The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, NOVENIBER 6, 1863,

LONDON, FRIDAY, NOV. 6, 1863.

NAPOLEON'S Speech, yesterday, was worthy of
himself, of France, and of the occasion. His MA-
JESTY has often before now spoken admirably well,
and always to the purpose. This last Imperial
oration of his, however—the longest and evidently
one of the most carefully elaborated to which he
has yet given utterance—is, in many respects, the
ablest, as it is certainly the most remarkable, he has
delivered. Looked forward to, with eager expecta-
tion throughout Europe, its purport will create
neither disquietude nor disappointment. The tone
of the harangue, while it is eminently dignified
and even authoritative, is also, and in an especial
manner, eminently conciliatory. Not a syllable in
it can be pointed to that is so much as even vaguely
or indirectly irritating to either of the belligerents
in North America. There is no word or hint of
defience directed against the councils of the Russian
Autocrat. And yet the French EMPEROR is most
plainly and most emphatically outspoken a:ike in
reference to the recent conquest of Mexico and to
the Still protracted, and embittered, and frightfully
isnte.nsified Polish Insurrection. If there were any
ous expectation that the long imminent alterna-
tive of
Peace or War in Europe would be decided
by NAP
OLEO; in. in his Speech from the Throne
on opening his new Legislative Chambers, perhaps
that expectation maybe regarded now as hav-
ing been realised by one sentence—by what
we may call a
• e sentence—in the EMPEROR'S
harangue. Ref •
erring in the most explicit terms
that could well have he,ti
employed, in order to
express his meaning, to the utter impossibility of
France solely dealing with this Polish Question,
the EMPEROR adds, in one of those felicitous sen-
tences of his, which have about them almost the
flavour of wit, certainly the terseness
of a
threat an epigram
An insult to our house or
gofinstto. our
frontiers alone impose upon us the duty
without previous concert." So that Earopeisgivnegn
to understand now, quite distinctly, that France
not go to war with Russia in the interests
eves Will
of
Poland, if left (as the champion of the inalienable
rights of Poland) alone and isolated amongst
the Powers of Christendom. Yet does the EM
PEROR refer, almost in the same breath, pointedly,
almost poignantly, to the immense temptation he
has had—" to raise my voice," he says, meaning by
that to draw the sword of France, " in favour of a
nation rebelling in the eyes of Russia, but in our's
the inheritor of a right written in history and in
treaties." Tempted by the instincts of a noble and
hau;hty ambition, incited by the passionate sym-
pathies of his own people in favour of Poland,
NAPOLEON 111. has nevertheless refrained from
vindicating at the point of the sword that sacred
right—inheritance of which hie Imperial Majesty
Ila 3 thus formally proclaimed before Russia, before
all Christendom---because--An insult to French
honour, or a threat against the French frontiers
could along impose upon the Sovereign of France
cuty of acting without concert—that is, with-
out concert with his allies. The declaration, thus
made, is more than momentarily reassuring; it it
definitive. NAPOLEON 111. instead of declaring war
against Russia, submits the
proposal of a Congress
to the consideration of Christendom,
The preposition of his
Majesty, we take le,
is about as chivalrous and as impracticable at
his twice proffered and twice declined scheme
of mediation between the American belligerents,
while (as we dread that it can alone prove tc
he) thus impracticable, the suggestion of the
French E3.11•EB.01:. is in itself none the le, mag_
ranimous of its kind. The proposition is so re-

markable in every way, that the mere manner in
which it is put forth yesterday in the Imperial
Speech from the Throne is deserving of our most
serious consideration. " Without resorting to arms,"
says the EMPEROR, " and without being silenced,
one resource is open to us. That is, to submit
the Polish cause to an European tribunal.
Russia has already declared that conferences
in which all the other questions which agi-
tate Europe should b a debated would in
no degree wound her dignity. Lot us take
note of this declaration. May it serve to extin-
guish, once for all, the ferment of disorders ready
to burst forth upon all sides ; and 'from the unease.
ness in which Europe is in all directions traversed
by the elements of dissolution may a new era of
order and peace spring forth:' It sounds Utopian.
It breathes like a foretaste of that Christian Arcadia
the :llilleninm of which the Laureate dreamed his po-
litical daydream in " Lockslriy Hall," where he sings
of "the Parliament of ne,tions, the Federation of
the world." Yet the edifice, the rehabilitated, or
to be rehabilitated edifice, NAPOLEON 111. alludes
to, in his very next sentence, is surely no
chateau en Espagne ! Is not the time
come," asks his MAJESTY, "to reconstruct
upon fresh bases the edifice undermined by
time and destroyed piecemeal by revolutions ?" It
is a most momentous question. But the EMPEROR
adds another immediately afterwards—a question
eminently practical ; " Is it not urgent to reorganise
by new conventions that which has been irrevocably
accomplished, and to carry out by common agree-
ment what the peace of the world requires ! The
Treaties of 1815,"—with what secret exultation the
words must have fallen from the lips of the heir
to the fortunes, the successor to the throne 01
NAPOLEON•LE-GRAND—" The Treaties of 1815
have ceased to exist." A fact which his Imperial
MAJESTY thereupon immediately goes on to demon-
strate by illustration—rather superfluously ! By
categorical reference, that is, to what has oc-
curred of late years, some of these things very
recently in Greece, in Belgium, in France, in Italy,
in Germany, on the borders of Russia, in
the midst of the iEgean Sea. And the
Emperor NAPOLEON adds that the proposition of
an European Congress, such as the ono now for-
mally submitted by him to the consideration of
Christendom, might be addressed to the consciences
and to the reason of statesmen in all countries :
" Have not the prejudices and rancour which
divide us already lasted long enough ? Is the jealous
rivalry of the Great Powers incessantly to obstruct
the progress of civilisation ? Shad we be constantly
casting defiance at each other by exaggerated anna-
ments? Are our most precious resources to be in-
definitely exhausted in vain ostentation of our
strength ? Shall we eternally preserve a position
which is neither peace with its security nor war
with its chances of success ? Let ns no longer give
factitious importance to the subversive spirit of
extrema parties by opposing ourselves with narrow
calculations to the legitimate aspirations of peoples.
Let us have the courage to substitute a regular and
stable situation for an unhealthy and precarious
condition, even if it should cost sacrifices. Let us
meet without a preconceived system, without ex-
clusive ambition, animated by the sole thought of
establishing an order of things based henceforth
upon the well-understood interest of the sovereigns
and of the peoples."

Even if, as is only too much to be dreaded, this ap-
peal which NAPOLEON himself says sanguinely he
" cannot but believe would be listened to by all,"
should come eventually to nothing—it is something
to have articulated it. Having thus emphatically
put forth his proposition of a Congress, NAPOLEON
111. closes his remarkable speech of yesterday with
words that, after all (it should, nevertheless,
be most seriously borne in mind), may (by
the rejection of his proposal) prove to
have been the ominous muttering of a
threat. " Two ways," he says, " are open. The
one leads to progress through conciliation and peace,
the other, sooner or later, conducts fatally to war by
the obstinacy of maintaining a past which is rolling
away !" Progress througa Conciliation and Peace,
the French EMPEROR has already avowed he
deems to be alone attainable by means of
a project like this very one of the grand European
Congress he has now proposed. Reject that pro-
position and—the inference is—War ! Declice to
enter the path which leads to this Congress and
" the other," ho tells Europe quite plainly,
" sooner or later" must conduct us " fatally to
WAR ! " An intimation could not be plainer. An
oracular sentence could not be more easily con-
strued or more transparently comprehensible. Yet
is this intimation of the EMPEROR'S, after all, hardly
a threat of what will arise i❑ the event of his pacific
proposition being declined by the nations of
Christendom. It is hardly what can be called a
threat. It is, more property speaking, the plain de-
finition of the actual situation—the exposition of
an inevitable alternative.

That there is something very faulty in the manner
in which our poor laws are administered is abun-
dantly proved by the startling disclosures that are
continually made under the head of "Death from
Starvation." A casual observer might naturally
think that in this wealthy and benevolent city,
where there is no lack of wise heads, kind
hearts, and able hands to help the indigent, such
catastrophes would be absolutely unknown. That
they are of such frequent recurrence is certainly
not from the lack of means of relief, nor for want of
an extensive and regular system for their preven-
tion. By the existing arrangements, if fairly car-
ried out, every pauper should be provided with
sufficient to preserve life, and, if necessary, accom-
modated with quarters inside the Union. As the
case actually stands, however, the business of parish
officials seems rather to get rid of applicants
than to administer relief. In the first place, when
the father or mother of a family applies for relief,
the granting of it is usually coupled with the con-
dition of entering the House. At first sight this
would
invi seem to be only adding to the expenses, but
the
gn ue
iabrle ei aani
881 knowike
te
going
better.
under T he They knowbat the
inhospitablealmost
shelter, their objection to the breaking up of the
family, and the entire surrender of their wretched
homes. So 1011 g 43 they can fight it off, therefore,
they and theirs will stay outside, and accordingly
the porter is no more troubled. A melancholy case
has just come to light, however, which
,the excep-
tion to this rule. A poor Shoemaker, 49 years of
age, :ived at Shoreditch, with his little son. From
long-continued illness the poor man was unable
to earn a proper living. The
°O5? got 23. 3d.
per week, and it was not ()twit
that be.
tween them they mustered twelve shillings
weekly. And off this, of course, must come the
inevitable rent. It was not often, said the boy,
when telling his touching story to the coroner, that
they had enough to eat. "Sometimes they tied a
bit of dry bread, and occasionally they got a drop
of tea. They could not get food." They used to
buy a pennyworth of coals, he said, though they
could not afford it, because his father was so ill.
On Monday week the father went to the workhouse
to be taken in. He was told to go before the Board
4,f Guardians on Wednesday. This delay was not
very cheering to a man in his circumstances, and he
must probably have marvelled at it, for it is not

necessary, we presume, for the Board to inspect
every pauper before he is admitted. However, this
visit was paid, and to little purpose, for the guar-
dians refused to admit him, but gave him, instead,
an order for two shillings and a loaf of bread for
four weeks. The two shillings was to pay for rent,
coals, and the nourishment required by a man in
the last stage of sickness and distress, He was
quite unable to work at the time, and could hardly
walk. For whom are our workhouses intended, we
should like to know, if persons in the condition of
this poor shoemaker are to be refused admittance ?
His simple tale could doubtless have been easily
confirmed; indeed, we should imagine his gaunt
appearance would be sufficient warrant. However,
the guardians had the interests of the ratepayers at
heart, and got rid of the dying pauper with two
shillings and an order for loaves he was never to
eat. This was on Wednesday. On Thursday he got
his relief and an order for the doctor ; and very
original advice he must have received, judg-
ing by the evidence given. On Saturday he
was found dead in his bed, and so the
tragedy ended. The question is, Ought it
so to end ? Are we content to let men,
women, and children die in the very midst of our
rich and populous city of absolute want of food ? If
so, we may as well give up the troublesome machi-
nery of our workhouses—if not, we had better see
if they cannot be a little more efficiently adminis-
tered. The public, we presume, will hardly feel
inclined to accept the dictum of the medical officer,
that " starvation had only prolonged deceased's
life." We have made many strange discoveries in
these days, but Mr. GREENWOOD had better take
out a patent for this, as it is certainly one of the
most novel and remarkable of them all. The
coroner, on hearing it, said that it could hardly be
asserted that the Board had refused admittance to
a man " unable to work, without food or warmth,
and so reduced as scarcely to be able to walk."
The gentleman in question, however, admitted not
having seen the deceased until after death ; and
although the conclusion he arrived at by aid of a
post mortem examination was doubtless perfectly
correct, and the immediate cause of death was dis-
ease of the heart, we imagine that the life described
by the little boy is not exactly what Mr. GREEN'
WOOD would prescribe for a wealthier patient—say
one of the guardians themselves. The medical tes-
timony, however, evidently inclined to the official
side, although, in defiance of it, the coroner did not
hesitate to express his opinion that a charge existed
against the parish authorities. How many
more
such catastrophes are needed before our local boards
awake to the feelings of common humanity ?

Considering the many recent triumphs that have
attended the Conservative cause, it is not to be
wondered at that its supporters are glad to make
an occasion for celebrating their successes. At
Essex, on Wednesday, there were grand doings at
the annual meeting of the Maldon Conservative
Club, which was graced by the presence of some
distinguished men. Sir JOIIN TYRItELL, whos3
name is well known in Parliamentary remembrance,
took the opportunity of meeting his old friends.
Affairs have certainly changed greatly since the
hon. baronet retired from the representation of the
north division of the county in 1859. The election
which then took place was very unfavourable to the
Conservatives, and he would have been derided as
a prophet who had pictured anything approaching
to the numbers which now swell the ranks of the
Opposition. Indeed, it would be difficult to find
any parallel in the history of party for any section
of politicians which has so rehabilitated itself, as it
were, and come forward in so prominent a position,
and with so proud a prestige before the eyes of the
country. Perhaps the cause may lie in two things
—the perseverance of one side, and the decadence of
the other. When the last Ministry was formed, it
is not likely that its most bitter opponent could have
thought it would run so ignoble and undignified a.
career. The only reason must have been that the
Government believed that it did not matter what
they did, because they were safe in their places, and
secure of support if they appealed to the country,
The chairman of this meeting, Mr. WATLING-
TON, made some very pointed allusions to
the extraordinary mode of procedure that has
been followed by our rulers of late years. Out of
the long list of anomalies and absurdities some of
the allusions are very happy—such as," Liberalism
abstained from interference with America, but
offended both parties." It might be well if the so.
called chiefs of Liberalism confined their exploits to
those across the Atlantic, for 013 course they are
adopting is giving great offence at home in all
directions. It ill becomes any Government to boast
of their conducting a neutral policy when it is so
managed and directed as to necessitate the occupa-
tion by armed men of the ships belonging to a n
English subject, the jeopardising of a noble vessel
in order to make assurance doubly sure, and also
entailing the necessity of going to a court of law to
appeal against a verdict that gave to British sub-
jects their inalienable birthright of independence.
This is so strange a way of maintaining the prin-
ciples, and putting into practice the benefits of neu-
trality, that it is not to be wondered that it is hardly
appreciated and very churlishly received. The
reference to mysterious diplomatic metamorphoses
is an admirable hit. "Liberalism removed, by a
mistake, Sir JAMES HUDSON from the theatre of his
usefulness at Turin, but he feared that it was not
by a mistake Liberalism replaced him by an
ELLIOT." No wonder that the enunciation of this
fact was received with "laughter," for a more
ridiculous mode of slurring over a blunder
was seldom attempted than that which our
Foreign Secretary contrived to adopt in mak-
ing his false move the other day in Italy. Mr.
WATLlNGTox_would not allow the Government to
plume itself on fiscal achievements any more than
on reform measures at home, a firm policy abroad,
or skill in the arrangement of general affairs. He
reminded his hearers that their boasted benefit of
the remittance of the Paper Duty was bestowed at
the expense of additional Income Tax.

Here is another special grievance, which
it is of no use to complain of, because it
is well known that the Chancellor of the
Exchequer is immoveable on the point of direct
taxation, and prefers figures to facts when these
latter inform him that his odious calculations make
the burden press heavily upon a numercus and
struggling class, It must require great admiration
for the achievements of skilled accountants of
national expenditure, and also considerable zeal for
the art of oratory, to console or convince these
ground down and heavy burdened sufferers that all
is for the best, and managed with a precision and a
proficiency that are of world-wide celebrity, and
have secured a remarkable reputation. Mr.
DISRAELI'S remarks on the instability of coalition
Governments might well he referred to at ts::,,
period,when we are witnessing the practi-se fail for
the second time since he declared in The House that
" England does not love Coal :hone.'' Certainly the
last two specimens have hot gone far to reassure the
popular
mind, or to remove the prejudices regard-
ing the compromising
expediencyup o
upon
tthhea
ideacaststhat prin-
ciples to the winds, or
acts
all
is fair to get in, and all allowable to keep so. Mr.
PEACOCKE'S remarks on American affairs were most
appropriate, and, it is to be trusted, are a reflex of

the sentiments and an exponent of the spirit which
actuate and animate the majority of the members
of the House of Commons. Earl RUSSELL had
better take timely warning, and note down the signs
of the times, which every day is unfolding to his
view. He had need to forget his late vehement
denunciation of the popular expression of feeling in
regard to America, or he may find that his new
allies have taken him far away from his old
friends. One universal expression of astonishment,
one simultaneous avowal of indignation, will await
the presentation of his proposal for " additional
enactments," and its speedy and scornful rejection
will be the immediate issue of his rash venture and
impotent attempt to subvert the laws of our Con-
stitution at the bidding of a foreign Power. Thus,
as Mr. PEACOCKE declared, they will best vindicate
the " independence of Parliament and the dignity
of the nation." It would be as well to spare such
scenes, however, and not to have a second time, at
the expense of the credit of our statesmen, to send
forth the tidings to the world that England brooks
no paltering with her privileges ; and that the
mighty charter of independence and protection for
the rights of others, that has been hanged down
through a long line of past worthies, shall not be
lost in these present days, but survive as a match-
less and glorious heirloom, to descend, unchanged
and uninjured, to the generations of the most remote
posterity.

According to the Constigutionnel the German
Powers have by no means modified their hostile in-
tentions towards Denmark, and the mild remon-
strances of Earl RUSSELL have proved entirely
fruitless. It is stated by the Parisian journal that
the four military commissaries charged with prepar-
ing the Federal execution in Holstein will shortly
meet, and that the Prussian representative, General
DE MOLTKE, is to propose that a part of the Aus-
tro-Prussian reserve should enter Holstein at the
same time as the Saxon and Hanoverian corps of
execution. The object of this arrangement is to
defend the invading troops from a Danish attack—
a contingency by no means improbable. It is,
therefore, evident that the Diet are not only bent
upon the prosecution of their rash and aggressive
scheme, but are in some degree prepared for the
opposition they will undoubtedly encounter. They
do not seem, however, by any means to realise the
strength of the feeling that animates Denmark, and
are assuredly mistaken if they suppose that either
KING or people will suffer patiently any dismem-
berment of their gallant little kingdom, whatever
force might be brought to overawe them. It seems
that Earl RUSSELL meanwhile, instead of endea-
vouring to effect some change in the position of
affairs, is busying himself with a matter more
directly personal to this country, by trying to secure
the entrance of the port of Hamburg for English
trading vessels, in case of a blockade of the German
ports. We presume that the noble Earl now at the
head of the Foreign-office fears that it would be too
much even for English equanimity to have
another branch of commerce suddenly cut off,
and he is anxious to avoid such a cata-
strophe,at least while Southern harbours can
only be entered through a blockade. It is doubt-
ful, according to the news received by the Con-
licystitutionnel, whether this privilege will be granted
to the British Government, and really there are
no very strong grounds on which to base such a
claim.
The inconsistency and vacillation of the
English
in a matter already sufficiently
complicated and precarious, has rather served to
embroil the combatants still further, than to
facilitate any satisfactory arrangement. Earl Rue-
SELL'S famous despatch suddenly transferring his
support to the pretensions of the Diet did mischief
which the Premier's subs( quent disclaimer, the pub-
lic indignation, and even the Anglo-Danish alliance
could not undo. Germany, reckoning on our con-
nection with the chief offender, is secure of our
non-intervention, and is bent on carrying out her
long cherished scheme, while the other members
of the Confederation are only too ready to assist.
Meanwhile the brave Danes, and their constitu-
tional KING, are preparing, as best they may,
against the coming storm—a storm which any
political weather prophet must have seen the signs
of long since, although our sapient Foreign
Minister appears to have thought otherwise, and
has just aroused from his dream to remember, in
alarm, that English commerce must not be shut
out from Hamburg, or he would have an awkward
story to tell our merchants and manufacturers ;
and having eo ably and disinterestedly played
the part of the candid friend to Denmark, he has
surely a right to demand some little consideration
in return.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

[REUTER'S TELEGRAM.]

MANIFESTO OF THE KING OF THE
GREEKS.
TRIESTE, Nov. 6.

Advices received here from Athens state that the
King of the Greeks on his arrival there issued a
manifesto, of which the following is a summary :
" I bring neither ability to govern nor practised
intelligence, but sincere love for the people.
I believe in the future identity of our
destinies. 1 shall endeavour to love Greek customs,
and shall respect your manners and language. 1
shall strictly observe the constitution, and shall
surround myself with the most experienced men of
the country, without remembering old political
divisions, and shall make Greece the model State of
the East."

THE POLISH INSURRECTION.

BRESLAU, Nov. 6.

Advices received here from Warsaw announce
that the National Government has published a pro-
clamation encouraging the Poles to persevere, and
confirming the order for ladies to discontinue wear-
ing mourning.

A sanguinary engagement has taken place at
Czchanow. The insurgents were commanded by
Baron Petz. Night separated the combatants.

ROME.

ROME, Nov. 5.

The Prince Latour d'Auvergne presented his
letters of recall to the Pope this morning, and will
leave Rome on Saturday next.

TURKEY.
CONSTANTINOPLE, Nov. 5.
The Levant Herald says :—" AU the arrears of
the army prior to March last have been settled by
individual serghis, payable to the soldier at the ex-
piration of his term of service. Since March all
have been paid in cash.
"The new taxes are about to applied to Constan-
tinople, which city has hitherto been exempt."

FRANCE.
PARIS, Nov. 6.

The bulletin of this morning's ]ioniteur publishes
an account of the opening of the French Chambers,
concluding as follows :

"The Emperor's speech was interrupted by the
most vehement acclamations, and terminated amidst
repeated shouts of " Vive l'Empereur." His speech
will not fail to re-echo loudly throughout France,
and the whole of Europe."
The Senate and Corps Legislatif will meet to-day,
to receive a communication from the Government
to the Corps Legislatif.
It is asserted that the tax upon carriages will be
abolished, and will not be inserted in the Budget for
1865.

The Presse of this evening, in an article, signed
by M. de Girardin, wishes that the appeal of the
Emperor may be understood in Europe to open at
last a new era of peace and liberty.
The Gazette de France thinks that the speech of
the Emperor tends to the alternative of a Congress,
reorganising ancient Europe, or to war.

The Pays applauds the Emperor's speech, and
says:—

"If the Emperor has spoken of war it is not as
a threat, but to impress upon Sovereigns and
nations the necessity of anticipating war by recom-

mending peace."
Tire Constitutionnel, in an article signed by M.
Limayrac, says :—" The whole of France will join
in the magnificent and patriotic language of the
Emperor. k Europe will understand that this appeal
was made by a clear-sighted and sagacious policy,
proud without wishing to impose itself upon others,
national without the spirit of conquest, the friend
of order and of progress."
The Nation of this evening considers the Em-
peror's speech to show that the common action of
the Three Powers is at an end, and also does not
believe that Europe will accept a Congress.
La France of this evening says :—" The Emperor
has condemned with equal firmness the rashness
which endeavoured to carry him away, and the
system of egotism and decay which has overthrown
other regimes and which his name rejects."

BOURSE, Nov. s.—Business opened at an advance
on yesterday's closing rates, but the improvement
was not long maintained, and quotations receded,
Threes having been done at 67f. 15c. After the
Emperor's speech had been poeted up a little rally
took place, and prices again recovered to about the
quotations of yesterday, Threes, for the Account,
being now at 67f. 25c. Mobilier remain slightly
lower. Railway Market quiet, and prices in
general well maintained. The mirket closed as
follows

it per Cents. 95 10
Do. end month....

3 per Cents
Do. end month 67

Credit Mobilier....lo7B 75
Do. end m0nth....1180

Bank Shares 3360 --

Italian Loan 72 80
Do. end month 72 80
New ditto
Do, end month....
Russian
Austrian
Spanish Threes —
Home Debt
Deferred

Credit Fancier 1295 --

,oman

RAILWAY%
Cash. Account.
Orleans 978 75 .. 976 25
Northern
New ditto —
Lyons and Mediterranean 950 .. 952 50
New, ditto .. . 910 ..
Genev^

...Teneva .. 497 50 ..
Southern
Western
Eastern .... 505 •• f,(,),1 50
Sardinian 4lO •• "'
Austrian
410 .. 411 50
Lombard
540 • • 537 50
North of Spain
617 50 .. 630
Saragossa .. -
Ditto to Barcelona .... ''

LITERATURE,

A Page from the Peerage. By the author of " The
Colonel." Two Vols. Newby.

The author of this story, in a very spirited pre-
face, deprecates the " sensation" sentiment of the
present day, especially inasmuch as it involves a
pleasant familiarity with the records of iniquity.
"If," asks the writer of the preface, " authors can
by the magic of their style blunt our sense of the
crimes they narrate, why not by the power of their
genius attempt to crush the growing evils of the
age, instead of fostering them ?" The writer forgets
that this noble task, so well worthy of employing
the highest powers, has been, in many instances,
already undertaken by some of our first authors.
This " Page from the Peerage" now before us—this
chapter from what Mr. Tnackeray has called " The
British Bible"—although disclaiming all "sensation,"
abounds with vicissitudes. We cannot but regard
the history of Katinka Campbell as most improba-
ble, although we are aware that there are not a few
histories in the records of the House of Peers which
are striking examples of that truth which is stranger
than fiction. Katinka, or Kattie, as she is more
frequently styled, is not a very pleasing character.
When we are first introduced to her, she is the
somewhat haughty and ambitious daughter of a
widow lady of moderate circumstances. Shortly
afterwards the death of Katinka's godfather, the
old and almost imbecile Duke of Merioncourt, ren-
ders the unnoticed daughter of Mrs. Campbell the
heiress of eleven thousand a year and seveuty
thousand pounds besides. The ambitious damsel,
for a brief time,—

" Basks her in the noonday sun,
Disporting there like auy other fly"—
when a law-snit deprives her of her unexpected in-
heritance, leaving her many thousands of pounds in
debt. Sha then becomes engaged to the steward of
a noble friend, and prepares herself for a humble
life at the park lodge, when, lo and behold, the
steward turns out to be the rightful Duke of
Merioncourt ! Assuredly this is a sufficiently sur-
prising climax to an anti-sensational romance !

Living in Earnest: with Incidents from the Lives of
the Great and Good. One vol., pp. 265. By
Joseph Johnson. Nelson.
Those beautiful lines of Professor Longfellow—
" Lite is real—life is earnest,
And the grave is not its goal"

are appropriately taken as the motto of this book—
a little book well worthy the earnest attention of
those for whom it is intended, namely, the young,
and one well calculated also to prove interesting to
the general reader, being filled, as it is, with anec-
dotes and examples from the lives of the Great and
the Good of former times, These records are more
than interesting—they are most encouraging. They
are those footsteps on " the sands of time"—

" Footsteps which perchance another
Sailing o'er life's stormy main—
Some forlorn and shipwrecked brother
Seeing, may take heart again,"
The great lesson inculcated by these pages is the
necessity of individuAl exertion in order to attain
success. Those who have achieved greatness have
not done so with folded hands. In the " sweat of his
brow" man is doomed to earn his bread, and not his
bread only, bat every other good gift. Even " the
kingdom of heaven suffereth violence," and the
" earnest" man alone will prosper in this world and
in the next. As an encouraging exhortation to such
noble work, this little book is well worthy of com-
mendation and success.

The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Illustrated,

Part I. Price 6d. Lea.

We are glad to see " Robinson Crusoc" appearing
in a cheap form in monthly parts. This edition is
beautifully printed in large type, and is bountifully
adorned with very spirited and excellent illustra-
tions. By placing works of such genuine merit and
of such a wholesome and at the same time en-
thralling interest within reach of all classes of
readers, publishers confer a very great boon upon
the public in a moral as well as in a literary point
of view.

Winter leavings. Poems. By Isabella Law. One
Vol., pp. 179. Smith, Elder, and Co.
A charming little volume of fugitive pieces has,
in these "Winter Weavings," been penned by a
loving friend, and may we not call her also dis-
ciple of Barry Cornwall's gifted daughter. The
book is, upon its very title-page, "Dedicated in
all affection to Adelaide A. Procter ; " end one of
the sweetest morsels of verse in it is the dedi-
catory sonnet given upon the next page, as fol-
lows :
In tender love I dedicate to-day,
In hope and trust, and all that in me sings
(While thought of thee around my spirit clings),
These songs I wove through all the winter grey :
My first poor songs which at thy feet I lay,
The first-fruits of my soul's imaginings :
Because thy gentle hand first moved the strings,
First woke my harp with trembling notes to play.
And now I send my little songs abroad,
With prayer that God may here and there turn such
To drops of rain upon some thirsty ways—
But from thy lips one kind approving word,
From thy dear hand one tender answering touch,
Were worth to me a world of humaa praise.
Without ever rising beyond the tenderly graceful
and pathetic, the Muse of Isabella Law, flutters
her wings very prettily. Not, it is true, with that
strength of pinion, or that radiant variation of
colouring noticeable at the every turn and upon
the every plume of the more aerial muse of Adelaide
Procter—reminding one of how it is the new sculp-
tor poet, Thomas Woolner, sings, one while, of " My
Beautiful Lady"—
Fresh beauties, howso'er she moves, are stirred :
As the sunned bosom of a humming-bird
At each pant lifts some fiery hue,
Fierce gold, bewildering green or blue,
The same, yet ever new.
The majority of these little poems by Miss Law
are just the rythmical thoughts and emotions, felt
and mused over, we doubt sot, by many another
gentle and accomplished maiden, but very seldom,
indeed, even by trio gentlest and most accomplished
amongst them, so tenderly and so gracefully ex-
pressed.

Shakespere. A Critical Biography. By Samuel

Neil. Pp. 122. Holliston and Wright.

A foretaste, this little book is, of the floods of illus-
trative, prose, and verse that will be pouring in
upon us within these next few months in anticipa-
tion of the tercentenary anniversary of the birthday
of William Shakspere on that 23d of April, which
was strangely also his death-day, and more strangely
even than that (remembering that the poet is the
chief glory for England as a " heaven-born" genius)
—St. George's Day ! As a critical biography, Mr.
Neil's volumette shows a good deal of research. Yet
is the performance to our mind very far indeed from
being entirely satisfactory. It is written in a prag-
matic strain. The biographer has his preconceived
notions about Shakspere, and rigidly to those precon-
ceived notions he conforms everything. He has his
bed of Procrustes, and upon it he pitilessly stretches
the hero of his biography. What he wishes
Shakspere to have been in family, in friends, in
fortune, in religion—that he describes him as having
been ! His arguments, moreover—notwithstanding
his theme—are not always readable. At any rate,
we have not found them to be so. We have exaulined
them with a sense of weariness, and have laid them
aside afterwards with the one feeling of satisfaction
at our having done so.
_ _

Davidson's Musical Aumanack for 18G4.
A threepenny musical milange (oddly entitled an
.Almanack) consisting of Jailien's "King of Hearts
Quadriti;s," Charles Mackay's Eparkiin g song
" DawdroP of the Morning," Rqloff's odd little
ditty, pertly entitled " Wouldn't you like to know?"
Rohner's haunting " Home, Sweet Home Waltz,"
Wilson's inspiriting "Pantomime Galop," Plump.
ton's aerial "Zephyr Polka," and Jolly's ditto
Scottish Ballad " Auld Dlys"—too much of an echo,
this last, of the world-famed "Auld Lang Syne."

THE MANUAL OF FASHION.—The Messrs. Jay,
of Regent-street, have just issued their Illustrated
Manual of Fashion, which, as regards taste, elegance, or
variety, is without a rival. In ordinary fashionable publi-
cations two or three plates are usually given to their readers,
but the Messrs. Jay present their patrons with a whole
volume of the latest and most attractive Parisian modes
The plates fflustrate every description of ladies' costume,
and if there is any truth in the saying "variety is pleasing,"
then the Manual is without doubt a very marvel of inven-
tive taste. It cannot but increase the eminence already
attained by the Messrs. Jay.

leto 4,6A4,
tar.
6naot

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, NOV. 5,
The Queen drove out this morning, attended by
the Hon. Mrs. Bruce.

Colonel H. F. Ponsonby attended her Majesty on

horseback.

Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cam-
bridge and Princess Mary visited her Majesty.
Lord Brougham had the honour of an interview
w.th her Majesty.
Viscount Palmerston arrived at the Castle yester-
day evening and had an audience of the Queen, and
returned to London this morning.

THE BIRTHDAY OF THE PRINCE OF WALES
It is understood that the natal day (the 9(1 instant) Of
11.R.H. the Prince of Wales will be kept this year et
Sandringham, and not at Windsor as was first announced•
Their Royal Highnesses the Crown Prince and Princess of
Prussia were expected at Windsor last Tuesday, and pre'
parations were made at the Castle for their reception, but
the orders were at the last moment countermanded. The
Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Prussia will now, it
is believed, remain at Sandringham until after the Prince
of Wales's birthday. _

Her Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge
will return to town to-morrow from visiting General 11311
at his seat in Cambridgeshire.

Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cana-
bridge and the Princess Mary visited her Majesty yester-
day at Windsor Castle. After a short stay their royal
highnesses returned to Cambridge Cottage, Kew.
Their Royal Highnesses Princess Helena and
Princess Louise, attended by Lady C. Barrington, Colonel
Ponsonby, &c., honoured the Adelphi Theatre with their
presence last evening, to witness Miss Bateman's perform-
ances of " Leah."

Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess
de Chartres have returned to their residence at Ham,
Surrey, after a lengthened tour.
The Duke of Somerset will arrive at his official
residence at the Admiralty to-morrow, from Stover Park,
near Taness.

The Duke and Duchess of Marlborough have
issued invitations for an evening party, on a grand scale, at
Blenheim Palace, on Wednesday, the 25th inst. The party'
will be in honour of Frederick Prince of Denmark, who i 5
now at Oxford, and a general gathering of the nobility and
gentry of the county and leading members of the university
is expected.
The Duke and Duchess of Manchester, who, 011
leaving town, visited the Earl of Sandwich at Hinchin-
broke, have arrived at Kimbolton Castle, where they Will
shortly receive a succession of visitors.
The Marquis and Marchioness of Abercorn have
been entertaining a succession of visitors at Beaudesert
Park, near Lichfield.
The Marquis and Marchioness of Kildare, end
Lady Blantyre and Hon. Ellen Stewart, are staying with
the Duchess (Dowager) of Sutherland at Stafford House,
St. James's. _ _

Viscount Palmerston returned to town yesterds9
morning from Windsor Castle, and left in the afternoon
for his seat, Broadlands, Hants.

Lord Chesham, we are informed, is rather better/
and is gradually regaining strength.
Lady Herbert of Lea, with the Earl of Pembroke
and family, will leave Wilton for Egypt in the course of the
ensuing week.

Lord and Lady Cecilia Bingham have been
among the latest visitors to the Duke and Duchess of Rieh•
mond at Gordon Castle, N.B.
We have to record the demise of Dowager Lady
Stanley of Alderley, who died on Monday last at an ad"
vanced age. Several families of rank are placed in moue
ing by the melancholy event.

A SINGULAR DISCOVERY LATELY ANNOUNCED 15
FRANCE.—The discovery is that of a Dutchman'
M. Hooibrenk, and the results of his researches hay°
been so well marked and valuable that he has been
awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honour by the Erener°r'
who has directed that a scientific commission be appointed
to investigate and report upon the matter. M. Hooibrenk
supposes that the number of grains in an ear of corn can b°
increased by bringing a larger quantity of pollen into con'
tact with the stigmata than they usually receive. He c°•
ducts his experiments as follows :—He takes a cord of from
2.5 to 30 yards long, and fastens it to a stiff woollen fringe
of about 10 inches long; he steeps it for a short time
in
honey, and drags it over the fields of corn two or three times
after flowering. It catches the pollen from the anthers and
applies it to the stigmata (it is, in fact, Mr. Darwin's bee'
process on a gigantic scale), and the result is a greatly is'
creased crop. This method has been tried in conjunction
with the old one, on a farm near Epernay, in Champagne'
the property of the celebrated wine dealers, Messrs. Jaggeßrf
son. The results beneath show the relative advantages.,-R,
both systems :—Hooibrenk's system—wheat 31 kilos, 4-
25'5 kilos, barley 24 kilos, oats 17 kilos. Old systenlr:
wheat 21 kilos, rye 16 kilos, barley 16 kilos, oats 12
gr
It has been conjectured that the results would have bee*.
still more striking had not this season been such a fayetlf:
able one. Fruit and garden vegetables have been similar"
treated, and with a like success. It has been found si°:
that an inclination of 112 deg of the branches of the ayes
produces some effect upon the flow of the sap, and incrase'
the fruit crop. hi. Hooibrenk maintains that by his Pr°„{
cess, and without any material additional outlay, crops
fruit, vegetables, and corn can be increased in value 60 Pe
cent. .0 Of
SUPERSTITION ABOUT GREEN PEAS.—The 11--
peas in divination concerning love matters is tic;
counted for by the fact that they are sacred to the patron °
marriage, In the Leitmeritzer district of Bohemia the grlo
go into a field of peas, and make there a garland of five °,l
seven kinds of flowers, all of different hues. This garland
they use as a pillow, lying down with their right ear 111)°o
~
it, and then they hear a voice from underground, whi°'
tells them what manner of man they are to have for a lins'
band. In England, when the kitchen maid shells ham
peas, if she chance to find a pod with nine peas she 13.614":„,
it over the kitchen door, and the first rustic who eoraes
is infallibly to be her husband, or at least her sweethearts
The village girls in Hertfordshire lay the pod with nine Pe:ci
tiarathe undern first
name
man h
gate,
aten,dtasnaudtrnt pahaerneyeebelieve they will have for huaba-g
eshathveroutghhe,
soarmeonieni
pro wvtieahsloss eaC:fjlii,,al°.: A Cumbrian girl, when her lover 1
ful, is, by way of consolation, rubbed with P:.:1
straw by the neighbouring lads; ani, when a Carabrhilo
youth loses his sweetheart by marriage with a rival, rof
same sort of comfort is administered to him by the lassesf r
the village, g " Winter time for shoeing, peascod
wooing," is an cld proverb found by Sir Henry Ellis '-gd
MS. Devon glossary. A peascod wooing was perfinill-0:
according to Brand, by selecting one growing on the steto
snatching it away quickly, and, if the good omen nftia
peas remaining in the husk were preserved, then presell
it to the lady of their choice. An example of this Prriehoit
is tenderly recounted by Touchstone I remember
I was in love, I broke my sword upon a stone, and 1)01°110,
take that for coming a night to Jane Smile ; and I reinelor
ber the kissing of her batter, and the cow's dugs that ,e
pretty chapped hands had milked; and I remember ,1;0
wooing of a peascod instead of her, from whom I took
cods, and giving her them again said, with weeping tearß
Wear these for my sake.' "—.Kelly's _Folk Lore.
aCIC
THE STORM.—On Wednesday the fishing sal 5
Edwin, of Hull, Capt. Pounds, .arrived at that pora
from the North Sea, having on board Capt. W. Gibbons #°6,
4 seamen belonging to the schooner Mark Breed, of
Virni.o
stable. The schooner was on a voyage from Seawall 1,,
Rochester with a cargo of coal, when on Saturday merni%
she was overtaken off Spurn Point by the :fearful gale Wl),icg
swept the North Sea ou that day. On SaturdaynaorelPory
the vessel sprung a leak, and from that time zintil gond 0,
morning, at 7 o'clock, the pumps were kept at work inceot,
sandy. Finding that the water was gaining napidlY, Chti'rs
Gibbons ordered signals of distress to be heisted. srre
time afterwards the Edwin hove in sight, and got3o°S,;
down upon the sinking vessel. As soon as the sr:l3c' a
alongside Capt. Pound lowered his boat, which was t,°:teb°
to the schooner, and soon the crew were safely on bO-d it
smack. There was a very heavy sea on at the timersr:Dat
was at great risk to his own life and those of his cre' efoG
the ship.wrecked seamen were saved. The vessel was DO
settling down when the Edwin bore up for Ifni" of
Taesday the fishing smack Superior, Captain '
Hull, landed seven of the crew of the schooner
Captain English, at that port. The Superior fell in 1-101
the Alpha on the Dogger Bank during the fearful ge, I
Sunday, and at much risk succeeded in saving the It
the whole of the crew. On Wednesday the fishing 7:irt
signal, of Hull, Captain Jones, landed the crew, ilZipie
number, of the Annie, of Whitby, at Hull. Th° jl3
foundered on the Dogger Bank on Monday morning' t 60
the evening they were picked up in their boat ab°- et,
miles from land by the Signal. They were in a lerloie'
hausted condition when taken on board the fishing *wit;
The crews of all these vessels have been forwarded
I‘l to ap
°"°
homes by the Hull Shipwrecked Fishermen's an
Association. Sestet'
FATAL OCCURRENCE IN THE STRAND.- an
day Mr. Bedford, coroner for Westminster, D, yesepu
inquest in King's College Hospital, on the body n.l_, being
Henry Strong, aged 35, who met with his death
10. Ye
nigh{
run over by one of Chaplin and Horne's vans, 013 was of
of Saturday last. Much evidence was heard, but.."'coroeer
a very confused nature, after which the learnevae 1411-
, s var
tsi
cr nt n bua
tp
theand a
deceased
js
eudr ym, aftere
t his
death consulting,
bye
cre
idt.aern
quite
ing under the van. The coroner said that he q
curred in the verdict.