The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-17 00:00:00

Liberal Dim:nonstrati= in Essex.

MALDON, Dec. 16.
The Maid= Liberal Independeut Ciub celebrated
its fifth anniwarsary last evening in the public hall
in this towo, which was tastefully thcorated for
the occasion. The chair was occupied by Sir T. B.
Wetcrn, B art., who was supported by Mr Chich, s-
ter FotteE cue, MT., Under Secretary for the Colo.
nies ; Mr T. Sutton Western, MT. for Maldon ;
Mr Charles Buxton, M.P. for Maidstone; Mr
J. G. Rebow, the Liberal candidate for Colchester ;
Mr R. B. Baiter, the Liberal candidate for South
Mr R. J. Bagshaw, late M.P. for Harwich; the
Rev. Sir L. Page Wood ; Criptain Byng, R.N.;
Major Masse'', Colonel Western, Mr G. CAIN
laud.

After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts,

The. CllerameN gave " Hey M:jesty's Ministers,"
rem irking that he was sure the toast would be well
received, as Lord Palmerston was the most popular
llirdster this country had had for a long time.
Mr CHICHESTER FORTESCUE, M.P., responded.
The right hon. gentleman said he was closely con-
nected with her Majesty's Ministers, and he re
turned thanks on their behalf as one of the Liberal
perty. In respect of their character as Conserva-
tives—if they had such a character—he did not at
tempt to return thanks ; but his sentiments went
with the Liberal party, and that was the reason why
he acted under the present Ministers. Her Mae
jesty's Government was in very good health at the
present moment. It was true that during the past
summer they had a very severe attack, but that at-
tack ended favourably, the recovery was rapid and
complete, and he thought that their health had since
been better than it was before. (Laughter.) He
crud wish, however, that the members of her
Alsjesty's Government were better acquainted
within the walls of the House of Commons with
the Liberals of Essex. It seemed to him that the
great object of these political gatherings was that
those present should exchange to the best of
their power political information and political
ideas, so as to keep awake and alive the spirit
of the party. With this feeling he should
venture to make a few remarks upon certain subjects
which interested the country at the present tirae,and
first of all with respect to those subjects with which
he was personally most conversant, he would say a
word or two upon one of the colonial questions. He
would begin with the colony of New Z :eland. He
wished he could announce to the meetiog that the
war in New Zealand was at an end.. He was not,
however, able to do so, and the last accounts from
the colony were not quite so satisfactory as our
hopes had led us to expect. The submission of the
natives had not yet been secured, and it would evi-
dently require another campaign before peace could
be restored. However, in spite of certain contretemps
and certain disappointments, all he could learn from
the colony by the mail which arrived only the pre-
vious day led him to the belief that the campaign
'which had lately begun would ba the last of a war
which he hoped and believed would not be witnessed
again. He knew that fears had been entertained
by many good men in this country that the Govern-
ment of New Zealand was inclined to deal hardly
with the natives to deprive them in an unjustifiable
degree of the land and even to continue the war for
the sake of the gain supposed to be derived from
the imperial military expenditure in those islands.
But be confessed that he did not believe in the
desire of the New Zealand colonists to continue the
war longer than it could be helped. His knowledge
of the great sacrifices which they bad been and were
still making, by the shedding of colonial blood, by
the spending of colonial money, and by the paralysis
of colonial trade, led him to the conviction that they
would not be inclined to continue the war a day
longer than could be helped. He felt also sure that
the natives would not be treated unjustly with regard
to their land. Precautions had been most properly
taken by his right hon friend, Mr Cardwell, the
present head of the Colonial-office, that the large
powers with respect to the confiscation of native
land which the colonial government had taken should
not be abused. It was impossible that the Govern-
ment in the islands of New Zealand engaged in
deadly conflict with another race could view these
matters with that calmness and impartiality which
the Imperial Government was able to bring to bear
upon them ; and, therefore, it was the duty of her
.Majesty's Government to take particular etre that
no wrong should be done to the native race in the
terms of peace. At the same time he thought that
portion of the natives of New Zealand who had
been to their great loss and ours perversely shed-
ding their blood and the blood of the colonists, and
of her Majesty's troops, should receive a severe
lesson, which should prevent them pursuing a simi•
lar line of conduct in the future. Ho believed that
that was necessary and just,-and the best thing
which could happen both for us and for them; and
this he believed would be the practical result of the
powers given by her Majesty's Government to the
Governor of New Zealand. He would add one
word as to the general subject of our dealiegs• with
this interesting colony of New Zealand and its
native population, because there had been in the
public press and elsewhere a good deal of ignorant
and unjust accusation indulged in with respect to
our dealings with that remarkable native popula-
tion. In • the first place, could we be blamed for
having. taken the government of New Zealand ?
Any one
-who knew anything of the history of that
colony must feet that we were not open to blame
upon that point, Oar people had already gone to
New Zealand in very considerable numbers before
we assumed the government ; and it was perfectly
certain that magnificent islands, equal in extent to
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
could have been lett in the possession of a small,
eparse, and already diminishing native race, and
must inevitably have been, sooner or later, occu-
pied by some European Power. In fact, it was
well known that it was a race between Great Britain
and France as to which of these great Powers
should obtain possession of New Zealand. Our
Government sent them to New Zealand because
they were forced to do so, and because it was
their duty to keep order between British sub-
j,!cts already settled there and the native
race. So far be thought we were open to no
blame, and what had happened since ? In spite of
the present unfortunate war, in spite of the prejudice
which the power of a great country like this against
a small native race might excite in some minds, he
maintained that the war had been caused by no pro-
ccediags on our part. Let any one examine the
history of our dealings with these natives, and he
would find that however much we might have failed
in otter respects, we had not oppressed them. In
this war the natives had not risen against any vio-
lation of their liberties, against robbery of their
property, against tyranny and wrorg. We had, he
admitted, failed to maintain, for any length of time,
peaceful relations between races differing so greatly
from one another; but this was a result which per-
haps had not yet been achieved by any European
nation. It was a result which we hoped to attain,
but which we failed to attain ; but our sins had been
more those of omission than of commission. We had
not been oppressive, but on the contrary we had
been tolerant. We had tried perhaps to do more
than was possible, and had substituted theories for
facts. For instance, we voted these natives to be
British subjects, enjoying all the rights and privi-
leges of British subj cts. Our Ministers, in their
early despatches to colonial governors, directed them
to treat the natives as British subjects, and above all
means to enforce law and order ; but the factions,
the natives of New Zotiand, declined the privileges
offered when coupled with the conditions of law and
order. The Colonial Government had no power to
enforce the principle laid down, and it was found
impossible to reduce the theory to practice. Then
came a change which was highly beneficial to the
English race in New Zealand, but not so beneficial
perhaps to the native race—viz., the introduction
of responsible government into the colony. Re
did not mean to say that the responsible Go-
veroment of New Zealand had oppressed the
natives, but that change had increased the weak-
ness of the Executive Government, and had induced
those difficulties of a doable anthority under
which we were now labouring—a state of
things in which it was most difficult with a
simi-savage race to deal with, to wage a war of
any kind. In this war, and the difficulties with

which we had to deal, we had been far from blame
—we had not reached that beau ideal which we set
before ourselves ; but, on the other hand, he was
ready to maintain that, compared with the rela-
tions of any European Power with any other race
of savages in the world over and at any period of
history, our relations with New Zealand stood out
in favourable relief. Let them be compared with
our dealings in former times with the natives of
North America, or with the dealings of the Govern.
ment of the United States at this motnent with the.
natives of North America, and reason would be
found in spite of all drawbacks to congratulate our-
selves upon the degree of prosperity which in a very
few years the young colony of New Z .aland had
attained with a comparative freedom from outrage
and bloodshed, or putting the white man against
the dark man, or the dark man against the white
man. He said this although war was raging at
this moment, a war which he hoped would soon
come to a termination, and which was being con-
ducted even by the natives themselves to a very
great degree upon the principles of civilisation.
(Hear, hear.) There were two other colonial ques-
tions of striking interest at this moment. The first
was the question of transportation to Australia, and
he could but congratulate the meeting upoe the
abolition of transportation in that direction. It was
well known by the public press that that system
WAS at an end, the Government having announced
its intention to put an end, with the sanction of
Parliament, to that small remnant of transportation
which still remained to Western Australia. Upon
this subject he must say that our patience had been
rather tried by out' fellow-countrymen on the other
side of the world. They had taken the matter into
their own hands with a degree of vigour and tem.
per which had made it rather difficult for her Ma.
jesty's Government to deal calmly and justly with
the question. However, he was glad to say that
the act of shipping a certain number of ex.cons
victs back to these shores—rather a strong measure
—had been the work of certain individuals at
Melboarne, and not the act of the Colonial
Government ; and, in spite of this somewhat
provoking conduct, her Majesty's Government
had announced to the colonists that in a short time
transportation to Australia should cease. For him-
self he rejoiced at this, for he Ras perfectly certain
iha;; transportation could have been continued for
a very short time even to the colony of 'Western
Australia; and as to the conduct of our country-
men, it must be remembered that while they exag-
gerated the evils under which they were now suffer•
ing they did not exaggerate the evils of the past
influx of convicts, and their feelings were so strong
upon the subject that they were hardly capable of
reasoning upon it. He confessed he had considerable
sympathy with the feelings of the colonists, and that
ho rejoiced for their sake as well as for ours that her
Majesty's Government had come to a final decision
upon the subject. (Hear.) The other colonial topic
to which he wished to allude was the project of the
federation of the British provin©e of North America.
He had no authority to go into details upon that
subject, or to express the opinions of her Majesty's
Government, but he knew very well that they would
very well represent the feelings of this country it
they entertained 130 jealousy whatever of the grow•
lug power and prosperity of those great provinces;
on the contrary, her Majesty's Government, like all
the rest of Englishmen, wished to see these pro-
vinces growing more and more in all the elements
of power. He believed that the project in question
would greatly contribute to such result. He believed
that it was our interest and the interest of the human
race, that an independent self-reliant power should
rise up in North America, and that the whole popu•
lotion of that vast continent should not be moulded
upon one type. He had no doubt that the relations
between this union of colonies and this country
would remain the same as they were at present, and
that they would remain under the sovereignty of
the Queen. The only change would be that they
would be better able than they had hitherto been to
contribute towards their own defence, and instead of
having several minor provinces, they would form one
great dependency of the Crown, the Government of
which would be an object worthy of the ambition
of the greatest of our public men. (Hear, hear.)
With regard to other affairs it seemed to him that
this was a period in which opinion was a greater
power than action, In point of action there was a
lull in the political world; but opinion was maturing
itself upon many important points, and the times of
ripening opinion were perhaps not less important
in the history of the world than those of stirring
action. Among other matters opinion was forming
with respect to our relations with the colonies. The
main fact which struck him upon this subject was,
that, while in former times the leading motive as to
the relations between the Imperial power and the
colonies was that of interest, in these times the lead-
ing idea and motive was that of dlty. It was
thought in old times most important as a matter of
self-interest to acquire as many colonies as possible,
in order to obtain a monopoly of their trade, Those
ideas were now exploded, and in these times there
was a certain feeling upon the surface that we gained
very little by our colonies. The truth of the matter
was, that having acquired these colonies, it was our
duty to keep them, and he believed that in the per.
formance of that duty we should find that we had
not forgotten our interest. It was impossible to
believe for a moment that a country which had
been able to acquire these magnificent colonies in
America, Australia, and South Africa—these cus-
tomers for our goods, these faithful allies at distant
points of the globe—these homes for our superabun-
dant population for many generations to come—
could be sacrificing her own interest in doing her
duty towards those dependencies. He was con-
vinced himself, and he hoped and believed, that the
people of England would be convinced also, that in
tiiis, as in all other matters, honesty was the best
policy, and that in doing our duty towards the
colonies we should be richly repaid. (Hear, hear.)
As to domestic affairs, the discussion had lately
been renewed upon the great question of Parlia-
mentary reform with considerable vigour, and he
could only say that he hoped that the
Liberal party would be able to discriminate that line
which should admit—and, he must add, not more
than admit—within the franchise that portion of
the working classes in this country who could enter
within these bounds with advantage to themselves
and to the commonwealth. With regard to the re-
lations between the Es 'a blished Church and the Die-
senti n g bodies, it seemed to him that it especially
behoved the Liberal party to keep in their hands
and guardianship the princip.e of civil and religious
liberty, and to maintain fairly ideas of equity be-
tween religious bodies. The maintenance of equity
and equality was not inconsistent with the most
sincere adherence to one's own religious belief—the
danger was that religion, so essential in its own
sphere, sometimes entered into spheres which were
not its own, changed its own nature, and instead of
maintaining, as it ought to do, contradicted the
principles of equality and equity. Upon this subject
he might be excused for saying one word on behalf
of a very great and important class of Dissenters—
he meant the great Roman Catholic body of Ire-
land. He himself, though a Protestant, was con-
nected with that body, and he should feel false to
his duty if he neglected this opportunity of entreat.
ing the meeting, as representing the Liberal party
of England, to maintain good terms with that great
and important body. In regarding this question,
one was dealing with a nation which formed a very
great and important part of the Queen's dominions,
and it was not a mere matter of party interest to
keep upon good terms with the great Roman Catbo.
lie body of Ireland. Ho should be sorry to see the
weight of that body thrown entirely into the Tory
camp ; but the party interests involved were insig-
nificant in comparison with the public and national
interests which were at stake. He knew himself,
having been in Ireland lately, that the great bulk
of the sensible Roman Catholics of Ireland wore rot
disposed to
wish was
join the Tory or Orange party .
was to act, as they had for many
Tears acted, with the great Liberal perty ; and
it h w:ses a
highly desirable that such a state of
should exist. Witte
intervention in the affairsorfespfoenretignto connonn:
tries—a Be •
nfeeteswedhlehhe hthadoubgehetnit much discussed
latel l
was
b
y—he confessed
to lay down any programme on such a subject
should bind a great country like this. Hebewliehvicehd

that we had been very much disgusted with our
failure in maintaining a certain treaty with respect
to Denmark, and the result of that feeling had been
to drive us into the other extreme. But there was no
reason for us to come to the conclusion that we were
never again to take any part in the affairs of Eu-
rope. The truth was that while on the one hand we
should not indulge in any meddling policy, or at-
tempt anything for which our insular or maritime
position unfitted ne, on the other hand we should
not proclaim to the natior.s of the world that we
were prepared to witness passively any wrong
which might be committed by the powerful upon
the weak in Europe. His belief was that if email
States such as Denmark proper, Belgium, Holland,
or Switzerland were to be attacked by some power-
ful neighbour we should find it impossib'e consis-
tently with our honour and our true interes's to sit
by with our arms foided. Upon the subject of the
lamentab!e war still raging on the other side of the
Atlantic, it seemed to him that her Majesty's Go-
vernment had represented with peculiar fidelity the
feelings of this country—and be believed that no-
thing was more creditable to the Government and
to Lord Russell than the true and honest neutrality
which had been maintained. He believed that they
had been right in not identifying themselves with
the enthusiasm for the Southern States so strongly
felt by the Conservative party, or with the fanatic-
ism on behalf of the Northern States expressed by
sections of the Liberal party. He sympathised
with the Northern States so far as their struggle
was for boundary and for the prevention of slavery
in territories still free from it. On the other hand,
he had not withheld his sympathy for those States
which had fought gallantly for their independence.
(Cheers.)

1r R. SMITH proposed "The Health of 111 r S.
Western, M.P. for Maldon." (Loud cheers.)
Mr WESTERN, M.P., briefly replied.
Mr G. COURTAULD proposed the "House of Com-
mons," associating with the toast the name of Mr
C. Buxton. (Cheers.)

Mr C. BUXTON, in responding, observed
that a great deal had been said of late as to the
rapid effacement of all distinctions between 'Tory
and Liberal, so that it was quite a relief to find that
in one point at least the Conservatives were rapidly
diverging from the Liberals and taking a course
which, unless the Liberals were false to their priue
ciplee, if the Conservatives were false to the pro-
fessions they were making, must bring the two par-
ties into collision. The Conservatives seemed to
have got the idea into their heads that it would be
their policy now to push themselves forward once
more as the especial patrons of the Established
' Church, and to make the country believe that if
Liberalism had its way the ruin of the Church was
at hand. This assumption must strike any one who
was not ignorant of the history of the last forty
years with astonishment at its audacity. Would
any man of common sense say that the magnificent
position in which the Established Church now stood,
rooted so deeply in the heart and mind of the Bri-
tish people, would have been possible had the To-
ries got their way ? They would hove preserved
the Test Acts; they would have preserved the Acts
which interfered with the freedom of Dissenters to
worship God in their own way ; they would have
preserved the splendid sinecures which excited such
intense disgust. They would have preserved the
abuses by which the old system of taking tithe was
surrounded both in this country and still was in
Ireland. It surely could not be denied that the true
friends of the Church—those who had given her
that mighty hold which she now bad in this coun-
try—were the Liberal party who rid her of the'
abuses which diegt aced and weakened her; and he
thought that no true friend of the Chinch,
whether Liberal or Conservative, could have
read Mr Disraeli's great speech the other
day without some consternation in watching
that dexterous orator balancing the Church
on his chin, to the infinite amusement,
it would seem, of his bearers—at least if we
might judge from the laughter, much laughter,
repeated laughter, with which his sallies on her
behalf, and especially his great joke about external
punishment, were received. What he (Mr Buxton)
feared was lest this outcry of the Tories, that the
, Church was in .danger, and that its true friends
must hurry on to its rescue, should by degrees lead
Liberals to take for granted that this really was so,
and that as the Conservatives were the friends of
the Church the Liberals therefore, as a matter of
course, muse look on themselves as her enemies.
Bat in reality the Liberal party was needed for the
rescue of the Cnurch from a serious danger that did
actually threaten her—not indeed in her connection
with the State, nor yet in her emoluments—but lest
the Conservatives should succeed in the endeavour
they were making to recover that freedom of thought
within the Church herself by which she had hitherto
been marked. There was no doubt that of late men's
minds had been much disturbed by what seemed to
them dangerous opinions among the bishops and
clergy themselves. Mr Disraeli, in his great ora-
tion, seized eagerly on this alarm, hoping, it would
seem,that if the tide were taken at ies flood it would
lead him on to fortune; and no doubt he thought
that the tremendous broadside which he poured
into the Broad Church party would be heard with
general delight. Undoubtedly it was only a small
section even of the Liberal party which belonged
to that Broad Church; but he trusted the Liberals
would not, either on that account, or from any fear
of sharing in the distaste with which that party
was regarded by the people at large, stand idly by
while the Tory party availed themselves of a tem-
porary alarm in order permanently to cripple the
energies of independent thought among the clergy.
It was the most essential principle and the greatest
glory of Liberals to be the advocates not only of
civil but of religions freedom ; but let them not
merely lisp the phrase of "civil and religious
liberty,' without standing courageously by that
great and true principle. Mr Disraeli, of course,
with his usual skill tried to increase the unpopu-
larisy of the Broad Church party, by declaring that
the comprehension at which they aimed was that of
including everybody who believed nothing. He
said they repudiated creeds, and rejected articles,
and he did not hesitate to apply to them the word
sceptical, and to predict that, if they became para-
mount, the result might in time be that opinions
the must absurd might be developed, to be followed,
perhaps, by the incantations of Canidia and the
Corybaotian bowl. (Laughter.) The weapon by
which the Conservatives hoped to drive out the
Broad Church party was a court of final appeal, in
which the clerical element should be supreme. It
seemed almost incredible that in the nineteenth
century a skilful statesman should set himself to
restore ecclesiastics to that position which they had
so invariably disgraced—the position of judges in
cases of heresy. The Conservatives could not en-
dure that clergymen accused of heresy should be
tried and judged by the Lord Chancellor, with
merely two or three Episcopal assessors. They
wanted the Church authorities to be absolutely
supreme. What vres the real meaning of this pro-
posal ? Neither more nor less than this—that
they wished the tribunal to consist of men who
would share in their views, and might be trustee
to condemn those who might trespass upon them.
But after all, the only real question that such a
tribunal had to judge was whether the clergyman
who was accused had or had not violated the law
of the Church by his teaching. Who was so fit
to lay down the law as ho who bad risen to the
very top of the legal profession, viz., the Lord
Chancellor ? Wbo was most fit to ascertain whether
the clergyman's writings really hed or had not
violated that law—the Lord Chancellor, who came
to the case an impartial judge, or the bishops who
inevitably mart feel some kind of prejudice against
the assumed heretic ? All experience had shown that
bishops when intrusted with judicial power abused it, no
merely to the ruin of the unhappy individual upon whom
they eat in judgment, but to the prejudice of the Church to
which they belonged. The express aim of some Conserva-
tives appeared to be to put down anything like indepen-
dence of thought within the borders of the Church of Eng-
land. They had what he admitted was a very natural feel-
ing—namely, an intense aversion to seeing others forming
pinions of their own•of a novel kind upon religious topics.
That feeling was natural enough. Almost everyone expo
rienced it more or less; but he regarded it as the highest
triumph of wis'om, both of head and heart, to be willing to
allow others freedom to think for themselves, even when
their thoughts might seem to us false or dangerous. To be
sure, the clergy did not stand in this respect on the same
footing with the laity, They had &tamed their adheeion to

the doctrines of the Church, and in receiving emoluments
they entered into a klhd of honourable compact not to vio-
late her doctrines ; and especially in the case of parish
priests the laity had a right to demand that their clergymen
should not outrage their religious feelings, Notwithstand-
ing that, he utterly denied that it could be for the real inte-
rest either of the laity or of the clergy, or of the Church
herself, that the minds of her members should be bound
down under a tight and narrow bondage, We might fairly
claim that no man should serve at her altars who did not
accept her leading principles; but it would be the greatest
folly in the world to carry that stringency so far that the
clergy should not dare to use their minds vigorously and
boldly within those w ide bounds. (Hear.) It had been the
unique characteristic of the Church of England, that she
had given liberty to her ministers to stamp their mind and
character upon their teaching instead of being forced to
cut their teachings to one exact pattern; and at this
time, when there was such a mighty stir of mind every.
where, it would be most disastrous to the clergy and to
the Church if they wore restrained by [outward artificial
in whine' y, elaborated for the express purpose, from exer-
cisingitheir intellect upon the question of questions, " What
is truth ?" He could not imagine how any thinking man,
who knew anything of the :religious history of the world,
could suppose that religious history in such a country as
this could be kept at a dead stand-still. It must undergo
some change, it must pass through phase after phase of
development—and the rash endeavour to resist the univer-
sal law of nature, and to keep the faith of mankind in
stagnation must inevitably in the long run, deaden the
faith which it sought to preserve. (Hear, hear.) Those
who in their terror of anything which bore the faintest
semblance of unorthodoxy would set on foot the most
potent machinery possible for its extinction, forgot one
thing which it was of the highest importance to remember,
viz , that if you put down all false thought lyou inevitably
put down all true thought along with it. There was no
alternative, if you gathered up the tares you would root up
the wheat as well. The censorship of ,the press wherever it
had been attempted had shown that if men were to be
crushed the moment they passed beyond some narrow limit
they would at length become afraid to stir—and if we shut
up the minds and mouths of the clergy by creating a more
stringent inquisition in opinion than that which now
existed the result must be that thinking men would shrink
more and more from entering the Church, and that her
ministers who ought to be the leaders of religious thought
would sink into mere repeaters of parrot phrases. We
might depend upon it that the intellectual decay of the
Church must in due time break her power over the heart
and mind of the English people. He trusted, however,
that the Liberal party—Dissenters as well as Churchmen
—would stand by the great principle of religious liberty.
(Cheers.)
The healths of the Chairman—Mr R. B.:Baker and the
Liberal Electors of South Essex—of the Liberal Electors
of North Eesex—of Mr Rebow and the Liberal Electors
of Colchester—of Mr Bagshaw and the Liberal Electors
of Harwich—of the Liberal Electors of Maldon, and
other toasts followed. It was announced that it was in-
tended to bring forward a Liberal candidate for North
Essex—but the name of the gentleman in question was not
indicated.

Vacancies, Promotions, and Appointments

in the Civil Service.

(From the Civil Service gazette.)

Home office—Mr J. C. A, Bones, deputy-governor of
Portsmouth convict prison, has been appointed governor of
Pentonville prison. Captain C. B. La Touche has been ap
pointed deputy-governor of Portsmouth prison.
War-office—Mr C. A. Ellis, first-class clerk, Royal Car-
riage Department, has been promoted to be principal clerk
in the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, vice G. C.
Munro, Bur erannuated. Mr J. Weld, second-class clerk,
Royal Laboratory, has been promoted to the first-class, vice
Ellis. Mr R. E. White, third-class clerk at Enfield, has
been promoted to the second classorice Weld.
The Post-office—Mr Robert Grime has been appointed
postmaster at Doncaster.

Customs—Mr John Rennison has been promoted to the
Ist class of examining officers, Grimsby. Mr George
Fuller has been., promotei to the 2d class of examining
officers, Grimsby. Mr Joseph Read has been promoted from
the sth to the 4th class of out-door officers, London. Mr
J. B. White has been promoted from the 5111 to the 4th
class of out-door officers, London. Mr R. M. Parks has
been promoted from the 6th to the 4th class of out-door
officers, London. Mr Joseph M'Dermott has been promoted
from the sth to the 4LII class of out-door officers, London.
Mr Robt. Johnstone has been promoted from the sth to the
4th class of out-door officers. London. Mr Wm Morton has
been promoted from the sth to the 4th class of out-door
officers, London.

Inland Revenue—Stamp and Tax Branch—Mr John
Purdue, inspector of taxes of the 14 Metropolitan district,
has been superannuated. He served over 60 years.
Excise Branch—Mr George Curtis, supervisor, Hinckley
dictrict, Leicester collection, has been appointed to Mill•
bank district, London, South, collection.
Ireland—Mr P. J. Ivohy has been appointed a third
class clerk in the Board of Works Office, secretary's de
partment, vice Mr E. D. Thorpe, promoted.

Scotland—Mr Thomas Wm. L. Spence has be'n appointed
a clerk in the Lunacy Board Office, Edinburgh.
The East Indies—Mr H. C, Barstow, assistant magistrate
and collector at Agra, has been appointed to officiate as a joint
magistrate and deputy collector. Mr W. E. Neale, assist-
ant magistrate and collector, Meerut, has been appointed to
officiate as assistant commissioner in the Jhansidivision,
Mr J. H. Carter, assistant magistrate and collector, Mutthas been appointed to officiate as assistant commissioner in
n,
the Jhansi division. Mr W. Johnston, commissioner of
excise and stamps, has been appointed to be also registrar-
general for registration of assurance in the N.W.P. Mr
A. Shukspear, commissionerof the Benares division, has been
appointed to officiate as member of the Sudder Board Of
Revenue during the absence of Mr Muir. or until further
orders. Mr G. P. Money, judge or Allahabad, has been ap •
pointed to officiate as commissioner of Benares. Mr A. S.
Donald has been promoted from the 3d to ,the 2d grade of
small cause judges in the Punjaub. Mr G. D. Westropp
been promoted from the 3d to the 2d grade of small cause
Ist3 el3s
Peshawur,i Mr G. Knox, as-
sistant edges in the Punjaub. Mr W .Ford, deputy commies inner
Ist class, has been promoted to the commissioner of Pesha-
wur. Major J. M. Cripps, deputy commissioner, has been
promoted from the 2d to the Ist class, Peshawur. Capt. P.
Maxwell, deputy commissioner, has been promoted from the
Major T, W. Marcer, assis-
tantbeen promoted to be de-
, ,p 3
idustt
ytaonettohme commissioner,
m 2 el
commissioner,iscsliaosnse,
been appointed from the 2d to
Peshawur.d
has class s
the Ist class, Peshawur. Lieut. R. G. Sandeman, assistant
commissioner, has been promoted from the tSd to the 2d
class, Peshawur. Lieut. Col. J. R. Beecher, C. 8., has been
transferred from the Hisser to the Peshawur division. Mr
W. Ford, commissioner, has been appointed to the Hisaar
division, but to continue to officiate at Mooltan. Mr E.
Wilmot
pal of the Government
assistant commissioner,
has
Delhiiei to tilt Goorgaon district
Mr J. G. Ryall, extra assistant commissioner, has been
collegei lm b
been
° et ant has
transferred
transferred from the Sealkote to the Jhung district. Dr
p beeneihii
A fromir appointed
j.
the rrprincipal
Aitken has been appointed to officiate as assistant master
at Madras, without prejudice to his other appointment.
The Rev. J. R. Macfarlane, senior chaplainof the Church of
Scotland, has been permanently attached to the station at
Bellary. The Rev A. C. Bell has been appointed ohaptain
of St. Andrew's Church at Madras. The Venerable T, Deal-
try, M.A., Archdeacon of Madras has been appointed to be
jaint.chaplain of St. George's Cathedral. Mr W, C, Stuart
has been appointed to be deputy collector and magistrate of
the 3d class, in succession to 8.. Raghunda Row, promoted
to be posted to the Malabar district. Mr J. A. Majoribanks,
fourth-class deputy collector
and magistrate in the Kistna
district, has been appointed to act as deputy collector and
magistrate of the third class, on full pay, in the place
of D. V. Narasinga Row. Mr W. Hewitson has been ap-
pointed to act as deputy collector and magistrate, during the
absence of Mr Boalth on leave, and to continue in the Mala
bar district. Mr Huntly P.
Gordon assistant to the collec-
tor and magistrate of Coimbatore, has been vested with the
powers of a subordinate magistrate of the first class.

The Extensive Forgelies on Malton Firms.

It has been stated that during last week forgeries upon
the Halton corn merchants had been discovered to have
been carried out by a member of the trade at Scarborough,
who had absconded. The person charged with forging
acceptances of the Messrs Russell, of Malton, and Mr
Pearson, of Hungerford House, Norton, and others, to bills
of exchange for large amounts, and which he had got cgs■
counted at Scarborough, &c., is a young man named Isaac
Huddlestone, 27 years of age, who has now for some time
carried on business as cornfactor in Scarborough, and has
there ranked as one of the first men in the trade. It appears
that Mr Thomas Pearson, of Melton, by accident made
the discovery that 'lucid!eaten° was floating bills bearing
his acceptance, This gentleman and the other firms
whose names have been used never gave a bill in their lives.
An investigation ensued, which resulted iv the flight of
Lluddleston, and the issuing of a warrant for his apprehen-
eien. Since this instrument has been placed in the hands
of the superintendent of police at Scarborough,
more extensive forgeries have been detected. The
specific charge made against Huddleston is that he felo-
niously forged the acceptance of a certain bill of exchange
fcr the payment of £ll3 25., with the intent to defraud;
and with uttering the said bill of exchange, well knowing the
same to be forged. It is, however, stated that his bad paper
will reach a startling amount. Huitileston, it seems, kept
his carriage, and actually drove out of town on Sunday week,
es usual, to a small Eta ti on , He is married, and took his wife
with him. But it is ascertained that before absconding he
purchased and took with him a new Sharpe's repeater re-
volver and 500 cartridges to fit, and he also took a now rifle
of Moorhouse's stamp, It seems, therefore, he is fully pro-
vided for close company. Yesterday a reward of LP was
offered for information which shall lead to Huddleston's
being found by the police. It is, however, the opinion of
many that Haddleeton, getting some days' start, has sailed
from the c Juntry. The affair has cluatal no little stir in the
district. The fugitive was a native of Scarborough, and
quite a leading ma/at—Zeds Xercury.

The Collection of Naval Models at South
Kensington Museum.
The great bulk of the co lection of Naval Models formed
by the Admiralty has lately been removed from Somerset-
house to South Kensington, where it has become for the
first time accessible to the general public. This collection
was commenced by Sir R. Seppings, who was Surveyor of
the Navy during some years in the beginning of the present
century, and it has been continued by his successors to the
present time in a tolerably complete series. The first in
order of time and historic interest is the Great Harry,
which was built in the reign of Henry VII., and played an
important part at the unsuccessful attack on the French gal-
leys at Brest in April, 1813, where ehe bore the flag of Ad-
miral Sir Edward Howard, whose impetuous bravery cost
him his life in that engagement, which gave the English
command of the narrow seas during the whole reign of
Henry VIII, Of this ship the Admiral thus expresses
himself in a letter to his Sovereign :--
" She—Your good ship is the flower, I trow, of all ships
that ever sailed. Sir, she is the noblest ship of sail is this
great ship at this hour that I trow in all Christendom."
She possesses a special historical interest, also, as having
been the first vessel of the Royal navy properly so called in
England, the Crown having been hitherto dependent on the
Cinque Ports for a supply of vessels which were required
for any emergency, and which were resumed by their eveners
as soon as the special service for which they were required
had been rendered. The Great Harry was accidentally
burnt at Woolwich in the year 1553. It is a very remark-
able structure, and conveys a good idea of the requirements
of ships of war at that period. The observe.- cannot f.ril to
be struck with the small extent of the immersed portion of
the hull compared with that out of water, and the enormous
structure at the head and stern—the forecastle, aptly so
called, and the poop, intended to harbour and protect large
numbers of bowmen and arquebusiers, who played the most
important part in naval engagements of those days, which
were chiefly carried on hand-to-hand. The broadside guns
were small and of light weight. With an armament similar
to that of our modern ships, the Great Harry would have
been absolutely dangerous. As it was, it mug• have been a
matter of no slight peril to navigate her during high winds
and through heavy seas, even in toe Channel. To have
crossed the ocean in her would have subjected the bold
mariners who attempted it to almost certain shipwreck, It
is instructive to observe in the series of models of later date
how very gradually the dimensions of the forecastle and
poop were reduced to meet the exigencies of a heavier and
more effective armament, and of ocean navigation. A
strongly marked forecastle and poop were characteristic of
our ships until nearly the middle ef the 18th century, while
the practice of building large vessels, with flush decks, as
in the case of our irooclads, has been introduced only within
the last few years. Between the building of the Great
Harry and that of the Royal Sovereign, or Sovereign of the
Seas, built in the reign of Charles I. with the ship-money,
the collection of which led to such notable results, an in-
terval of nearly 150 years occurs. 'I he disturbances arising
from the change of religion in the days of the later Tudors,
and the consequent exhaustion of the Exchequer, prevented
all addition to the Royal navy during this period. The
vessels which played so important a part in the reign of
Queen Elizabeth in defeating the Spanish Armada and es•
tablishing the supremacy of England at sea were hired from
the private trade to meet the emergency, and reverted to
their original owners as soon as the emergency was passed,
and were engaged probably during the remainder of their
existence in a traffic much resembling piracy, which com-
pletely broke the Spanish power at sea. These ships, pos-
sessing so high an historical value, are unrepresented in
this collection. The Sovereign of the Seas was built in 1635
by Mr Peter Pett, the second of a generation of naval archi-
tects who were the chief constructors of the navy from the
reign of James I. to that of William 111., and is a consider.
able improvement on the Great Harry. From this time the
series of models is tolerably complete, though the names of
many of those of the period are unknown. Among those
possessing an historic interest may be mentioned the Vic-
tory, of 100 guns, built in 1735, lost in the Channel in 1744;
and her successor, launched in 1765, the renowned flagship
of Lord Nelson at Trafalgar in 1805, which still, as the flag-
ship of the Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth, perpetuates
to successive generations the memory of teat glorious era in
our naval annals ; the Royal "William, built in 1682, and
the Royal George, launched in 1756, which went down at
Spithead with Admiral Kempenfeldt and all her crew in
1782.
The models of the ships are arranged according to their
rates, thus enabling the student to estimate the progress
made in shipbuilding in this country from time to time.
This was exceedingly slow up to the commencement of
the present century. In 1719 the Navy Board, content with
the performance of the vessels then in the Royal service,
laid down a table of dimensions and tonnage for yes•
eels of each class—from the first-rate, carrying 100
guns, down to the gun-brig--from which the constructor
was not at liberty to depart. A vessel of the highest
class was thus limited to about 2,000 tons burden,
and no latitude %% as left for improvement or for adapting the
ship's carrying power to increased weight of armament.
Although, as a matter of fact, some deviations were ad-
mitted, especially in the attempts which even then were
made to introduce the improved French types into our ser-
vice, yet so little real progress was made that when in the
middle of the century the master. ship .rights of the several
dockyards were required to forward to the Navy Bourn pro-
posals for an improved scale of dimensions and tonnage for
the several classes of ships, the changes proposed were
trifling, and in some cases were absolutely nil. Thus, the
scale of 1719, with very insignificant alterations, remained
in force until the peace of Amiens, when a greatly improved
scale was established on the plan of the French navy, the
vessels of that nation having proved their incontestible
superiority during the revolutionary war. Even then, how-
ever, the fatal mistake of requiring a fixed tonnage for each
class of ships was adhered to, and rendered nugatory the
attempts at improvement made after the peace of 1815
to 1830, by building experimental ships to compete with
each other. Sir William Symonds, who was appointed
Surveyor of the Navy by Sir James Graham in 1831,
was the first constructor who succeeded in freeing him-
self from these fatal shackles. The injurious results of
these restrictions is plainly traceable in the sameness of the
models during all this period. The rule for determining
the tonnage being based on purely arbitrary principles,
leaving one of the dimensions—the depth--at the disposal
of the constructor, led to the flaring bows, falling-in stern-
ports, and full, deep bodies which so long characterized our
ships and rendered them bad sailers, and especially dan-
gerous on a lee shore, from the great amount of leeway
they made.
During this period the French had encouraged the appli-
cation of scientific principles to shipbuilding with great
comparative success, the French ships captured in war and
taken into the service having uniformly proved to be far the
best of their class.
The observer will not fail to trace the causes of the supe-
riority in the models a the French ships in the collection
a superiority due to th 6 absence of the restrictions so fatal
to progress in England, leaving the French naval architect
free to avail himself of all the resources of his art.
The models of English ships of war built since 1832, under
the influence of more enlightened knowledge, will bear com-
parison with those of any nation.
The vessels of the last few years are almost unrepresented
in this collection, the only model of an ironclad being that
of the Northumberland, now building at blfllwall. This is
much to be regretted, as vessels of this class possess a special
interest at the present moment. It is to bo hoped that this
reproach to the collection may speedily be removed.
For many centuries the principles on which the strength
of ships and stability of their forms depend seems to have
been utterly unknown by naval constructors. A ship—of
course built of wood, there were none other in those days—
consisted of a series of vertical frames tied together by
horizontal planks, presenting the same mode of construction
as a gate would do if it were made only of upright posts
joined together by horizontal bars. Every one knows the
speedy fate which would overtake a gate so put together.
It is, therefore, no matter of surprise that the vessels built
on a similar principle exhibited material symptoms of in-
herent weakness, many having been recorded as having
" hogged" or "sagged"—i e , having broken their backs by
the tailing in of the portions fore and aft to a very appro.
ciable extent even in the act of launching. The very simple
expedient suggested i,self to Sir Robert Seppings of binding
the vertical and horizontal pieces of which the ship was
composed by diagonal tie-beams or riders, thus converting
the rectangle—a farm of known instability—to that of the
triangle, a form of equally well-known permanence. This
improvement was introduced about the year 1820 with
a good result, which justified the expectations of the
inventor. Sir Robert Seppings, naturally and justly proud
of this success, had several very elaborate and interesting
models illustrative of his new method of construction made.
These are to be found in this collection, and may even now
be studied with advantage. At a later period, during the
surveyorship of Sir Baldwin Walker, these wooden riders
were replaced by iron—a simple substitu'ion, representing
in a first-class ship a gain of 61 tons in weight, and adding
greatly to the neatness and finish of the structure.
The modes of platting together an iron ship are illustrated
by a series of models of parts of the Warrior, the first built
of our ironclads, ono of them showing a whole rib, or trans-
verse section—others showing smaller portions in detail,
together with the armour plating and the mode of putting
it on. There are also other models of the mode of putting
together the frames of an iron vessel, acocrdiog to the prac-
tice of Mr Samuda, the eminent shipbuilder.
Nevertheless, this most interesting department of modern
naval construction is not represented as fully and completely
as its importance merits, and it is to be hoped that the
authorities of the Museum will lose no opportunity of
making additions to it. Among the Admiralty models will
be found many sent to the Admiralty by inventors seeking
Government patronage for their schemes —some of them
grotesque and strange enough, all, however, interesting
and instructive; for much may be learnt even from the
study of plans which no sane person would think of adapt-
ing ; and there are few plans so absurd but that they have
a glimmering of sense in them.
Besides the Admiralty models there are some—by no
means as many as could be desired—sent by private persone.
Among these the most conspicuous and valuable is a series
illustrating Lloyd's rules for putting together wooden and
iron ships, These rules have not been adopted without great