The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-21 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Teams.--If there is one thing more annoying than
the case of a man who has suffered a wrong, and
can get no redress, it is that of the man who has
done the wrong, and who can neither repair it nor
confess himself to blame. Though Mr Maguire
should every session present himself with a larger
list of failures, of mills stopped, abandoned, or on
sale, and of enterprising papermakers reduced to
poverty, he will do so at the cost of being more and
more unwelcome to the numerous class who, if they
can get a cheap thing, don't care how they come
by ir. Certainly paper is wonderfully cheap.
Much of it, indeed, is hardly paper, but it is some-
thing to produce so good an imitation of paper so
cheaply. So the majority of the letter-writing
public, charmed at the solid mass, almost as large
as a good-sized brick, they can buy for a shilling,
hear with complete resignation that hundre3s of
papermakers have been ruined in making it ; that
millions of capital have been sunk without pro•
fit ; that mills are closing every week ; and that
thousands of artisans are starving. Paper, cheap
on such terms, is like the salvage stock
from lamentable shipwrecks or fatal confla-
grations. The feeling that you must gain by
others losses is deep and general. Many a man is
all the better pleased with his handsome new house
if the contractor becomes bankrupt. In that case
he must have a good deal for his menu and be very
clever, or at least very lucky. This is the spirit
which Mr Maguire hey to encounter. But if his
prespect be bad, still worse is the case of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, who has to salve over and
relieve with fresh hopes one of the grossest over-
sights ever committed. The closing advice to the
papermakers is worthy of the whole negotiation
which has disposed of them in so summary a fashion.
It is simply, "Be quiet. If yoe will hold your
tongues for a few months, then, perhaps, your zea-
lous and vigilant defenders may be able to do some-
thing for you. Bat so long as you keep up such a
cackling, your rivals will be on the watch, and the
Emperor of the French, with his Continental neigh-
bours, will not be able to do you justice." Common
experience, in ordinary affairs,' does not justify the
hope that a man's interests will be the,better attended
to for his consenting to shut his mouth about the
matter altogether. If we could suppose these gentle•
men speaking only through the list of bankrupts,
or the auctioneers' advertisements for the next year
or two, we will frankly say that much as we appre-
ciate Mr Gladstone's research, we do not think he
would ever come down to the House or enter a
Cabinet Council, with a spontaneously prepared list
of bankrupts, forced sales, stoppage of mills, and
other catastrophes in the paper trade. On the cone
trary, we feel very sure that he would only infer
from the silence that all was right, and that if there
had been any misfortunes they were only those
to be expected from the dearness of cotton, or under
almost any circumstances, whether prosperous or
not. Mr Gladstone would still have his totals, his
imports, and his exports, which may mean almost
anything or nothing, but which certainly cannot
mean that, as concerns the great staple of paper,
two men can compete on eqaal terms, or with the
chance of equal results, when one of them buys his
materials cheap and the other dear. All manatee-.
tures are reducible to a simple calculation, and if
Mr Gladstone or his staff of subordinates could make
out a bare possibility of competing with the foreigner
is paper made of rags, we are sure they would. No-
body is so fond of a little contention as Mr. Glad-
stone, and nobody is better able to give us the pith
of a mercantile or industrial question in one or two
sentences. But this is just what he avoided on Tues-
day night, taking care to make no allusion what-
ever to the exact figures of prime cost, quotations,
export duties, and prices in Mr Maguire's speech.
This omission was more significant than any attempt
to grapple with the question, however unsuccessful.
All that could be done was to declaim, to generalise,
and to hold out some hopes, whether to do more
than add to the melancholy list of commercial
wrecks exhibited by Mr Maguire remains to be seen
next Session.
POST.—The House of Commons in its meridian

sitting of yesterday got through some routine busi•
ness with great rapidity, and adjourned after a
duration of little more than two hours. By the for-
tunate absence of one or two members questions were
postponed which can bear procrastination without
serious damage being done to the commonwealth.
Debate or discussion that is not absolutely practical
and strictly ad rem is deemed sadly out of date at the
approach of the dog-days, and the massacre of the
innocents is a silent as well as a rapid proceeding.
The verbosity of even metropolitan members is
doubly tedious and quite unendurable when every
conscript father is dying to be off to the moors, the
continent, or the seaside. Grouse shooting, travel,
yachting, and bathing have charms towards the
close of a hot July superior to oratory the most effec-
tive and political topics the most momentous. Much
credit is due to the Government and to the house
itself for the manner in which public business during
this session has been conducted. Senators are become
gradually more and convinced of the expediency
of spending August out of London, and in no very
1 distant future we may perhaps realise the excellent
suggestion made by Lord Stanley of having a Par-
-1 liamentary sitting before Christmas, which would
make the London season earlier and enable us to
spend a part of June and all July cut of town.
Among the bills yesterday withdrawn in conse-
quence of the lateness of the session were two,
any delay in reference to which is on every ground
deeply to be regretted. We allude to the Inns of
Court Bill and the Bill for a .Court of Appeal in
Criminal Cases. On the latter of these two we
propose to make a few comments. Sir Fitzroy
Kelly, in moving its withdrawal, expressed with
earnest eloquence his deep regret at the fact of
legislation on this subject being longer postponed.
We entirely sympathise with the remarks of the
hon. and learned member. Fortunately, law reform
is not, and has, happily, never hitherto been made,
a party question. Those who in both Howes have
done their utmost to improve, expurgate, simplify,
and amend our statute book, have belonged to all
shades and opinions of politics. Liberals and Con-
servatives, Tories and Radicals, hereditary Whigs
and philosophical Whigs, Whigs of the school of
Charles Fox and Whigs of the school of Sir James
Mackintosh—from the ranks of all these have come
nobles and commoners who have in a spirit of real
patriotism sought to improve our laws. Such re.
forms, however, it must be admitted, are very slowly
carried. We are all as Englishmen, if not we are
so as politicians, in all matters, social and econee
mica', essentially conservative at heart. We do
not carry out nowadays, in a dogged or defiant spirit
of prejudice and non-progress, " Nolumus leges
Anglin) mutari ;" but at the same time wo do
not wish to see what Sir William Jones called
" The gathered wisdom of a thousand years "
disturbed and altered, trimmed and clipped, widened
here and narrowed there, according to the taste and
fancy of every restless and fidgety renovator, who
might be an amiable legislator in Utopia, but is too
transcendental to be appreciated in oar sublunary
and mundane council chambers. We are, however,
sometimes too slow, and in this instance of the
Court of Appeal in Criminal Cases there is no
argument that will bear the test of fair examination
that can successfully be set up against it.

GERMAN PORTS.—RAISING OF THE BLOCKADE.—
Foreign-office, July 20.—Sir,—With reference to my letter
of the 17th inst., I am directed by Lord Russell to state to
you, for the information of the Committee of Lloyds', that
her Majesty's Minister at Copenhagen reports by telegraph
that a military convention was signed yesterday, establish-
ing a suspension of arms by land and sea between Denmark
and the German Powers, to commence at noon this day and
terminate on the 31st at midnight, and that all the block-
ades are to be raised during that period. I am, sir, your
most obedient humble servant, E. HAMMOND,—Captain J.
A. Halstead, R.N., Secretary, Lloyds.
REPRESENTATION OF KINCARDINESIIIRE..--G en.
Sir Hugh Arbathnott, who for nearly 40 years has
represented the county of Kincardine, has intimated to
his friends that at the end of the present Parliament he
intends vacating his seat. The gallant General, who is
the " Father of the House of Commons," it is under-
stood takes this step in consequence of being unable from
increasing deafness to give the same attention to his
Parliamentary duties that he has done so faithfully dur-
ing his long lease of office. Mr James Dyce Nicol, of
Ballogie, one of the most popular and liberal landowners
in the county, is already in the field for the seat, and with
every prospect of being returned when the election takes
place. Mr Nicol, it is understood, is a supporter of the
Palmerston policy, and a firm upholder of Church and
State.
A MONSTER PEACH CROP.—The peach crop in
Now Jersey will be large. One man, Benjamin Reed, of
Hightstown, has 130,000 trees, and has prepared to send
224,000 baskets to market. —Missouri Democrat.
A MATRIMONIAL ADVERTISER.—An individual
advertised for a wife the other day, and requened
ares
each applicant for the situation to enclose her cte detverms
rite,
One of his correspondents closed her reply in til.s:amee
au-
" I do not enclose my carte, for though there
thority for putting a cart before a horse, I know of none for
putting one before an ass."—American Payer.
LECORDAIRE AND THE LITTLE CHILDREN. ....The
gaiety of the little ones and their evident affection
for the Pere were a pretty eight. As we went out of the
chapel, one of them, a little fellow of 10 or 11, ran from
behind us, snatched
hand, and kissed it. Lacordaire smiled and patted his
head. When face
I read w
thei with
other a laughing
day Lacordaire's
in M. de Montalem-
bert's book how
death, "I have always tried to servo God, the Church, and
our Lord Jesus Christ. Besides these I have loved—oh,
dearly loved—children and' young people," I thought of
this incident —J./a thew Arnold ill 44 4rainiacw,
.araga.
zifie, Septediber,

Outrages on British Subjects in New York,

In the House of Commons, on Friday evening, Mr Laird
asked the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs whether he
had received any eommunications from Lord Lyons in re-
ference to the seizure by the customs authorities at New
York of a large amount of property, including geld ccin,
bills of exchange, and other securities, belonging to Messrs
A. Wolf and Co., British merchants at Nassau, N.P.
Mr Layard said no report had been received from Lord
Lyons on the subject of the seizure, but a printed statement
had been given to him (Mr Layard) by the hon. member-
for Birmingham, givixg an account of what had taken
place, and he had sent that statement to Lord Lyons and
requested him to make immediate inquiry into the matter.
He had also laid the statement before the law cfficers of the
Crown.

The following are the particulars of the case :—ln the
latter part of November, 1863, a Mr George G. Wolf, who
represented the house of Messrs A. Wolf and Co., British
merchants, residing and doing business at Nassau, N.P.,
arrived at the port of New York, direct from the former
place, on beard the British steamship Corsica. He had in
his possession money, bills of exchange, and securities t
the aggregate value of 0,000 sterling. A portion of thi
property was designed for direct remittance to the
correspondents of the firm in England, for the purpose
of covering bills which had been drawn upon them at Nas-
sau, and the rest was intended to be applied to the liquida-
tion of indebtedness due their commission agent in New
York, and for the purchase of merchandise for shipment to
Nassau. Before leaving the vessel, Mr Wolf was sutpjected
to a rigid personal search, and the whole of this property,
with every shilling of his private funds, was tsken from him,
under and by direction of the customs authorities of the port,
No reason was assigned, nor was there any authority for
the act shown by the officer who made the seizure. Mr.
Wolf respectfully requested that a proper inventory should
be made, and a receipt be given for the property by the
officer, This was refused with abusive and violent language.
Immediate application was made to the Hon Edward M.
Archibald, her Majesty's Consul, who called upon the
customs authorities and requested an explanation of
the outrage. Mr Archibald carefully presented to the
notice of the collector the very serious injury which
would result to the business interests and to the
commercial credit of the parties concerned by a prolonged
retention of the property, A prompt investigation and a
definite answer were promised by the collector, ;n reply to
his application, either for the immediate restoration of the
property or the assigning of some good reason for its re.
tention.

More than ten days elapsed before any reply or satis-
faction could be obtained. During this time Mr Archibald
called upon the collector, and also addressed him in writing
on the subject, several times. The parties interested fre-
quently made personal application to the authorities them-
selves, and were invariably met with insult, and throats of
arrests and imprisonment in Fort Lafayette should they
persist in claiming their property. Finally it was stated
that the United States marshal had seized the property in
the name of the Government, upon the ground that it was
owned by citizens of the Confederate States. Mr. Wolf,
accompanied by his friends, proceeded immediately to
Washington, and laid the case, with.. all the circumstances
connected with it, before Lord Lyons, who promptly called
upon the Secretary of State, Mr. Seward, and placed him
in possession of the facts. Application was also made to
the Treasury Department at Washington by the commission
agent of the parties, who resided in New York, for the pur-
pose of ascertaining if the action of the customs authorities
was the result of instructions from or had received the ap-
proval of the Department, after the same had been properly
communicated to the Government. The Treasury Depart-
ment denied having authorised the action of the customs
authorities at New York, and promised a speedy investiga-
tion of the facts in connection with it. Four days after the
demand for the restoration of the property had been made
by Lord Lyons, it was surrendered to Mr. Wolf, by the
customs authorities in New York, without apology or a
word of explanation.
On Dec. 31, 1803, and about three weeks after the surren-
der of the property, the commission agent of the firm of A.
Wolf and Co., residing in New York, together with several
other British merchants engaged in trade with the Bahamas,
were arrested by order of the War Department and thrown
into Fort Lafayette, where they now remain imprisoned.
The customs authorities took immediate possession of the
office:of this gentleman, seized all his books and correspon-
dence, stopped his business, and a few days afterwards cnt
cpen his iron safe and removed from it a large amount of
property, among which was gold coin, bills of exchange, and
other securities to the value of £B,OOO, belonging to Messrs
A. Wolf and Co., of Nassau. This sum embraced a large
portion of the funds previously seized from Mr G. G, Wolf,
and subsequently given up; and also remittances after-
wards made to him by the firm at Nassau.

=Application for redress was again made to Lord Lyons by
the owners of their property through their counsel. The
matter was presented to the attention of the State Depart-
ment by Lord Lyons, who was assured by Mr Seward that
an investigation would be shortly made, and that an injus-
tice growing out of the retention of the money, without
good and sufficient reason, would be carefully avoided,
This application was made about the 12th of last January.
Lord Lyons continued to press the matter upon the
attention of the State Department from time to time, and
was assured that the great pressure of business had pre-
vented the promised investigation.
In an interview between the counsel for the parties inte•
rested and Lord Lyons, about the 25th day of May last, the
former were assured by his lordship that another formal
application for redress would be made, and that in the event
of the United States Government reusing either to deliver
up the property or consenting to institute legal proceedings
before the courts for its condemnation upon some alleged
ground, so that the owners might have the opportunity of
being heard, through their counsel, in its defence, his lord-
ship would make it the subject of a special communication
to her Majesty's Government.
It is proposed to state that the owners of the property
seized allege, and are abundantly able to prove, that their
business at Nassau and elsewhere is of a strictly legitimate
character; that they have at no time been engaged in any
attempt to run the blockade of the Confederate ports ; that
they have never shipped, or caused to be shipped, from
ports in the United States, any article or articles coming
under the designation of contraband of war ; that they have
strictly complied with the customs and regulations adopted
by the United States Government for the control of
trade between their ports and the Bahamas ; that
they have moderately and respectfully urged their
rights, and have repeatedly solicited a proper ju-
dicial investigation of the facts, expressing their
entire willingness to acquiesce in the result ; and that up
to the present time all the efforts of their canned at New
York, with the customs authorities and the action of Lord
Lyons with the Government at Washington, have been uni-
formly met with promises of attention which were never
intended to be kept, or with direct evasion, and with an ap-
Iparently persistent determination to refuse any satisfaction
whatever in the matter.

FATAL FALL FROM THE ROOF OF A TtiOUSE.--.
Yesterday Isaac Cooper, aged 16, of White Horse-yard,
Poplar, was amusing himself with some pigeons at the top
of the house when he fell from a height of 60 ft. He was
taken to the hospital, but before his arrival ho was found to
be dead.

THE ASSAULT ON A LADY NEAR GLASGOW.-
Miss Adie, the young lady who was so cruelly assaulted on
Saturday evening, was on Tuesday afternoon in a snore
favourable condition than on the previous evening, although
her life is still in danger.

FATAL CASE OF DROWNING AT EAST GREEN.'
WlCH.—Yesterday afternoon some boys were
bathing opposite Glass and Elliot's telegraph cable manu-
factory, it then being just the turn of high-water, when
one of them, Pat Lynch, aged 14, got out of his depth, was
seized with cramp, and was carried away with the receding
water. Two boys attempted to rescue him, but without
success. The body had not been recovered up to last

evening.
" HOPLEY V. HOPLEY."—A contemporary court
that Mrs Hopley, as soon as the verdict in the Divorce Court
was ccramunicated to her, of her own free will lift England
in order to avoid retuning to her husband.
EXTENSIVE FIRE AT BLACKILEATIf.--
Last night
the inhabitants of Greenwich and Blackheath were
until the upper part of
thrown into a state of considerable confusion, owing to the
was destroyed estroyed and the roof
outbreak of a serious fire in the premises belonging to mr
Richardson, situate in the Colonnade, in the last-nanitd
STALACTITE CAVERN.—A
district. The horses and carriages were extricated, but
the flames were not extinguished
the stables, over :tee: lePsgi,'
extendsaf ter bla sit,: n
man
employed at Brigham, in Devon, per-
burned off. Mr Richardson was not insured.
DISCOVERY
quarry
'distances. Many of the
sge,vaenraalpdeirrteuctrieenl2fs tanoar
Fitt overhead. It has been found to lead to an extensive
ceived a day or tor;
ha
igc:
crystals of lime
have assumed beautiful and curious
forme. It is under-
stood that a scientific exploration of the cavern will shortly
stotarlcaocniist
considerable
be made.
___ .

TWO OF TIIEM.—A race of a somewhat novel
character
(says the Manx Sun) came off on the
Prescot-road between Knotty Ash and llnyton, on Wed.•
nesday week,
the principal performers being Miles, the
celebrated pedestrian, and a " fast" donkey. The former
was to walk fair heel and toe, the latter being at liberty to
get on as it could. The match, which was for £5 a side,
was from the lied Rawls, near Prescott, to the Greyhound,
Huyton. The donkey was harnessed to an American
"sulky," a light conveyance of not more than 601 b. we4.;ht,
and was driven by a jockey in full colours. At starting,
i
the donkey was for a time left considerably behind., n con-
sequence of exhibiting a disposition to kick and he down ;
but ultimately it triumphed over the other and won the
race. Miles had walked at the rate or seven or eight mile a

= hour.
of only 80,003 inhabit-
Lcipsic, which is a city
ants, possesses 39 printing-offices, in which are, is operation
146 steam presses and 65 workel by hand. These estab-
lishments employ 677 compositors, 79 machinists, and 92
pressmen, to which number must be added 243 appro.
tices.