The Sun.
London, England, 1864-10-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 21, 1864.

URNI IV RE, CARPETS, II EDDINU, and
FLOORCLOTH, CARRIAGE-FREE to any house in
the kingdom, regardless of amount or distance. First-class
goods at second-class prices. Terms peculiarly liberal to
Clergymen and Gentlemen. An immense stock to select
from, displayed in Showrcoms occupying an acre of ground.
Every article warranted.
(IL E tiGYMEN and GENTLEMEN ABOUT TO FUR-
NISH are respectfully informed that Messrs. Cobbett and
Co are publishing an entirely New Edition of their un-
equalled HOUSE FURNISHING GUIDE, illustrated by4lo
mim.-able engravings of every description of Furniture and
..easteads, with prices attached. A copy sent ge atis and
post-free on application. This costly work also contains
complete estimates for furnishing on the following revised
slide :

A Six-roomed Parsonage
An Eight-roomed ditto
A Ten-roomed ditto ........
A Twelve-roomed ditto 391 11 0

Together with a Price List of purified nodding, and a mass
of valuable inforrnationto all requiring household furniture,
'arpets, or bedding. References kindly permitced to Clergy-
men and gentlemen in or near Great Malvern, Southampton,
Chichester, Bury, Ely, Preston, Grimsby, tyde, Plymouth,
Wells, Oxford, Brighton, Gainsborough, Margate. Kidder-
minster, Wellington, Croydon. Cambridge, Staines, Dorking,
St. Alban's, Worcester, Ipswich, Peterborough, St. David's,
Wrexham, and above 500 other places in all parts of Great
Bran

COl3 IiETT and CO., General House Furnishers, Deptford-
bridge, London, S.E.

THE SOLDIER'S LEGACY.-Mr. GERMAN
REED'S New Opera di Camera TO-NIGHT, at Eight,
entitled THE SOLDIER'S LEGACY, composed by G. A.
Mactarren, Esq., and written by John Oxenford. Esq., in
which Miss R. Henderson, Mr. Whiffin, Mr. P. A. Shaw, and
Mis. Poole (by the kind permission of the New Opera Com-
pany), will appear. Concluding with TOO MANY COOKS,
sustained by Mies D'Este Finlayson, Mr. J. A. Shaw, and
Mr. Whiffin.—ROYAL GALLERY of ILLUSTRATION.
14, Regent-street. Unreserved seats, ls., 2s. ; stalls, 3s. ;
stall chairs, ss. ; may be secured in advance without tee.

THE WORLD OF MAGIC.--DAY
PERFORMANCE. -The Great Wizard f the North
wit give his SEVENTH MATINEE JUVENILE ENTER-
TAINMENT TO-MORROW (SATURDAY) MORNING,
and will repeat his Seance Magique EVERY EVENING, in
tho Orcat Be James-is Hal, at el, ht o'clock. The best stalls
for these attractive representations may be secured at the
Ticket Office, 28, Piccadilly.

E 0 X F OR D,
I. 6, OXFORD STREET, W.
The Oxford and Canterbury Hall Company (limited'.

MASANIELLO, MARTHA, LA TROVATORE, and
THE FAVORITE, Sic., by the tollowing Artistes, viz., Misses
Russell, Fitz-Henry,Walmsley, Tyrrell, &c. With augmented
Band and Chorus, conducted by Mr. F. Jonghmans.
Mr. JACKSON HANES, the Champion Skater, in his per-
formanc-, on the 1 rawieg Room Skates, of Quadrilles,
Varsoviennes, &o.
UNSWORTH (or any other man), EUGENE, W. Randall,
H. Nash, Herr Hermann, and Mdlle. Cavalho.
LE PETIT IiLONDIN THIS EVENING.
In preparation, and will shortly be produced (first time in
this country), ORPH EE AUX ENFER, by Offenbach.

... . .
Admission—Area, 6d.; stalls and balcony, 18. ; private
boxes, 10s. 6d. _

CANTERBURY H ALL.
Triumphant Success of

PRINCE PERFUME AND PRINCESS BOUQUET.

Under the title of Prince Perfume and Princess Bouquet
is nightly to be seen at the Canterbury Ball a Magic Spectacle
far transcending in poetry of concept,on, b auty and in-
genuity of arrangement, scenic effect, and brilliancy of light
and colour any former application (even at this Hall) of the
principle k own as the OPTICAL ILLUSION. In this last
collective display of scenic art and of brilliant choreographic
and statuesque grouping wilt be found pictures surpassing
some of the greatest achievements of the Modern Extra-
vaganza—Si e "THE SHIPWRECK," "THE PHANTOM
COMBA T," and " THE CURTAIN OF FIRE."

The "Illusive Sketch," which is the centre of these corns-
cat•on s, is by Mr. W. F. Vandervell ; the overture and inci-
dental music by Willem VandervelL
Prince Perfume, Mrs. William RandalL

The Oxford and Canterbury Hall Company (limited).

QTRAND MUSICK HALL-PROMENADE
CONCERTS EVERY EVENING, with a full and
select Band of Forty Performers, including the following
eminent Soloists : —Violin, Herr Strebinger ; 'Violoncello, W.
P. Reed; Flute, A. Wells; Oboe, C. Engle; Clarionette, G.
Tyler ; Cornet, A. Boubourt ; Euphon um. A. Jannotta.—
Conductor, Mr. F Kingsbury. The following eminent
artistes will appear :
Vocalists —Ma d 11,,. Rosa Wilke, of the Conservatoire Royale
de Musique, Brussels, and of the Principal Concerts of
Belgium, Holland, Germany, France, &c. ; Madlle. F .nny
Molidoff. Prima Soprano of the Principal Concerts of France,
Germany, Prussia. Belgium, fic. ; Madlle, Carlotta Mayer, of
the Principal Concerts of France, Belgium, Germany, .tc.
Instrumentalists—Violin, Signor Giovanni Adelmann,
Principal Violinist at the Conservatoire de Milan ; Cornet-
h-Piston, Mons. Duhem, Professor at the Conservatoire
Royale at Brussels ; Pianoforte, Mons. Tito Mattel, Pianist
to his Majesty the King of Italy.
Admission, Is. ' • Private boxes, 10s. 6d. ; balcony stalls, 28.
Open at half-past Seven, commence at Eight.

MADAME TUSSAUD'S HISTORICAL
GALLERY: established 28 years at the Bazaar,
Baker-street

NEW ADDITION. A full length portrait model of
DR. COUTY DE LA POSIMERAIS, the Poisoner, taken
from the orielnal photograph, by Mons. T LI quart, of Paris,
from lite, is now added to the Chamber of Physio 2n my.
Admittance, Is. ; Napoleon Rooms and Chamber of Horrors,
6d. extra. . _ _

HORTHAND.-PITMAN'S PHONOGRA-
PHIC TEACHER. 6d. ; free by post, 7d.

SHORTHAND.-PITMAN'S PHONOGRA-
PIIIO MANUAL. Free by post, ls. 6d.

SH OR THAN D.-"PITMAN'S PHONO-
GRAPHY forms an exceedingly efficient -probably
the MOST efficient-system of Shjrthand that exists."—Sir
Rowland HU

MEET H. -IMPROVED MECHANICAL
DENTIS PRY. Professional abilities and great artistic
skill have been most successfully combined In the pro,uction
of AR PIFICIAL T KET tt upon a new principle. The real
value or the perfection of the art of Dentistry will be experi-
enced by all wishing- to avail themselves of professional
assistance by consulting Mr. ALBERT, 34, Great Russell-
street, Bloomsbury. whose experience has ens-bled him to
effect such admirable, convenient contrivances by artificial
means, and which are so pef fectly efficirnt.

figured largely in an article in the .Edinburgle -Review in
1853; that article was reprinted by the Provincial News-
paper Society, and sent to all members of Parliament; Lord
Stanley replied in detail in a pamphlet addressed to our..
allusions dancing through it, was afterwards
. with Mr Cobden's name and
ctsheolnevsteeins;uaeamdnedbaytlhlLueord Stanley in these columns. If Mr Cobden
felt aggrieved, why did henot speak then, or upon some one
of many similar occasions, instead of now, when the facts
are a dozen years old ? It will appear that the most probable
answer to this inquiry is, that Mr Cobden speaks upon the
matter now only because, like most other people, he has
forgotten almost all about it.
Mr Cobden offers LZO for "a single passage" justifying
the statement that he desired to set) a newspaper press ab-
staining from discus,ion, and confining itself to reporting.
He shows his characteristic acuteness in asking that a cM-
scription of the tenour of many old speeches shall be justified
in "a single passage ;" but, though thus severely restricted,
we can give him what he asks for. Speaking at Holmfirth,
in February, 1853, he thus depicted one of the blessed effects
he expected to flow from a revolutionising of the newspaper
system

"People would resort to newsrooms, not to read the lead-
ing articles—tor I regard the leaders as of far less.import-
ance than the articles of news in the paper. I believe these
original articles, so far as guidance and direction are' con-
cerned, are the least useful and interesting part of the paper's
facts and intelligence being more sought after by readers.
There are far more newspapers in America than here, but
other similar utterances) did not mean
h
re change for which he was agitating would
renderttheaihCivi
tfh
he
thhsil(Pemds political influence,"
presseas less discassional and more purely narrative,
and so give it "less political influence" and the platform
more, then Mr Cobden was quite misunderstood at the
time and cannot be understood ndw. It may be indeed that,
of the' tiro !thief" witnesaea whom he end hip friend, Mr M.
Gibson, brought up before the Parliamentary committee,
one was brought to testify that " tales from the police-office
are about the most instructive reading in the world" (679) ;
"police reports are the most instructive and most desirable
reading in the world" (638) ; and the other to testify that
what was most desirable was " a good account of some trial
at the assizes"—" a good account of some farmer's stack-
yard having been burnt down" (3,198), and that he was
"willing that leading articles should be prohibited" (3,212).
Though Mr Cobden is not desirous that we should at pre-
sent say anything about his envious allusions to the press of
Spain in the Parliamentary committee, it is better to dis-
pose of the whole cherry at one bite. As we had special
reason to know, Mr Cobden in that committee, though not
a witness, but a member, spoke more than he allowed some
of the witnesses to speak ; and everybody is aware that a
man may express his opinions as plainly by a question as by
an answer. A leading article in Mr Cobden's questions
throughout all the so• called inquiry was to get witnesses to
say that the press, not only of America, but of other countries
generally, was superior to our own, especially in the matter
of "courtesy to public men," Mr Cobden feeling at that
time, as he is even at this time,very sore in consequence of the
great body of the press taking the liberty to combat some of
his newer and more extreme opinions. Thus (Q. 2,152), in
cross-examining' Mr Mowbray Morris of the Times, he
asked—" Are not the leading articles in the French press
more courteous than those of England towards public men ?"
And next—" Have you had an opportunity of forming an
struck you thepress of Spain or of Germany ? Has it not
that there is greater courtesy shown towards in-
rethssatofansypaointh—which is about the most
other meaning than that Mr
dciovbidduenals F
held
abject in the world—to be something to which that of Eng-
land was inferior and ought to be assimilated ?

Of the allusions of Mr Cobden to cgelratnacininSgcaottcsohmeevirdaetnhcere
tthcoomugphlain. It was very good
givenprivate
b ei
nf ()cried
et the
sc, ovimemdiot t eneo.
evidence, though Mr Cobden did not like it, and it would
have been much better had Mr Cobden let it. It was
simply to the effect that to charge ld for carrying three or
four ounces cf newspapers round the country, and then to
India or Austialia, while the same sum was charged for
carrying a half-ounce of letter to the next street, was no
" tax " and no infraction of "free trade." We have no re-
collection of the friendly dissnasives which Mr Cobden says
he vainly administered in private, but since he so states we
do not for a moment doubt, and can only express a hope
that the dissuasives were so politely declined as we are sure
that they would be kindly offered. What we do recollect is,
that the witness in question was primitive enough (it is a
long time ago) to tell Mr Cobden beforehand and in private
what he wanted to bring out to the committee; and that
consequently, the couple of hours he spent -in the box
were occupied chiefly in fencing with Mr Cobden, who
aimed at preventing him saying what he came to say, and at
inveigling him into saying what he did not mean to say and
did not think. All that, however, is, we believe, quite usual
in such cases, and, bone quite ustar,"tionst be more or less
fair; and it was the more natural in this particular case; as
the witness was a witness by accident, and not by invita-
tion, the managers' of the committee having previously
arranged that there should be no witnesses of that class or
that aide. It was not very sharp practice to try that those
who came unasked shoulo be sent away unheard.
The only other question is about the allotment of the £2O
reward which Mr Cobden offers for the discovery of the
"single passage" given above. Since he handsomely leaves
the arranging of that matter to ns, we say—half to the
Royal Infirmary, and half to the United Industrial Schools.

Lord Palmerston was then in the 22d year of his age, and
had succeeded to his title about four years previously. He
had just taken his degree of M.A. at the university, the
representation of which he now contested with Lord Henry
Petty, afterwards the Marquis of Lansdowne. The prize
upon this occasion was borne off by Lord Henry Petty.
Lord Palmerston was, however, immediately afterwards
returned for the nomination borough of Bletchingly, a
village of Surrey. The death of Mr Fox, on the 13th of
Sept. in the same year, was the cause of numerous changes
in the Ministry of " All the Talents" which had succeeded
Pitt; and when, in the March following, Lord Gren-
ville resigned the reins of power into the hands of the
Duke of Portland, Lord Palmerston, who this year ex •
changed Bletchingly for Newport, Isle of Wight, com-
menced his official life by becoming a Lord of the Ad-
miralty; It was in this capacity that he made his first speech
in the house, the occasion being a defence of the bombard.
wept bf Copenhagen by the British fleet. The duel between
Loi-cl Castlereagh and Mr Canning on the 22d Sept., 1809,
led to the breaking up of this Administration, for which
web suesiituted one by Mr Spencer Perceval. in which Lord
Palm‘rstoli was appointed Secretary at War. In 1811 he
was returned for the University of Cambridge, and held the
post of Secretary at War without interruption for 19 years
under five successive Governments. In 1828 he, together
'with Mr Huskisson and Mr Grant, representing what might
be termed the Canning party of the Duke of Wellington's
Ministry, seceded from Oat Administration. For two years
Lord Palmerston was without office, when, on the resigna-
tion of the Duke of Wellington and the accession of Earl
Grey to power in November, 1830, his lordship was ap-
pointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. In the fol-
lowing year his attachment to the reform policy of his col-
leagues lost him his scat for the University cf Cambridge,
and he fell back on his old borough of Bletchingly. Thaw
wee one of the b 6 swept away by Schedule A of the Reform
Bill, and Lord Palmerston next found a seat for South
Hants. He retained the Foreign Secretaryship until Nov.,
1834, when Sir R. Peel came into office for a few months.
In December of the same year, defeated at South Hants,
the noble lord took refuge at Tiverton, which he has ever
since represented. In April, 1835, Lord Melbourne came
into power, and Lord Palmerston resumed his functions at
the Foreign-office, continuing to hold the seals of that de-
partment until Sir R. Peel's return to the Treasury Bench
in Sept., 1841. Another five years of opposition now en-
sued, when, on the accession of Lord John Russell to the
Premiership in July, 1846, Lord Palmerston was reinstated
in his post of Foreign Secretary, where he remained until
Dec., 1851. In Dec., 1852, on the formation of the Aber-
deen Ministry, Lord Palmerston was appointed Home
Secretary. He filled this post until the breaking up of the
Government in 1855, when he was appointed Prime Minister.
In February, 1868, the adverse vote of the House of Com-
mons on the Conspiracy Bill obliged him to give place to
the Earl of Derby; but in June, 1869, he was again called
upon to construct an Administration, of which he still re-
mains the head.

It seems difficult to believe that the Prime Minister of
England in 1864 was living in the days when the young
Pretender, wearied of his intrigues, was quietly passing
away his existence at Rome; and that the Premier of to;
day was an active War Secretary ere Lord Wellington
baffled Massena,before the lines of Tones Yedras. Yet
Lord Palmerston has serve 4 four Sovereigns, he has been
a member of the House of Commons 58 years, and has sat
in 16 Parliaments. During the long period of his political
life he has witnessed the construction of .17 Ministries,
in 13 of which he has holden office. Of his 58 years
of Parliamentary life no less than 46 have been
passed in the national service. Of the colleagues with
whom he acted on hie entrance into public life not one now
survives, and from the death of the Duke of Portland, in
October, 1809, to that of the Duke of Newcastle, two days
ago, the names of the statesmen with whom Lord Palmer-
ston has taken counsel, and who from time to time have
passed away, constitute a long and formidable list. Of the
Premier's colleagues in the present Cabinet, Earl Russell
is the next in point of age, and he is 72. When Lord Pal-
merston entered Parliament, Lord Rtissell was doing his
continental tour, Sir George Grey was a little boy seven
years of age, the Earl of Clarendon was six, the Lord Chan-
cellor and Sir Charles Wood one year less, Mr Villiers and
Lord Stanley of Alderley numbered four summers, the Duke
of Somerset was just two years old, while neither the names
nor the titles of the present Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Earl Granville, the Duke of Argyll, Earl do Grey, Mr
Milner Gibson, and Mr Cardwell had then been heard of.

The extent of Lord Palmerston's patronage has been
enormous, and never since the days of Sir Robert Walpole
his an English Prime 'lialster wielded the sw,,ri of Statc
with so much advantage to his party. Of the prelate, who
Low constitute the hierarchy, no less then 17 owe their
positions to Lord Palmerston. They aro the Archbishops
of Canterbury, York, Armagh, and Dublin—the Bishops of
Carlisle, Cork, Durham, Ely, Gloucester, and Bristol,
Killaloe, Kileaore, London, Norwich, Peterborough,
Ripon, Rochester, and Worcester. Ho has besides nomi
Dated to several deaneries and canonries. He has added 17
names to the rolls of the peerage, including those of Wen-
sleydale, Aveland, Lyons, Belper, Eversiey, Ebury, Ma-
caulay, Chesham, Llanover, Lyveden, Taunton, Westbury,
Russell, Fizhardinge, S-yrnour, Houghton, and Annaly.
He has created 18 baronets, namely, Sir D. Baxter, Sir W.
Browne, Sir J. F. Burgoyne, Sir D. Cooper, Sir F, Cros-
sley, Sir W. Dike, Sir H. Havelock, Sir W. G. Hayter, Sir
C. Lyell, Sir J, Jejeebhoy, Sir D. Lloyd, Sir C. Locock,
Sir F. G. Moon, Sir S. M. Peto, Sir H. Rich, Sir B.
Walker, Sir W. F. Williams, and Sir A. Wilson. In his
two Governments he has had the services of three Lord
Chancellors, four Attorney and six Solicitor-Generals—he
has appointed the chiefs in the Court of Queen's Bench and
Common Pleas—while of the 15 judges of her Majesty's
three courts of common law who administered justice on
Lord Palmerston's first accession to power, only four now
hold the same positions they occupied in February, 1855.
He has had the appointment of just one half of the 116
lord-lieutenants of the United Kingdom, and has disposed
of two-thirds of the 25 Garters, He has added more than
40 names to the Privy Council, and of the 216 members of
that body as at present existing, the Premier himself is the
oldest member, having been sworn in 55 years ago. Of the
minor departments of patronage in the hands of the different
departments of the Government we have no room to speak.
Including the clerical patronage of the Lord Chancellor,
the appointment of county court judges, bankruptcy ccm-
missioners, and magistrates, and the appointments to the
naval, military, and civil services, it embraces every office
and place of emolument in the country.
But it is not simply at home that the patronage of the
noble viscount's Administration has been conspicuous over
that of many of his predecessors united. Since he first took
the Premiership the governor of every British possession
both at home and abroad, numbering 51 in all, has been
reappointed. He has made three viceroys of India, two
lord-lieutenants of Ireland, and two governor• generals of
Canada; while every colony and dependency, from the freez-
ing latitudes of New Brunswick to the scorching swamps of
the Gold Coast, has had a new ruler placed over its inhabi-
tants. In the colonial episcopate there is similarly extensive
evidence of the effects of Lord Palmerston's being in power.
And, finally, during his reign as Prime Minister, of the 38
British Ministers abroad, with five exceptions, the whole
have been reappointed, from the splendid dignity of the St
Petersburg embassy to the unpretending "agency" at the
Court of Tunis.

To follow Lord Palmerston through the many episodes of
his lengthened career would require little less than a history
of his times. The debates in which he has taken part, the
long story of his foreign policy, the measures he has assisted
to oarry, together with the immense progress which the
country has made, and which are inseparably connected
with a record of the chief public events of the past half cen-
tury—all these things are written in other chronicles. But
whatever opinion his lordship's political opponents may en-
tertain respecting his statesmanship, there can be no ques-
tion that a genial and kindly old age makes him universally
popular amongst the masses of his countrymen. A week or
two after the close of a long and harassing session we find
him on a blazing hot day talking to the Northamptonshire
peasantry about the advantages of railway communication.
Then, leaving the black mould of the fens and the brown,
crumbling loam of the uplands, he is next laying the
foundation-stone of a new exchange amid the smoking
chimney-stacks of Bradford. Again, he is whirling
down by the Great Western express to Tiverton, and
there, surrounded by the jolly yeomen of humid Devon,
at length defends the policy of his Government, and con-
vulses his hearers with laughter by drawing amusing
parallels between the racewurse and the House of Com-
mons. Once more he is on the rail, and this time he is in
North Wales, inspecting his now slate quarry near the top
of the Moelwyn mountain. Then, passing on to the city of
Hereford, ho inaugurates the statue of a departed colleague
who was born in the year he himself entered Parliement.
Yet again, and he is down amid the chalky plains of Wilt-
shire, where, at the former residence of another lamented
colleague, who was an infant when Lord Palmerston was
vigorously carrying on the war against the first Napoleon,
he gives sound advice to a portion of our great volunteer
army. Thus occupied in the recess, and at 80 years of age
still the key-stone in the arch of his Administration, what-
ever he may be likened unto by the future historian, it cer-
tainly never can be said that Lord Palmerston has stood
idle in the market-place of life ; it never can be said that
when called upon to serve his Sovereign in the political
crisis and exigencies of his country he has been weighed in
the balances and found wanting.— Western Morning Newt,
of Oct. 20.

THE VICEREGAL HOUSEHOLD.—The public will
be glad to learn that Capt. Robert William has been ap.
pointed comptroller of the household of the new Lord Lieu-
tenant. Mr Wodehouse, a cousin of his Excellency, is pri
vate secretary, and Colonel Wodehouse, who is already well
known among us, becomes Master of the Horse,—.Dublin
Evening Nate.

Mr. W, E. Foster, M.P,, on American

Slavery.

On Wednesday evening Mr W. E. Forster, M. P„ pre..
sided at a meeting held at the Mechanics' Institution,Brad-
ford, under the auspices of th 3 Western Freed Men's Aid
Commission. He said that the address of that Commission
showed that in the progress of the fearful contest waging in
the United States the slaves had flecked within the Federal
lines in multitudes. Coming from a country impoverished
by the protracted operations cf two vast opposing armies,
they rca':hcd a piece of security within the Federal lines iu
a condition of wretchedness and want, clothed in rags, toil.
worn by marches, depressed and t acted by privations and
exposure, in the freed men's camp of the Mississippi valley
alone there were more than 50,000 dependent persons ; and
as these would be dependent on the Government, and on
the donations of the humane and benevolent for food,
clothing, and other supplies, the work of charity had given
rise to the 'Western Freed Men's Aid Commission. It was
organised at Cincinnati in January, 1863, and the slaves
had proved themselves worthy of every benevolent exertion
in their behalf. Thousands who at first were dependent on
the Government were now supporting themselves by com-
pensated labour. Whether old or young, they studied with
eagerness and learned rapidly. Knowing that there were
thousands in Great Britain who sympathised with this long
oppressed people, the commission had instructed Mr Levi
Coffin to proceed to England to lay the cause before its
friends, and to solicit co-operation and contributions. He
(the chairman) considered that, apart from their actual dis-
tress, the slaves of America had strong claims on the sym-
pathy of England. He could not forget that when the
starving people Of Ireland were in great distress, the Ame-
ricans most generously came forward and relieved them.
He could not forget that a few months ago, when the sad
and terrible war caused great misery in Lancashire, notwith-
standing the claims that the Americans had at home, they
came forward most nobly to the assistance of the Lancashire
poor. It was therefore now the turn of England to pay back
to the suffering Americans, for thcugh black these negroes
were Americans, what they had done for us. Besides the
claims of distress and gratitude, they had also the special
claim that we were friends of the coloured man and haters
of slavery. They had also this claim upon us, that the exist-
ing state of things followed the emancipation of slaves in Bri-
tish dominions. It followed the efforts which he d been made
to bring the people of America to the same standard as our-
selves, and to consider slavery a sin. No one could deny the
stand that was made in this country against American slavery
and the protests that were being constantly dinned into the
ears of Americans who came amongst us, how incon-
sistent slavery was with their institutions, and that those
remonstrances had had a greater effect in raising that feel-
ing in America which induced the people of that country to
take such a position against the extension of slavery that the
slaveholder felt the insinuation threatened ; therefore he re-
belled, and the war began. He was not going to speak of
the merits or demerits of that war, but should confine his
remarks to the condition of the negro in consequence of it.
They had heard that Mr Jefferson Davis had es'imated the
number of emancipated slaves at two millions. Whether
there was that number or whether there was only ono half,
was a set-off against the evils of the war, but such a change
could not be brought about without immense suffering.
They must expect it to be severe, and, this country having
been instrumental in bringing it about, we were especially
bound to do what we could to relieve it. He did not regret
that we had been thus instrumental in bringing the existing
state of things to their present condition, for we had only
taken the position which we would have taken the more
strongly and the more earnestly years ago, if we had known
how, It was certainly not our fault that we had raised
the standard of freedom, and done all that we could to
excite our fellow-Christians in America who felt as
they ought for their enslaved fellow-citizens. It was
not because we did our duty in this respect that
therefore we were to blame ; blame, of course, fell upon
those who wero now reaping the terrible punishment ;
upon those who preferred to continue slavemasters rather
than listen to the protests against it. Though the suffer-
ings of the negroes were great, he must not allow those
whom he addressed to go away with the idea ,that they
were no better than before their present condition was
brought about. They had most delightful and (=our aging
proofs of the improvement in the condition ot• t 1 e negro—
there were encouraging instances of the noble manner in
which, generally speaking, the negro race had responded to
the call that had beets maJe upon them by the circum-
stances of the war; Gen. Banks, WllO was sent to be Go-
vernor of L uisi.sna after the Federal army had taken pos-
session of it, had under his protection many thousands of
emancipated negroes. In March last ha wrote stating that
he had no doubt whatever that the emancipated coloured
people could discharge all the duties incident to the great
change in their condition. He had seen them in ad situa-
tions within the last year and a half, and they seemed
to have a clearer comprehension of their position and
duties than many other classes. Among other things
they demanded that they shsuld not be flagged, that they
should only labour when they were well treated, and
that their children should be educated. The touching
earnestness with which these poor people asked for the
education of their children was one of the most encourag-
ing facts in connection with their condition. Though
when General Banks assumed the command of that de-
partment there were many thousands of coloured people
without employment, and many of them suffering from dis-
ease, there were not, in March, 500 who were not self-sup-
porting, Col. Hanks, the superintendent of negro slavery
in the Gulf department, said in February last, that he had
had 6,500 coloured men at work on the abandoned planta-
tions and fortifications, and he had no difficulty with them,
although it was true that some of them had a dislike to re-
turn to their old masters. He (Mr Forster) considered that
among all the different and extraordinary statements that
had been published in the English press there had been no
more common statement than that, however abstractedly
slavery might be an evil, yet there was a great difficulty in
getting rid of it ; and that emancipation would practically
end in failure, because negroes would never have the cour-
age to fight for their freedom, and such was their degraded
condition that they would not work without being com-
pelled. Both these assertions had been contradicted by facts.
The slaves had earned respect in America even from those
whose prejudices were against him. Mr Fellbrigg, a Boston
mozchant, had grown large quantities of cotton in the Sea
Islands, and by holding out the hope to the negroes of good
payment eventually, ho had proved that, with all the
peculiar difficulties under which the experiment was
labouring, the cost of cultivation was very little more,
if not less, than when it was grown by the negroes dur-
ing their slavery. Such a fact should make England
hopeful with regard to the negro, and it should also be
considered as a commercial value for themselves. Even if
the South succeeded, which was not so certain even in the
eyes of their friends, slavery was disorganised to that extent
that it would not do fa. England any longer to rely upon
it, not merely as friends of the negro, not merely as men
who wished that a great industry should no longer depend
on the sinful system of slavery for its support, but also as
men who had a commercial interest in the supply of the
most important article of English industry being placed on
the soundest foundation. They must look to these experi-
ments with the greatest interest, and hope for their success.
The claims of the society were afterwards advocated by
Mr L. Coffin, the Rev. Dr. Massie, and other speakers.
Resolutions were carried in favour of the formation of an
auxiliary at Bradford. A vote of thanks was given to Mr
Forster for presiding, and for his efforts on the American
question in Parliament. This concluded the proceedings.

WOOING BY THE AUSTRALIAN BLACKs.--CourtA
ship, as a precareor to marriage, is unknown
amongst them. When a young warrior is desirous of pro-
curing a wife ho generally obtains one by giving in exchange
for her a sister or some other female relative of his own ;
but, if there should happen to be no eligible damsel disen-
gaged in the tribe to which he belongs, then he hovers
round the encampment of some ether blacks until he gets
an opportunity of seizing one of their leubras,whom perhaps
he has seen and admired-when attending one of the grand
corroborries. His mode of paying his addresses is simple
and efficacious. With a blow of his nulla-nulla (war club)
he stuns the object of his affections, and drags her insen-
sible body away to some retired spot, whence, as soon as
she recovers her senses, he brings her home to his own
gunyah in triumph. Sometimes two join in an expedition
for the same purpose, and then for several days they watch
the movements of their intended victims, using their utmost
skill in concealing their presence. When they have obtained
the knowledge they require, they wait for a dark, windy
night : then, quite naked, and carrying only the long jag
spears, they crawl stealthily through the bush until they
reach the immediate vicinity of the camp fires, in front of
which the girls they are in search of are sleeking. Slowly
and silently they creep close enough to distinguish the
figure of one of those leuhras ; thou one of the intruders
stretches out his spear, and inserts its barb point amongst
her thick flowing locks ; turning the spear slowly round,
some of her hair speedily becomes entangled with it; then,
with a sudden jerk, she is aroused from he: slimber, and as
her eyes open she feels the sharp point of another weapon
pressed against her throat. She neither faints nor screams ;
she knows well that the slightest attempt at escape or
alarm will cause her instant death, so, like a sensible wo-
man, she makes a virtue of necessity, and, rising silently,
she follows her captors. They lead her away to a consi-
derable distance, tie her to a tree, and return to ensnare
their other victim in like manner. Then, when they have
accomplished their design, they hurry off to their own
camp, where they aro received with universal applause, and
highly honoured for their chivalrous exploit.—Challibers s
Journal.