Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-03-19 00:00:00

Czmmtrciai alts. NEXT WEEK. On account of whom it may concern. On MoNDAv next, the 21st instant, at Half-past Eleven o'clock, In the Commercial Saleroom, Temple-court, 499 Barrels Scotch White HERRINGS, 4 i-Ditto partly damaged, •n view at 75, A a rybone.—Apply to GEORGE BADENACH and SON, Brokers. On 31014 DAT next, the 21st instant, at Twelve o'clock, at 1, Oldhall-street, 5,000 Bundles PIASSAVA, ex may Queen, from Bahia, in Albert Dock.—Apply to Hnd BARCLAY, Brnkfrs. On WEDNESDAY next, the 23rd instant, at the Brokers', Saleroom, Oldhall-street, 100 Bales Mozambique, 1 ORCHELLA. WEED, 91 „ Angola just landed, per Twinde Brodes, from T :sbon.— Apply to Messrs. Leech, Harrison, and Forod, Merely' tt or 11.10 wo KE, OREL., - tad SPI:NCB, Brokers. On WEDNESDAY next, the 23rd instant,. at Twelve o'clock at the Brokers' Office, 16, Excha.nge-buildings, 100 Bags fine new American 'TIMOTHY SEED, landing ex City of Maachester J from. RAY New Tork.—A Co to . NER and , Brokers. ------- - - On WsnxEsnAt next, the 23rd instant, at Twelve o'clock, at the Broker's Office, 3, Exchange-alley North, Chapel-street, 250 Bags New American Red CLOVERSBVD. TIIOMAS SILL, Broker. received orders to brave two thousand 'beds con stantly prepared for passing troops. The accounts from Rome relative to the health of the King of P russia, says a letter from Berlin, are very infavolltrable. The intellectual strength of his Majesty w i spears to be completely exhausted. Le - 2 Yord says the Cabinet of Turin has sent to Paris a, memoir, in which it exposes all the aggres sivr.: acts of Austria for some months past. Telegrams from aerne states that orders had arrived there to buy 'ap for the Sardinian Government all the horses tit& can be procured. 'The Armoria of Turin states, preparations have been made for transporting, in case of need, the seat of government to Genoa—a city which is not, like Turin, open to the inroads of an enemy. In reply to remonstrances against the enrolment of the subjects of 'the Duke of Modena in the Sardinian army, M. Cavour is said to have declared that the Piedmontese Government considered the Italian volunteers as emigrants, and not deserters. The i explanation relative to the enlistment of Austrian deserters is, that the Government can neither send them back, nor, without danger to public tran quillity, leave them unoccupied. The Emperor Napoleon will review the Imperial Guard on Sunday. It is the anniversary of the entry into Paris of Napoleon I. on his escape from Elba. There is some -expectation the Emperor may ' address the troops. The Paris correspondent of the Daily News says it may now be considered certain /that Prince Napoleon will be created viceroy of Algeria. The Cork Reporter of yesterday states that the sum of £lOO, the amount of subscriptions received ' for Neapolitan exiles within last week, was on Thursday handed to Baron Poerio and the Duc de Cabeline. The Bank Returns, as published in last night's Gazette, show a decrease 104,7451. in active circu lation ; 48,0901. in bullion ; and 11,7081. in seven dav and other bills. There is an increase in rest of 2,655 ; in public deposits, of 113,355/. ; and in the reserve of notes, 64,6901. AMERICA'S " PECULIAR INSTITUTION." As a good deal has been said, through our co lumns, of late,.on one side of that most momentous American question which, more perhaps than any other, affects the very existence of the United States, —we mean that of Negro Slavery,—it may not be amiss to show what, on the other hand, is the opinion upon it of one of the latest writers on that country, Mr. COLLEY GRATTAN, in his valuable work, entitled " Civilised America." Mr. GRATTAN'S book, be it remembered, is " the result of several years' acquaintanceship with the people of whom it treats." He does not expect, he says, that his dis claimer of all unfair bias will protect him from the fate of those who have already offended against the notions entertained by the Americans, as to whatever concerns themselves. " Aware of what I risk in this sense, Iprotest by anticipation against the looked-for censure." And it would be utterly impossible to escape it, if only because he could not in his conscience, as a Christian man, express .his approval of slavery. Nor could he, with justice to his subject, be silent upon such a question. His book would have been ridiculously incomplete without its notice. For, according to their own phraseology, it is the nation's "peculiar institutions." As a "practical essay on a great nation," therefore, which his work pro fesses to be, it would, we say, have been most unpar donably defective without it. Nothing could well be more childish than to say, as was said by an American correspondent in our columns the other day, " Who asks those people to go to Civilized America ? Who asks them to write about her ?" This were sheer and senseless petulance. America is open to us all, without being asked ; and we are all at liberty to "write about her." without, as the saying is, " either with your leave, or by your leave." They who would interdict us from the one, and gag us in the other, are just those who, for obvious reasons, which they betray, are unwilling that we should know too much about them. They remind one of the lines in BURNS'S spirit-stirring song of liberty, which proclaim,— Apply to NEXT MONTE, On THITIODAT, April 7th, at Twelve o'clock, at the Brokers' Offic 2., Dale-street, 11 Packages INDIGO. BROWNE, lIUNTER, and Co., Brokers. Apply On TurnscAY, the 7th. April 'next, at Twelve o'clock, at the Public Saleroom, Exchange-buildings, 300 Chests 13engal 'consisting of consumers and shippers.—Apply to Messrs. Thos ana John Brocklebank, Merchants • or to T. and 11. LITTLtDALE and Co., Brokers. en SAC, SAXES BANKS, CASTLE-BUILDINGS, DERBY-SQUARE, ; LIVERPOOL. FENCING WIRE, Black, Bright, and Galvanised; TELEGRAPH WIRE and SIGNAL CORD, Wholesale and - for Exportation. ON SALE, 45 TONS LOCUST BEANS, ex Filar, from Barcelona.—Apply to GEO. BADENACH and SON, Brbkers. HISTORY OF THE WORKING CLASSES, Every Saturday, in the NORTHERN DAILY TIIYEE, Price One Penny. AMERICAN SOLACE. CHARLES TURMEAIL AMERICAN SOLACE. AMERICAN' SOLACE. I CHARLES TIIRMEAII AMERICAN SOLACE. AMERICAN SOLACE. CHARLES TURMBILU. AMERICAN SOLACE. LETTERS OF CREDIT, P UNCAN, SHERMAN, A ND CO., BANKERS, RNEW OF PINE AND NASSAU-STREETS, NEW YORK, Issue Letters of Credit and Circular Notes for travellers, available in all the cities of the United States, Canada, the West India Islands, &c., similar to those in such extensive use in Europe. TO CORRESPONDENTS. 'trader no circumstances can we insert communications no accompanied by the author's real name and address, not neces• sarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. AMUSEMENTS, MEETINGS, &c.—THIS DAY. ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE — Madame Celeste. HENOLER'S CIRQUE VARIETE—MiSeenaIIeOHS Attractions. ORGAN PERFORMANCE. — St. George's Hall. THE PARISIAN GALLERY OF ANATOMY, Paradise-street. ROYAL COLLOSSEUM.—Miscellaneous Attractions. M' For particulars see advertisements on Bth page. litrtlittu imtg. SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 1859. THE DAY'S NEWS. In the House of Lords last night, a conversation took place on the system of appointing county magistrates in Ireland. The Marquis of Clanricarde drew attention to the proclamation oT Lord Canning relating to the settlement of the land question in Oudo. Lord Dorlly said, the Government had never objected to the acts of Lord Canning; but only to the expression ; and added, the effect of the Queen's proclamation had•been to establish complete pacifica tion among the native landowners. In the House of Commons, Mr. Roebuck strongly urged Lord John Russell to withdaw his proposed amendment on the Government Reform Bill, on the ground that " Here's freedom to him that wad read ! in all probability it would involve a change of Here's freedom to him that wad write ! government, and that a change of ministry was There's nane ever lear'd that the truth should be heard, seriously calculated to eventuate a war iu Europe. But they whom the truth wad indict." He proposed that the House should proceed by Well and truly does Mr. GRATTAN declare, that resolution, as it did last session with the India Bill. " Slavery is an evil which America does not look Mr. Cox, who also has a notice of amendment on the boldly vin the face." We see this in the whole con paper, said that Lord John Russell did not go far enou gh. What would he do as to the ballot ? Lord duct of her sons respecting it, wherever they may ' John Russell, in reply, said the question would happen to be. Nothing vexes them more than to have involve a discussion which could not then be it talked about, or written about at all ; and no entered upon ; but with reference to the doubt it is perfectly true, that it was " under the Ballot, he should be prepared to give his influence of this feeling the notorious rule of vote and justify it at the proper time, but he could not consent to make it a matter of Congress was passed in 1838, prohibiting the reading bargain. Lord Stanley stated, in reply to a question, of petitions to the House of Representaties in that the services of Sir John Lawrence had already favour of- abolition—thus sacrificing an important been recognised both as to remuneration and popular right from a morbid fear of the subject, and position. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in reply to a question, said he was as much surprised proving the baneful influence of negro slavery on as any one that the Report of the Commission the best privileges of freedom,"—a rule which a appointed in 1855, on decimal currency, had not large proportion of the members for the Free States made their report. Mr. Rich gave notice, that in • assisted, by their votes, the slave-holders in carrying Committee on the Reform Bill, he should move that, in reference to the disqualification of small Boroughs, into effect, and rendered nugatory the opposition of that the test should not alone be population, but the more liberal and generous party, who not only that the amount paid in direct taxation should be hate slavery, but wish for liberty. taken into account. A discussion then ensued upon • the motion for going into Committee on the Super- Mr. GRATTAN doubts, he tells us, if this vast an.nuatipn Fund Bill, in the course of which two question has ever been fairly treated. " There is amendments were moved, but were both negatived. something so shocking," he observes, "in the naked Several clauses of the bill were subsequently agreed face of slavery, and the cruelties inseparable from it to. Lord Naas obtained leave to introduce a bill to are so abhorrent to humanity, that the chief labourers amend the laws in force for the relief of the destitute for its removal are hurried by their ardour beyond poor in Ireland, and to amend an act of the 14th and 15th years of Her Majesty providing for the better a reasonable energy. Urged too far by their zeal distribution, support, and management of Medical they are often deaf to the claims of justice, and the Charities in Ireland. warnings of prudence. They hold no measures The Reform question is still growing in interest, and a great variety of speculations are afloat. with the iniquity they contract. They neither give These, however, will be disposed of by the second nor take quarter." And whilst this seriousness reading on Monday night. In the mean time meet- of purpose cannot but secure for the abolitionists ings continue to take place in all parts of the the respect of all humane and benevolent nations, country, at which only one opinion is expressed, and the House of Commons is overwhelmed with it yet only makes the slave-holders more bitter in notices of motion. The Chancellor of the Ex- their hostility to everything that might tend to pre chequer's new clause on Borough Freeholders pare for emancipation. But it is impossible riot to has been issued. It gives the option to Borough excuse this abolition energy—it is impossible not to voters to vote for the county if they prefer doing so ; but if the vote for the c ount y is preferred, sympathise with it, and to have one's indi gna tion notice must be given not later than the 24th July, roused by it, in so obvious and so generous a cause in the year next but one following the passing of of humanity. Its philanthropy may sometimes the act, and after such claim for a vote for the seem too enthusiastic, but it should be the business county shall have been admitted, the voter for ever forfeits hi s c l a i m to vote for suc h B oroug h. Captain of American state s men to endeavour to utilise it. Jervis has be en returned for H arw i c h , b y a majority "To attempt impossible things," says Mr. GRATTAN, of 11. Close of the poll—Jervis 145, Campbell 134: "i s wo rse than doing nothing , and I believe i mme di a t e The Paris co rrespondent of the Times says that great depression prevailed yesterday, as if all hope of a y e, or p roximate emancipation to be utterl y impossi peace was given up.. ble. What may by degrees be effected towards its Lord Cowley had an interview f with the Emperor consummation it would be idle to eulogise on. I will on Thursday, in the presence of Marine Count Walewski. Orders are issued rather confine myself to the recapitulation of some Department that the seamen being employed boarding an of the main evils of the existing system, all of which enemy's ship shall be armed with six -barrel require, and are, I believe, susceptible of change arrel revolvers. : The account given of a modification of the condi- Ist. The breeding of slaves for sale like cattle, and the tion of the evacuation of Rome is is said that, in accordance with the wish es and it consequent encouragement to their rapid increase. w 2nd. Their total ignorance, and comparative want of Holiness, the French troops are to prolong of their his useful instruction. religious or secular. stay in the Roman States.3rd. The barbarous and brutalising floggings. The Vienna correspondent of the Times, in 4th. The separation of families. hi s despatch, dated the 15th, says—The impression that sth. The abandonment of the free blacks by their former peace will not be long maintained is stronger masters, from whom they have purchased their liberty, and than ever. Austria is fully prepared for war, by the white population m general makin g them objects of but she will f aithfull y kee p the p r omise given' contempt and loathing to the emancipated. to the British Government not to act aggr„_ 6th. The domestic slave trade, between breeder and impression at Vienna that sively. It was the . dealer , . and between State and State, openly legalised in America, while the same trade •is pronounced by law to be it would be useless to put questi l ons , in the British piracy if carried on hi Africa or the high seas. Parliament respecting Lord Cow ey s mission until Well may it be • enume the British Ambassador has had an opportunity of The Italian conversing with the Emperor Napoleon. . ration of the ?lacin g evils of American slavery, that the ma , 't regiments are being sent into the inner provinces of magnitude of the question at issue deters one from the empire, The municipal council of Trieste has goin into any extensive remarks upon it, where THE NOR,TIIERN TIMES SATURDAI., MARCH 19, 1859 whatever may be stated is sure to be carped at, and where there is so much sensitiveness, so much sore ness, upon the subject, evidently , arising from an inward consciousness of its iniquity, that there is not patience to endure its calm consideration. For, as Mr. GRATTAN again observes, " the fact itself is there in glaring evidence, blazing like a pillar of light upon the sky, and showing all earth the way to the iniquity, if not the means for its extinction s " —means, however, the very suggestion of which in variably makes the slave-holders wrathf'zil and desperate. And how forcibly is one not reminded of what, in such slap-dash style, the wild and freakish genus Columbine, ycleped " Young America," is ever and anon throwing off, either in apology for, or in ,defence of, this great human wrong, when our author says, that it is "the tu quopie, the argument of con- scions discomfiture, that is eternally adopted by those Americans who would defend the institution of slavery, in opposition to the remonstrances of English writers and speakers." His remarks to this effect are so forcible, so incontrovertible, that we copy them in extenso : That poor workwomen:are basely:treated by their em ployers, that ruffians cruelly beat their wives, that wives and mothers poison their husbands and children, that our peasantry are uneducated, and our manufacturing classes immoral, are all undeniable and melancholy facts. The artificial state of society in England, the inequality of fortunes, the superabundance of population, the short sighted pride of aristocracy, the avarice of wealthy manu facturers, the sectarian virulence of portions of the clergy of all creeds, the subserviency of many among the gentry and the middle classes of the domineering great—these are among the causes of evils which are admitted and deplored. Parliament is busily employed for their redress. Our most eloquent authors and speakers wage an unceasing war against the prevalence of those abuses in our social system. Numberless societies exist for their amelioration. Funds to a large amount are subscribed to carry out the various projects of improvement. No body of men of any influence, no individuals of either sex, venture to palliate the existence of these ills ; nor does any one object to the interference of foreigners, whether exerted in England or elsewhere, in pointing out, or devising• remedies for, our abounding defects. But were those blots upon our boasted greatness ten times more disfiguring than they are, were our priests more bigotted, our peers more haughty, our commoners more cringing, our parliament less active ; did the semp stresses work their worn fingers still closer to the bone, or sordid mill-owners drive their operatives still faster to exhaustion, or were all the vices inherent in our nature, and inseparable from civilisation a thousand fold greater than they are among us, could all that combination justify slavery in America ? Could southern slaveholders be acquitted at the bar of public justice for maintaining, or cotton buyers at the north for defending it ?• Or should Englishmen be debarred from publicly denouncing what they all abhor ? The fact is that it cannot be defended nor palliated ; and what is worse, there is but small chance of its being soon remedied, and none that I can see of its being finally abolished. Admitting all this, we in England would be quite satisfied if Americans admitted it as well. If a bold and straightforward sentiment of anti-slavery existed in the United States, if what is undeniable as a fact was avowed to be an abomination, and if means were adopted to abate it ever so insufficient, or with results ever so remote, the reproaches of Europe would cease, sarcasm be still, and America be cordially met and co-operated with on the broad road of philanthropy. But as long as the country which boasts of liberty cherishes slavery in its very heart, as long as the states which are really free fraternise with those that hold bondage as a privilege and make man an article of barter and sale, as long as the spinners of cotton make common cause with those who grow it, and while both combine to crush the generous few who fight the battle of emancipation, so long will the voice of the Old World be raised against those obnoxious portions of the New. And, more than all this, as he further shows, even admitting that the colour of the skin were so degrading a badge of inferiority of race as to justify enslavement, yet when in two or three generations, through intermarriage, or otherwise, it has become so weakened as to be almost entirely effaced, —"when amalgamation has done its work, and the struggle of white against black has been so triumphant that no visible trace of the latter is left; when the complexion is clear, the features symmetrical, the form graceful, the individual a model of female beauty. What possible excuse is left for the law that condemns such a being to chains and stripes, to private indignity and public sale ? The predominance of, colour is, beyond denial, white ; the distinction of race decided; and no perceptible tinge of African descent. Yet this fair, accomplished, educated woman is legally a chattel—liable to be seized wherever found, and sold in the public slave mart." Surely nothing can justify slavery in such a case as this, the fact of which cuts away from under, their feet all the plausible arguments of its advocates, or its apologists, grounded on a pretended inferiority of the negro race. But, in fact, the whole thing is an abomination and a curse, disguise it, or excuse it, as they may. The testimony alike of humanity and Christianity must ever be aiainst its first vicious principle, that which is its essence,—the holding property in man ; keeping men, women, and children in servile and demoralising bondage; using persons as things, rational human beings as reasonless and soulless chattels,—and all this in the service of the mammon of unrighteousness,—to say nothing of the perpetual illustration it so forcibly affords, in all its details, of the only too reasonable and truthful lament of the philanthrophic poet, that " Man's inhumanity to man ' Makes countless thousands mourn." THE WAR QUESTION. NOTWITHSTANDING recent assurances to the con trary, on the part of the French Emperor, there is still no reliance on the preservation of peace in Continental Europe. It is so difficult to know what to believe, when a deep game is being played, like that which his Majesty has in hand. Were all, as it appears on the surface, did the things unseen cor respond with the things that are apparent,—it might be comparatively easy to form an opinion. But it is far otherwise. TALLEYRAND taught that languag e was given us, not so much to express as to conceal our thoughts. And Loins NAPOLEON is an apt scholar of so distinguished a preceptor. We must not rely upon anything in that quarter. His polioy is of too wily a nature to be taken for what it pro fesses to be. He has a part to act on the stage he has chosen for the exercise of his ambition; and he must shape his course accordingly. It has been well observed, that, " in the opinion of the first judges of whist, it is not those who play best by the true laws of the game that will win most, but those who play best to the false game of others ; and I am sure," adds the commentator, "it is true of the great game of the world." This game of the world, then, it is, that is being played both in France and Sardinia, — played for the gratification of the ambition of each of their rulers. And it is a game which, to be so played, requires all the artifice, and all the scheming imaginable,--every sort of false pretence, every aspect of delusive appearance. The object of their combined stratagems, Austria, evidently sees through it all, and is not to be duped. i The recent manifestations of a more pacific feeling on the part of the French Emperor, do not appear to have had the slightest effect with her, in inducing relaxation of the preparations going on to confront the enemy on the very confines of the Austrian empire. "In proportion," says a late despatch, "as her warlike preparations, are approaching muturity Austria is assuming a bolder and a more decided attitude. The Allgemeine Zeitung, which numbers several correspondents among the officers of the Austrian army in Italy , speaks with confidence of the promptitude nith which that Power can brin all its resource 4 to bear upon the present comedca tion. Venice is secured from any attack by sea, owing the completion of the military works upon _ _ the Lido. An army of 130,000 men with 300 field 1;1ms can be put upon Italian ground at fourteen days' notice. Austria has succeeded in rekindling the smouldering fire of Teutonic patriotism, which forty years of peace had not extinguished." Such is the position of Austria, in readiness for the threat ened conflict. The feeling of " Young Italy," again, does not seem to have been daunted in any wise by the symp toms of drawing back which have been displayed in the Paris Moniteur. "The Italians," we read, "do not seem in any corresponding degree depressed by the pacific language of the French official journal. They consider that the Emperor has gone too far to recede, and that the consequences of a change of policy, after all that has been said and done, would be too terrible to contemplate ; that although the Emperor himself has kept silence, or, if he spoke, has never exceeded the bounds of diplomatic reserve, yet his vague, half-expressed hints in reference to the state of Italy, his toleration of, nay, his alleged participation in, the authorship of certain pamphlets couched in the most significant terms, clearly indi cate the large and comprehensive nature of his views, and his full determination to stop at nothing short of their complete realisation." All this is, no doubt, quite true. The French Emperor has excited hopes which will not be very readily abandoned, and the realisation of which the influences he has aroused will not soon give up. The head quarters of the excited party is Piedmont. This is the Power behind which France is to strike her deadliest blow at Austria, not only for Italian conquest, but for the acquisition of territory which will make - the Rhine, as it has long been eagerly desired, the boundary of the French Empire in that direction. This has long been an anxious object of French ambition ; and Louis NAPOLEON knows well how it would raise him in popular favour to accomplish it. Yes,—Piedmont is the rallying point ; and Italian patriotism is centreing there. The whole youth of Italy, heaving and panting, if we are to believe them, for "nationality," has gone to Piedmont. " Every young man of moderately independent means, and under the age of 26 years, has taken his departure. Many youths employed in counting-houses have thrown up or temporarily resigned their posts ; nay, many of those whose fathers hold Government situations have hastened to associate their names with those of the Viscontis, the Crivellis, Del Vermis, the Carcanos, the Vitalis, the Tavernas, the Turatis, the Guicciardis, the Ciconias, the Belgiosios, the Caccias, and the Furnis, who have taken service in Piedmont." Such are the accounts. And if they be anything like true, they show that a spirit has been evoked which will never be set at rest but through the issues of a campaign—and one, the like of which for ardour and energy Europe will not have witnessed since the palmy days of NAPOLEON LE GRAND. Such, then, is the war question in its latest as pects. One's greatest consolation still is, that Eng land remains detached from it in any of its operations, save in the character of a peace-promoter, though with the faintest hopes of success. WRECKS AND CASUALTIES AT SEA. WE took occasion, a day or two since, to make some remarks in this place upon the subject of Harbours of Refuge, shewing, at the same time, what it is proposed shall be done, at the instance of the Government, in providing such shelter for ship ping in different parts of our coasts. We would now call attention, for a moment, to the kindred subject of the Wrecks and Casualties at Sea which are unhappily so constantly occurring; and which those Harbours of Refuge, in fact, are designed to prevent, by the protection they will offer to vessels that may be dangerously exposed to the fury of the elements. Both matters are very properly, as our readers no doubt are aware, in Government hands, to some extent. The first has recently been made the subject of inquiry by a Commission. The other, of which we have now more particularly to speak, is under the continual notice of the Surveyor-General of the Board of Trade, whose Report for the last year has just been issued. The returns in that Report, we find, show an increase on the whole number of wrecks and strand ings, viz., 869 against 866 in 1857, and 837 in 1856 ; but it is to be observed that the number of total losses under those heads exhibit a decrease, being 354 in 1858 against 384 in 1857, and 368 in 1856. The number of total losses by collision is 50 against 53 in 1857, and 51 in 1856, while the number of casualties, involving damage by the same cause, is 251 against 224 in 1857, and 265 in 1856. With respect to collisions, however, we are not, it seems, in a situation to judge as yet of the case as it now stands, since the new Admiralty regulations as to lights not having taken effect until the Ist of Oct. last, and many homeward-bound vessels being yet unprovided with lights in accordance with them, no conclusion can at present be arrived at as to the effect such regulations may produce in reducing the number of casualties by collision. But it appears that there has been a more equal distribution of casualties around the coast than formerly, which is attributed to the greater preva lence of southerly and westerly winds throughout the past year ; and, in consequence, a much larger proportion than usual have occurred on the West and Irish coasts ; the number on these coasts being 567 in 1858, against 450 in 1857. A proportionate decrease has, from the same cause, taken place in the casualties on the East coast, which have fallen from 600 in 1857 to 514 in 1858. These, of course, are vicissitudes which will be continually varying, from season to season. The most serious affair of all, however, in connec tion with this subject, is the loss of life that takes place. Yet here there is manifestly some cause for satisfaction. The lives lost in the three last years show a gradual and, in the last year especially, a satisfactory decrease, compared with the whole number of lives in peril. As, for instance, while in 1856 as many as 521, out of 2,137 of lives imperilled, were lost ; and, in 1857, 532 out of 2,260 ; in 1858, 346 out of 1,895 were lost,—the reduction being from 24 to 18 per cent. Of the lives saved last year, as many as 200 were rescued by life-boats, and more than that number by the rocket and mortar service, —the remainder, generally, having been saved by steamers, small craft, and the coast-guard service. And now as to the causes of so much loss of life, even where often there is apparently the means of escape. It is ascertained that the loss of many lives arises from the unsuccessful lowering and clearing of boats from ships. In the majority of cases it appears that a boat is no sooner attempted to be lowered or got out in a gale of wind than it is stove, or from the coining of the tackles and running gear capsized. The number of ships' boats that escape this disaster is very small as compared with the number attempted to be got out or launched in cases of emergency. We have frequently taken occasion to remark upon this. The proper provision of ships' boats, and their readiness for immediate use, at a moment's warning, cannot be too carefully attended to ; and yet it is one of those things which are most commonly neglected. Take our ocean steamers, as an example. They may have the requisite number of boats on board, and swung ready for being launched; but when an alarm is raised, when danger is imminent, and suddenly, and under excitement, the boats are to be had recourse to, nine times out of ten there is something amiss; and either the opportunity of making them available is lost, or if they succeed in getting them afloat they are found , unmanageable and unavailing. CLIFFORD'S apparatus for lowering ships' boats would seem to possess such great advantages over every other means we have ever heard of, that one's wonder is, it is not recommended by the Board of Trade. The process is so simple, that one man can manage it. He gets into the boat, unhitches a rope from a cleet (on the boat's seat) over which he slacken's it off. The boat descends evenly, frees itself from the gripes by which it was lashed to the ship's side ; and letting go the rope disengages the boat from the ship. Such is the prompt and simple method by which, with this apparatus, boats may in any emergency be safely lowered ; and it is the opinion of practical . men, that its general adoption would conduce most materially to the preservation of imperilled life at sea. It certainly speaks volumes for the humanity of a nation when so much is thus done for the preserva tion of human life amidst the dangers of the sea around its coasts. The National Life-boat Institution, of which we have on several occasions spoken most favourably in these columns, contributes in an eminent degree to further the humane efforts that are being continually made to that end, —efforts that cannot be undertaken, it must be evident, but at great expense, and which therefore demand the Lberal assistance of the country. THE COURT. OSBORNE, March 17.—The Queen and Prince walked in the grounds yesterday. Prince Leiningeu visited her Majesty. LOCAL INTELLIGENCE. At7STRALIA.-ARRIVAL OF THE MORNING LIGHT. - The clipper ship Morning Light arrived here yesterday with 17,329 ounces of gold, valued at 69,316. She sailed from Melbourne on the 2nd December, and has been 94 days on the passage. THE AMPHITHEATRE.—We can add nothing to previous notices of the present performances in this theatre, except that Madame Celeste's benefit took place last night before a well-filled house, and that the engagement of this talented actress closes with the present evening. Her Royal Highness Princess Frederick William of Prussia, throngh Baron Storhwar, has expressed her acceptance of a poem on the birth of the young Prince, and, in her Royal Highness' own words, her best thanks " to C. M. P., the authoress, a young lady of this town. RUN OVER. —Yesterday, a boy, named Thomas Holden, residing in one of those mysterious courts off Vauxhall road, was playing in Moorfields, when he was run over by a spring cart, and sustained a severe contusion of the legs, and had his fingers broken by the horse trampling them under. BROTHER AND SISTER.—Ann Larkins, a denizen of Hockenhall-alley, went on a friendly visit, on Thursday night, to a brother, residing in Back Portland-street, and becoming rather merry they indulged in a few blows, the result being that the woman received a severe contusion of the thigh, and is now lying in the Northern Hospital. AMERICAN MAILS. —The Cunard steamer Persia, Captain Judkins, will sail for New York direct to-morrow morning. The box closes at the Post-office at eight o'clock, and finally at nine, but the receiving box will be open on the Landing-stage till ten, with the payment of a late fee of Is. The City of Manchester, arrived here yesterday, repoits being in the company of the steam-ship Prince Albert, for Newfoundland and Galway, on the 4th inst., thirty miles from Sands Hook. ORAITOE AND GREEN.—Thomas Finirty, though an Irish man, is a very violent orange one, and on St. Patrick's Day he became somewhat ,elevated, whether in drowning the shamrock or not deponent saith not ; certain it is that he began a bullying and abusing of St. Patrick, " damning and sinking the Pope," and other peeuliar diversions, the result being that, residing in the classic neighbourhood of Bannistre-street, he got himself into a row and was se verely handled, being beat about the head and neck, and receiving a dangerous scalp wound. CORONERS INQUESTS. —Yesterday the Coroner held the following inquests : On the body of Benjamin Cross, a prisoner in the Borough Gaol, who died suddenly. He was undergoing a sentence of four months, and was admitted to the hospital, where he died of general debility. Verdict, " Died of natural causes." On the body of a new-born female child that was found in Bath-lane on Thursday. It appeared that the child was born alive, and that death was caused by conj ection of the lungs from exposure to cold. Verdict, "Wilful murder against some one unknown." EDGE-HILL WORKING MENS' ASSOCIATION. —The last of a course of lectures was delivered on Thursday evening, by Richard Houghton, Esq., on the interesting subject of " Astronomy." The room was again crowded, and though the lecture lasted for two hours, it was listened to with great interest throughout. The subject of the solar system in general was most lucidly treated, and the subject of comets seemed especially to gratify the audience. The lecture was illustrated throughout with the " Magic Lan tern." A great feature of these lectures has been the large attendance of the working classes. The Rev. Thomas Moore presided. WORKING MEN'S ASSOCIATION.—On Wednesday evening last, the usual weekly lecture connected with the Association, was delivered, in St. Anne's National School-room, Stanley, W. Patten, Esq., occupying the chair. The lecturer, Mr. J. B. Marsh, selected " Rare old Chester" for his subject, and had it very well illustrated by diagrams and prints of various kinds. The room was full, and these meetings appear rather to give popularity as the session approaches its termination. The audience appeared much gratified by the many interesting details given, and a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Marsh. Next week Mr. It. R. Swan lectures on " Moral Education." CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY, in monthly parts, imperial octavo, sixpence each, magnificently illus trated. The design of this undertaking is to present to families a work which will prove exceedingly amusing and instructive. Each part will contain illustrations executed in the first style of art, which alone will render it .a beauti ful picture-book. The text, while being truly scientific, will be written in a popular style, each latin term will be rendered in English, and numerous anecdotes and illus trations will be interspersed, descriptive of the structure habits, and haunts of animals, so that the juvenile mem bers of a family will become so interested as to make them welcome each monthly part of " Cassell's Illustrated Natural History." MERCANTILE MARINE SERVICE ASSOCIATION. - The following is a copy of a memorial presented to the Earl of Derby by the Mercantile Marine Service Association, seeking that the Certificated Masters of the Service may be included in the Reform Bill :—" To the Right Honourable, the Earl of Derby, K.G. The Memorial of the Mercantile Marine Service Association of Liverpool. Sheweth,—That the Mercantile Marine Service Association of Liverpool is composed of masters and officers of the merchant service of the United Kingdom, and has been established for, among other things, taking all possible steps to elevate and improve the position of British merchant officers. That the masters of the merchant service are, as a body, men of intelligence and ability, and must possess a considerable amount of scientific knowledge. That they are also, as a body, largely interested in the ownership of vessels. That the present Reform Bill haying recognised an educational test as a qualification for the electoral franchise, and having also recognised the possession of money in the savings' banks, your memorialists submit that with equal justice the franchise should be extended so as to embrace the certificated masters of the mercantile marine service. Your memo rialists have, therefore, respectfully to urge upon your lordship as the head of the Government by which the Reform Bill has been introduced, the propriety of making such an addition to the bill as will enable the privileges of the electoral franchise to be exercised by the certificated masters of the mercantile marine service, &c. THE LATEST TELEGRAMS* PIEDMONT. TURIN, March 18th.—The official Piedraoutel Garsette contradicts the suggestions of the Press of Paris, of the 15th Mardi, and points out that th e policy of the Sardinian 'Government has never be ep either provocated or revolutionary, but all national and li. l oeral. The confidenc e which .15 inspires, and, the admirable concord which Pre'ralis throughout the country, show that this rlici approved of. The Sardinian Governm ent acc l with satisfaction the manifestations of sP n P a o a and the offers of co-operation of all men of P ay faith, without regard to what their past life M r have been ; but at the same time its firm detern te tion is not to concert with those e ncoura° individuals who prejudice the national cause bY turbances of sect or faction. AUSTRIA. tie VIENNA, March 18.—Funds have risen sine p close of the Bourse 1 per cent., on accoußt A-Ititte able news from Paris. Advices from :Va lli s that the public feeling in that city is quieter. NAPLES. 0 re- MARSEILLES, March 18.—Advices have bee n f l oil ceived from Naples to the 15th inst. The l eri ; t ol , which the King has undergone has been ine 4 ,, i ir A tumour in the groin is feared, and also tha'aloi grene or caries may set in in the thigh. Care Riario has ordered public prayers for his )14- recovery. The Public Funds fell 2 francs• THE FRENCH FUNDS. o Cet i PARIS, Friday, 12.30 p.m.—Rentes . 013//1 : 1 4 67-80, and have since risen to 68, but there little doing. Rea d 1.25 p.m.—The Bourse opens rather fir'l 68.5. ploc e ' 3.32 p.m.—A slight re-action has taken n b for and Rentes closed 68.90 for Money, and 67.' Account. FOREIGN INTELLIGI,- FRANCE. PARIS, Thursday Evening.—Lord Cowi e ,;" os 4 arrival was prematurely announced yesteruaY'aievol reached Paris late last night. He has had an 911 r bs' of the Emperor to-day ; and a report , based Poof°, bly on but slender foundation, that the in terl'e v highly satisfactory, produced a sudden r nearly / per cent at the Bourse, Count Pourtales, the Prussian min i4er oo ' received by the Emperor in state this aft er° present his credentials. of • The grand review on Sunday next, 0-'fre announced to be a review of the whole aralY ° 0 01 appears from the Moniteur to be confin ed ro Imperial Guard. There is much discussion t con as to the probability of the Emperor 20 speech to the troops on the occasion. r r il i c v br a March, celebrated for the unfailing e 3r : l riee shown on that day by a precocious chesao'oleff the Tuileries gardens, is also a great S it i ) ‘T ole ° anniversary, for it was on that day that ek entered Paris on his return from Elba. f iv . 4 It may now be considered as certain :T OT - rit of il Napoleon will be created Viceroy of "The telegram from Marseilles, published by ; states that the people (!) of Algeria of' o petitions praying the Emperor to cr ,l " e „ roi it lieutenancy, and that the locals j ou rnals su the idea. This despatch has been P , P. t i o us Paris, where the farce of popular P e 0 Aice understood. ; 1 0 `" 01; The Government papers continue the' e r Geri°, attempt to make out that the attitude olueocset and the armaments of Austria, have not I' 10 0 3 1,i0 $ by the preparations of France, and that the oc ." of M. de la ,Guerroniere, and the ins id e t' pr °l g' Austria and Germany generally, were n ° bie rte ° tion for the German papers to retaliat e. then ° in a very pacific article ironically praises e sitr e fo tei the Moniteur, having stated with gras'o,pro that it had long ago foreseen that " the se bet Ole but only too real apprehensions Nvonla, , ,fo e , bable result of the excitations which t he i, war at any price so profusely indulged confidence with which they affected to e': 5 ,P I re' the Government would realise their ae i 't Patrie indignantly repudiates the elln„ l , 9 l.pe r ferring to the statement of the Icr", — , i ste,ra,." proclaim daily that treaties are mere "",ael' e l:, that the map of Europe must be reg l- 00,.5eS nothing but openly to wish for wa r ',,,Dr e/ e ,,' petulant peevishness, where has the wriw o cer t v anything of the kind in the press of 1' 1.3 b, th det Patrie appears ignorant of the prover e oe habitual disregard of truth requires, te 1014 tion, a very good memory ; and your n ° t i l e 3 P. appears sadly off in this respect. I t , s ( lid 1 b r a has forgotten it so soon, the Debo s ' t re P, considering the silence of contemP p.ttt reply to this semi-official organ, t a T 40 06 it to the files of the Presse, __ n t h° psuit' `vg Constitutionnel, to the well-1007,41P Fvg " Napoeon 111. et l' Italie," aad, .ir as r tr. own columns. The Patrie coneit' s opPf o r'; ing that its only object and desire is w„lici P;Ce policy of the Emperor, whatever that P,:biel ) l•4l as it " can only lead us to an hoollr't e rinef, fr t war." Tant pis His Majesty's 'O P ' re s s' c y these thick-and-thin supporters in the P . , t sor i o , alike of talent and principle, and ° strength of mind to have an opinion of HANmABTuIROGNIi"LiaFreEhELI7IINT.—GInINsiaOO-1-1:.7,11,, joiri„ttv* lands, Wurtemburg, and Bavaria, %,,edu' veterans have sent back the St. Ifeleuti ding' movement of German patriotism is V rea A ), 4 9 , r 7 s op , AN EMINENT CONVERT TO ROIMAN cj ilf r s S 914: 0 1) 1 1 1 . 0 letter from Rome. of the 10th, in the r ./ :„ v t e hoti e .tio,„' 0, solemn act of adhesion to the Roman ' l .; seusLore just taken place here, and caused a eer t r wa that of Negoussie, King of Tig r ` o t' in ; i l , Ab s yssinia. This Sovereign idd not app —ia r ePl' e es sr sent three of the natives of his States to es the t o to namely, Prince Ghiorgis, one of his reletilyniai°ll, t°, priest Emnatou, and a young man' rtal i ; t1)!: 4 i4 4 Prince. What has imparted a certain ' 4 ` . . - 1 ; t ° 6 01 `10";0 0 proceeding is the fact of its being the first • Ethiopian Sovereign aecomplished so s ° r rb. bu t ty, to the representative of Jesus Christ on e a ,oo, a young man of 20, with copper-coloured;resses iPoLg• monly handsome and regular features. Il e silk sth cloth vest, wide white trousers, shoes,ia mantle of lion skin on his shoulders; 31 ' ; i y 'at P His arms are bare, the left alone Deer'sttien*oeitijeky bracelet, the sign of his high rank. l ul l , 3re .de 51 1 '' follows him, carrying a crooked sabre, such his scatietsi w hitet_ sb o f $ l,l East. Emnatou is dressed all in robe being bound round his waist with i s „ g ope tbe r / 5 0 When the party were introduced to terpret° all 8 ; 11) trated themselves at his feet, and the in i . ties s object of their long journey. 11 0 : ine a e ci e , ru alib ill i a eti s l oo e il i of f ai elt ece V .; them, and asked various questietnrsayee of their Sovereign, how - they scene . 00 pet cl i ° l be tions. After the novelty of the, the t abated, Emnatou again bent lowi_hed'oerceitreu_l,tbli; nounced an address, in which 11., ma i . so c a tsP f;0w, 4 1 at the feet of his Holiness the or Foussie, King of Tigre and Seinen, auu tita s 0 1 _ i o rl jured heresy and adhered to all the clog subirtioool Catholic Church, and in sign of whi eh o seat; "reP lit affixed to the document his siguature, saita Pope, who was greatly affected, nie ue ,cc. pressing his joy at so unusua l an oceu—