The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-17 00:00:00

Commence at 7.

TH EAT it E.-ROYAL, HAY MARKET.
Lessee, Mr. J. B. Buckstone.
THIS EVENING, at Seven o'clock, will be performed
(UR AMERICAN COUSIN. Asa Trenchard, Mr. Buck-
stone ; Lord Dundreary, Mr. Sothern.
After which, a new and original Extravaganza, entitled
RASSELAS, PRINCE OF ABYSSINIA ; or, The Happy
Valley. Rasselas, Miss Louise Keeley.
Concluding with MRS. WHITE.

THEATRE•ROYAL LYCEUM OPEN, under
the Sole Management of Mr. FECHTER.

THIS EVENING, Jan. 17, to commence with an Original
Sketch, entitled A SUDDEN ATTACK. Messrs. Shore,
Garden, H. Widdicomb, Miss Henrade, and Mrs. Lee.

After which, at a Quarter to Eight, a New Romantic
Drama, in Three Acts, and Pr3lop-,ue, entitled THE
DUKE'S MOTTO, by Paul Feval and John Brougham.
The principal character will be sustained by Mr. Pechter,
supported by Messrs. a Vining, J. Brougham, H. Widdi-
combe, W. M'lntyre, F. Charles, Garden, Raymond, H.
Butler, Dawson; Misses Carlotta Leclercq, Kate Terry, E.
Lavenue, and Elsworthy.

Mr. Phelps and Mr. W. Montgomery are engaged, and will
shortly appear.

Doors open at half-past Six, performance to commence
at Seven. Private Boxes, £2 12s. 6d., and £2 28. riaeeg
registered. Stalls, 88. ed. ; Dress Circle, ss. 6d.; Upper
Circle, 4s. 6d. Prices at doors—Stalls, 6s. ; Dress Circle, 58. ;
Upper Circle, 45.; Pit, 2s. ; Gallery, is. No halt-Priee• Box-
office open daily from 11 till 5. Thepubic are entreated to
take notice that no charge is made to the occupants of boxes,
box places, or stalls, either for play bills or 101,
ittha
n sate
all keep-
ingparts
of hats and cloaks ; and that the attend
of the house are forbidden to receive any gratuities whatever
Stage-Manager, Mr. G. Vining.Acting-Manager, Mr. H.
Barnett.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
Lessee and Manager. Mr. Lindus.
THIS EVENING. THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE. Mr. 11.
Marston, mr. Wallace wit Miss Constance Aylmer, Miss M.
Oliver. and Mrs. B. White.
After which, the New Grand CHRISTMAS PANTOMIME,
Rug:MT WITH THE TUFT ; or, Harlequin and Mother
Shipton." Mr. G. Belmore, Mr. C. Seyton, Misses Gray and
udspeth, Mr. Milano, Mr. R. Power, Miss A. Collinson, and
Mr. Salford.

NEW THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHL-
Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster.
THIS EVENING, THE LI I TLE TREASURE. Mr
Billington, Mr. R. Phillips, and Miss Marie Wilton.
After which, A TICKET OF LEAVE : Messrs. J. L.Toole,
P. Bedford, and Mrs. Billington.
To conclude with " GEORGE DE BARNWELL
or, Harlequin Folly in the Realms of Fancy." Miss Woolgar,
Miss K. Kelly, Miss Seaman ; Messrs. J. L. Toole, P. lied.
ford, Stephenson, C. J. Smith. Harlequin, Mr. John Lauri ;
Lolumbine, Miss Caroline Adams ; Clown, Mr. W. Hildyard
l'antaloon, Mr. J. Paulo. The celebrated Arthur and
Bertrand.

Commence at 7.

The WEATHER.—Sun Office, Jan. 16, 1863.

THERMOMETER.

Highest since Noon yesterday 3B
Lowest during the night
Ihis day at N00n.....
Barometer-30.24.

virind..-11.E.; fresh, with fine but dull weather.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tars DAY.—Morning, 11h. 49m.—Afternoon, h. m
To-monnow.-Morning, 12h. 25m.—Afternoon, 12h. 56m,

4,;";f '4'4* • 44:
• • 1
~..,,,,tregpvt, • • I
irNV 1‘

LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1863.

Yesterday judgment was pronounced in the case
of KENNEDY v. BROUN. On the whole, the pre-
vailing sentiment with which one regards the de-
cision must be one of satisfaction, but yet there are
conflicting circumstances which in a measure alloy
that feeling. We cannot rejoice as if the defendant
had been rescued from oppression, or freed from
some entanglement into which she had been drawn
from no fault of her own. It appears from all that
has transpired on the subject that both belligerent
parties were quite capable of taking care of them-
selves. No man or woman who were actuated by
refined notions of honour would have been parties
to such an agreement as that which has come out
in the arguments adduced before the Court. While
in this instance it is matter for rejoicing that
Mr. KENNEDY has failed, the cause which induced
the failure is not so to be reg 'rded. Putting aside
the notions of those who are influenced by the na-
tural professional prejudice which deprecates a
change and would resist all innovations, it does not
appear that a very definite case is made out as to
the inconvenience and unsuitableness of a barrister
suing for his fees. The prevailing custom does
not certainly save any money to the client, but
necessitates occasionally the outlay of great amounts
at a most inconvenient time. Examples are not
wanting to prove that this routine and cere-
mony, with all their annoyances and awk-
wardnesses, do not prevent unprincipled mem-
bers of the profession from taking unfair
advantage of circumstances, and benefitting them-
selves so far es their dexterity can accomplish, if
they once set the rules of honour and the dictates
of conscience at defiance. On the other hand con-
ventional forms, ana tee restraints or etiquette, no
not make honest men more upright, or straightfor-
ward ones more sincere. If the majority of counsel
act fairly, it is because their own inclinations prompt
them thereto, not because the customs of legal
etiquette are strictly tenacious of upholding forms
and ceremonies. For a man to claim so enormous
an amount as did Mr.KENNEDY proves that he must
be actuated by motives which entirely forfeit all
claims on our sympathy. It was preposterous to
demand so large a sum, not that the amount was of
auy consequence in a court of law, if he could
have proved the contract on valid grounds. Still,
in the opinion of the world, such conduct is not
desirable, and it is a relief to think that, on any plea,
it has been unsuccessful in founding a case for prece-
dent. As for Mrs..BROUN it is from no preposses-
sion in her favour that we can exult much in her
opponent's downfall. She appears, if we sum up her
conduct in brief, to have profited to the utmost by
the efforts of her counsel, and then to have repu-
diated all notions of gratitude after he had
really rendered her an important service.
That she is clever there can be no doubt, but that
very shrewdness and ability should have led her to
appreciate one who had espoused her interests, and
carried her through a complicated case, till she came
out victorious. It was the greater eclat for Mr.
KENNEDY to succeed, that Sir F. TFIESIGER, now
Lord CHELMSFORD, gave up the case as hopeless.
Mr. KENNEDY in a professional sense has gathered
laurels in the contest, for he has won a cause that a
late Lord Chancellor considered a desperate one.
It may appear to some
avaosedif all
there
scandal could have been id
been snore moderation on one side and more
consideration in the other. If Mr. KENNEDY had
conducted the case in a strictly legalform he would
have been remunerated for his cervices according to
the letter of the 'eve, and had Mrs. BROUN pos-
sessed any gratitude she would voluntarily have
offered some handsome testimonial out of the for-
tune recovered fur her to one who had taken up her
cause with spirit when all was dark and hopeless.
Well would it have been for both parties had such
been the conclusion they had arrived at. The affair
bas passed from the consideration of the judges to
take its trial in public opinion, and the verdict can-
not be given to the benefit of either side at the bar
of that tribunal. When any subject comes under
the cognisance of
the general feeling and unbiassed
opinion of society, no
quibbles of law and DO con-
ventional forms will
avail to shield the offender
against the undefined but well
of good taste, fine feeling, understood statutes
and a nice sense of
honour. The decisions of such a referee do more to

I put down oppression and stay the proceeds to greed
than any authorised and orthodox bench of judges in
the land. These last are bound in the iron chain of
precedent, and hampered with the overwhelming
weight of practice as to who can be guilty, and who
ought to be innocent in legal skirmishes, but the un-
fettered opinion of untrammelled witnesses will
generally decide as to the secret motives and the
ruling passion. In this instance there can be but
one opinion, that both plaintiff and defendant went
in for gain, and it is to be regretted that their com-
bined ability results in both being losers, if not
altogether in money, at least as regards public
sympathy and the respect that is the universal ap-
panage of merit whether its recipients be poor or
rich in the temporal advantages of this shifting
scene.

We would not drop a
relief of Northern
the flow of liberality towards the
word to lessen at all
Distress. We may be quite sure that as soon as
i h
Lord
public contribution canbesfe
finally withdrawn, asafely diminished
whichinised and
committee,
DERDY presides, will give us the intimation. The
Territorial Lords, as well as the Cotton Lords of
Lancashire, are too proud to receive aid for their
county from charity, the moment that charity
ceases to be a national duty. Yet we may be
allowed to advert to an interesting clerical letter
in the Tunes of yesterday, on "Agricultural Dis-
-1 tress." The writer does not by the phrase mean what
used to be meant by it, when tenants, paying per-
haps heavy rents, were petitioning the Legislature
against cheap food from abroad. He compares
only the wages of the agricultural labourer with
the pittance furnished by charity and the rates
united, to the "starving operatives" of Lanca-
shire. Neither does he deny that they are starv-
ing. The point to which he calls attention is,
that the " two shillings a week," which Mr.
COBDEN almost scouted in the House of Commons,
as a sum which persons might be ashamed to
mention as a week's support for each individual
of a family, is what our rustics would think a
handsome income. If, he says, "you offered our
agricultural families two shillings a head a week,
they would think the riches of CRCESIIS had fallen
on them."

We know ourselves from careful inquiries in
country districts that the details furnished by the
writer are but too faithfully representative of agri-
cultural earnings over a large part of the kingdom.
In some well cultivated districts, such as some parts
of Norfolk, they may be ls., or in a few highly
favoured spots 25., a week better, but this is their
widest range. Even in parishes where at one time
emigration to America, as the farmers complain,
"made the men masters," it did not seem to suggest
to the latter more than 12s. a week as the regular
wages, with of course an advance in hay-making
time and harvest, and also a little better for turnip
hoeing ; the latter is, however, now on the good
farms chiefly done by horse implements, with
women to finish. As to 2s. per head regularly,
they never thought of it. Our writer finds the
wages around him to be Bs. and 10s. a week, and
cider—an addition which may be very pleasant,
but which others besides our teetotal friends will
not think contributes much to the muscular
strength of the working man. It seems to be the
carter and the shepherd only who are in receipt of
the munificent 10s. weekly, for which, however,
they have to give long hours, what Lancashire

would think equivalent to a day and a half. To be
fair, we should include in most cases low rents—a
shilling or eighteeupence per week—for their cot-

tages, such as they are, and when they are owned
by large proprietors, who can afford to treat them
very much as necessary farm buildings.
They have, of course, some little aid through the
earnings of the women and juveniles of the family.
No ten hours' act exists in agricultural districts.
Farmers are at liberty to work Nv omen, children, and
men as long hours as they please. A poor mother
with a large family is glad to let one of the little

Iboys spend the whole day, during all weathers, in
the fields, keeping the rooks off the newly sown
corn in the bleak days of our spring—and that for
a penny a day Even the lad of eighteen, who
helps the carter, dares not aspire to more than five
shillings a week for fifteen hours a day of almost
incessant w3rk. Some of our contemporaries made
a little merry over the prize of thirty shillings pre-
sented the other day by Lord PALMERSTON to a
young couple who had made some provision prior

to marriage ; but it would seem that the self-denial
and skill which could do it must have been some-
thing extraordinary. This thirteen shillings a week
earned by father and son, have to feed, clothe, and
house a family of father, mother, elder son, and six
younger children ! Aonther couple, mentioned by
the writer, have eight children under twelve years
of age ; the father earns ten shillings a week, a child
two shillings ; their house and coals cost them two
shillings a week, and the ten shillings are left to
feed the nine persons for a week. And these are the
wages of skilful vigorous labourers; " the unhandy
and weakly have lower, according to their deserts."
When the woman can go out to work, she may earn

eightpence a day, which seems proportionably

high ; but of course there are many hindrances, in
England, to women doing much field-work. They
are thankful if they can obtain remunerative em-
ployment at home, which, in the country, is compa-
ratively rare. The poor rural cottager feels that
his wife's place is in her home and family. We all

feel that he is right.
We must all wonder how these
poor people con-
trive to live. It is the first question suggested
when we know such statements to be facts. Fresh
country air has a wonderful charm for us
besmoked Londoners ; but, alas ! the freshest
air, though air be such an essential to life,
will not sustain it. As to meat, the lowest
priCe being eightpence per lb., our rural labourer's
wages must leave him almost ignorant of its taste.
Bread, and such garden stuff as he can grow or buy,
must be his reliance, and how his less than twopence
a head per day can provide a sufficiency of bread
alone is perfectly mysterious. Some COLENSO of the
future will assuredly easily prove that the existing
tables of wages and prices, which we know to be

but too true, are perfectly "unhistorical."
Putting, however, together, as the writer we
have referred to does, the two shillings a week we

endeavour to give the victims of the Northern
blockade, and the wages of West of England rustics,
we do not think the slightest case is made out

for slackening our charity; indeed this writer would
not wish it. He himself says, " How they sub-
sist in health, and how they make bo'h ends meet, I

cannot tell." He will not, therefore, complain that

we should give the cotton operatives wh i would
work, but cannot, only so much as leaves him
incapable of comprehending the mode of bubs is -
te nc e. He is, of course, right in rebuking those
who appeal to congregations of such rural poor
to contribute to the relief of " starving operatives,"
while it never occurs to these field hands that
" starving," in this case, means living, when out of
work, on the same pay as they receive for their

regular maintenance in work. Had he not spoken
- - - -

of what he knows we could hardly have supposed

_ .
,hat any one could have asked an alms of these

who rather need to receive one.

But we mast also remember that all distress is
comparative. Privation is, of course, felt most by those

who never knew what it is. All their arrangements
are made for a different scale of living. Their
bodily habits, even, have become such, that they
suffer more than those who have never known
luxury. Old soldiers well know, and their generals
too, the difference between troops innured to all
kinds of hardships, and men fresh from even the
comforts of barracks and ordinary working life.
We apprehend the North, as compared with the
South, is feeling this difference now, and very dis-
advantageously. Still our agricultural friends
must not press this fact too far. Granting that
the farm labourer has, in country air, and in the
naturalness and pleasantness of rural occupations,
compensation for a great deal of the difference be-
tween agricultural and manufacturing wages, yet
the difference should not be carried surely to its
present extent. It can hardly be that the regular
wages of the farm labourer should not exceed what
we think it indispensable to raise for the cotton
operative, when deprived of his cotton. As to the
economical question of supply and demand of la-
bour, we may not venture to touch it. We cannot
answer it. If farmers bid against each other, it is
hard to blame the landlord for accepting the best
offer; and if, having been necessitated by competi-
tion to offer a high rent, the farmer in turn takes
the benefit of competition for his labour, how again
shall we censure him ? Economically, the labourer
must, by emigration, or some means, lessen the
supply of labour, if he would have bigher wages ;
we cannot deny this; yet we must all deny that
the farm labourer ought to live on what we call
starvation pay in Manchester.

In another part of our impression will be found
a letter from Mr. LAING with regard to the cotton
supply of India. The opinions of such an authority
on this important subject carry weight, and deserve
the careful consideration of all interested in the
wellbeing of this important branch of our commerce.
Mr. LAING agrees with his old antagonist, Sir
CHARLES WOOD, that the production of Indian
cotton is in a great measure a question of price, and
that if we drew our total supply of cotton from
our Indian dependencies we might obtain from
them a supply of 4,000,000 bales. But, as Mr. LAING/
justly observes, the practical point for consideration
is not what India might do in a vague and im-
probable future, but what India is really likely to
do in the years immediately before us. On this
point he speaks with caution and moderation, ex-
plaining the existing drawbacks, removable and
insurmountable, but giving a final verdict that is
reassuring. He thinks it improbable, if not impos-
sible, that under any circumstances the average
produce of cotton per acre in India will approach
that of America. The present great inferiority he
attributes chiefly to the disadvantages of soil and
climate, as well as to the less formid-
able and temporary obstacles offered by bad
legislation and defective means of transit. " The
radical tact," says Mr. LAING, "is, that the average
production of clean cotton per acre in America has
been 3001 b., while in India it has scarcely exceeded
701 b. of an inferior quality." The difficulties offered
by the climate to the growth of cotton are its extreme
changes, the excessive rain of the wet season alter-
nating with the drought of the rest of the year.
The obstacle to be encountered in the soil lies rather
in the cultivation. The difference in the two coun-
tries in this respect is briefly summed up by Mr.
I LAING :—" Cotton in America is grown on virgin
soil by the application of capital and organised
labour on a large scale ; while in India it is grown
almost exclusively as a rotation crop, on old culti-
vated land, by small farmers and peasant pro-
prietors." The progressive improvement which we
hope for India will doubtless mitigate these evils.
Mr. LAING himself hopes much from the completion
of roads and railways, the application of irrigation
where advisable, and the countless advantages to be
expected from the introduction of European capital
and enterprise. Nevertheless the culture of tea and
coffee offer far greater attractions to the European
settler. In the first place, they are more remu-
nerative, which is an unanswerable argument with
our speculative capitalists. Secondly, the tempe-
rature which favours their growth is more congenial
to European constitutions. Add to these the
absence of negro labour and the difficulties in the
way of cotton cultivation in India will be readily
apparent. Yet in spite of these antagonistic
agencies, it is satisfactory to find so competent an
authority as Mr. LAING supporting the opinion that
we have before expressed that the present supply
of cotton from India may be very largely increased
and improved. Indeed, he goes so far as to say
that after a few years of severe fluctuation,
the cotton supply of the world would be something
like the following estimate, supposing the American
war to be brought to an immediate conclusion.
Total consumption, 5,000,000 bales. Supply—
America, 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 bales, at 6d. to 7d.
per lb. ; India, 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 bales, at
sd. to 6d. per lb. ; the rest of the world, 500,000 to
1,000,000 bales. This calculation is made naturally
enough without taking into account the immense
results which would follow from the cultivation of
cotton in some parts of Australia and Africa. The
latter country offers great facilities for its cultiva-
tion, and certainly there will be no room to
complain of the previous occupation of the
soil. The fact of its being sown by the ryots only
as a rotation crop, is naturally the cause of great
delay, since, as Mr. LAING observes, to produce an
extra supply of 1,000,000 bales, at least 4,000,000
acres extra must be sown with cotton, implying
that the cultivators of 12,000,000 acres of existing
arable ground which have not hitherto sown it
shall immediately begin to do so. It is evident to
the most uninformed that however great the induce-
ment to the riot to select cotton as his most profit-
able rotation crop, the pi oduction of any large in-
crease in our cotton imports in this
quarter, must, under these circumstances,
be a work of time. When we also take into calcu-
lation the unfavourable effects of rumours of peace
in America, and a consequent falling off in the de-
mand for Indian cotton upon the ryots, we shall
not be surprised that Mr. LAING talks of " severe
fluctuations" as probable for the next few years.
Such, however, is the extent of our•lndian posses-
sions, and so large the population, that the quantity
of cotton to be derived from thence, although small
in proportionwillstilibeof tvoertyhagtrelaatteily derived
mpor taneeftroomAm
us,
It re-
mains to be seen whether our manufacturers will
learn wild Ai from the present crisis, and
guard against ever again depending solely on
one source, and that a foreign one, for the Ful'ldY
of an article on which the vitality of a m in
branch of our manufactures and commerce
entirely depends. A short-sighted and selfish
policy is unfortunately too often in favour at
political prophets foretold
the coming elsestorm:*hnaend even the h
the
least r
horizon,
jrns:gehotmede
could sc
e its portents darkening
made. Apres moi le delug
have
motto; but unhappily deluge has come
provision for the coming deearwthasmtiogoht
much the
the
slearn
upon those unconcerned in the
while the speculators, in many
haveeh reaped
from a
profit
theprfarcotmieaal
greatmistake. Let
knowledge
and expe-
rience of a keen sighted observer like M T,r.
—AING,
e

wbo sees no reason to alter the opinion he expressed
at Manchester four months since. Hb then said
that, in his opinion, America could not again
supply our full demand for a lengthened period ;
that during the next year India might furnish from
1,250,000 bales to 1,500,000 bales, but not more ;
that after a sufficient time had elapsed, and the
oscillations certain to follow the conclusion of
the American struggle were over, India might
supply from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 bales. So long
as the present uncertainty continues, and the ryots
cannot depend on receiving a good price for their
cotton, no such results can be hoped for. It re-
mains to be seen whether the crisis we have just
passed through will teach us the wisdom that is
too often only learned from experience; or whether,
as soon as possible, we shall again sink back into the
old supine indifference, only to be aroused from it
by a second panic more startling and more serious.