The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-05 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL LAND COMPANY.

LITERATURE.
THE DESERT HOME. By Captain Mayne Reid.

David Bogue.
A more beautiful book than this has not for a long
time been issued from the press for the entertainment
and instruction of children. Its interest from first to
last is enthralling. It constitutes, as the author himself
intimates upon the title-page, a record of the adventures
of a lost family in the wilderness, a family worthy °t,
„being designated " The English Family Robinson.
mtptain Mayne Reid's ability as a narrator has already
been displayed in a very agreeable manner through s
first work, a work well known as " The Rifle Rangers,:
and still better, last season, through his second work,
entitled " The Scalp Hunters." In the volume now b
be-
fore us, however, the novelist has shown that e can
effect much more for his reader than the supply_ of
mere amusement. He has here told a tale, and a very
Izarvellous tale it is toe, of the vicissitudes befalling
Robert Rolfe and his family in the great central desert of
North America. In recounting the adventures of Rolfe
the author has manifestly kept before him the undying
fascination of the masterpiece of Defoe, and has endea-
voured, without anything at all approaching to a servile
imitation of his prototype, to invest his hero with some
of those attractive attributes which have made us all
look with more than the affection of the parrot upon
" Poor Robinson Crusoe." Instead, however, of the
lovely island of Juan Fernandez we are introduced into
the bosom of a valley oasis in the wilderness of North
America. Instead of being doomed to the horrors of
protracted solitude, the principal personage in the story
is blessed with the companionship of his wife and his
children. Instead of simple hearted, untutored Friday,
he has as his attendant the skilful-handed, merry-
tempered Cudjo—to our thinking the most de-
lightful mid original creation in the narrative.
Aided by his brave, fine spirited boys, Frank and Harry
—good marksmen both—and by his faithful negro, al-
ready mentioned, a first-rate domestic architect, and
one who understands, among other things, the mysteries
of the forest-apiary, Robert Rolfe contrives, in the val-
ley before particularised, to establish a home replete
with comforts and—incredible as it may appear—to rea-
lise the jest of his wife by amassing a little fortune in
the very heart of a sterile and almost impenetrable wil-
derness. How all this is accomplished the reader would
do well to learn by an examination of the book itself, for
it is a volume calculated to instruct and amuse " chil-
dren of a larger growth" than the occupants of the nur-
sery or the schoolroom. Here, in his desert home, Rolfe
and his family are described to have been accidentally
discovered by some prairie merchants returning from
Santa Fe to the Mississippi,with whose caravan the writer
represents himself as having been associated. Received
by the'hale and stalwart Englishman, who is the head
of this new " Family Robinson," the North American
traders hear from his own lips the account of his adven-
tures- The volume, therefore, is almost entirely
written in the first person, after the manner of an auto-
biography. An incident of a startling character, and
one which may be described as partly agreeable and
Partly painful, dashes the otherwise tranquil narrative
with the momentary excitement of romance. We refer
ut° the discovery of his daughter in little Luisa by
''''!%-night, the miner from Scotland. Previously to the
Captain
of the subject-matter of his narrative
uaptain Mayne Reid endeavours to render his child-
reader familiar with the general aspect of the scene in
Which his story is situated. His delineation of the
Great Desert lying in the interior of the North Ame-
tica% Continent, forming as it does the introductory
chapter of the volume, will be found on perusal
be not the least admirable portion of its
Content& Conned with attention, it will familiarize the
naiad with the marvels of that wonderful division of the
g!°,het revealing in the American wilderness more asto-
(Tailing aspects of nature than are to be found in the
Oesert of Sahara. Sometimes clothed with the wild sage
_r.svormwood, called artemisia—sometimes strewn for
'alba with a thick covering of salt, sometimes clad with
% brilliant layer of sods, sometimes laden with innu-
merable fragments of stone, originally scattered over its
race by the eruption of some now extinct volcano--
mill extending over a space equivalent to abo
erut one
litlion and a half of square miles, or, as the writ puts
in,
ill terms more comprehensible for children, somewhere
a"°ht " twenty-five times as big as all England"—lies
the great North-American wilderness. In this wilder-
ness the English family lose their way, and ultimately
141" t as the region of their sojourn a lovely island of
verdure, sunk into the desert table land of that vast
continent. Quiet though the existence of the family
was after the moment of its first settlement in the spot
are indicated enlivened as it was only by the adven-
'area of itsmembers with the wild creatures of the lo-
ft litY. the record of that existence is still, from the
opening page to the conclusion, enthralling in a very
remarkable degree, thanks to the graphic and refreshing
style of the author, and to the inexhaustible charm in-
vng the
the appearances both of the animal and of
vegetable kingdom. Dying of thirst in the
midst of the desert, we observe the family of Rolfe
audd
y and unexor a rivulet, but ' pectedly saved, not by a well
°f the globe by the juicy or succulent marrow
cacti--
that no less tin incident reminding us of
bubbling up in the one of the fresh-water spring
and thereby t midst of the salt waves of the ocean,
as described Savingin Alva!'"
gifted hand and his companions,
wofithleiotPages of " Darien," by the
we observe Warburton. Another time
intense interest, the onslaught
Made, and at last successfully, upon an unfortunate arma-
dillo. Then we follow the
hunters, Robert Rolfe, Frank,
and Harry, breathlthe of the three shoots essly
and eagerly, as the one or the
thati acrobat e a
prong horned antelope, or
wild animals, the bighorn, or the stately
'gamic elk, or the terrible d tiger-like carcaou,
or that skulking and deadly foeall of -the beavers, the
twhorlveri‘ne.. Again we.: pursue, in their movements
ouga the " happy valley"—most unlike of all valleys
nto_w the, valley of the good Prince Rasselas—seeing them
luxuriate in a " battue" of black tails, or watching,
42aveby another sense, somewhat painfully detecting the
.ments of the American skunk, or polecat, observing,
between
with still greater attention, the deadly conflict
bock-hued
the yellowish-coloured rattlesnake and the
,Lack-hued boa constrictor. Frank, by the way, manages
to...trap and collect together a strange and beautiful
tt;rteety of birds, including amongst the number the wild
„_",4e 3's the red-winged starling, the orange-headed trou-
;42_ the oriole, the wakon, the paroquet, the grey fea-
thered mock- bird, the blue jay, the green-bird, and the red-
nri,t or Virginia nightingale. Mary, the wife of Rolfe,
rthe mother by him of " little Mary," Harry, and
Frank is not less useful to the " settlement " by her love
_rbotany than the last-mentioned person himself by his
passion for ornithology. Aided by her instructions the
tlndy, soon after their arrival in the valley, obtain
reaele as well as sugar from the sugar-maple, and de-
!tclous cones from the bread-pine. Cudjo, meanwhile,
besides constructing almost unassisted a splendid log-
cabin, building it up from floor to roof without a single
nail to hold it together, contrives to track the wild bees
by a very simple and ingenious method to the nest
where, in the hollow of a lofty tree, they have deposited
their honey. The account of this latter adventure and
the destruction in the course of it of the bear who has
clambered up the hollow trunk to devour the honey, is
one of the most entertaining sections of the nar-
vative, as one of the most striking in interest
n 4 the mention of the formation of the lake
by the dam unexpectedly constructed by the beavers.
These same beavers, by the way, are the source of the
Wealth accumulated by ten years' industry in the bosom
of the American wilderness. From what we have here
remarked upon the volume it must be manifest that a
delightful charm, the charm of novelty and adventure,
marks every chapter of the " Desert Home." Though
less pretentious in its character, and less ambitious in its
object, we cannot but regard this very beautiful little
volume as perhaps the most truly artistic in every re-
raot of any among the works yet written by Captain
Mayne Reid. It confirms us in our opinion of his great
abilities, and will command we feel assured from all who
read it a genuine and sincere admiration. To enhance
the general attractions of the book some of its more
picturesque passages are accompanied by appropriate
embellishments, the facile pencil of William Harvey
having contributed to its pages twelve graceful and cha-
racteristic illustrations.

MERVYN CLITHEROR. No. La By Harrison
Ainsworth.
Although merely an intermediate number,
a number without any very striking incident but
t to
ut speak'
materially advancing the interest of the narrative the
present stille
present instalment of " Mervyn Clitheroe" will be foundt
to be very far indeed from being unattractive. The
principal occurrence transpiring befcre the close is the
death of old Uncle Moberley; and the doubt hanging
over the nature of his will renders us breathless for the
next chapter and its revelations. Pownall—rascal that he
is--has evidently drugged old Talbot, to keep him quiet
during the night, and frightened Sam Massey and
William Weever out of their wits by his ghost-stories,
With a view to penetrate unobserved into the chamber of
death for the purpose of purloining the inestimable
Parchments kept in the escrutuire. Having a presenti-
ment of all this, we await the next number with no in-
considerable anxiety, dreading jest that vagabond of a
barber may be the means of consigning 2,0001. a
Year and the farm of Nethercrofts to Malpas
Sale, the most execrable character in the book, thereby,
of course, depriving of his rights our favourite Mervyn
Clitheroe. Prior to the incident of the death of old
24oberley, we are introduced to the family of the Bride-
ca.kes, who are bettered in condition by the benevolence
uol Dr. Foam and the munificence of good old Mrs.
TervYn- The dinner given An the latter hospitable
I4ue in the mansion of the chorites, is admirably
described from first to last—the pencilling of the various
ft)teata displaying consummate ability in Mr. Ainsworth.
r* Bray is evidently intended for Dr. Parr, and, accord-
g all accounts preserved to us of the latter personage,
the_ resemblance is masterly—all, of course, except the
rig, and we may add also the general external appear-
ance. As a delineation of character, the sketch seems to
ra aurPrieingly good. Colonel and Mrs. Harbottle are also
_oanitestly ",from the life." The butler, Mr. Comberbacb,
mes out resplendently. The only failure in the whole
uescri ption
all , indeed, appears to U 3 to be the very part Of
cer.7uich the novelist plainly hoped to be the most sue-
,,:tul—we mean the account of Cuthbert Spring.
Pleasant fellow enough he doubtless must have been
but his anecdotes fall fistly, being in truth altogether
surpassed_oi by the droll incithnts of the fallen wig de-
Lite.d by the butler on the bald head of Dr. Foam, and
trimpenie monopoised by the rest of the guests, to the de-
number of Dr. Bray.
or February, we may
Before closing our notice of the
John Brideoake is out of d observe, by the way, that
are on the eveof anger, and the whole family
at ma Proceeding to Ned Culchech's cottuge,
_ Marston, in Cheshire M B 'd k whom we
rs. eoa e,
suspect to be a WiddingtOn under a false name, almost
destroys the reader'tolerable pride. From thestini
s interest in the family by herhin7
ail
expect much in the way of
the plot—a plot which next few chapters we t,
1 greater involvacents mu
in-
tricate, like moat promise. to be delightfully in-
of the in •
Ainsworth gentous fiutious of Mr.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
TIMES.—It is certainly not a trifling matter to undertake
the revision and repair of almost the only free constitution
which is now left standing in Europe. Nothing but the
prospect of great benefits, or the remedying of great abuses,
can justify such a proceeding. We are well, and it is not for
a slight or dubious improvement, nor for the sake of remedy-
ing trifling or theoretical defects, that we ought to attempt to
be better. Our present political regimen agrees with us well
enough, and the advantage must be very manifest, and the
danger very small, of any change which we shall do wisely
to adopt. It is with much regret that we state our conviction
that the Reform Bill which Lord John Russell is understood
to be about to propose satisfies neither of these conditions.
It is an inadequate remedy for those gross and admitted abuses
which form the best justification of its introduction ; and yet,
inadequate as it is, it carries with it elements of danger
and uncertainty which no prudent statesman will
needlessly or gratuitously called into action. A Reform
Bill worthy of the name should aspire to remedy existing
abuses on the one hand, and on the other to extend the fran-
chise in a liberal and comprehensive spirit, always bearing in
mind that there is no measure so illiberal as intrusting the
franchise to persons unqualified for its exercise, and that the
uneducated classes have ever been found the readiest instru-
ments fur the subversion of well-ordered government and
rational freedom. . . What public opinion does re-
quire is not a rash and empirical lowering of the franchise,
but a destruction of the haunts of corruption and venality, a
check to the reviving and surviving practice of borough-
mongering, the removal of glaring anomalies and inequali-
ties in the franchise and in electoral divisions, and a vigorous
attempt to check the practice of bribery and intimidation.
To satisfy these reasonable and moderate wishes, Lord John
Russel proposes to perpetuate Harwich, and to extend Calne,
guaranteeing their purity by adding to their constituency a
class of electors more ignorant, more needy, and, therefore,
at least equally venal.

CHRONICLE.—Lord John Russell was either very skilful
or very fortunate in the occasion which he seized for dismis-
sing his formidable colleague. Over and above the point of
official form on which the Premier mainly rested his case on
Tuesday night, and about which the world at large cares
little, the Foreign Secretary had, luckily for his chief, taken
the unpopular as well as the wrong side on a European ques-
tion of capital moment—the question of liberty and'usurpa-
Lion in France. It is true that Lord John Russell himself--
if we may judge from the apology which he so strangely vo-
lunteered tor the French President—seems now to differ but
by a hair's breadth, if at all, from his late colleague, on
the substantial question at issue. But, although that
timid or prudential sacrifice to a supposed expe-
diency leaves very little to choose between the two
statesmen in point of constitutional principle, the first super-
ficial report of the affair is probably that which will still be
taken by ordinary observers. In the view, perhaps, of the
generality of persons, the Minister who has for years en-
joyed the confidence of ultra-Liberals at home and abroad,
has fallen because he was more indulgent to a military
despotism than the official superior whose opinions on ge-
neral politics have never been quoted or discussed beyond
the narrow seas. At all events, on the immediate ques-
tion which caused his dismissal, Lord Palmerston was on
the side of Austria and Russia, and the Pope. An
opinion which he even now deliberately repeats cannot be
explained away. So far as the debate of Tuesday eluci-
dated the causes of the rupture, it must be admitted that the
late Foreign Secretary is a martyr to the cause of Absolute
Government.

HERALD.—So much for the Ministerial speech delivered
from the throne on Tuesday. With regard to the debate
upon it in both Houses of Parliament, we have not left to
ourselves space for any lengthened remarks. It will be seen
that in the House of Commons an explanation—if the
speeches of the two Noble Lords can be so termed—of
the causes of the dismissal of the ex-Secretary for
Foreign Affairs was offered by the Premier and Lord
Palmerston. The affair was exceedingly bald and unsatis-
factory; but if we may offer " our " opinion upon the subject,
the Noble Member for Tiverton had decidedly " the best of
it." The admirable addresses of Lord Derby and Mr. Dis-
raeli—temperate in their strictures upon the sins of commis-
sion and omission of the Government, yet thoroughly expla-
natory of the principles by which the country party are
guided, will be read with equal admiration and attention.
They must form the subject of a future commentary.
DAILY NE WS.—The speech of Lord Palmerston will be
read with feelings of disappointment and regret by many
who have heretofore honoured his courage, and energy, and
talent in the discharge of the duties of the duties of the
office he so long has filled. It was listened to with breath-
less attention by the House, but it failed to produce an effect
favourable to the gifted speaker. With the exception of
some adroit pleasantry in the nature of a to quoque, it was
heard in total silence. All the main facts were admitted;
and worse than all, Lord Palmerston, with a species of infa-
tuation, reiterated the expression of his approval of Louis
N apoleon. We willingly forbear from comment. Had there
been no Parliamentary disclosures or debate, the point might
have remained unsettled. But all disguise and doubt is now
unfortunately removed, and for a grave error, rashly com-
mitted, and obstinately adhered to, we are constrained to
own that Lord Palmerston has gone far towards severing
the link that united him to the party whose confidence he so
long enjoyed.
POs f.— Lord John Russell, in his singular statement on
the strange proceeding which he was on Tuesday night
called on to defend, dwelt, with discursive complacency, on
the several influences which he declared had not determined
his chronic petulance into acute mischief, but touched, with
a natural and hesitating reluctance, those which he has se-
lected as his official and Parliamentary materials of justifica-
tion. Thus we heard much of our policy to France, which
has not been altered, and cannot be condemned- much of
the Finsbury deputation, on which it was allowed that the
ex-Minister had been misrepresented—much of that famous
Palmerston policy, which was owned to be worthy of all ap-
proval and imitation ; but comparatively very little of the
ostensible causes which are stated to have led to the unpre-
cedented requital of all these services. These alleged causes
lie, in fact, in the smallest compass. They are simply. that
Lord Palmerston, in his communications with our Ministers
abroad, and with Foreign Ministers here, did not observe
with sufficient exactness certain points of Ministerial
discipline, armed in a new and extraordinary manner
with the declared personal authority of the Crown—that he
did not, on other points connected with the less imposing
but, as now introduced, the more constitutional ground of the
supremacy of the Premier, pay sufficient deference to that
Minister's well-known appetite for every description of detail.
The evidence of this twofold offence consisted of a written
dispatch and of spoken words. The dispatch was neither an
instruction nor a Government declaration, but a courteous
and confiding answer to a distinct question from a diplo-
matist who has proved himself unworthy of confidence and
ungrateful for courtesy. The spoken words were the mere
expression of opinion in familiar intercourse, such as has
been always admitted and must always be practised between
the Minister charged with our foreign relations and the re-
presentatives of foreign powers. Lord John Russell has
sought by a most unfair misrepresentation, to give to the dis-
patch referred to, that of Dec. 16, the character of an instruc-
tion to our Minister at Paris —of a document committing Eng-
land to a moral support of certain acts, to the exercise of
moral influence in a certain direction—he would have had
the House believe that to have sent this dispatch without
the concurrence of the Cabinet and the sanction of the Crown
was a grave breach of Ministerial discipline—an offence to
the Crown, to be visited by the severest exercise of the
Crown's authority. But Lord Palmerston showed clearly,
nay, Lord John Rassell's own words show clearly, that the
dispatch had no such character as that attributed to it—that
it said nothing of the Crown, the Government, or the nation
—that it only. in answer to Lord Normanby, explained and
repeated the opinions of Lord Palmerston, as they had been
expressed in conversation. Still more futile is the pretence
of the conversation with M. Walewski, on the subject of the
events of the 2d of December. It is not urged that the mat-
ter of that conversation is unwise or impolitic. It cannot
be denied that its spirit has been adhered to in subsequent
conversations with the same Minister, on the same subject.
The offence was not the nature of the opinion, but
the expression of any opinion at all. Yet, but a few hours had
passed since Lord John Russell had dismissed the Queen's
ablest Minister by his sole act on his sole responsibility—
before he was himself committing the alleged offence, which
had so excited his constitutional indignation. Nay, it seems
there was more than one of the Ministry, including the Pre-
sident of the Council and the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
who was thought entitled to express an independent opiuion
on foreign affairs to a Foreign Minister. It was only to the
Secretary of State for that particular department that the
subject was forbidden ground. Such are the paltry and in-
consistent pretexts which the Prime Minister of England
seeks to impose on the nation as the true causes for a mea-
sure which has shattered his party, disquieted the whole
country, weakened constitutional confidence throughout
Europe, and given fresh impulses to the old antagonism of
Absolutism and Democracy. For our own parts, we must
be allowed to take Lord John's explanation in the most
purely official and conventional sense possible. We cannot
conceive his own defence to be anything but a formal plea
more derogatory to his reputation as a statesman than would
even a candid confession have been, had such confession been
possible. The whole history of the French communications
will, we are persuaded, remain to the public as they do, in
our own opinion, among those influences to which Lord Pal-
merston's removal cannot justly be attributed. Lord John
Russell's defence is, in fact, so evasive and so unsatisfac-
and confirmatory, of all that we
tort',
feared. that
I tist
ggesteim"ing points are " the moral influ-
ence" which his declared opinion in the House of Commons
gives to o
only redeeming rede
mischievous English papers whose rec ,
France, and the uncompromising condemnation
useoforthtohsee
French continues to jeopardise our safety and to lower our
reputation.

F 4
party yes-
There was no addition to the Royal dinner
COURT CIRCULAR.
Thera
FE
terday.
The Queen and Prince Albert walked in the Home Park
and Slopes this morning.
The Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and the younger
members of the Royal Family, took their usual pony and
walking exercise.
The Alarquis and Marchioness of Breadalbane, Lord
Cowley, and Lord Portman, have been invited, and are ex-
pected at the Castle this afternoon.

, yesterday, tinThl--------, had an interview with the
Colonel W. L. Freest
3r, at the Board of
deputation from the Provost and Fell
Right Hon. Henry Laboucher.Pe .
Rev. deputation_ con-
Thometedvard Craven
TrAade.
C
Bacheldor, Carter,Regst3irtareAio
lege had an interview, yesterday, with t ows of Eton
Health, at at their offices, Whitehall. Thehe General Board of
sisted of the Rev. the Provost, the
; Sa.n;dthbelnr.eTv..
Eli.aSw.irCerYeasyD;DCOunFse.A.l
the College.
A deputation from the Directors of the Australian Gold
Mining Company, consisting of Messrs. P. W. Flower, John
Lambert, William Walker, and Mr. J. T. Wright (Secre-
tary),
had an interview with Earl Grey yesterday at the Co
lonial-office.
Colonel W. L. Freestun, M.P., bad an interview with Sir
George Grey yesterday at the Home-office.
A deputation from the parish of Shadwell, consisting of
Messrs. Allam (churchwardens), Sutton (overseer), Corner,
Morer, and Ca. Miller (parishioners), and Mr. Mellish
(vestry clerk), had an interview with the Right Honour-
able Henry Labouchere yesterday at the Board of Trade.

OPENING OP THE NEW CHURCH AT LAMBED:I.
On Tuesday the parish church of Lambeth, which has been en-
tirely rebuilt, was opened v, ith much ceremony by the Bishop
of Winchester, assisted by a large number of the local
clergy. The new edifice is built upon the old foundations,
and follows the ancient ground plan. It consists of
a nave, with aisles, clerestory, porch on' the south, and a
well apportioned chancel. It is in the early decorated style
of architecture. The roof is open and of handsome construc-
tion that of the chancel is vaulted in oak. The sermon in
the morning was preached by the Bishop, that in the even-
ing by the Venerable Archdeacon Robinson, Master of
the Temple.

We are requested to state that the public will be
admitted, gratis, to view the House of Lords every Saturday
during the session, between the hours of 10 and 4 o'clock, by
tickets, to be obtained at the Lord Great Chamberlain's
office auy Saturday from 11 till 4 o'clock.

I esterday, at twelve o'clock, the proceedings were resumed
in Vice-Cfiancelkir Kindersley's Court, before Master in
Chancery Humphry. The Court was crowded. Mr. O'Con-
nor arrived shortly after twelve, and took his seat under-
neath the bench.
Mr. Roxburgh, counsel for the official manager, proceeded
to examine Mr. O'Connor with reference to the balance-
sheets and accounts, to which he had directed attention on
the occasion of his previous examination, published in the
Daily News and Northern Star, and which he deposed were
the only versions of the company's financial transactions he
could speak to or attest. These accounts had been obtained
and examined by the official manager, who found that they
only exhibited the expenditure by Mr. O'Connor on account
of the land company, and not the receipts; and, unless Mr.
O'Connor gave some clearer explanation with reference to
particular pecuniary transactions, he should have to charge
him to account seriatim for the whole I 12,0001. that had
been received.

Mr. O'Counor said that the accounts rendered by Mr.
Grey to the Committee of the House of Commons gave all
the particulars. Mr. Hayter was the chairman of that
Committee, and when Mr. Hayter asked him what he ( Mr.
O'Connor) considered an impertinent question, taking hold
of him by the coat collar, he said, " Do you mean to address
me in that way, you ruffian," and so saying knocked him
down on the chair.-(Loud laughter )
The Master (impressively)—Mr. O'Connor, on the occa-
sion of your previous examination before me as judge of this
Court, I was disposed to listen with that patience and for-
bearance which your position as a witness in this inquiry I
thought entitled you to receive—
Mr. O'Connor—Humph ! A-hem I I told you that if
Prince Albert had built these cottages—(Laughter)—
The Master—Hear me, Mr. O'Connor. If you have any-
thing to say I am willing to hear you, provided you address
yourself to me in terms proper to be addressed to ajudge, and
in terms relevant to the subject-matter on which you are
being examined, but I will not allow you to stand up
here and make speeches to an audience just as you may be
capriciously inclined.
Mr. O'Connor—Well, then, your Honour, I will behave
myself.—(Laughter.)
The Master—l cannot, for the purpose of this inquiry, take
the accounts of Mr. Grey to the House of Commons in 1848
as conclusive, more particularly in pecuniary transactions
that have since occurred.

Mr. O'Connor—Mr. Grey reported that the company owed
me 3,400!. Mr. Finlayson, actuary to the National Debt,
reported that it was more than that after five weeks' inves-
tigation of the accounts, and the subsequent accounts are in
the Daily News and Northern Star.
The Master—You have now heard my determination, and
I trust for your own sake you will not again go on rambling

iato unnecessary observations.
Mr. O'Connor—l am not rambling at all, it's that barrister
is rambling. (Laughter.)
The Master—Have you the banker's book? Mr. O'Con-
nor—No ; they've got them. (Mr. O'Connor here turned
round to the Master and whispered. )
The Master—Speak out, Mr. O'Connor.
Mr. O'Connor—May I go to the House of Commons?—
(Laughter.) Will you let me go? The Master—No, Mr.
O'Connor, I will not.

Mr. O'Connor—Why not? The Master—Because your
attendance isnecessary here.

Mr. O'Connor—l suppose I may state to you what I stated
in the House of Commons ? The Master—No, Mr. O'Connor,
you must go on with your examination, and reserve that for
another occasion.

Mr. O'Connor—But you see, your Honour, not a farthing
of the money came through my hands. It was all paid into
the bank by those who received it.
Mr. Roxburgh—Does the statement in the Daily News
contain a correct account of all the moneys you received
since October, 1848, on account of the company ? Mr. O'Con-
nor—l dare say it does. (Mr. O'Connor here burst out into
an abrupt and rapid extemporaneous statement of what he
had done to Mr. Hayter in the House of Commons, followed
by a running fire of effusions, which it was impossible to
stop, as to what O'Connorville and Snig's End might have
been if Prince Albert had built them, and concluding with
the declamations he indulged in the other day against Lords
and Ladies Nincompoop who spoke disparagingly of his
efforts.)
Mr. Roxburgh—Really, Sir, this is about the sixth time
we have had to suffer this infliction.

The Master (emphatically)—Mr. O'Connor, on a previous
occasion I passed over without notice the many irregular and
improper observations you gave vent to. I did so then be-
cause I thought the state you were in might require indul-
gence at the hands of the Court. lam not, however, of that
opinion now, and I warn you that I will not allow of a repe-
tition of this conduct.— (Sensation.)
Mr. O'Connor—Oh dear, oh dear.--(Laughter.)
Mr. Roxburgh—Now, Mr. O'Conner, look at your account
in the Daily News.
Mr. O'Connor here took up the Daily News, and for se-
veral minutes surveyed it through his eye-glass.
Mr. Roxburgh—Do you know a man of the name of
Watkins? Mr. O'Connor— Oh, you're a funny man.
Mr. Roxburgh—Do you see in that account any sum of
2001. received by you from Watkins in respect of purchase-
money for a portion of the Great Dodford Estate, not men-
tioned by you in the Act of Parliament? Mr. O'Connor—
No (turning to the Master). Your Honour, will you :allow
me to go ?—(Laughter.) If it is not in the Daily News it is
published in another way. Look in the Northern Star.
Mr. O'Connor made similar replies to questions having re-
ference to various other sums received by him for land from
other persons, adding, " By my soul, 1 never raw the man
in my life."
Mr. Roxburgh—We want to know, Mr. O'Connor, where
credit is given to the company for all these sums of money.
Mr. O'Connor—There; you will see it in the books and in
Mr. Grey's report. I will leave it all in the hands of my
profess ional advisers. They are the most intellectual men,
and I'd trust them with anything, your Honour.
The Master—lf you took the advice of your professional
advisers, Mr. O'Connor, you would answer these questions
clearly. I cannot take Mr. Grey's account for the purpose
of this inquiry. I must have yours, and if you think I have
decided wrong you can appeal to a higher court.
Mr. O'Connor—Really, your Honour, I must go out for a
few minutes. Mr. O'Connor here retired outside the court,
and the Master took the opportunity of retiring into the
robing room. In about three minutes Mr. O'Conner re-
turned and exclaimed, " Where is that juggler? "--(Laugh-
ter) - and shaking his fist in a mock menacing style at the
official manager—"l say, Goodchap, you ought to be called
Badchap.—(Loud laughter.) You know very well you are
employed by the Government, and the Government are op-
posed to me —(Laughter.) I tell you, all of you, if Prince
Albert had allotted these lands and built these cottages"---
Mr. Marshall Turner and Mr. Chuvery (Mr. O'Connor's
professional advisers) here rose, and the former said, "Do for
God's sake, O'Connor, for mercy's sake, be quiet. There are
many enemies of yours here."
Mr. O'Connor—l know it, Turner. They are all enemies
I
to me. By God they are all my enemies. Oh dear, oh dear !
GI so ao yd',chMarp.— have.Badchap, have you been over the estates? Mr.
Mr. O'Connor—Did you juggle them out of any money?
_(Laughter.) Now then have you done with me? I
must (go to the House of Commons. I have got a motion
there.
Mr. Roxburgh then asked some questions relative to the
Land and Labour Bank. Mr. O'Connor—l protested against
its establishment, but, being for universal suffrage, gave in
to the majority. Was proprietor of the bank which had
failed for 4,0001. Really and truly you do examine me
most curiously, upon my soul. I don't know what you
mean or what you say. Will you have a pinch of snuff 2--
(Loud laughter.) [Mr. O'Connor here raised a green ban-
danna and blew his nose violently, replacing it with a violent
fling and a snorting kind of noise, amid loud laughter, in his
The Master—Mr. O'Connor, Mr. O'Connor. Mr. O'Con-
nor (sharply)—Sir 1

The Master—l warn you, Mr. O'Connor, to conduct your-
self as a witness under examination ought to do. Mr.
O'Connor—l spent 2,000/. in travelling to see all the estates,
and charged the company nothing for it.—(Laughter.)
H
company
owes me 7,506/.
explain how? Mr. O'Connor—l
eTighheo Master—Will
! The
you
will explain to your Honour how I have been destroyed—
ruined.—(Laughter.) Men that have been located on four
acres of land each for five years, and who got 501. head
money and loan money, and as much manure as would fill
this court twice, and lived and cultivated it five years, have
not paid a fraction of rent ; while the men located at Great
Dodford, whera there was the best land in the world, and
paid from COL to 1001. bonus—there, where originally
they could plough the sod for 400 yards like soap, the
land is now like land in a flower-pot, and all the rent paid.
( Laughter.) The ruffians on the four acres have not paid a
farthing of rent, and one day last summer, when I was
down at O'Connorville, at Rickmansworth, from six o'clock
in the morning to six in the evening, I had to roast a beef-
steak with one of the bricklayers on the tongs for my din•
ner that very day. (The ruffians cultivated the land and
collected heaps of manure, but paid no rent. (Mr.
O'Connor here sat down, apparently much agitated and
affected.)
The Master—Mr. O'Connor, we can enter into all that an-
other time.

Mr. O'Connor—Your Honour, it 'makes my blood boil—
(Laughter)—it makes my blood boil when I think of the
amount of money I have expended, and the time I have
given, to locate these poor men. God d—n their eyes.—
( Sensation, loud laughter, and confusion, during which Mr.
O'Connor was apparently so much affected as to be obliged
to cover his face in his handkerchief and hands.)
The Master—Mr. O'Connor, I shall be obliged to adjourn
this Court, and report your conduct elsewhere. I have not,
and I regret that I have not, power to commit you 89 a
witness misconducting himself in a most gross manner
towards a court of justice. Had I the power, I would not
hesitate to exercise it immediately.
Mr. O'Connor—Well, your Honour, I will proceed properly.
The:Masfer—On a repetition of such conduct I shall break
up this Court, and report your conduct, which I feel to be a
disgrace to any English Court of Law.—(Applause from the
audience.) Perhaps that will bring you to a proper behaviour.
Mr. O'Connor—l assure your Honour it makes my blood
boil when I think of it.
The Master—lt is indispenable to examine you on these
matters, to ascertain whether there is a balance due to you
from the company, or from you to it.
Mr. O'Connor (turning familiarly to the Master, and in an
undertone)—l say—
The Master—l can hear nothing, Mr. O'Connor, privately.
Mr. O'Connor—l've got the spasms.—(Loud laughter.)
Will you let me go? I've got the spasms.
The Master—You can retire into my room.
Mr. O'Connor (painfully)—Let me go entirely. I've got
the spasms.
Mr. Chuvery—l know Mr. O'Connor is in bad health.
Mr. O'Connor (putting his hat on)—I have not eaten a bit
nor slept a wink these last thirteen days, and unfortunately
now I've got the spasms.
The Master (gravely)—You
(tienr—treWp
bad.
Ar 00hvdeenanr ,0
O'Connor
h td(gravely)—Youstate that upon your oath?
Mr.
ihOe'ioansnor—Upon my oath. Let me go.
ear!
iidl
tyi
eonu)b_e
)be-meertromw,eagt
et.weliv,me ?
vMerry.
hen
court, got into a cab in the
O'Connor
tell the driver to take him
After some further proce madeeteodo
nit
court-yard,
sye awr
Housey
at
and
dfr ocwu
ogn
msh
umt
nho
den
escr
e. r ot
owo rd
ti no
o'clock. ngs, the Court adjourned at four

SEIZURES Br TEE COAST-GEAE.D appears
from a Parliamentary document yesterday printed by order
of the House of Commons, that in the year 1850 the
seizures of brandy by the coast-guard and revenue cruisers
numbered 5,129 13-32 gallons; of whisky, 119 23.32; of
Geneva, 446 31-32; of rum, 5 2-32; and of wine, 378 12-32;
of tea, 301 b. 12oz. ; of tobacco, 40,1791 b. 13oz. ; of cigars,
4511 b. 10oz. ; of snuff, 891 b.; and of soap, 2481 b. The con-
veyance was made in 35 vessels, 57 boats, and one horse
and cart. The smugglers numbered 248 men, nine Women,
and six boys.

towroaeut lioldr olbm
A GREENHORN INDEED !—Some singular remarks
are attributed to a member of the Canadian Assembly, by
h
if ax Weekly Sun, in the report of a late debate. The
saying that he hoped the reporters
acicorrecetb" anycea by
blunders, as he was a new speaker, and
continued :—There are some parts of the country where the
people not only know nothing about railways, but hardly
know what a newspaper is. lam a greenhorn at it myself."
.—(Laughter.)

NATIONAL DEFENCES.

TO-THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

_ -
Sin,—Under ordinary circumstances I should, with
all due deference, have adressed myself to his Grace the
Commander-in Chief, on the subject of the following
observations, but the manner in which his Grace's letter
to Sir John aurgoyne was received by the public, and
treated by the Administration, precludes me from the
course; inasmuch as it is highly improbable that the
Duke of Wellington will again take the initiative in re-
commending measures of defence, except indeed such
as are immediately connected with the department over
which his Grace presides.
I turn, therefore, to the public Press, which has al-
ready published many highly interesting naval and
military discussions, trusting that I shall not be denied
an opportunity of laying my views before my country-
men, and in the hope of at once awakening the atten-
tion of all who are qualified for " the consideration of
such questions," and of iinpressing supon the minds of
those who are bound to provide for the safety of the
realm the necessity of acting promptly.
The general who vanquished zbe best
disciplined
armies in Europe, in many of the
most memorable caul:
paigns on record, can afford to laugh at being called an
alarmist. But, Sir, those warding; were not uttered
from a feeling of alarm; they were put forth in the
calm and deliberate conviction of the moment, that his
Sovereign and his country were heedlessly exposed to
insult and danger. That warning may,not be repeated,
but it has never been qualified; neither have the Duke's
sentiments undergone any change.
There is yet time, and let us hasten, with unremitting
diligence, to follow the counsel which his Grace's
loyalty and patriotism urged him to give, and which,
had the spirit of wisdom been in
then adopted. us, would have been
The numb©r of men for the due security of the king-
dom, the proportions of each force, and improvements
in their arms and accoutrements, are
all questions of
momentous import, and will doubtless receive mature
and timely consideration, now that so many able minds
are directed to the serious points at issue; and upon
neither of those do I presume to offer any suggestion.
It is with the vulnerable portions of our Southern
coasts, and upon the dispositions of the forces for their
defence, that my mind has been long engaged; and a
paramount sense of duty to his Sovereign and to his
country, by a soldier wbo has numbered nearly fifty
years in the service of the Crown, is both my motive
and apology for this address. I will now proceed to
submit the opinions which a oareful consideration of the
subject has forced upon me.
Allow me, in the first place, to quote two passages
from the Dukel of Wellington's monitory letter. Speak-
ing of steam-power, his Grace says--
" This discovery immediately exposed all parts of the
coasts of these islands, which a vessel could approach at
all, to be approached at all times of the tide, and in all
seasons, by vessels so propelled, from all quarter;. We
are in fact assailable."

"I am accustomed to the consideration of these
questions, and have examined and reconnoitred, over
and over again, the whole coast from the North Fore-
land, by Dover, Folkestone,
Beachy Read, Brighton
Arundel, to Selsey Bill, near Portsmouth; and I say'
that, excepting immediately under the fire of Dover
Castle, there is not a spot on the coast on which infantry
might not be thrown on shore, at any time
of the tide,
with any wind, and in any weather; and from which
such a body of infantry, so thrown on shore, would not
find, within the distance of five miles,
. a road into the
interior of the country, through the cliffs, practicable for
the march of a body of troops.
H
Isis Grace's wonted intuition has in an instant marked
the limits within which we are most a.
making the
assailable; and
while I entirely concur in the policy of
strong places, that is strong by comparison, stronger,
yet it is to the weak ones alluded to in the Extract last
quoted that lam anxious to direct attention. By all
means let the defences of Sheerness, Dover, Portsmouth,
and Plymouth more particularly, be carefully examined,
and augmented where expedient; bat it is not by ap-
proaching fortified towns that wo shall be attacked.
No; an active and enterprising enemy will seek to throw
his troops on our shores precisely where they are easiest
of access, most devoid of protection, nearest to his own
ports, and least distant from our metropolis. To war-
rant a reasonable expectation of success, and without
such en expectation the attempt would be madness,
these conditions seem indispensable. That a combination
of them all is to be found on our South-Eastern coast is
but too apparent to those " accustomed to the considera-
tion of such questions;" neither is t at all dificult for a
military eye
to indicate still more precisely than his
Grace has done the points which would probably be se-
lected for debarkation. Having an intimate knowledge
of the whole line of coast between the North Foreland
and Portsmouth, I do not hesitate plainly to state that
within a few miles of each side of Beachy Read these
points, uniting all the
premises, are to be found,
Many valid reasons might easily be assigned
for these
opinions, but it would be imprudent to divulge them in a
communication of this nature. Enough has been said,
and I proceed to consider the course to be pursued.
We must occupy Beaehy Head by an entrenched
work of considerable extent, and keep the key of the
country in our own hands. "We are not safe;" this
step should be taken forthwith, and Ido earnestly urge
it upon the consideration of her Majesty's Ministers,
believing it to be essentially necessary to the defence of
that coast, eminently conducive to the inviolability of
our shores, and to the security of the kingdom. It we
omit to fortify this remarkable promontory, a dangerous
stronghold is left open to an invading enemy, from which
it would be exceedingly difficult to dislodge him, and
from whence he might securely await reinforcements.
There is one other position on the south-eastern coast,
and one only, which it appears to me advisable to for-
tify—namely, the high ground behind the town of Rye.
As an advanced post the position is important, and
though of much less consequence than Beachy Read, not
to be neglected. _

In addition to these works, it is highly desirable that
the utmost possible progress should be effected in the
formation of the Breakwater at Portland, which will
form an admirable harbour of immense importance for
a steam squadron of observation. I suggest,
also, that
the pier now building at Dover be forthwith finished at
its existing length, and the present costly mode of con-
struction discontinued. It is becoming more expensive
daily, owing to increasing depth of water and other
causes, and cannot be carried much further seaward.
The difficulty should be met at once, and the most
strenuous efforts made to complete the harbour of re-
fuge, on the plan of the Plymouth Sound Breakwater.
With these principal measures in progress;
a
augmentation to the army, and a liberal supplY the
prudent
most approved muskets for the soldiers, the public mind
would probably be at ease.
With reference to minor matters, the martello towers
on the coasts of Sussex and
-xent, which have been
many years dismantled, should be put into a state
of defence; batteries established at Brighton and Hag-
dugs; the electric telegraph laid down on the South
Coast Railway, and sidings for artillery formed at such
places as the roads on the coat would require.
Beachy Head is of the chalk formation, and therefore
but little masonry for revetment would be requisite;
the excavation of the
ditches and formation of the
glacis might be entrusted to some
of our great railway
contractors, who are accustomed to deep cuttings and
well trimmed slopes, and whose organized establish-
ments would be readily and inexpensively put in
motion.
But it is not desirable, at this crisis, to leave our
measures of defence to the decision of any one person,
however eminent his position or talents. Let a council
of the ablest officers of artillery and engineers be ap-
pointed, and charged with the duties of reconnoitering
the coast from the North Foreland to Selsey Bill, and of
reporting their opinions on the best mode of defending
it. Let their report be laid befere the Commander-in-
Chief, and, after it has received such comments as his
Grape might be pleased to offer, remitted to the consti-
tuted authorities for early and trusty execution.
I am not an alarmist, but
Prudently bar my doors
against unwelcome intrinders, and believe it equally nu-
my nativity
e s hall be made safe
cessary that the land
against a ruthless and remorseless eo.
I have tho honour to be, Sir, &c.,
Colonels . WILLIAMS,
Ramsgate, Jan. 31. •
Rettred Royal Engineers.