The Sun. — London, England, 1864-09-03 00:00:00

DANISH DESPATCHES. The following is the continuation of the series of despatches recently laid by the Danish Government before the Rigsraad : DESPATCH FROM THE DANISH AMBASSADOR IN BERLIN. " Nov. 3, 1863. " Sir,—An observation was addressed to me yes terday by Sir Augustus Paget, in reference to my despatch to you (No. 25), which, as it appears, was suggested to him by M. de Balan, in whose presence Sir Augustus had read the despatch. The remark was upon the following subject : " Yon will observe that when I speak in that despatch of the complete and unlimited budget which would eventually be submitted to the deliberative vote of the Estates, I express my idea by availir.g myself of these terms—the budget of the ensu:,ng year. I remember that in taking cognisance of this document —which he did the day following its de parture, manifesting much satisfaction, and his entire approval—the Minister raised no objection to the manner in which I had understood Herr von Bismarck's demand with reference to the time when the enlarged financial competence should come into operation. Now, after his conversation with M. de Belau, he foresaw a difficulty relating to the current year, and asked me whether the Government did not intend to apply the new principle to the present year. " My reply was that we feared the misunder standings which co uld not fail to result from such a promise. For it was evident the Holstein Estates could not meet until after the imminent danger of an execution should be removed, and that negotia tions with the Estates upon the new budget could at soonest take place in the first month of the en suing year. This term would suffice for next year's budget; but the wish to submit to the Estates to wards the end of the year a budget for that same year would appear rather too much like mystifica tion, as there would be no means of checking outlay already made. The vote of the Estates would con. sequently be of no possible effect. "I added that I did not conceive interest could attach to a proceeding which all the world must know could be nothing bat a mere form. For, apart from the misunderstandings which this step would certainly not fail to call forth, the principle would be sufficiently established by the appreciation of it we were ready to make. Further, sir, as you are a ware, the budget for the current year has already bt. en once laid before the Estates without their having thought proper to discuss and vote upon it. "Sir Augustus Paget entirely appreciated these observations of mine, and told me he would write in this sense to his Government and to Sir Andrew Buchanan.—l have the honour, &c., " QUAADE.'' DESPATCH FROM THE DANISH AMBASSADOR TO BERLIN. " Nov. 3, 1863. " M. le Ministre,—The despatch, No. 25, your eAcellency has been good enough to address to me, ut. der date of the 31st inst., arrived yesterday even■ ing, and I have communicated it to-day to the Minister-President. " I have already informed your excellency by te. legraph that, as to principle, M. de Bismarck in general agrees with the King's Government. That is to say, the Minister admits the condition relative to the national debt, but he did not abandon his objections with regard to the other reserves con tained in the despatch until after I had pointed out to him that a distinction was to be drawn between the above-mentioned condition and that which the King's Govern. meat had reserved to itself with regard to the part of the normal budget based upon the re• quirements of Government and of interior adminis tration. As to the national debt, the King's Government was responsible to the creditors of the State, and it:could only withdraw itself from a por tion of that responsibility upon condition of such portion being assumed by another ; but as to the reserve relating to the civil list, to outlay in favour of the confederation, and to expenses necessitated by the interior administration of the country, it was evident that the King's Government dii not con template, in granting the Estates the right of voting the items of the budget bearing thereupon, prevent. ing them from making these different items the ob ject of their deliberation and resolutions. I added that I, for my part, had only understood by the in troductions of the reserves in question that the King's Government desired to guard expressly against the eventuality of a refusal of supplies (" Stenerverweigerung ') upon the part of the Estates. "The impression made upon me by the interview I have had with M. de Bismarck confirms me in the opinion I have already made known to your excel lency, i.e., that the abandonment by the King's Government of the Holstein normal budget in favour of the vote of the Estates would deprive the Diet of every ground for carrying out the execution, and that the condition relating to Holstein's portion of the national debt would be accepted by the Prussian Government. "But the great difficulty which still remains to be solved is that of the form for giving effect to the eventual intentions of the King's Government. " Until to-day Sir A. Buchanan and I, with per haps M. de Bismarck, have thought it would be possible, analogous to the precedent furnished in 1861 by the international negotiation, to obtain by way of the united committee the decree or Federal demand upon which the King's Government makes the execution of its decision depend ; but when I presented myself to day to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he had just received from Frankfort pre liminary notice that M. de Sydow had encountered sentiments in the committee which caused him to foresee that the majority of his colleagues would decline to bring in a serviceable form before the Diet a communication made by the Prussian Go vernment as to the intentions of that of the King. " The method of proceeding previously concerted between M. de Bismark and the English Ambas sador would, therefore, probably be ineffectual; and under the circumstances, M. de Bismarck is the less inclined to have recourse to that method, as it does not appear to him desirable that Denmark and Prussia should find themselves together in a minority in opposition to the other members of the Diet at the present conjuncture. " I asked M. de Bismark if he could not point out to me some other form which I could propose to the King's Government, but he replied the only farm in his opinion now available waa that the ini tiative should be taken by the Cabinet of Copen hagen, either by a decree to be issued in Holstein —and under this head he did not see why prefe rence should not be given to the decree which, more than any other, would dep r i ve t h e Di et of every motive for execution, i e., th e w i thdrawal of the patent of 3oth March—or by a declaration to be made at Frankfort. I asked the Minister, further , if it would not suffice that I should b e au th or i sed to convey the eventual intention of the King's Go vernment officially to hie knowledge, especially re. questing him to communicate that intention to the Di e t. But he told me this was impossible. Towards the Diet the Prussian Government was in the present question exactly in the same position as the King's Government, and as for intervention with the united committee without goodwill, upon the part of its members, the organisation and routine of the Diet offered ab solutely no means of action to the Prussian Govern ment. "M. de Bismarck above all strongly recom mended the withdrawal of the patent of March 30; and i❑ reply to the objections 1 brought forward, having regard to the dignity of the King's Govern ment, to considerations of internal policy, and even with the contents of the document in question, the Minister pointed out that in the main there was no difference between what he proposed and what the Copenhagen Cabinet was disposed to do. We were willing to admit the Federal competence for Hol stein, casting aside material objections by which we had hitherto allowed ourselves to be guided, and why not make the admission in the form pointed out by the Diet itself ? Time pressed, The Diet could not delay in taking its resolution. What this resolution should be the Federal decree left only two alternatives—accoptanee or non -acceptance of the Danish declaration. In the latter case the King's Government would probably have a last delay, but in the meani ime the execution troops would be on the march, and the point of military honour would be joined t o the other considerations which rendered it day by day more difficult for Germany to recede. " In r addition to the two forms cited above as capable , according to M. de Bismarck, of being adopte 3 by the King's Government, the Minister also p toposed a third, in stating that perhaps the Brits nnic Government would be willing to address itsel Ito the Diet, communicating to that body the dis position of the King's Government ; but he im- Aintely aferwards himself started the objection treat, if this overture of the Britannic Government related, as was reasonable to suppose it would, ex exclusively to the Federal question, the Diet would be unable to receive it. "I cannot conceal from your excellency that, par taking of de Bismarck's views of the necessity of acting with promptness , I also think that there is no occasion for the King's Government to place form above reality, especially in its relations with a political assembly organised as is the Federal Diet. After the distinction laid down by M. de Bismarck, in full conformity with the views of the King's Government, between the Federal part and the international part of the Dano-German ques tioa—a distinction which the English Cabinet has equally adopted, and will well understand how to carry through at Frankfort—it appears to me that - - . ;his question now presents itself in an entirely dif. ferent point of view to formerly, and offers to the Government facilities it did not possess some weeks ago. " Sir A. Buchanan has told me Lord Russell had supposed the vote upon the normal budget would be already granted to the Estates by the declaration of October 29, and at the same time he suggested to me the idea of submitting to your excellency's exa mination whether it would not be possible for the King's Government itself to make the declaration to the Diet, taking the above supposition of the English Minister as a point of departure. "In the course of conversation M. de Bismarck several times alluded to the necessity of Prussia to take all possible care not to be able to be accused of private negotiations with Denmark in opposition to her allies, and this is the reason, I have no doubt, for much of the reserve maintained by the Minister. I am sure, however, that he would most willingly undertake to realise the intentions of the King's Government if he only saw how to do so without exposing himself to a check. "Requesting your excellency to consider this re port as perfectly confidential, I have the honour, &c. (Signed) is QUAADE." DESPATCH FROM THE DANISH AMBASSADOR IN BERLIN. " Nov. 3, 1863. (Private and confidential.) " Your Excellency,—ln connection with what I have stated in my despatch of to•day's date as to the various forms the King's Government, in Herr von Bismark's opinion, might select to bring into operation its eventual intention with regard to the Holstein normal budget, I permit myself to submit to your excellency a further proposition of the above. named Minister. " After he had stated his other proposals, Herr von Bismark remarked that he thought he knew another way which the King's Government could noose. ' You are aware,' he said, 'that I have always been of opinion that everything of a Fede• ral character must first be detached from the entire question in dispute. Its contents should be reduced to the smallest possible proportions, by taking from it, and connecting with the international portion, everything which could be reckoned to belong to the latter; as, for instance, matters referring to the position of Holstein in the monarchy, and to the other portions of the country. Nothing would then remain but what the Danish Government could well leave to the Diet, and, provided this took place, execution would be impossible as objectless. In connection herewith the Danish Government could never—referring to the resolution of the Diet, in which that body, when stating its causes of com plaint against the Danish Government, has included several non-Federal objects—issue an act expressing what portions of the question in dispute, so far as these are hitherto laid down by the Diet, lie outside the competence of the Confederation. The act should state it was self-evident the demands of the Diet could not be met with regard to these objects. The Diet would then be compelled, if determined to carry out its will, to adopt a different course to that it had hitherto taken. With reference to that part of the question in dispute which remained, the act should observe willingness existed to give the Diet everything that could be obtained by an execution, so long as its demands were limited to full legislative competence for the Estates.' "It seems to me that although a formal reason for a new declaration at Frankfort may not be easily discoverable from the present stand-point of the Federal question, the general political situation yet offers a motive for an act like that suggested; and it seems to me further that nothing would prevent the act being attached to a reservation respecting the share of Holstein in the national debt, which latter is also an international matter. " The chief reason for hesitation in adopting an act of this character appears to me to consist in its solemnity; and it is therefore my personal opinion, provided I may be permitted to give it expression, that it would be far better if the King's Government could determine to depart from form and give in a farther declaration at Frankfort.—l have the honor, &c., (Signed) " QUAADE." DESPATCH FROM THE DANISH AMBASSADOR IN BERLIN. "Nov. 5, 1863. " M. le Ministre,—The English Ambassador has received a communication from Sir A Paget upon the question treated in despatch N 0.27, and M. de Thile mentioned the same point to him yesterday, but neither the Under. Secretary of State, whom I also saw yesterday, nor M. de Bismarck have made any observation to me upon the subject. Sir A. Bu. chanan, to whom M. de Bismarck has not spoken any more upon the point in question, told M. de Thile that he thought it better not to touch upon the past. The Under• Secretary of State did not insist, and I think with Sir Andrew that there is no room for ns to engage in any discussion in this respeet. " I have just received information from Copen• hagen which suggests to me some observations I venture to submit to your excellency. I understand from this source that your excel lency still entertains the idea of awaiting a Fede. ral decree to realise the intentions mentioned in despatch No. 25, and Sir A. Buchanan tells me that according to his information, your exeellency has spoken of eventually communicating the said inten tions through the united committees. As I under stand the Federal act, and according to what has been told me here in the most authentic and positive manner of the routine of the Diet, this assembly has bat one resolution to take in the phase at which the Holstein affair has now arrived. It can only pronounce for one or the other of two alternatives, ►. e., tertiurn non datur. Consequently as soon as the decree now in question shall have been pro nounced, the opportune moment for making a sup plementary declaration to the Diet shall have passed. The declaration can be made, it is true, at the final summons of the States carrying out the execution ; bat while waiting, many things may have changed, and the opportunity would probably not be the same. " Just as I thus consider that it would be very desirable for the King's G overnment to decide upon setting aside form, and making the final declaration to the Diet without delay, although no formal mo tive offers itself for this step at the present moment —and so long as the said Assembly has not expressed itself upon the declaration of October 29—so I will not conceal from your excellency that I, for my part, do not see the slightest probability that the Government could succeed in bringing its eventual intentions to the knowledge of the Diet by means of the united committees, as neither the King's Go vernment nor the King's Minister are in official or dir3ct relations with the said committees. The lat ter being thus not strictly compelled to give effect meat, u d h to an o verture on the part of the King's Govern. their members being no it is to be foreseen that s a l a y less t well majority disposed, o a step taken towards these committees would not officially come to the knowledge of the Diet,—l have the honour, scc., (Signed) " QUAADE." THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 3, 1864. Naval and Military Intelligence. The Hornet, 17, screw sloop, of 735 tons and 100 horse power, Commander the Hon. R. Hare, arrived at Spithead yesterday on her return to England from foreign service, to dismantle and pay out of commission. She sailed from Trincomalee on the 22d of May, the Cape of Good Hope on the 12th of July, and St. Helena on the 25th. Her news from the two latter ports has been antici pated. Very fine weather was experienced from the Cape of Good Hope to the Channel. The naval cadets belonging to the Imperial French training corvettes Le Bougainville and Le Chasseur, now lying at Spithead, were engaged during yesterday and Thursday in visiting Ports mouth dockyard and other public establishments of the port. An intimation had been given that the cadets would visit the Excellent gunnery ship at 1 p.m. yesterday, in order to witness the usual Friday afternoon's drill and firing on board that ship, but the visit was postponed at the last mo ment, owing to the boisterous state of the weather- For the same cause the afternoon's drill and prac tice on board the ship was confined to the lower deck battery. The gun ports were all closed, and the guns all secured in-board as they would be at sea in a heavy gale of wind. A roll on the drum and the guns were instantly swarmed round by the seamen from the mess-deck, conspicuous among whom could be seen the white flannel guernseys and trousers of the young officers training for gun nery lieutenants. In a few minutes every gun had been cast loose and two rounds each of the tube firing gone through. To this succeeded two broad. sides with shot at 1,000 yards, and two with shell at 1,250 yards. The practice closed with arconvergs ing broadside of shot and shell, the ship being sup posed to be so surrounded by smoke or tne darkness of night that the enemy could not be seen from the gun deck, and the order to fire being given to the officer in charge of the battery from the upper deck through a voice tube. The ease with which the gnns were handled, and the perfect discipline and cat like agility of the men were extraordinary, even for the Excellent. It is significant to notice the feeling entertained, without a known exception, by the officers and trained seamen of the Excellent with regard to the different guns on board. Thus, while no confidence whatever is placed in any de scription of castpiron or homogeneous made gun, every possible confidence is placed in a coil.built gun, from the fact that if the one gives way it breaks itself up, and would destroy the men work• ing it, while if the other, the coil-built, goes it merely opens its coils and lets the gases escape without further damage. Our best smooth-bore cast-iron gun—the 95 cwt. 68-pounder—rarely re mains serviceable after firing 200 rounds, while there are coil-built guns which have fired their thousands of rounds. One of Sir \V. Arm strong's 70-pounder wedge-loading guns now on board the Excellent has fired 300 trial rounds, and 100 of these continuously by having a double crew relieving each other every 25 rounds. This is considered on board the Excellent to be the most perfect breech-loading gnu that has yet been produced. Among other trial guns now on board are two 64-pounders, one rifled after the French cannon rage, and the other on Sir W. Armstrong's shunt principle. These two guns are to undergo a competitive trial asi soon as their ammunition can be provided. Her Majesty's iron steamship Oberon, built at Deptford in 1847 by Messrs. Rennie of half-inch plates, is now undergoing a thorough overhaul at Woolwich. The under part of her bilge has been repaired, and some few of the plates have been re. placed by new ones. Her interior, which was payed down with Day's and other patent marine cements, in order to test the superiority of the compositions for preserving the rivet-heads, &c., from rust has been recoated throughout with Day's composition, which was proved superior, and is now introduced generally in the service. Her sides are being experimentally coated with Hay's protective and anti-fouling varnishes. The hired transport Swan yesterday went down to Woolwich and shipped a number of 110-pounder Armstrong guns and other war stores for Halifax. In consequence of repeated suggestions made by Mr Turner, the master-shipbuilder at - Woolwich, for an immediate augmentation of the establishment of the dockyard, as well as for the important increase of skilled ironworkers, the Lords of the Admiralty yesterday despatched an order to Woolwich sanc tioning the proposal that the number be raised to 1,120 men of all trades, to constitute the permanent establishment. About 100 additional men of various trades will likewise be taken on as " permanent men." The paddlewheel steamer Salamis, 4 ; 853 tons, 250-horse power, Commander F. G. Luttie, in ac cordaßce with orders to that effect telegraphed to Chatham, has taken her departure from the Med way for the eastern coast of Scotland, to attend upon the Osborne, 2, paddlewheel steam yacht, Staff-Commander G. H. K. Bower, which conveys the Prince and Princess of Wales and suite to Denmark Since the Salamis was last at Chatham she has been employed principally on particular service, and on the breaking out of hostilities between Denmark and the German Powers she was despatched to cruise off the island of Heliogoland to watch the Prussian and Danish squadrons. She subsequently conveyed the members of the Fishery Commission on a tour of inspection to various parts of the coast. During the time the Salamis was employed in these duties her performance, both under sail and steam, more than realised the expectations formed of her by her designers and builders at Chatham Dock yard, the vessel making from two to three knots per hour more than on the occasion of her official trial of speed at the Maptin Sands; while on some occa. sions she attained a speed of 18 knots, and even 20 knots per hour. Some inconvenience has arisen ow ing to her boilers having originally been covered with felt ; and on two or three occasions fire has actually broken out on board from this cause, necessitating the cutting away of some portion of the decks and funnel casings to get at the seat of the fire. Since the Salamis has been in harbour, however, this has been altered, and the boilers covered with firebricks and clay, which will prevent any similar occur. rence. The Misletoe, 2, 60-horse power, attached to the second division of the Chatham Steam reserve, having, upon being surveyed by the Admiralty and dockyard officials, been found in an exceedingly rot ten state, orders have been received directing her to be broken up, and she will accordingly be taken to pieces at Sheerness dockyard. The MitletoE was built for the Admiralty during the late war, and has seen very little service, while for the last few years she has been lying idle in the Medway. It is pro bable that many others of the gunboats attached to the Chatham Steam Reserve will, upon examination, be found in an equally rotten condition, and fit only to be broken up. The ironclad frigate Research, 4,200 horse power, Capt. A. Wilmshurst, which sailed from the Nore on Wednesday to join the Channel squadron, steamed through Spithead yesterday, and continued her course to the westward, through the Needles channel. The fine frigate Arethusa, 35, 3,141 tons, 500 horse power, attached to the first division of the Steam Reserve in the Medway, will not, according to present arrangements, be commissioned until the sister steam frigates Octavia, 39, 3,161 tons, 500 horse power, and the Constance, 39, 3,213 tons, 500 horse power, are ready for the pennant, when they will proceed together on an experimental cruise to test their sailing and steaming qualities. The Are thusa would beiready for sea in a few days, but from an announcement received at Chatham from Ports mouth and Devonport, where the other frigates are fitting, neither of these vessels will be ready for sea for at least a couple of months to come. According to annual custom the returns have been forwarded from the Admiralty to Chatham dock yard of the intended alterations in the number of mechanics and other workmen employed at that establishment for the ensuing year. From the cir. cumstance of Chatham having become almost exclu. sively an iron shipbuilding yard, a considerable in crease will take place in the number of mechanics employed at that establishment. Accordingly the order directs that about 50 of the hired mechanics are to be established, and there will also be a rather considerable increase in the number of smiths, joiners, painters, and apprentices. On the other hand, a great number of the ropemakers will be die charged, the new spinning and other machinery re• cently introduced into the dockyard, dispensing to a great extent with this kind of manual labour. A number of the workmen now employed as sawyers will fall back as labourers, and some of the additional hands taken on as coppersmiths will be established. The order also directs a new appointment to be made at Chatham Dockyard—that of " assayer of metals, paints, oils, lead," &c. The Prince Albert cutter, Master Commanding Bones, which has been for some time engaged in surveying service on the north west coast of Scot land, under Capt. Otter, late of her Majesty's ship Porcupine, has returned to the Clyde. A Danish ironclad frigate, built by Messrs Thomson, Govan, will shortly leave the Clyde for Denmark, Yesterday a detachment of noncommissioned officers mad men of the Royal Engineers, selected from the companies at headquarters, Chatham, left the garrison and proceeded to Gravesend, for the purpose of undergoing a course of ball practice under the direction of Capt. Drake, the newly ap- pointed rifle instructor to the Royal Engineers. The following appintment has been made in the Royal Naval Reserve :—William Henry Ellis, to be Honorary Lieutenant. Barry F. Domoile, and not B. T. Domville, was appointed to the Artillery, as notified in the last Gazette but one. The following appointments were made yesterday at the Admiralty :—Commander G. A. W. Welch, to be an inspecting Commander of the Coastguard, vice Commander Maunsell, whose period of service has expired ; W. J. Lewis, surgeon, additional, to the Duncan ; Harry T. Nettleton, paymaster, to the Brilliant ; A. C. Archdeacon, assist.-paymaster, to irresistible ; and F. Hyndman, assist.-paymaster, to the Duncan. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE, GREAT WESTERN. The following is the report of the directors of this com pany to be submitted at the general meeting on Wednesday next : " The accounts presented to the shareholders with this report embrace a period of six months, terminating on the 31st of July last, whereas those submitted to the proprie tors in September, 1863, included a period of seven months commencing on the Ist of January, and terminating on the 31st of July in that year. The usual comparison between the two half-years cannot, therefore, be deduced from the printed accounts, but the following analysis may be taken as exhibiting a fair comparative statement of the receipts and expenses during the six months ending the 31st of July, 1863, and the six months ending the 31st of July, 1864: REVENUE. 1863. 1864. Increase. From passengers, mails, &c. £761,460 £808,291 £43,814 From merchandise, coal, &c. 705,526 780,521 74,925 From parcels, warehouse rent, &c. £[,52 ,921 £1,03,656 £121,735 ExpENDITuRE. Maintenance of wry £152,192 £153,172 £9BO Locomotive expenditure 186,435 195,753 9,318 Traffic expenditure All otht r expenses £731,326 £763,742 £29,416 After providing for all and fixed preference charges the lance of revenue will admit of the payment of the follow ing dividends :—At the rate of 3 per cent. per annum on Great Western Consolidated Stock; 21 per cent, on West Midland (Oxford) Consolidated Stock ; 1,1 per cent on West Midland (Newport) Consolidated Stock; 5 per cent. on West Midland (Hereford) Stock ; and 3 per cent. on South Wales Consolida ed Stock—leaving a balance of £3,904 5s 5d to be carried forward to the credit of the current half-year, It will be observed that a sum of £2,500 has been charged to revenue in respect of accidents.' The directors propose to continue to charge a similar sum half-yearly until a fund not exceeding £20,000 has been created. Mr. Gooch has resigned his office of locomotive engineer to the company, after a service extending over a period of 28 years; and M: Gibson, who for a period of 18 years held the appointment of head of the carriage and waggon depart ment, has also retired during the past half-year. Air Wilson has reliuquished the superintendence of the locomotive and carriage establishments and of the permanent way on the West Midland section of the line, but he continues in the service of the company as constructing engineer for works in that district. Mr J. Armstrong, the chief of the com pany's locomotive works at Wolverhampton, has been ap pointed by the Board as superintendent of the locomotive establishments of the whole line, and the carriage and waggon stock has also been placed under his Oharge. The permanent way of the West Midland district has been apportioned between Mr Lane and Mr Owen. The atten tion of the Board has been occupied during the past session in the consideration of the numerous bills before Parlia ment promoted by other parties, but affecting this com pany's interests. Several of these bills have been thrown out or withdrawn ; and of those that have received the sanc tion of the Legislature many have been so recently sub mitted to the proprietors that it is unnecessary to refer to them again in this report. Among the measures which have passed through Parliament may be mentioned the act obtained by the East Glocestershire Company for the construction of a line from Cheltenham to Faringdon, with a branch to Witney. The Board, believing that the line was badly and expensively laid out, especially at the Chel tenham end, unnecessarily duplicating station accommo dation there, and subjecting the traffic to the inconveni ences and delays of a branch service, took such measures as were within their power to defeat the bill. Notwith standing, however, the opposition of this company and of other parties, the act for the construction of the line has been obtained ; but provisions have been inserted in it as to the construction of the works and the laying down of the broad gauge, and for the user by this company of the main portion of the line between Cheltenham and Faring don. The Bourton-on-the-Water Railway Company pro moted an extension of their railway into Cheltenham, and the bill for this object was referred to the same committees in Parliament as the East Gloucestershire scheme. This bill received the support of the Great Western Railway Company, and was sanctioned by Parliament for a line be tween Bourton and Andover sford, with running powers over the East Glocestershire Railway into Cheltenham. It will provide, when constructed, in connection with the Great Western system, the short es t narrow gauge commun i cat i on between Cheltenham, Oxford, and London. The bill pro moted by this company has received the sanction of Parlia ment. Ihe directors propose at once to put in force the powers contained in it, by which they will be enabled to widen the line between the Hamme rsm ith Junction and Paddington—and they will submit to the proprietors a re solution authorizing them to take such measures as may be necessary to give effect to the provisions in reference to the establishment of a superannuation fund contained in the same act. During the half year the Hammersmith and City Junction Railway has been opened for passenger traffic, and it is now worked by this company with a thorough ser vice of trai ns di r ect from H ammersm i t h and Kensington to the Fa rr i ng d on - s t ree t T erm i nus of t h e Metropolitan Rail way, und er arrange ment s w i t h t h e Metropolitan Comp an y . Contemporaneously with th e op e ning of this line, a service of trains has been established for the accommodation of the Great Western district from Windsor eastwards to all the stations on the Metropolitan Railway. The Faringdon and Marlborough Branch Railways have also been opened during the last half year, and are worked by this company under traffic arrangements which have been approved by the shareholders. The revenue of the Cornwall Railway having hithert o b een insufficient to meet the whole of the interest upon d e b en t ures a nd pteferenc e shares ( for a por lion of which thi s compan y, Bris tol and Exeter an d S ou th Devon Companies, is liable), in conjunction with the and it being n ow necessary that the amount o f appropriated to m ee t the defi c i e ncy in the revenue should capital of the Cornw a ll Railway , which has hitherto been be replaced, the directors of that company have made a proposal to the three associated companies with ,the view of enabling them to effect this object , and at the same time to repay a loan of £90,000 by the associated com p ani es (of stock to the extent of £149,600 power, under th e A ct of which £20,000 was advance d b y the Great 'Western) on th e security of Cornwall 6 per cent. p reference share s. The Cornwallissue ssue Railwaynew sha r es Companyn y or have for the redemption of the above 6 per cent, stock, and also to issue debentures to the extent of £82,980, on both of which sumslthe associated companies are empowered to gua rantee the the interest or divid end . To enable the nece s • sary arrangements to be carried out, it is proposed th a t th e lowerguar rate of by inte rest. associated companies should guarantee interest on t h e £149,600 redemption shares, at a rate not exceedi ng 4} per cent, per annum, and on the debenture capital of £82,980. The directors of the Cornwall Company also believe th a t they may be able to effect a saving of int erest on £lOO,OOO 5 percaernets., similarly preference guaranteed, y an associated companies, by issuing in li eu of them, redemp tion hee shares, h rest. These questions have received the careful conside ration of the directors of the associated companies. course recommended has b een adopted by and Exeter and South Devon companies • and , in the belief that, under a" the circumstances, the arraneernent suggested is the most beneficial th at can b e made, ' ;he directors recom mend the proprietors to agree to its adoption, and with that object a resolution will be submitted to the meeting. The usual reports from the officers of the company in charge of the locomotive, carriage, and permanent way departments, are annexed," CAMBRIAN, Yesterday a special meeting of this company was held at Bridge-street, Westminster— Captain J. W. Johns in the chair. The C ir A IRMA X explained that the first business was ,to carry out the powers of their Act, so far as it related to the number of directors. He therefore moved that the number of directors be reduced to six, which number had already been elected at the half-yearly meeting. This was carried unanimously. The CHAIRMAN then proposed that the powers of the Oswestry and Newton Railway Act, 1864, bo put into ope ration for the purpose of creating new preference shares or stock of the company, to which no ♦oting powers were at tached, and it was adopted. A resolution relating to the powers of the Oswestry, Ellesmere, and Whitchurch Rail way Act, 1864, was adopted ; and it was resolved that the shares of the Newtown and blachynlleth be consolidated into stock. The proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the chairman. Railway Traffic Returns for the Week, Miles Opened. Receipts. Railways. „,.---...-,..-_-_, 1864. 1863. 1864. 1863. £ 4 Belfast and N. Counties 136 136 2,452 2.376 Belfast and County Down.... 49 49 759 678 Blyth and Tyne 2B 28 2,392 1,609 Bristol and Exeter l2ll 1211 7,669 7,288 Caledonian Cambrian Cockermouth & Workington Bl 81 301 393 Cork and Bandon 2O 20 403 346 Cork, Blackrock, & Passage 6l 61 527 251 Cork and Youghal . 321 321 544 522 Cornwall 654 531 2,257 1,831 Deeside l7 17 491 421 Dublin & Belfast Junction 63 63 1,693 1.52 i Dublin and Drogheda 75 75 1,784 1,814 Dublin and Meath Dub. & Wicklow and Wextd 9ll 5i 3,189 2,772 Furness, &c 5O 59 3,333 3,01,1 Glasgow & South-Western Gt. Eastern,Nrik.,&E.Union Great Northern 387 351 33,966 31,891 Great North of Scotland 6B 68 1,729 2.200 Gt. Northn. & Westn. (Irel.) 7ll 711 518 4 , 7 r3rt.Southn. & Westn.(lrind.) 3874 3541 9,533 9,752 Great Western 10561 10561 69,389 65,185 Hull and lturnsea l3 - - - Inverness & Aberdeen June lO6l 1061 1,941 1,816 Inverness & Perth Junction 1191 - 2,922 - Irish North-Western 145 145 1,818 1,747 Kent Coast 27 10 3,830 135 Lancashire & Yorkshire 403 3951 45,247 39,036 Limerick and Ennis... 241 241 191 153 Limerick and Foynes Llanelly 461 461 811 838 London & North-Western London and Blackwall 1,5 51 2,029 2,061 London & South-Western Lond. Brighton, .1: S. Coast 267 2501 23,732 21,600 London, Chatham, ‘t Dover 72 721 8,001 6,843 Do. Metropolitan Extension 111 101 2,540 1,410 nan.,Sheffteld, & Lincolnsh Manch. S.Jun.& Altrincham 9l 91 1,473 1,343 Maryport and Carlisle Metropolitan Midland (incl. N.-Western) 641 641 50,444 46,553 Midland Gt.Westn. of 'rind 262 2591 4,702 4,338 Monkland 7ll 711 1,699 1.642 Monmouthsh. Rail. & Canal.. 44 44 2,852 2,731 North British, ?;din., Perth and Dundee . 6081 5831 24,758 23.395 _ _ N-Eastern and Stock. & Darl 1095 1095 67,370 60,675 North London 9 9 3,294 3, 65 North Staffordshire 254 252 8,744 8,339 Rhymney 194 194 1,084 1,007 Scottish Central Scottish North-Eastern l3B 132} 6,450 6,124 Somerset and Dorset 66 ni 935 406 South Devon South-Eastern 306 308 28,376 27,500 Taff Vale 57 57 578 l 5,638 Ulster 1051 109 2;08 2.237 Vale of Clwyd. 10 10 - b2l 321 Vale of Neath 431 431 3,009 2.334 Waterford and Kilkenny 3l 31 403 670 Waterford and Limerick 77 77 1,059 1,396 West Cornwall 2711 274 1,008 902 W. Hartlepool ilarbr.&Rail s2} 52} 4,40 u 4,709 W'haven,Cleator,& Egrmnt lO 7 703 585 Whitchaven Junction l3 13 990 745 Wh.itchaven& Furness Jun 35 35 96? 717 FOREIGN AND COLONIAL. Austrian B2B 828 36,676 30,589 Bahia and San Francisco 761 - 317 Belgian Eastern J unction 26 264 313 294 Bombay, Baroda, & Len. India 185 1854 2,227 1,322 Buffalo and Lake Huron l6l 1614 Detroit and Milyvaukie lB5 185 5,198 3,361 Dutch Rhenish Eastern Bengal Eastern of France 1135 1302 75,003 68,845 East Indian _ . Grand Trunk of Canada 1335 1335 20,857 16,7,4 Great Central of Belgium lBO 5,877 Great Indian Peninsula 553 495 6,766 4,882 Great Luxembourg 134 134 4,821 1010 Great Southeen of India Great Western of Canada 345 315 10,573 8,058 Madras. 487 447 6,878 4,041 _ . Madrid, Saragossa &Aiicant 650 490 1,126 19,557 Northern of Canada ... ..... 94 94 2,085 1,141 Northern of France 697 697 61,711 59,857 Norwegian Trunk Ottoman ___ .. —48 i 409 368 __ _ _ ._ Paris, Lyons, & Mediterrn 1805 1713 145,769 133,044 Paris and Orleans 1614 1494 71,823 65,913 Pernambuco ... .. 774 774 569 482 Royal Danish 69 69 Scinde lO5 305 South Austrian Southern of France ...... Victorian 196 196 8,41 6.19 1 Welland West Flanders 1,416 1,237 W. and N.W. of France 960 960 71,611 63,933 The Fire and Loss of Life at Newington. Mr Wm. Carter, the coroner for East Surrey, yesterday opened an inquest at the Royal Albert Tavern, East-street, Newington, on the body of Clara Mary Ann Watkins, aged one year and five months, who perished in the fire that took place in the premises belonging to Mr John Watkins, a newsvendor and tobacconist, carrying on business at No. 26, in East•street. The inquiry created a painful amount of interest. Mr Inspector Dann attended officially to watch the case. The jury having been sworn, the following evidence was taken : James H. Weedon, an oil and colourman, said that he resided at 20, East-street. On Wednesday morning last he was in his shop when he heard a cry of " Fire." He at once ran across the road and saw Mrs Watkins at the door, who said, " the room upstairs is on fire, and my baby is in bed." lie knew that Mrs Watkins was the occupier, and he went upstairs to the front room and found it in one mass of flame, in fact the bed and everything appeared on fire. Witness entered the room but could not find the child. On account of the heat and smoke he was forced to come out, but he re-entered and found the child lying on the floor. He then ran across and procured some water, and he, with the assistance of others, got the flames extinguished. He had not entered the room since, and was therefore unable to tell how the fire was caused. The child was frightfully burned over the whole of the body. The first time ho entered the room he crawled on his hands and knees to get to the bed, but was unable, Mrs Mary Ann Watkins said her husband was a clerk at Mr Bo wering's, Blackfriars-road, and also kept the house and shop in which the fire occurred. Witness carried on the business of a tobacconist and newsvender during her hus band's absence. He used to leave home at 5 o'clock in the morning, and remained out all day. He went out at that time on Wednesday last, leaving witness and her infant in bed. Her sister and her husband lodged in her hotse. Wit ness got up at half - pas t 7, leavin g her bab y at the edge of the bed, having previously put a pillow at its side. Her papers were brought to the shop, and she went round with them to serve her customers. She returned in a quarter of an hour and folded some more papers, and whilst at the door a neighbour came and said the place was on fire. She went upstairs and found the door ajar as she left it. She pushed the door open and saw the room full of red smoke and flame. She gave an alarm, and assistance arrived, The whole of the furniture, bedding, and clothing have been destroyed. N o fire had been lighted in the house. There was a box of lucifers in the room, but where she could not say. When she last saw them they were on a high table at the foot of the bedstead on the top of some books. The father of the deceased said that last Wednesday morning he left home, leaving his wife and child in bed, as before described. His wife's brother came to him about ten o'clock, and told him what had happened. He returned home immediately, and found that the room was nearly burnt out. He looked for the cause, but could not find any. He was in the habit of smoking a pipe when he went out of a morning, He always lighted his pipe at the shop door when he opened it. The deceased could not have get to the box of lucifers, as it stood upon a high table. He had no doubt but the fire began in the bedroom. By the Coroner —He had no charge to make against any one. Mary M'Laren, wife of a master butcher, said the mother of the deceased was her daughter. She saw the child that morning for the first time. Nothing had come to her knowledge to lead her to suspect anyone with having wil fully set the premises on fire. The witness Weedon recalled—When he took up the child it was so hot that he could not hold it, without wrapping it in the pillow and a piece of carpet. The mother of the child recalled—She kept a kitten, but she did not know where it was on that morning. She believed the child must have got possession of some lucifer matches, and these igniting, set fire to the bedding. The learned Coroner summed up, and remarked upon the great mystery attached to the case as to the origin of the fire, and The jury, after consulting, returned a verdict " That the deceased died from the effects of burns and suffocation, through a fire breaking out, and which said fire was the result of accident." The proceedings, which lasted some hours, then termi nated, A BOMBSHELL IN A MAGAZINE.—A few days ago one of our ordinary light-draught gunboats belonging to Admiral Lee's fleet, on the James River, wag fired at from a rebel shore battery. One of the shells struck and entered the magazine, but did not explode. Upon a search being made for the rebel missile, it was discovered that it had passed through two barrels of powder and lodged in a third, from which it was removed. At the time this kindly shell made its grand entree into the magazine there were about 100 souls—officers and men—on board of the gun boat, every one of whom would undoubtedly have been blown to atoms had it exploded. It should be remembered that in constructing our light-draught gunboats it is impos sible to sink the magazine, machinery, and boilers below water.—. American Paper. [ADVERTISEMENT.] —Holloway's Pills—Enjoyment of Lite.—When the blood is pure, its circulation perfect, and the nerves in good order, we are well. These pills possess a marvellous p wer) in securing these great secrets of health by purifying, regulating, and strengthening fluids and solids. Holloway's pills can be confidently recom =raided to all persons suffering from disordered digestion or nervous fancies or neuralgic pains. They correct acidity and heartburn, dispel sick headache, quicken the action of the liver and act as alteratives and gentle aperients. The 'weak and delicate may take them without fear. Holloway's p ills are eminently serviceable to invalids of irritable con et itutions, as they raise the action of every organ to its rifi rural standard, and universally ex.reise a calming and sett ative influence. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS in:elm—lt is but a few weeks ago that the whole country was resounding with l amen tations over the decline of England's influ ence . N o t only foreign critics▪ but native statesmen declared that the moral weight of this country in the affairs of the world was absolutely lost, and that in turning our back upon the Danes we had take n f arewe ll of our nati▪ onal greatness, Mr. Roebu c k, h owever , i s by no means of that opinion, and his es ti ma t e o f the case is all the more valuable because it comes from a hostile witness. He, as he has told us , would rather, for his own part, have gone to war. He would have taken up the cause of the Danes; but, though that question was decided against hi s views ' he thinks not only that it was decided conform a bly with the general opinion of the public, but th at the decision did us no harm whatever. So f ar i s h e from regarding our " influence" as lost that h e i s overpowered with the contemplation of its present magnitude and extent. He thinks it almost " teme rity" in a man to seek a seat in an Assembly so powerful as the English House of Commons—an Assembly which, by its political teaching and all pervading influence, affects the destinies of mankind and the civilisation of the world. Looking back at his own career, he is astonished at his presumption in entering Parliament ; and he certainly seems to believe that Parliament was never greater, or, upon the whole, wiser than it is now. He regards it as a body intrusted with a deposit of inestimable price, and therefore necessarily circumspect and even timid in its measures ; but he claims for it the credit of impressing the world by its principles and its action. We may take it for granted, then, that Mr. Roebuck is not dissatisfied with the results of our pacific policy ; but the speeches at Sheffield on Thursday evening did present a fresh illustration of the feeling which that policy excited, It is curious to see how earnestly even now people are reasoning with themselves about the European duties of England, and how they ask each other whether we have not been apathetic or pusillani mous in declining the other day to go to war, as we should have done in past times. Mr Roebuck him.. self remarked that as far as domestic politics went we were all of one mind. There may be two parties, but there is practically only one policy between them. "We are all Liberals," says Mr Roebuck, "every man of us." But, nevertheless, there is not a public meeting in any part of the country at which the Danish question or the American ques tion is not brought up and debated over again. It was so at Sheffield, and it is so everywhere. Fight ing has been so much our habit, and seems so truly our nature, that we cannot easily reconcile ourselves to sitting out while the war is going on. Yet the Americana themselves are giving us a pretty im pressive lesson at this moment. After three years of the bloodiest and most costly war ever known they are gradually resolving to do what they might have done at the beginning R ithout any war at all. They talk of ceasing to fight, and coming to terms by negotiation and parley. That is the meaning of the " armistice and convention," which it is now thought even Mr Lincoln will be induced to approve. Yet, if it would have been true wisdom in the Ame ricans not to go to war, was it not wisdom in us to keep out of the quarrel ? There is really something very singular in this popular fear that we may have been too peaceful, and wanting in public spirit. Why, it is but ten years since we went to war with Russia on a purely European question. It is only seven years since we put forth our whole strength to preserve a great dependency more than 10,000 miles off. It is only two years since we actually drew the sword in defence of an international right, and only sheathed it again when that right was ac knowledged and respected. How often is it ex pected that we should go to war to keep our credit up ? We were fighting up to the year 1861. Could not we, without losing character, decline to fightin 1864? Do three years make eo long and enervating a period of peace ? It seems to us that these popular misgivings indicate as genuine and vital a war spirit in She country as anybody need desire. Sir F. Cros e e ( ley approved our non-Intervention, and his own speech gave evidence of the difficulty, not to say impossibility, of interference as far as America is concerned. In the Danish question we had at least this facility of action, that if we event to war we should know on which side to fight. Nobody desired to help the Prussians. But in the American case there was a party which would rather have helped the North than the South, and would have struck in for the Federals if we were to strike it at all. How was that difficulty to be overcome? Here, at this Sheffield banquet, was one eminent speaker ail for the North, while another was well known to he all for the South. How could such views have been reconciled ? As it turns out, we have not been ruined by the loss of American cotton, and if neither Federals nor Confederates are exactly satisfied with our neutrality we must look for a more favourable estimate of our conduct by and by. At any rate we have escaped the difficulty, and done neither ourselves nor anybody else any harm. We do not suppose that Mr. Roebuck's views will pass unchallenged. Optimists are always few in number, and it requires, indeed, a philosophical, if not a partial, eye to see things as Mr. Roebuck sees them. Not but what there is truth in his views, only it is a truth which will not satisfy everybody. He has now told us that he—a known Liberal, an old Reformer, and a politician of advanced opinions —is so impressed, and, as it were, overborne by what he thinks the grandeur, prosperity, power, and in.. fluence of this country, that he is almost ready to accept inaction for the future rather than run t h e risk of injuring so magnificent a fabric. The House of Commons he looks at as commanding such respect iatn may ay exercisingwel well bea w s u e c d h a powerat the re s t p h o a n t a i b i m l t a i n e s who a c e c n e t p e t r s s . But how, then, could Reform improve such a state of things as this P Have we not, as a nation, arrived at such a pitch of greatness and happiness that our duty is now not so much to go on as to hold fast ; not so much to get more as to keep what we have got ? That is the kind of question which arises out thingsof Nlr which my .Roebuck a 's reflections, and it is a view of be curiously contrasted with the views of Mr. Bright, That gentleman told us can didly, in one of his speeches last autumn, that if he had . nothing to find f au lt w ith we should not hear him speak at all. He is all for looking forward, without troubling himself to look back. He thinks not of what is done, but of what there remains to do, and busies himself exclusively with that. Mr. Roebuck's gaze is in the opposite direction. " Take care of what you have got," says he; " no nation ever had such a treasure of prosperity and gran. deur." That is very true, and it is quite as well that we should be now and then reminded of it. We are always more ready to think of what we want than of what we have, and Mr. Roebuck does his countrymen good service by telling them occasion allp how much they have really got to lose. DAILY NEWS.—Caution in the adoption of new armaments was as marked a characteristic in the Duke of Wellington's method as a statesman as it was in his generalship. When he filled the office of Master-General of the Ordnance he saw so much of immature invention in the arms and appliances of the soldier that his prejudices in favour of the rough old weapon with which he and his steadfast troops won 'Waterloo was rather confirmed then weakened, and we find him opposing the introduc tion of the rifle long after its powers were being made available in tho French army. And yet that old " brown Bess," generally of Brummagem ex traction, was well known to fire away the weight of a man's body in bullets for every soldier killed ; so bad an arm was it that it could not be better de scribed than by the name " gaspipe," which the Yankees, in their humorous phraseology, gave to the same useless weapon they were obliged to begin to fight with. The duke, no doubt , carried his aver. sion to changes too far in refusing his sanction till 1852, when the Crimean war was threatening on the horizon; and perhaps if the Enfield rifle had been the sole weapon of our army then, Lord Raglan would not have bad to resort to the almost lucky chance of getting a couple of guns to bear upon the dense columns of Russian infantry at the Alma, However, the French army was no better armed than our own, although they had the advantage of all the knowledge acquired by those officers who had been experimenting for ten years and more. It was the Chasseurs only who carried the earabine a tzge, and this was a rifle soon found so defective as to be superseded by the Minie now in use. So that this cautious acceptance of a new arm by the two best equipped armies of Europe was recommended by soldiers of experience in the field ; and that it was necessary was afterwards shown when, the Enfield rifle having been made the universal arm of the ser vice, it was found that on one important occasion in India the ammunition could not be used in conse quence of some irregularity in the size of the cart ridges. This was precisely the kind of fault which was suspected in supplanting a rude but never failing weapon with one so nice in all its require ments as the modern rifle. All practical soldiers look with a certain amount of distrust upon the set experiments of the practice ground, where every thing is arranged deliberately and with every ad.. vantage in favour of the weapon, and where the arm is handled not by a rough soldier, but by an export. Now, all these facts have a bearing upon the important change from muzzle-loading rifles to breech-loaders, which has now been decided upon by tho War Department upon the advice of a spe cial committee, who have taken all the evidence to be obtained in reference to the use of breech-loading rifles in actual service, as in the American war and in the late Dane-German campaign. It must be remarked, however, of the evidence given by diffe rent officers, that it was by no means so decidedly in favour of the breech-loader as the sole firearm of the service as to warrant the immediate and general adoption of the arm which Earl de Grey is said to have determined upon. Colonel Gallwey, R,E., and Captain Alderson, R.A., specially sent to ob• serve the armament employed in the American war, report great difference of opinion as to the value of the breech-loader, and that it is but scantily used tn the armies, the American officers rather recommend ing that it should be only partially employed by' flank companies in a regiment. The Prussian needle...rifle, so much spoken of in connection with the taking of Dybbol, is certainly not much eulo gised by those who saw it in use, though it is ads mitted to be less liable to be put out of order than the muzzle-loader ; but the Austrians had tried and discarded it. Tried in our own cavalry and in fantry the breech-loaders of Mr. Weetley Richards, of Mr, Sharpe, of Mr. Terry, have all been favour ably reported of, and in some cases commanding officers have ventured to recommend the general adoption of a breechloader. On the other hand, we have officers stating that it would be attended with great waste of ammunition, from the facility with which the soldier could load and fire ; and this, of course, would mean that little execution would be done, because aiming with the breech-loader is quite as necessary as with the muzzle-loader. On review-• ing the different opinions, however, we arrive at cu.. tain evident advantages which inherently belong ta. the breech-loader. These are, greatly increased rapidity of fire, easy loading without a ramrod— which is a point of very great value, as a man might often be in such a position that to use the ramrod wouid be simply impossible—and the capability of firing without the use of percussion caps. This last gives another great advantage, and, although it might not belong to every method of breech-loading yet it seems to be one whi c h shou ld not b e l os t s i g h t of in selecting the kind to be adopted into the ser vice. A man may lose his supply of caps when he has a pouch full of cartridges, and would, of course, then be a very useless rifleman. The abolition of the ramrod and the percussion cap not only sirepli. fies the use of the weapon to a most important ex. tent but in point of economy it would be a conside ration, and no doubt would go far towards meeting the cost of converting the present Enfields into efficient breech-loaders, as proposed to the gun making trade in competition, and which we have already seen can be readily accomplished by the Mont Storm and some other methods. There can be no question as to the necessity for a breech-loader rifle to put our army on equal terms with others, and the feasibility of converting the Enfields into efficient breech loaders; the chief difficulty hitherto has tbeen to obtain a cartridge suitable in every respect for military purposes. The Ordnance Select Committee will have to exercise the closest scrutiny upon this point. In the French service we hear the Cent Gerdes are armed with a breech-loader using a metallic cartridge that carries its own igniting material, which the Emperor Napoleon, himself no bad judge in such matters, has pronounced the solution of the problem of a military breech-loader. The result of Earl de Grey's invitation to the gunmakers of England will, we have not the least doubt, be that more than one will be found to an swer all the requisites. But having got our breech loader, the far more important question to be decided is. whether it should be made the only arm of the infantry ? It must not be overlooked that in adopt ing the breech-loader we sacrifice one great power of the rifle—long range, which is only to be got by the muzzle loader. That is to say, according to all the breech-loaders made as yet; if they can be per fected up to the standard of the Whitworth large bore, for example, then the defect would be sup plied. The value of a modern rifle is, that it can. kill at 2,000 yards or more; and with telescopic sights, in the hands of first-rate marksmen, a single company armed with it would be able to silence a battery of artillery. The same advantage of range would enable troops armed with such rifles to strike the first blow, and in a very effective manner. It is perfectly true that the tendency of modern war. fare is to return to the old method of close quarters, as a consequence of the use of long range weapons ; but the converse of this tendency is that the range of both artillery and small arms will be increased, so as to give an advantage to that side which can, first commence the work of destruction. The breech loader would undoubtedly be an admirable weapon at close quarters, as well as at from 1,000 to 500 yards; but while a column was getting within this distance of the enemy it might be very severely dealt with by riflemen armed with heavy, long range rifles. With all submission to the profes. sional authorities, we think that, so far from dimi. nishing the range of our rifles, we should increase it, and arm a certain proportion of a regiment with weapons of much greater power than the Enfield, or any yet employed. This—with probably the employment of small and extremely light artillery, one pounders or even less—would seem to be one of the innovations we have to contemplate in addition to breechloaders. COUNTRY MARKETS. LIVERPOOL-FitmAr. There was a fair attendance of buyers to-day, but they acted with extreme caution, and we call wheat a shade lower to sell than on Friday last. Flour still in fair do• mand and prices unchanged. Oats and oatmeal steady. Indian corn offered freely. Beane, peas, and barley not quite so saleable. WAKEFIELD-FRIDAY. The demand for wheat was fair to-day, and the prices of last week fully maintained for old sorts. Now more plenti• ful, and rather dearer. New barley in fair request. Averages for the week : Wheat 712 qrs., at 4ss 9d Oats 8ar1ey......... 160 Peas Beans LINCOLN-FRIDAY. There was a fair show of wheat at market today, and the demand was steady at quite recent currencies. Barley in tolerable supply, and sales were effected at recent rates. Oats held for the extreme rates of last week. The demand for beans was improved, and rather dearer. White wheat new, 448 to:4Bs Barley, grinding..27s to 29s Red do. Old white 46s to 50s New do 20s to 23s Red do.. 41s to 45s i Beans. 37s to 412 Barley, malting.... 338 to 36s 1 Beans, new 36s to 41s STAMFORD-FRIDAY. The supply of wheat at to.day's market was middling, and sales took place at about last week's prices. In this neighbourhood there will be an average yield of wheat. —White wheat, 42s to 455,; red, 41s to 43s per 36 stone. Barley, malting, —s to —s; grinding, 33s to 363 per qr. Oats, 22s to 28s per 21 stone. Beans, old, 406 to —s per qr.; new, 36s to 425. CORK—TRunsDAY. The following were the quotations this morning :—Red wheat, 8s Od to 8s 6d; white, 8s 3d to 9s Od , barley, 7s Id to Os Od ; oats, bs 10d to Os 3d ; black do., 5s 6d to 68 Od ; here, 6s 10d. BRISTOL SUGAR-FRIDAY. Our sugar market has become very quiet, grocers buying very cautiously, and refiners mainly supplying themselves from cargoes bought afloat, which are now coming to hand pretty freely. Refiners' produce has experienced a more active demand. In rums there has been scarcely anything doing. Foreign Mail Packet List. Mt MAILS DUE. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton . .Sept. 18. via Marseilles Sept. 12. Brazil and Cape Verds, by British packet. Sept. 4. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Sept. 28. t3hina, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Sept. 1. via Marseilles Sept. 12. Falkland Islands Gibraltar, viF. Southampton Sept. 1. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton Sept. 1. via Marseilles Sept, 12. India (Bombay), via Southampton Sept. 10. via Marseilles Sept. 4. Portuga1.... Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampt on Sept. 1. via Marseilles Sept. 4. Newfoundland Sept. 14. Oporto and Vigo .. U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... Sept. 8. by U.S. packet.... by Canadian packet. Sept. 2. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, 1 A ug. 29. California. and British Columbia Births. FULLER. —On the 2d inst., at Woodsids, Maidenhead, the Wile of John Fuller, Esq., of a daughter. LEGGATT.—On the Ist inst., at Eastry, Kent, the wife of Richard S. Leggett, Esq., of a son. PAGDEN. —On the 31st ult., at Epsom, the wife of Mr. E. Pagden, of a son, Marriages. CAREY—TurrER, - -On the 31st ult., at Guernsey, Major Charles Le Mesurier Carey, late 63d Regiment, son of Commissary-General Carey, Summerland, Guernsey, to Amelia Brock, third caughter of Henry Tupper, ESCO The Cotits, Guernsey. SAUNDERS—GLYNN.—On the Ist inst., at St. Androw'igt Newcastle-on-Tyne, Thomas Saunders, Esq , of 14, South• square, Gray's-inn, to Emily, youngest daughter of the late Joseph Glynn, C.E., Deaths. GODLEY.—On the 3ist ult., in London. Wm. H. Godley, only son of the late Lieut.-Col. Godley, of Lansdowne" crescent, Bath, aged 19. MATTHEWS.—Un the 31st ult., at Upper Barnsbury-street Wm. Matthews, scn., aged 81. MUNDY —Oh the 2st inst., the Rev. Matthew Mund9l vicar of Rockbeare, aged 67. RATCLIFFE.—On the Ist inst., at Wyddrington, Edgbas' ton, Birmingham, Alderman Sir John Ratcliffe, Knights aged 66. STACY.—On the 2d inst., at his residence, Tottenham, 11 ' Smyth Stacy, of Shoreditch, aged 64. London: Printed and Prtqfshed by WILLIAM ANDREW 6 ' of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SuN Office No• Strand, AL the Preoinot of the savoy. in the CeuntY Auddisecac.—Saturtlay, September 3, UM.