The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-19 00:00:00

THEIMOMETER.

This morning
62
This day at Two o'clock
_

Barometer-29.80.

Wind—E. ; strong breeze, and cloudy weather.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAY.—Morning, 3h. 3m.—Afternoon, 3h. 20n2.
To-moßnow.-Morning, 3h. 39m.—Afternoon, 3h. 56m.

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LONDON, TUESDAY, MAY 19, 1863.

It must really have been quite refreshing to Her
MAJESTY'S Government late last night, or rather
very early this morning—finding themselves, all of
a sudden, for the first time this session, in the small
hours, in a small majority. It comes to them so
surprisingly—(particularly seein what it is they
have triumphed upon)—that theiir esult can hardly
fail to win for these latterly forlorn Ministers con-
gratulations from friends and foes'alike. The suc-
cess obtained, it will be seen, wafeone achieved in
Committee of Supply. It had reference to the set-
ting aside of an amendment moved by the Conser-
vative Chancellor of the Exchequer that is
to be, to wit Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE, upon
Mr. PEEL'S moving a vote on account of £956,878
for packet service for the current financial year.
In moving this vote Mr. PEEL had minutely, and
it mast be confessed rather wearily (as is his wont)
explained the nature of the several contracts that
have from time to time been entered intoe
Thereupon, incidentally giving a very copious
narrative, moreover, of the rise, pregress, and
development of the particular contract entered
into by the well-known Mr. J. G. CHURCHWARD.
This, it will be understood at once, was done in
order simply that Mr. F. PEEL might be enabled
to state the reasons for including in the vote pro-
vision fJr payments to Mr. CHURCHWARD for the
conveyance of mails between Dover and Calais and
Dover and Ostend from the Ist of April, 1863, to the
20th of June, 1863. Excluding, however, any
payment in respect of the period subsequent to the
latter date, to Mr. CHURCHWARD, or to any per-
son claiming through him by virtue of a contract
dated the 26th of April, 1859, between him and the
Board of Admiralty. The significance of all which
may be instantly appreciated by those who (how-
ever ignorant they may be of the details of the
transaction referred to) merely " take note," like
Captain CUTTLE, of the peculiarity discernible at a
glance in the single date last particularised. That
date being the 26th of April, 1859—almost,
as it might be termed, the penultimate month
of the last, or second, DERBY Administration.
Lord DERBY'S Government was defeated, be it re-
membered, on the 10th day of June
entered
then revised, and now repudiated, contract
into with Mr. CHURCHWARD, bore date, it will be
perceived by those who can read while running, the
26th of the previous April. The successors of the
DERBY Government, therefore, proposed, through
the lips of Mr. PEEL, in this last sitting of the
House of Commons, that payments should be duly
made to Mr. CHURCHWARD in regard to the earlier
contracts with him in respect to the packet
service, but that there should be no payment
whatever provided for him under the excepti
wi onal
Disgusted th
contract just now specified.
the invidious exception thus taken to one of the
latest administrative acts of his party when last
in power, Sir S. NORTHCOTE moved simply and
sweepingly that, in order to raise the question as to
the contract of 1859, all the words relating to Mr.
CHURCHWARD should be omitted from the vote.
That to put it
plainly was the amendment upon
which the House of Commons, last night in Com-
mittee, after a rather lengthened discussion of the
matter, divided. The Rouse in Committee divid-
ing upon the original motion,perhraespuslt it
proved)shou'd
be said, and dividing (as the
in favour of it, thereby of course effectually
negatived and quashed the amendment. For
the motion—thus the numbers appeared upon
the voting paper when handed to the Mini-
sterial sterial tellers—For the motion 176, Against it 168--
Majority for the Government, Eight ! Not a very
large majority in a House of 344, exclusive
of tellers, Speaker, and Chairman of Com-
mittee.
But still a very Godsend, as it hap-
pened under the circumstances, to her MA-
JESTY'S Government. A majority of 8 ! For
the first time this session—a majority of 8 !
After defeat upon defeat in February, and March,
of 8 (in a house of 344)
and April—a majority
won at last in the sitting of the Commons of
M-mday, the 18th of May., No wonder the emend-
m rut was received with cheers from the Ministerial
benches! The result of the division must have come
to the occupants of those benches with a sense of
grateful exhilaration.
That self-same sitting had shown, however,
vevionsly that a very little—in its present
plight—is needed in order to call forth a
cheer from the thick and thin supporters,
the supporters through good report and through
*evil report, of the present Administration. One
-would think that really the least said—particularly
in the way of bounce, in regard to the violent accu-
and, still worse, the flagrant insinuations .

lons,

thrown out by Mr. LAYARD and by Lord PALMER-
STON against two foreign Powers, one of which is
our near ally and neighbour—the better ! So
thinks not, however, the Under-Secretary for
Foreign Affairs. So thinks not the Prime
Minister of England. So think not those who de-
light in the airy swagger of the latter, a swagger
never more airy or more vivacious than in the pre-
sent instance. Lord PALMERSTON is proved to be
monstrously in the wrong. There is no despatch,
after all, he himself tells the House, upon which
his own memorable statements, accusations, and
insinuations but a night or two back, were founded.
There is no such despatch in existence from
Mr. ODO RUSSELL ! Consequently, says the
Prime Minister, No such despatch can be produced
and laid upon the table—as Lord JOHN MANNERS
had requested, and as Mr. HENNESSY bad requested.
Of course not. The thing is quite obvious. It re-

quires not one syllable of explanation in order to

demonstrate—that what is not in existence cannot
possibly be produced. But—this being the case,
there being No Despatch of the kind referred to—
why, in Heaven's name, did Mr. LAYARD why did
Lord PALMERSTON himself speak again and again in
the manner in which they have bath spoken ? Why
those positive statements—those distinct accusations
—those flagrant insinuations to which the noble
lord and the hon. gentleman both undeniably gave
utterance ? Why, it is asked ? Mr. LAYARD—as
the originator of this whole revival of the subject
—steps forward at length, last evening, to tell us
in a few words, " The Reason Why !" Thiz won-
derful despatch from Mr. ODo RUSSELL (recant-
ing, we wero told, his recantations), was. declared
yesterday from the Treasury benches to be purely
hypothetical, or in other words, non existent. Mr.

LAYARD's explanation runs, in effect, as follows—
says, " What I said and repeat now is,

that there was a moral conviction on my
mind and upon Mr, ODO RUSSELL'S mind

that the facts he had stated were true!'
Thereupon the hon. and learned baronet. the mem-
ber for Dundalk, in reference to that same
pretty phrase of a moral conviction, ven-
tures quite naturally to observe, " I wish the
hon. gentleman would inform the House
what were the grounds of the moral conviction
of which he has spoken ?" Quite as naturally—
the suggestion made being in itself so distinctly a
home-thrust—the House, for the life of it, can't
help laughing ! The which laughter, however, is
more than can be tolerated by Lord PALMERSTON—

who loves a laugh, but, like all jokers,

cannot endure himself to be laughed at.
What does the gay old Premier do under the cir-

circumstance ? He rises with an air of hauteur. He
wont let Mr. LAYARD commit himself by an-

swering. He, the Prime Minister, will answer
for him. And so answering, he may be said,
in a single sentence, to ride off on a very high
horse, in (for Lord PALMERSTON) a most
unusual state of virtuous indignation. " I must be
allowed," he says, " to answer the question of the
hon. baronet, and to state that her Majesty's Go-
vernment entirely decline to furnish him or any-
body else with any materials out of which a quarrel
can be got up and perpetuated between Mr. ODO
RUSSELL and either the French or the Papal autho-
rities." Altogether, this puts the matter in the
oddest new light imaginable. Why, the " getting
up" and :the " perpetuating" of anything like a
quarrel in this matter, if attributable to anyone, is
attributable to Mr. LAYARD and to Lord PALMER-
STON. The singularly ingenious, not to say shuffling,
device by which the Premier thus contrives to slip out
of the difficulty, however, succeeds to a miracle,
Insomuch that at the close of this most exemplary
little episode, the admirers of this kind of cleverness
—amongst them, we presume, Mr. IVEIALLLY—are
left last night cheering lustily !

In the House of Lords, last evening, the question
which is paralysing an important braneh of British
commerce was again brought under discussion. The
Marquis of CLANRICARDE, who has done good ser-
vice in bringing to light those proceedings which
Earl RUSSELL would very gladly leave in undis-
turbed:obsectirity, moved for copies:of the reports
of our consular or diplomatic agents in North Ame
rica respecting the proceedings of the United States
Prize Courts. After expressing his sense of the
gravity and delicate nature of the subject, he pro-
ceeded to comment upon the actual state of the case.
The whole of our trade with the Gulf of Mexico and
the West Indies was now, he said, arrested by the
action(of a Government professing peace and amity.
He had been told on good authority that it was
impossible to effect insurance's of any value upon
vessels trading to the West Indies. He cited a pas-
sage from a letter written by a gentleman whose
ship had been seized, in which is shown so forcibly
the hardship suffered by the mercantile classes that
it deserves quotation. The loser asks—" What was
Itoel - Item is a ship trading in a legitimate
may ; her papers are perfectly regular, her con-
duct nnimpeached and unimpeachable, and yet she
has been seized and carried off, my cargo has been
taken ashore and damaged, about £40,000 of my
capital is locked up, and I lose my market. I
make an appeal to the Government, and I am told
that the matter has been referred to Lord LYONS
to make a representation on the subject." Earl
RUSSELL is inclined to turn a deaf ear to remon-
strances of this kind, declaring the shipowners to
be interested parties. "We must be somewhat
cautious," says his lordship, " in believing all the
reports which are made to the Foreign Office by the
owners of ships." No one can accuse the noble
Earl of having neglected each caution, of lending
but too willing an ear to the grievances of his
own countrymen. But would it net be as well to
remember that the American Government is
an interested party, and to receive their
alo
disclaimers and self-justifications with the
sames reserve.
Lad CLANRICARDE gave several il-
lustrations tehn,
etillegal seizures made by the Fede-
ralm Govern of
beginning with the LAuan.
which Mr. SEWARD acknowledged was held
illegally, but which was nevertheless sent tostwAitD
a Prize
Court. This remedy, according to Mr.
and Earl RUSSELL, was to cure all evils;andthe
noble marquis very justly said that he considered
he had a right to ask what were the rules and de-
cisions followed in those Courts. No one who
has watched the course of Lord RUSSELL'S recent
policy can feel surprised at the answer to this very
plain and just demand. We will give it verbatim :
—"I do not think it would be right, in compliance
with the request of the noble
to
loose reports as we have from
the
proceedings of the American Prize Courts. If we
are to give anything to Parliament at all---and, for
my own part, I confess I think it extremely- doubt-
ful whether we should publish the proceedings of
foreign courts—we should at all events take care
that the reports are full and authentic. When
we get authentic reports there may, perhaps, be no
objection to their production, should your lordships
desire to see them ; but, in the meantime, g e have

no papers to lay on the table." So then English mer-
chants are to be content to trust their property in
the hands of an irresponsible foreign tribunal, con
earning whose system of procedure they can get no
information; which refuses their evidence, as in the
case of Captain JARMAN and the Peterhof'; which,
on the confession of their warm advocate, Lora
RUSSELL, looks upon their trade with suspi.
don, and from whose decision there is no appeal ,

save to the cold and doubtful support of the British
Government, which in its anxiety to respect the
difficulties of the Northern States is very apt to
forget the rights and interests of its own snbjscts.
LordRUSSELL'S answers to the illustrations brought
forward by the noble marquis are ingeniously
evasive. Of the five ships mentioned by his oppo-
nent, he only refers to one, the Labnan, passing
over in convenient silence the Adele and the Peter-
hoff. Yet it is rather curious that, in spite of his
protestations of confidence in Mr. SEWARD'S good
faith, and the honourable intentions of the Federal
Government, Earl RUSSELL considers there has
been a decided improvement since he directed that
a ship of war should be sent to the Mexican waters.
His attempt to escape from Lord CLANRICARDE'S
account of the outrageous proceedings of a United
States captain was so desperate that it utterly
failed. The idle boasts of such a person,
says the noble earl indignantly, should
not be held to bind the United States Govern-
ment, adding that the inference:drawn from it of
their determination to interrupt British commerce
is unjustifiable. This lofty protest was quietly
stopped by Lord CLANRICARDE'S reminder that he
had quoted, not from idle threats or empty boasts,
bat from the captain's official report, of what he
HAD done. What says our Foreign Secretary to
this ? " Well, that was his report of what he had
done, and his justification of it." There is no denial,
no attempt to contradict the report. Detected in
his attempt to shuffle) out of the awkward allusion,
he professes indifference and unconcern, as if the
proceedings of an active agent in no way implicated
a Government, however grave or mischievous the
consequences might prove. It is to be hoped
that this novel and extraordinary doctrine
reads the other way as well, and that a nation is
not bound by the acts and opinions of its Minis-
ters, for certainly the . tone and tenour of
Earl RUSSELL'S words and deeds but feebly repre-
sent the temper of the English people. It is very
well to indulge in high-sounding platitudes about
the legally-constituted tribunals of a great country.
We suspect very few of the United States own sub-
jects would care to trust their liberties in the hands
of those same tribunals, provided they had fallen
under the suspicion of Mr. SEWARD. The accounts
of sudden seizure and lengthened 'imprisonment,
without specified reason, which we have read in
the words of American citizens, would seem to
show, in fact, the contrary. It is time that Lord
RUSSELL adopted a different tone, if he wishes our
vast commercial and mercantile interests to be any
longer entrusted to his hands.

The Prison Ministers Bill was last night read a
third time, but even at this stage it met with oppo-
sition. There are some people who never will allow
that certain subjects can be settled. Again and
again they bring them forward for discussion. Mr.
BLACK, moving that the bill be read a third time
that day six months went on to show how wide-
spread would be the consequences of such a measure
if once adopted. He concluded by saying that,
according to his notions of propriety, the chaplains
of gaols should be of the religion of the majority
of the prisoners. It may occur to some
people that Mr. BLACK would have been more con-
sistent if he had before this stated his strong objec-
tions and made his decided stand against the
measure. On several occasions has this subject en-
grossed the attention of the house, and the principle
has always come out victorious from the controversy.
It has survived the transforming agency of a com-
mittee, and escaped the crushing influence of an
angry debate. Now at the eleventh hour, however
a new obstacle was interposed, but fortunately
it proved futile in its efforts at subversion.
Ultimately, in this matter, a satisfactory result
has been obtained, and it will be long,
we should hope, before the Parliament of
England will sanction any atcempt at a re-
trograde policy in the cause of civil and religious
liberty. This principle, rightly expressed and un-
derstood, forms the bulwark of our defence and the
stronghold of our security. Its heroes have perished
in the battle-fields, its martyrs hava been
sacrificed on the sceffold—but through the centu-
ries that divide us from them, they speak to their
descendants to emulate their worthy endeavours,
and not to lose the advantages they gained at the
cost of so much suffering, nor disown the prin-
ciples for which they offered up their lives. All
far-seeing judges will acknowledge the import-
ance of maintaining inviolate this trust which has
been been handed down to us from our forefathers
and the duty plainly
before us of adding to its
influence by every means in our power.

The American Government and the Eman•
cipation Society.

The Chairman of the Emancipation Society has
this day received, through the American Ambas-
sador, the following reply on behalf of President
Lincoln to an address which was adapted at a
crowded meeting held in London, on January 29 :
" Department of State, Washington, April 25, 1863.
" To the citizens of London who were convened in Exeter-