The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENIIIO, FEBRUARY 27, 1864.

after the statement made by the Austrian and Prussian Go-
vernments, would be the treaty of 1852 and the integrity
of the Danish monarchy. The Government had not yet
received the consent of all the Powers interested,
but a letter had been received from Copenhagen, in which
it was stated that the Government, from local circumstances,
wished to postpone their answer, It was not for the
Government to suggest the details, but the bases of the
negotiations were what he stated.
In reply to Lord J. MANNERS,
Lord PALMERSTON said that no answer had yet
been received from the German Diet as to sending a
representative to the conference. There were difficulties in
the matter, as one portion of the Diet were in favour of the
maintenance of the integrity of the Danish monarchy, and
the other went the whole hog in the other direction,

THE SLAVE TRADE.

On the motion for going into committee of supply,

Mr. CAVE asked the First Lord of the Treasury
whether herAlajesty's Government intend to carry into exe-
cution the provisions of the treaty with the United States
for the suppression of the slave trade, by stationing vessels
off the coast of Cuba.

Lord PALMERSTON—I can assure the hon. gentleman
that the Government feel as deeply as he can upon the sub-
ject to which he has drawn attention. And if I may be
allowed to speak of individuals, there are no two men in the
country who have felt more warmly, or who, within the
limits of their sphere of action, have exerted themselves
more for the suppression of the slave-trade than the noble
lord at the head of the Foreiga Office and myself. (Cheers.)
At the same time, when we recollect the great difficulty
which was felt in this country to gain a victory over the
interested parties who maintained the slave-trade, we must
make some allowance for the reluctance which other
Governments manifest in adopting the course which we so
honourably followed. But great progress has been made;
and although it is natural for men to look rather upon that
which remains to be done than upon that which has
been accomplished, yet, in survey,ng the whole matter, it
is right we should look both ways. And when we con-
sider that the Brazilian slave trade amounted to an expor-
tation of between 60,000 and 70,000 slaves a year, which
implied wretchedness and misery for three times that
number, including those who were borne from their
homes, those who died on the journey inland, and those
who died in crossing the Atlantic, we may say that a very
great benefit has been conferred upon the human race by
the extinction of the trade to Brazil. (Hear, hear.) There
remains the trade to Cuba. Well, that used to be an im-
portation of 20,000 or more per year—but, according to the
last account received from these who report to us, we have
reason to think that the actual importation into the island
in the year '63 has not exceeded 6,900 or 7,000, which is a
greal diminution. That has been owing, in a great degree,
to the treaty with the United States. The protection
afforded for a great number of years by the American flag
led to a great extent of crime. But the President in the
handsomest manner agreed—indeed, almost proposed to us
—to make a treaty for the mutual right of search, and that
has been most valuable for the accomplishment of our ob-
ject. lam sorry, however, to say that the Government of
France has not thought fit to follow the example of the
Government of the United States— and that is the more to
be regretted, because France was leagued with us in the
abolition of slavery, and for a certain time subscribed to a
treaty with us for the mutual right of search. But jealousies
arose with regard to the national flag, and the treaty was
put an end to, Still, France does send cruizers to the coast
of Africa—and I hope that the action of the French Govern-
ment will be directed sincerely to put an end to the slave trade.
We know that for a certain time a pretended immigration of
free labourers took place into the French colonies, and ob •
tamped, I must hope by false recoaamendations, the sanction
of the French Government. That, however, was really the
slave trade in its purest form, as far as it relates to Africa.
Of course,when the wretched Africans arrived at their desti-
nation, they were not called slaves, they were made appren•
tic s for a certain time ; but the French Governnnt, feeling
the system to be a reproach, put an end to it, on the condition
that we should permit them to export coolies from our Indian
possessions, under regulations. I stn bound to say, with
regard to the present governor and commander-in-chief in
Cuba, that he has behaved in the most honourable manner ;
that he has exercised the power which he possesses in every
case for the suppression of the slave trade. Still, the power
of the governor is not great; and there are laws in Spain
which cramp his action in many cases. We have made
earnest recommendation to the Government of Spain; snd
I hope the Government will feel it due to themselves, and
to the honour and good faith of the Spanish Crown, to re-
move the obstacles which stand in the way of the accom•
plishment of the treaty. But we have furnished to ail our
cruisers on the station warrants authorising them to exercise
the right of search over all the flags which we are entitled to
do by treaty. At the same time, it is very natural for those
who loots to one part of a question to consider that part all-
important; and sometimes, if by the eloquence with which
they urge their opinions they succeed, they may be doing as
much harm as good. Now the late Sir Fowell Buxton, one
of the most sincere and active advocates for the abolition of
the slave trade that ever lived, and who, to his honour be it
spoken, laboured with great success, at ono time took up
the notion that trading up the river was the great remedy
for slavery, and in a book which he published, in his
earnestness for his own purpose, he descried the employ-
ment of other means absolutely necessary, and which he re-
presented as having totally failed. The hon. member who
had just spoken attaches great value, and deservedly, to
the action of cruisers upon the coast of Cuba. No doubt
it is very important that cruisers should act upon the coast
of Cuba, and the warrants which have been given to them
to examine vessels under the American flag will very
much assist them in the performance of their duty. But
I take leave to say that the value of captures in different
places may be stated in these proportions. The most im-
portant capture that can be made is a slave ship,
equipped and prepared, on the coast of Africa, without
any negroes on board. That is most important, because
it prevents that misery which is entailed by the ember-
cation of negroes, and throws back upon the chief a
commodity for which he has not been paid, and which he
has to keep at considerable expense. The next most
valuable capture is that of a ship with negroes on the coast
of Africa; because they escape the horrors the hon. gentle.
man has represented. The third valuable capure is that of
a slaver with negroes on board on the coast of Cuba; be•
cause they are rescued from the doom to which they were
consigned, and are sent back to the coast of Africa, and at
all events they escape the horrors of slavery. I can assure
the hon. member that we are not at all blind to the import-
ance of the point upon which he has dwelt, and Sir James
Hope, a most active and energetic officer, who has the
abolition of slavery entirely at heart, and who possesses a
local knowledge of all these circumstances, will, under the
instructions of the Admiralty, be quite sure to do everything
which a man can do. Upon another point to which the
hon. member alluded, it he did not actually mention it, we
have applied to the Spanish Government to give to our
cruisers acting on the coast of Cubs leave to anchor within
the territorial limits of that island, but I am sorry to say
they have not yet ageeed to that. It may be that there is
some feeling of national jealousy in the matter; there may
also be other motives, less honourable to them, actuating
those who influence the Government. We shall endeavour
to prevail upon them to do this, because that will be a great
assistance to our cruisers, inasmuch as the channels through
which these slave ships pass are known, and are limited in
number; and if we should be able to station our ships on
the coast, so as to command those channels, we should have
great advantage in the capturing of those slavers. The
Spanish Government, as is well known, has been urged over
and over again, from every motive of national good faith and
honour, to do all they could to abolish the slave trade; they
have always told us they had sent orders of the most
stringent character to Cuba, but it was a very difficult thing
to put those orders into execution, and those difficulties
had foiled the intentions of the Government. The Marquis
Miranores was most honourably anxious to do all that lay
in his power to carry out the treaty. With regard to the
papers, they include the reports and correspondence from
foreign and distant stations, and some time must always
elapse before they can be put in shape to lay before Parlia-
ment. Those for the year 1863 are in preparation, and I
hope will very shortly be laid before Parliament, and I trust
they will show a considerable diminution in the slave trade
of Cuba.

should be withdrawn, after the intimation just made by the
Chancellor of the Exchequer. He believed the right hon.
gentleman had brought forward the bill in good faith, and
he for one was prepared to accept it in the same spirit,
though he did not anticipate that it would be productive of
any great advantage.

Ultimately the clause was negatived, and the bill passed
through committee,

The Conveyancers (Ireland) Bill went through commit-
tee, and the Land Erainage (Provisional Orders) Bill, the
Inclosure Bill, and the County Courts (Ireland) Bill, were
severally read a second time.
Sir J. HAY called attention to the grant made to the
captors of Kertch and Yenikali, and the fact that it had
been bestowed upon three flag officers who were not serving
in the Black Sea fleet at the capture. He also moved for a
return of the names of the flag officers to whom the grant
had been distributed, with the proportions in which they
shared.

The return was ordered after some explanations on the
subject by Lord C. PAGET and Sir J. PAKINGTON.
The house adjourned at 10 minutes to 12 o'clock.

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.

VALETTA, Feb. 22,—Her Majesty's screw troopship
Orontes, 2 guns, Capt, W. H. Hire, arrived here on the
night of the 19th inst., on her way to Corfu. She left Spit.
head on the Bth, and Gibraltar on the 16th inst., and she
is to embark the 6th Regiment at Corfu, and proceed with
it direct to the West Indies, calling at Gibraltar. The Ar-
tillery and Engineers, and the other Line regiments, are to
be distributed among the garrisons of Malta and Gibraltar.
The Ist battalion, 25th, and 2d battalion, 22d Rgiment, will,
it is said, leave Malta to make room for some of the troops
from Corfu. The Icarus has arrived with dates from Corfu
to the 19th inst. The demolition of the forts at Vido had
commenced on that day, and when she left a considerable
portion was in ruins. A large quantity of gun-cotton had
been obtained from Austria to be used as an experiment in
the operations. Mu- Majesty's screw steam frigate Phoebe,
35, Capt. T. D. A. Fortescue, left Malta on the 13th inst.
for Beyrout, to relieve the Liffey, 33, Capt. G, Parker,
ordered to Malta. The latter vessel is to call at Corfu
to embark ordnance stores, before coming here. The
Meeanee, 60, Capt. G. Wodehouse, sailed the same
afternoon for the Pirrous, with provisions for the squad=
under the command of Rear-Admiral Yelverton.

On Wednesday and Thursday practice took place at Ports-
mouth from the guns of the Stork gunboat, under the supe-
rintendence of Capt. A. Key, C. 8., commanding her Ma-
jesty's gunnery ship Excellent, with cast iron and steel shot
from 68 and 100 pounder guns, the plates varying from 4t
to 16ft in length, and from 41in to 6in in thickness. We'd-
nesday's firing was confined to cast iron shot (service) from
the 68 pounder gun, with the usual service charge of 161 b
of powder, and the results were those usually obtained. The
indents averaged 11in in depth, and the shot in all cases de-
stroyed themselves by the force of their own impact and the
want of cohesive strength in their material, On the follow-
ing day the more interesting firing took place at the unda-
maged portions of the same plates with crucible iron shots
and crucible and Bessemer steel shots, from both the smooth 111
bore 95 cwt 68 pounder, and the 6 ton (0.22 bore) 100 pounder
smooth bore Armstrong. Capt. Harrison, It A., a member
of the Iron Plate Committee, was on board to witness the
firing. The first shot was fired from the 100 pounder gun,
with a Woolwich Laboratory made cast iron shot, and a
251 b charge of powder, against a plate of 41in made by John
Brown and Co., of Sheffield, for Mr. Reed's ship, the Lord
Warden. This shot made an indent on the plate the diame-
ter of which was 10in, and its depth 61in, the shot destroy-
ing itself without penetrating further into the target ship's
side. The second shot was made from Price's crucible iron,
and was fired at the same plate from the same gun with a
similar charge of powder. The diameter of the indent in
this instance was also 10in, with a depth of 7in, the shot
again being destroyed. The third shot was of steel, fired from
the same gun with a 251 b charge against the Bellerophon 6
inch plate. This shot remained sticking in the plate with its
outer surface projecting 2in beyond the plate's outer surface,
the shot itself being partially broken. Inside the ship a knee
was started and two planks were broken. Two steel shots
wore next fired from the same gan, with similar charges
of powder against Messrs. Charles Cammell's 51-inch plate
for the Lord Clyde (one of Mr. Reed's fleet). Both of these
stuck in the plate, one projecting 41in from the plate's outer
surface, and the other 2 7-10 in. The concluding shot from
the 109-pounder was fired at the 6-in plate, and, as in the
other instances, partially embedded itself; the other surface
being 2 8-10 in outside the plate's outer surface. The 68-
pounder gun was now brought into use, and a wrought- iron
case-hardened shot fired irons it, with the usual charge of
161 b of powder, against John Brown and Co.'s plate, and
produced the usual indent of a cast• iron projectile of this
weight of 21in, with a diameter of 9ia. The next shot was
of steel, fired also from the 68 -pounder with a 16Ib charge.
It was also fired at the same plate. It made an indent of its
diameter of bin, with a d pth equal to the plate's thick-
ness. A subsequent shot shook this last out of its place from
the plate overboard. The next steel shot from the 68 struck
within tin of the last shot on Messrs. Brown's plate, and
remained sticking in the plate 3 7-10iu outside the plate's
outer surface, and shaking out the previous shot, The last
shot fired struck the lower edge of a plate, and, passing in•
board, glanced downwards, and went right through the
ship's bottom, letting the water rush in. A supply of shot
plugs, with a body of seamen from the gunboat, was imme-
diately sent on board, by whom the damage was very soon
temporarily repaired, and the ship kept afloat. The plates
were bolted on the side of the America target ship, and
the distance was the usual 200 yards. On the pre-
vious occasion, when steel-shots were used against a slin
Millwall plate, which received a high classification, the
penetration then was complete, the shot in one instance
entering the plate by a hole fin in diameter, and passing
into the ship by a hole 3ft in diameter. On this occasion,
on the other hand, no thorough penetration of even the
plates alone can be said to have been effected. The 41in
and 51in plates of Messrs. Charles Carnwell and Co. and
Messrs, J. Brown and Co. were, although of rolled manu-
facture, perfect in their welding and of superior metal and
manufacture. Some time after the firing ceased two tug-
boats were despatched to the targ,etship in Porchester Creek,
to tow her on to the mud, as she appeared to be filling with
water, in spite of the precautions taken to the contrary,
Her Majesty's ship Ranger, now ready for commission,
returned to Woolwich on Tharsday from trial of her speed
and machinery down the river to the Maplin Sands. Six
runs at full power were made at the Lower Hope, and four
runs at half power at Long Reach, the result of which was
a fraction under eignt knots at full speed and six knots at
half speed. The Ranger was paid out of commission by
Commander "Wratislaw, from the West Coast of Africa, on
the 10th of November last.

By the Union Steam Navigation Company's mail steam-
ship S mon, which arrived at Plymouth on Wednesday, we
learn that the screw steam frigate Narcissus, 39, Capt. J. S.
Beckford, flag of Rear-Admiral Sir Baldwin Walker,
K.C,8,, was appointed to leave Cape Town on Jan, 21,
with his Excellency the Governor, Sir P. Wodehouse, and
the Commander of the Forces, Sir P. Douglas, who are
proceeding to Graham's Town. The screw steam corvette
Scylla, 21, from England, arrived on Dec. 21 at the Cape,
and left oa the 20th for China. The steamsloop Ariel. G,
was appointed to leave shortly after the 21st of January for
the Mozambique Channel. The screw steamsloop Falcon,
17, Commander G. H. Parkin, from Plymouth, Nov. 17,
arrived in Siwon's Bay Jan. 16, bound for Australia. The
Saxon spoke Jan. 29, near St. Helena, the bark City of
Durham ; on Feb. 14, in lat 26 44 N, long 19 11 W, the
bark Norfolk, of Yarmouth, for Table Bay ; and on Feb.
19, in lat 39 19 N, long 5 30 W, the ship Dreadnought, of
Liverpool, steering south, and the barque Assyrian, from
London for Shanghai.

There appears every probability that the head quarters of
the military forces in South Africa will be removed from
Cape Town to the interior, at Graham's Town. Orders have
been recently received to prepare accommodation for 500
troops. It is expected that the head quarters of the Royal
forces and Cape Mounted Rifles will be at King William's
Town. The headquarters and three companies of the 11th
Regiment will be at Fort Beaufort.

NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION.

Although the contest at Woolwich virtually ter-
minated on Thursday, Messrs. Whitworth and
Rigby continued the competition yesterday with
their remaining rifles at the long range, with a still
better result than they obtained before, as will be
seen from the following table

Ai; 1,00) Yards.
Figure of Merit in Feet.

4th Rifle. sth Rifle. 6th Rifle. Average.

Whitworth 147 .. 1.44 1.45 .. 1.83
Rigby

It will be observed that Whit worth's shooting
was marvellously regular during the last three series
of shots. Rigby's figure of merit for his sixth rifle
is also very wonderful, being equivalent to hitting
a man at 1,000 yards. Had Rigby only shot as well
in proportion at the 500 pads range as he did at
1,000 yards, he would have won easily.
The corrected returns of the figures of merit of
the whole of the weapons employed in the contest
will be published as soon as they are received from
the Council of the National R fle Association.