The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-16 00:00:00

Commence at 7.

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.
Under the Sole Management of Mr. Fechter.
BEL DE3IONIO (a Triumphant Success) will be repeated
Every Evening until further notice.
THI.4 EVENING, the Comedietta, by W. Gilbert, entitled
UNCLE BABY: Mess's. Widdicombe, J. G. Shore, Charles;
Miss P. Leclercq, and Carlotta Leclercq.
After which, at Eight o'clock, BEL DENIONIO, a Love
Story, in Twelve Tableaux, taken from Stendhal's "Italian
Chronicle,," by Mr. John Brougham. Principal charac-
ter by Mr. Fechter, supported by Messrs. Jordan, Charles,
Brlugh,im, Emer Raymond, Moreland, Smith, Clifford,
Collett, Andrews, Sims; Miss Kate Terry, E. Lavenue, M re.
Lee, and Aliss Elswortby.
Doors open at half-past e'--commence at 7.

T JAMES'S THEATRE-ROYAL, under new
11:77 iranarement, will OPEN for the Winter Season on
BOXING NIGHT.

Nts'W THE ATRE-RO YAL, ADELPHI.—
Sole Proprintor and Mn,naaer. Mr. B. Webster.
. THIS EVENING, THE PRETTY HORSEBREAKER.
Meesrs. J. L. Toole. Paul Bedford, and Miss Woolgar.
At 8, the New Drama of LEAH : Bth week of
bliss Bate-
man, supported by Messrs.A.rthur Stirling', K. Phillips, Bii.
lino-,ton, Stuart, Stephenson, Eburne; Miss 11. slams, and
Mrs. Billington.
To conclude with ICI ON PARLE FRANCAIS. Mr. J.
L. Toole.

Commence at 7.

LE A H.-EVERY NIGHT.

BATEMAN.—LEATL—Tms EVENING,
3IL the 61th appearance of the great Tragic Actress, Miss
-4fISS
E3/A` -, in the character of LEAH. In cmsequence of
the unbounded success with which Miss Bateman's imperso-
nation of the prii.cipal character in the new Five Act Drama
oLEAa has been attended. Mr Webster begs to announce
that it will be performed EVERY EVENING, until further
notice-

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Manager, 3fr. W. H. Swanborough.
THIS EVENING, MIRIAM'S CRIME. Messrs. Geo.
Roney, Parselle, Belford, Turner, Miss K. Saville, and Miss
Handers.
Followed by (20th time) PATIENT PENELOPE ; or, The
Return of Ulysses. Messrs. lioney and Fenton ; Mesdames
,Swanborough aad Simpson.
After which, MY NEW PLACE. Mr. A. Wood.
Commence at 7.

ROYAL SADLER'S-WELLS THEATRE.
Manageress, Miss Marriott.
THIS EVENING, A NEW WAY TO PAY OLD
DEB uS. Messrs. D. H. Jones, E. Phelps, Miss Mandlebert,
3lrs. Fisher, &c.
To conclude with THE ORPHAN OF GLENCOE.
Box-office open from 11 to 4.

THE THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN,"
Containing the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE,
"in be had Every Evening of

G. IL GLENIE, NEWS AGENT,
No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tins DAY.—Morning, sh. 57m.—Afternoon, 6h. 20m.
o-goßnow.-Morning, 6h. 50m.—Afternoon, 711. 12m.

The Weather—Sun Office, Dec. 16, 1863.

THERMOMETER.
This day at Two o'clock . 52

Barometer-29.85.
Wind—S.-W. ; light, and fine.

:111
t
tt,))

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, DEC. 16, 1863.

There has hardly ever been a more popular legal
appointment than the one we had the especialsatis-
faction of announcing yesterday. Mr. Sergeant
SHEE'S nomination as the successor of Sir WILLIAM
WIGLITMAN as one of the puisne judges in the
Court of Queen's Bench has afforded not less grati-
fication to the general public than it has to the
whole of that bar of which the learned Sergeant
has been so long and so distinguished an ornament.
In many respects the circumstances attendant upon
his nomination to this judgeship are very peculiar
and exceptional. His is the first instance in which
a Roman Catholic counsel has been raised to the
Bench since the date of the Reformation, He is so
raised, according to the express right assured to
Roman Catholic lawyers in this country by the
noble liberality inspiring and regulating every in-
, 6pidual section of the famous act of Roman Catholic
::t4t'elpation. As is well known, that Act provides
all judicial offices, with one only exception,
shall be freely open to Roman Catholics. That one
solitary exception being the supreme judicial office
of all, that of
the Lord High Chancellorship. As
that eminent, as that pre-eminent, legal functionary
is, in virtue of his
office es Chancellor, Keeper of
the Royal Conseieoe
0. the exception there taken to
Boman Catholics a, aspirants to that highest legal
promotion of alt was,in
a manner, a thing inevitable
--eater the Reformation. Looking back to a period
only immediately anterior tothe date of the Reforma-
tion, one cannot still but remember of course, that
in the reign of King HEetet
the EIGHTH the seals
of the Chancellorship were Ent
eetunvely held not
merely by two world-famed Rore,o Cat ,
heeiue but
two of them so renowned, as such, that one
of
them
was a Cardinal (FUOMAS
IVoLsey), while
scaffold
an
."'le the other
(Sir 'lemmas MORE) actually died upon the
c
on Tower Hill under the headsman's axe
vin-
dication of the Pontiff's supremacy. still,
even with those two famous incidents reeora,4
in English History in association with the august
office of the Lord High Chancellorship, it became,
as we have said, a thing inevitable after the date
of the Reformation that Roman Catholics should be
precluded by virtue of their religion from all
chance of ever occupying the Woolsack. The omis-
sion of this express exception from the Act of
Catholic Emancipation would, in effect, have been a
very obvious and a very flagrant anomaly. The
Protestant Church as by law established being
so established, it followed simply by neces-
sity that no Roman Catholic could be in-
ducted into the office of the Lord High Chan-
cellorship, one of whose, significant titles it is,
as we have said, to be Keeper of the King's Con-
Science.an Otherwise, than to that highest legal
..yelatmeet of all, Roman Catholic lawyers have
1"a legally eligible ever since the date of the com-
pletion, of that nobly conceived and most magnani-
mous Act on
the part; of Eogland, the glorious Act
of Catholic Emancipation.
Bencl-i—nut the lvei.")" Accessible though the
but the Bench--
ever since the date of that Act has been to Roman
Cathol!cs, it has so chanced that never yet has a
Roman Catholic lawyer
Keen nominated to a judg
ship—until now, until the selection
of 4
Mr. Sergeanet.
SIIEE to the judgeship vacated ,
ay the death of Mr.
Justice WIGHTMAN. Hoe,
tble has fallen
out,
how it has come to pass that \lr. Sergeant Site,
is the very first of its kind,
theB
appointment
Times has, to-day, in one pithy sentence, expressed
most gracefully, and most eulogistically, in his
regard as follows, namely, where our contemporary
remarks—" If any &malt Catholic lawyer, as

tingu' ,shed as Sergeant SHEE has been excluded from
Dllr 'Bench on religious grounds, we are very sorry
ter it, but we know of no such example." It would
be hardly fair, however, to imagine for one instant

the it in this evidence of religious toleration our
co entry occupies a wholely exceptional position
an long the nations of Christendom.

While here, in England, Roman Catholics are
still, as we have said, not unnaturally—nay, as
ye( t would even say, are only reasonably—ex-
clude d since the period of the Reformation
fr out the possibility of becoming,
any one of
tl ie m, Lord High Chancellor of England, and,
asi such, Keeper of the Conscience of the
Eciglish SOVEREIGN—what has been, more than
or ce, the noble, the magnificent liberality
Ci itholic France in regard to the religion of
the
occupant of the highest office of all in a monarchical
at id constitutional Government ? Why, it has been
so resplendent and conspicuous, this liberality, in
the way of religious toleration—that there, over
Catholic France, twice has a Protestant Prime
l
M inister held within his grasp the reins
of the Government !M NECKEiRm, in they
reign of KING Louis XVI,, mediate
anterior to the Great Revolution ! M. GuiZoT in the
reign of King Louts PHILIPPE, immediately before
the revolutionary outbreak in February ! Conceive
for a moment the tables turned ! Namely, by the
elevation even once (we will not
say,
as in the
two instances just particularized, upon two
separate occasions) imagine the elevation even
once of a Roman Catholic Prime Minister to
the head of the Government of Protestant England!
The extraordinary nation of any such appointment
as that, may serve to realize all the more vividly
the exceeding liberality in regard to religious
toleration thus, upon two distinct and widely sepa-
rated occasions, manifested in Catholic France,
namely, when M. NECKER, towards the close of
the last century, and M. GUIZOT, towards the
middle of the present century, obtained the highest
appointment of all under the Crown—although
they were Protestants! Remembering which two
memorable historical facts, we may understand now
all the more readily that—while the appointment
of Mr. Sergeant SHEE to the Bench, although that
learned and brilliant advocate is a Roman Catholic,
cannot but be matter for heartfelt satisfaction
amongst us; still, as affording thus on its part a
new display of religious toleration, our country
has been surpassed more than once in regard to
such evidences of liberality by the hitherto un-
paralleled magnanimity which twice led Catholic
France to place an illustrious Protestant Statesman,
now M. NECKER, now M. GUIZOT, at the head of
her Government.

If the general public do not form a correct con-
clusion respecting the tame and vacillating conduct
of Earl RUSSELL, it will be from no lack of oppor-
tunities of judging thereof. It is surprising to
notice how many different reports and accounts
appear relating to the transactions that have
taken place between this country and the United
States Government. All concur in one testimony
that our Foreign Secretary has not comported
himself with befitting dignity, and exhibited
the proper spirit which should distinguish the
representative of a great Power. The case of the
Margaret and Jessie is a disgraceful one, and no
ono who is qualified to judge from having studied
the actions of Earl RUSSELL from the commence-
ment of the American contest will hesitate to affirm
that, had the circumstances been different, the result
would have been otherwise. There is no doubt that
the Confederates would have come under a very
different law, and been compelled to make good the
claim of their opponents to the uttermost farthing.
This is not tha way to settle affairs, and the day of
account must come, but no after censure or general
indignation can atone altogether for the injury
inflicted on the name and fame of our country in
regard to other nations. It is really quite
distressing to peruse one incident after another,
which all tend to demonstrate that for a party
purpose the honour of England is to be sacrificed,
and her very rights invaded. The decision of Earl
RUSSELL in answer to Captain WiLsoN is not only
an injustice to the Confederates, but an indignity
to Englishmen. It was a positive violation of esta-
blished custom to attack the ship when "within the
maritime territorial jurisdiction of her MAJESTY,"
it was a direct insult to our authority, and yet all

this is to be passed over because the Ministers find
it convenient so to do. It needed but a word from
Earl RUSSELL, and the Government of the United
States would have been compelled to make
the required restitution, and to perform

he act of justice which every right-judg•

ing and reasonable person would have desired
to see them do, but that word was not spoken.
[nstead, we hear plenty of platitudes, high-sound-
ng phrases, and empty expressions. The Govern.
ment of her MAJESTY " are taking such steps as
they deem to be required for the honour and dignity
of this country." '['his is rather astounding intel-
ligence; and it must be admitted that the charge
which has been preferred against the noble lord for
his obstinacy in adhering to old notions in home
affairs, does not apply to his management of foreign
transactions. In this line he has certainly disco-
vered a novel mode of carrying on business. It
would have been very puzzling to the politicians of
the old regime to be told that the best way of
upholding the authority and vindicating the hon-
our of their country was to permit the grossest
insults to pass by unnoticed, and to allow an arro-
gant Government to send out official bullies to spoil
our commerce, capture our vessels, and affront our
countrymen. This is zeal without profit, and forms
an exhibition of progress without much purpose. It
is really surprising that men of experience can con-
descend to such unworthy ends to gain a purpose.
The greatest gain in the way of power and influ-
ence Boon comes to an end, short-lived are its days,
and brief its reputation ; but not so with the cha-
racter
that statesman who consults his country's
honour,
not his own advantage. Whether in
Or OUt or .
"1-e, his respect is sure, and his honoured
fame is an enduring heritage amid the transitory
and shifting
_e'ltidouzs on the changing scene of
public life. It i
te4tl3T
lofty aspirations are to be regretted that such
seldom
They
do
the now cherished by our
mirreenp.ara e Injur3,
irreparable • mselves great wrong, and
making
time-serving
rhen pi:rlriPa°ms theirtt .
inflict public
their object, and all
ccumnotrtiyv,esboyf
future considerations yield to present
deplorable
assembles the chief
expediency.
subject of discussion at first must b, this
state of affairs between the Ameriesa Government
and our own ; are we to have a neutrality that is
no
neutrality, that is capable of bciag shifted and
changed in all directions to
suit the convenience of
the moment. Every question that is referred to
arbitration stretches or shrinks till it is rendered
conformable to the fancy of the decider. There is
no immutable and irreversible law laid down to
whose dictates all must conform, and whose impar-
tiality all must acknowledge, While glaring in-
consistencies are rife, and most incongruous regu-
lations abound, it is idle to expect that men will
tamely submit to have their interests sacrificed and
their rights violated. It is long sinco the authority
of England was so set at nought as it has been since
the commencement of the civil war in America, and
yet wa hear on all sides the partisans of the Govern-
mmeenuttsarien claiming
gredit for their bkilfui arrange-
cribis, and at tbid important

juncture. It is high time that this vexed-question
be calmly discussed, and a right interpretation put
fiwnodshitaldliffilosceulctatsoterbeleifeovree
othe r eyesul
lsi
eodf
tuhpeo nw it,ur ord
andelse
reputation. It is worthy of notice that France re-
ceives very different treatment at the hands of the
Federal authorities ; and why is this, but because it
is well known that her ruler and her people will
not pass over an affront. The sooner our policy in
this direction is changed in its tactics, and remo-
delled in accordance with the spirit of the brave
days of old, and not after the fashion of peace-
mongers, the better will it be for the interests of
the country and the satisfaction of all true patriots.
It is bad enough to make mistakes at home, but
the errors that are committed in regard to our deal-
ings with foreign States are doubly to be regretted,
and their consequences are most serious in every
respect, as they complicate events and inflict
injuries on important interests.

The news from New Zealand, brought by the
newly arrived mail, is not altogether what we
could wish, although it is very much what might
have been expected. Our troops are feeling the
difficulty of contending with an enemy who fights
in a manner totally different from their own, and
the guerilla system of warfare which the Maories
carry on is very harassing and troublesome to deal
with. The natives appear and disappear, they send
out wandering parties who destroy property, drive
off cattle, and shoot down any wayfarers. The out-
lying settlers, too, are almost certain victims to
these bands, who, when pursued, fall back upon
their wilds and generally elude detention. They
have all the quickness and facility of savage
tribes, and act on the principle common to un-
civilised nations, that all is fair in war, and that
to kill an unarmed man, or even child, that crosses
their path is part of the ordinary duties of belliger-
ents. Added,-however, to the various features of
the wild life of the woods, the Maories possess,
to an inconvenient degree, many of the resources of
modern warfare. They know the use of fire arms,
and are tolerably expert with them ; they have a
good idea of intrenching themselves, and have
taken up a strongly fortified position at Mere-mere,
a place which is almost impregnable from the
wastes and morasses which surround it. Their re-
sources, too, are endless. Being short of ammunition,
they set their ingenious brains to work to provide
substitutes for bullets and caps. In place of the
former they substitute a number of little boys'
marbles, bought from them in the streets.
Their substitute for percussion caps is more curi-
ous, and shows that they have no lack of inven-
tion. They procured a quantity of eyelet holes
and wax matches, and out of the two compounded
caps by thrusting the head of the match into the
eyelet hole. Still these contrivances, even with
the aid of our spent balls, which are carefully
picked up, must come to an end at last, and
should they be compelled to abandon the use of
fire arms, their power to injure us will be very
much restricted. We have too good reason, at
present, to lament their expertness with fire arms
which has cost us many valuable lives. Mr.
ARMITAGE, a police magistrate, and one or two
other Europeans, were accompanying 14 or 15
friendly natives, who were escorting some stores of
provisions up to Camerontown in canoes. The
party, it seems, was suddenly fired upon from a
thick bush, which concealed a large body of natives.
Mr. ARMITAGE and the other Europeans were shot
simultaneously ; two of the natives with them were
killed, and all the stores together, with four canoes,
passed into the hands of the Maories. Elated by
this triumph they subsequently proceeded to set fire
to a pah of the friendly natives at Cameron-town.
Oa this a body of GO men were despatched from till,
town. They met a large party of natives, and a
sharp struggle ensued, ending, unfortunately, be
sides casualties among the men, in one of our officers
being killed and the other severely wounded
Their place was, however, promptly supplied by one
of the non-commissioned officers, who took the lead
of the party, and succeeded in extricating them from
a very awkward and dangerous position. It will
be seen from these accounts how difficult and un-
certain is the work which our troops are called on
to perform, and how a decisive success is hard to
gain. The natives shrink from open fight, but
take refuge in ambuscades and surprises, and the
other resources of bush fighting. General CAMERON
has therefore wisely determined to meet them on
their own ground, and has organised a flying
column, consisting of men who have some expe •
rience in the bush. Their office is to scour the
bush in detachments, and destroy marauding parties
of the enemy. Should this scheme prove success
ful other flying columns will be established, and

I is to bo hoped that this project will alter the most
troublesome and dangerous feature of the war. The
bravest men and best soldiers are no match for an
enemy behind a tree. Another important addition
to the defences of the settlers has been made in the
shape of a steam gunboat, built in Sydney for use
on the Waikato, or New Zealand rivers. She is
140 feet long and 20 broad, while her depth is only
8 feet. It is calculated that, laden with stores and
300 men, she will only draw 3,1 feet of water. It is
manifest that she will be of great service in pene-
trating the creeks,&c., in which the natives may hope
to conceal their canoes. She has two iron turrets,
eight feet high and twelve in diameter, pierced with
loopholes for rifles, and ports for Armstrongs. Be-
sides these means of attack she has perforated pipes
along her side from which jets of boiling water can
be poured upon her assailants. The Maories with
all their ingenuity will hardly match this enemy,
and we may hope she will do good service in check-
ing their operations on the river. No effort has
been spared by the New Zealand Government to
obtain a good supply of mon, and their call has
been promptly responded to by her Australian
neighbour. The latest news bring us rumours of a
fight at Mere-Mere, the native stronghold,of which
the assault is not known, but whatever its conse-
quences we fear the natives will long give us cause
to regret our having allowed them to obtain such
advantages from a mistaken notion of conciliation.

THE ERRATUM.—About the middle of our first
Leading Article yesterday Midhurat was inadvertently
mentioned instead of Rochdale.

THE CRAWLEY SPARROW CLUB.—The number of
members having become greatly reduced, only 16 the
other day sat down to dinner; and the winner of the first
prize could only vouch for 700 heads, a number that, in
past years, would stand no chance of a prize at all. Su
the Crawley Sparrow Club has been declared defunct,

THE DIAMOND EXCIIANGE.—Very affable was
Mr. Marks, arswering all my questions in the
readiest manner. No I he didn't consider it a full morn-
ing; you see, the great diamond sale at Amsterdam was on
just now, and many of his frequenters were away at it.
Ifad any gloat bargains been made that morning? Well,
there had been a set of diamonds brought in, which were
said about ten o'clock for seventeen hundred pounds, and,
Which up to the present time (it was now about twelve),
had been resold in the room nine times, and each time at a
hil.aisa:tueldontativaaprlrsofit.,,
Pthrorefit, i Some men had made two pounds profit, some
smoukiseyhiostne.as much as thirteen pounds—but each had re •
people l'avaydevailtth ourl,e
tion—l re -tnold_ a'n' yTt hb int g' 8 thefor
profit, L4that deal, and in a deal ye mustht have a leetle
, veek 1 had a thouthand poundth tranthac-
otuiltedghoo;ls the theme day. Vol was my
tradef) uulteoff
ohnihis
mi variouseyft
.cheiann
little, a perhapstrtraoniass
aecrtsi
..
p:
0;
ic
k,e; :
4ra
profit ? Fifty
Thtill, there vosPa
profit.
four
here now" (pulling a hand-
1, No! Theven and thiepeth I
pounds fifteen in value,
money, I call it. that'thoming
!vote lo'rave.
'`-"cic ns 8 " ,BIZ the Year
li
oitmt
iih i0D.,.: