The Sun. — London, England, 1864-05-05 00:00:00

into the plate the in:L - 11 was but insignificantly affected by it; in fact, this shell only proved to "loe what shells in general have often proved before— harmless against armour plating. I n addition to the shots fired from the two wins at the selected plates, according to the programme o f the day's trial, a steel shot from each gun was fired at a 6 inch plate manufactured at the Millwall Ironwork for the Bellerophon iron frigate, the charge of powder being in each instance of the same amount as had been used in th e previous ng. The spheri cal shot from the smooth bore gun made a hole in the plate 101 in. in diameter and drove the broken parts of the plate in Sin, from the plate's outer sur- ' face, the shot striking full in a central position on the plate and in front of a knee, and failing to get through into the ship, as much from the resistance offered by the knee as its own weakness, broke up and fell overboard. The elongated shot from the shunt gun also struck fully on the plate, and enter ing by a hole Sin. in diameter buried itself among the debris of the broken plate in the ship's side, with its base, 4, l ; in. in from the plate's outer sur face. Inboard, the ship's side was bulged in at the back of the plate. The broad results of the day's trial between the two guns may be taken to be, that, although at short range no great difference may exist, the balance of destructive power, if any, must be awarded in favour of the smooth bore. Beyond 500 yards, however, the shunt gun would take the lead, while the smooth bore would become comparatively ineffective against iron clads. With regard to steel shot, it will at once be seen that they did not succeed in making their way into the ship through her armour-plating, as they have done on former occasions, both at Ports. mouth and Shoeburyness, and this want of success on the part of the shot can be only attributed to the quality or temper—perhaps both combined—of the steel of the shot, and not to the guns. The majority of the elongated shot, and certainly all the spherical ones, exhibited the radical weakness of destroying themselves in the process of destroying the plates. The spherical shot had been hardened in oil, but they could have no cohesive power imparted to them by the operation. With our present information on the subject, it is almost, if not altogether, impossible to say what are the best conditions of temper under which steel shot can be supplied by the makers to the Government authorities. This knowledge can only be arrived at by experiments on a comprehen sive scale with shot produced under different condi tions of manufacture. At present the cutting powers and cohesive strength of steel shot is very uncertain, and they are also very expensive; but they are the only projectiles that will penetrate ironclad ships or forts. TRIAL OF GUNS, The two guns which have become known to naval m..n and artillerists by the distinctive names of the " Somerset" and the " Frederick" have undergone at Portsmouth a very interesting competitive trial of their armour plate piercing powers, in the presence of several members of the Board of Admiralty and a number of naval officers, includin g Vice-Admiral Sir F. W. Grey, K.C.8., Rear-Admiral Charles Fre derick, and Rear-Admiral K. S. Robinson, Con troller of the Navy, from the Admiralty ; Captain J. C. Caffin, C. 8., Director of Ordnance, Vice- Admiral Sir M. Seymour, G.C.8., and Rear- Admiral Superintendent G. Elliot. The firing was conducted, as usual, under the superintendence of Captain Astley C. Key, C. 8., commanding the gunneryship Excellent. The two guns are simply Armstrong guns, and the fact of their being generally known by the names of toe First and Third Lords of the Admi ralty is owing to the great interest which has been taken by the Duke of Somerset and Rear-Admiral Frederick in the development of the powers of these two weapons, which are undoubtedly the most per fect of their kind the country possesses for general service on board abip. The " Somerset" gun is a coil-built, smoothsbore, has a diameter of bore of 9.22 in., and w eighs tons. The "Frederick" gun is also coil.built, but is rifled on Sir William Armstrong's shunt principle, has a diameter of bore of 7 inches, and weighs 6 tons 13cwt. 3 qrs. The smooth-bore presents no external difference from others of Sir W. Armstrong's muzzle-loading guns, but the shunt gun, from the greater weight and disposition of metal at its breech, assimilates some what in form at that part to the American Dahl. gren gun. Both guns were mounted on board the Stork gunboat, tender to the Excellent, and the plates to be fired at were bolted on the port side of the America target-ship, the gunboat and target ship being moored in positions at 200 yards distance in the upper part of Portsmouth harbour. The plates, or rather pieces of plates, that were fired at had been specially selected for this trial, on ac count of their known superior qualities, and from their methods of manufacture—one being the sound end of a plate that had been previously tested in the ordinary way, and which, now that it was cut off from the main body far the present trial, mea sured 9ft. llin. in length by 311. Bin. in width, and was 51in. in thickness. It was of rolled manufac ture, from the firm of John Brown and Co., of the Atlas Works, Sheffield. The second plate was also the sound end cut off from a plate previously tested. It measured Bft. 10in. in length by 3tt. sin. in width, and was also 51in. in thickness. It was of hammered manufacture, from the works of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company. Tne practice commenced soon after noon, with a steel spherical shot from the 9.22 in gun, fired with a 30-pounder charge of powder at Messrs. Brown's plate, the weight of the shot being 1151 b. The shot struck the plate full on its right centre, and partially turned rcund in the plate and broke up, its broken outer surface being flush with the plate's outer surface. The shut had thus failed to do its work—i. e, , it had destroyed itself in cutting its way into the plate, end it hid out made its slay into the ship. Inside the ship the only visible da mage was a piece of the inner planking at the back of the plate, about 9 feet in length, started from the ship, and standing out at an angle of 20 de grees. The shunt gun was next charged with an elongated steel shot weighing 98 pounds, and 251 b. of powder, and laid at the same plate. Unfortue nately, this shot took effect on a part of the plate which allowed of no correct comparative results being arrived at between the two shots, this one striking not quite with its whole diameter on the plate's left edge and about 15 inches below the left upper corner. It was a weak spot, and, although the shot destroyed itself, com mensurate effects were produced. The shot was broken up about seven inches in the ship's side from the plate's outer surface, while the diameter of the hole by which the shot entered the plate was nine iaches. In board two of the strakes of inner plank ing at the back of the plate eight feet in length and two feet in width were started and bulged in ward some inches. Oa the deck, 20 feet distant from the ship's side at the back of the plate, where they had been fixed and formed part of the ship's structure, lay a massive iron and a wooden knee which had had their nuts broken from off the ends of their bolt fastenings, and then then hurled to the distance warned by the force of the blow. The iron knee was broken in two pieces, and the deck was covered with splinters of iron and wood within a zadius of 20 feet sufficient to have killed or seriously wounded every man who might have stood within that area in time of action. This shot having, however, been so nnfor:anataly planted, it was determined to send another from the same gun and against the same plate, in order to arrive at definite results ; for, as there are no unsupported edges cf armour plates on an iruaclad's sides, except on the outer lines, the re sults of the last shot could not be looked upon as definite in any valuable sense. The second shot, by a singular coincidence, struck in the immediate vicinity of the last, their edges overlapping, and consequently the result, so far as related to the object of the trial, was nil. The backing of the plate at this end had been destroyed by the previous shot, and the present one striking in the same plate passed simp'y through the shattered side into the ship, and out again through the opposite side. The next shot was a spherical steel, and fired from the smooth-bore with a 301 b. charge, and was direetea against the Thames Company's plate. Unfortunate circumstances also attended this shot, it striking close upon the lower edge of the plate and within two inches of a bolt. It drove the broken pieces of plate 14in. into the ship's side from the plate's outer sur face, extending the fracture through the bolt hole and lower edge of the plate, and destroyed itself in the broken debris of the plate. Inboard the inner plank ing at the back of the plate was started sft in length by 3ft 6in in width, and bulging inwards at its greatest part 15in. An elongated steel shot was next sent against the same plate from the shunt gun with a 9 5th charge, and the same unsatisfactory kind of result followed, for the shot again struck on the this time on the upper ed g e. It plate's edge , only broke the plate into the sh:p's side 18in. beyond the plate's outer surface, and afterwards passed through into the ship, where it was picked up lying on the deck, and but I:ttle altered in form, its diameter at the end where it struck the plate having been in creased bat one inch and eig ht -tenths, the openirss in the metal radiaing from the centre of the point of impact being at the same time Lot very slight. had done its This was certainly a s hot tha t work properly, in having expended its force in cutting its wa y into the ship and in not destroying itself. This plate had as yet re ceived but two shots, and both of them were edge blows, and as it was requisite to plant a shot fully on it and clear of the edge's weakness of part s, ano ther steel boat was sent at it with a 251 b ch ar g e from the shunt gun. On examining the plate after the shot had been fired the base of the latter was found to be standing outwards sin. from the plate 'a outer surface, it being thus embedded half its own length in the p late. It was not eas y to ex p lain how this bolt came t o be sticking only half way in the plate when all others had gone through—that is \ through the plate's thickness of metal, if they had not gone through all and into the ship. The mss- I tery was, however, solved on inspecting the inside of the ship, for here it was found the shot had struck immediately upon a knee the fastenings of which had stood firm under the shock of the blow, and hence the non penetration of the shot. This s h o ws the value of a goad backing. The firing at the two selected plates concluded with a 981 b. steel e l ong ated shell ,a new pattern Armstrong,containing a bursting charge of lib. 11oz., fired at Brown's plate, from the shunt gun. It struck the plate close to the upper edge, and, bursting by the force of its own blow on the plate, sent up an immense column I of smoke in the air, while its broken parts came ,T flying back towards the gunboat. As had been anticipated, however, with all this noise ani smoke . 'int very little damage was done. The indent on the plate at the deepest part was only 4in., and although the shell must have exploded at the mo ment of reaching the deepest part of its indentation standing the corporation had a Remembrancer and a Solicitor whose business it was to keep a watch over 7egislation affecting its interests, he had alto been taken by surprise by the manner in which the bill in question had passed through a select committee. If he had known that it was in con templation to abolish the supervision of the Court of Aldermen in this matter. he, as the senior mem ber of the Court, should have tendered himself as a witness before the committee, and given evidence, founded on records of the corporation, showing now beneficial that supervision had been all along to the public. If the City Solicitor had searched the re cords of that Court he would have found ample proof of that, and been armed to repel that attack upon its jurisdiction. He thought, tco, that the Remembrancer and the City Solicitor ought to have informed every member of the Court who held a seat in the House of Commons that such a thing was in contemplation, and of every stage of the bill. (Hear, hear.) lie did not know why three of the alder men only, and those three adverse to the existing supervision of the Court, should have been sum moned to give evidence. It was a sort of partiality which to him was wholly incomprehensible that they, the only tribunal to which the brokers were amenable, should have been altogether ignored. (Hear, hear.) If the bill went before a committee of the House of Lords, he should divest himself of the character of an alderman of London for the time, and offer to give evidence as a merchant, a manufac turer, and a tradesman, and he believed that they would listen to him. At all events, whatever the result might be in this case, he trusted that in future whenever the interests of the corporation were imperilled the Remembrancer would call the attention of every alderman of London who had a seat in the House of Commons to the matter, in order that they might aid and assist him in the maintenance of those interests, and that they should not be surprised as they had been in this instance. (Hear, hear.) Alderman BESLEY said if this bill passed into a law there would be no such personage as a broker in the city of London, pure and simple. Brokers would cease to exist as such, and would be con verted into dealers. There could be no doubt that they had been all along a very useful body of men; they went between the merchant and the con sumer, and therefore the public had a manifest in. terest in the preservation of the class, with their present limited and well defined functions, and their responsibility to an independent tribunal. For the present, it was desirable that the Court should be in possession of the evidence given by the three selected members of their body, and he therefore moved that a copy of the bill, with the evidence adduced before the select committee, be furnished to each n - ember. Alderman GABRIEL thought the more serious question for them to consider was bow the mischief had been done—how a bill sacrificing revenue of the corporation to the amount of £5,000 a year, and, what was of greater importance, effecting the prerogatives of that court, should have been allowed to pass through its principal stages, with evidence of three picked members of their body admitted on the one side, aad none on the other. He confessed he hilould not have thought such a thing possible, 1 actl it was certainly one telling for explanation. The Court of Aldermen and the Stock Exchange. 4 ._ On Tuesday, at a meeting of the Aldermen of London, held at Guildhall, and presided over by the Lord Mayor, an important question was brought under consideration, affecting as well the jurisdiction exercised by them, as magistrates, ever the whole body of brokers in the city, as the interests of the brokers themselves, and still mare, it is said, the , interests of the public. From time immemorial the Court of Aldermen has exercised a eery i stringent control both as to the admission of per sons to exercise the calling of a broker, and, to use an expression in its own regulations on the subject, with regard to their " honest and good behaviour" afterwards. The power to admit or exclude, in fact, rests solely with the Court of Aldermen, and every person applying for admission must show to their satisfacl ion his respectability and fitness to act as a broker, by a certificate signed by re spectable merchants and others, not fewer than six in number. No certificate or recommendation is allowed to be signed by an alderman of the city, and particularly no parson is to be permitted to buy or sell on his own ace cunt any article in the sale of which he acts as a broker. E.c:h broker on admission enters into a bond, himself in the penalty £l,OOO, and two sureties in .f.:2 ;s0 each, for the due and just execution by him of his office and employ ment, and he takes a solemn oath before the whole Court that he will truly and faithfully perform the cffica " between party and party, and in ail thing,: appertaining to it, without fraud or collusion, to the best of his skill and knowledge." A bill is now before Parliament, promoted in the interests of the brokers, who are a very numerous and influential body in the city of London, the object of which is entirely to abolish the jurisdiction now exercised over them by the Court of Aldermen, and with it certain annual fees exacted of them, and which, in the aggregate, form a source of revenue to the corporation. Yesterday, on the Court being constituted, Alderman RosE, M.P., called their attention to tha subject, remarking, first of all, upon the absence from the meeting of the Remembrancer and the City Solicitor, whose departments it more particularly concerned, and also of the Recorder and Common Sergeant. He expressed his great surprise that when the bill in question, which concerned an ancient privilege of the Coart, conferred with a view to the public interest, was before a committee of the House of Commons a few days ago, only three of their brethren, the aldermen, and those three being men who took a strong partisan in terest in the subject, and held views upon it diame trically opposed to the great majority of the Court, should have been summoned to give evidence before the committee. (Hear, hear.) On hearing that circumstance he immediately proceeded to the House of Commons with .aci view ,of tendering himself as a witness. He there learnt that the time at which it was compatent for him to give evidence on the subject had passed, and he was therefore precluded from doing so. He now pro tested against the one-sided statements upon which the committee had decided in favour of the pre. amble of the bill. The control which the Court of Aldermen had for generations exercised over the brokers of the city of London was one in which he contended the public was very largely interested. The Court was mostly composed of men variously engaged in trading undertakings on a Large scale, and therefore peculiarly fitted to exercise that cons trol, and to constitute an independent and intelli. gent tribunal for adjudicating upon questions re lating to trade and commerce, and particularly with reference to transactions between buyer and seller which it was the legitimate business of a broker to conduct under certain prescribed condi tions. e tt all events, it was a far more reliable are] independent body, as regarded the protec tection of the public than the Committee of the Stock -Exchange, who might be supposed, with a tendency common to men in general, to regard such matters too much from their own point of view. He might mention a case in point. The Committee of the Stock Exchange had recently to adjudicate upon questions relating to a large shipping company,and it was broadly asserted that sonic of the Committee were themselves largely interested in the questions they were called together to consider. it was true that those particular members did not vote, yet they sat in judgment with those who did upon the mat ters in issue. (Hear.) It was of the utmost imports mace to the public that where a man employed a broker he should be satisfied that he had employed an agent who, while entitled to remuneration, was w b oun d under some strict rt s of a , yhimthseelf be a dealer A as ld w er a m ll en as , e a th b a r t ok h e e r should Cou exercise u d ot b at the same time. (Hear, hear.) The A s cas o e ije o i f to a r solicitor and client was one in point. • was admitted to practise his profession on proof of skill and knowledge ; h e had to take and he annual certifi ca te and pay an anneal fee, out an was answerable t o & superior a uthority for tne ears nor in which he conducted himself in the exercise of his profession. Trustees and various other per sons acting in the capacity of agents for others were eqaally amenable to law. For reasons founded in the public interest the Court had invariably held that a broker who received a commission, and who acted between buyer and seller, should be prohi bited from acting in any other capacity than that of an agent, and he thought that arrangement should not be disturbed. Alderman COPELAND, M.P., felt much indebted to his hon. friend (Alderman Rose) for calling at tention to this subject, the importance of which, in his opinion, could scarcely be uverratcd. Notwith. (Hear.) Alderman WILSON reminded the conrt that every broker in the city of London, under the existing, supervision, was pledged by oath, while acting in that capacity, never to buy or sell on his own ac count. Once that wholesome restraint was removed, a broker, he said, would cease to stand in the posi tion of mutual protector as between buyer and seller, and might be palming off his own merchan dise for reasons of his own upon the client who employed him in the belief that he was acting as en agent in his interest in the ordinary way. The alderman also complained of the manner in which a bill vitally affecting the interests of the merchants of the city of London had been so far smuggled through the House of Commons. Alderman Sir ROBERT CARDEN sail he receivcd a Speaker's warrant the day before he gave evidence, and he went most unwillingly before the committee. He was boun:!, however, to obey, but he told the chairman that he'attended reluctantly. The committe,e wished him to volunteer evidence, which ho declined to do, but stated at the same time that he would an swer any questions that might be asked him, and he gave his evidence in that why. With regard to the bi okers of the city of L-,ndon, akin f; them as a body, heb.Aieved them to be as honourable a class of men as xas to be found in any other profession or business. (Hear.) If a broker acted fraudulently, the person wronged cmild appeal to the law of the land, which was preferable to coming to the Court of Aldermen for redress, or, if he chose to act in the double capa city of broker and merchant, his clients would soon find him out, and his business would suffer in conse quence. With regard to the statement that the corporation had been surprised in this matter, it was right to say that both the Recorder and the Common Sergeant were retained to defend their interests. Alderman LUSK said he had also been summoned to give evidence,and could not help himself. He had, however, tried to bring about a compromise between the promoters and the opponents of the bill, but in vain. It was uzeless to talk of the public advantage of the supervision exercised by that Court over brokers, seeing, that half t he men who acted as brokers in the city were not licensed at all. Nor could the Court have been so ignorant with respect to the bill and its stages as some of them professed, inasmuch as one of its own committees, presided over by Sir Francis Moon, was charged with the duty of reporting upon it. The REMEMBEANCEIt Corrie), who had en tered the court during the discussion, voluntetrzd to make a statement on the subject, but before he did so, asked that strangers should withdraw. Alderman ROSE indignantly protected against the exclusion of strangers after the discussion had gone ao far, and in that he was supported by the Court. Eventually, on the suggestion of Alderman Sir S. MULGROVE, it was arranged that the Remem brancer should state what he had to say before the committee of the Court eharged with reporting upon the matter; the motion of Alderman Begley was unanimously adopted, and the subject dropped. RAILWA! INTELLIGENCE, manager, wes examined at great length on the Blackburn extensions of the Lancashire and Yorkshire. Earl Strs.dbrolte (chairman), the Earl of Yarborough, Viscount II trdinge, and Lords Digby and Dar trey assem bled to consider the bill of the East and West Junction for a railway of 32 miles from a junction with the cuthorised line of the Northampton aid Banbury at Towceoter, passing near Byfield, to near the Stratford-on-Avon passenger sta tion of the Great "Western, and a branch to the Evesham and Itedditch Railway. 'The capital required is £350,000, and £316,000 loan. The case was opened, and witnesses were examined by Mr Staveley Hill for the promoters, and the committee adjourned. ORTII DEVON. A special general meeting of this company was held yes terday, at the office, Gresham House, Old Broad-street — Mr W. Tile, M.P., in the chair. Mr Harris, the secretary, having read the notice conven ing the meeting, The CHAIRMAN' said they had had several discuesions with members of the South-Western board, and everything connected with the a malgamation was now settled. The Solicitor read the heads of the agreement entered into between the directors of the London and South-Western Railway Company and the directors of the North Devon iwr the amalgamation of the latter with the former company. The amalgamation was to take place on the Ist of January, 1865. The debenture debt of the North Devon was to be assumed by the South-Western Company, who would issue debenture stock in place of it. The £38,000 6 per cent. preference shares of the company had been purchased and commuted by the South Western Company. The last £5,000 of it had been exchanged for a 5 per cent stock. The A stock of the North Devon was to be exchanged at the rate of £lOO stock for £l9 12s of South Western ordinary stock. The original agreement was £2O for every £lOO of North Devon A stock, and £5O South Western ordinary stock for every £lOO of North Devon. original stock. It was now £49 of South Western original stock for every £lOO of North Devon original stock, and £9B of South Western original stock for every £lOO of B stock. The CHAIRMAN said the alteration in the terms was, in fact, a discount paid for getting the amalgamation sooner than was originally proposed. The SOLICITOR said the liabilities beyond a certain amount were to be declared by two of the directors and the secretary, and in case of dispute it was to be settled by arbi tration. The clauses of the bill authorising the amalgama tion made the heads of agreement binding on the two com panies. The South Western Company would issue ordi nary stock, in the proportions above specified, to the holders of the North Devon ordinary, and A and B stocks. On the motion of the Chairman, a formal resolution, approving a bill for the amalgamation of divers railway companies with the London and South Western, so far as it affected the interests of the North Devon, was carried unanimously. On the motion of Mr. Hartridge, the best thanks of the meeting were awarded to the directors. ........ BIDEFORD. A special general meeting of this company was held yes terday at the office, Gresham-house, to consider a bill now before Parliament—Mr. G. Braiginton in the chair, The Solicitor read the heads of an agreement between this company and the London and South Western Railway Company for the amalgamation of the Bideford under taking with that of the South Western Company. The amalgamation was to commence on the Ist of January, 1565, the debenture debt of 10,000 was to be assumed by the South• Western Company, and in lieu of the £55,000 ordinary stock of the Bideford Company the South-Western would issue 155,000 4 per cent. preference stock, with the proviso that only 3i per cent. per a nnum should be paid to the holders until the year 1569, after which the full 4 per cent, would be paid, unless in the meantime they were re deemed at per. The CHAIR...V.I.N, in moving a formal resolution approv ing a Bill for the amalgamation of divers railway companies vvitli the London and South-Western Railway Company, so for as it afeeted the interests of the Bideford Company, said that no alteration had been made in the terms originally agreed upon between the two companies. Mr. TITS, M,P„ seconded the resolution, and it was unanimously adopted. On the motion of Mr. MonTimEn, the best thanks of the meeting were voted to the directors for the satisfactory arr,,ngement concluded between the two companies. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE, CHESTER. RACEC la e— .:EDNESDAY, THE CUP DAY. The Cup day at Chester, like the Derby at Epsom, is the carnival of the densely populated districts of Lancashire, Cheshire, and Shropshire. It is needless, therefore, to refer to the features of the occasion, or the tens of thousands who congregate annually on the picturesque Iloodee. With the racing public the meeting has long enjoyed great popularity, and the decision of the Cup, from the great amount of bet ting and the import ent interests involved, attracts to the 1 spot turfmen from all parts of the country. Betting upon the event has presented such ac nstaatly fluctuating aspect that public curiosity has been much stimulated thereby, and Iperhaps led to one of the most monster demonstrations in the annals of Chester. And yesterday will long be railcar bered as a red letter day, inasmuch as it a as stated that his Royal Highneee the Prince of Wales, who had arrived over night at Lord Grosvenorae seat, near Crewe, intended to honour the course with his presence, an announcement re ceived with deep satisfaction by all grades of sportsmen, who were greatly disappointed at the Prince's non-arrival on the course. During the early part of the morning rain fell heavily, and c ontinuing up to noon, the course became heavy, which was all in favour of the older horses, a cir cumstancea s w il b: seen, c hpreduced its Effect upon th e betting, and, Accident became a better favourite as the time approached for the race. From the earliest hour im mense crowds swarmed into the city, blocking up the quaint people walked in " umbrellaed" g gabled "rows," and rendering locomotion in the streets a task of great difficulty. Special trains arrived in regimentsc to e a s e s t io r n ds , tahnedctohuer se, Watergate• street being the main artery through which the masses streamed. The scene on the Roodee cannot well be described in these columns—the ancient walls, the Stands, and enclosures being densely packed. Indeed, the excitement centred in the Cup was never exceeded en an y p revious anniversary. 'We may mention here tha t Mr. To p ham's handica p g ave universal at is fac t i n patrons, aa d rec eived testimonials of praise from the leadingof the meeting. Although the rain held off s o shortly after midday, the remainder of the afternoon was dark and cloudy, and the atmosphere close, and in the ring quite oppressive. It may be mentioned that the transactions at the rooms in the morning presented no noteworthy fea ture, the only remarkable movement being the incr eased in vestments on Accident, who was wonderfully firm at 4 to 1. Th., sport commenced at 2 o'clock with the Biennial Stakes, for which six came to the post, Mr Merry'sfilly,Effie, being made favourite at 6 to 4 ; but atter making the running to the turn she was joined by Fisherman's Daughter, Wel beck, and Cutaway, who came to the front in the straight, and a most magnificent race resulted in favour of Cutaway Ly a short 'need, Wetback being only defeated a neck for second place. The Welter Cup, w hi c h f o llowed, furnished three runners, and 6 to 4 was betted on The Clown, and another splendid struggle ensued, the favourite just getting d'ece by a head, entirely owing to Fordham'e fine horseman ship on Despair. The Cup was appointed for 3.40, and as the hour for the decision of the race approached the excite ment became intense, and every available spot on the walls and stands were crammed, presenting a most extraordinary spectacle. The preliminary c enters were watched with vast interest, a half-suppressed roar swelling forth as tech of the prominent favourites was recognised. The telegraph board displays l 2.0 runners, and all were in readiness somo time before the hour appointed on the card, and when the horses i were well together some faiiar.i were gapsed owing to the eagerness of certain light weights to get away, aura ;;;. one of the false starts Flash-in the-Pan broke away, and ran a rade round the course at a great pace before young Morris could stop him, which considering his after success was most remarkable. A. zemewhat tedious del a y occurred, and in the meantime rain fell heavily, a g a *press of umb rellas s p run g up among the spectators like gigantic ae-ashromas. The Wait betting just prior to the st art will be found below ~ and in refaaeace to the race we may say that the issue was one of the most yeaearkable su r p rises in the history of the Chester Cup. Al the favearites were beaten by old Plash- I in-the-Pan, w h o h a d , ase eoe4a t 9 the statement of his jockey, the race in hand at any moa r eent, aeaa came away about half a mile from home, and, making a tenable eale;•• bition of all his opponents, won, pulling double, by ten lengths, the race being literally a ease of " hare and hound," be seen, coati Gle2 hia as ail the field were in hopeless pursuit. Little Stag, it will hi g h trial by beating all the 3-yr olds, and two of John DaY7a-eeTilVer and L ord Zetland— finished third and fourth. Tremendous cheering •,;,7Qitod the winner on his return, as the bookmakers landed large stakee. Flash-in-ihe-Pan is the property of Mr. T. Hughes, of EP 34lO y who is noted for a stablile of " cast-offs, which hall e all been derisively :.?..;=ed " yearngs, from their being aged. Mr. Hughes ot ctrl wigif,;;.Q,o99, Subjeined are de tails of the running The Biennial Stakes of 10 sous each, h ft, with 100 added, for 3-yr-olds ; colts, Sat 101 b ; fillies, Set 71b ; penalties and r;tiowaaaeee. Grosvenor course, about a mile and a quarter. 16 subs. , Mr. Barber's Cutaway, B s f 41b . Ki. Snowden) 1 Mr Merry's Effie Sat 71b ' (A.ldeareedea 2 Mr Hargreaves';Welbeck, Sat 10lb (S. Rogers) 3 Mr ,;lteyets's Fisherman's Daughter, Sat 4lb (Fordharn) 4 Duke of Si. lab en e Marnhead, Bst 71b (F. Adams) 5 Mr R. C. Nayle'r's Littia . e. on, Sat 71b (R Smethurst) 0 Betting-6 to 4 agst Effie, sto a asst Welbeck, 4to 1 1 agst Fisherman' s Daughter, 7 to 1 agst C u tawa y . Effie made play at art excellent pace, followed by Mam• head, 1. , islieerne. a's Daughter, and Cutaway, Welbeek bring ing up the rear to eaa railway arches, where he passed Little Saxon. Proceeding alon,a lie pee side, Mainland dropped away beaten, and Cutaway, Welbeek, aad Fisher man's Daughter joined Effie, the four running abreast head and head to the distance, where Fisherman's Daughter *as in distress ; a fine race, however, with the other trio ensued, Cutaway winning a capital finish by a short head; a neck separated the second and third, and the others were beaten off. The Welter Cup of 5 00T3 each, with 50 added, for 3-yr•olds RAILWAY BILLF'. Yesterday, in Lord Stanley's committee on the proposee'l metropolitan and suburban railways, the bill of the London, Chatham, and Dover, for diversions of existing railways at or near Battersea, called the Battersea works, and for cer tain railways and alterations of authorised railways of an aggregate length of three miles at Herne-hilt, was passed. The bill for the Battersea extensions of the London and South• Western was rejected. The southern works section of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, for a widening for a length of one raPe from the Wandsworth• roa 1 to Shep herd's-lane, Brixton, was subsequently opened by Mr. Davi son and Mr, Round. Mr. Adair has been appointed chair man of the second committee on metropolitan railways. His committee will meet on Monday, and take up tho metropc. titan Railway (Notting-hill and Brompton Extension), and Metropolitan and St. John's-wood Railways. Mt. 11. Scott and Mr. Phinn occupied the attention of Mr. Scholefiald's committee with the consideration of the London and South- Western Railway Company's proposed extensions in North Devon. These extensions are three in number—the first, of a length of seven miles, from a junction with the North Devon Railway, which is leased to the South Western, at Chittlehampton, near Umberleigh station, to South Mel ton; the second, of three miles, from South to North Mel ton; and a second junction spur between the first line and the North Devon. This will require an additional sum of £120,000 as new capital, and £40,000 loan. The traffic case was considered. The case for the Great Northern Company's proposed extensions between Lincoln and Bourn is concluded, and the committee heard Mr. Burke for the competing linos of the Great Eastern (Northern Junctions) Railway, which proposes to raise a capital of £1,500,000, of which £750,000 may be subscribed by the Great Eastern, and£soo,ooo be raised by mortgage or debenture stock. The new lines proposed are, first, a main communication, 108 miles long, from a junction with the authorised line of the West Riding and Grimsby Railway at 0 wston, passing by the west of Gainsborough and of Lincoln, then to the east of Sleaford and Bourn, west of Peterborough, by Ramsey and east of Somersham, to a junction with the St. lye's and Cambridge line of the Great Eastern at Long Sutton, with 14 branch railways of 21 miles, to unite with ♦arious inter communicating lines in Lincolnshire. The main line will cross the rivers Don, Idle, Trent, Welland, and Nene, by viaducts and bridges. The preamble of the bill for the Clyde Navigation was passed, with the exception of that portion of it relating to the landing stages, Mr, Smithells, traffic and upwards; penalties and allowances. One mile and a half. 10 subs. Lord Bateman's Despair, 5 yrs, list 101 h (Foedhara) 1 Mr Barber's The Clown, 3 yrs, 97t 10113 .. (J. Suowdeu) 2 Mr Sauniiere'e Belle of the Bali, 4 yes, 10st Gib (S. Rogers) 3 Betting— 7 to 4 on The Clown, 2 to 1 agst Despair. The two favourites took up the running from Belle of the Bail, after going a few hundred yards, and the pair, keeping close company throughout, finished a capital race, which was wcn by Despair by a short head ; a bad third, The Tradesmen's Plate of 200 tows, added to a Bandicap Sweepstakes of 25 sovs each, 15 ft, and 5 if declared, for three yr-olds and upwards ; winners extra. Cup Course, about two miles and a quarter. 151 subs, 77 of whom declared. Mr Hughes's Flash-in-the-Pan, aged, fist Cr (Morris) 1 Mr J. Osborne's Little Stag, 3 yrs, Est (Carroll) 2 Marquis of Hastings's Tippler, 4 yrs, Tet oib (H. Grimshaw) 3 Duke of Beaufort's Lord Zetland, 3 yrs, fist 12Ib (in 51 Clarkb) (F. ) 4 The following also ran :—Oldminster, Knutsford, Change, Canary, Earl of Surrey, My Mary, Accident, Lancashire, Muezzin, Bacchus, Gordian Knot, Tooi Tool, Rose, Hersey filly, Greenland, and Vacuna colt. Betting-4 to 1 agst :Accident, 100 to 15 agst Hersey filly, 100 to 12 agst Little Stag, 9 to 1 agst Change, 10 to 1 agst Gordian Knot, 12 to 1 agst Canary, 15 to 1 agst Lord Zetland, 20 to 1 each agst Bacchus, Muezzin, and Oldinin ster, 30 to 1 each agst Tippler and Flash-in-the-Pan, 100 to 3 agst Tooi Tooi, 40 to 1 agst Earl of Surrey, 50 to 1 each agst My Mary and Vacuna colt, 1000 to 15 agst Knutsford and East Lancashire. Before the time for starting had arrived the front rank broke away ; Flash-in-the-Pan, Greenland, Gordian Knot, and the Vacuna colt ran to the half-mile post, Accident and Muezzin being pulled up at the workhouse turn, whilst Tippler and several others ran to the enclosure. At five minutes to four o'clock they were capitally started, and upon passing the stand Bacchus, Accident, and My Mary were iu front ; at the head of the second division were Gordian `not, Hersey filly, Change, Little Stag, and Rose, next to whom were Muezzin and Earl of Surrey, the last lot being Flash in-the-Pan, Canary, Oldminster, and East Lancashire, After rounding the top turn Gordian Knot pulled his way to the front and took a slight lead of Bacchus, Little Stag going on third, Hersey filly fourth, with Accident at her side. These were followed by Rose, Change, and Earl of Surrey, Tippler being at the head of tha next division, and My Mary, who had dropped from the front, formed one of the rear lot. Passing the stand the second time, Gordian Knot held a slight lead, Bacchus going on second, Little Stag third ; Hersey filly, Earl of Surrey, Change, Accident, Rose, the Vacuna colt, and Tippler following in a body. After rounding the far turn towards the Dee side, the Hersey filly dropped away beaten, and Bacchus took a slight lead of Gordian Knot, Little Stag being third, and Flash-in the-Pan (who had gradually overhauled his horses) occupied fourth place at the half-mile post, where Tippler and Lord Zetland were well up. At the Grosvenor turn Flash-in-the Pan rushed to the front, came completely away from his opponents in the succeeding couple of hundred yards, and won one ef the hollowest races ever witnessed by ten lengths; four lengths between second and third, and a neck between third and fourth; East Lancashire was fifth, Accident sixth, Bacchus seventh, and Gordian Knot eighth. The last lot were Oldrainster, Change, Muezzin, and My Mary. Knutsford broke down, and walked in. A Handicap Plate of 40 says, for all ages ; winners extra Half a mile. 11 subs. Mr Crook's Airedale, 4 yrs, Gst 101 b (Loates) 1 Lord Uxbridge's Erythia, 4 yrs, 7st G1b.... cr. F 3 rench) 2 Lord Bateman's Gip s y Girl, 4 yrs, Bst 2tb.... (Fordham) The following, also ran —Dualla, David, Menotti, Lady Knight, and Rejection. Betting-5 to 2 each agst Erythia and Airedale, 4to 1 agst Gipsy Girl, g to 1 agst Dualla. Won by a neck; a length between second and third. The Members' Plate of GO sovs, added to a Sweepstakes of 5 sews each —weight for age—winners extra—allowances. Three quarters of a mile. 5 subs. Captain_ Chrietie's Lady Ciiideu, 6 yrs (Fordhane) 1 Mr Clark's Garotter, 3 yrs (T. French) 2 Mr Archer's Viudicta, 4 yrs (Danielle) 3 Betting- 5 to lon Lady Cinder)._ Won by four lengths—the same between the second and hird. BETTING AT MIDNIGHT. THE DERBY. sto 1 agst General Peel (taken) 7to 1 agat Scottish Chief (taken) 10 to 1 agat Cambuscan (taken) 100 to 7 agst Paris (taken) l 5 to 1 agst Coastguard (taken) 16 to 1 agst Prince Arthur (taken) 20 to 1 agst Blair Athol (taken) 20 to 1 agst Baragah (taken) 40 to 1 agst Copenhagen (taken) 1000 to 1.5 agst The Major (taken) SCRA:ITILINGS.—Ob the 4th inst., at 5 p.m., La Toucques out of the Stewards' Cup, and Hynaettus out of the Dee Stakes, at the Chester Meeting. SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS, TIMES.—The members of the Conference upon the effairs of Denmark assembled at the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury yesterday, but very little progress was made towards the solution of the question upon which they had met to delibe rate. Not even the preliminary difficulty of an armistice wes adjusted. The representatives of the belligerent Powers accepted the proposals of the neu tral Powers only that they might be transmitted to their respective Governments, and the Conference then adjourned till Monday next, by which time it is hoped that the Courts o'f Vienna and Berlin will have provided their representatives with sufficient in structions. In the meantime it must be remembered that a practical suspension of hostilities obtains, though no formal armistice has been concluded. It is hard to wait for the completion of formali ties which should have been foreseen from the first, but time, if it does not bring us nearer to the goal of our wishes, give us better opportunities of esti mating the motives of those who are engaged, with more or less bad faith,in playing out the melancholy interlude of the fall of Denmark. Never was such information more needed. Never did the cenduct of kings and emperors appear more incomprehen sible to the eye of ordinary intelligence. Never was there so much need of some explanation of the hidden springs by which they are put in motion. There is not a single power that appears at first sight to be acting according to its real interest or traditionary principles. Take Austria, for ex ample. Austria had eotablished a considerable re putation in Europe for fideoty to her engage. meats. Tenacious of what she possessed, but as respects other nations unenterprising and un aggressive, she was regarded as the balance wheel of the European State machine, as a rower that cculd always be counted on by those who limited their ambition to the maintenance of the European status quo. Her differences with the discordant nationalities composing her Empire have descended to her through centuries of turmoil and coeilet ; and her finances are in a state of confusion and embarrassment which might damp the hopes end paralyse the energies of the most enterprising and aggressive Government in the world. It is under these circumstances that Austria embarks in a war from which it is impossible she should reap any direst 'advantage whatever, She joins in the attack on a Power trona whose eumfiest she coold singly gain no honour ; but whose conquest when shirel with another great military mouarchy, be comes something little short cf ignominious. And what are her objects ? A wish to conciliate the smaller German States, in which, so far as we can see, she has not in the least suc;ceefic4 i a jealousy of Prussian in fluence, and a deterininatioa net h allow her rival to monopolize the laurels which are to be gained by the overthrow of an enemy scanty in numbers, poorly armed, ill sheltered, overtasked, and possessing only an old-fashioned artillery as little e.1,-let2 contend against the modern improve ments which tisa p,;iderty of 4_,ennitteac. fe;Ler;ie her to adopt as the catapults and balistas of the ancients. Even now we learn, from a source in which we place considerable reliance, that Austria does not view the glories, such as they are, of the storm of Dyb leel with absolute equanimity, and that she is an xious befete e.n erreietip ip concluded, to revive the memory of her exploits of Februaiy by some new feats of arms at the expense of a puny adver sary, which seems made for the purpose of giving great Powers the opportunity of winning litt le victories at small risk. We hope that the Lance will be wise encugh not to afford Aus tria the opporit'inity 6 -ratiffoi; this de plorable ambition. She has shed blood enough, and has now more glory to win by fairly encoun tering her creditors than her enemies. The case of Prussia is much simpler, though not more credit al,le. The monarchy, undtr the guidance of a Mini ster ebsolateV reeelEoil e onie, l - 4ee„ee v had ad vanced to the very verge if destruction. The Go yen:talent had deliberately violated the Constitution in its most important point—the power of the As sembly over the public pose. Successive dissolu tions mil/ chovea,eech more clearly than the other, the resolution of the'Pkifflanot to submit tamely to this usurpation. Things htd come to the lest ex• teemity when fortune flung in the way of a despair ing Government a means of safety which they littls lcoed for. The extraordinary agitation of theGerdina mind no the aubjeet of the To, aellioa, the desire to deprive Denmark of her continental pos sessions and to vest them in some German Prince, the opportune death of the li."ing of Denmark, and the opportunity which )ter obstinacy gave of concealing the projects of Prussian ambition under the mask of zeal 'for :e•ecieral rights, earne just in time to save Prussia from internal revolution by what we should have called,were it not of ever-recur ring use and invariable success, the stale and Num out device of a foreign war. The people of Prussia rolled headlong into the mare, They forgot their liberties. They forgave their wrongs. They sub- very banks of that Mississippi which is thus again I m itted themselves with the docility of children to practically commanded by the Confederates. A the guidance of a Minister wtorn a little while ago chain is no stronger than its weakest link, and the they were almost ready to tear in pieces. They suf- Mississippi is lost to the Federals through the loss fered themselves to be amused by the poor device of of a siugle paint on its shores. it is, berwever, right setting up a Pretender, to be dropped when he had to point out that the capture of Fort PLllow merely answered his purpose for the mightier Pretender wrests an important and well-chosen position for a whose macceuvres he had served for a while to con- fortress from the North. The Mississippi has never coal. There is now little doubt about it, and the really been open to navigation for commerce since truth may as well be spoken out at once. Prussia the war commenced. The capture of Vicksburg re seizsd the Duchies on behalf and in the name of move d the great impediment to the transit of gun the German Confederation. But it is not on behalf boats, but left the river just as dangerous to corn ed' the German Confederation that she intends to merce as before. Nothing was easier than for fly hold them. She condescended for awhile to amuse iog artillery to destroy any merchant vessels that herself and Europe with the Duke of Augustenburg. might venture up or down its waters. In Tennes- But it is not for the sake of the Duke of Augusten- see, too, the Confederates are eecovering territory burg that she has expended her troops or burdened from the invaders. And all this is in the West and her finances. She is fighting for her own hand. South, where it was given out that the Federals She is anxious to offer Schleswig-Holstein and per- were undisputed masters of the situation ; yet it Is haps Jutland to her own Assembly in exchange for in this quarter that they have Bettered some of the the trampled down and effaced liberties of the most serious of their reverses. And this is the third country. There is no doubt that the offer will be year of the war, with gold ranging from 69 to 71 received in a spirit of becoming humility and premium,with a d e bt w hi c h, if exactly ascertained, thankfulness, and that Prussia will have nothing to is perhaps three or four hundred millions sterling, deny to a Minister who can by any means give and with a gross expenditure of something lustre to her arms or extension to her territories. like a hundred and fifty millio us sterling a year. Cherishing these intentions, we must not be sur- But, as if all this were not enough, we are told prised to find Prussia unwilling to enter into that the Federals will not be satisfied until they any engagement which might snatch from her have brought a war with Fra ace on their hands. the prey she believes to be already within her "No substantial gains have b sen made since the grasp, and force her to take account of those pro- occupation of New Orleans, and there is no prospect fessions with which she entered on the war, and of any gains. There is no further hope of plunder which she has successively discarded as occasion within the Federal lines, or within the waste border offered. She is firmly persuaded that for the mo- lands between the opposing armies, for the country ment she has nothing to fear, and in this faith she has been plundered, sacked, and devastated until pushes on her successes with merciless rigour, levies nothing remains but the land,and that is fast relaps ruinous war contributions on the poor and inoffen- ing into the savagery and solitude of primeval sive population of Jutland, bombards towns with- nature." An example this, by the way, of the sort out notice, and exercises, in the plenitude of her of Paradise to be sought for in those parts of the insolence, to the most extravagant limit, every pri- South where the "Union is restored." So "colonels, vilege which modern civilization has left to belle- lieutenant-colonels, majors, captains, and lieutee gerents. In the meanwhile France makes no sign. nants," down to the rank and file, appear to be So far from going to war for an idea, she will not yearning " for new fields of conquest and plunder." unsheathe her sword for a reality. That same To this end they are "enrolling in the organisation France which in 1859 went to war to protect Italy known as the defenders of the Monroe doctrine," of from a servitude to foreign nations under which which Colonel De Borden, of the Mexican (Juarez) she had groaned for three hundred and fifty years army, is president, and General A. J. Hamilton, the has neither sword nor sympathy to spare for an old Federal military Governor of Texas, is the vice and faithful ally, destroyed, dismembered, and ob- president. Every officer in Banks's command is literated from among the nations unwept and with- said to be a member of this society, and the general out a crime. The case is the stronger since in himself is its grand patron. It is a secret organise behalf of Denmark there was no occasion for France tion, with a ritual, grips, signs, and pass-words. It to do more than notify her will. In the present makes no concealment of its aim—the expulsion of state of European affairs, and with the known die- the French from Illexico." Mr. Hahn, the "free 'positions of England and Russia,France had nothing State Governor of Louisiana," openly advocates to do but to express a wish, and it would be obeyed ; this project in his journal, the Delta, declaring that a single word would rescue an ancient and honour- it is a "necessity of self-preservation." This, how able nation from destruction, and that word will not ever, was prior to Banks's late crushing disaster. be spoken. We hear much of the pacific dispositions Generals Taylor, Magruder, and Kirby Smith will of the French Legislative Assembly, of the desire of probably give quite enough occupation to the the nation for peace, of the unwillingness of the Federals without another war, in which they would Emperor to nip the rising prosperity of France . in be brought face to face with the veterans of Solferino the blossom,—excellent arguments, if it were an- and Magenta, and have their monitors smashed by possible to save Denmark without war, or if per- the Gloire. mitting Prussia with the assistance of Austria to possess herself of the Cimbric Peninsula held oat any hope of maintaining peace. No one knows , better than the Emperor of the French that this is not so. The opinion of Europe, which now finds expression in words, will one day make itself felt in deeds, and Prussia will dearly rue the outrage on public opinion which she now, with so much arro gance, commits. She is sowing, but another will reap. It may devolve on the very Sovereign who now looks on with so much complacency at this great public crime to constitute himself the execu tioner of the indignation of Europe, and redress by ' a ruinous war a spoliation which, but for his unac countable forbearance, could not possibly have been accomplished. POST.—Not the least of the eircamslances which tend to redress the balance of inequality in the Ame rican war, and compensate the South for their great inferiority of numbers, is the superiority they enjoy , over the North in a knowledge of the enemy's move ments. This circumstance comes out prominently in the letter from New Orleans which we printed on Tuesday. Into the cause of this superiority it is not relevant to inquire, further than to remark that the defenders of a fortress who have shut them selves up in it are better able to see the movements of the besiegers than these are to penetrate the plans of the garrison. Of course, if in addition to this the Confederates have faithful friends within the Northern lines who keep them, as the phrase is, well "posted up" in the schemes and operations of the Federals—who are destitute of any similar ad vantage—it is only another exemplification of how little Union sentiment" there is in the South, and how much "disloyalty" there is in the North. Our correspondent's letter is dated about the time of the Federal defeat at Pleasant Hill, which doee not appear, from what he says, to have been known at New Orleans. What was Known there, however, except, perhaps, to the Federals, was that the Confederates were eagerly waiting in the full confidence end with ample preparations made, of which General Banks must have been in total ignorance, for inflicting upon the North that over whelming defeat which they are now known to have sustained. We remarked before that, al though the battle was evidently won by a masterly generalship, still the Confederates might have had a much stronger force in the neighbourhood than what they actually employed to crush and anni hilate the head of the Federal advance, tut kept their real numbers concealed for obvious pruden• tial reasons. It now appears tlat this was actually so. The Confederates, we are tuld, were in a position to concentrate sixty thousand men upon any point they chose , and place them in line to oppose the Federals in their attempt to penetrate the country. The Confederates looked upon the defeat of Banks as a certainty. If he would only advance and give them battle upon the field they had previously determined, says our correspondent, the Confederates had no doubt of being able to in flict a disastrous defeat upon him. To that end they were determined to force him to a pitched battle. Now this, which it was foretold in the South would happen, is just what we are told from Northern sources actually did happen. The Fede rals advanced to Pleasant Hill (which they will not henceforth call by that name), the Confederates falling back before them, skirmishing as they did so, for about half a dozen miles. Suddenly they turned upon their pursuers, who, without notice or expectation, all at once found themselves attacked by superior forces, before which, after a desperate struggle, they were driven back with an admitted loss of two thousand men, and their artillery and their train, and were only saved from being all cut to pieces or taken prisoners by the timely arrival of a strong army corps. to their aid. Now it Lust be remembered that Louisiana is the only State in which the Federals claimed to have restored the Union. They have treated this State as having been reclaimed from secession and reconvered to the North. Yet it appears that peit of New Orleans, which is really Lela by the Federal navy, there is not an acre of ground they can properly call their own. In this reconquered State, where the reor ganisation of society, of slavery, of the Union leas been going on for two years under siTh ta.lepts as Butler and Banks, there iv = ee,;, sixty thousand Confedeeate tseonir eioee to Banks's headquarters, a force of which the Federals knew nothing; a force which, however, can be concentrated on a single point at a short notice, and which has just fur nished evidence of its presence and efficiency, as well as of the enterprise and ability of its leaders, by inflicting a terrible defeat upon the North by generalship alone. Another instance of the übiquity of the Confederate forces in this :;tats and the facility ef their receiereenta is the following : Banks having advanced 30 miles from Alexandria, leaving a garrison there, and the river having fallen to such an extent that the gunboats had to drop down 20 miles below that town, it immediately be gan to be threatened by Confederate Dien, Taylor, wl;o hc.4 got into in'arel,e'a rear. The streets were hArricaded, but the garrison feared capture, not being able to fall back upon the gunboats." Such is the condition of things in the very heart of Gen. Banks's command. Of coarse it may be pleaded on behalf of Banks that he had no means of knowing the strength or poedti,on of the ILouthern armies; that he is in an enemy's country where nobody will give him a word of information about the move ments or plans of his foe, while everybody is ready to tell all they know about him to the Confederates. But this is precisely the reason why ha ought to have exercised more caution and toemer.t In his advance. It is tt wet and oeereeeie each difficulties as these, and provide against surprises, that a general is placed at the head of an army. But for this the troops might just as well be left to themselves, to advance or retreat, to fight or not, as might seem good to them. Still Banks ie a gf-;w . ..41 yalte up to tie ay,s,eage [nom - lard of tee best Northern comman ders. All of them have been Napoleons, Alexanders, and Hannibals, until their first battle, and then the one talent, wherewith they all showed themselves pre-eminently endowed, wen Vette of making ranid and 27,4 n a4aiegie movements to the rear'. Banks h'as shown himself no worse a general than Sherman, or M'Clellan and his half-dozen rivals, who emulated him at first in pre mature fame, and ultimately in the celerity with which they moved strategioatly to the eear directly after aeniieie out noon tile march which was only to terminate at Richmond. Banks arid Sherman have been beaten in the South and West, just as the Popes and Hookers, the INl'Dowells and Burnsides have been beaten in Virginia. Marylaed, Penn sylvania, Washeuten itself have been threatened, and are threatened even now, with occupation by General Lee's army. It is not in Virginia that the Federals believed themselves strongest. Yet, in the West, which they did think was their:strongeat posi tion, from the advantage they possess in their gun hoots, thoy hue suffered a serious reverse on the THE SUN, LOMJON, THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 5, 1864. COUNTRY MARKETS. ..,1 , .. --..... LYNN—TtEBDAY. At to•day's market there was a very moderate show of wheat, and last week's prices were realised. White wheat 42s to 44s / Barley. 32s to 3Ge 40s to 41s I Grinding ..27s to 30s Beans .32s to 34s I Oats.. Small HULL-TUrSDAY. At to•day's market there was a fair average supply of English, wheat, which sold at is over last week's rates. Foreign met a slow inquiry, at late prices. Malting bar arley was inquired for. Grinding barley slow to sell, and sold at former rates. Beans 6d per qr dearer. Peas were neglected. Oats held for last week's advance, which pie vented business. \Nice Old white.,.. per qr. ~ .. 42s 01 to 44s Od Old red New white .. „ New red ..„ „ Barley... ,English malting 27s Od to 34s 01 Grinding . Saal and Od.arbruck . 328 Od to 33s Od Holstein and Danish 3os 01 to 31s Od Grinding Oats English, old 22s Od to 24s Od Archangel and Riga per st oBl2ld to 13d Friesland and Dutch ' oBl3d to oal3ld Swedish and Danish 051214 to osl3l Beans ....English, old, per qr 4os 01 to 43s 01 New pigeon 42s Od to 41s Cd New tic . Egyptian 3os Od to 33s Gd Peas ..Foreign boilers 33s Od to 34s 6d Grinding Tares ....Spring . Indian Corn Linseed, feeding crushing . 4os Od to 52s Od Linseed cakes (Hull) Foreign: Bl5 oto 9 0 0 Rape cakes 5lO oto 0 0 0 Bones 5 5 oto 510 0 DUBLE\T—TITESDAY. Irish wheat and barley unaltered. A slow trade, and the prices of last week were made. e. d. s. d. Wheat, white.. 24 0 to 26 6 Do., red .. 21 6 to 24 0 Do., new .... 0 to 0 Barley Oats Do., black — 0 to 0 r,9. s. d. Oatmeal lO 0 to 13 0 Beans.. Bere . — 0 to 0 Rapeseed Bakers' flour l4 0 to 20 0 Indian corn COAL M. Prices of Coal per Ton al LItKET. the olose of the market- a. d. North Pelton Gas 12 9 Eden Main 16 9 Wylam lB 0 a. d. Walls End. Hatton IS 0 Caradoc l7 6 Hartlepool ..18 0 Stawart's 17 6 Ships at marker Walls Pad. -- Haugh Hall l7 6 East Hartlepool 18 0 South Kelloe 17 6 Haswell ...18 3 Braddyll's Hett0n.....17 3 'Funstall 1 Gosforth l6 0 ' South Hetton IS 0 It, 61; sold. 39. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton. May 19. via Marseilles May 13. Areal' and Cape Yards, by British packet........ May 4. Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena.. May 22. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton. May 19. via Marseilles ...May . l3. Falkland Islands Gibraltar, via Southampton .. May -- India (Calcutta), and C e yl on, via Southampton May 19. via Marseilles May 13. India (Bombay), via Southampton May 12. via Marseilles May 6. Portugal Dlalta, Egypt, and Aden, v i a S out h ampton M ay 12. via Marseilles May 6 Newfoundland .. May IL Oporto and Vigo .. U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... May 5 . by U.S. packet.... by Canadian packet. May 10. W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Tanenlie May 10. Bahamas, via New York Mexico.. ....May .e.a. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, N , /4 California. and Briti s h C o l um bi a.. Y ' Persons in debt may obtain instant protection against imprisonment or seizure of their goods, and an entire release from all debts and liabilities without publicity, by application to Messrs. Marshall, solic!tors of the Court of Bankruptcy. Charges under £5 payable by easy instalments. Offices—. (established 1830), 12, Hatton-garden. City branch-8. Moor gate-street, Bank.—Anvr. LADVERTISEMENT.] - Holloway's Pills Vigorous Health.—All diseases affecting the nervous system arises from impurities of the blood or vitiated secretions, Hollo.. way's Pills are invaluable for removing all poisonous ele ments from the body, and are famed for curing indigestion. flatulency, and costiveness, es well as palpitation, pain in the side, and other •morbid feelings, The neuralgic pain ° attendant on the nervous clas s o f di seases soon yield to these purilying Pills ; the sensations of anxiety and alarm daily diminish under their use ; sound sleep supersedes nights of watching and calm repose displaces hideous dreams. Holloway's Pills are the best correctives of tainted broil' and disagreeable tastes in the mouth; they soon clean the furred tongue, augment the body, and invigorate both bog and mind. Births. ASPINALT, —On the 3d inst., at 27, Lowndes-street, 1 : grave-square, the wif e o f R o b ert A. Aspinall, Esq., 0' " daughter. BASER.—On the 3d inst., at Bury St. Edmund's, the of Captain Charles 0. Baker, Royal Marines Light 1 0 fantry, of a daughter. Conit.—On the 3d inst., at Clifton, York, the wife of W' IL Cobb, Esq., of a daughter. Marriages. BEA.LE—CHILD.—On the 3d inst., at All Saints', 11,Pet Norwood, Edward John Beale, Esq., of High H o lborn; and Teddingtou, to Susannah J ane, second daughter °I Thomas Child, Esq., of Ilfracombe. LINDSEY—LINDSEY.—On the 3d inst., at West 8r0n31 0 ,, x3 ; J. Mainwaring Lindsey, E sq., Dep,-Assis. Com.-Ge't to Annie Mary Harriette Lindsey, fourth daughter 0 , Captain Lindsey, 11.. N., of Milborne-grove,Westßron3P ton. Deaths. COOPER.—On the 2d inst., Mi ss M ary Ann Cooper, Of Waltham-lane, Waltham Abbey, Essex, aged 71. Cnoss.—On the 2d inst., at Bath, Lady Cross relict of tw i late Hon. Sir John Cr o ss, Chi ef Judge of ' the Court ° Review in Bankruptcy, aged S 2. PiabiLtm.—On the 31 inst., at his residence, 6,West terrace, Plymouth, Vice•Adtniral Richaru pridl l9 " aged 85. SliONE.—On the 3d inst., at lVoolwich, Lisa Marian, ° II child of Colonel Ackers Shone, It A. WAu.to:E,--On the 2d inst., suddenly, at Bath, Colo it. T. Wallace, late Madras Army. DO' WATT.—On the 3d i ns t., a t 63, Upp er B agot - s t ree t. va t lin, Lieut.-C o l one l Ed war d W a t t , l a t e of the 6th 13°°' Light Cavalry, aged 62. London: Pritaed and Prbilehed by WILLIAM ANDI;' 101 of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE Sure Office No' Strand, JD. the Precinct of the 3avoy t in the CPUR I I BilidlefiCX,7ThillldAY, May 5, 1801. l''