The Sun. — London, England, 1863-04-09 00:00:00

itraordinary Frauds—Scuttling of the Peruvian Barque Maria. (From the Shipping and Mercantile Gazette.) We have before us the full particulars of a series of extra ordinary frauds, connected with the alleged scuttling and abandoning of the Peruvian barque Maria, from Bahia for London. The case has excited considerable interest, not only in the City, but at Hamburg, Bremen, and Parie,where insurances bad been effected to a very large extent. The Maria was an American built barque of 355 tons. She was owned by her master, Captain Matthias Albers, a German, native of Osnaburg, who had been trading on the coast of Peru. He bought the Mariain Boston for 6,000 dls., and proceeded to Rio, where he obtained a classified certificate of her seaworthiness, then made one voyage from Bahia to Hamburg and back, when a well known firm, Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger, merchants of Bahia, and who had hitherto held a high position in that port_became the charterers of the ship for a voyage to London for £B6O. On Nov. 4 last the Maria took her departure for England. The charterers, Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger, advised several merchants in London, Paris, Bremen, and Hamburg, of the ship's de parture, consigning the cargo to them, representing it to consist, among other articles, of 3,222 bags of coffee and a large amount of diamonds. They forwarded the bills of lading, and stated that they, Messrs Souza and Reizenber , - ger, had taken the liberty of drawing bills upon them to a large amount. The merchants in question, on the receipt of the consignments, effected insurances on them, those in London on the various marine insurance companies to the extent of £16,000, while those at Paris, Bremen, and Ham burg did the same, the whole amount of insurances on the ship and cargo amounting to nearly £40,000. The consign ment of the diamonds, however, on the receipt of the bills of lading excited some surprise, inasmuch that the course pursued of sending them by a sailing vessel and a strange master, was irregular to the general practice, diamonds be ing always forwarded from the Brazils by the Royal Mail steamers. The merchants to whom the consignment was made refused to honour the drafts made upon them by Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger, but effected insurance on the diamonds in one of the offices for £3,500. About the 12th January a telegram reached that the Maria, from Bahia, had foundered at sea on Dec. 19, off the Azores, and the crew saved. Subsequent accounts stated that the cap tain and crew bad landed in two boats, on the 20th and 21st, at St. Michael's, where the protest of the ship's loss had been made before the Spanish Consul. It coming to the ears of the Royal Exchange Insurance Company, on whom the insurance of £3,500 had been effected on the diamonds, that the captain and the crew had saved the whole of their effects, instructed a gentlemen at Lloyd's to inquire about the diamonds, which were represented in the bills of lading to be contained in two small tin boxes. The crew had already left St Michael's, and considerable difficulty was experienced in tracing out their whereabouts ; however, eventually they were found, when it was elicited that the diamonds were lost, having, it was alleged,been dropped over board by the captain in getting into the boat when he aban doned the ship. The circumstances, however, were so remark. able that an inquiry was prosecuted into the abandonment of the ship, for about this time the underwriters had their suspicions awakened by other ugly features connected with the bills of lading in the possession of the four merchants in London, bearing the signatures of Capt. Albers, which set forth that there had been a greater amount of property shipped on board the Maria than they had reason to believe, for the Bahia Custom-house bill of entry of November gave the following as the cargo of the Maria for the voyage :-155 dozen pieces of rosewood, weighing 320 tons; 222 bags of coffee, weighing 121 tons ; 156 bags of cocoa, 11f tons ; 11,000 double bundles of piassava wood (for brush brooms), 126 tons, and ballast; and 10 bundles of whalebone, weigh ing 100 tons—making a total of 570 tons. But the other bills of lading previously alluded to represent the bags of coffee shipped on board was 3,222, instead of 222 bags ; two boxes of diamonds of the value of £3,900, some copper valued at £4OO, and other articles of considerable extent. For the ends of justice, the first proceedings taken were the depositions o: the Maria's crew before a notary public in the City. They are of so voluminous a character as to pre elude their publication in our columns, on account of their great length, but the subjoined will be found to contain the whole of the leading facts : The Maria's crew numbered 12 hands. The most of them are foreigners—some had been shipped at Hamburg, and others at Bahia. On the ship being taken up by Measrs,Sonza and Reizenberger, the charterers, for a voyage to London, they first took on board 100 tons of stone belles and then commenced shipping the 320 tons of rosewood, when the captain called the men aft, and told them that they might go on shore for two days,or longer if they chose, as he intended to employ negroes to load the ship— a course most unusual, unless some of the crew were left behind. Bach of the men received a sum of money from the cap tain that they might enjoy themselves. They did as they were told, and stopped two days and two nights on shore, when the captain came to them and told them to return to the ship, as she was loaded, and that the negroes had worked well. On getting on board they saw that the lower hold was filled up with the 'rosewood, and the 11,000 bundles of brush (brooms), the latter filling up the 'tween decks extending right forward to the mainmast. The 222 bags of coffee, with the 13 bundles of whalebone, were stowed aft, but they state psitively there was no copper. They knew the quantity of coffee shipped by having seen it alongside the ship in lighters, and saw the remainder of the cargo go to the vessel in lighters from the shore. The ship left on 4th Novem- ber, and the voyage proceeded favourably, having fine weather and smooth sea all the time. The vessel was pumped out every night, and did not make any more water than she did while in harbour. She was not over laden. When they had been out a short time the captain treated the men with liquor, and was frequently intoxicated. He offered the mate drink, but it was declined. The first thing that oocurred on board to attract their notice was the paint•• ing out of the ship's name on the stern, and also the re moval of the quarter-boards where the name was on. These were supposed to have been thrown overboard. The boats were also looked after once or twice, and supplied with masts and sails, two new sets of oars had been bought for them at Bahia. On the 18th of December, at 4 a.m., the s hip was pumped out dry, as usual, but on sounding the well at eight o'clock by the captain's orders, three feet of water was found in the hold. The weather was fine, there was very little wind, and there was nothing to account for the sudden leak. The pumps were set going, and were continued at intervals during the day. Land was then in sight, but a long way off. At six in the evening the men were told to knock off pumping and go to their teas. The ship was steering her course. The captain then told them to get their clothes ready, as the ship was making water fast. One of the crew named Runel had previously heard the mate say that the captain had offered him £5O to assist in making away with the ship. When the ship commenced to leak, some of the hands went forward to the forepeak to look for the leak, but could net find it. While the pumping was going on the captain went into the cabin and told the cabin -boy to assist in putting his best clothes into a bag, and he gave him some loose silver for his trouble. The boatswain dined with the captain in the cabin that day ; the boatswain got intoxicated. The same afternoon the cabin-boy saw a quantity of gold in the mate's bed, and he asked the mate if he knew he had left it there. The mate replied " Yes." He said the old man had given it to him, meaning the captain. The gold was large pieces—doubloons, The captain carried a large quantity of money in his chest, and the cabin-boy believes that when he assisted the captain to put his clothes into a bag he also put in the money. It was tied up in a shirt sleeve. The boy heard the captain tell the mate one day in the cabin that the cargo was insured in two places. Three or four hoars after the men had been pum ping on the 18th the captain told them it was no use of th e ir pump ing, and that they had ketter look after their clothes. The captain was drunk. The mate told the men to continue pumping. They understood then that the ship was not far off the Western Islands. They could only work one pump—the other one was useless. It had been out of order before leaving Bahia. On the morning of Dec. 19 the captain came on deck sober. After breakfast the long boat was got out, and water, provisions, and their clothes put in it. The mainsail had been hauled up, and the ship was then under thetwo tops a il s , maintopgallantsail, foresail , j ib, and foretopmaat st a y sa i l , terboat, the captain's clothes-ba g, es f ba re lowering down the g uar • chronometer, quadrant, barometer, and some chart s were in, and also the log book. After she was lowered from the davits the boatswain's z clothes, and some of the other , with the provi s ions, were banded down as she lay alongside. o'clock when this'occurred. The weather It was ab ou t 11 , and they bad no fear for the loss of their lives or thleiar4cilluoithes. The c aptain was dressed and wore an overcoat. gold watch in his waistcoat pocket and a gold cha e in h o a n i hnis told the men to take to the boats, which dropped a on , e astern, and waited orders. The captain then came to th e port quarter, where the quarterboat lay. He had a roll of w riting paper in his right hand, and in his left he held a small paper package. It was not a box of any kind. The pac kage was tied along lengthways, apparently with cotton twine, such as they had used for the repairing and making of the ship's sails; and the package had large red wax marks at each end of it. The captain then put his foot over the ship's side to get into the boat, and shifted the package and P oTel into one hand, and, as he was descending, both parcels f e ll overboard. The package sank immediately. The roll of payer was picked up the moment they fell into the water. The captain called all the men by name, and said, " You see I have lost that small package." The captain then aban- doned the vessel. They did not see the ship founder. W hen they left her some one said she had 10 feet of water in her hold, but none of them knew for certain. They lost sight of the ship about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. As long as they et , yuld see her she was up and off in the wind. At 8 o'clock the b oa ts were close together , bu t after that th ey parted oomvany. The mate's boat was picked up the next after noon Ley a vessel called the King of Tyrle, which conveyed them to St. Michael's, where they landed at 5 o'clock in the evening of the 21st. On the 23d the mate took his boat's crew to the Spanish Consul, where he made a protest of the Chip's loss, and they signed it. The mate described the cargo as about 3uo or 400 bags of coffee, rosewood, Bcc. Nothing :was said in it about the small package falling overboard. 'the other t oo l, containing the captain, boatswain, and rest of the Crew, reached the west end of the island of St. Mi- c bael's on the 23d, and on the following morning they em ba_•ke4d in a large fishing boat, which took them round to St. .'Sfinhaers, where they landed, taking with them the capt aL VO olOthes) chronometer, and the rest of his pro perty. The captain made also a protest before the consul. He said the mate's protest was not correct, for, instead of 300 or 400 bags of coffee, there were 3,000 or 4,6(.0. He als 3 declared that the packages that he let fall ovorLoard con tained diamonds. The consul asked the men if they had seen the package fall overboard. They replie ilhey did, but they did not know that it contained diamon s ; it was the first time they heard of diamonds being in tLe ship. The cabin-bey had seen the captain making up the paper pack age in the cabin, and sealing it with large patches of seal ing wax, but saw nothing else. The crew were sent to Lon don, where they reported themselves to the Peruvian Consul, Pending the examinationof the crew on the abandonment of the ship, the merchants and brokers in London who had effected insurances at Lloyd's and other marine insurance bodies in the City, on the consignment as per the Maria's bile of lading, pressed for a settlement of their respective claims. On hearing the suspicions attached to the ship• ments they submitted the whole of the correspondence that had transpired between them and Messrs. Souza and Reizen berger, the shippers at Bahia. Unfortunately they had ac cepted the whole of the drafts which that firna had drawn on them, amounting nearly to the extent of the insurances that had been effected, £36,000. With the bills of lading sent to them awl Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger, were several copies of the Bahia price cirrent —a printed paper evidently forwarded, as it were, to confirm the quantity of the Maria's cargo, as represented in the bills of lading, But on those copies of the price current undergoing a strict scrutiny, it was discovered that a figure of 3 had been printed, after the paper had been printed, before the 222 bags of coffee, in order to complete the fraud that there were 3,222 on board. The underwriters, on these discoveries, placed the whole affair into the hands of Lloyd's Selvage Association, for the strictest investigation, who at once despatched Captain Sceales, one of its officers, to Bahia. The officer, on his arrival there, put himself in communi cation with Mr. Morgan, her Britannic Majesty's Consul, who, it is understood, on account of the peculiar character of the fraud, the high position of the parties suspected at Bahia, and the difficulty of moving the Brazilian Govern ment in the matter, resorted to the expedient of publishing the affair in the Bahia newspapers, and on the 20th Feb. the Journal da Bahia contained the following : "THE BRITISH INSURANCE COMPANIES. "Mr. Editor,—lt has become my duty, in order to safe guard the interests of British underwriters, to request you will publish in your esteemed and accredited journal the documents herewith sent, Nos. to 16. "Document No. 1 is a certificate of this Custom-house, showing the quantity of cargo legally despatched and shipped for the Peruvian barque Maria, on the 3d Noy. last, on a voyage from this port to that of London. "No. 2is a copy of the manifest of said barque Maria, delivered by Messrs, Sousa, Reizenberger, and Co., to Messrs. Hoffmann, Laporte, and Co., agents for the Insur ance Company of Hamburg and Bremen. " By confronting these two manifests any one who knows the fiscal system of the country and the severity of its re gulations will at once perceive the object I have in view in coming to-day before the public. The Maria was lost off the Azores under very suspicious circumstances, under declare. tions made and sworn to by her crew on their arrival in London. In the manifest delivered by Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger to Messrs Hoffman and Laporte is shown the fabulous quantity of 4,722 bags of coffee shipped by them on board the Maria, and as mysteriously consigned by them to the following firms, on whom they also valued largely, namely :—To Messrs. Benoliel and Co., 400 bags; Messrs. Sieveking and Co., 3,222 bags; Messrs. D. Satow and Co., 1,100 bags—total, 4,722 bags. " On the other hand, the Custom -house manifest proves, without a doubt, that the quantity of coffee shipped on boa' d the Maria did not exceed 222 bags, and that quantity did not belong to Souza and Reizenberger. This manifest also shows that the Maria was a vessel of large carrying capa city, and had already on board a legal cargo of 686 tons. In Sept. last she discharged at this port a cargo of 526 tons of coals, and on the previous voyage from this port to Ham burg she only took 451 tons of cargo. But in the account and manifest of Souza and Reizenberger the barque Maria must have loaded 769 tons of native produce, not including 1,100 bags of coffee consigned to Messrs. D. Satow and Co., which they dexterously omitted from their manifest, but which would have increased the cargo of the Maria, loaded from this port, to 829 tons. Upon the cargo, thus said to have been embarked in the Maria by Souza and Reizenber ger, insurance was effected in the London companies to the value of £16,100; in Bremen, to a further amount of £3,000 —total insured, £19,100. " The documents No. 3 to 16 are the correspondence which took place between Souza and Reizenberger and Messrs. D. Satow and Co. respecting the 1,000 bags of coffee. These gentlemen, on the refusal of the British underwriters to pay , the amounts insured, that appeared to be little in confor mity to the capacity of the vessel, and the transaction of a suspicious character, hastened to furnish copies of this cor respondence, in, order that the underwriters might make the use they thought proper to protect their rights thus assailed. "I refrain from saying one word on the shipment of the diamonds, and will finish this exposition of undeniable facts by asking the commercial public of this city to value and take notice of them as they deserve ; and the Government of the country to weigh those circumstances as the morality and rectitude of the case demands. " JOHN MORGAN, Jun., H.B.M. Consul. "British Consulate, Bahia, Feb. 19, 1863." The next number of the same journal contained an answer from Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger, declaring that they were innocent of the allegations, and threatened the consul with law proceedings for defamation of character ; that the cargo specified was actually on board the Maria, it having been smuggled on board to avoid the high export duty, 13 per cent. On the 22d the consul published a rejoinder to their ex , planations, as follows : " Mr. Editor,—The protest which Messrs. Souza and Rei zenberger publish in your journal of this day, against the publication of the documents which I presented to pub!ic ap preciation, may signify a desire to attenuate the impression which they necessarily produced in public opinion, but that protest never can'intend to be a compromise, nor the means whereby to destroy proved and inexcusable facts. Messrs. Sonz s and Reizenberger ought not to consider themselves taken by surprise by that publication, for they well knew with antecedency that it was to take place. The British Consul does not undertake to contend with any one. Bound by his position, he did his duty. His exclusive aim was to protect the rights and interests of the British insurance companies. " It now remains for the honest commercial body of Bahia to wait and see how Messrs. S. and R. will nullify the value of the documents published—documents furnished by the Custom-house and other departments, and also by their own correspondence. And truly it is difficult to annihilate the fact of bills being drawn for value of imaginary coffees, said to be shipped by the Peruvian barque Maria. " When Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger shall have ful filled their compromise, the public will then be able to judge whether the British Consul took upon himself the sad and painful pleasure of wounding the „character of a fellow creature. or whether he performed a duty by exposing the truth. " J. MORGAN, jun., H.B.M. Consul. "British Consulate, Bahia, Feb. 21, 1863." On the morning of the 23d it transpired that Mr. Reizen berger had absconded. Although under the surveillance of the Bahia police, he contrived during the night to avoid their vigilance, and got on boat(' of a United States whaler then in the bay, which sailed immediately after for New York. Previous to Reizenberger absconding the consul had insti gated the Customs authorities to prosecute, as the following correspondence will show : " British Consulate, Bahia, Feb. 20, 1863. " Illustrious and Excellent Sir,—From the enclosed ex position, which I considered it my duty to publish in the Journal of Bahia of this day, your Excellency will perceive certain facts, not only scandalous in themselves, but also very suspicious, prejudicial to British underwriters. With the view of clearing up these matters, I beg on the present occasion to request your Excellency will be so good as to give me your opinion thereon, as well as to acquaint me what is the action the fiscal authorities intend to take in the matter. " I avail myself, &c., &c., " J. MoaGAN, Jun., H.B.M. Consul. " Joaquim T. Carneiro de Campos, Inspector of Customs, &c." To this the inspector replied as forows : "Custom House, Bahia, Feb. 26, 1863. good was possible enou g h f t o o r m a d e d r t o e ss reply m e to your letter which 37" on the 20th inst., accompanied by a Journal of Bahia, No. si r ,—lt is only now thwaetreit of the Peruvian barque , 2,878, w h ere, among st other documents publishe d b y y ou relating to the i nsur ance of the cargo Maria, e ff ected by Souza, and Co., in Lo ndon, another man if es t o f that vessel, of the cargo said and Co., had to be lo a d e d by the said Souza, Reizenberger, appeared, and h a d been presented to Hoffman, Laporte, and Co., agents for the Hamburg and Bremen Insurance Com pany, duly authenticated for the purposes of insurance. I certainly saw with surprise that this second manifest showed a larger cargo than that which was embarked and carried away in that vessel, of which the master and owner was M. J. Albers, and consignees Souza and Reizenberger. I immediately thereon solicited of Hoffmann Laporte at authenticated copy of that manifest, which being furnished to me 1 ordered a calculation to be made, at sight, of the true manifest, and of the legal despatches of the cargo existing in this department, all signed and approved by the aforesaid Captain Albers, of the amount of duties thus illegally subtracted, due on the cargo said to be embarked on board that vessel, which amounts to rs. 6,176,960. Consequently, as this department can only act administra tively, as it was not a case zn flagrante, I sent all the docu ments to the Public Prosecutor, with all the necessary information of the facts, as well as the confession of the parties to the fraud, in order that he (the Public Prosecutor) might in court prosecute them criminally, giving an account thereof to the Treasury, being the superior department. "I can also assure you that in all the hypotheses treated of, my opinion can never be favourable to those who neglect the paths of justice and honesty to promote their own nefa rious ends. "The Inspector, J. T. DE CAMPOS. "To H.B.M. Consul in thisCity,&c." While the above proceedings were pending at Bahia, Captain Albers, who, it appears had been stopping at Lis bon and Cardiff, presented himself at his agents in London for the amount of insurance, £407, which had been effected, in his name on certain bags of copper in the Maria's bill of lading, and a further sum of £B6O which had been done on the freight. He expressed great surprise on finding his claim disputed, and demanded an explanation. He was in troduced to Mr. Harper, the secretary of Lloyd's Salvage Association, and accounted for the discrepancies in the bills of lading and the Bahia price current, by pertinaciously declaring that the bulk of the cargo had been smuggled on board to save the export duty. On being informed that this could not be, that the crew had declared there was no copper whatever on board, he answered that they were telling a falsehood, and accounted for the abandonment of the ship by stating that they had had bad weather. When asked to produce hie logbook he said it had been lost in the ship, but when pressed on this point he prevaricated, and at length admitted he had got iF, or some of the leaves. He then left in order to produce the leaves of the log, but it is needless to say he did not return. His manoeuvres, however, were closely watched by detective officers, and measures were taken for prosecuting him for attempted fraud, at the Man sion -house, but as the C( urt ruled that no offence had been committed against the English laws, no proceedings were taken. Captain Albers, however, soon quitted London for Hamburg, where £1,700 of the coffee had been insured in his name, and there waited on the underwriters for his claim, who immediately handed him into the custody of the authorities of Hamburg on the twofold charge of wilfully scuttling his ship, and fraud. The crew of the Maria, who were in London, were telegraphed for, and they have since arrived ; and upon their evidence, and the false bills of lading, Captain Albers was fully committed for trial. In Captain Albers's possession, when apprehended, was found a memorandum, or form of letter, carefully drawn up, in order to assist him in imposing upon the credulity of the underwriters at Hamburg. We had prepared an extract to append to these details, but to-day wo were put in posses ion of a letter addressed to Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger, from Captain Albers, at Antwerp, which appears to have been intercepted by the authorities at Bahia. It is an exact copy of the form alluded to, and runs as follows : "Antwerp, Feb. 5. " Dear Sir,—ln due time, in the month of October, as is known to you, I lett Bahia with my vessel, the Maria, with a cargo of coffee, for London, the port of my destination. Unfortunately I have lost my vessel, she having sunk, without my being able to save any papers, documents, or effects—anything but my bare life. I had on board of the vessel, for my own account, 1,700 bags of coffee, which were declared before you, and subsequently registered in your archives. The value of the same I caused to be insured in Hamburgh through Mr. Augustus Bolton. Now, as I was also unfortunate enough not to save any of the documents either out of the vessel, the underwriters, by reason of the same, refuse to account to me for the value, I therefore now wish to humbly beg you to be good enough to issue a Peruvian consular attestation, setting forth that I declared before you what is registered in your archives, namely that I had, besides the cargo belonging to others, shipped and included the said 1,700 bags of coffee on my own account. This extract, in order to be valid in Hamburg, must be lega lised by the Hamburg consul. Solely upon this will the underwriters pay. I therefore beg you to promptly send the same, with the note of your expenses, which I will will ingly reimburse you in, to —, shipbrokers, Hamburg. I am at present in Antwerp.—Thanking you in anticipation, your servant greets you, " M. ALBERS. "Mr. Eustides Jno. de Souza, Peruvian Consul, Bahia." From our letters respecting the firm of Souza and Reizen berger, dated Bahia, March 14, it appears that the misery they have produced in that city by their fraudulent act was b3yond description. Reizenberger, before he absconded, cleared out of a social chest some 20,000 dols. in paper, NI hich he exchanged in Pernambuco for gold. He also received £3,500 in gold from a house, value of coffee shipped in the Trifolium, which he had not paid for, saddling a poor merchant in Bahia with the amount, who is ruined in con sequence. Reizenberger's partner Souza has been arrested by the Government, and is to be prosecuted for fraud. He declared he was ruined by Reizenberger, who had destroyed the leaves of the firm's books, and he had no means of jus tifying himself. He was refused bail. Blame is attached to the authorities for allowing the principal criminal to escape. Serious Charge against a Baptist Minister. Yesterday the Rev. T.Wicherley, a Baptist minister, who had been brought up from Whitchurch, in Shropshire, on a warrant, was placed at the bar of the Lambeth Police court, before Mr. Elliott, on a charge of feloniously receiv ing eight shirts and other articles, of the value of £5O, the property of Mrs. S. Lovy, a widow lady, residing at No. 7, Stockwell •place, Stock well, Surrey. The first witness called was Mrs. Sophia Levy, the pro secutrix, who said that for four years, and up to the 21st of February last, a young woman, named Mary Ann New ton had been in her service, and up to that time and for some weeks after she had placed the most implicit confi dence in her honesty. A few days before the time she mentioned Newton represented that she had received in telligence from the country that her mother was in a dan- gerous, in fact in a dying state, and asked permission to go to see her. This permission she granted, and Newton wished to start at five o'clock in the morning, saying that her uncle was going to accompany her, but witness objected to her going at such a time and before she was up. The young woman, however, persisted in starting at the for• mer time, repeating that her uncle was going with her, and witness consented. Newton accordingly left her resi dence at five o'clock on the morning of the 21st of Feb ruary, and she did not afterwards return, nor did she (witness) hear from nor see her again until the 18th of March, when she was standing at the bar of this court, on her own confession of having robbed her to a con siderable extent. On the 14th of March she (witness) missed from a drawer in her bed-room two £lO and six £5 Bank of England notes and articles of jewellery, amount ing in value to £7O or al), and the drawer in which this property was kept was always locked, and the key always kept in her own (witness's) possession. On the day she saw the young woman Newton at this court the prisoner called on her and said it had been his intention to have given Newton into custody, but she had given herself up. Mr. Elliott—.-A constable called on you the same day to say that Newton had given herself up ; which, called first, the prisoner or the officer ? Witness —The prisoner, sir. Had the prisoner called on you before that day P—Yes, sir, on the Monday before, when he said Newton was a great liar; and I then charged him with being concerned with her in robbing me. What was your reason for thinking so ?—Because at that time I had ascertained that he constantly came t o my house without my knowledge, and that he used often to be in my kitchen enjoying himself and drinking my wine—(laughter) —my port and sherry. (Renewed laughter.) Did the prisoner at that time say anything about receiv ing anything from the young woman Newton?—Yes, he said he changed one note he received from Newton in the Borough, but refused to say where or whether it was a £5 or £lO note. Did this latter conversation take place on the Monday or Wednesday ?—I now recollect it was on the Wednesday, for when he told me about changing the note, I said I thought it was time for me to send for a constable, and he at once left ray house, and I have not seen him from that time to the present. Had the prisoner been in the habit of visiting your house, with your knowledge, before the time you have spoken of P—l recollect his doing so once, when my servant told me that it was usual for persons attending the Baptist place of worship to ask the minister to come to pray, and as she was a constant attendant at the chapel of the prisoner at Clapham-rise she asked me if she might ask prisoner to my house, as he prayed beautifully. (Laughter.) At the time I had no suspicion that there was anything wrong, and therefore did not object to his coming. He accordingly came and prayed in my drawing-room. I was not aware, as I said before, of his constantly visiting my house with. out my knowledge, and my slippers being ready for him when he came there. In conclusion, the witness said that from the examination of the prisoner Newton at this court, and information given by her to the officer, she (witness) examined a certain drawer she named, and there found duplicates for part of her property pledged, and a bunch of keys she had never before seen, which opened every lock in the house. Since that•time Bhv had missed several shirts belonging to her late husband, and the one produced she had seen in a box belonging to the prisoner, at his late lodging, on Monday last. Serjeant O'Dell, 18 L, said that on Wednesday, the 18th of last month, he was on duty at the station-house in Kennington-lane, adjoining the court, at about eleven o'clock, when the prisoner and the young woman Newton came there. The prisoner, addressing the inspector, said, " I have got a young lady here who wishes to give herself up for robbing her mistress." The it Spector asked him for his name and address, which he gave, and also the name and address of the mistress, and this he also gave, and left the station saying he should go and fetch Mrs. Levy, the mistress. During his absence Newton gave herself up on her voluntary confession, and on his return, in about three hours, he said Mrs. Levy was coming. He then asked to have some conversation with Newton. Witness told him he tcould not do so theta, and that what _he had to commu nicate must be done in his presence and hearing. The t prisonerN eh e e w r t L o o n s at t ay h i t e t h t i e m n e , observed that th s h a e t di d anything n ot w h a e n ha t t d o say anything to him. The prisoner declined saying any thing, but went away, and though he (witness) had been to his lodgings, his chapel, and several other places in search of him, he had not seen him from that time until that morning. _ _ - Police -constable Henry Martin,te ro 63 se Lc Monday last h e accompanied h l odging of th e p r i soner, at a coffee-shop i n Bridge-street, Vauxh a ll, and there found, in a box belonging to him, a to ed thet that t l a on o t shirt, whi c h M rs. Levy identified as one belonging to her late husband. O n Monday night he proceeded to Whit church, in Sh rops h ire, and there apprehended the prisoner pu , dtreipxos on a warrant granted by his worship. He told him the charge was for being concerned, with a young woman, named Mary Ann Newton, in stealing notes of the value of £5O, and other property amounting to about a like sum, the property of Mrs. Levy, a widow lady, living at Stockwell, Surrey. He denied the charge, but anxiously inquired if Newton had been convicted, and what punishment she bad THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 9, 1865, got. \Vitness told him she had been tried, convicted, and sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment with hard labour, and he then asked him (witness) if he had a newspaper con taining the report of her ease. Witness told him he had not, upon which the prisoner produced the pieces of newspaper, and said accounts given of him in the papers we r e not quite true. It was stated, he said, that he had drank Mrs. Levy's port and sherry, but this was not true, for he scarcely, if ever, drank any wine. Again, it was stated that he had dined off a turkey at the house of Mrs. Levy on Christmas day, at the expense of that lady, and this was equally un true, as he bought the turkey he dined eff himself. In re ference to the £5 note, which it was alleged he had changed in the Borough, he said Newton gave him a £5 note at the garden-gate. three days before she went away, as she owed him £2 at the time, and that note ho changed in the Borough, and where he changed it he should recol lect. Witness told him that he had been informed by the young woman Newton, that the prisoner had half the pro perty she stole from her mistress, but this he said was un true, as £5 was all he had from her. He said that he had frequently been to the house of Mrs. Levy, to pray for and with that lady for her future happiness—(loud laugh ter, in which Mrs. Levy joined and shook her head in dis sent). On their way to town the prisoner acknowledged that he had accompanied Newton to the station on the morning of the 21st of February, when she left the house of her mistress, and had also visited her whilst she was in the country, but while there they lodged at different houses. On their way to the railway station to this court, the pri • soner asked his opinion as to what he should do, whether he should not plead guilty to the receiving, as ho was not guilty of the stealing or receiving with a guilty knowledge ; and his (Martin's) reply was, that at his age and from his experience he must have sufficient judgment to form an opinion for himself, and that he (Martin) should give none. William Trast, of 7, New Bridge-street, Vauxhall, coffee house keeper, said the prisoner used to lodge at his house, and that three or four weeks ago he changed a £5 note for him. The prisoner left his houseon the 16th of last month without giving any previous notice, leaving his boxes there. This being all the evidence at present, and the prisoner declining to put any questions to the witnesses, or offering anything in defence, observing that he should first prefer having legal assistance, he was remanded to a future day. The prisoner, who gave his age at 52, but who appears 10 years older, was then removed; but, on his application, Mr. Elliott cot seated to take two sureties, in £lOO each, for his appearance. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES.—The speech of the Solicitor-General on the subject of the escape of the Alabama from Liver pool was so eminently saccessful in the assembly to which it was addressed that, for a time at least, it put to silence the clamours of a small and active party who, following their usual instinct, have set themselves to discover that the great mass of their countrymen are wrong in theory, lax in practice, and instigated by motives the most sordid and feel ings the mcst reprehensible, because it has been the pleasure of the press of the United States repeatedly to stigmatise the Alabama as a British pirate, to threaten all sorts of reprisals, and to denounce ex emplary vengeance against us for the loss inflicted on their trade. These persons were for a while con vinced that we had flagrantly violated the law of nations and broken through our neutrality, and after all our sacrifices and fair professions had at last openly sided with th e S outh. Th en i t was said that we had wilfully and deliberately connived at the infraction of our laws, and suspended our interfer ence till we well knew it was too late. To this class of declaimers and murmurers th e s p eec h o f Sir Roundell Palmer was a very serions calamity. It absolutely and for ever demolished the whole super structure which the men who think that they can not be friendly to Am er i ca w ithout being hostile to England have so laboriously built up. The accom plished lawyer had no difficulty in showing—and that not by English, but by American authorities, and by no authority so conclusively as that of Mr. Seward himself —that the selling of contraband of war to either party in the struggle by private Eng lish citizens was no breach of the neutrality of Eng. land, nor any offence against her municipal law. Then it was made equally clear that England was not involved in any breach of neutrality, even though private citizens, contrary to her municipal law, should built or fit out ships for the use of either belligerent. Finally Sir Roundell Palmer showed that the delay in producing proofs of the real character of the Alabama was due, not to the English Government, but to the American Minister and that the case was advised on qeite as speedily as was consistent with its importance by the law officers of the Crown. We should have thought that in England at least, this controversy was for ever laid at rest, and that the most sceptical must have been convinced that nothing had been done against which America had any right to remonstrate, or of which any English subject had a right to complain. But we find that a meeting has been held iu Man chester, not, indeed, attended by persons of any political mark, nor by a single member of a Parlia ment, but amply compensating in violence of lan guage for what it might want in weight or impor tance, for the purpose of petitioning the House of Commons with reference to the case of the Alabama. Something was, indeed, said about the duty of neu trality which devolved upon England, but the lan guage which found most acceptance was the denun ciation of the " felonious and traitorous conspiracy which now rules the so-called Confederate States." The petition which this meeting is about to trans mit to the House of Commons is a curiosity of its kind. It calls the attention of the House of Com mons to the building of ships for the " rebel slave holders' Confederacy," to be used against the Go vernment of the United States, with which this country is in friendly relation. Having given this sample of their qualification for advising the Legis lature of a neutral nation, the petitioners proceed to whch must,. we presume, prevent the acceptance of show ho w we l l they are qualified for the customs of a constitutional country by commenting, in flagrant violati▪ on of th e l aws o f P ar li ament, on words use d in debate by one of i ts mem b ers,—an irregularity i the petition. Th e pet i t i oners press urgent l y on the House of Commons the necessity of calling on the Government to detain, and prevent from leaving the country, certain vessels which they believe to be now building for the Southern States until the present struggle in the United States be terminated. They do not ask, as it would seem, that the law should be put in force, but rather that the Govern ment should a c t at once , no t t rou bli ng i tself to wait for evi▪ dence, which might, as in the case of the Alabama, lead to delays unfavourable to the stop page of the vessels. The petition calls attention to the fact that the Alabama had on board trained gunners belon g i ng t o th e N ava l R eserve, an d ex presses the reg re t o f the petition ers t h a t no prose cution has f o ll owe d t h ese ac t s . A s if t hi s was not enough, they express the gravest apprehension of theirritation p ro d uce d in Am er i ca ; th ey b e l ieve that the peaceful relations between the two coun tries are seriously jeopardised, and that we are drifting into a war fatal to our commerce and to our supplies of f oo d, w hi c h wo uld pl ace t h e millions in sullen opposition to the Government and sympathy with the enemy, involve the loss of our colonies, endanger our institutions and the integrity of the United Kingdom itself. They, therefore, beg the House of Commons to interpose its authority in order to prevent any more ships leaving England for the use of the Confederate States. We.have set forth this petition at a length very disproportionate to its merits, in order to afford our readers on both sides of the Atlantic a specimen of what are not the sentiments of the English people, so far as we are able to wither them, with regard to American affairs. There is h ar dl y a word in the document which we have set forth whi c h i s no t mos t repug nant to the feelings of the great mass of the people of this country. Th ere is not the slightest wish to speak disrespectf u ll y or act unfairly towards the North, but neith er i s there any disposition to em ploy or to approve the use of insulting language towards the South. So far from regarding the cause of secession as vile and infamous, we have freely ex tended our admiration to the unity, the constancy, the courage, and self-denial with which the affairs of the South are conducted. We refuse to identify the objects of the war of invasion and subjugation carried on by the North with the emancipation of the Negro, and view, in the proposal to break the bonds of a race which they will not suffer to tread the same earth or breathe the same air with them selves, nothing b u t an attempt to reme d y t h e in humanity involved in the slavery of the blacks by the stili more dreadful inhumanity of massacre and extermination. We wish that our law should be respected, and that whenever sufficient evidence shall be produc e d on oath, not by way of hearsay, but of di▪ rect and pri mary testimony, the l aw should takeits course. B ut as we would never t o l erate that whi▪ ch is eve r y d ay practised in Amer i ca i n our Government ; as We would never endure that, for the sakeofsome imagin e d conven i e nce, expediency, o r necessity, our G overnment shoul d ta k e upon itself to dispense with one jot or one t i ttle of the law which is our birthright ; so, least of all, . Foreign Enlistment Act. The law has would we d es i re this to be done in the case of the prohibited certain thi ngs, but i t h as not made them wrong in themselves, nor are we able to see why the sellin g o f s hi ps to b e lli geren t s by the subjects of neu t ra l States should b e prohibited by the municipal law. It seems unwise to enact further restraints on our natural liberty than the law of nati ons has impose d , an d th us to give foreign States and their adherents a claim to interfere in the m anagement of our domest i c affairs. But, be this as it may, we cannot too strong l y con demn the attempt to urge our Government into a violent and unconstitutional course by the threat of a foreign war, of the disaffection of millions of its subjects, and of their sympathy with the cause of the enemy. Such language is a libel on the patriot ism and the courage of the British nation. We ear nestly desire to remain at pteee with the United States—how earnestly, we have shown only too well by our consteet advocacy of a strictly neutral atti tude, by the calmness with which we have met every species of slander and vituperation, by the patience with which we have endured the wart of cotton, from which a month of war would have effectually , delivered us, and by our refuted of recognition, in tervention, or mediation. But if war must come— and nothing is so likely to produce it as such at tempts to give couutenauce to the assertions of the American papers that there is really a sympathy in England for the barbarous policy of a sham eman cipation under servile war—we shall, we trust, be found ready to meet it, not undervaluing its perils or its losses, but certainly not the least afraid of finding traitors at home who pray for the success of the enemy and the ruin of their own country. The almost invisible minority who hold this lan guage have no feeling in common with the English nation. We desire to enjoy our liberties, and for that purpose to live nnder the rule of law. We do not wish to see a return to ex officio prosecutions for violations of a statute which it is open to any one who pleases to enforce, and while we abhor the slavish timidity which would call upon Government to abridge liberty at home in order to conciliate animosity abroad, we are firmly convinced that as no law has been strong enough to put down snug gling when a largo profit is left on the transaction, so the Northern States must provide themselves with some better defence than our Foreign Enlist ment Act and their own inefficient navy if they wish to arrest the depredations and confound the enterprise of the Confederate States. HERALD.—The Polis'e insurrection has now done for Poland all that it could do. It has failed to effect its purpose, but its achievements have not been small. This time the heroism of her sons will not be fruitless for Poland. They struggled to realise a dream, but they have not the less gained some solid successes. They have proved to Russia that, although they cannot throw off her yoke, they can, and will, make her rule infinitely more costly than profitable, that her sovereignty shall be con stant burden and a shame to her, until she loyally fulfile her solemn pledges and respects their na tionality and religion; and they have committed Europe afresh to the guardianship of their rights, which she undertook in 1815, and shuffled out of in 1831. They can do no more. If they carry on the struggle, they cause at the best a wanton sacrifice of life, and they may lose,all the advantages which they have gained. The most sanguine amongst them cannot now believe that they have the slightest hope of carrying out their great programme; their only hope can be that the continuance of the struggle may extort concessions from Russia or bring the armies of Western Europe to their aid. But Russia is ready now to make all the conces sions that she can make. She will never be in a better disposition to do them justice. The Czar has, we believe, always been anxious to fulfil his obliga tions to Poland. He may well have scrupled to undertake that difficult task whilst still engaged upon his great scheme of social reorganisation. But the public opinion of Europe has reached him. The appeals and remonstrances of the Great Powers, the conviction of the impossibility of giving his empire internal peace until Poland is satisfied,have all had their due effect; and it may be confidently asserted that if the insurgents were to at once lay down their arms that step would be followed by an amnesty and a constitution assuring Poland a large measure of autonomy. The language of his Minis ter to the Western Powers commits him beyond all escape to such measures, and those Powers would treat any evasion of these assurances as a breach of good faith which they would soon take care to punisb,and could punish very well without recourse to war. But no such attempt at evasion need be feared if at this moment the Russian Government should be placed in the position to act justly towards Po land. So long as the insurrection lasts it cannot do that justice, and it is to be feared that if the Poles persist some months longer in their now vain fight it will not be disposed to do justice when the oppor tunity does come. The spirit of the Russian people is rising too. If, after some months, the struggle terminates by the destruction or expulsion from Po land of all the man who have taken part in the fight, men who have stayed to wreak their vengeance on the enemy long after all hope of defeating him had passed, the consciousness of a complete triumph, anger at the obstinacy with which the fight has been fought, will get the upper hand in the minds of the Emperor and his councillors. The sympathy of Europe will as usual have exhausted itself ; some other object will have attracted the general inte rest ; and although the Governments will still urge counsels of mercy and justice, their action will not be half so efficacious as when it was but the expres sion of the universal feeling. Indeed, granted the hopelessness of the sty niggle (and no one can doubr it), the persistence in it is in every s 'rise dangerous and ruinous to Poland. We know how the Rus sian soldiers make war —at least we may take the description which the Poles give. If ruin and de solation accompany every Russian colamn, what must be the condition of the larger part of Poland if this fight is to be fought on some months, and small bands are to wage in every province that par tisan warfare that the Russians, like the Piedmon tese, deem it best to meet by destroying every build ing which can afford shelter and every substance chat gives nutriment to a human being. So long as Langiewicz held his own, and it seemed possible for the one Polish army to maintain itself, it was perhaps excusable to hope, in spite of all reason to the contrary, that Poland might establish her in dependence. Now there is not the slightest pretext for such a self-deception, except indeed in the delu sion that if the war only lasts France will rush into it, and England will follow her as a sort of drag chain. The notion that France would go to war on behalf of Polish independence betrays a gross ignorance of the character of the Emperor, the position of France, and the condition of Europe generally. France has strong and warm sympathies with Poland, but the French Emperor and the bulk of the intelligent classes know well the difficulty if not impossibility of displaying those sympathies by war. Even in the war with Russia, when France and England were combined, they made no attempt to strike Russia through Poland, and the reason was that they thoroughly appreciated the immense dif ficulty of such an operation. The difficulty would be as erreat now, whilst the justification of such a step is quite wanting. France cannot go to war to enforce the fulfilment of those treaties of 1815 which she has herself torn up, and she cannot go to war from mere sympathy with a gallant struggle which she knows could under no circumstances be success ful. France does not believe herself capable, and if she believed herself capable she would not be mad enough to make the effort of conquering Russia, Austria and Germany, and that is what she must do if the war is to be one for the independence of Poland. It was a comparatively easy thing to help Italy to her liberation. The battlefield was near; what little strange ground her armies had to cross to reach it belonged to the friends she went to help —but even then the Emperor star ed before he ac complished the task he had set himself. If it has been his mission to raise France again to the fore most place upon the Continent, and to gratify the pride of her people in their country's fame and power, it has been even more his work to develop the na tional resources and endow the land with all the benefits which flow from the steady culture of the arts of peace. War for Poland would mean per haps victory for France, but certainly destruction of all the progress which she has made under the Empire. The Emperor sympathises with Poland, and has laboured to help her. He has attempted to obtain the co-operation of England and Austria to a common intervention in St. Petersburg. Whether or not England, France, and Austria act together, it is pretty certain that they are agreed as to the concessions they would ask for Poland. England may take her stand upon the treaties of Vienna. France end Austria may base their intervention upon other grounds, but all three have asked, and will ask again in substance the same thing—the autonomy of Con gress Poland and the recognition by Russia of the Polish nationality in all those parts of her domi nions in which it embraces a considerable portion of the inhabitants. There can, we repeat, be no doubt that Russia would give what they ask if the insurgents should have the wisdom to abandon at once the hopeless struggle. Should they do so, and their surrender be followed by these concessions, Europe will be bound to see that they are honestly acted up to; and her supervision, and the growing dependenc e o f R uss i a upon the West, the changes taking place in her own political and social organism, furnish good guarantees for the gradual attainment by the Poles, if they have but the political wisdom to build up a fabric of liberty—not, indeed, of the independence which died for ever in 1795, but of the great civil and religious liberties to which national independence can only be regarded as a means. In their last struggle the Poles began with armies, and sustained a long time an undecided fight. Beaten at last, they were crushed, as it seemed for ever, every rag of liberty was taken from them, In this engagement they began without arms, they had but one army, and that a small and ill-disciplined one—the struggle has lasted but a few weeks; but if it ends to-morrow its issue will be the restoration of the liberties they lost in 1831. The contrast speaks trumpet-tongued for the progress which the w.rld has made in the space of one generation. POST.—Although the intelligence which daily reaches us respecting the progress of the Polish in surrection ceases to excite thesame amount of interest as at the outbreak of the revolt, it would be incorrect to suppose that the efforts of the insurgents are gradually becoming weaker. An insurrection in Poland in its commencement naturally took us by surprise, and we looked forward with anxiety to the result of an extremely unequal struggle. We expected that in the course of a comparatively short time the authority of the Russian Govern ment would be once more vindicated, and ooktal from (ley to day for the official announcement thst order reigned in Poland. But when days grew into weeks and weeks into months ; when a few isolated bands of unorganised despairing men developed themselves into formidable bodies of armed soldiers; and when provinces whose area exceeded thousands of square wiles boldly threw off allegiance to the Czar, we saw that Poland had drifted into a civil war the duration of which would be extremely un certain. That war still rages, and, judging from the accounts which reach us, in the majority of the encounters between the insurgents and the imperial troops the former are successful. Such successes, however, may produce but littl e , if any, material advantages, as, owing to the preponderating force opposed to them, every loss which falls upon the insurgents must tell heavily against them. We have not lost our interest in the issue which is at stake, no more than we have in the ultimate result of the American civil war; but we are becoming habituated in the one case as in the other, to the details which constantly reach us of the varying fortunes of a contest carried on in a country of which even the best informed amongst us know comparatively little. The loss of Lan g i ew icz has ev id en tly no t exerci▪ sed any visible effect upon the cours e o f th e insui recti▪ on. This is not only manifested by the fact of engage ments between the Russians and the P o l es being of almost daily occur ren c e in ne ar ly every province of Russian Poland, b u t by th e at t emp t s which have been made Ey the authorities to give a false colour ing to the eff e ct p ro d uce d by th e fli g h t o f the Dic tator. It is now ascertained that the reports so diligently circulated by the Russian Government— that the Revol u ti onary C omm i ttee had advised the insurgents to lay down their arms—were false. It struck us at the time as being extremely improbable that the mere loss of a single individual should have exercised so depressing an influence on the large numbers of Poles who had taken part in the revolt that their leaders should thereupon counsel no further resistance. This useless attempt to de ceive the Polish people shows, however, to what expedients the Russian Government has been driven in the hope of speedily re-esta blishing its authority in the disaffected provinces. The necessity for diplomatic intervention on the part of the European Powers, at the Court of St. Petersburg, in favour of Poland, has consequently not been modified by recent events. It is now some time since we apprised our readers that her Majesty's Government would address a note to the Russian Cabinet on this subject, and that a similar course would probably be taken by France and Austria. 'We also referred to the tenor of these notes. The sole object which the European Powers could have would be the regulation of his Polish dominions by the Czar under such a system as would prevent these frequent disturbances of the general peace. Our Government, we pointed out, would refrain from demanding from the Emperor of Russia the adoption of a particular line of policy; but, rather contenti ng i tse l f with pointing out the necessity of reforming the government of Poland, would leave to the C zar t h e c h o i ce of such means as he considered adapted to that end. In the columns of a French contemporary we see an announcement that notes couched i n a s i milar style have been transmitted to St. P e t ers b urg by the Cabinets of Pari▪ s and Vienna. Remonstrances proceeding from the . three great P owers cannot but influence the Russian Government, nor can any umbrage be taken by the latter at this course. Though in unison in their sentiments, England, F rance, and Austria' have wisely abstained from addressing a joint note to Russia, as such a step mi g h t h ave given rise to a suspicion of intimidation. It will be the more satis factory to learn that the Court at Vienna has inter posed in behalf of Poland, because some apprehension was entertained lest, in the presence of the difficulty of prescribing what ought to be the exact duty of Russia, Austria might have declined to take part in the intervention. This difficulty, however, is more imaginary than real. What to one Power may seem a constitutional form of Government may to another seem little less than a despotism ; but no doubt whatever can be entertained respectirg the means by which tranquillity can be restored to Poland. With the interpretations of the stipula tions of the Treaty of Vienna the European Powers need not care to trouble themselves, since their in tervention is not based on any intention to secure respect for a compact which has for a long series of years been systematically violated. It may be that the Treaty of 1815 speaks of "constitutional institu tions regulated according to the mode of existence which each of the respective Governments should think fit to accord to their Polish subjects." Re garded from this point of view, the partitioning Powers would each estimate "constitutional insti tutions" by its own standard, and Russia would doubtless maintain that she had religiously observed her engagement. A discussion on this point will not, however, arise, since what is expected from Russia is, not to give to Poland this or that form of government, but to give such a one as will prevent that kingdom continuing constantly in a state either of chronic or of active insurrection. It is so clearly the policy of Russia to avoid adopting anything even distantly approaching a constitutional form of government in any portion of her dominions that it is not astonishing that the redress sought for by the Poles has been so long withhe,d. An empire of such extraordinary immensity as that of Russia, and inhabited by a semi-civilised race, can only preserve its integrity under a despotic Government. Intro duce civilisation and an acquaintance with consti tutional rights to the Russian nation, and noone for a moment supposes that the imperial ukases would be submitted to without a murmur from the Baltic to the Pacific. No one, we believe, is more anxious than the present Czar to introduce reforms into the Government both of Russia and of Poland; but he is terrified, and not unreasonably, by the possible consequences. If he creates a constitu tional State on the borders of Russia, he knows well that the stream of constitutionalism will not be checked by the imaginary line which will constitute the frontier of the constitutional State. Lord Pal merston truly observed in a recent debate in the House of Commons, " It is a great m i sfortune to suc ceento the inheritance of a tri ump h ant wrong. " The partition of Pol an d was a crime, the consequences of which have never cease d to press upon those who partici▪ pated in it. The possession of Poland places Russia in the m os t perplexing of dilemmaa. The experi▪ ment of ruling Poland by means of a despotism has been tried an d h as f a i led. To give her a consti tution, and at th e same t i me still claim her alle giance, may be fraught with considerable danger to the maintenance of the existing government in the adjoining provinces of Russia proper. Might it not be worth the while of Russia to consider Whether she would not gain more by aband on i ng a useless possession, and, by granting to Poland perfect inde pendence, prevent any heartburnin gs w hi c h might be occasioned by granting to some of h er su bj ects privileges which were denied to others P THE GREAT EASTERN. It was expected from the progress made with the repairs necessary to the great ship that she would have been floated off at the last spring tides, the largest of which was on Monday, and in the firm belief of this the vessel was advertised to sail for New York on the 18th inst. A very unexpected circumstance has for the present frustrated this in tention. The strong westerly gale which prevailed on Sunday at the time of high water caused the Great Eastern to float, and she moved about four feet from the position she had previously occupied on the temporary gridiron. This carried her away from the excavation which had been made to enable the workmen to effect the necessary repairs on the lower portion of her hull, and although only a few rivets required to be put in these cannot be fixed until a new excavation is made under that portion of the ship's bottom to enable the mechanics to get at them. The proceedings necessary to effect this are being rapidly and spiritedly carried out. The ship did not sustain the slightest injury by having been thus prematurely floated and shifted from her position. The only inconvenience occasioned by it is the additional cost of the new excavations and the delay in effecting the repairs—the com p l et i on of a single line of new plating on the out skin of the ship. The level of the beaching place is upwards of 18 inches below the level of the "Old Dock sill ;" consequently there is plenty of water to float the ship at any spring tide. It i s therefore confidently expected that she will be fl oatel off on the 17th or 18thinst. The company will not now fix the day for the departu re o f the " great ship " until the com pletion of the repairs is placed beyond doubt. - - THE BRIGHTON VOLUNTEER REVIEW.—The following accidents, which occurred at the review on Mon day, were reported to Colonel M'Murdo, the Inspector- General, besides several other minor casualties :-1. Cor poral Harding, fracture of the left thigh bone, caused by falling on his rifle. 2. Corporal Cox, severe burns of the head, face, neck, and hand, caused by the explosion of the Waste cartridges. Both were members of the London Irish Corps. _ _ [ADVERTISEMENT.] — Holloway's Ointment and Pills.— Lives Saved.—Not a day !passes without new cases of cure being brought to the knowledge of the discoverer of these peerless remedies. For ulcers, sores, burns, skin di seases, and similar maladies, the insufficiency of ordinary applica tions is admitted by all, but none thus afflicted have been disappointed in their expectations when a fair trial has been given to Holloway's Ointment and Pills. The pain and swelling usually attending this class of ailments will dimi nishdaily under this cooling and soothing unguent, and the purifying powers of the Pills will rid the system of every thing which is obnoxious and so give full play to the heal ing properties of this =taloa Oiatment. IRONMASTERS' QUARTERLY MEETING.. WOLVERHAMPTON, Wednesday Evening. The quarterly assemblies of the ironmasters of this district commenced in this town this afternoon. The attendance was only moderate, especially so as regards consumers, or those who are connected with the export trade. Not much disposition was manifested to do business, and the transactions were on so moderate a scale that it was gene rally considered a fiat quarter-day. It is most likely, however, that in3reased animation will be displayed at the Birmingham meeting. Unless such is the case the second-class firms will find it difficult to obtain as good prices as they did during the last quarter. The principal makers are toler ably well supplied with orders. So far as they are concerned the trade scale of prices is strictly ad hered to. The inquiries for pig iron to-day were only mode rate, and that branch of the trade is not in nearly so satisfactory a state as could be desired. For some time past the prices obtained for good mine "pig" of Staffordshire has been barely remunerative to the producer, who has now to contend with a further difficulty in the shape of an increasing tendency to advance in the price of native ores, which are be coming so scarce as to very much imperil the pros perity of the trade. Even now the pig -masters who do not raise their own " mine" are doing but poorly, and they have to encounter a competition which is daily increasing with North Staffordshire, the Forest of Dean, and the makers in the Cleve land districts. These have advantages which South Staffordshire does not now possess, and the only chance which the district has of maintaining its position so far as relates to the make of pig iron is by producing only that fine quality which gained for it the supremacy it has enjoyed. The number of furnaces in blast is about the same as it was three months ago, and last quarter-day prices are asked for the best hot-blast iron. For cinder pig there is little material demand. A topic discussed at the meeting to-day was the notices which the puddlers have given for an ad vance of wages; some of these expired last Satur day, and the men have been making holiday since, the masters having refused to accede to the demand made upon them; in fact, they are not in a position to do so, inasmuch as the wages scale is higher noW than in former years in comparison with the price of finished iron. There is no probability that the men will stand out when they see what the deter mination of their employers really is. It is the custom to select a holiday time as the period when notices for an advance of wages may expire, so that there may be an excuse for a few extra days' "play.'' On this occasion it may go over to the end of the week, but by next Monday or Tuesday it is most likely that all the men will have gone in again at the old prices. The great meeting of the trade will take place in the Town-hall at Birminghom on Thursday. COUNTRY MARKETS. b-b- NEWARK --WEDNESDAY. About the usual quantity of wheat offered to. day, and prices generally the same as last week. Barley was slow, and in favour of the buyer. Oats unchanged. Beans scarce, and at extreme quotations. White wheat new, 50s to 56s Barley, grinding.. 27s to 300 Red do. 43s to 48s Oats old, .. 26s to 290 Old white sos to 56s , New do 22 s t o 270 Red do. 43s to 48s I Beans. 42 s t o 450 Barley, malting.... 37s t o 41 s I Beans, new 35s to 390 Peas, ....335 to 38s. HULL—TUESDAY. A moderate supply of English wheat today, which met a fair sale, at about last week's currency. Beans steady. Barley dull, and hardly so dear. Oats as before. Wheat.... Old white....per qr. sos Od to 52s Od Old red ...... ~ 46s Od to 488 Od New white .. ~ New red .... ~ Barley.... English malting 328 Od to 388 Od Grinding 27s 6d to 29s Od Saal and Oderbruck Holstein and Danish 2Bs Od to 298 Od Grinding 2Bs Od to 31s Od 0at5...... English, old 26s Od to 28s Od Archangel and Riga, per st osl2id to 13d Friesland and Dutch oBl3d to 08131 d Swedish and Danish osl2ld to NMI Beam ....English, old, per qr New pigeon New tick. Egyptian Peas Foreign boilers .. 36s Od tu 38 s Od Grinding —8 Od tc 38s Od Tares .... Spring. Indian Corn Linseed, feeding s2s Od to 56s Od crushing . 4os Od to 52s Od Linseed cakes (HuR) £9 15 0 to £lO 0 0 Foreign Bl5 oto 9 0 0 Rape cakes 6 5 oto 610 0 Bones LYNN—' A tolerable show of wheat at a reduction of is per qr. the same may be said of oats White 4ss to 53s R6d 44s to 47a Beans 3 ls to 38s New 36a to 38s COAL 'IIESDAY. to-day, with a slow demand. Barley dull, at late rates, and and beans. Barley. . 35s to 400 Grinding ..32s to 338 Oats .22s to 240 Peas —s to —0 ARKET. Prtoes of Coal per Ton a' the Close of the market. Byass's Bebside W es t s. d. Hart1ey,,.,,,,, 15 3 Carway and Duffryn Malting ..... 19 6 Lambert's West Hart ley ..... 15 3 1 Davison's West Hart ley 15 0 rantield Moor 12 0 fanlield Moor Butes l2 0 alker Primrose ll 0 Eden Main 14 9 Wylam l5 6 Hastings Hartley l5 3 Holywell 15 3 Ships at market s. d. Walls End. Ha5we11....... l7 3 Hetton 17 3 Cassop 15 0 Riddell l4 3 Hartlepool 16 9 South Hartlepool, 15 0 li el loe . . ... South Kelloe . 15 6 south Hetton.. 17 3 Wharncliffe l4 3 Gosforth l4 3 Brsddyll's Hetton 16 3 Tunstall ... .. It, 85 ; sold. 53. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE., Aunralia and Mauritius, via Southampton. ...... Apr, 18. _ ........r. 12. Brazil and Cape Verds, by via Br M arseilles itish packet. ...... . . Ap Apr. 6. Cape of Go o d H o p e , A scens i on, and St. Helena.. China, Penang, and Singapore, via South a mpton.Apr y . 18. via Marseilles ...A pr . 12. Falkland Isl a nd s ........................ May 4. Gibraltar, via Southampton ................ Apr. 10. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton . .Apr. 18. via Marseilles.... Apr. 12. India (Bombay), vi a Southampton .... Apr. 10 via Marseilles . 20. Portugal.... .................... May Ap 4. Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Apr. 10. via Marseilles M ay, 5. Newfoundla n d Oporto and Vi go U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... A pr. 15. by U.S. packet.... b C W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Te y neriffe anadian packet. Apr. 10. A 10. Bahamas, v i a N ew York ...................... May . 7. Mexico. . All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, } Apr. 13. California, and B r iti s h C o l um b ia. ........... I li T - - mporting ea without colour on The leaf pre vents the Chinese passing off inferior leaves as in the usual kinds. Horniman's Tea is uncoloured, therefore, always good alike. Sold in packets by 2.280 agents. Births. DUFF, the 6th inst., at Drummuir, Banffshire, the wife of Major Gordon Duff, of a son. LA.RPENT.—On the sth inst., at Thorpe Morieux, the wife of the Rev. George de Hochepied Larpent, of a daugh ter. MORANT.—On the 7th inst., at Manatan Lodge, Hamp stead, Mrs. Robert Morant, of a son. Marriages. HEATH—PECK —On the Sth inst., at Paddington, Chris topher Heath, Esq., F.R.C.S., of 31, Sackville-street, Piccadilly, to Sarah, third daughter of the late Rev. J. Peck. PECRELL-13ECKFORD.—On the 7th inst., at Broadwater Church, Sussex, Augustus Pechell, Esq., eldest son of the Rev. Horace and Lady Caroline Pechell, to Lucy Jane, only daughter of the Rev. Charles D. Beckford. Deaths. ANDREWS.—On the 7th inst ,at Camden-road, Holloway, George Andrews, Esq., aged 55. BONNEY.—On the 7th inst , at Normanton Rectory, the Ven. Thomas Kaye Bonney, A.M., Archdeacon of Lei cester, aged 81. BRAG GR.—On the 6th inst., at Sadborow, Dorset, Colonel Bragge, late 3d King's Own Light Dragoons, aged 75. FICRLIN.—On the sth inst., at Little Shelford, near Cam bridge, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Batcheler Ficklin, aged 69. HARDY.—On the 7th inst., at Great Marlow, Thos,Nelson Hardy, aged 64. Low,--On the 7th inst., at his residence, 10, Warlters buildings, Holloway, James Low, Esq,, of 30, Grace church-street, London, sincerelyllatnented. MAGNAY.—On the 7th inst., Lady Magnay, wif e o f Sir Wm. Magnay, BArt., of 24, K ens i ngton •gate, Hyde . park. London: Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANDREWS, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office, No. 114 Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, ill the Cpunty or bl ithiletiex—Thursday, April 9,,3363. I I