The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-11 00:00:00

Horrible Murder on the North London
Railway.

One of the most atrocious crimes that probably
ever disgraced this country was rerpotrated late on
Saturday evening in a first-class carriage of a
passenger train on the North London Railway,
when a gentleman, Mr. Thomas Briggs, connected
with the banking establishment of Messrs. Robarts,
Curtis, and Co., of Lombard street, was murderously
assailed, plundered, and thrown out of the train,
and by the time these details meet the eye of the
public death will hive terminated his shocking
sufferings.
The unfortunate gentleman, Mr. Briggs, was
upwards of sixty years of age. He was a fine, tall,
hale man, and resided at No. 5, Clapton-equare,
near Hackney Church. He held the office of chief
clerk in the above bank, and was most highly re-
spected and esteemed by a very large circle of
friends.

On Saturday afternoon, about 3 o'clock, he left
the bank for the day, and proceeded to his niece's
residence in Nelson-square, Peckham, where he
dined. There he remained until half-past eight
o'clock, and was seen into an omnibus in the Old
Kent-road by the husband of his niece, a Mr Buck-
ham, and then appeared in his usual good health
and spirits. Before parting with his relative he
intimated that he would proceed to the City, and
then take the train from Fenchurch-station for
Hackney. He was almost a daily traveller on the
line, and was well known by the railway servants.
From the time of getting into the omnibus in the
Old Kent-road until his body was discovered on the
line of the North London Railway, between Old
Ford Bridge and Hackney Wick station, nothing
has been gleaned of his movements, or whether any
one was in his company.
The atrocious outrage was discovered somewhere
about a quarter or twenty minutes past ten o'clock
on Saturday evening. On the arrival at Hackney
of the 9.45 train from Fenchurch-street station

(which was several minutes late in leaving town), a
gentleman called the attention of Haines, the guard,
to the state of a compartment of a first class car-
riage, No. 69, in the train, He had opened the
door at Hackney with the intention of getting in,
and had placed his hand on one of the cushions'
which he found to be covered with blood. The
guard, on looking in, found such to be the fact. Not
only were the cushions, but the floor, sides, and
window were besmeared with blood ; in some places
there wes quite a pool. He also found inside the
clrriage a gentleman's hat, a walking-stick, and a
small leather beg. The guard at once took charge
of the articles, and locked up the door. Some ladies,
who were in the adjoining compartinent, here called
the attention of the guard to the circumstance that
blood had been spurted through the carriage window
on to their dresses as the train came from Bow. The
guard at once telegraphed the discovery to Mr Keb-
ble, station master at Bow, and at that time an im-
pression was entertained that some one had com•
mitted suicide, and had thrown himself oat of the
window of the carriage on to the line.
Almost about the same period the above discovery
was made, the driver and stoker of an engine which
had been working the Hackney-wick and Stratford
traffic, were returning from the 'Vick station to the
Bow locomotive works on the North London Rail-
way. As they were approaching the railway-bridge
over Duckett's Canal, by the side of the Mitford
Arms tavern, which fronts the Tower Hamlets
Volunteer Parade-ground in the Victoria Park, they
saw something lying on the six-feet way, the space
between the up and down line. At first the driver,
Eakins, thought it was a dog, but his mate, the
stoker judged it to be a human being. The engine
had passed the object, but stopped near where the
railway r saes over the mein drainage works. The
stoker, Brinck)oy, got down and went back along
the line with a lamp, and on coming up to the spot
discovered it to be the body of a gentleman, Sall
rated in blood and apparently dead. The stoker
insiantly hailed the driver and ran down the em-
bankment into the Mitford Arms publichonse, be-
longing to Mr. White. Several persons in the house,
with the landlord, at once returned with the stoker
up to the line, and steps were immediately taken to
remove the unfortunate gentleman to the adjacent
tavern, but in doing so the men who were assisting
in the melancholy task nearly lost their lives by a
passing down-train. When got to the tavern and
laid on a couch suspicions of foul play were at once
aroused, for his head seemed to have been battered
is by some sharp instrument. His clothes were
covered with blood, cad the broken link or hook of
a watehchain was hanging to a button-hole. No
watch or the other part of the chain being found, at
once led to a supposition that he had been plun.
dared. The landlord immediately gave information
to the police, and sent for medical assistance. Mr,
Bristow, surgeon, of Old Ford, soon arrived,
and was followed by Mr H. Garman, surgeon, of
Fairfield-road, Bow, and Mr V. Cooper, of Coborn-
road. These gentlemen at once proceeded to examine
the wounded man. He was in a perfect state of
collapse—quite insensible. On the left side of the
head, just over the oar, which is torn away, was
found a deep wound ; the skull was fractured, and
the bone driven in. On the base of the skull there
were four or five lacerated wounds; there were
more blows on other parts of the head, and the
medical gentlemen expressed their surprise that the
unfortunate sufferer should be alive, the wound over
the left ear being alone sufficient to cause death,
Stimulants were applied with a view of restoring
consciousness, but to no purpose. On the arrival
of Mr Kerressey, of the K division of police, from
Bow station, measures were taken to ascertain
whether the sufferer had any papers which would
lead to his identification. la his breast coat pocket
were found a bundle of letters addressed "T. Briggs,
Esq., Messrs. Robari;s, Curtis, and Co., Lombard-
street," upon which a messenger was immediately
despatched to the bank in the City to learn where
the gentleman named on the address lived. In his
trousers' pocket were found £4 10s. in gold and
silver, and a silver snuffbox in his coat pocket. The
messenger, on reaching the bank in Lombard-street,
found that the description given of Mr Briggs an-
swered that of the gentleman found on the railway,
and communicating the fact to Mr Inspector Ker-
ressey, he at once despatched an officer to the ad-
dress given by the people at the bank, 5, Clapton-
square, Hackney, who broke the melancholy intel-
ligence to the son of the unfortunate gentleman.
Owing to Mrs Briggs being an invalid and in deli-
cate state of health, the fact of her husband having
met such a fearful fate was withheld from her. Mr
Briggs, jun., with other members of the family,
and Mr Toulmin, the family doctor, proceeded to the
Mitford Castle Tavern, and put an end to all doubt
as to who the unfortunate sufferer was. It was a
very painful scene. Only once, it is thought, did
the unfortunate gentleman show any signs of sensi-
bility. An old female domestic called him by name,
and a slight trembling movement of his frame and
a gurgling groan seemed to indicate that he knew
the voice ; but it was only a momentary reaction.
The landlord of the tavern made every arrangement
he could for the sufferer, but on the news of the
outrage spreading the house was besieged by a large
and eager crowd, and it was deemed necessary to
remove him to his residence. Mr. Toulmin, Mr.
Garman, and the other modidal gentlemen remained
in attendance nearly the whole night, and in the
course of the morning the sufferer was removed in
a litter from the tavern to Claptonssquare.
Through Mr. Briggs, jun., the police ascertained
that when his father left home on Saturday morn-
ing ho wore a gold watch with an Albert chain, and
gold eye glasses attached to a hair guard. On
examining the waistcoat it was seen that a watch
had been torn from the waistcoat pocket, and the
chain had been broken off the link or hook which
still held to the waistcoat pocket. The gold glasses
were also missing, and subsequently Mr. Brigge,
jun., identified the hat, stick, and bag which were
found in the compartment as these belonging to
his father.
The police having thus ascertained the &scrips
Lion of the watch and
glasses, and forwarded it by
route to all the police stations in the metropolis,
with the facts of the outrage, they proceeded, -with
Mr. Kerressey, to examine minutely the carriage in
rigo us crime
Camden
swasat
icoonmm thati committed. end,.
g.
hOt
thehe
twfiheictrhatinheremaucrhdin€
railway oflieiats directed it Smaresaietely to

brought back to Bow, and the carriage in question
was at once uncoupled and placed in a shed, which
was sew-red. The carriage has three first class
COMIMAMICIfIa tS. On opening the door of the com-
partment the interior? Rs beforo stated, was found
in all directions to be besmeared with blood, with
clotted pools on the cushion and on the floor.
There was ample evith.sneo of a deadly struggle
having taken place. The unfortunate man, it will
be remembered, was found in the six foot way.
On inspecting the outside of the carriage, which
would be the off-side, of a train going to Camden,
the body of the carriage was seen to be besmeared
with blood, as if it had been spurted on as the train
flew by. The window was down, and on the brass
handles were marks of a bloody hand, leading to a
belief that the door had been opened to throw the
unfortunate gentleman out on the line and then
closed. On the step beneath the door were found
a portion of the hair guard attached to the massive
gold glasses, and on the floor of the compartment
was discovered one of the broken links of the watoh
chain. Allusion has already been made to some
ladies complaining to the guard at Hackney station
that some blood had been spurted through the open
window of their compartment when the train was
passing near Victoria Park. The medical gentlemen
aeceunt for this by suggesting that in the struggle
when he was forded out of the door of the carriage,
one of the arteries in the wound on the side of the
head burst from the frightful exertion, and so would
spurt in the manner as the ladies described. At
present, however, we are unable to state whether
they heard any noise or cries at the time or before.
It is certain that Mr. Briggs must have been lying
on the line at least 20 minutes before he was flies
covered. The train in which ho rode left Bow at
two minutes past 10, and in another two or three
minutes the deed must have been perpetrated, for
the train was due at the next station, Hackney-
wick, five minutes after leaving Bow. An up-train
passed the spot about 10 minutes afterwards, and
saw nothing, but it was evident that it must have
escaped their notice. The spot where Mr. Briggs
was thrown out of the train is, singular to say,
about the same place where a similar outrage was
committed some four or five years since, but not
with such deplorable results, when the thief jumped
out of the carriage and endeavoured to escape through
he marshes, but was captured and transported for

life. It would almobt seem that the murderous as-
sailant's object after the attack on Mr. Biggs was to
throw him into the canal. He was found on the
bridge, and it is conjectured the villain or villains
made a mistake in the door, and threw the un-
fortunate gentleman ou the permanent way, instead
of over the bridge.

Up to the time of this being written the detec-
tives, under the direction of Mr Inspector Kerres-
sey, were instituting every possible inquiry, with a
view of capturing the guilty parti,29, and it is hoped
that before long some clue may be obtained which
will lead to their apprehension. _ _

MONDAY, 1.15 A.M.
Mr Briggs expired at a quarter before 12 last
night. The hat found in the railway carriage turns
out to be that of the murderer.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS,

THE " SATURDAY REYIEW" ON THE DEBATE.—
There is almost always something of what is ealled
forensic oratory in the opening speeches of a great
debate. The several speakers are to a certain ex-
tent in the position of advocates, and have rather to
state a case effectively and carefully than to unfold
the real merits and approach the central interest of
the question at issue. Both Mr. Disraeli and Mr.
Gladstone spoke on an artificial platform. They
weret
tnein
rbt
oaoti both hampered
an
te
teeerso,noto be
aya s
they
ie
They
yhememories
rboth
tth but
t sapansodk
iet
thoiest hcaohni
con-
venient to view them for certain diplomatic or Par.
liarnentary purposes. They both showed that they
were aware that there was an inconsistency between
what they said and what they knew. Mr. Disraeli
hinted that the old theory of the balance of power
was obsolete—and Mr. Gladstone, after setting up
a plausible case for the Government, and trying to
make out that the Cabinet was willing and almost
bound to go to war to uphold the Treaty of London
so long as it had any hope of support from its allies,
ended by saying that England could never have
gone to war to force on the Duchies a Sovereign of
whom they wished to be rid. As the epeeches of
advocates, both were skilful and effective—but
both, es tho speeches of statesmen, were failures.
Mr. Disraeli showed, great adroitness and
power, that the Government had threatened Ger-
many and encouraged Denmark. He made the
most of the errors and the vacillations of the Cabi-
net ; but he was speaking not only to damage his
opponents but to win office, and he entirely failed
to say anything which could inspire a belief that
he was capable of devising or carrying out an ori-
ginal and effective line of foreign policy. He
had nothing to recommend but that England should
lean on the reed of Imperial France, and that,
if her hand were pierced, she should smile
and pretend to like it. Mr. Gladstone
triumphantly replied that the very charge against
the Government was that it had been too humble
and too persistent in its application for the material
assistance of France and Russia. On the other
hand, when Mr. Gladstone unfolded the defence of
the Government, and explained that the Cabinet
was really determined to fight for the Treaty of
1852, and wrote and spoke as it did because it was
really bent on war, until the refusal of France and
Russia, towards the end of January, changed every-
thing, and convinced the Cabinet that war was not
to be thought of, few of his hearers could have be-
lived that this was the real history of what had
happened. The reply that, if at the end of January
the Cabinet had definitely abandoned all thought
of war, it should have said so, appears unanswera
able. It is true that there was no overt encourage-
ment to the Danes after Schleswig was once in-
vaded. But the Cabinet knew perfectly well that
the Danes still looked for support from England,
that the threats to Germany still remained on re-
ctoordb,eto day
and that England from frollid
quarrel.a It is only the
afterthought of an advocate arranging a good legal
defence that the Cabinet, after the end of January,
weighed the cost and determined that it would not
go to war. It was still divided in itself, still ham-
pered by extraneous influences, still expectant that
expected
France might change her mind, still apprehensive
that the war feeling in England might gain heat
and strength. Mr. Gladstone's speech was not
badly devised as a puzzle to Opposition speakers,
but it failed to explain to the country why, since
the beginning of February, we have been passing
through five months of uncertainty and humilia-
tion. When the independent members began to
address the house, the controversy passed from the
region of artificial into that of real polities. Lis-
teners ceased to be told, as they had been by Mr.
Disraeli, that there was nothing but a petty in-
surrection in the European revolution of 1848,which
has since produced such fruite as the freedom of Italy,
and this very national movement in Germany,which
persons who applaud the Beigiaas for wishing
to be separate from Holland, and Venetia
for wishing to join Italy, term an inexplicable mad
ness. They ceased to hear such statements as that
of Mr Gladstone, when he calmly aasured the house
that it was not Russia, but Lord ralmerston, who
induced, :the German Pcwers to baffle the hopes of
the German Liberals, and crush out the hopes of
the insurgents in Schleswig Holstein by the signa-
ture of the treaty of 1852. jrA Cobden had the
merit of being the first speaker who invited the
house to consider, not the imaginary, but the real
politics of Europe. HE ointed out that the treaty
of 1852 was intended tc put a bridle on the aspira-
tions of Germany for nationality, and that what we
had really to consider wag, whether it was for us to
send Englishmen to te killed in furtherance of
such an object. He had the satisfaction of showing
that England ought no; to do this if she could, and
could not do it if she would. An ()cony of the
traditions of the Foreign Office could scarcely have
a better opening then when he has an opportunity
of showing that English diplomacTo tY ha
hse been hosepofe-
surpri
leasly pursuing a WrOng, obice•
most of his hearers, and perhaps to the admiration
of some, ho wont on to hint the.t, with all his theo-
retical devotion to non-interference, he could
scarcely bring himself to regard with philosophical
that was done to
indifference the gigantic wrong
Italy and Venice by the treaty of Vienna. These
are the thoughts, whatever maybe their value, of
real persons and parties on the Continent; whereas
the thoughts of professional English statesmen are
the thoughts of no one out of England. Mr Roe-
buck gave utterance to nnother set of ideas in
fashion among a Wholly different sot of continental
thinkers, when ho declared that, in his opinion,
every attempt at national independence ought to be
sternly repte,saa.d; and he was probably the only mem.
bar who could have been found to declare that we
ought to have forced the rule of Denmark on the
duchies, because we try very unsuceessfully to per.
suede Welsh boys field girls to learn English at school.
Certainly these wain: views sufficiently diverging
from each other anal from the:ground occupied in
his opening attaek by Mr Disraeli. But throughout
every speech on TuvedNy night there was cue can.

necting link, There was one source of universal
harmony which gave an admirable unity to the de-
bate. Whatever the speaker thought of the Treaty
of 1852 or of German nationality, of the duties of
ittiseferettee Pr Pe •daties or notaniu:e'Lceprerico, of
the titaidkLy or the digni.aea reserve of France, be
was sure to be like these who followed and those
who preceded him in one respect, and to heap un-
sparing and unmitigated abuse on Lord Russell.
THE " SPECTATOR" ON THE TORY ATTACK.—It
may be difficult, from our point of view it is impos-
sible, to defend the attitude assumed by the Go-
vernment towards Denmark, but it is at least as
hard to comprehend that of the Opposition towards
the Government. On this, as on every other occa-
sion of late years when no ecclesiastical interest has
been involved, the Tory party is at variance with
itself. It is a rope of many strands, which do not
strengthen, but horn their different degrees of hard,
netts cut each other at every strain. The silk severs
the hemp, and the wire tears both, till the thinnest
of the three becomes the measure of strength of all.
Even setting aside Mr Newdegate, who in his con'
sistent pluck sad zeal for the honour of his country
may, if the party like it, be considered an anomaly
in the Tory ranks, and his wild seconder Mr Whalr
ley, who represents nothing except the pet theoloe
gical hatred of a class, we have still three distinct
and mutuallydestruclive lines of policy visible in the
Conservative speeches of the first days'debate. There
is Mr Disraeli, followed by moat of the rank and
file, who considers war with Germany almost an in-
sanity, yet moves the condemnation of the Govern-
ment which has not gone to war; there is General
Peel, followed by Lord R. Cecil and his friends, who
holds that peace is nothing when compared with
honour, and that honour has been sacrificed; and
there is Lord Stanley, nearly alone, bat still a
power who proclaims from the Tory benches
doctrines which, if they do not involve peace at
any price, do involve a logical formula of non-
intervention. All three have made up their
minds to vote against the Government, but no
two of them are agreed as to the alternative course
whieh the Government should have pursued.
The whole drift of Mr Disraeli's speech, though
his meaning is not concentrated in any one sen-
tence, is an argument that the-Foreign Office should
have conciliated France and followed Napoleon's
lead ; but this is precisely what the Cabinet argue
that they tried in vain to do. So long, they say,
as they believed France would assist them they
were reedy and eager for war, went even the
length of a formal despatch proposing active ope-
rations if France or Russia would but enter tiae
lists at their side. It was not till France had dis-
tinctly refused a formal proposal of active alliance
that they came to the conclusion that war for Den-
mark was in itself an act not required by the en-
gagements, or honour, or interests of Great
Britain. So strongly do they put this point that
Punch, which always expresses the popular im-
pression, accepts it as the key-note of their defence,
and represents John Bull as remonstrating not with
the German Powers but with his own allies. That
proposal may not have been honest, they may have
been aware from the first, as we believe, that the
Emperor of the French intended to abstain from
interference in Denmark, or they may simply have
misunderstood both his policy and his temper, but
the offer is by itself an answer to Mr Disraeli. On
the other hand, it strengthens General Peel's ease,
for his speech is simply a declaration in many words
that our honour required us to fight, but we didn't
fight, and the honourable obligation was not and
could not be affected in any degree by any proceeds
ing or omission on the part of the Emperor of the
French. Lord Stanley, on the other hand, advocated
a policy of non-intervention as " safe, respectable
and honourable," without any reference whatever
to the attitude France might think fit to assume.
So that while Mr. Disraeli would not fight Gera
many, but would follow the lead of France even if
fighting Germany, for otherwise all his criticisms
on the Polish affair are vaio,—General Peel would
fight Germany without reference to France, and
Lord Stanley would not fight Germany on any
conditions whatever, What sort of a policy is it
which England may hope to obtain from a Ministry
which to act must reconcile those three opinions ?
A policy which shall fight when our honour re-
quires it P Lore Stanley will none of it. A policy
of peace at any price ? General Peel calls that dis-
graceful. Or finally, a policy looking to peace, but
looking to it through subserviency to French plans
whica may end in war ? That is Mr. Disraeli's,
bat not Lord Stanley's and not General Peel's, and
it differs from that of the Government only in this,
—that while the latter is equally pacific, equally
dishonourable, and equally haphazard, it eliminates
the element of subserviency to Napoleonic France.
Is that the precise addition which would in the
judgment of England sweeten the nasty mess she
is now swallowing down ? The arguments em-
ployed by the Conservative leaders are almost as
diverse as the half-hidden drift of their opinions. I
General Peel, in his most affective party speech,
denounced the Government because, having violated
their pledges, they had, as he aptly quoted, " made
us the open shame of our enemies, the very scorn
and derision of all that are round about us." He
avoided the diplomatic history of the affair, but
repeated the promises which he contended had been
made to Dena-lark, and which had been broken " till
it was norne to this, that the declaration of the Prime
Minister in the British House of Commons was
looked upon as a mere idle menace to be laughed
at." Those pledges he indeed said ought not to
have been given, but being given they ought to
have been maintained. Nothing can be more
distinct than this accusation :—" There are only
two principles on which the foreign policy of this
country can be carried out. If you choose to make
yourselves the arbiters of every people, you must
be prepared to fight for them, for there arc other
countries as proud as yourselves who will not sub-
mit to your dictation. If, on the other hand, yon
have made up your mind not to go to war at any
time—if peace at any price is to be your object,
silence and non-intervention must become a portion
of your policy. One argument which occasionally
I have heard made use of by a noble lord in another
place is that this country is so prosperous that
nothing in the world is to be allowed to interfere
with that prosperity. But what would be said in
private life of a man who refused to defend his
honour on the ground that he was too rich to be
shot ?" Lord Stanley, on the other hand, declares
that the only blunder lay in taking Denmark under
our protection. He would not fight in any case.
"No consideration, he spoke for himself and many
others on his side of the house, would induce him to
give his support to a policy of war ;" but " what I
say is, that when you take a man's or a nation's
affairs, out of their own hands—when you assume
the duty of advising, managing, directing, and when
that is done by a very strong Power to a very feeble
one—you incur a moral responsibility towards
those who take your advice, and may be held to
guarantee that they shall not suffer by taking your
advice, unless you have given the fair warning
beforehand, as France did, and as you might have
done, that you meant to interfere by mediation and
advice, but meant to go no further." General Peel
decounces the promises, but would maintain them,
while Lord Stanley admits the promises, but would
not maintain them, and Mr. Disraeli, blaming the
promises and blaming also the breach of them, still
announces, quite sincerely we believe, that he and
his friends are altogether for a policy of peace !
The censures are from all points of the compass—
for promising at all, for promising and refusing to
accept the hazard of performing, and for promising
and not fulfilling without the promised war; and
the proposals are a mere hotchpotch—peace, war,
and subserviency 'to France all mixed up together.
Each speech coming from its speaker has a force of
its own, and those of General Peel and Lord Stanley
are in themselves, and from opposite points of view,
statesmanlike and logical; but read as the speeches
of a party—and it is as a party that the Tories must
come in--they aro incoherent beyond example.
Nothing whatever can be gathered from them except
the speakers' conviction that they would have gone
to war, or maintained peace, or refrained from both,
and in any of the three alternatives would have done
better than the existing Ministry—an assertion
which may be true or false, but is comforting only
to those who believe that Conservatives must in the
nature of things be abler diplomatists than Whigs.
It may bo argued that all three speeches cover one
single moaning—an expression of want of confi-
dence in the Ministry in power ; and that is in one
sense true. If it only implies that Conservatives
prefer Lord !Derby to Lord Palmerston, Lord
Malmesbury to Earl Russell, and Mr Disraeli to Mr
Gladstone, it may be accepted without much argu-
ment.

TILE " LONDON REVIEW" ON THE PALMERSTON
COMPANY, LIMITED.—If it were not for the number
of its shareholders, and the manv classes which have
contributed towards its support, the joint-stock
Government that has so long lasted would, before
now, have broken down. Like Burke's famous
tesselated Cabinet, the present Ministry has been
whimsically dovetailed together, and never could
be said to represent much beyond a compromise
between the Liberals and the semi-Liberals of
the country. The stormy meeting at Willis's
Rooms, which precsded Lord Palmerzton's ad.
vent to power, was not unlike the agitated
and tempestuous gatherings which frequently take
place whenever railway shareholders resolve, in
spite of the backslidings of their directors, to give
the old lot ono more trial. The old directors have
now being tried again, and they have certainly not
done much better than before ; it may even be
doubted whether they have done so well. They
ure divided among themselves, they are at log-
gerheads with the world without, and their policy
seems drifting steadily in the direction of political
I bankruptcy. Med.dlo lnd muddle is not a sound

system for a joint stock company. After several
years of it, the country seems as badly off as the
Great Western ehareholder, when—after learning
that he has been running bra;'7lch lines everywhere
—he finds his dividends preternatued2lv low. The
-I;3:etterston Company, Limited, has either' been too
enterprising,or not enterprising enough. The
short-,sighted courses is to play an au-
worst o f all
au-
dacious game timidly, Either operations ought to
have been on a smaller scale, or they should have
been pushed to the end with vigour. The personnel
of the company does not improve with time. The
manager's health is hardly as buoyant as it was,
and the worry of keeping unruly subordinates and
dissatisfied shareholders in order is enough to tell
even upon a more youthful constitution. Nor,
despite the popularity of Lord Palmerston, can the
nation avoid seeing that he is daily widening the
breach between the various sections of his own
party. By playing consistently into the hands of
the Conservatives, for the time he smooths his own
road, but be is making the road almost impassable
for any Liberal successor. Nevertheless, Lord
Palmerston's name must command confidence and
popularity abroad and at home, even if his energy
is daily lessening. Nor can fault be found with
the auditing of the company's accounts. They
have an admirable financier, who knows what he
is about. However extravagant the expenditure
may be thought, the books are certainly well kept.
But the Secretary ! With the beet intentions end
most honourable principles—for among all
the members of the present Cabinet there is not one
whose honour and integrity stand higher—t;: at
copious and excellent letter-writer has made the
company's position very hot. He has committed
them to twenty schemes, and broken off negotia-
tions at the eleventh hour in each. He has put his
hand to the plough so often that the bystanders
begin to smile. Abroad, the credit of the concern,
the businesslike character of the concern, and the
punctuality of the concern is dwindling. Outsiders
are heard muttering that the Palmerston Company
Limited, dues not meet its bills. But the promis-
sory notes of England cannot thus continue to be
dishonoured. When Rome repudiated the contracts
of her unsuccessful generals, she sent the generals
back with halters round their necks into the camp
of the enemy whom their unauthorised promises
had deceived. The secretary of the joint-stock com-
pany feels no desire to make any each sacrifice of
himself. The paper which bears his signature may
net be met by his employers when due, yet he holds
on steadily to his post, and issues more. Of one
thing England may rest assured, that she cannot re-
pudiate Lord Russell's notes et' hand half as fast as
he will circulate new ones. Nor does tits peculiar
temper of Lord Russell permit him inoffensively
to discharge less onerous duties than that 6!
threatening peace or war. The secretary's
business is clearly to correspond. Lord Russell's
pen is unfortunately co hard and sharp, that every
piece of correspondence sounds like a hostile mea-
-1 sage. The result is that the English Foreign-office,
as regards other Foreign-offices, is undergoing a sort
of political quarantine. The arrival of a letter of Lord
Russell's at a continental court creates the same
sort of consternation as the arrival at Malta of the
yellow flat. Nobody likes to touch the terrible mit-
sive. At last some secretary bolder than another
ventures to take it at arm's length to
his chief, who reads it, trembling lest he should be
insulted before he gets to the bottom of the page.
It lies on the table, the centre of diplomatic observa-
tion, regarded by all officials with a dreary awe and
horror. This is hardly the work that a national
secretary is designed to turn out, and if Lord Rus-
sell would but pass from the Foreign Office to some
lean controversial department, and instead of rough-
ing emperors, conten t himself with roughing colonial
governors oe country magistrates, the Palmerston
Company, Limited, would be all the batter for the
change. The real defect al the Ministry at present
is, that it has no common policy at heart. Each
director represents a certain section of the share-
holders, and represents, therefore, both a limited
interest and a very limited liability. Not one of the
chiefs of departments pretends for a moment to
identify himself with any other department but his
own ; nor will he consent to be responsible, except
indirectly, for the general conduct of the concern.
The result is, when we come to a vital question, such
as the DanosGerman question, everyone is at logger-
heads. Lord Palmerston, like Belial, probably
stands for open war—only, unlike Belial, he does
not venture to say so. Perhaps Lord Russell may
conceal within his literary bosom a similar opinion.
But the Manchester school have their director, the
City has its director, the Peace Society has its
director. These will have nothing to do with any
responsibility beyond their own immediate interests.
As for the general honour of the country, it is an
argument that does not touch a body so constituted
and so minded. But it is not a satisfactory situa-
tion for the cabinet of a great nation to have no
common principle but that of holding together as
long as possible. It is just the principle which leads
a railway board to oppose its own dissolution tooth
and nail. The members of the board hate one another
but they dislike the prospect of a fresh board more.
Nor does the country, little as it trusts the present
board in Downing-street, look forward to the
alternative board with any other feeling than that
of discomfort and despair. One obvious solution of
the difficulty might be found if the Palmerston Com-
pany would only act in character. In a limited com-
pany the faults of the Foreign Office ought to be en-
by the Foreign Office itself, without assistance from
the Treasury or the Board of Trade. The interest
being limited, the responsibility should be limited
also. That the country is thoroughly dissatisfied
there can be no serious doubt; and unless some
change of the kind is made at the Foreign Office,
the end of the Whigs is nearer than they think.
The " EXAMINER" ON THE WAR IN NEW ZEA+
LAND.—We really can't afford it. Rich and strong
as we are, there is a limit to the wusto of life and
treasure and reputation which we cannot allow our
Colonial Government to overpass. We are spend-
ing ten thousand pounds a day smart-money for
the greedy and insolent bad faith of certain folks in
New Zealand, who cajoled Downing Street into a
rash promise to back them up in their attempt to
monopolise the soil of that prolific but unpopulated
country. It was bad enough to embruo our hands
in the blood of native tribes when we ought to
have been able long since to have taught to trust
us, or, if not, to fear us Stffi ciently to keep the
peace. We have taught them to do neither. The
civil relations of certain classes of the colonists with
the natives have been maintained upon so ill a foot-
ing that the latter have rushed into desperate and
deadly war, sooner than submit to what they re•
gard as wanton injustice sanctioned by British
authority; and the military measures taken to
suppress the revolt have been so blunderful that
they are calculated really to inspire the poor semi-
barbarous tribes with hopes of an eventual triumph
beyond their roach. All this is roost derogatory to
our character as a civilized and powerful people.
Our neighbours who hear of these things do not
and cannot be expected to discriminate between the
culpable errors of en effete administrative system
and acts sanctioned by the national will.
Considering that we boast of being governed';
by a free Parliament, and with a free press,
it is certainly not unfair to charge upon the na-
tional conscience misdeeds which in a healthier
and more active state of political feeling would
he impossible. The truth is, we are beginning to
find out the price that must be paid for the plea.
cures of political apathy. The country is commer•
cially and financially so prosperous that we are
threatened with a fatty degeneracy of the national
heart ; and in the region of the head kindred symp-
toms have for some time been observable. Mr.
Cardwell won universal praise by putting a sum-
mary end to a preposterous war with the Ashen-
tees. He would have obtained ten times the credit
were he to bring the disreputable conflict in New
Zealand to a termination, Botwere begun by his
predecessor in office; and while 0 one else is, un-
der present circumstances, disposed to disturb the
sick chamber by accents of reproach, 19 intelligent
persons out of 20 would thank the present Secres
tart' of State for the Colonies were he to suppress,
with a high and humane hand, the guerilla prac-
tices which threaten to become chronic in New
Zealand. Every mail brings us tidings of fresh
encounters ending in positive disaster or inglorious
success. The outnumbered natives are palpably
fighting better than our men. They are better
marksmen. They show more activity and adroitness
in moments of exigency •, and they are obviously
guided by a species of rude but ready generalship
that puts our starched strategy to shame. It is cer-
tainly rather too bad, considering all we are com-
pelled to pay for ammunition and arms, that we
should cut such a pitiful figure in the face of a
IVtaori tribe. The cost of transport from the seat of
Government at Auckland to the remote scone of
operations is in itself enormous; and looking at the
map of the island, its capabilities and its incapabi_
lities, it does seem incomprehensible why we should
have any difficulty in securing to those who dwell
for all an-
therein the blessings of industry and
There is room enough and to spare
'-;-3;:rgeotrielneg. itlmliartheyinscihtiosutlidT'waehdtoleevr(l,l(a)gistPpii:e:llietees.
of domestic filibustering which
oven the meric of being
its own rapacious way, but whichhas not
into a scrape, insists uponwhenever it figgeht fight
being called out to save it frhoomr
those whom it has wronged, and to ith make Majesty'sv en
examplesg e nt
re
troops
P°
sf
of those who have
had the obstinacy and temerity
to hold their ancient own ?
It is time the mother
et
country washed her bands '
complicity in such
transactions. Putting it on the lowest ground, that
of expense, we really can't afford it. Au expendi-
ture at the rate of
ignominy of befilid al temp' ts to sti3soo 000 a year for sake of the
ore mud forts and

to take stockaded pahs is rather more than the
thing is worth. We might agree to give the money
to escape the disgrace, bu 4, it is vavl ►er too bad to
pay for enduring it.

Address to King Christ Tan.

COPENHAGEN, 4TILIy 6.

The following adtlress to the King has been agreed
to by the members of various parties in both 1 tousts
of the Rigsraad
:
"Most Gracious King,—.Your Majesty has stAte I
in your message to the Itigaraad that the war no, v
devastating the country was `orced upon you, no!
withstanding that you had done everything in you
power to avoid it. The people recognises, and hit I.
tory will testify, that an unjust in\ vasion has con A
polled Denmark to fight for her exit Itence and lie r
freedom. This consciousness has strengthened tea
people in its unequal struggle, and in its readin tss
to bear the sacrifices demanded.

" The negotiations which were to put an ent'L to
this violation of European law have not achir,ved
their object, but have ultimately afforded mar iifest
proof that the object of the war is tilt i dismember-
ment of the Danish kingdom. Expose+ I to th e pain-
ful necessity of making sacrifices for t he re-attain•
ment of peace, your Majesty has been ready rather
to give up some of the rights of the C town than to
consent to the formation of a Schles wig-Holstein,
by which the rights of the Danish people would be
still mere grievously infringed... This is a pledge to
um that the Object of all future negotiations will be a
free political existence independent of Germany.
" With this conviction the. Landuething (Folke-
thing) promises your Majesty ill the support in its
power to give."
The Ministry of War publis bee the following
this morning—
" Reports received by the Government from the
corps in Jutland announce that an attack wris
made upon the enemy upon the 3d inst. at Lun d-
bye, S.W. of Aalborg. In the engagement which
ensued Capt. Hammerich and Lients. Beitztielz and
Grave were wounded. Our loss in men amounted
to 8 killed and 39 wounded. One Prusilian foot.
soldier was captured. Later reports state .that after
the engagement the enemy retreated by way of
Liadenborg upon Hobro, taking with him a few
prisoners and wounded. Nothing new is reported
from Fuhnen."