL. Mr. COWPER rose to ask leave to introduce a bill for the embankment of part of the river Thames, on the south side thereof, in the parish of St. Mary, Lambeth, and for other purposes. The right hon. gentleman said this new work would extend from Westminster-bridge to the gas works near Vauxhall-bridge, and it would be a convenient thoroughfare between those two places. The river Thames was the great feature of the metropolis. London owed its origin to it and its commercial prosperity, and it was now not merely the capital of the British empire, but of the civilised world, at large. The river, though greatly used for commercial purposes, had been much neglected in all other respects, for they had allowed the mud to continue along the banks and to disseminate its effluvium far and wide. On the Middlesex side of the river there was a mile and a half of embankment, from Chelsea to the Houses of Parliament, and by the act of last cession there would be another mile and a half, from Westminster to Blackfriare-bridge. On the south side there was a short embankment near Bankside, and another bit near; Bishop's-walk. Those were portions of ancient embankments, but high tides flowed over and put the inhabitants to great inconvenience, so much so that an embankment was urgently required for the south side. A thoroughfare was also much required from West minster to Vauxhall and Nine Elms station. The proposed embankment would be a beautiful road, and command a full view of the Houses of Parliament, and it would remove portions of the mud bank. The con struction of the works would be given to the Metropolitan Board of Works, and the cost would be made the second charge upon the Metropolitan Improvement Funds ; the cost of the northern embankment and the new street to the Mansion-house being the first charge. The bill contained no provision for raising a fund or a tax, but simply gave the Metropolitan Board power to expend moneys. The bill was founded, in part, upon the recommendations of the Royal Commissioners, but it did not propose to carry out all of them, as the whole would be too expensive to be dealt with at present. (Hear, hear.) Mr. W. WILLIAMS was sorry to hear that there was no intention to carry this embankment lower down than Westminster-bridge, and this bill would remedy only a part of the evils which existed on the Surrey side of the rives. Recently the houses had been flooded, and great damage done to a large quantity of valuable property, and yet the right hon. gentleman was not going to provide a remedy for the future against these disastrous consequences. He did not feel satisfied with the bill, and hoped the embank ment would be carried to Blackfriars-bridge. (Hear, hear.) Mr. CUBITT said the northern embankment was con sidered and decided upon not so much for the sake of the embankment as that it would provide a great public neces sity, a new thoroughfare, and also enable the new sewer to be made without interfering with the traffic of the Strand and Fleet-street. No such necessity existing on the south side of the river as to the continuation of the embankment to Blackfriars-bridge. The hon. gentleman must recollect that there was not a yard of ground on the Surrey side which was not occupied by trades of great importance, and the house could not interfere with them without inflicting enormous damage on the inhabitants generally, and being called upon to pay large compensations. He thought those persons who occupied the river side were bound to raise their walls so as to keep back the water, and prevent the flooding of the houses ; and the public ought not to be re quired to pay the expense of it. But there were few places where the water overflowed on the south side. The new road which the bill sought to construct would be a great public convenience along the side of the river. Leave was then given to introduce the bill, and it was subsequently read a first time. SCOTCH LEGISLATION. On the motion of Sir J. OGILVY, leave was given to introduce the following bills : A bill to amend the Law with respect to Statute Labour Roads and Bridges within Burghs in Scotland : and A bill to provide for the Transfer of the Mangementof the Statute Labour tioads and Bridges within Burghs in Scot land. THAMES EMBANKMENT (NORTH SIDE) BILL. On the motion of Mr. CO WPER the following commit tee wee nominated on this bill:—Mr. Cowper, Mr.W. Cubitt, Mr. Bramston, Mr. Tite, Mr. W. Wood, Mr. Ay rton, and five members to be nominated by the committee of selection ; power to send for persons, papers, and records; five to be the quorum. THE CASE OF JESSIE isPLAUCHLAN. On the motion of Mr. STIRLING, an adress was agreed to for copies of several documents relating to the case of Jessie M'Lauchlan, convicted of murder at Glasgow in Sep tember, 1862. SALE OF GAS ACT AMENDMENT. Mr. BRUCE obtained leave to bring in a bill amending the act for regulating measures used in sales of gas, and the bill was subsequently read a first time. WRITS (PROHIBITION) BILL. On the motion of Mr. BOUVERIE, the order of the day for the second reading of this bill was discharged, in order to permit the introduction of another bill on the same sub ject by the hon. member. SUP PLY. The report of supply was brought up, and the several re solutions passed in committee were agreed to. CONSOLIDATED FUND (L 10,000,000) BILL. This bill was passed through committee. POST OFFICE SAVINGS BANKS BILL. On the order of the day for the third reading of this bill, Mr. HUBBARD took occasion to complain of the inser tion in the bill of the clause which enabled the Chancellor of the Exchequer to convert investments made in the 2i per cents, into terminable annuities. A provision of the kind had an important bearing upon the taxation of the country, and it ought to have been made the subject of a specific measure instead of being added as a sort of supplemental enactment to a bill with which it had no direct connection. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it was quite true that a provisionof the kind did throw an increased annual charge upon the Consolidated Fund, but then it was for the purpose of effecting a general ultimate reduction in its amount. As to the objection that the provision was not introduced in proper parliamentary form, all he had to say was, that be was only giving extension to a principle in full and daily operation. Scarcely a day passed that persons did not go to the National Debt-office, in the Old Jewry, to pur chase terminable annuities of the Government, giving, in exchange the corresponding value in perpetual annuities. The bill was then read a third time and passed. HARES (IRELAND) BILL. This bill, as amended, was considered. The house adjourned at 20 minutes after 8 o'clock. Importing Tea without colour on the leaf pre vents the Chinese passing off inferior leaves as in the usual kinds. Horniman's Tea is uncoloured, therefore, alwaye good alike. Sold in packets by 2,280 agents. The Nationalities states that an amnesty will shortly be published in favour of those officers and men Of the Italian army who were found among the Garibaldians at Aspromonte, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Yesterday the annual general meeting of the friends and supporters of this institution was held at the London Tavern, the Right Hon. Lord Lovaine, M.P., P.C., in the chair. The meeting was influentially and most numerously attended. The CHAIRMAN expressed the pleasure he felt in taking the chair at the annual meeting of so valu able an institution as the National Lifeboat Society. It was a society whose philanthropic objects came home to the heart of every Englishman. (Hear, hear.) The clear and important facts which were detailed in its annual report could not fail to elicit the admiration of every one. (Hear, hear.) After some further appropriate remarks, his lordship then called on Richard Lewis, Dq., to read the annual report. The report began by expressing the deep sense the committee of management of the institution felt of the confidence which had been placed in them by the British public, as evinced by the continued liberal support extended to it. The report referred to the gratifying fact that his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales had become a Vice-Patron of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, and a liberal contributor to its fonds—a post which for twelve years had been worthily occupied by the late la mented Prince Consort. During the past year the institution had placed fourteen new lifeboats on the coast, namely, at Blakeney, Kirkcudbright, Kingstown, Poolbeg, Howth, Withernsea, Thorpe New Brighton, Appledore, Guernsey, Porthlevcn, Ty nemouth, Fleetwood, and Newhaven; six of this number occupying new stations, and the re mainder replacing worn-out or inferior boats. Other lifeboats were in course of construction for Bude haven, Swansea, and other places. Transporting carriages and substantial boat-houses had been pro vided for all the lifeboats. Six lifeboats had also been built for the Portuguese Government, by the Messrs. Forrestt, on the institution's plan, and one for the Colonial Government of New Zealand. The institution had now 121 lifeboats on the coasts of the United Kingdom. Of the 14 new boats placed on the coats during the past year, no less than eight had been the special gifts of individuals, and ano ther, that at Thorpe, in Suffolk, was presented to the society by the town of Ipswich. The lifeboats of the institution, during the year 1862, had saved 358 persons from wrecked ships, nearly the whole of them under ciccumstances of imminent peril, when no other description of b•at could have per formed the service. For these services the institu tion had granted rewards amounting to £915188.1d. On these and quarterly exercise, the lifiboats had been manned by upwards of 6,000 persons, and hap pily with one single exception, without loss of life. Taking into account a considerable series of years, the average number of shipwrecks on our coasts is 1,000, and the loss of life therefrom amounts to 800 persons. The gales of the past year were unusually heavy, and the result was chat the number of ship wrecks was 1,490, acompanied by a loss of 644 lives. It was for the British public to decide whether they were satisfied with the sufficiency of the means for saving life from shipwreck now in use on our coasts. During the past year 4,081 lives had been saved from slipwreck on our coast. As usual, ships, ships' beats, and smacks had saved more lives in that perin!, than the lifeboats and the rocket and mortar apparatus. That apparent dis crepancy was capable easy explanation. When a disaster took place in British waters, it generally happened that either asaip or smack was fortunately at hand to render assistance to the crews of the dis tressed vessels. Such lelp was seldom attended with any very great danger (although sometimes it was so), and the men were fre quently brought ashore before any tidings at all had reached the lifeboat station. But the great value of the service rendered by lifeboats could only be appreciated by considering that they were mostly performed on occasions when no other craft could be launched from the shore with safety. The total number of persons saved from shipwreck, from the establishment of the institution in 1824 to the end of the year 1862, either by its lifeboats or by special exertions, for which it has granted re wards, is 12,854. How inadequately words express the aggregate amount of misery which the saving of so many thousands of lives must have prevented. During the past year 13 silver medals, 14 votes of thanks inscribed on vellum, and £1,125 Bs. ld. had been granted by the institution for saving the lives of 574 persons by lifeboats, shoreboats, and other means, on the coasts and outlying banks of the United Kingdom. Einoe the formation of the insti tution it had expended on lifeboat establishments the sum of £67,780, and had voted 82 gold and 718 silver medals for saving life, besides pecuniary awards, amounting together to £16,478. The com mittee expressed their deep acknowledgments to the Board of Trade, the coast guard, the local commit tees, the railway and steam-packet companies, for their continued valuable and zealous co-operation. The total receipts of the institution during the year 1862, amounted to £14,825 ss. ld.; of that sum £2,715 was given by tenevolent individuals to defray the cost of 10 lifeboats. The committee gratefully acknowledge the receipt of the following special contributions from foreign countries :—.£loo from the President of the United States of America, in testimony of his sense of the important labours of the institution to American shipwrecked seamen ; £5O from the Maritime Insurance Company of Fin land, as an expression of their gratitude on becom ing acquainted with the blessed results which had attended the efforts of the Lifeboat Society, the company being convinced that the institution had been the means of saving many a Finland life from certain death; £251 15s. from China, collected at Hong Kong and Shanghae by the kind exertions of the committee's respected colleague, W. H. Har- ton, Esq., during his visit to those dependencies, assisted by Messrs. Gilman and Co., and others. The committee had likewise to express their best thanks to Hugh Taylor, Esq., of Backworth Hall, for his zealous exertions in coilecting £350 towards the cost of the Tynemouth lifeboat and rocket-house. The following legacies had been left to the institution since the last report :—Mrs. Ann Cutto, of Old Kent•road, London, £l,OOO free of duty; T. A. Venables, Esq., of Worcester, £500; Mr. John Jolly, farmer, of Enstone, Oxford, £2lO ; Mr. Thomas Robinson, commercial traveller, of Cheat ham, Manchester, £210; Dr. C. T. West, of King ston-upon-Hull, £lOO ; William Lupton, Esq., of Salford, 1.100; Miss Alice Gedge, of Great Yar mouth, £100; Miss Sarah Tagg, of Eccleshall, £6O; and E. E. Vidal, Esq., of Brighton, £5. The ex penditure of the institution during the same period was £12,177 175., of which sum £5,269 6s. were expended on additional lifeboats, transporting car riages, host-houses, and necessary gear ; a n d £3,977 Os. 4d. on the necessary expenses of repairs, painting, refitting, and inspection ; £1,094 6s. ld. in rewards for services to shipwrecked crews; and £2,242 9s. 10d. for coxswains' salaries,, and quar- terly practice of the boats' crews. The items of receipt and expenditure were detailed in the finan cial statement annexed to the report and audited as usual by a public accountant. From it it was seen that the committee had incurred further liabilities amounting to £3,100 6s. for various lifeboat estab lishments, &e. It has already been observed that 358 shipwrecked sailors have been snatched from a watery grave during the past year, by the lifeboats of the institution. No less than 62 lives were thus rescued during the fearful gales of January last. No society had a stronger claim for general sym pathy and support than the National Lifeboat In stitution, whose lifeboats, under Divine Providence, had so often preserved to an otherwise desolate home a husband, father, or brother. Phe committee therefore appealed with confidence to the country at large, to assist them to maintain in a state of thorough efficiency the 124 lifeboat establishments of the institution. The report having been moved and unanimously adopted, resolutions in furtherance of the objects of the institution were proposed and seconded by S. Cave, Esq., M.P., Rev. G. Ainslie, Admiral Sir G. Sartorius, Montague Gore, Esq., Admiral M'Hardy, Henry Paull, R sq ., M.P., Thomas Baring, Esq., M.P., F.R.S., Admiral Washington, F.R.S., J. E. Johnson, Esq., and I. R. Wilson, Esq. Various other resolutions pledging the meeting to renewed exertions on behalf of this truly benevolent and na tional institution having been passed, and the usual complimentary vote of thanks been given to the chairman, and the same having been acknowledged, the proceedings, which were of a very interesting character, terminated. THE CONFEDERATE STATES, (From the Special Correspondent of the Times.) AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, Jan, 26. It is impossible to travel through the interior of the more remote States of the South without mar velling at the profound ignorance which could ever have induced the Washington Cabinet to conceive that it was possible to reduce the South into sub mission. It is difficult to pace the quiet streets of such towns as Salisbury in North Carolina, Columbia and Charleston in South Carolina, and Augusta in Georgia, without asking whether it is possible that for nearly two years the most devastating war of history can have raged upon this continent, so little conscious do these interior cities appear of its ra vages and privations. That these so-called priva tions exist every where I am far from denying ; but to what do they amount ? The universal story which greets me is that which I have just heard from a citizen of this town. His words were—" I have got so much accustomed to drink milk in the morning and evening, and water at dinner, and I find my health so much better from the absence of either coffee or spirits, that I doubt whether I shall resume their use when coffee is again 20 cents a pound and whisky 12 cents a gallon." There is one great fact which we in England, no less than in the Northern States, have been apt to overlook throughout this mighty struggle. • Compare the in exorable demands and exactions of such a climate as that of the Free States with the slia.ht require ments of these favoured and genial provinces of the sun, and mark the difference between them. In the North the demand for fuel is necessarily enormous, and its absence for one fortnight dur ing eight out of every twelve months would be the death of thousands, and would necessitate immediate peace. The cost of fuel in the city of New York alone is estimated at from 30,000,000 dols. to 40,000,000 dols, annually. The clothing must be much thicker and warmer, the houses more substantial, the food more nourishing and supply ing a larger amount of calorie, the blankets and bed furniture double or treble in quantity and in cost. These are the augmentations of the burdens of civi lized life which are imposed upon England and the larger portion of France, and in a still higher de gree upon the free States of the old Union. But contrast with them the mild demands of the climate of six or seven out of the ten States now in rebel lion, and the difficulty of starving and stinting into submission men whose wants are so icfinitesimal becomes at once apparent. Much less animal food, to begin with, is necessary. There are not 10 days in the year upon which Georgia, Louisiana, Missis sippi, Florida, and Texas, a wood fire is not prefer able to a coal fire. In all the Southern States except Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri, wood supplies sufficient heat to make houses comfortable. Imagine Boston, New York, and Chicago warmed only by wood ! Such is the abundance of timber in all these Southern States that no man possessed of a slave, an axe, and a horse and cart, need ever want it. In Charleston, Columbia, and the town from which I am now writing, and also, I believe, in the cities of North Carolina, gas is generated I from resin and wood ; not such brilliant gas as is derived from Cumberland coal, but sufficient for all purposes ; and a great stride is thus taken in ad vance of the Cimmerian darkness of the streets of Richmond upon which the New York Herald has so long loved to dwell. As I sit during the coldest month of the year writing beside an open window, with no fire in the room, it is easy to believe the statement of old residents here that there are not more than from 60 to 80 days in the year when it is requisite to have a fire for your comfort. The conditions of high civilisation are more labo rious and oppressive as imposed upon Russia and the Northern States than those to which any other !mighty nation, ancient or modern, has been sub jected. Again and again has this circumstance been dinned into the heedless ears of the North ; by no one more ably than by Mr. Elwood Fisher, in a warning lecture which he delivered 14 years ago at Cincinnati, from which the following words are borrowed : " The seats of ancient science and of the arts flourished in the mild climate of the Mediterranean shore, in Southern Burope, Africa, and Asia. In America the ruins of her un recorded civilisation are to be found in the climate of the tropics. The genius of England has carried civilisation to a northern latitude, and that of America has extended it, if not higher in latitude, to a still/more rigorous climate than that of England. The wants of such a climate are great and imperious. Hence we see the fearful struggle of Northern labour for subsistence, and the high rate of mor tality to which it is exposed, notwithstanding the immense aid it has derived from modern machinery and invention. But take from that labour the custom and subject it to the competition of the South, where so little is required for subsistence, and that little so much cheaper, and the result would be far more ruinous to the present system of the North than to that of the South." But if astonishment is felt here at the faot that the North should ever have thought it possible to starve the South into terms, it must be admitted that similar instances of ignorance in regard to these Southern provinces are almost universal in New York and New England. It is a favourite topic with Northern writers to ridicule the igno rance of Englishmen about American affairs. It is safe to assert that if England is ignorant of the South she owes her ignorance to the fact that her information about it has been derived exclusively from Northern sources. It will scarcely be credited hereafter that in the summer of 1860 a partisan tale, of which thousands of copies were sold, should have appeared, in which 68 Repub lican members of Congress publicly attached their names as endorsers, in which a certain Mr. Helper undertook to show that the Sosth was at its last gasp—an opinion which he supported by such asser tions as the following : " The annual hay crop of the Free States is worth con siderably more in dollars and cents than all the cotton, to bacco, rice, hemp, hay, and sugar annually produced in the Slave States." Did it ever occur to Mr. Helper to inquire whe ther the value of this mighty hay crop was absolute and intrinsic, or derived only from the rigorous climate of the North, and from the fact that north of the Potomac and Ohio rivers cattle have to be artificially fed for months and months during the winter ? When we find that, in addition to all the cotton, tobacco, rice, hemp, and sugar which the Southern States produce, they also keep 3,000,000 head of cattle more than the Northern Status, the value of Mr. Helper's hay crop becomes very appa rent. The truth is that the mild and genial climate of the South, the possibility of leaving cattle almost without shelter or food for 12 months in every year, the slight demand for fuel or blankets or woollen clothing, the rich products of that mightest of fertilizers, the sun—form an aggregate of elements of wealth which are incalculable, and which more than co'interact the possession of the sea and of superior numbers, in whict. the North has so long and confidentially reposed its trust. Well may Mr- Cairnes, in his recent work, exclaim : "Marvellous as has been the progress of the Northern States of the Union, it is, I am persuaded, nothing com pared with that in store for the South, as soon as she shall quietly remodel her institutions in the spirit of freedom." Has Mr. Cairnes ever considered how much of the marvellous prosperity of the Northern States is due to the wealth produced in the South by that very slave labour against which his whole book is a protest ? I would venture to refer him to a speech delivered in the Senate of the United States on the 30th of January, 1860, by Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, which is full of striking truths, but from which I have only space to make the following extract : " I say that it is a moderate estimate to suppose that there are from three or four million human beings in the North-Eastern States who owo their livelihood and subsist ence to the commerce of the South, and who but for this commerce would be forced either to emigrate or to starve. In regard to the number who are thus sustained in the North- Western States I have no means of estimating. I only know that the Southern market for their produce is of immense value. I know too that to that market must be credited the supplies which they furnish to those three or four million people who are sustained by the Southern custom in the manufacturing and navigating States of the North-East." It has always seemed to me that there is much error in the popular comparisons with which we are so familiar in England in regard to the wealth and progress of the two great sections of the old Union. It is always assumed that density of population, large cities, and fine edifices are the incontestable evidences of wealth, and that the absence of large and fine cities and a more sparse population are the incontestable evidences of poverty. In regard to population it is notorious that the increase of the native white population in the South has been more steady and rapid than in the North. For instance, between the years 1820 and 1840 thenatural increase of the white population in the North, deducting al together foreign emigrants and their offspring, was at the rate of 60 per cent., whereas during the same period the natural increase of the native white race in the South was at the rate of 65 per cent. It may be noticed that the total population of the city of Boston in 1825 was 43,298, and in 1845 the native population was but 41,076; or, in other words, the population of Boston, apart from the immigration added to it, actually decreased in 20 years. From this it is apparent that the superior number of the population of the Northern States is attributable solely to the immense addition it has gained from immigrants. There are two obvious reasons why this immigration does not flow towards the South—the first being the existence of slavery; the second, the semi-tropical climate of the Southern States. But to quote this numerical superiority of the Northern population thus acquired as an incontestable evi dence of wealth and progress is at best a fallacious argument. The second argument employed to ele vate the North at the expense of the South is to point at the rich and populous Northern cities, with their marble edifices and costly buildings. Mr. Cairnes remarks:— " In free communities property becomes fixed in edifices, machinery, and improvements of the soil, In slave com munities there is scarcely any property but slaves, and they are easily movable. The freeman embellishes his home ; the slaveholder has no tie to bind him to soils which he has exhausted." Has Mr. Cairnes eve r asked himself how tar the costly cities and soiid homes of the N ,rtherber are attributable to the rigour of his climate; bow tar the indifferent and flimsy houses of the Southerner are attributable to the fact that he lives almost always in the open air, and requires nothing but a home which is little more than a verandah ? Again, as regards exhaustion of the soil and the transfer ence by the slaveowner of his negroes to new plan tations, is not the agriculture of the free States fully as exhaustive as in Secessia ? In New England the soil is worn out ; it is rapidly wearing out in the State of New York. What is the yield of the Gennessee Valley to-day as compared with its yield 20 years ago ? So long as Illinois, lowa, and half a-dczen other States offer their virgin soil to the agriculturist there will be little improvement of lands in the East and New York. So long as the rich bottoms of the Mississippi and Arkansas and Texas are open to the slaveowner, there will be con- stant migrations thither from the Carolinas and the East. But there is no reason to think that when, at some distant day, the rich soils of both sections are exhausted, there is not quite as good a chance of the slaveowner turning back towards the rising sun and improving the worn-out lands as there is with regard to the free agriculturist. The main question is, in which of the two sec- tions are the necessaries of life more cheaply and easily obtainable ? Is the Northerner or the Southerner wealthier ou the average of individuals ? Nobody who has studied the question will hesitate for a moment in his answer. This is not the place to enter into elaborate statistics, but it will not re quire many words to show that, in addition to the much smaller requirements which the Southern climate necessitates, the average property of a free white person in the North is about one-third of the average property of a free white person in the South. The free population of Virginia in 1840 was 790,810. Her property in 1847 was about 600,000,000 dols. The population of the State of New York in 1840 was 2,428,921, and in 1847 her property was assessed at 632,699,993 dols. The average property of a white person in Virginia is 758 dols. ;in New York it is only 260 dols. Of coarse, in the estimate of Virginia's wealth slaves are included as property, and, according to the laws of Virginia,the slave represents cash, and is as avail able for the purposes of property as houses or land. But even if the value of all the slaves in Virginia were struck out from the schedule of her wealth, the white people of that State would remain wealthier on an average than those of Massachu- setts or New York. In 1840 Virginia possessed nearly 2,000,000 hogs ; New York, with thrice the whir() population, possessed far less. The stock of cattle in New York at the same time was less than 2,0;10,000, that of Virginia more than 1,000,000, the proportion of Virginia being far the highest. In sheep alone the proportion of New York is slightly higher than that of Virginia, In poultry Virginia has, proportionately, double the number of New York. In a comparison between the State of Virginia and the wealthiest of the Western States --that of Ohio—the superiority of Virginia is still more apparent. Taking the same year (1840), Ohio, with about double the white population of Virginia, had about the same number of hogs. In cattle, sheep, and poultry Ohio compares less fa vourably with Virginia than New York, yet Virgi nia is not an exporter of animal food, while the pork exports of Cincinnati and the beef exports of Cleveland are famous all over the world. It has been well said that in determining the relative com fort of two civilised communities in much the same climate there is no better criterion than the quan tity of animal food they respectively consume; yet of these two States that one which is in the warmer climate consumes the greater proportion. This comparision between the two sections might be indefinitely extended, and with still more start ling results, if I could command space to exhibit the records of pauperism and crime in Massachusetts and New York on the one hand, and in Virginia and South Carolina on the other. The conclusion is so irresistible that, before the war, Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia were, perhaps, the wealthiest communities, on an average of individuals, in the world, while crime and pauperism were conse quently rater in their midst than in any other Anglo-Saxon community. To such facts as these the North, intoxicated by her own rapid acquisition of wealth, principally at the expense of these Southern provinces, has remained wilfully blind. She is learning by the bitter experiences of this war, and by the appalling prospect which lies plainly within her view, the truth of that tale to which she has SD often lent a heedless and incredu lous ear. Unquestionably, if the spectacle which I have seen to-day could by anticipation have been fore seen by President Lincoln and Mr. Seward two years ago they would never have hardened their hearts and refused to let the South go. When upon the 13th of April, 1861, Fort Sumter surren dered to Gen. Beauregard and the Confederates, not onesingle pound of gunpowder was anywhere manu factured in the Confederacy. A rigorous blockade of the seaports of the South was immediately com menced, through which the principal ingredient of gunpowder (saltpetre) had to be largely sucked in. At this juncture it seemed advisable to President Davis to intrust to Col. Raines, formerly an officer of the United States' army, the responsibility of planning and building a large Government mill for the manufacture of gunpowder. For this post Col. Raines possessed eminent qualifications. He had been Professor of Chymistry at West Point, and, for some years, since leaving the army, he had been at the head of some large ironworks at Newburg, on the Hudson. Augusta, in Georgia, was selected as the site of the intended mill, and never, both as re gards the person and the situation pitched upon, was happier sagacity evinced by the President. Following, so far as he was acquainted with it, the plan upon which the gunpowder-mill at Waltham Abbey, belonging to the English Government, is built, Col. Raines proceeded to construct the works necessary for his purpose; and the success which has attended his efforts has been such as could never have been believed before the pressure of war and privation had awakened Southern ingenuity and enterprise. The result is that, at the cost of about £20,000, one of the most peneet gunpowder-mills in the world has been produced, which turns eut 5,0001 b. of powder a-day, and could produce double that quantity, if worked day and night, and much more if worked under the exigency of a pressing demand. The cost of this powder, in spite of the costliness of the saltpetre which hasibeen introduced through the blockade, is about 4e. a pound, which is believed to be about the same as its cost in England. The mill has now been constantly at work for many months, and consequently more powder than the Confederacy is likely to require for years to come has already been produced. There is another Government powder-mill, at Columbia, in South Carolina, working, I believe, to supply the wants (not vary large as yet) of the Confederate navy. But all the gunpo order issued for the service of the Ccnfederate armies of Virginia and the West, and also for the defence of Charleston and Vicks burg, has come out of the mill at Augusta, and it was stated to me by an Ordnance officer in Charles that the powder which he had recently received then and tested was very nearly, if not entirely, up to the standard of the finest English manufac ture. The extreme deliberation with which the Confe derate Government has engaged in many large and costly undertakings requiring long time for their completion, and much ingenuity in their design, is the best earnest of the quietness and confidence with which they have from the very commencement looked at their independence as at a thing which they could not fail to attain. These Government powder-mills at Columbia and Augusta are by no me , ins the sole achievements of the Confederates at home in support of their soldiers in the field. It may be noticed that in the North, although the necessity for the erection of a Government powder mill has often been represented to theWer Depart ment at West‘ington, no such mill has ever been erected. It heti been touted that private interests have been too strongiy represented in Congress to ad:nit of the withdrawal of the Government pa tronage from the two great private firms in Con necticut and Delaware, between which it is, I beeeve, divided. In hundreds of matters that necessity, which was thought by the North cer tain to crush the Southern power of resistance, has but developed an energy for which the world, and especially England, wes very little prepared. We have been taught for years past that these Southerners were an effete and effeminate race, slothful ant' un enterprising, wholly dependent upon the North, which has been elevated at the expense of the South into colossal proportions of strength and ingenuity. The truth is becoming more and more manifest. The South, satisfied with the rapidity of its acqui sition of wealth sufficient to enrich itself and the North also, has been contented to let the North manufacture every article which it consumed, and for such articles has paid double and treble prices rather than insist on the introduction of better and cheaper articles from Europe. Long might this Southern vassalage to the North have continued had the North been shrewd enough to avoid open war with their brethren. If when the Southern States seceded, upon the election of President Lin coln, an offensive and defensive alliance between the two independent sections had been formed, the rent in the old Union would in ten years hardly have been perceptible, Trade would have flowed in its old channels, New York and Philadelphia would have remained the factors of the Cotton States, capital would have continued to accumulate in Northern cities, to be profitauly employed in loans to the lavish owners of Southern planta tions. Now, by reason of this sea of blood which divides the two sections, the Federals have established direct trade between Europe and the South ; and never has so magnificent a field been thrown open to European commerce as these rich and magnificent provinces which the Federals have so long farmed. Offering with the one hand rag?' material at priceless ♦alue, they are disposed to take with the other every manufacture which European ingenuity and capital can supply, to an extent of which we have as yet but little concep tion in England. This is abundant evidence that France is already aware, and prepared fully to take advantage of the magnificent opening for trade which is about to be offered to the competition of the world. If England fails to make similar efforts to avail herself of this rich harvest, she will lose an opportunity compared with which the fabled profits whi.,h have been more than once anticipated from ego extension of commercial facilities with Cnina are poor and contemptible. It cannot but be apps' rent that the nation which is first to rush in a nd 11:; the vacuum, now on the eve of being thrown open, will possess great advantages wink a view to the estabdintnent of future trade. But, although it is impossible that many more months can eldpse before direcr trade between Europe and the South is established, there is au in terim still inevitable, which must be bridged over before the North is compelled to forego the advee" tages she has so long enjoyed. There are inces sant rumours of the imminence of another battle at Fredericksburg, though it is hardly necessary to apprise English readers that there is little danger to be apprehended from an attack by a demoralised and dispirited army against troops which have never experienced defeat, and which have the advantage of the experience and ability of such a leader as Gen. Lee. For the last two months there hive been constant reports of a Yankee inroad upon North Carolina, which is still deferred, and with regard to which it is impossible to say where it may fall. It seems not improbable that so long as the boiste rous weather, which during the winter months is kardly ever intermitted upon the North Caroline coast, shall continue to prevail, the attack which has so long been threatened will continue to be de' ferred. In the belief that Vicksburg is more certain to see the resumption of immediate hostilities, and under the impression that much less is known in Europe with regard to that remote and inaccessible point, I have determined to direct my steps thither• COUNTRY MARKETS. J` MARKET HARBOROUGH-TUESDAY. White wheat, 49s to 525; red, 44s to 47s per 36 stone. Malting barley at 34s to 38s per qr. ; grinding, 28s to 316 per 30 st, Oats, old, 28s to 31s; new, 21s to 25s per 2 4 st. ; beans, 36s to 40s per qr. LEEDS—TUESDAY. Last Friday's rates were maintained for wheat, but the trade was quiet. No change in other articles, ? SHEFFIELD-TUESDAY. , Red wheat, per lead of 3 imperial bushels...l9s Od to 20s 03 White ff , ...21s Od to 23s Od New red , ...16s Od to 17s Od New white ~ 1 / ...18s 6d to 20s 6d Beans ft ft ... 16s 6d to 19s 6d Peas, per qr 4ss Od to 558 Od Grinding barley, per qr 8 Malting ditto, „ Oats f f 2 34 s s 0 0 t 3d to o 3 40$00 Od 268 Od to 30s oa Flour, is 9d to 2s 2d per stone. LIVERPOOL-TUESDAY. At our market to-day there was a fair attendance of the town and country trade. There was a very brisk business doing in wheat, and prices were a trifle over last week• No quotable change in flour, but more business doing. Indian corn neglected. Oats and oatmeal were difficult to move. Egyptian beans is per qr dearer. MELTON MOWBRAY—TuEsDA.T. The following were the currencies :—New white wheat► Od to 54s Od ; new red, 43s Od to 49s per 36 stone.' beans, 38s to 46s for old ; new sorts, 378 to 40s per 38 st.,; barley, 35s to 39s for malting, and 32s to 33s per qr. for grinding; oats, 24s to 308 Od per 24 stone. Births. AsTLEY. :7 On_ the 16th inst., at 17, Lowndes-street, the , wife of Hugh F. L. Astley, of a son. COLLINGRIDGE —On the 11th inst., at Stanmore Lodge, Highbury New-park, the wife of Mr. W. H. Coiling' r;dge, of a daughter. HARDWICK.—On the 16th inst., at Leigh Lodge, Worces tershire, the wife of Major Hardwick, of a daughter. WINDHAM.—On the 16th inst.., at 15. South-street, Glom venor-square, Mrs. Ashe S. Windham, of a son. Marriages. GORE—CARDEN:Oa the 10th hist. , at Stephen's Church , Dublin, Arthur, the seoond sou of Colonel Knox Gore, of Belleek Manor, co. Mayo, to Harriet, only daughter of Richard M. Carden, Be.q., of Fishmoyne, county TiP perary. I'itYcE—TIPPETS.—On the 17th inst., at Hampstead, the Rev. R. Vaughan Pryce, M.A., LL. 8., of Brignton, to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the late Rev. John Tir pets, of Gravesend. Deaths. COLLINGRIDGE.—On the 16th inst., at Stanmore Lodge , New-park, M e li c i na J ern i ma, the wife 0 Mr. W. H. Collingridge, of th e Ci ty Press, aged 37- G , ll A i v g :s b . u — rHY On the 13th inst., at The Shrubbery, Romfordt Lieut.-Col. B. Graves, aged 87. GILES.—Ou the 14th inst., at Holland House, Isleworth , George Giles, Esq., of Penton Cottage, near Andover , aged 64. SELor.—On the 14th inst., at Paris, John Solot, Esc., age d 62. TRICKEY.—On the 15th inst,, at Rotherhithe, Capt. Job. Trickey, aged 79. WESTBURY.—On the 17st inst., Lady Westbury, wife of the Lord Chancellor, aged 61. London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANDREW S ' of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Moe, No. 1 12 : Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in Ste Cower °"' Pithltileiex.—Wednesday, Moab 18, 1863.