The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-26 00:00:00

THERMOM ETER.

This day at Two o'clock

Barometer-30.22.
Wind—S. ; moderate, and fine.

,
f:7461', „
((Li

LONDON, TUESDAY, JAN. 26, 1864.

'ration. His arguments have much reason on their
side, yet the French will be wise to weigh well the
consequences before they begin an innovation in
their law. It was a theory laid down by the great
NAPOLEON in his early days of speculative govern-
, mut that the best source of social prosperity was
the avoidance of extreme poverty. He
admitted the necessity of social distine-
' ;ions, bat denied the necessary existence of
the extreme of destitution. This theory of the
y outhful reformer was practically carried out in his
great Code, and even an apparently plausible in-
fringement of which should be viewed with extreme
caution.

The news from Berlin, though unexpected, can
:hardly create mach surprise. It is, unfortunately,
only too much in consonance with the arbitrary
temper and despotic opinions of the KING, whose
faults as a ruler are doubled by the shortsighted
And obstinate men who compose his Cabinet. The
Prussian Chamber of Deputies, yesterday, ordered
the committee on the Badget to report immediately
-upon the vote on the Budget, given on Saturday
by the Upper House. The report proposing that
the vote of the Upper House should be declared
null and void, was accordingly made, and at once
adopted by the House. Upon this Count EUTEN-
BURG read a Royal Message, stating that the Diet
would be closed that very day by the President of
the Council. This arbitrary step was accordingly
takea, and the President read a speech from the
Throne reproving the Deputies in no measured
terms. The "head and front of its offending" is
that it has "maintained the ground whieh led to
the dissolution of the previous Chamber." This is
possibly intended as a warning for the future, as
well as an excuse for the present ; a hint that dis-
solution will be the next step should the Deputies
continue refractory. The Budgets are of
course the primary cause of complaint.
The House has not discussed the Budget
of 1863, and has struck out items in the current
year which are indispensable for the public ser-
vice, according to the views of Herr VON BIS-
MARK and his Royal Master. It has renewed the
resolution of the former Chamber on the military
budget, without first discussing the bill establishing
the obligation of military service. The refusal of
the loan is another subject of offence, and the house
is charged with having passed resolutions, which,
in the event of war, pledge it to take part against
the Prussian fatherland. The Government, there-
fore, renounces for the present the hope of coming
to terms with the Chamber, and " considers it its
duty to act for the maintenance of the State."
What these conveniently ambiguous words may
signify remains to be seen. The announcement of
the intentions of the Cabinet are couched after the
manner of Herr VON BISMARK, in pompous general
terms, but we know the general character of what
the Prussian Premier styles "the struggle between
the House of Hohenzollern and the House of
Representatives." Last year this same conflict
absorbed a large oharo of European attention.
It was then a matter pur et simple, a
resolute stand in favour of constitutional
right on the part of the Chamber—an obstinate and
tyrannical effort on the part of the KING and his
Government to trample down the liberties of his
people. This year the question is complicated by
the Schleswig-Holstein dispute. Last year our
sympathies, in common with all free nations, were
wholly with the Deputies. This year the com-
batants have a fresh subject of dispute. They
agree in their desire to dispossess the Danes of the
sovereignty of the Dachies, but they differ in the
manner of doing it. The Chamber wishes to estab-
lish them as an independent State, under the sway
of the Duke of AUGUSTENBURG. The KING and
his advisers wish to join Holstein at least to the
Prussian provinces. In neither of these projects
can the E aglish people take part. The Prussian
deputies and the Prussian people have forfeited the
warm interest felt in this country in their proceed-
ings by their conduct in this matter. It ill became
the representatives who were resisting oppression—
it was little fitting for the people who supported
them in the struggle to invade the rights
of their neighbours. Apart from the moral wrong,
this enthusiasm for Danish conquests is a grave
political error on the part of the Prussians. By
their headstrong prosecution of the aggression
on the rights of Denmark they are weakening their
own position towards the Crown, towards France,
towards Europe generally. The infatuation which
urges them on reminds one of the old saying,
Quern Deus mat perdere, prius dementat. The
Prussians are themselves applying the torch to a
bonfire that they themselves may have the bitterest
cause to regret. Neither of the two great German
Powers are in a position to court war. Prussia,
with her Rhenish provinces lying temptingly
within the reach of France, may look in vain for
English support against the trouble she is bringing
on herself. This country will not suffer itself to be
entangled in her affairs, if she chooses to disregard
warning and remonstrance, and to break her former
obligations. The English Ministry that attempted
such a course would surely rue it. Even the young
Crown Prince has already lost much of his popu-
larity in this country from the countenance he has
afforded to the pretensions of the Duke of AUGUS-
TENBURG. The English public may not be able to
fallow all the intricacies of Almanach de Gotha, but
they oan very clearly comprehend that the Prussian
King, Ministers, and people are actuated by the
greed of power in their eagerness on behalf of the
political rights of the Holsteiners. It remains to
be seen whether a nation divided against itself can
succeed in accomplishing its wishes; but should the
Prussians persist, as appears but too probable, in
their present course, they can certainly hope for
little sympathy or assistance in the misfortunes they
will inevitably bring down upon themselves and
their country,

The Legislative Assembly of France appears to
have commenced its proceedings this year with more
than ordinary spirit. The eloquent discourse of M.
TRIERS arrested, for a time, the most profound and
universal attention. Now the Baron DE VEANCE has
introduced in a very able and elaborate speech the
important subject of testamentary rights and the law
of succession—a question of the greatest possible
importance both in a social and commercial point of
view. There is much truth in the position assumed by
M. DE VEANCE ; the perpetual subdivision of pro-
perty is necessarily attended with many evils; but,
as there are two sides to most questions, so also, on
the other hand, the lovers •of primogeniture
and the consolidation of great fortunes are
productive of very painfal results to those at the
lower end of the social scale. In England we see
in forcible contrast the good and the evil
consequences of the latter system. Families
and Heads of Houses flourish and grow
strong, while individuals, countless units in
the great chaos, sink frcm affluence to poverty,
and from poverty to beggary. Yet, so great are the
social and practical advantages of cur system that
he would be a bold innovator indeed who would
seek to alter or even to modify it. The
fatal consegnenees which M. DE VEANCE most

There are few things morn reprehensible than
practical joking, and it will be a good thing for
society when some more effective check is put upon
it. It is not at all expedient that the present sys-
tem should continue, as many sad instances con-
stantly prove that a mere censure does not deter the
idle, ignorant, and careless from the perpetration of
jokes that often produce most serious results, and
not unfrequently leave fatal terminations. A de-
plorable death through fright was recorded yester-
day, and an inquest was he d upon the body of the
victim. A young woman, who was engaged es a
dress-maker in the house of a gentleman in Hyde-
park-gardens, was coming upstairs when she saw a
figure in white in a doorway, and the sudden shock
so completely overpowered her that she was carried
away insensible. She never entirely recovered, end
after lingering for four months expired. A more
lamentable case of the sad effects of this detestable
habit of practical joking has seldom been heard of,
since the death of this poor young woman was evi-
dently occasioned by the startling effects of the fearful
apparition. It may be suggested that the verdicts
of the jury in these cases are not strong enough,
and in this particular instance just cited it is very
strange they should have separated without at least
passing a severe censure upon the unhappy indi
vidual who caused the calamity. It is not enough
to declare that the death was occasioned by a mis-
fortune. It is not to be expected t':at the passing

particularly deplores do uot, however, exist
in this country; for perfect freedom with respect to
disposal of personal property is permitted by the
Commercial property
t-starnentary law of England.
may be bequeathed to au eldest son or divided among
the several members of a family, in accordance with
the desires expressed in the will and testament of
the dying father. It is diff,rent, however, in
France. There the law compels the subdivision of
all the property on the death of its possessor. A
man with one child may bequeath half of his pro-
perty at his own discretion; if he have two children,
he may dispose freely of two-thirds, and if
the number of his family be larger his freedom in
the distribution is yet further restricted. Here it
is that M. DE VE4NcE desires to effect some site-

of such mild sentences as this will put a stop to the
dangerous practice of "joking," which has produced
such serious evils in so many instances, and so often
laid the foundation of incurable maladies, if the
fatal results of this case here recorded did not im-
mediately ensue. In this instance, doubtless, the
perpetrator of the joke did not intend to
do any harm, and may have been, as the Coroner
remarked, "sincerely sorry for her folly," but the
law should not so readily exonerate those charged
with such offences, or allow them loop holes through
which they can so easily pass, and escape the
punishment they so justly merit. In other cases
of accidents and injuries the same laxity is not
witnessed, and where danger is apprehended the
responsible party is detained until the result is
known, and the circumstances duly investigated.
It is certain that, morally, a person is more guilty
who injures another by dressing up as a ghost,
or by producing spectral illusions to frighten and
startle, than one who accidentally knocks down
or runs over another in the streets. In most cases
of this sort the foot passengers are greatly to
blame for haste, or imprudence, and the catas-
trophe that occurs is sometimes almost unavoid-
able in the hurry of business and pressure of
affairs. Now planning a practical joke is a delibe-
rate intention, and cannot possibly be accounted
for as inadvertence, or excused as unintentional,
and no possible reason can be adduced to allege
a necessity or a strong inducement to commit the
action. The sooner the matter is regarded in the
right light, aad taken up in the proper spirit, the
better. It is only surprising that more strictness
and severity have not been exercised in this respect,
when we consider that the interests of so many are
bound up in the matter, Children are constantly
exposed to danger through the carelessness of nur-
serymaids in many respects, but in none do they
incur more risks than in the practiee of " dress-
ing up ghosts" and other frightful images to
terrify them into silence. Now, all this ignorance
of effects, and non-intention to injure, that is so
readily put forward as a plea for the commission
of the offence, will best be cured by the in-
fliction of a punishment. If it is urged that
the mode of procedure is hard on the innocent actors
who meant no harm, it is surely much worse that
others should lose their health, their reason, and
their lives. The sooner such lamentable ignorance
is enlightened the better, and a little rough expe-
rience will be the best antidote against a very absurd
frame of mind, and great want of thought, which
must inseparably accompany all such reprehensible
practices. The effect on others is to be considered,
too, in dealing with such cases, and treating the
offenders. There are many who will wilfully dis-
regard or totally ignore the warnings that such
practices are dangerous, who will pay attention di-
rectly they understand that they may be subjected
to annoyance or inconvenience in the carrying out
of their foolish games. When such stringent laws
and oppressive enactments are made for the preser-
vation of game, in order that sportsmen may in-
dulge themselves in any exciting pursuit, it seems
rather inconsistent that no check should be applied
to this social calamity, and no steps taken by the
authorities to interpose a barrier for the protection
of the community. It is high time that this anomaly
be rectified and this grievance redressed. Let the
Legislature make the practice a chargeable offence,
and it will soon be seen that, as in the case of
FREDERICK's soldiers contriving to keep their hats
on their heads in the wind when he had punished
one for the " accident," as it was called, of the wind
blowing off his hat in the midst of a review, and
thereby causing great confusion, that the ignorance
which now prevails as to the extent of the evils and
injuries of practical joking will vanish as if by
magic, and the results of the increased intelligence
cannot but be profitable to the parties concerned,
and most fortunate and happy for their intended
victims.

A Cabinet Council was held yesterday at the
official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, in
Downing-street. The Ministers present were Lord Pal-
merston, the Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Duke of
Argyll, Sir George Grey, Earl Russell, Earl de Grey, Sir
Uharles Wood, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the
Duke of Somerset, the Right Hon. T. Milner Gibson, the
Right Hon. Edward Cardwell, Lord Stanley of Alderley,
and the Right Hon. 0. P. Vi!liers.

MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.—The following note
has been addressed by Mr. Disraeli to the members
who usually act with him in the House of Commons :
" Sir,—l have the honour to inform you that Parliament
will reassemble on Thursday, the 4th February, and I
would express my hope that you may find it convenient to
be in your place that day, as business of importance may
be expected.—l am sir, your faithful servant —B. DISRAELI.
Hughenden Manor, Jan. 12."

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

PROROGATION OF THE PRUSSIAN
CHAMBERS.

BERLIN, Jan. 25.

The Chambe of Deputies. to-day ordered the
Committee on he Budget to immediately report
upon the vote 01 the Budget given on Saturday last
by the Upper liouse. The Committee accordingly
made their repot, which proposed that the vote of
the Upper Home should be declared null and void.
This propositionwas adopted by the house. Count
Eutenburg then read a Royal message, stating that
the Diet would )e closed to day at three p,m. by
the President of the Council.

The Diet was closed to-day by the President of
the Council, who read the Speech from the Throne.
The following are the most important passages :
" The Chamber of Deputies has maintained the
ground which led to the dissolution of the previous
Chamber. The Souse has rejected the Bill refer-
ring to Article 99 of the Constitution, and has not
discussed the Budget of 1863. In the Budget of the
current y ear it hes struck out items which are indis-
pensable for the public service. The House has also
renewed the resolution of the previous Chamber
upon the Military Budget without having discussed
the preliminary Bill establishing the obligation to
military service. For that reason the Upper House,
in the exercise of its Constitutional rights, has
rejected the Budget of 1864 as amended by the
Chamber of Deputies.
" The Government has carried out the vote of the
Chamber with regard to the Polish members ar-
rested for high treason, but does not consider it
conformable to the respect due to public justice and
to the dignity of the House.
" The House has also refused the required loan
proposed by the Government to afford the means
of carrying out Federal Execution in Holstein, as
well as for the maiatenance of Prussia's position as a
great Power and her honour in the further develop-
ment of the cocflict, and likewise for covering the
portion of the expenses of the Execution falling
to Prussia ae member of the German Confederation.
The House rejected this vote, although the King
had pledged his word, i❑ his reply of the 27th of
December, that the money should only be em-
ployed for the protection of the right and honour
of the country.
" The House has passed resolutions by which the
majority, in the event of warlike complications,
takes part beforehand against the Prussian
Fatherland.

"Renouncing, therefore, for tha present the hope
of bringing about an understanding with the Cham-
ber, the Government considers it its duty to act
for the maintenance of the State, and relies herein
upon the growing support of the country."

SPAIN.

MADRID, JAN. 26.

The Correspondencia states that the Finance
Minister has drawn up a project to improve the
revenue of the State and limit the expenses of the

public service.

--o---

THACKERAT'S LAST WORK.—Charles Dickens,
writing about Mr. Thackeray in the February num-
ber of the Cornhill Magazine, says:—" On the table before
me there lies all that ho had written of his latest and last
story. That it would be very sad to any one—that it is in-
expressly so to a writer—in its evidences of matured designs
never to be accomplished, of intentions begun to be exe-
cuted and destined never to be completed) of careful prepa-
ration for long roads of thought that he was never to tra-
verse, and for shining goals that he was never to reach,
will be readily believed. The pain, however, that I have
felt in perusing it has not been duper than tire conviction
that he was in the healthiest Vigour of his powers when he
wrought on this last labour. In respect of earnest feeling,
far-seeing purpose, character, incident, and a certain loving
picturesqueness blending the whole, I believe it to be much
the best of all his works. That he fully meant ft to be so,
that he had become strongly attached to it, and that he be-
stowed great pains upon it, I trace in almost every page. It
contains one picture which must have cost him extreme
distress, and which is a masterpiece. There are two chil-
dren in it, touched with a hard as loving and tender as ever
a father caressed his little child with. There is some young
love, as pure and iullf;tent and pretty as the truth. And it
is very remarkable that by reason of the singular construes
tion of the story, more than one main incident usually be-
longing to the old of such a fiction is anticipated in the
beginning, and thus there is an approach to completeness
in the ftegurant, as to the satisfaction of the reader's mind
concerning the most interesting persons, which could hardly
nave been better attained if the writer's breaking-off had been
foreseen. The last line he wrote and the last proof he cor-
rected are among these papers through which I nave so sor-
rowfully made my way. The condition of the little pages
of manuscript where death stopped his hand shows that he
had carried them about, and often taken them out of his
pocket here and there, for patient revision and interlinea-
tion. The last words he corrected in print were, And my
heart throbbed with an exquisite bliss.' God grant that on
that Christmas-eve when he laid bis head back on his pillow
and threw up his arms, as he had been wont to do when
very weary, some consciousness of duty dune and Christian
hope throughout life humbly cherished, may have caused
his own heart so to throb, when he passed away to his
Redeemer's lest.

YOUNG POETS are reminded by a sagacious critic
in the Saturday Review that they rarely take the
trouble to imitate any living poet under the rank of Mr.
Tennyson ; whereas, adds the reviewer, the minor poets
have distinct styles, and it is because they have this that
they attract and please. Whatever else may be said of Mr.
Browning, or Mr. Matthew Arnold, or Mr. Henry Taylor,
or even of less aspiring composers—of Lord Houghton, for
instance, or Mr. Coventry Patmore—this much atleast may
be said, that a poem written by them obviously comes froth
them, and has a cast that is recognisable and peculiar. But
in the productions of unsuccessful young poets this is the
very thing that is wanting. Page after page is turned over,
and the versification may be good and clever in its way, but
it is either imitative or colourless. The world has got the
thing before, and does not want any more of it, and so the
volume, when published, falls hopelessly flat,

A WONDERFUL METEORITE.—The Gottinger
Nachrichten gives an account of a meteorite which
has been found at Obenkirchen (Schaumburg) imbedded in
a mass of sand 15 feet below the surface. Its weight is
about 82 pounds, and it has the form of an irregular four-
sided pyramid. The mass is still intact, with the exception
of a smell piece, which has been removed for analysis. The
surface is entirely converted into brown and black hydrated
oxide of iron, plainly showing it must have fallen some cen-
turies ago. The iron is quite passive, aril does not reduce
copper from a solution of one of its salts. The specific
gravity is very small, being only 7.12. A. small portion,
weighing 2.9 grs., was removed for analysis, and was found
to have the following composition :—iron, 90.95 ; nickel
I and cobalt, 8.01; phosporus, 0.64,

THIS SON, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 26, 1864,

THE SIEGE OF CHARLESTON.

The country has ceased to look for the capture
of Charleston, either by General Gilmore's army
or by the ironclad navy. The many months that
have passed since the last serious attempt by the
Monitors have brought with them many promises,
and left behind them an equal number of disap-
pointments ; and those who anticipated that Gene-
ral Gilmore's reduction of Fort Wagner would in-
stantly be followed by the seizure of Sumter's site,
of Fort Moultrie, James Island, and all the works
in the harbour, have waited in vain for the realisa-
tion of their hopes. The navy has maintained a
blockade of Charleston harbour that even the rebels
must admit is effective, if not perfect ; and oz:e news
has all along kept us informed that General Gil-
more was from time to time training his gans upon
the city, as well as " feeling" the state of mat tern
along the important railroad linestretching between
Charleston and Savannah. The recalling of these
latter facts will remind those who fancy that out
army and navy down there have been absolutely
useless that they, at least, are mistaken ; for we do
not doubt that the simple fact that General
Gilmore has ceaselessly threatened the railroad
line just mentioned has held in the vicinity
and kept out of service elsewhere a very large
rebel force. When another attack upon the
defences of Charleston was in contemplation,
prior to the assignment of Admiral Dahlgren, and
Gen. Gilmore to their present commands, the ques-
tion, we presume, was not, 'What is the best way to
operate ? but, Can we operate at all, so as to make
the handful of troops in that department available
for offensive operations ? Can the meagre land force
there be advantageously used, or must it remain

idle ? Circumstances rendered it impossible to in-
crease it. Not a regiment could be spared from any
of our armies, and any work in the Department of
the South must be done by the force already there.
Two attempts against the defences of Charleston had
been made without gaining a foot of ground. One
was a land attack under Benham, and the other a
naval attack under Dupont. Ironclads were deemed
a most formidable means of offence, and it was evi-
dent that any plan which promieed success must
involve a close co-operation of land and naval forces

in some project that would allow the iron-clad ele-
ment to enter largely. The few thousand troops in
the department were not expected to capture
Charleston, but only to execute their part of a plan
of joint operations. To have thrust them upon the
main land unsupported against an enemy that had
had two years to erect his defences and having
at his back unlimited means of concentrating
troops by railroad, would have been crimi-
nal folly. A plan of joint operations was
agreed upon, each branch of service to do cer-
tain specified work. The plunging fire of Sumter

was what the Monitors most feared on account of
weak decks. That eliminated, naval men declared
that the Monitors could pass up to the city. An
article in the Army and Navy Journal, evidently
written by some one who knows what he is talking
_ _

about, tells us that the plan of attack proposed by

General Gilmore was,-1. To effect a lodgment on
the south side of Morris Island, which it was known
the enemy were then strongly fortifying ; 2. To be-
siege and reduce Fort Wagner, by which all the
works on Cumming's Point would necessarily fall ;
3, From the position thus gained to demolish Fort
Sumter; 4. The vessels of war to remove the ob-
structions at the entrance of the harbour, and reach
the city by running by the works on Sullivan's
Island. The first three items of the above pro-

gramme were fully accomplished long ago, and the
fame of the performance resounded throughout the
world. The echoes of General Gilmore's big guns

and the arguments of the " Swamp Angel" were
not our least persuasive diplomatists. For the
ensuing weary months of delay there may be good
rerta3n, but, whether there is or not, General Gil-
more is by no one held responsible for this delay.
His work was done, and well done. When it was
suspected that the enemy was putting guns on
the channel faces of Satnter, fire was re-opened
upon it. A slow fire from mortars, to . pre-
vent working inside, was long kept up. What ad •
vantage the delay has given the enemy cannot be
well estimated. It has probably entirely changed
the condition of the problem. The shores of the
inner harbour and the wharves of the city bristle
with guns that did not exist at the time Gilmore
took Wagner, and military men assert that what
was feasible for the monitors to do then is very diffi-
cult if not impossible now ; that if they once reached
tte inner harbour they could pot hope to remain
there. The permanent occupation of Sumter by our
troops, while the enemy hold James and Sullivan's
Islands, seem to be impracticable, neither is it at all
necessary. Sumter is harmless, and oannot injure
the monitors. But the enemy, from his batteries,
sees all the five faces of Sumter; we, from oar bat-
teries, see but two of its faces. The enemy has a
concentric fire on Sumter—his batteries encircle it ;
ours fire upon it from one direction. It would ap-
pear, therefore, that if it were possible to get pos-
session of it, it would not only be possible but easy
for the enemy to get it back again. The prospect
of capturing Charleston by the monitors, or by an
attack after any fashion, or by any agency, from
the front, does not certainly seem to be very bril-
liant, but still we do not believe that the rebels will
hold the city all of this year by any means.—New
York Times.

MRS. LIRRIPER READ AND BEETHOVEN ILLUS-
TRATED.-Mr. Howard Glover announces another of his
morning concerts—at which the entertainment will be
varied by Mrs. Stirling's reading of a part of " Mrs. Lirri-
per." There will also be given Beethoven's Pastoral Sym-
phony, with scenic illustrations.
NINE YEARS OF RUSSIAN FINANCES—In 1853
the funded debt stood at little above £60,000,000,
and the floating debt at perhaps 10 or 12 million' more.
The paper circulation was about £30,000,C03, supported by
a metallic reserve of more than a third of that amount.
Since that time the funded debt has risen to £11,000.000,
the floating debt is doubled, the circulation of bank notes
has been raised to more thanLloo,ooo,ooof, and specie pay-
ments have been suspended.

THE ALABAMA.—By the arrival Of the Cape mail
we learn that two vessels had arrived in Table
Bay at the end of December with news of the Alabama.
Captain Cato, of the Beatitifttl Star, reported that in pass-
ing the Straits of Sunda, on the 25th October last, he was
informed that the Alabama had passed Angier day or two
before. She had 25 men sick, and did not report any cap-
tures. Captain Sedgwick, of the Latona, from Singapore,
reported that he had heard of the Alabama being in the
China Seas, and on the night of the 6th November, off the
Java Heads, saw a fine vessel of about 500 tons, with all
sails set, on fire, and a bark-rigged steamer near her, which
he supposed to be the Alabama. A private letter which
has been shown us describes the later occurrence as follows :
—"On the night of the 6th Nov., about 150 miles W.S.
of Java Heads, I was called about 11 o'clock by the third
officer to look at a ship on fire. I jumped out and hurried on
deck. It was rather a dirty, rainy sort of a night, and we
were under easy sail—royals, mizentopgallant sail, and
mainsail stowed; and right ahead was seen a bright glare.
The Latona was close-hauled, so as to make a little to wind-
ward of it, and under the impression that she was one of
the cotton ships from China, which had accidentally caught
fire, we burnt blue lights to let her know assistance was at
hand. As we got near her we could see her plainer—a fine
double topsail yard bark, royals hauled up, but not stowed,
and the mainyard backed ; in fact, properly hove to, as any
other ship would be for a boat to board her. She was on
fire fore and aft, masts all standing, and seemingly not a
soul aboard her, and no boats in sight. It was one of the
finest sights I have seen at sea. It was, as I have said, rather
a dirty night, and though, wo were close to the unfortunate
bark, it was as light as day, all outside the halo of her light
was doubly dim and black. Out of this darkness came b.
long low craft, which we soon found out to be a steamer,
bue we could not distinguish her colours. She passed close
between us and the bark. We guessed what she was at
once, snore especially as we heard in Singapore that she had
been at the Cape, and was probably going towards the China
Seas. The comments of our crew were rather curious,
greatly in favour of the Southerners; but it was a source of
lamentation the burning of the bark's fine white cotton can-
vas, enough to make jumpers and trousers fort all hands for
some years I We expected a visit from the Alabama, but
she did not come near us, as we kept away on our course.
On our arrival hose the lieutenant of the -United States
steamer Mohican came on board and got an extract from
the log, and two days after that left, bound eastward, on a
cruise. It will take a much smarter craft than she is to
catch the Alabama."
THE HISTORY OF THE COTTON PAIIINE.—Mr. R.
A. Arnold has undertaken to write the history of the cotton
famine. Mr. Arnold is known as the author of " Ralph ;
or, St. Sepulchre's and St. Stephen's," and is a contributor
to our periodical literature; besides which, he was officially
connected with " T4c Public 'Works Act,"