The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-15 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 15, 1855.

SOUTH AMERICAN MAILS.

The Royal Brazilian mail packet Severn, Capt.
J. M. Gillies ; Admiralty agent, Lieut. Darby,
R.N., arrived at Southampton yesterday, with the
South American mails.

Dates of sailing—Buenos Ayres, Dec. 2, 1854 ;
Monte Video, 5 ; Rio de Janeiro, 15 ; Bahia, 20 ;
Pernambuco, 23 ; St. Vincent, 31 ; Teneriffe, Jan.
5 ; Madeira, 6 ; Lisbon, 9.
The Severn brings.3l,passengers.
RIO DE JANEIRO, I)7x. 14.

The Brazilian squadron sailed for Paraguay on
the 10th, and six more vessels of war are to follow
in a few days ; but it is the general opinion that
the dispute will be amicably arranged.
Provisions of all kinds are becoming exceedingly
dear 'in Rio. The supply of cattle is falling off to
an extent which threatens a great scarcity of fresh
meat. The poorer classes are beginning to suffer
severely. The fact is, that the want of hands
consequeit upon-the suppression of the slave trade
is beginning to be felt.
The yellow fever has entirely left us, ant the
city was never more. healthy than at present.
Our coffee and exchange markets have been very
active. In imports generally little has been done.
Exchange opened on the 9th at 27id. to
and some bills were negotiated at 28d. The total
amount passed since the Ist we estimate at
340,0001. on London, 800,000 francs on France,
and 330,000 mares banco on Hamburg. The mar-
ket closes very firm at our quotations.
In coffee nothing was done until the sth, when
dealers submitted to a decline of 150 reis, and a
large business was done. The Severn's._. news,
altEOugh unfavourable, did not produce a corres-
ponding effect in the market, but great activity has
continued to prevail, and we estimate the total
sales since the Ist at 150,000 bags, of whichloo are
for Europe and.so for the States. Yesterday we
noted an improvement in the market, and the better
qualities were sold at an advance of 50 or 100 reis.
Supplies come forward very freely at the rate of
10,000 bags per day.
Freights have ruled somewhat higher.
Discounts rule at 7 to 71 per cent.

Of affairs in Buenos Ayres, the British Packet
of Dec. 2, says, in its monthly retrospect, that
business is at a dead standstill. The invasion of
Nov. 5 paralysed everything : the horizon is de-
scribed as turbid and lowering. The Government
was hesitating, wad the wisest hesitate between the
disadvantages which attend both a peace and a
war policy. No hope is entertained for a long
peace while IJrquiza is president of the Argentine
Confederation, and the present rulers in Buenos
Ayres are in power. On the export market the
Packet thus reports :
After a courageous stand tallow holders have at last
given way, and, instead of 26 reals, one Qf the latest
transactions, a lot of 450 pipes, was done at 221 reals,
and we believe there is a contract pending for all that
can be got up at a certain Saladero, to the 19th inst., at
211 reals. The actual stocks on hand must be very low,
and it is still doubtful on what scale the Saladeros may
work for the present season. At the present• prices of
live cattle and export produce we would predict very
limited operations. At the same .time strenuous
efforts are being made to regulate rural property and
collect strayed cattle, many of which have become wild;
and of the latter it is not unlikely that a considerable
number may be condemned to the shambles, to save
their owners the trouble and expense of taming them.
But in the meantime these operations of collecting and
separating are virtually suspended by the embodiment
of our rural militia, which leaves us in nearly the same
state of uncertainty.
Of dry ox and cow hides considerable stocks have
accumulated, say upwards of 100,000 hides. In heavy
hides the effective reduction may be about 20 per cent.
on the extreme prices of August. The North American
demand for light hides has been completely at abeyance
for the last two months ; but they have found a new
channel principally for the Continent, at a reduction of
little more than 5 per cent, on previous rates. As an
indispensable requisite for trimming vessels salted hides
have been taken up readily at nearly former prices,
and of these we believe the stocks on hand are very low.
Movements of her Majesty's Ships.--Left at Rio de
Janeiro, her Majesty's ships Indefatigable, Madagascar,
and Trident ; at Pernambuco, her Majesty's brig Spy ;
at Lisbon, her Majesty's ship Meander.
Movements of Foreign Ships of \Var.—Left at Rio de
Janeiro, United States ships of war Independence and
German Town ; also French frigates Audromedo and
Courier. At Madeira, United States frigate Consti-
tution.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 14.
Excban:o on London, 27;1 to 28, firm ' • Franc©, 347
to 348, firm ; Hamburg, 650 to 655. Bank shares
(commercial), 720 milreis; Brazil, 280 milrois prem. ;
ditto New, 115 milreis prem. Six per Cent, stock, 111
to 112 ; Provincial, 101 to 105 ; sovereigns, 8,850.

COFFEE.—Superior, 4.200 to 4.400 ; good first, 4.000
to 4.100 ; American assortments, 4.000 to 4.200 ;
European, 3.600 to 4.100. Sales since the Ist, 160,000
bags_ ; shipped, 116,476 bags ; stock, 50,000 bags.
FREIGHTS.—EngIish Channel, GOs. to 625. Gd. ; Medi-
terranean, 58s. to 755. ; United States, 80c. to 85c. ;
France, 80f. Other markets are unchanged.
FOREIGN SHIPS OF WAR ON THE STATION.—Ame•
rican :—lndependence, John Adams, Savannah. Eng-
lish :—Madagascar, Indefatigable, Sharpshooter, Tri-
dent. French :—Andromede, Catinat, Chassour,
Galathea.

TLIE WAR AND THE INDEPENDENCE
OF POLAND.

In compliance with a numerously signed requisition a
public meeting was called by his worship the Mayor,
last evening (Wednesday), to consider the question.
We confess we attended with great doubts as to the in-
terest which the subject would create amongst us, but
upon entering the hall at 7 o'clock we found it rapidly
filling,' and it soon became crowded in every part.
His worship the Mayor, John Browne, Esq., on
taking the chair, read the requisition, and declared iL
readiness to comply- with the wislics of the inhabitants,
and had therefore convened the present meeting.
The Rev. S. A. Steinthal moved the first resolution,
which was seconded lay R. Smith, jun., Esq.,—
" That this meeting being deeply impressed with the
importance of the present war being concluded by such a
peace alone as shall effectually check tho aggressive policy
of Russia, and thus insure the future tranquillity and free-
dom of Europe, would declare its opinion, that this desir-
able end can be best attained by the re-establishment of
the Independence of the Polish Nation."
The Rev. Gentleman succinctly and rapidly traced the
past and present position of Poland, and pointed out how
we, in former days, had done much mischief to mankind
by consenting to that which was iniquitous, and as we
had not done our duty in times gone bye, it behoved ns
now, when engaged in war with Russia, to endeavour
to repair that mischief by doing justice to Poland. The
speaker alluded to Poland, as in past times, celebrated
for her chivalrous love of liberty, for her advance in
civilisation and literature, and for her tolerant spirit iu
religious matters. At the conclusion of his remarks, he
-alluded to the preeence of a dist:.ngulihed Pole present,
who, by favour of the meeting, would,
enter into detail
upon the state of his country. (Cheers.)
R. SMITH, jun., Esq., most ably and forcibly seconded
the resolution, and denounced the aggressive and gigantic
strides which the policy of Russia had and was taking,
and declared that if not permanently shut up in her
natural barriers she would, like the barbarous hordes of
olden time, overrun and trample with the heel of despot-
ism the freedom of Europe. Mr. Smith called upon the
people to speak out; they were in danger of being sold
by the diplomacy of Government if they allowed Minis-
ters during the recess of Parliament to patch up a treaty
of peace with Russia. He declared that in his opinion
the Ministers, by their conduct, were' the cause of the
war, were guilty of the blood which had been spilt, and
would be, unless the people spoke out, guilty of joining
a treaty of no value in order to patch up a false peace
and bolster them for a short time in their position as
Ministers. (Hear, hear.)
His Worship, after the cheering had subsided, intro-
duced the Polish exile—whose name we caught as Mr.
Zaba—to the meeting.
This gentleman, in a speech of upwards of two hours'
duration, most eloquently, feelingly, and powerfully
sketched the past and present position of his country,
geographically, socially, politically, and religiously, and
was repeatedly interrupted by bursts of applause from
the meeting. It is completely out of our power to offer
anything like an approximate sketch of his oration, as
time and space precludes us front doing justice to even
etminmotshottni
syei aatgshmear
taatnatdte nr
eet iawogne r b
dy e meetingsstihree sohm aevecetai
rwnrgye,
an outline of his speech, which was listened to with the
owwuiett
ntcehas
ens
eodbb ejgaercretati et
greater
f
the speakers than we remarked at the large meeting last
evening. Bridgwater has taken up the question right
heartily, and with her well known sturdiness will not
turn back from the mark she has once desired to reach.
The eloquent stranger commenced by expressing his
gratitude and joy at the manifestations of interest ex-
pressed in his cause, and paid a beautiful and feeling
compliment to the memory of the late Lord Dudley
Stuart, the philanthropic and warm friend of the Polish
cause in and out of the British Parliament. He consi-
dered that an honourable and lasting peace could only
be permanently established by the restoration of Poland,
and believed that the present war was a just retribution
on England and France for their past apathy and ne-
glect, and wholly the result of the dismemberment of
Poland. The spark of justice which had lone. been slum-
bering in their bosoms was now raised into a flame. It
was not sufficient that the Czar should be bumbled,—it
was necessary that he should be crippled, and the only
means of doing so effectually was by a restoration of
Poland. The learned gentleman then reviewed the
early condition of his beloved country on the dawn of
the Christian era. The clemency of their religious tenets
and general toleration of religious freedom ; the asylum
she offered to the persecuted ; and the high moral
character which the right appreciation of religious
' views had given her, reflected greatly to her honour
as a - nation. The early Polish nation was divided
into two classo-s, tho the peasantry.
A citizen of Poland was forbidden to hold any
title they were all brethren. Every individual
could be admitted to the order of the institution, which
was based upon the most honourable principles. When
an individual was raised to the rank of nobleman, all
his family participatal in the honour. It was an insti-
tution that stimulated the energies of all, creating a
noble spirit, and a love and interest for their country.
The order enjoyed many privileges; an audience with
the king could be commanded by them at all times. The
noblemen of Poland could be compared to the members
of our Parliament ; and the only stepping-stone to that
honour was bravery and devotion to their country.
Poland had produced men of eminence, amongst them
Copernicus, who had laid the foundation of the glory of
Newton, and he was proud in saying that Poland gave
birth to so great and eminent a man. Mr. Zaba then com-
pared the peasants of Poland with the serfs of Pus ;
the one inspired with all that was ennobling in nature,
a lova of country, with a heart ever alive to the bless-
ings of religious liberty and independence ; the other
dull, eomnific, and cringing, their every action ruled by
the whim and caprice of their owner and master, who
were obliged to think as ho thought, and to be the goods
and chattels of his business transactions—selling them
or gambling them away as ho chose. Russia had im-
posed upon Poland a pseudo protection of her religi-
ous members, similar to that which she has unsuccesfully
thrust upon Turkey. Treaties had been made by
Prussia, Austria, and Russia, and each had acted
treacherously towards her, and under the mask of
friendship had assisted in breaking up the kingdom
of Poland, which they had decimated and divided
amongst
resisted, but with her handful of
men could not contend against the troops poured
themselves,poland Russia having the lion's share of
the s
in by her sworn protectors. The only way of insuring
a
safety from the despotic spirit of Russia was reducing
her to her ancient limits and restoring the kingdom of
Poland. It was by the annihilation of the kingdom of
Poland that Russia had grown into importance.
Russia it was reported had accepted the four points
of the treaty, but he believed the restoration of Poland
was the only guarantee for the permanent peace of
Europe.
An address was then read by Mr. Steinthal embodying
the opinions of the meeting, and the following resolution
was moved by Mr. J. R. Smith, seconded by Mr.
Rossitor :
" That the address now read be signed by the Mayor
on behalf of the meeting and be forwarded by him to
Lord Palmerston."

Mr. ROSSITOR, in seconding the above, attributed the
whole of the bungling and mismanagement during the
present campaign to those who held the reins of Go-
vernment. Was the Earl of Aberdeen—who was the
known friend to our bitterest enemy, the Emperor of
Russia—a fit person to be at the head of the Govern-
ment! Was Sidney Herbert, who is the son of a
Russian lady, fit to be the Master of the War Office,
who bad remained inactive till war was commenced by
Turkey herself, and England was obliged to help her
The speaker then drew a melancholy picture of the
state of our troops after the battle of Inkerman, and
ridiculed the idea of employing foreign mercenaries when
a legion of Poles, who had an interest in the cause, could
be easily called around the English standard—a noble
legion who would be fighting for their fatherland.
Mr ST/DURAL then read petitions which were in-
tended to be presented to the houses of Parliament.
Mr. TAYLOE in a short but pithy speech proposed the
following resolution :—" That the petition now read be
adopted by this meeting and signed, and be forwarded
by the Mayor, the one to the House of Lords to the
Earl of Harrowby, and that to the House of Commons to
the. members for the borough, requesting them to sup-
port the prayer of the petition.
The following address of sympathy for the Poles in
this country was read by Mr. Steinthal :
" TO PRINCE ADAM CZABTORYSKI.
" Sir,—The inhabitants of Bridgwater, in public hall
assembled, desire to approach you, and to express through
you to your fellow-countrymen, tho noble patriots who
have suffered in behalf of Polish independence' their deep
and sincere sympathy with their noble and patient perse-
verance in behalf of freedom during so many years of exile
and distress.
"'they would express their earnest prayer that the dawn
of bettor days may be approaching for Poland, and hope
that soon a free nation, governed brinstitntions framed
according to their own desires and necessities, they may be
able to oppose a firm barrier against Russian despotism
and barbarism. With profound respect for all who have
andt
God o w
wu com-
mend
will
been engaged in tho arduous struggle for independence
ho
they would urge upon the Polish people the necessity of
continued
the
es
ul f
s-
os a
of e r ee and
all
oppressednot suffer tho wicked to prevail for over."
The following resolution, proposed by Mr. STEINTHAL,
sdld- sold-devotion,
that
ton j
seconded by Mr. J. HuEMAN, was passed. unanimously :
—" That the address now read be signed by the Mayor
on behalf of the meeting, and sent to Prince Adam
Czartoryski."
A vote of thanks to the Mayor terminated the pro-
ceedings.
The address to be presented to Parliament will lie on
the table at the Burgess Hall to-day (Thursday) for sig-
nature, the Mayor recommending that every one present
at the meeting should comerhimself and bring two others
with him to gip the documents—Brie/genitor rimg,

OUR EXPERIENCE IN THE CRIMEA.

We reap, at any rate, this advantage from the
miserable miscarriage of all our military depart-
ments, that we are free henceforth to criticise and
suggest. The stereotyped question, " What can
civilians know about it?" has lost its terrors, for no

civilian need be afraid of suggesting anything which
could more completely miscarry than the arrange-
ments of our military oracles. We are most anxious
that the heavy price which we are paying for expe-
rience and for the right to tell heads of military

dvartruents that they do not understand their
0 till business should not be paid inevain, and that,
if they are fated to accomplish upon our troops
that destruction which storm, sword, and pestilence