The Sun. — London, England, 1863-05-07 00:00:00

THE C: ZICA, (From the Times Correspondent) NEw YORK, April 24. The outcry against England has partially subsided. The mails of the Peterhoff have been surrendered; and the main interest of the war has been once more transferred to Vicksburg and Port Hudson. The Confederates appear to have relaxed their usual vigilance at the first -named place, or so large a force of gunboats and rams as safely ran the gauntlet of the batteries could not possibly have got through. The friends of the South in this city affect to treat the matter lightly, though what grounds they have for their comfort are not easy to discover. In other quarters there is little doing. Charleston and the Atlantic cities are relieved from the immediate prospect of danger, and the rams and Monitors are under repair, preparatory to active operations above Baton Rouge. " Sail, says the King ; hold, says, the wind," is a proverb that finds illustration to day upon the Rappahannock. President Lincoln has ordered General Hooker to advance; but rain and mud, two more powerful potentates, have impera tively, commanded him to stay. And when General Hooker is thus incommoded by too much water, the safety of General Rosecrans is endangered by to o little; and generally throughout the wide regionr drained by the Mississippi and its feeders there is a likelihood of such a continued fall of the waters as to cause considerable anxiety for the safety of all Federal gunboats which have ventured into any but rivers of the first magnitude. General Banks, be lieved to be in imminent peril between Baton Rouge and Port Hudson, has made his appearance unexpectedly in the rich region of the Bayou Teche —called the garden of Louisiana —and, if successful, will no doubt endeavour to make his way into the country of the Red River, to co operate with the fleets of Admirals Porter and Farragut—which can either ply on that stream or the Mississippi, as cir cumstances may dictate. Neither the President, General Burnside, nor General Hooker appear to much advantage in Burn side's general order No. 8, under the date of the 23d of January, which was suppressed by the Con gressional Committee on :the conduct of the war, with the prudential and patriotic motive of pre venting scandal. By some means or other the document has been permitted to see the light. It discloses the ugly fact that the demoralization of the army of the Potomac, after M'Clellan was deprived of the command, was extreme, and that either Gene ral Burnside or General Hooker is unfit to lead an army. In that order General Hooker is accused by General Burnside of insubordination, disrespect to and disobedience of his superiors, and unmilitary as well as ungentlemanly conduct which almost amounted to mutiny, and for such misconduct he is ordered, subject to the President's approval, to be dismissed the army. Three Brigadier-Generals for the same offences are subjected to the same degra dation ; and five other officers, of whom two are Ma jor - Generals, two Brigadiers, and one a Colonel, are relieved from duty, and ordered to report to the Ad jutant-General. These charges are either true or false. If true, the President ought to have con firmed the action of his Commanding-General, or brought General Hooker to trial. If false, General Burnside was unfit to hold his position and should himself have suffered the doom which he wished to inflict upon others. But the good-natured President adopted a very original course of proceeding which did justice to nobody. He allowed General Burn side, who made the charges, to resign his command, and immediately appointed General Hooker to the vacant place, showing, one would think, that he believed the charges to be unfounded. But that he could not have believed General Burnside to be guilty of the crime of making false charges against his subordinates would also appear from the fact that he shortly afterwards appointed him to a high command in Ohio, which he still holds. Nor is the case more intelligible when it is considered that no less than eight other officers were either rightfully or wrongfully accused on the same authority, and that a stain must rest upon the purity of their military fame as long as these charges remain uninvestigated, or, at all events, as long as General Burnside keeps silence and refuses to admit pub licly that he was in error. It was notorious at the time when he planned the ill-judged attack against Fredericksburg, in which he was so thoroughly, and it may be said so cruelly defeated, that all, or nearly all, the General officers under his command disap proved his temerity and predicted the results. Everybody said he was a gallant soldier, but no one admitted that he was a wise one. In any other country the publication of these facts, humanely suppressed by the committee, would render it im perative upon the Commander-in Chief to order a court-martial, if the accused officers did not them selves demand it. But, as the Commander-in -Chief and the President are the same person, and as the President's own judgment is impugned either by the appointment of Hooker or the re-appointment of Burnside, it is probable that as far as Mr. Lincoln is concerned nothing further will come of it. It only remains to be seen what steps, if any, will be taken by the inculpated officers in vindication of their characters. Mr. Horace Greeley has offended the Abolitionist party, and efforts are to be made to withdraw its support from the Tribune, which his zeal and abili ties have converted into one of the most influential journals of the country. Mr. Greeley's position is a Singular one. More than any living writer he has moulded and guided the Republican party. It was his influence morethan that of any other person that defeated Mr. Seward for the Presidency, and secured the election of Mr. Lincoln. Hence Mr. Lincoln has always treated his opinions with marked respect, and Mr. Seward has as uniformly mistrusted end disliked him. It was Mr. Greeley who goaded the Administration into ordering the advance upon Manassas, which led to the first battle and route of Bull Run. It was Mr. Greeley who urged the Pr esident to issue the Proclamation of Emancipation. In all cases of difficulty Mr. Lincoln is known to have well considered what opinion would be passed upon his decision by the Tribune and the party which it led, and, even when he disagreed with Mr. Greeley, has declared "that he could not afford to quarrel with him." Mr. Greeley has been far too honest a politician to be a thoroughly consistent one. He has had the man Liness on several occasions to admit that he was wrong, which is more than can be said for any other public man in America. When the first faint murmurs of discontent from the South proved to the satisfaction of all far-seeing statesmen that there would be a rupture of the Union Mr. GCheeky expressed hi mse lf strongly i n f avour o f l et - IR the South depart in peace. This was the true Northe r Ptliey to adopt and if p a ti en tl y acqu i esce d i n b y t h e meat ter People might have rendered th e estrange niPararY which has now b ecome permanent. But when the attack was made on Fort Sumter he was carried away, With the rest of his co un t rymen, in the whi r l of passion He could no t see that so which trivic.hl a matter did not i n wise to all ow t h e that event ex c it e d . reality affect th e question at i l e ssu and that if it were South to depart quietly before that vexatious b u t h armless bombar equally wise aft erwar d s. He has not rn v e e n t t ' i t was returned to his original p os iti on i n this respect, tho are symptoms in hi s wr i t i ngs and throu ugh ghout the editorial columns of th e Tribune that he has raiEl- 1 giViDgB of the policy of bloodshed, that he is die- heartened with the spirit no less than with the con duct of the war; and sincerely anxious for peace if he can discover but a mode by which, -without loss of dignity and prestige, the North may withdraw from the conflict, and, leaving the South to the ma nagement of its own affairs, wait patiently for the healing influences of time, and the paramount inte rests of commerce to bring together in a League —if not in a Union—the kindred people who have come so violently and so unnaturally into collision. To this point ho will probably veer round at last ; and if he do, he will find thousands of people to agree with him. All the members of the Administration, together with the bulk of the Abolition or Ultra- Republican party, have endeavoured during the whole course of the war to diminieh the rights of the States, and to increase the power of the Cen tral Government. T hey have striven to construct a strong oa i , th co nsolidated abs o l ut i sm, to save what they e life of the natio they l ost all the lib li bertiesdesirab le , that would make their Mr, Greeley lA@ seemed to go along with them ; and has justified or palliated many arbitrary acts of Mr. Lincoln and his secre taries, which must have jarred upon his feelings and instincts as a sincere and enlightened lover of freedom—for white men as well es for black. Lately however he has awakened to the consciousness that this policy is wrong, and that if the States do not jealously preserve their State rights the freedom of America has nothing left to stand upon. Mr. Greeley sees the right course. n rerient a sex premiers amours, and acknowledges —not for the first time— that Northern liberty is worth the keeping--a fact which too many of his Republican and Abolitionist coadjutors have persistently ignored. It must not be imagined that Mr. Greeley has abandoned his old ideas on the subject of Slavery. On that point he is true as steel to his early convictions. But the bitter experience of the war, and especially the failure of the President's proclamation to arouse the anti-slavery enthusiasm of the North, or to in spire the Southern slaves themselves with the taintest hope of freedom, has taught him that other questions than those of slavery were involved in the mighty war between North and South. Wash ington, the slaveowner, fought the battle of liberty, and won it; and why should not Jefferson Davis, the slaveowner, do the same ? Mr. Greeley does not put the c a s e i n t h at form, but it is evident he sees far more clearly than his party that he has ranged himself on the losing side; that the South is lost to the North for ever, except as a foreign ally and a good customer; and that if it were possible to restore the Union by the means employed by Mr. Lincoln and his generals the result would be an imperial, military, and perhaps brutal despotism. Many persons predicted that the President's Proclamation would divide the North and unite the South--a prediction early and completely verified ; but no one predicted that it would cause a division in the Republican ranks, and deprive them of the leadership of the mau to whose teachings and promptings it was mainly due. Yet this result has happened. The wise philosopher of Abolitionists is dethroned, and uncharitable priests and silly women reign in his stead. There is an old Scottish rhyme which says— " When gray beards weep and hens crow The pride of the nation lieth low." These lines are but too applicable to the present condition of this country. If "gray beards" do not yet weep for the miseries and degradation of the land it is not for want of cause; and if the crowing of hens be a. metaphorical expression for the unseemly interference of women with the political affairs and partisan passions of men, the crowing has begun, and betokens a wide-spread demoralisation of the people. A woman named Dickinson, a spinster of 25, from the city of Philadelphia, fresh, fair, and blooming, with an amazing volubility and power of vituperation, somewhat impaired by the nasal twang and the Yankee mispronunciation, has been engaged by the Contractors' League to enlighten the Northern public on the aspects of the war and the merits and demerits of every military and civil servant of the Government who is prominent and influential enough to attract her notice. This de magogue in petticoats held forth on Tuesday night at the Cooper Institute to an audience of nearly 4,000 persons, at least one-half of whom were wo men, who rewarded her most unfeminine utterances with the greatest amount of their unwomanly and unmanly applause. She has a voice, according to the reporters, "so powerful that masculine stump speakers might envy it," and used it to effective purpose in denouncing every general of the Demo cratic party who had ever been called to command the armies of the North. Her principal spite was directed against General M'Clellan, whom she de cleared to be no general at all —or, if a general, a traitor ; a man who knew nothing of the art of war, or who, if knowing, used his knowledge against his country. " Burnside and Hooker," she said, " could fight ; but this man (McClellan) kept out of the battle, and sat down miles off, with his thirty thousand reserves, drinking mint juleps and sherry cobblers in safety. Never," she added, " did he soil his feet by the tread of a blood-stained battle-field. He preferred to come northward to tread on piled up mounds of bouquets, and to brave every element of treason, secession, and meanness, going down in the mud at his feet to do him reverence." There was at least one sensible man in the crowd of lis teners who took offence at the silly arrogance of a scold who presumed to criticise the actions of a soldier, and expressed his displeasure in unmis takeable terms. A disturbance immediately arose which lasted some minutes; blows were inter changed ; women shrieked and fainted ; men hissed and hooted, and the police were called for ; but the undaunted Miss Dickinson looked on defiant and expectant, and as wholly unabashed as if she had been made of marble. Comparative order having been restored, the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher stepped on the platform, and announced, amid loud applause, " that the gentleman had been squelched,' end that " the lady was triumphant." Miss Dick inson thereupon resumed her attacks on General M'Clellan. She said she had understood that he had joined a church, and " hoped he would obey holy orders better than he did military orders." The audience appreciated hugely this very poor joke, and the Rev. Mr. Beecher, carried away by enthu siasm, acted as fuglemen to the applause. She de clared that the only real soldiers of the Union were the Republicans and Abolitionists, citing the names of Generals Hunter, Mitchell, Rosecrans, Sigel, and, above all, Fremont, in proof of the assertion. She also expressed the highest opinion of the courage, ability, and patriotism of General Butler, whom she contrasted favourably with Gen. Banks. The latter was much too merciful and humane to merit her commendation—a mere milksop, unfit to grapple with the Southern " devils," whom she held in such abhorrence. On the question of inciting the negroes to take up arms against their masters and mistresses she was particularly emphatic. " When people ask me," s h e said, " if I would have the barbarity to get up a slave insurrection, I answer, Yes! When we are fighting the devil lam glad to hear that an insurrection has broken out in hell." At this point of the fair virago's speech there was, according to the newspaper reports, "tremen dous applause, renewed so often thatit was difficult to restore silence." Referring to the danger of en forcing the Conscription Act she said, "If the Demo cratic party attempt to resist the execution of that measure the streets will be drenched in blood." Again there was a tempest of applause, the women being more vehement than the men. Anything more pitiable and painful than this exhibition it is difficult toconceive. The speaker herself —the bigots, theorists, and contractors who paid her tc unsex herself —the men appiauded her, an d t h e Who women who che ere d her alike detestable, un womanly words, wer e her Country's le. eril A J inthe Joan of A rc who p goes o u t i nto the battle field d does a soldier's duty aga i nst a foreig foe a a r n spectable, though perh a p s an unnatural charactere. but a strong-voiced scold, however Young, bloom ing, and eloquent, who in a time of civil strife in cites brother against brother, sister against sister, panders to the lowest and most fi en di sh of passions ' , openly advocates a servile i nsurrec t ion and a war of races, and gluts over the unutterable horrors which such a war presupposes, is a worse nuisance to so ciety than a thousand hetairce. When the French JacoLins dressed out a faded sister of the demi-monde in the masquerade of the Goddess of Liberty, and led her in triumph through the streets of Paris, they unintentionally marked the point of the lowest decadence of public morality in their miserable era. a Miss Dickinson's ap pearance on the platform marks similar era in the decline of American liberty. ' - _-.........—..m. s'OPULATION OP Q U EENSLAND.—In the co l ony o f Queensland, to which many now proceeding, the increase of population in the year 1862 by immigration from Europe amounted t o 8, of our emigrants are 4,703 males and 3,377 females; and the increase by immi 080—namely, gration from other colonies was 1,72,5 —namely, 1,285 males and 410 females. As might be expected in so youn g a colony, the population contains three males for every two females ; but it is remarkable that in the course of tho year 1862, though the male births were 110.5 to every 100 girls born, the excess of births over deaths gave but 387 males and as many as 518 females, The total increase by immi gration in the year was 9,805; and the population on the 31st of December, 1862, was estimated at 45,077, of whom 27,186 were males and 17,891 females. A large proportion of the intercolonial immig ration is of men who come to take up new country, and do nc t bring their families in the first l ts allow them to thi n k of Marrl. instance, or of sin g l e men w h o come to do pioneers' service until their improved fortunehabits 's or their more settled Abe. But i n thi s small com munity there we re 570 marriage'sinehtheMe maw. year, so that one perms in every 40 marr i e d in The tw CALIFORNIA, A letter from Sin Francisco, dated March 23, says the 16th inst. I wrote to you by overland mail that a vessel had been seized on the suspicion that she hsd been fieted oat for piratical or other un lawful purposes. The investigation is being carried on by the military authorities in Fort Alcatraz, the public and the representatives of the press being ex cluded. The real character of the vessel and the ob jects of her owners have not yet been demonstrated. The press has come to the conclusion, without wait ing tor the proof, that she is either a pirate, a pri vateer, or a Confederate cruiser. Some of the cir cumstances circulated as connected with her are suspicious, and give colour to the accusations. Many believe that she herself, her armament, and munitions were all intended for the Mexican mar ket ; but such of the evidence as has been made pub lic -Loners, oaths, and papers—is contradictory. It appears, however, that for some time back consi derable quantities of munitions of war have been shipped from San Francisco to the coast of Mexico against the repeated remons,rances of the Consul of France, as I mentioned lately. Whatever the intended destination of the J. M. Chapman was, the object was a bad one ; and it is on all accounts fortunate that the object has been defeated by her seizure. Such of her cargo as was legitimate—quicksilver, &c., shipped for Mexico—has been given up to the owners, who were innocent of any illegal intention. This matter of the seizure has created a strong desire for further means of d.sfence and offence, and a call for an increase of the land fortifications and for improvising ironclads, &c., on the part of a pore tion of the city municipality, in whose coffers there is at present a large surplus of money. But another and more reasonable, and certainly a more honest, portion of this body, as well as a portion of the pub lic and of the press, oppose the " ironclads" scheme, and assert that the patriotism of its promoters is sharpened by the prospect of being able to sell ves• se's of their own, old and rotten hulks, for conver sion into men-of-war, Any way, as there is a man of-war in port; as the national gunboat Saginaw, heavily armed, is now here ready for service; as a revenue cutter is about to arrive from Washington Territory, where she is watching the smugglers of goods from Victoria; and as a merchant steamer is offered to the Government in the emergency, I don't think a hosti'e vessel can leave the port; and most persons are satisfied we run no danger from pirates, privateers, or Jeff. Davis's cruisers, unless they come round the Horn and capture the steamers en route to Panama; and of any such movement there would be sufficient notice to warn the men-of-war in the Pacific to protect the steamers by convoy. The Pacific Mail Company's steamer Constitution left this morning for Panama. She carries three companies of volunteers, numbering 283 men and nine officers, who enlisted in California for service in the Massachusetts Contingent as cavalry. The whole force required, and which is being recruited in this country for the State of Massachusetts, is 500. Another company will soon leave for the East, and it is expected the full complement of 500 will be ob tained, which, with 200 men formerly sent, will make 700 soldiers contributed by California to Massa chusetts. The bounty is double that of the Govern ment, and has, of course, had the effect of attract ing men ; but the movement is not popular, and has induced the remark that the "solid men of Boston" prefer paying to fighting. The amount of treasure shipped by to-day's steamer was—to England, 878,524 dols. 24c.; to New York, 214,852 dols. 97c. ; and to Panama, 18,200 dols.— together, £1,111,647 dols. 21c., which makes the total export of treasure from this port since Jan. 1 12,436,339 dols. 48c., being an excess of half a mil lion over the shipments of the corresponding period of 1862. Exchange : London, 60 days' bankers' bills, 48d. ; private bills, 49d. Paris, 60 days', sf. Gold bars, 830 fine, at par, ere 1 per cent, cheaper than at date of last mail's departure, in consequence of the abundance of the supply. We have news from Victoria to the 17th inst. by the steamer which arrived on Saturday night. I shall encroach on your space and patience only to give a few extracts of interest. A merchant writing from Victoria to myself remarks that—" Business Is dull but will improve soon. Real estate still rules high, notwithstanding money is scarce. The re ports brought by miners recently from Cariboo are most encouraging. They expect that from seven to ten million dole. will be taken out this year. Had they a mint, so as to keep a due proportion of this yield in Victoria, instead of letting it pass through to San Francisco to swell your exports, it would help us along wonderfully, and we could better afford to pay for improving our young city. A gold escort is about to be established, the merchants here guaranteeing the Government from loss in working it to the extent of 20,000 dols." Next to the con struction of roads and bridges and the establish. ment of ferries this gold escort is the most useful measure ever adopted. I have been in communication with Governor Douglas on the subject of the silver discoveries, of which I wrote fully in a late letter to you, with the object of obtaining further information. The Go vernor informs me that the statement in that letter " is essentially correct," and adds," The silver lodes of Cariboo, from what I have heard, are second in importance only to its auriferous deposits. Roads only are wanted for their rapid development, and I am straining every possible resource of Government to supply that want." This is encouraging; but I feel it my duty to warn English capitalists from hasty action until the lodes are more fully developed, their extent and quality better ascertained, and the roads completed. The only prudent action for the present is exploration by competent persons. On the subject of roads, to which the Governor has devoted much of his time and attention, with what success will appear from the following excerpt from his letter, he writes :—" The carriage road is now within 30 miles of Alexandria, some 300 miles from the coast, and will be finished up to that place by the middle of Jane next. Thomas Fraser River is navigable to the Rocky Mountain, on which por tion of the river, I may remark, a steamer will be plying this summer, carrying passengers and goods on the way to Cariboo, taking both to within a moderate distance of the mines." The Governor is sanguine that his roads, which have given him so much trouble, will, "in a few years, open a commerce down the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains into the valley of the Saskatchewan and Red River, and finally into the British pro vinces on the Atlantic." He corroborates all other accounts as to the good fortune that has attended the miners last winter :—" The miners who re mained at Cariboo have been at work all winter, with marked success; Barker and Co. having made out of their claim the sum of 126,000 dols. since the the beginning of last October. The gutter' or gold-lead has also been traced several miles further down William's Creek than it was before known to exist. All this is encouraging, and inspires the public with confidence in the country." The amount of tonnage which entered the port of Victoria in February was 8,427 tons, of which 2,246 tons Asw showing o e owf ß i n r British. i h h e g . Number of vess e l s , 44 ; c l eared, 11,134 tons, of which 2,932 t ons were British. Number vessels,6 r 4 o . wth of the town, I cut out the following paragraph from the Colonist of the 9.h of March :—" Improvements in Progress. —Every where around the city houses are starting up as if by magic, and generally they are of a substantial and tasteful appearance. On the upper part of Fort-street several new houses have been finished, and others are in progress. At the head of John son and Yates etreets several new houses were lately put up, and lots in that quarter are scarcely to be had. If the improvements by the corporation would only keep pace with private enterprise, in a short time Victoria would be a second San Fran cisco. The city authorities should stir up the con tractors for the streets now that fine weather has set in." The French corvette Cornelie, 24 guns, Comman der L'Eveque, has been in San Francisco Harbour since the 12th, refreshing. ran benefit of reduced duty obtained by pur chasing Horniman's pure Tea, very choice at 3s 4d. and 4s. " High Standard "at 4s. 4d. (formerly 4s. Bd.), is the strongest and most delicious imported. Agents in ev ery town supply it in packets. ME SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENIN LAW INTELLIGENCE,--May 6. VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT. (Before Vice-Chancellor Sir W. P. Wood ) GURNEY V. GURNEY. The arguments in this cas9, which had been adjourned at the conclusion of the plaintiffs' case, were this morning re , sumed. The object of this suit, as has been already stated, is to carry out the trusts of a settlement of 4000 made by Mr. J. H. Gurney in January, 1862 (after his divorce), for the benefit of the children of the marriage, and to obtain a declaration that the two infant plaintiffs (born before Mrs. Gurney's elopement), as the only children of the marriage, are absolutely entitled to the property comprised is the set tlement. The case made by the bill is as follows :—The plaintiff, sir. Gurney, of Catton-hall, Norfolk, was married in 18.16 to his cousin, Miss Mary Jary Gurney. Previously to 1859 when cohabitation ceased, there were two children of the marriage, the infant co-plaintiffs. On the 13th of Decem ber, 1859, Mrs. Gurney eloped from her husband's house in Kensington Palace-gardens, with one Taylor, a groom in Mt. Gurney's service. On the 23d of December she left England, accompanied by Taylor, for France, where they remaintd until the 18th of September, 1860. Mr. Gurney immediately after the elopement commenced proceedings in the Divorce Court, and on the 13th of February, 1861, obtained a divorce 2izsi for the dissolution of his marriage, the final decree dissolving the marriage absolutely being dated on the 22d May, 1861. On the 4th of May, 1861, Mrs. Gurney, who had continued ever since her elopemen to live with Taylor, was confined of a full-grown male, child, the defendant in the present suit. Linder these circumstances the bill was filed against the trustees of the settlement and the infant born in May 1861, for the put pose of carrying into execution the settlement made by Mr. Gurney in Jan., 1862, for the benefit of all and every child then living of the marriage of the said J. H. Gurney and Miry Jane Gurney; and in order to exclude the child born to Mrs. Gurney in May, 1861, a declaration was prayed that the two infant co. plaintiffs, as the only children of the marriage, were absolutely entitled to the trust funds comprised in the settlement. Evidence was given at great length for the purpose of rebutting the ordinary presumption of legitimacy. and of showing, from the absence of all access after Dtmem ber, 18;9, that Mr. Gurney could not have been the fathei of the child born in May, 18.51. From the nature of the defence raised, it is not necessary to advert to the evidence further than to state that the only time during all this period when Mr. and Mrs. Gurney were in the same country was towards the end of September, 1860. It appears that on the 18th of September in that year Mrs. Gurney came to England alone and endeavoured to see her husband, who was at that time staying with Mr. de Bunsen, at Abbey-lodge, Regent's-park. On the 22d of September, early in the morning, she went with Catharine Ginsworthy, with whom she was then lodging, in a cab to Abbey-lodge, and sent Mrs. Gainsworthy into the house while she remained in the cab. Mrs Gainsworthy contrived to see Mr. Gurney, and the interview was thus described by Mr. Bunsen— "ln passing along the hall, so as to have a full view of the front door, I saw Mr. Gurney and a female standing in the lower part of the hall. That woman was not Mrs. Gurney. The woman was in what I must call an imploring attitude—ber hands folded, and she was impressively look ing into Mr. Gurney's face. Her tone of voice denoted much emotion. I heard her while in this imploring atti tude utter three or four words. I heard her say, 'Do take her back,' or z Take her back.' Mr. Gurney made no answer. I recollect his attitude, with both hands uplifted. He moved them towards the woman. I immediately left. It was an instant. I heard and saw nothing more." The cab drove back with Mrs. Gurney, who had remained in it all the time, and Mr. Gurney left London that after noon. Mrs. Gurney was shortly afterwards joined by Tay lor, and they had continued to live together ever since. The Solicitor-General, Sir Hugh Cairns, Mr, Aspland (common law bar), and Mr. Hutton, for the plaintiffs, con tended that the evidence conclusively negatived the ordi nary presumption of legitimacy arising in favour of children born during wedlock, Access of any kind for the whole period after Mrs. Gurney's elopement was shown not only to have been improbable, but even impossible. The only time when there could possibly have been a meeting was in September, 1860, when she left her paramour and returned alone to England, but the evidence proved distinctly that Mr. Gurney had absolutely refused even to see her, The circumstances as to the birth of the child, its recognition by Taylor, the period of gestation, &c., were all conclusive against its being the offspring of Mr. Gurney, or entitled to the benefit of the settlement to which this suit sought to give effsct. Mr. Walford appeared for the trustees of the settlement, but took ro part in the argument. Sir Fitzroy Kelly, for the infant defendant, denounced the proceedings as a mere c_intrivance for the purpose of ob taining a judicial declaration which would in effect bastardize the infant defendant. There was no precedent for such a suit, and the Court ought at once to discountenance any attempt to obtain its decision upon a merely fictitious proceeding. Looking at the amount of Mr. Gurney's for' une, and the trifling amount of the sum settled, there could be no doubt—in fact, it was not disputed—that the settlement was a mere device for the purpose of raising this question, which was of most vital interest to this poor helpless child. If this suit were to succeed a most dangerous precedent would be established, and it would go forth to the world that anystranger, however malignant his motive, however overwhelming the misery thereby occa sioned, would have nothing to do but to create a trust deed, invest some hundred pounds in the funds, and then be able to raise such a question. What an advantage would be afforded to the rich over the poor if such a contrivance were allowed to succeed I The juestion might be raised upon most honourable, virtuous, and praiseworthy motives, but it was equally true that a man with raoney at his command might by this means be enabled to gratify his determination to wound and lacerate the feeling of a whole family, and bastardise a.poor infant possibly destitute of the slightest protection. Such a suit, whatever might have been the conduct of the mother, ought to be at once discountenanced. The propositions that bad been stated by the Solicitor • General as to the possibility of rebutting by evidence the ordinary presumption in favour of legitimacy could not be disputed, but, at the same time, if there had been any possi bility of access, the case against legitimacy must be over whelming and irresistible. There must be that which amounted to an absolute physical impossibility, that the husband could be the father of the child. No doubt the evidence against legitimacy in this case was strong, but not, it was admitted, conclusive. Access in September was not only Feasible, but easy; and looking at the facilities for travelling now existing, the old doctrine that the party must be ham quatuor maria to afford a possibility of access was considerably modified. Could the Court say that the case was free from doubt ? If not, then this child ought not to be bastardised. But he would rest his defence mainly upon the objection that he had already urged to the frame of the suit, and the dangerous precedent that would be established if the social status of this child wore allowed t) be thus affected for life by the contrivance to which Mr. Gurney had resorted. Mr. Sergeant Ballautine and Mr. G. N. Colt followed on the same side, and offered on behalf of the guardians of the infant defendant to bring into court a sum equal to that comprised in the settlement, and that the trustees should be at liberty to apply the whole of the settled fund for the benefit of the infant plaintiffs. The Solicitor-General, in reply, said that upon the record and upon the evidence the suit was equally just and benefi cial to the infant plaintiffs. A settlement had been made, the money had been invested, and there was not a single fictitious element in the tiansaction to which the infant plaintiffs by their father as next friend sought to give effect. In cases as to the custody and guardianship of infants no thing was more common than to settle some small sum for the purpose of giving the Court jurisdiction to deal with these questions. (The cases of Shelley's children, Mr. Adrian Hope's children, and that of Alicia Race were re ferred to.) Here the object of the contrivance, if contri vance it was, was righteous, honest, and just. It was for the benefit of these children—aye, even for the benefit of the infant defendant himself, that his status should be now determined, rather than at a later period, when associations had been formed, and the stain of illegitimacy would be more keenly felt. The plaintiffs were therefore entitled to have the question now determined once for all, and as the attempt to show that the defendant was illegitimate had been abandoned the declaration asked by the bill must follow as a matter of course. His Honour, in the course of the argu • ment, observed that although the Legislature bad recently given jurisdiction for obtaining a declaration of legitimacy, no similar jurisdiction as to illegitimacy had been afforded, Mr. Rolt was also in the case, on behalf of the infant de fendant, but is still confined to his house by illness. The Vice-Chancellor said that he had been from the first struck with the novelty of the manner in which the question at issue in this cause had been raised, and the ob- jections were undoubtedly entitled to groat weight and con sideration. Looking at the large and vital nature of the interests involved, and the great anxiety that must natu rally exist in questions like the present to obtain the di rection of the Court, it was singular that this simple course had never before been adopted. As to comparative justice or injustice. comparative advantage or disadvantage, it was . . very difficult to discover any co nsideration upon which it could be for th e i n t erest of this child that this question as to his legitimacy or illegitimacy should be determined after he had attained riper years rather than now in his infancy, when he had acquired no status whatever. There could be no doubt that it was of the greatest possible importance for this child's welfare that his social position should be deter mined at the earliest possible period. The cases at common law cited by Sir F. Kelly did not appear to raise any real difficulty. The Courts had said that they would not allow their proceedings to be trifled with by having questions submitted to them in a fictitious form. This Court, ho feared, had very often been mado an instrument of by miens •' of proceedings which were in reality instituted for the mere purpose of advertising particular articles, and it might be well that some test should be adopted for the purpose of as- certaining the bona fide nature of the proceedings in cases of that description. In this case, however, grave and serious interests were beyond question at stake. It was said, in deed, that those grave and serious interests were not those which were properly raised by the bill. But courts of com- mon law had never proceeded so far as to say that they would not determine a point legitimately brought before L, MAX' 7. 1861 them because that determination might involve in its con sequences large and grave interests far exceeding the Matter originally placed in issue. As to the jurisdiction of this Court, the cases cited by the Solicitor •General as to the cus tody and guardianship are entirely applicable. This Court had acted and continually acted in cases where the mater upon which it had acquired jurisdiction was for the very purpose of raising these larger and more important questions. Cases as to the guardianship and custody of children in volving quite as important interests as in this case were of frequent occurrence, in which some provision had been made for the purpose of giving the Court jurisdiction. In many instances this had notoriously been done for the express purpose of taking the child from its father's custody, or of educating it in a faith different from that of its surviving parent; and with what success he need only refer to the case of Shelley's children, Wore Lord Eldon, and to that of Alicia Race, before Vice-Chancellor Kindersley, within the last few years. On the settlement now before him, how could he escape from determining who were the objects of the trust by the circumstance that he might happen to know the eosition and fortune of the father, and that he had made the settlement for the express purpose of raising the question of who were or were not his children ? It was said that the peace of families ought not to be disturbed by allowing a stranger to come forward and make such a provision in order to raise a question of this kind. Courts of common law had no doubt refused to countenance wagers, as interfer ing with the peace of families. (Nis honour referred to the case of the notorious Chevalier D'Eon and the wager as to his or her sex), and there were instances in which this court had struck out provisions from settlements when inserted for an obviously improper purpose. The answer to all these objections was, that the Court dealt with such cases as it found them. The case before the Court was that of a father who had good reason to dispute the legitimacy of this child. He had other children, and considered it for their happiness, and even for the happiness of that infant, if it were his child, that the status of the family should be at once ascertained. A more proper object could hardly be suggested. The settlement was made, and the infant plain tiffs, by their father as their next friend, sought to have its trusts carried into execution. No one could dispute that it was for their benefit that their interests in the trust fund should be ascertained and determined. The mode of meet ing the case which had been suggested at the bar, via., by lodging in the hands of the trustees a sum of money equal in amount to that settled by Mr. Gurney, could not for a moment be listened to. Besides protracting for this infant the period at which his status would be ascertained, it would be altogether stultifying the proceedings of the court to allow the suit to be thus bought off. Some argument had been founded on the circumstance that the Legislature had recently sanctioned proceedings for the purpose of ob taining a declaration of legitimacy, but had not given a cor responding power for the purpose of obtaining a declaration of illegitimacy. The Legislature might have thought that the peace of families would be disturbed by allowing pro ceedings for that purpose to be instituted by any stranger ; but it must have been aware that in various collateral pro ceedings these questions constantly had to be determined. He could not, therefore, draw any inference from that cir cumstance either ono way or other. Having had full op portunity of considering the C2BO since it was first opened, he saw nothing to lead him to say that he ought not to entertain the bill. As to the facts, the case was in effect un defended. Every step, no doubt, hod been taken that was possible, and this infant had not suffered from any lack of means for having its interests protected and asserted. It gave him the greater satisfaction in determining the case that all that was possible had been done for the purpose of proving the child's legitimacy. It was hardly necessary to dwell for a moment upon the evidence. The case was very much stronger than that of " Morris v. Davies," 5 Cl. and Finn (in the House of Lords), for it was proved, so far as negative evidence could establish the fact, that never for a single moment were Mr. and Mrs. Gurney even within sight of each other from the first moment of the elopement down to the birth of this child. The time of Mr. Gurney had been so accounted for that there was not even a pre sumption upon which to go to a jury that he ever left this country for France during all that time ; and so with Mrs. Gurney in the same way. It was quite true that in Sep tember, 1860, she seemed to have some wish for a reconci• liation, and that she came over to England alone, and made an attempt at an interview with her husband (whose ad dress she clearly did not then know). But it was clear upon the evidence that the attempt utterly failed. Even if the husband had not been active from first in taking proceedings in the Divorce Court to separate himself from this woman, there was every possible reason for presuming, under the circumstances, that an interview between them was impossib:e. Every circumstance in this case was much stronger ag-inst the legitimacy of this child than in "Morris v. Davies,", and the only conclusion that he could come to was, that it was the offspring of the un lawful union between Mrs. Gurney and her paramour. There must accordingly be a declaration that the trusts of the settlement of January, 1862, ought to be carried out, and that the infant plaintiffs, as the only children of the marriage, were absolutely entitled as tenants in common to the whole of the trust funds comprised in the settlement. "served . out." If to sell for profit be the dietinc twn, as every reasonable man must see it ought to be, then the gin palace s t an d s a l one, an d t h e Cl u b and the pr i vate dinner party and the family go free. There is no "principle" upon which Mr. Gladstone can put this tax which will not go very much further than ho is no w p repare d to go, or than the English public will ever permit a Chan cellor of the Exchequer to go. The principle of English taxation, so far as we understand it, is to get as much money as possible at the smallest pos sible interference with individual liberty of action. The only principle discernible in this new crotchet is to impose an indefensible restriction upon indi vidual action without any advantage to the revenue. To grant a licence is, as Lord Russell and Mr. Adams now know, to assume a power to refuse a licence. If you can insist upon a club taking out a licence to serve out wine to its members, of course you can refuse the licence, and thus at the will of a Government department shut every club which rents a house above £lOO a year. The whole thing is so utterly unarguable that we might suppose that it was produced like the tail of Alcibiade's dog, and intended to be cut off to distract attention from weightier matters. Well, cut it off, Mr. Gladstone, and have done with it. It is not a creditable thing to do, and it is not a profitable thing to do. POST.—When the news reached Poland that the three Powers had determined to address their re spective notes to the Cabinet of St. Petersburg the more shrewd amongst the Poles found little diffi culty in guessing at their probable tenor, or at the nature of the replies which hey would evoke. Few were deluded with the idea of supposing that this description of diplomatic intervention would in any way advance the national cause, or practically affect the question at issue between the nation to which they belonged and the Russian Government. That question is one of life or death to Russia or to Po land—it is a duel a mail; and it is past the power of the most ski:ful or well-disposed friends to pro yoke explanations or apologies which will be ac cepted on either side. Prince Gortschakoff, in his reply to Lord Russell, argues the point of regrant ' ing the constitution of the Emperor Alexander upon its legal grounds. He maintains that the Poles have forfeited their right to that constitution by the Revolution of 1830. This is the old story, which does very well for foreign Powers, but it is not the real reason. The Russian Government would be thankful to pacify Poland by that constitution if the concession would ensure its loyalty ; but Poland does not look to a constitution as an ultimatum. Nothing but absolute separation and independence —the status quo ante 1772—wi1l satisfy her. Every concession granted by Russia will be eagerly seized, but only to be converted into a weapon against that Power. The constitution accorded by the Emperor Alexander led to the Revolution of 1830, and the same constitution granted again would simply be to purchase tranquillity for the moment at the price of a still more formidable revolution a few years later. It might easily be shown that from those reforms, which the present Emperor prides himself upon having introduced, the insurrection derives in a large degree its force—while during the reign of Nicholas the policy of terrorism kept it quiet. There is no alternative for Russia between a recurrence to that policy or the dismemberment of the empire. It is a painful but undeniable fact that those national institutions, for the most part elective, with which. the country has been endowed," al luded to by Prince Gortschakoff, have been of the greatest possible assistance to the Central Com mittee at Warsaw, by enabling it to thwart the civil and military action of the Government; while that " social transformation which has been undertaken and accomplished in a few years, and that system of gradual development which has been applied to all branches of the public service and to the exist ing institutions," has really had the effect of render ing still more impossible the task of governing a nation in whom the sentiment of independence is paramount, and who, in proportion as their moral, material, and intellectual resources are developed, become more and more able to give it expression. It is only natural that such should be the case, but it also explains the unsatisfactory nature of Prince Gortschakoff's reply. The position is one which :t would have been impossible for a Russian states. man to explain to England, and he therefore pre fers arguing the point on legal grounds ; but it is as well that the Powers should clearly appre hend the nature and extent of the difficulties by which the Russian Government is surrounded, in order that they may be able to measure accurately the value of their interference. Any compromise short of Polish national independence may produce a temporary lull, but that European peace of which the Emperor Napoleon speaks with such tenderness will not be ensured to Europe so long as a spark of Russian authority remains in the powder-magazine called Poland. Inasmuch as by the treaties of 1815 Poland is guaranteed by this country, as one of the contracting Powers, to Russia, we have no difficulty in perceiving why Prince Gortschakoff accepts with such readiness those treaties as a basis. He possibly foresees the day as not far distant when he in his turn may wish to appeal to the Powers to adhere to the engage ments which they entered into upon that occasion. Meantime, in his note to the French Emperor, he contents himself with a few significant allusions to what he terms " the party of disorder" in Europe. There can be no doubt of the existence of this party, or that to their efforts is due the spread o: " the cosmopolite elements of revolution" through. out the Continent. That they have done their best to produce agitation in ',Poland is also extremely probable, and that, owing to the Russian system of government, they found there a soil well adapted to receive the seeds of revolution, is not to be wondered at.; but, to suppose that the insurrection would have assumed its present proportions without the exist ence of a strong national sentiment to give it vitality, is simply ridiculous. The whole of the Polish aris tocracy is deeply compromised in the movement ; it extends from the most wealthy and powerful members of the oldest noble families to the humblest stable-boy, and though the train may have been lighted by some enterprising members of the party of action, the fire has spread far beyond their con trol. It is a bl aze o f patr i otic ardour, not of demo cratic principle ; and when Prince Gortschakoff endeavours to persuade Europe that the Polish national movement derives its inspiration from the European party of disorder, in the hope of frighten ing timid aut ocra t s a b roa d, his misrepresentations will certainly not have the effect of alienating the sympathies of the British public from those whose only aspiration is national independence. Fortu nately in this country the machinations of the "cosmopolite revolutionary party" do not in the slightest degree alarm us; but we can make allow ances for the tone of irritation which occasionally peeps through the Russian note. It must be acknow ledged that the treaties of 1815, though an inexor able political necessity at the time, have embarrassed a good many people during the last 50 years. They imposed upon Russia an impossible task. When they placed within her frontier a nation with great historical traditions and an invincible determination never to remain there, they perpetuated an act of injustice which had already been committed against that nation, and they at this moment bind us by obligations which are diametrically opposed to our sympathies. " Why," insinuates Prince Gott. schakoff, "if you are so exceedingly tenacious in the matter of the treaties of 1815, do you openly express sympathy with a nation whose whole aim and object in the present struggle is to destroy , them ? We are not to blame ;we have tried every thing. The constitution which the Emperor Alexander gave led to a revolution ; the iron rule of Nicholas was eminently conducive to peace; the reforms of the present Alexander, taken advantage of by the party of disorder, have produced the present insurrection." Such is in fact the condensed reply of the Russian statesman, who naturally found some difficulty in conveying the list idea, and therefore wrapped it in so much obscurity that we have come to his assistance and cleared it of all ambiguity for the benefit of our readers. They will perceive that the rejoinder affords scope for that exercise of ingenuity and lngic which we shall doubtless find exhibited in the next blue book on the affairs of Poland. HERALD,—Now, if ever, is the moment for a per manent and peaceable solution of the Polish ques tion. The Russian Government responds with courtesy to the appeals of the Western Powers, and declares its determination to develop in Poland an administrative autonomy, on the basis of provincial and municipal institutions like those of England. Practically, although not in terms, it renews the engagements it had long repudiated, and recognises the right of England to see to their fulfilment. That is to say, it allows everything which a regard for the interests of the Poles and the dignity of its own country will allow the English Government to ask, There is no English statesman who can believe that the immediate attainment of complete independence by Poland would be desirable in the interests of Europe or of Poland itself. There is no one who believes the attainment possible, and therefore there is no one who would commit England to the Quixo. tic task of demanding it. What the Czar now ex presses his readiness to give Poland—an adminis trative autonomy—would undoubtedly, if honestly carried out, pace the Poles in a better position than at any time during the last four hundred years of their existence. A distinct administration and na- ~. tional institutions would satisfy every real want of the people. Such an autonomy would allow the fullest liberty of religion and instruction, full personal free dom, and every opportunity for the solution of those great social questions which, if Poland is to remain a nation, must be taken in hand for settlement at once. Her aspirations after an independent existence would indeed remain unsatisfied; the dream of a NEWARK— White wheat new, 45s to 53s Red do. 458 to 478 Old white —s to —s Red do. --s to —s Barley, malting 378 to 42s Peas, .... reconstitution of old Poland would continua. dream ; but these sentimental longings, of w hie . t' moreover, there is no chance of obtaining the gr . 6t fication, might well be laid aside in the er l .o ment of the solid material advantages which, guaranteed autonomy would give her. B° 6si herself is destined in all probability to underg some considerable political revolutions which m a : change the form of her government and alter th relations of the different provinces of the empire and the Poles, in possession of all the real benefit of liberty, could afford to wait for opportunitie s ° peaceably and surely effecting their independence and if those opportunities should never come woult still have little to regret. That is the quest iol which they have now to consider; and it is o n ' upon the decision of which the future of the nation and perhaps the peace of Europ e depends. If the: will accept the offers which Russia makes to Ell land, acting on their behalf, the insurrection for its sacrifices will not have been in vain. If the] refuse these offers they may plunge Europe Lil' war, but they cannot effect their own purpose- ":",' Poles will no doubt say—their partisans in Engle °. and France have already said it for them—that theJ can place no confidence in the promises of Russia This is a statement which, alth oug h constan" , l e made, has very little warrant. Russia has, j i „, doubt, governed Poland v er y crue lly, but Elbe ,":, not in that matter been guilty o f muc h deceit. . 11 ' promises which Alexander made were, indeed, fo r yoked ; but the P o l e s gave no sma ll j us tification 1 ° that revocation in their att em pt to use what , W ,, as freely given by the Czar to extort something 'Nu'', he could not give them. However, let the Russia n be as bad as they are described—the great wordn°l with the Radicals i s A s i a ti c — t h e P ole s rneY Y e ,, with very great confid ence acce pt their offers. 1. ,'; the first place, the Russian Government will t e. every care not to run the r i s k o f suc h a rebell ion .. again. Whatever the security it may feel of 111 % mate success, it cannot afford, at a time that i t bueied in introducing liberty in Russia and in ol e o ing great social and economic cha nge s, either 0 incur the odium of Europe or to make the enornilf exertion and sacrifices which the su ppressinn w a an insurrection clearly justified by its °- 1 3 . duplicity would impose. Prince Gortschakoff 0 serves, with justice, that Russia must have the 1 e ,7 0 lively desire to restore durable peace to Poland. ' i d Poles, put in possession of liberal institutions) Wt.. use them for their own defence. But apart 01 Bt gether from this natural desire to avoid trouble s id home, it is the pressing interest of Russia to lel vo another insurrection. By accepting the ter la offered them through England the Poles 0 11 00 pledge Russia to England, and England in Sol d way to themselves. The Russian Government vi, ° b " . e . not venture to act with ill faith towards Polan d , e , cause at the same time it would violate its erlg e t tis ment with England, and an engagement of 1 00 , kind would b e muc h more s h ar ply l oo k e d to 13 6 ,, than it was 30 years ago, when the dread of 11 1 10 sian power overshadowed Europa. Then All t ,,th and Prussia were both despotic States ; now `"" po t are constitutional ; and if in Prussia for the n 3 ° °/ ; e s the constitution is apparently disregarded the P e ."ol of the people is not the less felt. Austria o f Prussia will oppose a l'outrance any atten l P, t tia Poland to acquire indep en d ence , b u t they Pio every interest in the peace and content of Ell, ss d ge Poland; and if the Czar should b re ak any PLO now made to the Poles they would join EDP and France to enforce them. COUNTRY MARKETS. —. •ii i% A fair attendance LYNN mark et TUESDAY 133 1 d di to-day, with a , 1 t og show of wheat, in excellent condition. The deman% r ce4 steady, and sales were made at late rates. Barley sly Oats fully maintained their value. Beans sold reac h " extreme quotations. SO White 47s to 51s 1 Ba r ley. 4 ...•300tp30 Red.. 44s to 47s 1 g r i n di ng 3os 2,9 '''' Beans .—s to —s 1 Oat s .. . .23 5 t° „A .. , 0 to New 36s to 42s 1 Peas HULL--TUESDAY. Or The wheat trade during the week has been steadig tv biell day there was a small supply of English wheat, 0 - ibet was taken off at last week's currency. Foreign was 0, 0 de neglected, but not quotably lower. Spring corn of scriptions mot with more demand to 49'. 0 2 3 8 6 es °0 :11 dt tt 0 : 04 3 , .:5 q : °ll 04 ati Wheat.... Old white.... per qr 4Bs Od ~, Old red . ~ New white .. „ New red .... 79 Barley.... English malting Grinding 3 444 2 4 8 1 0 0 °( 1 a ci dd t r t 0 : 1 , / ; 4 1 :: oi t o° 3° 26s 6d to ',‘F,' oil Saul and Oderbruck . Holstein and Danish 2 Bs Od to , 0 0 4 Grinding Oats English, old Archangel and Riga, per at Friesland and Dutch osl3d to 0 0 9 1 Swedish and Danish 013121d t 4 Beans ....English, old, per qr New pigeon 42s Od to f, 6 oo New tick Egyptian Peas Foreign boilers ~ Grinding Tares .... Spring, 49 Indian Corn Linseed, feeding crushing ... 4os Od to 5 1, 0 :333 4 2 633 0 °6 sssgs s ss 1 00000 0: ddd d dl ttitt t o:Lo o , 03: ,32 1: 0 400 : 1614 AlO " 0 Linseed cakes (Hull) S9 15 0 to -- 9 0 A Foreign Bl5 oto 6 10 `, l ' Rape cakes Bones .. 5 5 oto -WEDNESDAY. t o 31g 1 Barley, grinding. • 2 2 s to Oats, old, .. ...... 2 1 i s 0 .. to , 0 New do .......... 'tO 4 U Beans.. .......... 43s 01 0 Beans, new ..... .343 40s to 445. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES,—Now that Mr. Gladstone has retired from his crusade against the charities, we hope he will reconsider hiE declaration of war against the clubs, which in the natural course of things should come under discussion to-night. It he insist upon it, he may perhaps succeed. There are, however, many things which a man in a certain position may do, but which most men prefer not to do. Mr. Glsd stone's, achievement of assimilating clubs and public houses is eminently one of these. He can do it, per- haps, but only because he is Chancellor of the Exchequer. There are many other minor follies which he might also safely permit himself for the same reason. People will not refuse the Supplies, or damage a Government upon the vital point of their finance, for so small a matter as this. Mr. Gladstone is safe in the company of his friends, and he will get a certain amount of applause in a certain quarter. People who have not much chance of ever getting into a club enjoy the fun in the good humoured way in which an English crowd enjoys a good joke played off upon their betters. Its very absurdity makes the joke pungent. Its curious in justice makes it facetious; for there is a point at which a minor act of injustice does become facetious in proportion to the palpable nature of the injustice. The people know that the clubs are stately, orderly places, where folk are very careful whom they asso ciate with, and where bishops and judges may any day be seen silently exercising their moral police influence over the respectability of the institutioe. There is a mysterious magnificence about these palaces which the people do not envy, for there is too much constraint about them to suit their tastes. But that a Chancellor of the Exchequer should fix upon these places a " license," which license is the badge and tribute of a monopoly supposed to be necessary to keep liquor shops from becoming dis orderly houses, is such a slap in the face, and such an unprovoked slap in the face, that the clubless cannot choose but laugh. They laugh for the same reason that they laugh at the clown in the pantomime when he turns round and rubs his hot poker against the wrong man. The public, however, does not laugh. If by any reasonable tax upon clubs Mr. Gladstone could have given relief to other taxpayers; if he could have taken a penny a pound off tea or off sugar, or if he could have abated a fraction from the Income tax, we might have seen in the importance of the object a reason for disregarding the means. We might still have regretted that Mr. Gladstone had not the art of doing a necessarily disagreeable thing in an agreeable manner, and might, perhaps, have pointed out that a poll-tax upon gentlemen would be, at any rate, a less insulting tax than to assimi late their clubs with gin palaces, and make them take out licences. But if the Exchequer were to get a good round sum out of the transaction we should have said, " He does not mean it as an insult —he wants the money." But, as it is, he will get no money that will pay for collecting. It would not pay a half year's salary to A retired Lord Chancel lor. It would not retrieve the smallest blunder in calculating when to buy or sell Exchequer-bills. It is too small even for Mr. Gladstone to estimate it singly. It is but a speck of dust in the balance of his yearly Budget —a little bit of dust, moreover, which is but an impertinence in a scale already so heavy with a surplus of near a million. It cannot, therefore, be for the sake of the money that the Chancellor of the Exchf pier has chosen to exhibit club palaces and gin palaces before the country as having a common character and necessitating a simi lar license. Neither can it be a matter of principle. However false the notion that wherever wine or beer is served out, there the Excise has a right to exact the price of a monopoly—which is licence money —yet we could understand such an idea if it were consistently carried out. That to " serve out" beer requires a licence is a proposition that might be almost dignified into a principle. Mr. Glad stone might, under the protection of such a prin ciple, expatiate upon the injustice of taking licence money from publichouses for " serving out" beer, and omitting to take it from clubs. But he by no means adheres to his " principle." It is only a club held in a house of £lOO a year which is in the same category as a publichouse • a club in a house of £9O a year is in a different category, and is exempt from the necessity of a licence. By his very exception Mr. Gladstone deprives himself of all pretence for saying that this tax is defensible upon the ground on which he put it the other night. If to " serve out" beer and wine and spirits is so perilous a thing that the law has a right to preside over every such transaction, and to surround it with police regulations and restrict it by licences, then public-houses and Clubs are undoubtedly within the purview of the necessity, and the lower the rent the more reasonable the fear of disorder. But under this " principle," so also are boarding houses and private dinner parties, and even large families, servers out of beer, and therefore liable. In all these cases the obnoxious liquids are . Prices of Coal per COAL Ton at MARKET the close of the Inarget' d s. 0 s. d. . 16 .... . ... Byass's Bebsido West Eden Main 1 . Hartley s•• • . - 10 14. fi 15 olDavison's Wes 1- West $ Wylam 15 0 ley ............... Carway and Duffryn Malting . 19 6 Hastings Hartley l5 0 ranfield Moor Butes l2 6 Lambert's West Hart ley 14 9' North Pelton Gas, 13 0 i West Hartley 15 0 Walls End. ,j 1 0 Wharneliffe ....... . 1 1 , 0 Hetton ... .! ........ Braddyll's Redo!' ..... lo 1 / South Hetton ...... .10 Russel's Hetton ..... 0 Gosforth ........... Foreign Mail Packet List• MAILS DUE. . 1014, AuPtralia and Mauritius, v i a S ou th am pton. ..... vii , via Marseilles • ....... Ono, Jrazil and Cape V er d s , b y B r i t i s h pa cket....... •,, of n , Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena..-r q d r i , China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton.f4 il via Marseilles ..•;', 1 4 / 0; Ni Sy Falkland Islands 19, Gibraltar, via Southampton .. .s o l 4 ' India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton. go 11 , via Marseilles.. • 'sof 6. India (Bombay), via Southampt on ............ go i . ; via Marseilles g 59 , 11. Portugal.... ... t ........................... : 30 4 Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton pfs9 O. via Marseilles ....... 3151 1 Newfoundland Oporto and Vigo U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.. • 9, by U.S. packet.. •')169 10 , by Canadian pac ket ' gof 1 , W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe .............. gib Bahamas, via New York ..................... ' . 1)414 ' Mexico.. . 1101 14 All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peri n California, and British Columbia.. .......... rely A. p THE WEST RIDING REGISTARSHLI"." eCe be 'P t° r la t he made to Parliament shows that the gross We i h i re - .. 20 by the Registrar of the West Riding of Yorks veg isti of last three years have averaged £3,443, and tile ' ° Wee' fees £1,630 a year, which annual income was the_ ,...„ , the recent contest. Births. rfai p GILES..—On the 4th inst., at Westleidi Iriesll,3loo f 0 Devon, the wife of Charles S. Gilei ' Esq., 1- a ' ge l , H M.S. Warrior, of a son. f tbe'' . LESTER.—On the 3d inst., at Swanage, the wi fe °- th e L. Lester, of a daughter. ~, al) fe at Hon. the 4th inst' ,at 'Glenmore, co. D ° ' -e- e at Hon. Mrs. Style, of a son. 1 , SAVILLE.—On the 2d inst., at Foulmiro It ect lti ter. fr Royston, the Hos. Mrs. Arthur Savile, of Et c bi t r 0. 14 TAGORE.— On the 3d inst., the wife of p rofe°B- Tagore, of a son. A LdEaux Brighton,gahstne rERof—W William William ALEXANDER -- WOOD.—On t i A . Wood, Esq., late 0 London. t !le 13fi c . il iv e _Mleoxaannntdihaeerg,leststo.inms ta.,ryaftjti........7o,oooreed! DURRANT—BARTON.-011 the 301 h ult., a - n t f SOC it f t al e Embassy, Sir Henry Josias Durant, Bartl, - o .bter ° I A " di Hall, Norfolk, to Alexandrina Charlotte, da"wid late General Sir Robert Barton, 1C• t133 r0 ,7 Barton, of Montagu-place, montagu.,oll._• Deaths. vihel ° 3° 15 : ell GIBB,—On the sth inst., at Osidge Ilerts -,--ipeors,il youngest daughter of Major Gibb:Royel'lls- hi Itig six days. the H ATI Hon.iE R L T o O r N d . Ha Citn t h e r the o n 4, t aged inst., St 7 2 . a t Tedolea I ' - , ' v ' , ' ~ fi ° HORDER.—On the 4th inst., at 3, Belg raCe-ter I race/ Ip D va r reks : lico, Mr. Valentine T. Herder, aged 6 0 . riet Ivite ° KEMSHEAD —On the sth inst ,at Poole, l‘f s , t - , ii t'o it r o e r i c e il ter, WARDELL.—On the sth inst at 10, Albert-roa. evo b ; y r: , hE s n l iseqLloyd f \ C v a a m r d b e r l i l d : g E o $1:78 sgee,dS o v. u . t : vi: WESTBY.—On the 2d inst, Elizabeth, wife °A iv , doe, el of Lord Justice Blackburne, late Lord .... 0 .. al, Ireland. ftitirs a le WRENCH,— On the sth inst., at the Iricare,,,,Lear of of Roebuck Castle, co. acio:ooelie Eliza, widow of the Rev. Dr. Wrench, law hunt, Sussex, aged 65. 0 18 ;, ° ; London : Printed and Published by WILLO-- -2 4 iNjo• of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TidE SU'S o'l.42iti" Strand, in the Precinct the Savoy , in t 4C Middlesex. —Thursday, May 7, 1861