The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-30 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 30, 1864,

LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 1864.

Another Government defeat—a little one it is
true, but still a defeat—in the House of Commons
last evening! Another adjournment of the Con-
ference—though not one sine die, still an indefinite
adjournment—according to the Home Secretary, in
answer, last night, to the inquiries of the right
hon. gentleman the Leader of the Opposition !
Certainly the present is, as yet, the most
dawdling, confused, incoherent session we have
had to endure even daring the present Parlia-
ment. It opened, this session, with no policy,
or, at any rate with no explainable policy on
the part of the Administration. It opened with
no papers in regard to the question of the hour,
the most imminent of all European questions,
that, namely, relating to the Dano-Grerman diffi-
culty. Ia the Royal Speech inaufsurating the
session, there was not even the fai atest promise
Of the despatches, relating to that ra omentous sub-
ject, being laid before the two Hous es—though the
Speech of the Royal Commissioners did make men-
tion of the forthcoming papers ir, regard to our
new ml'understandings with the spanese. When
asked--Why the Royal Speech vet:A thus dumb about
the Bono-German difficulty ? t}. .e Prime Minister,
in answer to Mr. DISRAELI , upon the very first
night of the Session, Bettis' ay gave, as a reason,
that Ministers
had refrair
,ed from mentioning it
for fear of making the BPI :Ech too long ! Mention
therefore was made, in the Rual Speech, of
the forthcoming papers in regard to the Japanese
difficulty, but not of asap
Papers forthcoming
in regard to the 1)1 ,no-German difficulty—the
former being, of the two, 80 vastly more impor-
tant ! When pressdi to give a promise of the latter
papers, however—a/J.ler the Royal 5peech....,,4 Why,
of course, you are going to have them," was the
reply, " and pleary of them, to boot"_.and " I
certainly wish !ion joy of the treat of reading
them I" was thfa jocose taunt of the veteran First
Lord of the Treasury. Well, there can be no
doabt about it that tiny one really desirous of
having the joy of ree ding these despatches had to
wait long enough before he could manage to begin

his enjoyment. Ministers had to b. worn ed int,
the fulfilment of their extorted promise in :regar
to the publication of them. And, eve.
then, the papers only began to drop it
stalment by instalment, in driblets. The meaning
of all which, of course, was perfectly obvious. 3tike
Mr. and Mrs. MICAWBER, Government was wai ,ti„

11:1

for something to turn up ! If only discussion cal

be delayed—there was no knowing what might
turn up ! Out of the mere Chapter of Accido
there might actually come forth the most delight;
of extrications. And so—for that simple reason-
matters
were delayed as long as possible. I
looked badly no doubt ; but what mattere6
mere appearances ? The simple fact of delay
was everything. As to the .charge directed against
Ministers in regard to the particular Continental
Difficulty referred to, the galling, and doubly gall-
ing, because obviously accurate, charge of their
having no definite, or at any rate no explainable po-
licy in the emergency—it was sufficient to retaliate
upon this taunt from the Opposition,—" No Policy ?
Well, for the matter of that, what might be
your own Policy ?" In other words—" You ask
the Policy of the Government ? What
may be the Policy of the Opposition ?" Certainly
a very novel and a very cool rejoinder from any Ad-
ministration !—when, at a juncture of more than
usual difficulty, they are asked (naturally enough)
to explain themselves—to explain, that is, their in-
tentions ! Ordinarily, we take it, the discovery of
a policy is the duty not of an Opposition, but of an
Administration ! What is a Government formed for
bat to arrange and carry out a definitive policy ?
Besides—it is simply preposterous, to conceal in the
most careful manner all that has been doing in
regard to a complicated series of diplomatic diffi-
culties, and then before a single despatch explaining,
what has been done, or is doing, is published,
to say to the very people who are thus
carefully kept in the dark is regard to those
difficulties—What would you suggest to enable
us to get out of them ! The retort, here, is,
really and truly, one of the very feeblest
imaginable. The function of an Opposition
is to.criticise the policy—not to suggest the policy—
of a Government. Ridiculous, however, though the
cause, thus adopted, has been in itself throughout
—it must, nevertheless, be allowed to have been in its
results, or, at least, in the attainment of its object,
hitherto eminently successful. It has secured all
that it was intended to secure—meaning a delay;
delay upon delay; postponement after postponement.
Despatches have been yielded up grudgingly, bit by
bit, to the importunate demanders of them. February
was easily enough run out, just the fag end of it,—
then March—and now even April. And by the
time some explanation must otherwise have proved
all but inevitable, the Conference which has just
barely begun its sittings here in London yields a
better excuse than any delayed Blue-book could have
done, for the putting off indefinitely of the evil day
of open discussion in the House of Commons, face to
face with an irritated and formidable Opposition.
Ia some shape or another, the evil day for this
open discussion must come at last—nolens volens,
her Majesty's Ministers—whether (that is to say)
yielded up by or extorted from:the Government.

It is much to be regretted that Mr. PEACOCKE'S
resolution was negatived, but still it is some com-
pensation to reflect that the subject was so well
discussed, and the opportunity afforded to many
speakers of setting forth the fee,s of the case and
exhibiting the conduct of the Government in its
true colours. It is indeed an astonishing thing
that, happen what may, the present Cabinet never
will own that they are in the wrong. They must
pretend to be immaculate, and whether nations or
individuals decide against their tactics and condemn
their course it is all alike to them. In the present
case the obstinacy and infatuation of the Ministers
is rendered more remarkable by the fact that they
have themselves virtually ignored their first deci-
sion. The second communication seemed to cancel
the first, and yet they will not allow the said in•
structions to be revoked. Such infatuation is-quite
unworthy of men in a high position, and the suc-
cess which they met with will not improve their
characters nor save their reputation hereafter from
scorn and reproach. It is trying to outwit fate to
go on in this shufling style, and to be so timorous
lest anything be done officially or put on record
which may displease the Americans. They are
defeating their own ends, because nothing can be
more likely to exasperate that particular people
than to have their affairs thus continually brought
forward and discussed in both Houses of the
Legislature, and to hear the most unflatter-
ing and unfavourable construction put upon their
motives, their acts, and their remarks. How much
better it would be to look the matter boldly in the
face, and to decide at once what is to
be done, and wherefore should a decision should be
arrived at. Mr. PEACOCKE made a very lucid
speech, and exposed the fallacies of the course pur-
sued by the Government through the whole of the
transactions. He very properly censured their
unworthy mode of dealing with it at the conclusion.
The responsibility could not rest with the Governor
of the Cape, it must remain with the authorities at
home. This was a very true and correct way of
looking at the question, and those who wade
through the details of this complicated affair, will
coincide with the remarks of Mr. PEACOCKE—that,
is to say, if they set out on the inquiry with neu-
tralised minds, and are free from prejudice and
partiality. It is not often, indeed, that a Govern-
ment have made such a confusion of a matter as
they have done in this celebrated affair of the
Tuscaloosa. It is too late for the Solicitor General
to come to the rescue, and say that this was an
" isolated" case, because instructions would be sent
to our colonies which would prevent the recur-
rence of such questioni'. This will be quite im•
possible while the present policy reigns supreme,
and it is always easy for the Government to revoke
or rescind previous orders, and pretend that a dif-
ferent aspect has been assumed by such and such an
occurrence, and that, therefore, different rules must
be observed. The very futile arguments of the
speakers on the Treasury benches were speedily
demolished by the forcible speech of Sir HUGH
CAIRNS. He soon showed on what a fragile tenure
they hung, and what absurd reasons were given for
the exhibition of all the clep•trap and hubbub that
took place. In the first place, one of the strongest
points put forward by the Attorney General and
the Solicitor General was, that there was doubt as
to the character of the vessel, whether she was not
really a "prize" being passed off an a vessel of war.
To this specious plea the following conclusive state-
ment was made by Sir HEIGH CAIRNS, that the
American Consul, who, of all others, was most likely
to make the worst of the case, distinctly declared
in his report that the Tuscaloosa was "an armed
vessel." Further on, he says that she " was fitted
out with arms to prey upon the commerce of the
United States." A case must be bad, indeed,
when its advocates employ such shallow devices
to illustrate their meaning, and have recourse to ex-
pedients of so questionable a nature as those that
were strenuously set forth by the law officers of the
Crown. Sir HUGH CAIRNS also demonstrated the
falsity of the reports with respect to the " low mis•
sion" of the ship, and thus adroitly summed up the
inconsistent conduct of the Authoritiere with respect

to the vessel now under dispute :—" When they did
not know whether she had a commission they let
ler alone, but the moment she produced her corn-
ission they seized her." This seems very like the
aduct of the wolf towards the lamb in the fable,
1 it was acting on preconceived notions and
ac, arding to fore;one conclusions, quite unmoved
uninfluencedhy the real nature of the evidence

re them, or to character of the events that

Aired. It i only to be wondered at that more
co ion has nt arisen from such unfair conduct
and t e exercisof such biassed views. On another

point it HUGI CAIRNS briefly touched, namely,

the u •comin; manner in which the vessel was
roiliarned at laE, without cne word of apology or
one yrotnise of Istitution for the losses sustained by
delay. , It ust as well for the Ministers that
there Wet...ci r,_ ision to answer this part of the
attack of thee::-"ormidable opponent, for they would
have found it very difficult to do so. Condact more
wanting in good taste and proper feeling was never
displayed by the agents of a mighty power and the
representatives of a foremost nation. It is really
disgraceful to reflect upon, and, as Sir H. CAIRNS
aptly described it, " You act so with a people with
whom you think you can deal in that way with
safety, but would you have acted so with the United
States ?" The most unscrupulous partisan would
have been very much puzzled to give a plausible
reply to this downright accusation. It is no real
service to render to the Ministers to afford them
opportunities of dealing more strainedly with
foreign powers, and of bestowing carte blanche
upon them to work out their own extraordinary
ends to the States that they honour with their
friendship, and the countries that have the mis-
fortune to be under the ban of their displeasure. It
will be strange if we do not hear more some day of
the mischievous course of policy which the Foreign
Office and the Colonial Office have thought fit to
adopt. It has neither wit nor wisdom to recom-
mend it, it does not represent the dignity of out own
country, and it works unjustly concerning other
nations.

The debate on Mr. LINDSAY'S motion respecting
the construction of Hartours of Refuge, although
practically resulting in the triumph of the Govern■
merit, can hardly fail to have confirmed the general
impression on the subject. There are few persons
who are at all familiar with the perils of our
storm-beiten and rock-bound coasts, who will not
readily shalt that sufficient protection and shelter
is not afforded to the vast marine traffic that is con-
tinually going on past our shores. Whether from
misplaced economy, from local jealousies, from
ignorance, from indifference, or that fatal supine-
ness which rules supreme in every official depart-
ment, precautions are neglected, and dangers left
unheeded, notwithstanding the vast interests at
stake in the welfare of our shipping interests by no
means confiaed to one class of the community.
Rocks, easily removable, by means of modern
science, are left to cumber busy ocean highways,
while hartours of refuge on our exposed and dan-
gerous coasts are still few and far between. Of
course many of the marine casualties are owing to
the ships being ill-found and ill-manned, or still
worse, to what Sir JOHN PAKINGTON very properly
styled " the fatal ambition of making rapid
voyages ;" an ambition which too often produces
a disregard of risk and an indifference to danger
that are nothing less than recklessness. But,
although such imprudence is but too common, it
affords no excuse for neglecting those precautions
which might, even in those cases where disaster
might have been avoided, save the crew and pas-
sengers from the consequences of the rashness of
their commander. As usual, in the course of the
discussion on Mr. LINDSAY'S motion, very con-
tradictory views were put forward. The hon.
member for Sunderland himself, in submitting
his motion to the House, set forward very
plainly and sensibly the arguments in its
favour. He reminded his hearers that two
Committees of the House itself, as well as a Royal
Commission, had recommended the construction of
harbours of refuge, and that that recommendation

had been confirmed by a resolution of the House.
Under such circumstances it appears certainly
strange that nothing should have been done, and
that even Mr. LINDSAY'S motion, temperate and
general as were its terms, should have been re-
jected by a majority of 58. This decision was, too,
arrived at after hearing evidence that substantiated
every argument brought forward by Mr. LINDSAY
The Parliamentary Committees and the Royal Corn.
mission had all inquired most carefully into the
matter, and they had come to a unanimous conclt-
sion. The latter tribunal had numbered among its
members some who were especially qualified to
judge—among them being Admiral WASHINGTON,
late Hydregrapher to the Admiralty; Captain
VEITCH, formerly of the Board of Trade ; and Mr.
CoODE, an engineer who has devoted much tine to
the constriction of breakwaters. In opposition to
their opinion, however, is placed a mysteriousdocu.
ment, emanating from a gentleman at the Board of
Trade, who declines to endorse it with his name.
The Government may be naturally not unwilling
to accept his view of the matter, but the public will
be less complaisent, and will ask fcr further and
more autientic evidence than a nameless report like
this. Weare glad to find Sir S.PARINGTON speaking
sostrongy in favour of the motion, which, as he justly
observed, has been supported by a combination
of opinion which no Government should disregard.
It is worthy of notice that Mr. LINDSAY'S motion
did not in any way fetter the movements of the
Government, or bind them to follow any specific
course. It merely called upon them to carry out
the repeated recommendations in favour of these
harbours, leaving them perfectly free as to all de-
tails, so that we regard the opposition of the Go-
vernment, not only as directed against any parti-
cular harbour or special amount of expenditure, but
as against the principle itself. Mr. Ginsosi, who
endeavoured to prove some discrepancy in the
various reports, and asserted that it was the object
of Government to encourage self reliance instead:of
favouring particular interests by grants of public
money, also denied that the construction of har-
bours of refuge would decrease the amount of losses
at sea by any considerable amount. The right hon.
gentleman would do well to :member, however,
that such losses are not easily traced to their real
causes. As Mr. CAVE remarked, " The number of
ships absolutely stranded on an inhospitable coast
is no measure of those which are lost because the
coast is harbourless, or which might have been
saved had a port been under their lee. Many a
vessel is wrecked on the Shetlands for want of
harbours in Yorkshire. The actual loss may take
place hundreds of miles from the cause of it." He
supported this view by an extract from the writings
of Mr. STEVENSON, the architect of the Bell Rock
Lighthouse, who cited the case of some 70 vessels,
who, keeping at sea for fear of the Bell Rock,
before the erection of the lighthouse, were most of
them wrecked on the eastern shores of Scotland.
The expense of the construction is, of course, the
real difficulty in the matter, Mr. GIBSON declaring
that it would take 14,000,000 to do all that
vas rcq'oired, and Mr. LINDSAY asking for
less than a quarter of a million. Sir
STAFFORD NORTRCOTE proposed to settle the mat-
ter by charging a toll on shipping in order to de-'

fray the expenses of these harbours, and contended
that a constitutional principle was involved in the
matter. The proper course would undoubtedly be
to begin at once the construction of a few harbours
in places where they are most urgently needed,
since it should be remembered that these harbours
are works of time, and that it will be long enough
before those now commenced turn to public profit.
Without at once rushing from one extreme to the
other, and charging the revenue with an outlay of
four millions, it is surely possible to make a prudent
and limited commencement. It is a matter of Im-
perial rather than of class interest, since it would
be hard to say what body is not concerned directly
or indirectly in the welfare of our marine traffic.
Let the Government, then, leave off disputing about
minor points, and laying down large theories, when
they well know that they are called upon to deal
with a very extensive and practical trouble. Let
them immediately undertake the construction of
some of the harbours most wanted, undertaking
boldly to defray the cost, and leaving the question
of those less urgently needed to be settled while
these are building. Only lot them remember that
winds and waves do not wait for acts of Parlia-
ment, and that every month lost in shifting respon-
sibilities and discussing constitutional law is dearly
paid for by the country in life in property.

DR, GLADSTONE,

+-
(From the Court Journal.)

In regard to Garibalcii's departure the first error was the
differing of the doctors. One tells us that the General is in
sound health, another that the General's head is likely to
be affected, and that Garibaldi will have a fit of epilepsy; a
third says that it is the General's leg he fears for, and not
the wounded one, but the other, the sound leg, which will
sutler in its efforts to save the wounded one, Here is a con-
fusion of evidence. Then came the sanitary committee, at
which the lay physicians, headed by Dr. Gladstone, have
sucked the heads of their canes, and stated that it is a
decided case of a breaking up of health, and this inquisition
agrees that the General must leave at once. The public
are surprised, and say to him, "How do you feel, General ?"
"Oh, perfectly well," is the reply, but Dr. Gladstone and
Co. shake their heads and say, "You are in error ; you are
very ill." The whole proceeding; are fit for a farce, and
nothing else, and if Lord Palmerston would be kind enough
to recommend bleeding and warm water, having read that
a certain Dr. Sangrado, a famous Spanish doctor, was of
this way of thinking, the farce would be complete.
The light begins to break in upon us after we make up
our mind, through theseldiscrepancies, that there is no truth
in the report that the General is ill, and when we read in
Mr. Gladstone's speech that "he ventured also to tell the
General that there was some risk lest the magnificent and
national reception which had been given to him in the great
metropolis of this country, and which really formed an his-
torical event, would not gain, but possibly even rather lose,
something of its real dignity from being frequently repeated
elsewhere," we pause and ask what is the meaning of:this
further argument ? If we rightly understand the matter
it is the health of the General which Dr. Gladstone and the
members of the sanitary inquisition are careful about. It
was stated to the world to be the sole reason for desiring
the General to leave, but it here appears they have another
reason for wishing Garibaldi to quit the country—namely,
that the glory of the London reception shall not be eclipsed
—therefore the first statement is not pure and simply true ;
and if not fully true, how much of it would any sensible
man be inclined to accept? Not a word of it; and to con-
firm that belief they have the General's own answer, who
writes —" DEAR FRIENDS,—I feel obliged to leave Eng-
land ;"—The italics are the General's own, signifying, if
italics do signify anything, that we are to ponder over
the word " obliged," and make the most of it, And
so we will. Who obliged you ? Why, not the French
Emperor, for we take his word, emphatically given, for his
honour's sake, and because, chiefly, that there is no earthly
reason for his being offended with English enthusiasm, as
enthusiasm would be accorded to his Majesty by the entire
English public were he to honour the country with a visit
to-morrow; and Garibaldi did not say a word to awaken
any feelings of acrimony against the French Emperor at
home or abroad, therefore we accept his Majesty's word.
What reason have the English Government to wish his
absence? What other than French influence can have
been brought to bear ? Garibaldi, excited beyond his
prudent resolves, upon the receipt of the sword given by
the Italians oa Saturday, enunciated strong political
sentiments against Austria, and has also not been
moderate in his remarks about Ituesia and Prussia.
And this while the General is the feted of Ministers. It
must, therefore, be naturally unpleasant to those foreigit
Powers, and it Is certain they would show their displeasure
in some act, if possible. Have they done so ? The answer
may be given in the fact of their having declined to attend
the Conference on the 20th under the silly plea that time
was not given to M. de Beust to get to London; In these
days of locomotion it is possible to do the distance between
Dresden and London in three weeks—la a hurry, in forty-
eight hours—so that, the date of the meeting having been
fixed for three weeks past for the 20th, there seems no
foundation for the silly given cause of declining to come.
Shall we not rather seek it in the presence of Garibaldi and
the doings of our Ministers ? and is it not most likely that
the Government have shown their delemma to Garibaldi,

and that he, with the true instincts of a gentleman, says to
his host—that is, to the Government—" If I inconvenience
you, I will pack up my bundle and go ;" upon which the
delicate Government host says," I think it would be better
for your health ?"
There never was such an egregious bit of meddling and
muddling for a long time past. Take the moat simple read-
ing according to their own wishes, and we have the act of
timid girlish men, who are fearful lest their protege should
over-exert himself—he, a man who has but just declared
his determination not to rest and be thankful but to brave
the dangers of a heavy campaign when chance shall
favour him—a man who has so often listened to the roar
of death-dealing most cannonade, and sought to do his pur-
pose in the fearful scenes of peril. This man would, per-
haps, rejoice in death itself were it to come so luxuriously,
and crowning him with such glory as he would attain by
being a martyr to popular enthusiasm in this country—
would rejoice were he to foresee such a halo over his own
bier, and that he would leave such a lasting incentive to
his Italian brethren and the world to covet, through hon-
ourable patriotisai and dignified conduct, a ray of the great
glow which had settled over his name. The punyness of
the doing is no way a kindness to Garibaldi, and induces us
much to challenge the common-sense judgment of the sani-
tary committee. Why did not they crown their work by
asking for a national subscription for a suit of flannel, a
waterproof cloak, worsted comforter, and a large Gamp um-
brella to protect the dear General from cold in the present
delicate state of hie health induced from his visit to this
country. _

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.—The usual
annual general meeting of the Zoological Society of
London was held yesterday at the society's house in Han-
over-square; the president, the Right Hon. Sir G. Clerk,
Bart.,',F.R,S., in the chair. The secretary read the re-
port of the council. He stated that the number of fel-
lows and other members of the society then amounted to
1,754. The number of fellows elected since the last
anniversary had been 170—of annual subscribers 15—and
two fellows had been re-admitted under the provisions of
the by-laws, making a total addition of 187 members to the
roll of the society since the anniversary of 1863. Amongst
the names of those who had joined the society since the
last anniversary, it was with no small degree of satisfaction
that the council had to record that of his Royal Highness
the Prince of Wales, who had also consented to his name
being placed on the roll of members as vice-patron next to
that of her Majesty the Queen, the Patroness of the
Society. The income of the society in the year 1863
had reached a total of £20,284 12a. 11d., being the
largest sum ever received in any one year except
the two exhibition years, and exceeding the average
income of the three ordinary years which preceded
it by about £4,000. The total expenditure for the
year 1863 had been £25,422 163. 4n. On the Ist
of January last there were 567 quadrupeds, 1,063
birds, and 100 reptiles in the society's menagerie,
forming in the whole by far the largest and most
complete series of living animals in Europe; that,
although it became more difficult every year to find
additions in the shape of animals quite new to such
a collection, 12 mammals, 35 birds, 22 reptiles, and
8 fishes had been exhibited alive for the first time
in the year 1863. The report having been received
and adopted, the ballot for the council and officers
of the society for the ensuing year was taken, here-
upon it was declared that Lord Braybrooke, W. H.
Gregory, Esq., M.P., E. Hamilton, Esq., M.D.,
Rev. Edward Cavendish Taylor, M.A., and Vis-
count Walden had been elected into the conell in
the place of Rev. John Barlow, M.A., F.R.S.,
Hugh Falconer, M.D., F.R.S., Lord Lilford, James
Salter, M.D., and George R. Waterhouse, Esq., re-
moved therefrom; and that the following officers
had been chosen out of the council for the ensuing
year, namely :—President, the Right Hon. Sir
George Clerk, Bart., D.C.L., F.R.S., &c.; treasurer,
Mr. Robert Drummond ; and secretary, Philip Litt!
ley Sclater, M.A., F.R.S., &c. The meet-
ing closed with the usual votes of thanks to the
council and auditors for their reports, and to the
President for taking
the chair.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

LREUTER'S TELEGRAMS.]

AMERICA.
(Per the Persia via Roche's Point.)
DEFEAT OF GENERAL BANKS, WITH