The Sun. — London, England, 1863-12-29 00:00:00

SCHLES WIG-HOLSTEIN. (Front the Times Correspondent•) HAMBURG, Dec. 25. The intelligence has just reached us that Lord Wodehouse's mission has been successful, that the 'Ministry at Copenhagen has resigned in a body, and that the Rigsraad has been summoned to reas semble for the purpose of cancelling the recent Act for the incorporation of Schleswig. It is further stated that the King has le! t his capital in order to join the army in Schleswig. This requires confirma tion ; but should the news cited above prove to be correct, there can be no doubt that a very serious crisis is impending, and that very much still remains to be done in order to avert all danger of war. Let me endeavour to place the general bearings of this very difficult Schleswig-Holstein question before your readers, in order that they may judge for themselves. It will be remembered that the subject already attracted some attention in political cireles previous to the decease of the late King of Denmark in November last. Rumours reached England that the Ministry at Copenhagen had throughout a course of years violated the engagements contracted by Denmark in the much talked-of London Protocol in 1852 ; that she was systematically encroaching upon the rights and privileges of the German Duchies united under the Danish sceptre—so much so, indeed, that Holstein had represented her grievances to the German Confederation, of which that Duchy is a member, and that the Frankfort Diet contemplated exercising the legal right of in tervention belonging to it. This measure, long de bated upon, was still only under consideration when Frederick VII. suddenly died. With him the male decendants of the elder branch of the house of Oldenburg, which has occupied the throne of Den mark for four centuries, died out, so that the provi sions of the Treaty of 1852, which had been framed in anticipation of this event, were called into force. But the right of succession inDenmark proper differs from that in the Duchies precisely in the same manner as that which prevails in the -louse of Brunswick with regard to England and Hanover— that is to say, whereas in Denmark proper in de fault of male issue the female representative is called to the throne, the German Duchies recognise the male line only. This fact, so opportune at the present moment, has been seized with great avidity by the mass of the German people, who are endea vouring by the external pressure they are able to exercise to force their respective Governments to support—first, the claims of Dake Frederick of Augustenburg, the present pretender to the duke dom of Schleswig-Holstein; secondly, to claim the inseparable ueion of the Duchies (Schleswig and Holstein) between themselves under his sceptre— i.e,, to sever thorn entirely from Denmark. Thus, you see, the question has two distinct bearings, both resting more or less on the London Protocol of 1853. That Treaty re-established the rights and privileges of both parties—Denmark, on the ono hand, and the German Duchies on this other, as existing ante Kellum (1848-9) ; but Dmmark has notoriously dis regarded this point, and recently consummated a series of acts of encroachment by the formal incor- poration of Schleswig. Hence the interference 01 the German Confederation (whose duty it is to up hold the rights of each and all of its members), which has led to the military occupation now in course of execution. The same Treaty (1852), with a view to preserve the integrity of Denmark, also entered upon the subject of succession. The difficulty which has just arisen was first mooted by Christian VIII., in 1846, in his Letter Patent addressed to his subjects. The intention expressed in that letter with regard to succession in Schleswig only —a step calculated eventually to separate that Duchy from Holstein—formed one of the causes of the outbreak in 1848. Christian died in January, 1848, and was succeeded by Frederick VII., the late King. On the assembly of the representatives of the five great Powers and of Sweden after the War of Independence, which had been raging in different phases for three years, had been put a stop to by the armed intervention of Austria and Prussia lu Idol, the question of succession, as before stated, was brought prominently before them. The last male representative was now upon the throne, and the diflhulty stared them in the face. In the pro bable c lit ctl n. ..)n r. l pno.iqr. of Icing Frederick without issue, the Crown of Denmark, according to the existing law of succession, would devolve on his sister, married to the Langrave of Hesse-Cas sel, and still living. But the Duchies recognize no female Sovereign, and might by their law pro claim the Duke of Augustenburg the legal represen tative of the junior line after the extinction of the elder. Holstein, in virtue of oldhistorical connexion and of a nationality exclusively German, is, with Lauenburg, a member of the German Bund, She claims the rights, too (which the Danes up to the present time have certainly recognised), of insepar able connexion with the sister Duchy of Schleswig; but Schleswig has never been represented in the German Bund ; on the contrary, at an earlier period of her history, she was for nearly two centu ries incorporated with Denmark ; but on the acces sion of the House of Oldenburg to the throne by election in 1460, the old existing state of things was restored, and since that time the intimate connexion between the Duchies has hitherto been successfully asserted and maintained. So that it is evident that th e succession of the Augustenburg line would not lead to the entire independence of Sohleawand Holstein, but would place the form er l g eider that under the Confederation. Con one third, in round numbers, of the in:,, t v ut ,l i ants of Schleswig; are Danes, consider too that s Danish monarchy; result is equivalent to the reduction of the D narchy, which is considered to be of such vitallZ ortance to the present political system of Europ!toatter insignificance, and you will easily understand euae why it is that Denmark has so perseveringly on :oared to incorporate or Danize Schleswig u re hand, and why Hob s tein has so steadily mainbled her connection with the sister Duchy' in order preserve their joint nationality and historical traditions on the other. Such, thou, was the difa, v , deal in 7 .Q with which the Great Powers had t o '. The result of the labours of their representatives was, that the present occupier of the D anish thro ze iunristian married to Louise, only d lu g hter of ravinend xint vr g ederiek of Hessen-Cassel, and named by VII. as his successor, should, on the renunciation o f their rights by that lady and her only son ( tv , dZ s ti t r n e l Landgrave of Hessen-Cassel), be rec o g nise on the decease of Frederick, as Tiling of Dzn r ,, x , k and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein, to the exci ti . sion of the Augustenburg claims. These clait u could hardly have been so readily disposed of had that Duke not taken so prominent a part in the recent insurrectionary war ; his large estates had been confiscated, and he was consequently outlawed and reduced to poverty. As future trouble might; however, be anticipated from that quarter, the Duke was called upon in return for a large sum of money—three millions of rix-thalers—to execute a document in which he declared that neither he nor his family would offer opposition to the arrange ment effected. This he did, and received the money accordingly; but his brother, Prince Angus tenburg-Noer, protested immediately, and his son, the present Pretender, protested in 1859. In how far it was lawful, as an act of political expediency ' in the interests of the integrity o f ben— walk and of the preservation of peace on the part of the five great European Powers, and Swe 'en' to alter the law of succession in the Duchies, L i ra n n t a l eLv a e n e ni th ers to determine ; this much is cer airnki.slroper the validity of the ar rangement i s a g it l e putable, inasmuch as an Act embodying t:::0 Danish Di e t, en t d ' t t ii inn was formally laid before se . n e t re ratified, but the Duchies were not there rep, e d the Germans assert that it was never l a i d seideswig or before Holstein, the the - Estates of either theenact state of feelin g i n Anxious to asc er taiu liolstjai f o r the last few da hate been travel ling through at Duchy. It i is evi d e id ea , of union nt that hi the party, towns the German - elevation n with Ger many, and of the of t h e Au nb ur family to the duk edom of Schleswia.u.golusstet.n pre dominate, but the landholders and count, popula tionl have little sympathy with the supporters of the claims of bake Frederick, and would remain contentedly under the rule of King Christian, The Holsteiners have little to complain of at the hands of the Danish Government. Under the very eyes of the Danish military the book shops teem with brochures published in the Augustenburg cause, portraits of the Duke himself are pa cly exposed for sale, and political opinions are as freely broached as if no Danish policy had power, and no Danish muskets were piled in the guardhouses of the dis trict: The Federal execution has hitherto taken place with the greatest order and without any resistance. An hour before the Federal troops arrive at the various towns the Danes march out. Except for the differences of the uniforms, one would imagine that regiments were being relieved in the ordi nary course of military duty. On the de parture of the Danish troops the Duke Frederick of Augustenburg has been proclaimed in most of the towns as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, the arms of Denmark have been quietly taken down from the post-offices and custom-houses, and the tri colour flag hoisted in their place. Properly consti tuted committees have undertaken the management of the duties of the local police and revenue depart ments, and have resolved to suppress any disposi tions towards riot or disorder. The general adminis tration of the Duchy is provided for by the Commissioners of the Germanic Confederation, who have taken up their quarters at Altona. It is stated on relia ble author ity that the Duke of Coburg territory y has t o r f the given o permission for the organ i sat i on on his volunteer army err i Which is destined to assert• the claims of the Pretender. This fact, together with the resolve of the Frankfort Parlia ment to report on those claims, is some proof of the height to which German feeling has been raised on this subject. From the appearance of freshly-erected batteries at Newmnnster, an important strategical point where the communications of the Duchy centre, it may be inferred that the Danes have only within the last fortnight definitely decided to evacuate Holstein on the approach of the Federal troops. No doubt, how ever, now exists that the Danish troops will fall back to the line of the Eider, which is the frontier between the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. It is just on the cards that here a collision may take place, for on the south bank of the Eider, on Hol stein territory, the Danes have thrown up a tete du pont to cover the bridge leading into Frederic stadt. As this fortress is the key of the military position, which, extending from the town of Schles wig to the mouth of the Eider, protects the south frontier of the northern Duchy, the Danes will be exceedingly averse to evacuate the work, and it is loudly asserted that the Confederation are deter mined to insist on the occupation of every yard of Holstein ground, and are fully prepared to support this demand by force. This for what it is worth. The Recent Disturbances at Guildford. At a special petty sessions, held at the To wn-hall, Guildford, yesterday, before the Mayor and Messrs. Adams, Cooper, and Sells, borough magistrates, Mr. Henry Piper (late Mayor of Guildford) ap plied for compensation to the amount of £l7 lls. for damage alleged to have been sustained by him " by means of certain persons, riotously and tumul tuously assembled together, having on the evening of the 21st of November last, between the hours of 11 and 12, at the parish of Stoke-next-Guildford, feloniously demolished, pulled down, or destroyed in part the house wherein he resided, thereby demo lishing and destroying the front door of such house, and also demolishing and destroying the inside shutters of a window of such house, and by break ing, demolishing, and destroying the glass and framework of three windows, and the glass of an inside door of such house, and the blinds belonging to such windows, to the extent of the value above stated." Mr. J. R. Capron appeared for the claimant. In his address to the Bench he stated that the proceed ings were taken under the 7th and Bth George IV., cap. 31, which was an Act for consolidating and amending the laws relative to remedies against the hundred in the case of property destroyed by a mob. The second section of this statute provided that if house, stable, coach-house, &c., should be "feloni ously demolished, pulled down, or destroyed, wholly or in part, by any persons riotously and tumultu mißlv assembled tozether t in every such case the in habitants of the hundred should bo liable to yield full compensation to the person or persons damni fied." Sections 3 and 8 pointed out the mode of procedure to b 3 adopted by the person damnified ; and the Bench would fine that every requirement of the Act in the matter of notices and the like had been fully complied with by the claimant. lie should lay the facts of the case before them in evi dence, and then confidently rely upon their worships to grant the compensation sought for in the present instance. The first witness called was Lewis James Har vey, clerk to Mr. Capron, who proved the signature of the claimant to the notices required by the Act, and that they had been duly posted on the church doors, and had remained there the proper time. Police-constable William Sutton, of the Guild ford borough constabulary, was next called, and deposed as follows :—I remember the night of Saturday, the 21st of November. Between ten and eleven o'clock on that night I was standing at the bottom of Tan's-gate. I noticed that a great riot took place against Mr. Weale's at about half-past ten. There was a great crowd of persons, many of them being masked and armed with heavy blud geons. They were battering in Mr. Weale's shut ters, and shouting, and making a great disturbance. They were also discharging fireworks and throwing missiles at the upper windows of Mr. Weale's house. I was proceeding up town, in the direction of the disturbance, when I met Mr. Vickers, the then superintendent of police, and I turned round with him and walked up Tun's-gate, where I parted with Mr. Vickers. While standing at Tun's-gate, which is close to the entrance to the police-station, three or four men in disguise came upon me, knocked me down, and struck me three or four times when I was down. I got up, however, and endeavoured to defend myself with my staff, but I was knocked down again, and struck both on the body and the head. When I was on the ground I heard one of the men say, " Murder the --.." I then became insensible, and remember no more of what occurred. lam unable to recognise any of the men who assaulted me, but I saw that they were armed with heavy bludgeons. I cannot describe the weapons with which Mr. Weale's shutters were attacked, but I believe that they were bludgeons. Mr. Henry Piper (the claimant) deposed—l occupy a house in the Merrow-road, in the borough t't Guildford. I recollect the night of the 21st of No"'e _ mber. Shortly after 11 o'clock on that night The ta a great noise and rattling at my shutters. _ _ V " a mob, I should think, of from 50 to 100 person s were t mhled, and they made a fearful noise. arown which demolished the whole of t S h t e on b es edrom u room where Windows, and came through into the wif e and I were in bed. The panels o f the front door w er ebroken, leaving nothing but jtuhreed, and bare the shutters frame bta il a te _ a g a side door was also in /id frames and glass of the whole of the windows Were completely smashed. I produce three squib case% which I found the same night; one 4 11(u _ gi -" on the stair another in the sitting-room, and the third. -_I think, but am not quite sure—in the bedroo m , y s Was v ery much that the h ouse alarmed, Would catch fire, hurled as one of the carpets began to born, feareddmeh were prod eyeholes, Ichitirse, into the house, a number of stones was found in my front garden, and a thick black veil, with and which had a. Quist less been worn by one of the rioters to prevent r, eogni ' tion. After proving compl ia nce with the l egal forms required by the statute, witness added th at he had actually paid to repair the damage do n , £lO ss. 11d., in addition to which he had sustained other losses, which would more than make up the difference between that amoun t an d the sum claimed. Police-constable James Marshall, of the Guildford borough constabulary, produced three bludgeons. (They were formidable weapons, resembling the spokes of a cart wheel ; they were weighted with lead at one end, and had slings at the other to attach them to the wrist.) Witness deposed to having found them on the morning of the 22d ult., together with a quantity o f fantastic clothing, THE SUN, LONDON; TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 29, 1863. which had apparently been used for the purpose of disguise, under a straw rick near the Union work. house, and within a short distance of Mr. Piper's residence. Mr. Capron having summed up the evidence and addressed the bench at some length, their worships consulted together for a few minutes in private. When the court was reopened, The Mayor intimated that the bench had no hesi tation in deciding upon this application. It was a perfectly clear case, and they were unanimous in determining that the claim should be allowed. Mr. Capron then applied for costs, which were also allowed, and the proceedings terminated. We understand that Mr. Weale, who sustained much more severe damage on the night in question, and whose loss is estimated at upwards of £lOO has entered into the necessary undertaking to bring an action for the amount to which he has been damni fied, THE CRAWLEY COURT-MARTIAL, (Army and Navy Gazette.) The great Aldershot court-martial has terminated in the full and honourable acquittal of Colonel Crawley upon both the issues which formed the groundwork of his trial. The court has said that Colonel Crawley did not cause the orders for the close arrest to be carried out with undue and unnecessary severity, thereby inflicting great and grievous hardships on Lilley and his wife, and it says that he did not make a false statement in attributing the inconvenience that might have been suffered to Adjutant Fitzsimon. We are not disposed to quarrel with this decision. The great and grievous hardships alleged against him had become much diminished from the proportions they assumed when the first Communications from India reached England. Because Colonel Cs awley's offence was not so enormous, it is held not to exist at all by the public. Colonel Crawley, in his vigorous and very bold defence, made some remarks upon the share of the press in the tranzaction. He designated certain writers as self-consti tuted social hangmen, going about, rope in hand, with a morbid desire to practice their dreadful calling upon per sons in authority. Bat, unless a reflection of public opinion, the dictum of this or that writer has no influence upon the conduct of affairs. The instrument of the social hangman is of no more value than packthread, unless he can weave round it the strengthening support of the pub • lie, and gain this by truthful statements and fair and unprejudiced reasoning. In this particular instance, the press has undoubtedly had to do with the hold ing of an investigation, but that Colonel Crawley in the main has good reason for complaints against it may well be doubted. What is the state of the case ? In July or August, 1862, accounts reached England of a very unfortunate state of things in a dragoon regiment at Mhow —a tyrannical colonel carrying everything before him with a high hand, and in a cruel manner, trying his paymaster, and depriving him of the privilege of communicating with his witnesses, accusing one.fourth of his officers of perjury illegally confining the principal non-commissioned officers, and inflicting cruel hardships, resulting in one case in death and another in madness. This is the picture that reached us from India. No doubt it was falsely coloured by those on the spot, and the statements about "another black-hole of Calcutta," and baking sergeants alive, were quite unjustifiable. No one will for a moment dispute that if the story were substantially true, it was a case for prompt and vigorous action on the part of the authorities, and as Ithat action was only shown in the shape of a memorandum condemnatory of the military autho rities in India by those at home, the press demanded some thing more, namely, the trial and punishment of the person guilty of these enormities, whoever he might be. No one can fairly say that the circumstancesdid not constitute a case it which further investigation was not only justified, but urgently demanded. After a perusal of the evidence it is beyond all question that illegal proceedings took place in the Inniskilling Dragoons, and that these proceedings tended to cause the death in confinement of a non-commis sioned officer who had always borne a blameless character, and who was pronminced legally innocent of any crime. Colonel Crawley's trial was not the act of the press. The press asked that, whoever was responsible should be arraigned and punished. The authorities selected Colonel Crawley, and their failure against kim is not to be cast in the teeth of the press ; nor can Colonel Crawley fairly turn round upon his journalistic enemies. For, though he is protected to a great extent by superior orders, and is thus legally exonerated from the more serious part of the accusations, it cannot be denied that his representations had much to do with the illegal punishment to which these men were subjected. As Colonel Crawley stated in his defence, neither General Mansfield nor General Farrell had any animosity against Lilley, Wakefield, and Duval. But he does not follow up his remark and lead us to its natural conclusion, which is, that the exercise of authority by these generals was brought about by representations made by Col. Crawley, who might have animosity against I the men, for he knew they were to be damaging witnesses against him in a case in which he was vitally interested. A piece of illeg slity was harshly carried out, and it was done at Col. Crawley's instance, and with Col. Crawley's know ledge, although not upon his legal responsibility. This appears to be the state of the case as established by the evidence. We are not aware whether it is proposed to punish Sir Wm. Mansfield for his share in the business. Sir William says that he did not intend that his orders should he literally carrid out for the detention of the sergeant majors in arrest, that he had reason to suppose the Milers court-martial would be over several days before it was over, and that it was in this belief ho had allowed the arrest to continue till Captain Smales's defence had closed. Upon this view his offence seems to have been one only of negli gence, arising from confidence in those by whom the arrest was carried out, and to whom he might perhaps not un reasonably look for a compliance with the spirit, and not the letter, of his order, The case is that of a man brought before a magistrate, regarding whom the magis - trate says there is no case to warrant his committal for trial. but who is nevertheless kept for weeks in close confinement, We know how public feeling would resent such an outrage upon the liberty of the subject, but we are stating no more than the bare fact, when we say that in a legal sense Lilley, Wakefield, and Duval were each in the position of such a man. Colonel Crawley is not legally responsible for this, but surely somebody is ; and, unless the somebody is i brow . r_sar d thatare forced t o arr i ve a t the law may sometimes be vna.tee against a soldier, provided the responsibility can be dis• tributed between two or three officers of high rank, write to my friend, J. H—, in Brisbane, who promised to send my letters to me if 1 sent him my address. I sent it to post by Mr. D-- when he again went for the drays. Be tore the drays came we went short offlour and sugar, so that we were living on nothing but meat and tea. I would rather be without meat than flour; but the want of water is worse than anything. I have felt the want of it (water) often. When at last the drays got up I was glad to see some men with them, one of whom took my place, and I left the next day to look for shearing, You may remember that I told you in my last letter that I had bought two horses, one of which I left on the Downs with Mr. F—; the other (the one through which I lost myself in finding) I brought with me, and sold him when I got employment for £l5, making £5 on him. I bought another from Mr. D—, when I was leaving, fer £3O. She is nearly a full-blood mare, but too spirited for me. She threw me three times, and went back to Mr. D---'s; the third time she threw both me and the saddle off. I walked back to Mr. D—'s, but she was not there, and I have not heard anything of her since, and I am here (at Mr. S— —'s) about three weeks. I bought another horse here, a young one, for £l2, intending to look for the mare with it, and as also a man requires two, one for himself and another to carry his • swag,' having to travel so much; but he has got such a bad cold he is not fit to travel, so that I cannot go shearing yet. I did not shear much here, as my fingers got sore, but I cooked for the shearers, for which they gave me 4s. a week each. There were eight shearers. They also allowed mo to shear what I could. "Mr. S— has offered to send a black fellow (a native) for my mare if I will stop and ' lamb down' for him, which will be about six weeks; so I think it is the beet thing I could do, as it will give me time to get both my horses right, and I will be able to get another shed before theshearing is done. You ask me if Igo to church. My dear mother, there is not a single one nearer than Rockhampton, so it would be hard for me to go—and as to keeping Sunday, I have not had six Sundays to myself since I left Brisbane. Sheep have to be fed on Sundays as well as week days. As to the land order, I found that the smallest allotment you could get was 40 acres, of which tho order would buy but 18. Well, as I did not want the land, I sold tho order for £l2 10s., which I spent in Brisbane and on my way up the country, when I arst landed." IRELAND, DUBLIN', Dec. 28. Several soldiers belonging to the 86th Regiment, at present stationed in Beggar's bush barracks, were in a house of ill fame, in Fulham's-court, off Brown street, on Christmas night, when two of them Henry Edwards and John M'Namara, had a quarrel. The latter drew a knife, which the other and a woman endeavoured in vain to wrest from him. Edwards soon after left the house, but he was followed by 111'1\l'amara, when the quarrel was resumed. Ed wards ran away into Brown.street ; the other pur sued him, drew his knife, and stabbed him through the heart. He then tried to escape, but he was arrested by the police with the ai of some civilians. It was Saturday morning when this occurred. The deceased was in coloured clothes. He was a waiter at the mess, and is said to have been much respected in the regiment. A coroner's jury, which did not conclude the inquiry till late on Saturday afternoon, brought in the following verdict:— "That Henry Edwards, a private in the 86th Regiment of Foot, died on the morning of Saturday, the 26th of Decem ber, 1863, from the effects of a certain wound inflicted on him the same morning by John M'Namara, a private soldier in said regiment, now in custody." The prisoner was then committed on a coroner's warrant for trial at the next Commission. On the nth of this month a piece of silver plate was presented to Mr. M'Mahon on behalf of the fisheries of Galway and Mayo, in the form of a silver salver, 19 inches in length, and weighing 90 ounces, with the following inscription in Irish and English : "Presented to Patrick M'Mahon, Esq., M.P., by 172 fishermen and others in Connemara, and in other portions of the counti-s of Galway and Mayo, Ireland, in acknow ledgment of his invaluable services in obtaining the Act of Parliament to amend the Fishery Laws (Ireland), 1863," Government doubtless will accept, and others which they will reject. But that really seems to be all. And it was to prevent this that every instrument of calumny, coercion, and corruption was lavishly em ployed, and that the Minister of the Interior did all in his power to persuade the world that on the elec tion or non-election of M. Thiers depended the future destiny of France. Few people in England have been persuaded to view the matter in this very serious light. For ourselves, we are inclined to think that the election of M. Thiers and his active participation in the business of the Chamber is a solid advantage for the Imperial Government, and th a t instead of putting forth their whole power to opposa him, the Government would have done net unwisely hod they tendered him their support. One of greatest difficulties in way of a return to something like a Parliamen tary system has ever b: en that the celebrities of the old Chambers of France have resolutely held aloof from any share in the Government, and forced the discussion of public affairs into hands greatly inferior to their own, and have thus lowered the character and weakened the influence of the Im perial Chambers. The absence of well-known names and voices perpetually reminded France that the Government under which she lived was not pos sessed of the confidence of a class of statesmen who had been trained under a freer system, and the fact that her Parliaments had been elected under uni versal suffrage could not, except in the eyes of very enthusiastic democrats, compensate for the dearth of talent and the absence of statesmanlike experi ence. That a man like M. Thiers, an oratorical and literary celebrity of the very highest order, should come forward to join an Assembly to which he could only be admitted upon taking the oath of alle giance to the Emperor's Government, was a sub stantial triumph and advantage which nothing but the most extraoreinary perverseness and short sightedness could turn into a defeat or a disgrace. But while we think ithat the appearance of M. Thiers in public life cannot be otherwise than a gain to the Imperial Government, we are by no means so sure that it is fraught with the same amount of benefit to M. Thiers himself. Far advanced in life, possessed of an ample fortune and of au established reputation, we are unable to see what object M. Thiers will gain to compensate him for the very considerable sacrifice of sitting in a Chamber so con stituted as that in which he has just made his debut. Had he wished for office under the present dynasty, it has doubtless often been within his reach • but he has chosen—he who has been the Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition in a Parliament to which the Administration was responsible—to fill a seat in a Chamber which is never entered by those who have the real management of affairs, and which cannot aspire to anything more than the transac tion of ordinary business, the adoption of Estimates which it cannot refuse, and the tendering of advice to the Government which it may take or may reject with the like impunity. If this be a duty it is a melancholy one, and we wait with some curiosity to hear the reasons which have induced M. Thiers to undertake it. POST.—The Home Secretary has ordered a medi cal inquiry in Townley's case, and there can be no doubt that it is desirable to obtain further evidence as to the mental capacity of this unfortunate young man. If he be now insane, that will be a ground for staying the execution of the sentence passed upon him ; if it can be proved by conclusive scien tific testimony that when Townley murdered Miss Goodwin he was not in a condition of mind to be legally responsible for a criminal action, that may be a ground for reviewing the verdict .of the jury. But these are questions that must be approached with the utmost caution, and considered with ex ceeding care. The law is clear. If a man knows that he is committing a criminal act, the knowledge makes him responsible for it. But it is contended that the legal definition of insanity is at variance with the true definition of the disease. Tha law requires that a delusion, or hallucination, should be proved ; but medical opinion recognises a form of insanity which developes itself in a momentary irre sistible impulse. A criminal act which is a phe nomenon is said to he evidence of the suspension of intelligence. If a husband kills a wife he loves, or a mother the babe she is nursing, that, we are told, is necessarily an act of insanity. The will is led captive by a sudden disordered impulse which is uncontrollable, and this is called " instinctive mad ness." Now, if this be true—if the principle be a r ght principle—we are bound, we suppose, to adopt it without regard to consequences. But looking at it, as we own we prefer to do, as a psychological theory simply, we may be suffered to test it by re ference to the case in which it was sought to be established. That case is by no means an uncom mon one. Townley was engaged to Miss Goodwin, and he appears to have been deeply in love with her. When, therefore, she broke the engagement he was very much grieved, and, as it seems, more grieved than surprised. Ho admitted he was not a good match for her; he had reason to think she had seen some one she liked better; and he only :asked to hear her decision from her own lips. Foolishly, and fondly, perhaps—for Miss Goodwin evidently desired to part in kindness with her lover--this icquest was granted, and he went to Wig well Grange, and, after spending some time in her company, committed the murder for which he now lies under sentence of death. Such, in few words, are the facts of Townley's case, and we can find nothing in them to take it out of ordinary category of crime, except it be the position in so ciety which the parties occupied. The soldier who was tried and condemned last week for being faeces• sory to the murder of his sweetheart acted, no doubt, under a like " irresistible impulse," only that, in stead of defending and reasoning on his act, as Townley did, he attempted self-murder. But then it is said Townley's grandmother's sister was a lunatic, and that in the interval between the receipt of Miss Goodwin's letter, asking to be relieved from her engagement, and the murder, he gave way to his feelings of regret, refused food, and took brandy and morphia. This again is not, we believe, ex ceptional conduct, only it does not usually culminate in murder. The incidents of the tragedy are indeed commonplace, and the denouement is not out of the order of an ill-regulated and passionate nature. Taking this case, therefore, to be a leading case of " instinctive madness," one may well ask where a legal line is to be drawn between insanity and crime ? The medical theory is that Townley did not medi ta:e murder, but that he was suddenly, mysteri- ously, impulsively, and uncontrollably moved to its commission. They throw in the lunacy of the grandmother's sister as a makeweight; but the gist of their argument, as we understand it, is, that in the course of his conversation with Miss Goodwin this young man's reason forsook him, and that he acted on an insane impulse. Carried out, this means that any man who commits an emotional crime is not legally responsible for his act. It admits, we conceive,of no other construction, and looking at it in that light we must demur to a proposition which would in effect break up the framework of society. We are, we confess, more concerned about this general, sweeping, and, as we think, dangerous and destructive proposition, than we are about the fate of Townley. It would not be a hard matter to show that the murder of Miss Goodwin was, as far as we have the means of forming an opinion on it, not an act of sudden uncontrollable impulse, and we might oven go so far as to say that, if it was committed under the influence of insanity, the insanity was of the character known to and defined by the law, for Townley said at the time, and he says still, that he acted upon a theory or a delusion of his own—that Miss Goodwin having engaged herself to him was his property, and that he had a right to deal with her as such. He maintained this when her blood was still warm on his hands, and he maintains it to this day. But while, as regards Townley, we may think it is desirable to obtain further evidence as to his state of mind, we are, we repeat, far more impressed with the importance of the general question that has been raised in his be half. That question is one that ought, we submit, to be considered apart from any particular ease, and to be decided as justice and the security of society require, without respect to any sympathy or senti ment which have been interpolated in the interest of Townley. If there be any doubt in his case, let him have the full benefit of it, but let there be nd mistake about the principle on which his sentence is varied. It has been suggested that there may be grounds on which the clemency of the Crown can be exercised irrespective of the plea of insanity, but for our own part we must say that we have not been able to discover in what they consist. If the act was the act of a sane man it was murder without extenuating circumstances. All the sensational writing on the subject must be swept clean out the discussion. The horrors of the condeTn t e u last the waiting for an ignominious death, t a o ri p a agony of the convict, are all irrelevant top las. There ca pital pun is no text in this case for a sermeobneen mooted affect ishment. The questions that thheavroo.t of public sifet public morality and go to They touch the very core t _.y o f o ur social system The human obligations hag u h fi es dence subsisting in our tee , and comprehend the administration of they embrace the Are we, in the derest relations. (L f s olto . w . Principles laid down criminal justice, r Are We to accept the by Pritchard. a d proposition that a crime 'which violates nature, and propos]. is not to be accounted for by any of the motives that generally influence men, is in itself evidence of the insanity or the irresponsibility of the criminal P Are acts which are supposed to be the result of vehement passions, Wh e th er of love or bate, or o f both combi ne d , to be treated as features of mental disease P The be be are momentous questions ; and, in so far as they will have to be answered in the in quiry which has been ordered in Townley's case, it Is to ba hoped that scientific ingenuity may be tem- Pered with FAH.,.t common cense. In dissecting the human mind we must be careful not to loose or sever the sacred ties that bind together families and nations. Disgraceful Scene in a Catholic Chapel. On the morning of Christmas-day a disgraceful proceed ing took place in St. Anne's Catholic chapel, Lord-street, Edge-hill, Liverpool, As is usual at this festive season of the year a midnight service was performed in the chapel, the Rev. Father Sullivan and two other resident priests assisting at the altar. The doors of the saaod edifice were opened about five minutes before 12 o'clock oi; Thursday night, but some time before that hour a large number of people had congregated together in front of the chapel, and it was noticed that several of the crowd were in a state Of intoxication. Money was expected at the doors on entering the chapel, and the majority of those who went in contri buted; but about a quarter past 12 o'clock, in a few moments after the service had commenced, the Rev. Father Sullivan and the other two officiating priests being at the altar, two men entered the chapel, but refused to pay anything at the door. They were observed to be intoxicated, and it was also noticed that they were acting in concert with a group of men outside, who also appeared to bo more or less drunk. The two men above named had not beenin the chapel many minutes before their conduct became vary unbecoming and disorderly. In a loud tone they made use of very offensiv e epithets in reference to the Catholic religion, and ultimately the officers Ix:longing to the chapel made an effort to eject them. This was the signal for the commencement of a scene of indescribable confusion and disorder. Some 40 or 50 men, apparently labouring under the influence of liquor , and in a state of wild excitement, rushed in the chapel an d jumped on to the benches during the time service was being performed. They shouted and bawled as they stood on the benches, making use of foul language. The chapel nearly filled with the regular congregation , and on the dis turbance commencing, and the remarks above named being made, several of the members, present endeavoured r° turn the disorderly persons out, on which a general row took place. attended with fighting between the parties inside the chapel. The service was of course stepped,lanl' as may be imagined, the greatest consternation was caused' The Rev. Father Sullivan, who is said to be in very indit ferent health, was so much affected by the scene of disorder and riot before him, that he fainted, and was carried awe/ from the altar robed in his full vestments, into an adjoining apartment, and the two other priests also retired until order could be restored. Information of what was going forwar d in the chapel having been conveyed to the police anthori• ties, Inspector Wilson and a number of officers entered the chapel, and in a short time succeeded in turning out the die' turbing parties; many of them, however, endeavoured to go in again but they were prevented from doing so. The doors of the chapel were locked, and in.a short time the ser vices were resumed, and concluded about half-past 2 o'clock in the morning. Although the malcontents could not again obtain ad raie' sion to the chapel, large groups remained in front of it out• side, and for several hours the immediate neighbourhoo . of the edifice was a scene of the greatest excit ement and doe' order. We learn that there are large number of Orangemen r. e. siding in the neighbourhood, and it is believed that the che‘ graceful outrage in question was instituted by some of the members of that body,—Liverpool Daily Lost. COUNTRY MARKETS. - ------- COLCHESTER—DEC. 26. There was a very short supply of wheat at our market to:. day, and the currencies of last week were well ma intaine4 Trade inactive. In barley, which comes scar ce, fully per qr more money was made. Beans and peas were age rather lower. Wheat, white 44s 50s Beans, Mazagan .. 285 V 2, red ..40s 445 middle & 5 ma11.325 ''"" Barley Oats GLOUCESTER—DEC. 26. ta 'ro There was a fair show of English wheat to-day A- th the farmers which mostly sold at rather improving P rice d Foreign wheat was dull, with no advance on the prices t last week. Oats, barley, beans, and peas were dull, b u still unaltered in value. CHELMSFORD—DEC. 24. At this corn exchange to-day there was a moderate sil l of wheat, with an inactive business doing, and the prices las., week were maintained, but no increase in price !;, obtainable. Other grain unchanged in price , with a a trade. Wheat, old white 30s 46s new 44s 49s old red 34s 39s new 38s 41s Barley 27s 37s Chevalier 2Bs 39s Grinding ..22s 31s Malt.... 6ls 67s Chevalier ... 64s 69s Oats 20s 28s Yeas, Partridge 36s 3„9° 1 1 White .... : 3Bs 3'l Boiling .. 395 418 3s 3 ° Dun 3 Ditto new --8 '-'2 Beans, Tick, old 34s 37, new --0 '''' 40 0 Harrow Ticks 358 ~...43 ...0 new.• Mazagan ..... 3OO 356 KIRKCALDY GRAIN—DEC. 26. ket We had good supplies of barley and o ats at our WI - id to-day, but small of wheat. Sales were slow. Wheat :, and oats 6d, below the currencies of last week. No chang on barley. Wheat. Barley. Oats. r int.... 0136 O 1 WS Od 101 s Od Second ..37s Od 26 s Od 17 s 6 d Third... 140 s Od 29s Od 18s Gd Execution of Alice Holt at Chester, Yesterday the extreme sentence of the law was carried into effect on Alice Holt, at Chester Gaol, for the murder of her mother by poison. The evi dence at the trial, before Mr. Justice Willes, on Dec. 8 and 9, showed that prisoner, her mother, and a man named Holt, with whom she cohabited, lived together at Stockport. In Feb. last the deceased Mary Bailey, was taken ill, and the prisoner insured her life for £26 at a premium of 6d. per week. She induced a woman named Betty Wood to personate her mother before the doctor, telling her that the agent said " Anyone would do." The proposal was accepted by the Wesleyan Assurance Society, and from that time the mother became worse. Prisoner called the parish surgeon and the infirmary visiting officer, both of whom were ignorant of the other's visits, and complained of their medicine not being given. On the 25th and 26th the prisoner bought some arsenic—a quarter of a pound each time, which she put in a jug with some boiling water, and sprinkled about the room where her mother lay to kill,vermin. The night of the 26th deceased had some brandy and water, and complained of grounds being at the bottom. Prisoner said, " You ought to have drunk grounds "and all." Mary Bailey died in the morning with all the symptoms of arsenical poisoning, and was buried. Tha personation came to the ears of the office, and the body was disinterred on June 12, when the body was found perfectly fresh but " saturated with arsenic," of which no less than 160 grains were found in the stomach and ad jacent parts. The unfortunate woman was not tried at the Summer Assizes, in consequence of her being enciente. The child has since been adopted by Holt's uncle, the only person who has visited her since her imprisonment. She has been sullen, and strongly protested her innocence. Ou Sunday, the 27th, the prisoner made the fol owing statement:— " On the Monday before mother died, I brought the insurance paper home, insuring my mother's life for £26 and mine £2B. He then proposed I should get some charcoal and put it under mother's bed alight when shewas asleep, and she would never wake more. On Wednesday night Holt and I never went to bed. He said it would be a great releasement if she was in her grave, and he would buy some stretchnine (strychnine) if I would give it her. I said, Thoult ba found out.' He said, They cannot find it out by that.' I said, ' Thou has brought me to destruc tion, and now thou wants to bring me to the gallows,' He then beat me. In the beer of which I spoke I saw, after my mother had drunk it, a quantity of blue arsenic grounds. I said, Thou hast given my mother arsenic.' He said, 'lf thou tell aught, I'll have thee up for defrauding the insur ance,' and said, 'Nobody will believe but what thou has done it thyself,' This was the only arsenic my mother ever had." Another statement was afterwards made by the prisoner to this effect : " George Holt offered mother some beer, in which the arsenic was put. Mother was sick and could not take it, and set it on the mantelpiece and went out. I said, Mother, ean'st not sup this gill of beer ?' She then took it from my hand and supp'n it. When I looked at the jug I saw the blue arsenic at the bottom. There was lioz. left in the jug —as much as would fill a smelling bottle. I put the jug on the top shelf of the cupboard, and thought of taking it myself. When Ann Bailey cleaned the cupboard out it was washed out. She says—' This% arsenic. That is the jug my mother had her beer in.' I said, Yes, I did not know how it had got in.' Betty Wood then came in, and our discourse was dropped off." Both these statements were signed.. Ia the middle of the night of Sunday she ramt,771 , 11 frnm the county to the city gaol, accompanied by the chaplain, Rev. J. :VI. I~iiner ; the city sheriff, R. Littler ; and the governor of the gaol. On her arrival she par took of toast and coffee, and listened attentively to the exhortation of Mr. Kilner, joining audibly when in chapel in the prayer for murderers introduced in the Burial Service. Tho execution took plane at 10 minutes past 8, When near the drop her courage failed her, and she was half dragged, half carried to the scaffold. On the platform she fell on her knees, and moaned piteously, "The Lord have mercy upon me," which she continued to do while Calcraft pulled the bolt. Tao drop only fell partially, and when it was at last pulled down she swung about partially strangled for two or three minutes, the fall not being enough to break the neck. About 1,000 people witnessed the scene. ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. HOME CIRCUIT.—KINGSTON, Dec. 28. (Before Mr. Baron Pigott.) DARING ROBBZRY. Frederick Cox, 30, John Curry, 17, and James Elsey, 16, were charged with a robbery, accom panied by violence upon Edward Law. Mr. C. Smith prosecuted; the prisoners were un defended. The offence committed by the prisoners was of a most daring and aggravated character. The prose cutor is a publisher, residing in Essex-street, Strand, and it rappesred that at hall-past five o'clock in the ever,ing of the 29th of August last he was walking e.long a place called Crobem Hurst, about a mile from Croydon, in the direction of Coombe, when, as he was passing a small coppice by the side of the road, he heard a rustling in it, and at the same instant two men, whom he afterwards recognised as the prisoners Cox and Curry, rushed upon him, and Cox struck him a blow, either with his fist or a stick, at the back of the head, which felled him to the ground and rendered him for short time totally insensible. They then endeavoured to drag him out of the road into a field, no doubt for the purpose of rifling his pockets; but the prosecutor having somewhat recovered attempted to give an alarm, upon which Cox seized him so tightly round the throat with one hand that he was scarcely able to breathe, and with the other struck him several blows on the head. The prisoner Curry then snatched his watch from his neck, breaking the guard-chain; after which all of them ran away, in consequence, as the prosecutor supposed, of their hearing some one approaching. The prosecutor also stated that before the attack was made upon him he observed the prisoner Elsey following him, and ap parently dodging his footsteps, and there was no doubt that he was oa the watch ready to give an alarm. The prisoners made their escape, and were not taken into custody until November, when it ap peared that Curry sold the watch that had been stolen from the prosecutor to a boy named Crouch, and his father suspecting there was something wrong in the transaction gave information to In spector Smith, of the P division, and this led to the prisoners being taken into custody. The prisoners, when called upon for their defence, merely asserted that they were not the parties by whom the robbery was committed, and they so ecunted for the possession of the watch by saying that they "picked it up." The Jury found all the prisoners guilty. Mr. Baron Pigott sentenced Elsey and Curry to 12 months' hard labour, and Cox, who there was reason to believe was the ringleader in the affair, was sentenced to five years' penal servitude, and to receive 25 lashes with a cat-o'-nine-tails. Two other cases were then disposed of, the details of which are unfit for publication, and this concluded the business of the Home Circuit. -- .L. - - - t u r. A DVEILTISEMENT I —Holloway's Ointment and Pills.-- la!es Chest Complaints.—The enumeration of these l a! en is scarcely necessary, as unfortunately most Eng :no_ co " g them to their cost. Whooping cough, croup, its earlie r IA inflar nix " ation ld 0 . influenza, bronchitis, asthma, pleurisy, ... f the lungs, and even consumption, in ...chest, and upon t Ke t l e are best treated by rubbing Holloway's Ointment oil the shoulders. cold shiverin ge , : - : l . penetrates int.drnally, checks the dually removes the relieves the o - ier.gorged lungs, gra le back between stores the obstructed re P t i Z, Bi "..L from the chest, and re .incnt , nprify &agreeable and MAI- " 4tion hitherto so distressingly the bl ( 1 , of diecases. Hollow . ,f ;Alger treating this class . t h e pint Y ",Ills should always be taken while using er spiration. r i allay dam - tufts i 't c oo- promote 15 rrt aaong, BUSH LIFE IN QUEENSLAND. The following is an extract from a letter written by a young gentleman wh o l e f t D u bli n i n J anuary, 1862, for Queensland, and, as it affords a good illus. iitgmraaty be read with interest by ing to that colony : t t r h a o t s i e o n w h o f o„ b iDn u ta s ewhnsldoin R f e e m 1 River, Queensland, Sept. 21, 1863. ig I will tell you my history from the time I wrote you last. "I left Brisbane on the Ist of January, with my horse's head towards the north. I stopped that night at William B.'s,' as I had seen him in Brisbane and told him I should do so. He is situated on the Pine River, about 16 miles from Brisbane. "I spent a very pleasant evening, and in the morning went to look for my horse, and in looking for him lost my self. At first I ran hero and there in great confusion, but I came to myself soon, sat down, filled my pipe, and thought, but I coed not make up my mind in which way the house lay. At last I found a creek (a creek is what you would call a stream at home, only that in this country it is but a continuation of water holes in dry weather). Well,l knew that the creek must flow into the river, and if I once was on the river I could make the house, so 1 resolved to follow it, but I did not come to that determination till I walked a mile or so all round in every direction but one, which one I was sure was not the right one. I set out to look for the horse before sunrise, it was now about noon when I started to run the creek down. I walked on until the water holes became a stream, and, as I had been thirsty for some time, but in too great a hurry to give myself time to drink, I could not withstand the temptation of the stream, it looked so cocl and sweet, so I took a deep draught before I found, to my disgust, that it was salt. I followed the creek for seven or eight miles more, till my thirst, which had increased, forced me to come back to the water holes from whence I started. I again struck out in every direc tion but the right one, which I had also avoided in the morning, and it was not until the sun had set, and after I had made a fire to sleep by, that I could bring myself to try it, when to my great joy I got home, hungry, and tired of course, which was fully repaid by the lesson taught—viz., never to leave any place without looking at the direction of the sun. I found that R----n and others had been looking for me, and had at last gone round to all the neighbours to get them to help them the next day in the search, I and my mate then rode about 400 miles before we could get a job. In the winter months work is anything but plenty, as more than half the population live by sheep, so that when shearing and lambing are over there is no work but for a few shepherds. At last I got a job with a party of travel ling shepherds belonging to Messrs. G., W., and Co., of Sydney, which were going to form a new station. It was a badly fitted oat party, having only one small horse dray, and no tents but one for the overseer, so that we always slept round the fire. Every man has his own bed, which ho carries about with him wherever he goes, and which is com posed of a pair of blankets; however, it is no hardship sleeping out in this country during the most part of the year so long as it does not rain. Unfortunately, it rained with us more or less for the first month, and all my paper which I had wrapped up in my clothes got destroyed. I have been out all day with the sheep wet to the skin, and in the evening found my blankets wet through, the ground covered with water, and the rain coming down as if it had not rained a drop for a year. We would then make a good fire, and cut a lot of boughs to lie on to keep us out of the water, I for one have got some of the most renovating sleep in that way that ever I got in my life. I believe if a man is tired and wet one of the best things for him is a pair of wet blankets. We got our breakfast at sunrise, then the flock of 5,000 was divided into four,.with one man to each division. We then fed them along the road for a distance of 5 to 10 miles per day, accord ing to where we might find water. (I asked the overseer se veral times when we passed a station to buy me some paper, but he always forgot it). At night the sheep were boxed, and each man had to watch two hours every night. After a while we left the road, and we then went through some of the wildest and roughest country I ever saw. We followed up the bed of a dry creek through the ranges for three or four days. We then left the creek, crossed a mountain, and got on some beautiful country. The dray was unable to come with us, and had to wait till Mr. the superin tendent, found a road for it where it could travel. Mr. D— bu lk d then went down to Rockhampton, dist ant about 200 miles east from here, to send up stores. He p romised me t o get a man to take my place, as I did not lik e the she p herdi ng , but when rays n h o e r ca th m e e m b a a n. back in tw o domonths Dawson river for the last month, and would h ave to remain there for some time longer, as th at river was flooded, and they could not get across. Ho him self had to swim it. This ys were he t had the neith er ot other r si de of l o the c time I got from him the back of a letter which I used to SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES.—In the spring of the present year it was announced, on the very highest authority, that a terrible calamity had befallen the French Govern ment. The Government had not, indeed, to re proach itself tl.at this calamity had overtaken it through its own remissness and supineness; the evil had been long foreseen and manfully struggled against. This, in fact, was the only consolation that an evil fortune had left them. All was lost except their honour, the honour of maintaining to the last a stern though unavailing struggle. It' Troy could huve been saved it would have been by the hand of Hector, and if M. Thiers could have been kept out of the Legislative Cnamber it would have been by the Stipertiuuniu effortes of M. Persii, - ;ny. Ho fore saw, and he proclaimed the danger. If he fought like Hector he prophesied like Cassandra ; but, like Cassandra, no one regarded hint. We are now in a position to ask, was the election of M. Thiers a real, substantial misfortune, or was it one of the Govern ment's own creating ? Were their dreadful appre hensions the result of reason and hood sense, or were they the frightful phantoms of a distempered ima gination ? We have had one sample of the reality, and we confess that the aspect which it wears to our eyes is not extremely formidable. Perfectly calm and collected, with unruffled temper and irreproach able taste M.!Thiers moved his amendment for reduc ing the amount of Treasury Bonds which the Mi nister of Finance is allowed to issue from 300,000,000 f. to 150,000,000 f. Since he last addreesed a popular assembly twelve years have elapsed, years eventful and interesting alike for France and for himself. There has been no demand in France for that clear and persuasive eloquence which shone so brightly in the times of Louis Philippe, and swayed with so much advantage to the best interests of France the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly. Some things have happened in the interval the remembrance of which would not be very favour able to a calm and orderly discussion—things which no one ever forgets, and very few sincerely forgive. During those twelve years M. Thiers, instead of indemnifying himself for the absence of all opportunities of political distinction and the interruption of a brilliant career by the enjoyment of wealth and ease, has undertaken and brought to a conclusion a gigantic enterprise, the "History of the Consulate and the Empire," a noble contribution to the literature of France, and an im perishable monument of his own genius. Many men would have availed themselves of the first opportunity of speaking in public which had pre sented itself for so many years to make some passing allusion to what they had done and suffered, and to define the position which they intended to occupy with regard to the Government and the Assembly. With excellent taste and judgment M. Thiers has risen superior to this temptation. He has felt appa rently that his antecedents are too well known and his position too thoroughly' recognised to render such remarks necessary, and that there would be little dignity in complaint or oxplanation where it is quite clear that he could not, without placing himself in an attitude hostile to his audience and incurring frequent interruption and reprehension from the President, do justice to the whole subject. He promises to give us on a future occasion the reasons which have induced him to return to public life. In the meanwhile he has contented himself with getting up a very pleasant little debate on a rather abstruse financial subject, explaining the whole question with incomparable clearness, con ciliating the assent of his audience, and winning the admission from the Government themselves that his views and theirs are almost entirely identical. There was an opportunity, doubtless, for any amount of sarcasm and invective which M. Thiers might have thought fit to employ. He who speaks of the expendi ture of public money may easily be drawn in to consider the objects for which that expenditure is made, and thus to discuss almost any part of the policy of the Government which he pleasee. This temptation also M. Thiers resisted. He refused to be drawn aside, and M. Picard would have done wisely to follow his example, into the consideration of the policy of the Mexican Expedition, to pay for which 210,000,000 f. out of the 300,000,0001. were spent. He started from the plain and sensible pro position that the money having been spent under a lawful authority must, at all events, be made good, and that the whole question was one similar to that of a reserve in the case of a private banker, how much of floating debt was it expedient for the country to have. He proposed, now that measares had been taken for reducing that debt, to take at the same time steps which would prevent its being legally increased by the Government up to the amount at which it now stands. There was nothing very alarming in all this; it was a practical qua , tion, treated by an experienced etatesmen in a thoroughly business-like way. Everybody seemed satisfied, and so the debate ended. There is, to our eyes at least, nothing very alarming in all this. We observe in this debate nothing which leads us to believe that chaos has come again, or that the Em peror is likely once more to require furnished apartments in the neighbourhood of St. James's square. The man who was able to accommodate and himself to the Chamber of the Orleans dynasty that that to the Assembly of the Republic has . Bb if to the with the same tact he can adapt c aught the tone Assembly of the Empire. He t. l " _ ova it before he of the place, and will probably is:Ill .. p of which the loaves it. He will state opinions, "1" COAL MARKET. Meg of Coal per Ton at fne close of the market. s. d. Byass's BeWide West Hartley 16 3 Cowpen Hartley 16 3 Lambert's West Hart-:: ley 16 0 West Hartley 16 6 Holyw ell 17 9 Hastings Hartley l6 6 Eden Main ...18 6 Wylam 17 6 West Wylam.. ..... l6 0 Walker Primrose l5 0 Tanfield Moor Butes l5 0 Walls End. Tunstail Haswell .............. OO South Hatton ...... 20 Braddyll's Hatton ..... 19 Hartlepool ......... 19 0 East Hartlepool ...... 20 n H eugh Hall .......... 19 u R Kelloe .......... ,19 Harton .............. 18 1 8 Wharneliffe .......... 0 Framwellgate ...... 0 Caksop ............... 1 9 0 Caradoc ............. 10 0 South ........ 19 0 Hatton. .............. 20 :et, 116 ; sold, 86. Walls End. Russel's Hetton 19 0 Ships at markl Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. itius, via Southampton. .... pa , t ..ustralia and Maur) ~ . —,..iampt ..... via Marseilles ......... J am. 4. Brazil and Cape Verds, by British packet. ....... J' lll. O. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena.. J.,. 4/1 ' '.3. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton.J 511. 1' via Marseilles ...De e ' Falkland Islands .. r Gibraltar, via Southampton Jan' #. .. ~ Z. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton J 9.2/. via Marseilles De ° ' il. India (Bombay), via Southampton Jan; 5, via Mareeitles Jan ' 4, Portugal.... JO' , „' 21 2. Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton J a— ' ' via Marseilles De c Newfoundland 4). Oporto and Vigo .. . U. S. and British N. America, ty Brit. packet Jan ' by U.S. packet .. • • , 0 1 , by Canadian packet.;ft, 10. W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneritfe ° l''''' id , Bahamas, via New York' ... • 0 ~. Mexico.. De' .2 n ' All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, i Dec. '' California. and British Columbia. ...... 1 d a s.gro ADVERTISEMENT.]—Avoid medicines: they alWaYm. -- ° es ita vate chronic complaints, but Du Barry's Delicious '-', lO O Restoring Revalenta Arabica Food, which saves fifty ',.,,, 0 5 its cost in other remedies, invariably cures them, restnsvcr. perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs, healthY P er o pure blood, refreshing sleep, functional regularity, and e . ., /1 cu t to the most disordered or enfeebled. We extract at te" ,de of 60,000 Cures :—Cure No. 58,216 of the MarchioneS__eo Brehan, Paris, of a Jiver complaint, wasting away forss e al years, debility, with a nervous palpitation all ova , _' l ooo digestion, constant sleeplessness, the most intolerable ner:ord agitation, and dreadfully low spirited.—Cure No. 1,771. 14 ...1 . 0 , Stuart de Decies, Lord Lieut. of Waterford, of many 97,0 dyspepsia.—No. 49,832. " Fifty years' indescribable a,-;,,,,, from dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma, cough, co nstiP O 4 . l : e . ' flatulency, spasms, sickness, and vomiting.—Maria J ~ ,, , ,i —Cure No. 46,270. Mr. James Roberts, of Frimley, r S a a r er r a L e ge • thirty years' diseased lungs, spitting of b100d.... 1 7 0 jajzabetll ment, and partial deafness.—Cure No. 47,121. ... ..... t herings, lose Jacobs, of extreme nervousness, indigestior 1 The Rev. JO; spirits, and nervous fancies. —Cure No la . 64 , 8,• d gestion and torlt T. Campbell, Fakenham, Norfolk, "O f t ni edical treatment.' dity of the liver, which had resisteX, its. ; 121 b., 225. ; '41 1 ) In tins. 1 lb., 2s. 9d. ; 21b., 40. 6d. 0 ; " 77, Regent-street, London; 40s.—Barry Du Barry and Ca w, ' also Fortnum and Mason d ; _ dog 1 every town of the Unite -In''____________., rhristreee-day, at 12 , BRIGHT.—OLtidey-27--Btrihginbts,t.l3:fira Birth s. oh: Upper Hyde-P ar‘ at Surbiton ton, the Wi fe , lugs the 26th inst., at Cantley, the wife of the Co o g n f a B r i t d . —7 0 4:1; ae: Cobb, Es.,, of a son. MA. EDEN ,— %Vol. 03. Eden, of a son. u y j.tdr,BY.—On the 25th inst. , at 20, Montague - pl ace, sell-square, the w il e of L . C. Lumley, Esq., of a son. AYTOU Marriages. the 24th inst., at Edinburgril William Edmondstoune Aytoun, _ Esq., D.C.L.I She a of Orkney and Zetland, to Fearne Jemima, the se c lo daughter of the late James Kinnear, Esq., Wr ite the Signet. A 111 9 P f• GNEW—WHARTON.—On Saint Stephen's- da p, Charles Agnew, to Mary, widow of the Rev. P" Wharton, late vicar of Mitcham. Deaths. now BOTLE,—On the 26th inst., at 9, Portur. m l-street, Gr nor-square, the Viscountess Boyle, aged 26. C ' COURTNEY.—On the 26th inst., at Chelmsford, 65. Courtney, Esq., of Oxford-terrace, Hyde-park, ageusia- DIGBY.—On the Feast of the Holy Innocents, at N . 3 , i ,fotif ton, after a painful illness, Sister Mary Anne 13 '; 'the Order of St. Benedict (Mary Ann Lcentia Rig b y I.P' beloved daughter of Kenelm Henry Digby, Esq fo ot' HEATH.—On the 26th inst., A. W. Heath, Esq. , parade, Leamington. MyLNE.—On Christmas-aay, at Amxvell, Herts, C. 0 11' London: Prin;ed and Pubitsli ed b y IVILLIAa A 0 „ 70 . 11; of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office ": 13 04. 1 ' Strand, in the Precinct of the Savo y , :n the GO' iflllo.lekez.---Tueontay, December 29, 1.833.