The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-21 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—It is not without reason that charity,
even in the definite form of almsgiving, should be
described as something beyond vulgar calculation
and commercial estimates. A mau may " give all
his goods to the poor," and yet neither he nor they
be at all the better for it. It is a matter that re-
quires as much labour and anxiety as any mercau-
tile business or political affair, quite as strong a
hand, and a higher cast of intelligence and feeling.
The more sensible pert of the British public know
this full well, and they feel it a very great security
that the immense operation of relieving the Cot ton
Districts is in the hands of men accustomed to the
highest place in public affair& The name of Lord
Derby is a host in this instance. A million or a
million and a half of money is no trifling addition
to the outgoings of the classes spscially burdened
with social obligations. Besides all else they have
to do, they have also to do at home, in a more pri-
vete way, that which they are doing in the mass for
the Cotton Districts. They have to find employ.
ment or maintenance for those who have it not ; to
rectify from their own supposed surplus the short-
comings of seasons, the ebbs of prosperity, the
failures of enterprise, and the penalties of improvi-
dence. In order to do this they have to deny them-
selves, to renounce not only enjoy ments but hope-
ful undertakings, to forego opportunities, and, in a
word, be poor, that others may be rich—at least for
tho hour. Accustomed as they are to choose their
modes of expenditure, to select the object, to watch
the process, and to unite with the open palm the
active brain and the sympathetic soul, it is not
without a pang that they commit a round sum of
money to a distant region, an accumulated heap,
unknown administrators, and a recipient multi-
tude. Tney are tender on these points. Their confi-
They are as anxious to hear
dence is easily shaken.
that responsible men are engaged in the work as
they would be to know that a good general was
in charge of an army in the field. To Lord Derby's
political views we have nothing to say. They are
probably comprised in the belief that while he can-
not himself be Premier Lord Palmerston may as
well fill the place. But Lord Derby is at least ac-
customed to give due proportion and weight to a
variety of conflicting considerations. He will not
recoil from one error into another. He will consider
what on the whole is best to be done, even if it be
still open to objection. It is no small testimony to
our institutions that a statesman who has been long
in power, who is the recognized head of the oppo-
sition, and will probably be in power again, is found
at the head of a great voluntary and national work,
which in its importance and difficulty might
take rank with a department of the State. The
difficulties recognized by Lord Derby in the " Sug-
gestions" before us are those which arise from the
existence of other resources and from the mixed
character of the claims for relief. He reserves for
future adjustment the case of those whose poverty
does not rise out of the Cotton Famine, and the
question of supplementing the parish allowance by
additional relief. Time has been when the bare
proposition would have been thought monstrous;
but it cannot be diseeissed so easily now. As the
object of the Fund is to relieve destitution, what is
to be done with those who are not absolutely desti-
tute, but have some sort of property ? Money in the
Swings Banks must be withdrawn: Nor can the
Relief Fund be applied to pay subscriptions to sick
clubs or benefit societies. They must manage their I
own affairs, and do what they think proper in each
case. But there are three modes of investment much
in favour with the operatives—Co operative Socie-
ties, yielding better dividends, and also advantages
in the purchase of the clothing, the flour, or the
provisions produced ; Joint-Stock Companies for
carrying on the cotton and other manufactures;
and cottage and bailding societies. All these invest-
rnents may be profitable in good time, and at such
times the shares may be at a premium. Now
they are unprofitable, unsaleable, and whether mort-
gaged or not mortgaged, becoming of no assignable
value. In these cases Lord Derby takes the simple
question whether the applicant for relief can live on
his so-called property,—Can he get rent or divi-
dend? Can he sell or mortgage? Supposing he can
'obtain the merest trifle, is he to be compelled to
part with his interest altogether to the people who
may choose to profit by the emergency ? The same
difficulty extends to the case of the very small shop•
keepers, who are now penniless through the failure
of their custom. Lord Derby is for giving these
classes the benefit of that "salt" of charity which
should season all human affairs. It cannot be either
common humanity or common sense, or for the com-
mon weal, to compel all these persons to make sacri-
fices which to them are the utter abandonment of
their prospects, and to the Relief Fund will be very
small saving. It is not easy to adjust this recom-
mendation with that given in the case of s vings-
banks ; but in that case deposited will be £5
drawn out, and there is no loss. It is not so in the
case of the other investments. There a saving of
£2O may, under a forced sale, result in the return
of a few shillings. It may be said, indeed, that we
ought not to lay down a rule that will discourage
the safer investment in the savings-banks and offer
a premium to some not very sound undertakings,
but for the present we do not see our way to another
mode of settling the difficulty than Lord Derby's,
unless, indeed, we are to pauperise all Lancashire
and Cheshire.

HERALD. —What is to be done with Greece ? In
taking that little country under their tutelage the
three great Powers have incurred a responsibility
of which they cannot get rid, but which every day
seems to become more burdensome. The government
of the unfortunate Bavarian was weak and bad, but
if the difficulty of replacing him should continue
much longer we should begin to regret the revolu-
tion which dethroned him. Any government is
better than none at all, and in Greece at the present
moment every man does what is right in his own eyes.
A part of the population being afflicted with a confu-
sion of ideas on the subject of meum and tuum, has
betaken itself to brigandage and violence of the
most lawless kind. Flagrant instances have oc-
curred in the immediate neighbourhood of the capi-
tal. Travelling in this country is now beset with
dangers of every imaginable kind_ We must not

say that property and life are unsafe on the roads,
because, strictly speaking, there are in Greece no
roads at all. Never since the Turks left it has
Greece had a government worthy the name, and
now the country is a prey to the direst anarchy.
The British Government is bent upon finding a
King for Greece. Prince Alfred, elected by the
plebzsczte, has been refused to the Greek people. ,
Our Ministers consider, however, that they still
possess a sort of right of nomination. The Greeks
have paid us the compliment of desiring that their
fu
rtare dynasty shall be closely connected with that
of
ofn hgtland. Even without this, as representing
one ,
protecting Powers, the British Govern-
ment hoes
certainly a voice in the matter. More
than this, in offering
to t
ctehde the lonian Islands, on
the understanding that
ac-
cededeir
to, they have done wishes shall be r
best to constitute
themselves supreme arbitersraind masters of the
privilege situation. Whether such a
were worth
such a sacrifice is another question rtotitother. In
proposing a candidate for the vacant there
are two chief difficulties to be encountered—the
possible repugnance of any eligible Prince the
un-
dertake a task of more than ordinary danger, and
the possible opposition on the part of the Greek
people to the selection recommended to them.
Hitherto the first difficulty has been the most pro-
minent. The throne has been declined for the
pungt' r brother of the heir apparent of England
on grouuds of policy to) obvious to be gainsaid. Ic
has been proposed to the ex-King Ferdinand of
Portugal, the cousin of the late Prince Albert. This
Prince has declined the honour of such a candida-
ture. The Duke Ernest of Saxe-Coburg Gotha,
brother of Prince Albert, and his elder by one year,
one of the most likely, and reputed not the least
ambitious of available Princes, was the next resort
of the diplomatists who have such trouble in finding
a King. It is rumoured in well-informed quarters
that this Prince is not unwilling to accept the can-
didature, which it is sought to impose upon him.
His visit to his relation, the King of the Belgians,
at Brussels, just at this juncture, would by itself
SEEM to augur the probability of this acceptance.
King Leopold is said to have taken a very promi.

nent part in these delicate negociations. He natu-
rally takes some interest in the prospects of a
country of which he was himself once chosen to be
King. The Dulie of S ixe Coburg is a man of no
ordinary mould. Nature seems to have designed
him for a wider sphere of influence than that of the
petty and third-rate principality which finds itself
powerless for good or for evil in the presence of the
great German States which dictate the policy of
the Bund. As it is, Prince Ernest has made him-
self very prominent as a sort of leader of the party
of Young Germany. To him is owing the only
practical scheme for the realisation of the dream of
a united Germany. He is the heart and soul of
rifle club meetings and gatherings of the people.
He has a taste for liberal and constitutional govern-
ment, which is even in advance of the aspirations
of his compatriots. Serious disaffection has been
produced among the people of the little duchy by
the attempt of the Duke to govern
all them on
Eng-
lish principles. The prophet honour hin
his own cov.ntry, and betook hiselefxtolotrrearvsealftrenr
the East and the quest of missing explorers
the sources of the Nile, as to a sphere that seemed
to promise more
a man al
thantthoagtetohfer Ger-
man politics. The Prince
be-
yond his age, a man of resthetic asp:rations and a
noble ambition. Ho has not found the sources of
the Nile more accessible than the recondite springs
of Teutonic policy. He has transferred his spirit
of geographical research to the windings of the
Allee Verte and the solitudes of Lacken. It is there
that he may dream a happier dream than his last—
a dream of the revival of the golden rule of Pericles.
Should he accept the throne of Greece we recom-
mend him to give up for the present his notions of
constitutional government. The Greeks are chil-
dren in such matters, and incapable of governing
themselves. The new King would find it impossi-
ble to maintain himself for a week, unless he were
backed up by a British or German army. Men
who are acquainted with Greece tell us—and we
believe there is much truth in it—that what the
people need just now is a good strong despotism
wielded by a just man, who will set his face against
corruption and violence; will crush out the petty
tyrants who billet the provinces, reorganise the
army, and exterminate the brigands. We do not
envy the man who may have to rule over such a
people as the Greeks, or undertake the adminis-
tration of a country that for forty years has been in
a state of chronic disorder.

POST.—The Mexican letter of the Emperor of the
French appertains to what nas been called the
poetry of politics. It is interesting, no doubt, as
conveying to the public the general ideas which
were floating in the mind of Napoleon 111. six
nr,nths and more ago. But a document six months
old, which confines itself to the assertion of then
present intentions, and bases those intentions upon
conditions which may or may not be realised, is
obviously liable to be obsolete. In a natural course
of things this letter has been presented with other
documents to the French Chambers. Nor is its
publication at the present time by any means un-
desirable; for the vehement debates that have
lately taken place in the Spanish Chambers have
imparted every conceivable distortion to the Mexican
policy of the French Government. It would seem
that, almost simultaneously, General Forey in
Mexico, and the French Ministers at Paris, arrived
at the conclusion that this imperial manifesto should
be given to the world. Nor is the coincidence sur-
prising. It was not ill-calculated to win over dis-
affected persons in Mexico itself; and it tenth d to
place the designs attributed to France at Madrid in
a fairer light than the hostile passions of conflicting
parties there had rendered possible. We may thus
perceive at once why General Furey on the one
hand, and the French Ministers on the other, have
recently arrived at a common and apparently inde-
pendent conclusion to give publicity to the Em-
peror's letter, even if it had not seemed of itself to
require a place among the correspondence just
submitted to the Chambers. But we must
acknowledge that, although this document
does that credit to the perceptions and views of
Napoleon 111. which is always reflected by his
published correspondence, we fail to find in
it anything that is new at the present juncture.
The two considerations which are here brought
most clearly into view are, in the first place, the
contingency of a monarchy being established in
Mexico; and, secondly, the motives which had led
the Emperor of the French to attempt the reorgani-
sation of the Mexican Government in such a manner
as to be independent of the Northern and Southern
Confederacies. The former of these points contains
no fresh announcement, and we believe that this
journal was the first to give the world reason to
think that such a scheme was floating at some of
the Continental Courts. That intimation was sug-
gested by us as far back as a year ago. The Empe-
ror of the French stated, six months back, in the
present letter to Gen. Fore, very much what Gen.
Prim has already stated in the Spanish Chambers—
that in the event of the Mexican nation being dis-
posed to adopt a monarchical form of government,
the Emperor himself was willing to give protection
and support to their wish. It may even be added,
from the terms of the imperial letter now before us,
that Napoleon 111. would have been more willing to
see the Mexican people resolve on a monarchical
than on a republicat. polity. That appears to be
the gist of the communication in question, and we
are by no means surprised that such should have
been the Emperor's general view of the subject six
months ago. Bat it has for some time subsequently
appeared clear that the monarchy dream in Mexico
is at an end. We have in the first place the testi-
mony of Gen. Prim, that the French Government
had been grossly deceived by Almonte, who had no
party whatever in the country, and that there was
hardly a man in all Mexico who would vote for a
monarchy. This view again has been confirmed
by the circumstantial intelligence of many suc-
cessive mails from the Gulf of Mexico. It was but
natural, however, that the Emperor of the French
should still adhere to the general view which he had
sketched at the outset. The scheme was nothing
more than conditional then. It was dependent on
the Mexicans declaring in favour of a monarchy ;
and the same may be said now, with the impor-
tant distinction, however, that the hypothesis on
which the idea of a Mexican monarchy was first
suggested has in the interval, according, at least, to
all the means of information which we can possess
in Europe, proved to be erroneous. With regard
to the alleged advance of the French army upon
Puebla, we must content ourselves with the obser-
vation that the statement is not at present con-
' firmed. The last mail left General Forey, accord-
ing to the statement of the semi-official French
journals at P aris, where he was, and postponed his
advance until early in January. He was then
described as awaiting stores and materiel for his
I army, and even reinforcements of troops from
Europe that have been but just now sent out. In
these circumstances, we fear we must receive the
present intelligence, coming especially, as it does,
by way of the United States, with great caution.
aalb'aatttrli i
battle won
wmonprohyvses upon
.000Fretnheihs
account
We would hope it may be
over Our 2c ,nObt Oeyom. describingl
%P er xa ir cy L
a
n s .
ttrhuaet, and
~
dthat
Nationalthis alßlergidegdeb;i
tticeremuainystnaohttiraeisieymble
, turned out
re-
ported a month ago, which, however,
never to have happened at all. La Patric is
blessed with fresh Mexican intelligence almost
every
troops
day,in f
aiTrhafitgFhtrennoch
otnroeodpsouwbitlsl ; b e
butat At
hi eex irceaanl
question is whether they are pitted with Mexican
troops only, or with the whole Mexican people also.
In the meantime, we must await the next mail in
order to make sure whether General Furey had, up
to the end of the past year, made a movement in
advance or not.

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fictions, and other irregularities of the system.

AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS.

The week opened unfavourably, with a cold and thick
d ty- and a good deal of rain; but the night was starlight,
with a rapidly rising barometer, indi,iative of a sudden
change. Such proved to be the case, for on Monday morn-
ing it was found that an intense white frost had been expe-
rienced. The roads were quite hard and puddles of the
previous day all iced : wind N.N.E. In the afternoon,
risen; however,tit
et
Nhv
nbda rvoeme
reitnegr wa
tass
pf a. Intl i.ntg: at ghaeinsa. s fast s
.E.ase it had
d t
he
night threatening. On Tuesday morning, at 7 a.m., there
were torrents of rain, with the wind from the north. At
11 a.m. came a dense " fog for about half an hour, that
appears to have extended to many parts of the country, sus-
pending business at many markets held on that day. From
all accounts there had been a great deal too much wet fur
the land; and it turns out that many farmers who had not
got their wheat sown early have not bean able to plant it at
all. The land is yet too wet to get on it so as to prepare it
for spring corn ; and the carting of manure has been checked.
Many teams are unoccupied and getting a good rest, with
this state of the weather and position of the ground. The
meadows look green and healthy, but are swamped in low
situations with too much water. The wheat plant in gene-
ral has a healthy appearance, although a little check from
colder weather might be acceptable to all the further dis-
tricts, as the plant is growing rather too fast from the
want of more frost at nights. However, as December has
been so mild, a pinch may come in February and March,
giving the seasonable check so desired. The weather has
been much against thrashing wheat, as when there was no
rain the atmosphere was thick, with a good deal of fog, and
this wont' penetrate into the sample and prevent any im-
provement in its condition. The markets have been some-
what better, with an increased delivery; the quantity re-
turned this week was 71,747 qrs at 46s 10d, being an in-
crease of 4,270 qrs, and an advance in price of is per qr,
but still bearing an unfavourable comparison with the cor-
responding week of last year, when the price was 61s Ild,
on, however, only 61,211 qrs. The year has started off bet-
ter, steadily on the advance, while last year it was steadily
declining, until we came to the lowest the last week in the
year. The deliveries of barley have again fallen off, the
quantity returned this week being 79,358 qrs at 34s 6d,
against 83,088 qrs at 31s 3d the previous week. The far-
mers have yet little foreign malting quality from abroad
to compete with, but the deficiency of grinding qualities
was felt throughout the winter months. This arose from
home grown being mostly fit for malting, the intermediate
and low qualities being about two-thirds of the crop: The
deficiency has been now amply made up by some large im-
ports from the south of Europe this week, and the new
Danubian is fresh and sweet, and can be bought at about
lld per stone. Being cheaper than oats, this will go into
consumption pretty readily for pig feed, and a small por-
tion might be used as provender for horses. The same sort
is attracting the attention of our distillers, vegetating well
suiting them in most respects. Farmers who usually sow
the best qualities must be on the look• out early this season,
for these will run shorter than usual and command high
prices at seed time. There are some nice qualities from the
north of France, which would be a good change. From
Wednesday to the close of the week the weather was cold
and bleak, with the wind from the N.N.E. generally; the
thermometer ranging about 40 deg. ; barometer ranging
from 30.20 to 30.45 in., and then on Saturday to 30.20 again.
This slight decline looks somewhat as if snow were at hand,
with the atmosphere hazy. Still there were thus four days
without rain, which is some improvement upon the recent
falls.—Mark-Lane Express of yesterday.

HEALTH OF LONDON.

(From the Registrar General's Report.)

The deaths in London in the week that ended on Satur-
day were 1,477. The average number of deaths in the cor-
responding weeks of 10 years (1853-62) is, with a correction
for increase of population, 1,475; and the rate of mortality
that prevailed last week was neither greater nor less than
tho rate obtained by a calculation based on previous returns
for the middle of January,

The births of last week exceeded the deaths in the same
period by 451.
The most fatal disease last week in the zymotie class was
scarlatina, the deaths from which were 81. Six of these
were in the sub-district of St. Mary, Paddington. There
were 15 from diphtheria, and 66 from measles, 4 of which
latter occurred in each of the following sub-districts :—St.
John Paddington, Kensington-town, St. Botolph, and
Clapham.
The numbers referred to phthisis and bronchitis in last
week's returns wero nearly equal. Phthisis was fatal in 173
cases, almost half of which occurred between 20 and 40
years of age; bronchitis was fatal in 170 cases, 72 of which
were at 60 years of age and upwards.
A child, a fortnight old, died from the use of tight band-
ages by which its chest was compressed. A. woman died of
tetanus, the consequence of grief. A young married woman
lost her life by want of skill in a midwife.
Last week the births of 984 boys and 947 girls, in all
1,931 children, were registered in London. In the 10 cor-
responding weeks of the years 1853-62 the average number
(corrected) was 1,934.
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean height
of the barometer in the week was 29.965 in. The mean
daily reading was above 30in. on Wednesday and two fol-
lowing days. At the beginning of the week the barometer
was at 29.51 in. ;it rose to 30.26 in. on Thursday. The mean
temperature of the air in the week was 38.1 deg., which is
2.5 deg. above the average of the same week in 43 years (as
determined by Mr. Glaisher). The mean daily temperature
was rather above the average throughout the week. The
lowest night temperature occurred on Monday, and was 271
deg. The highest day temperature was on Tuesday, and
was 46'8 deg. The range of temperature in the week was
therefore 19.1 deg. The mean daily range was B'l deg.
The range on Sunday was only 3.2 deg. The difference be-
tween the mean dew-point temperature and air temperature
was 3.1 deg. The mean degree of humidity of the air was
89, complete saturation being represented by 100, The
wind was in the south-west on Monday and Tuesday; it
blew afterwards from the north-east. The rain in the week
was 014 in., most of which fell on Tuesday. The mean of
the highest temperatures of the water of the Thames was 41
deg; that of the lowest was 38 deg.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

DUBLIN, WICKLOW, AND WEXFORD.

The directors of this company state in their report that
the available balance on revenue account for the half year
ending Dec. 31 is £17,618, out of which they recommend
a dividend at the rate of 3 per cent. per annum on the
original stock of the company. This, together with the
dividends on the two classes of preference shales, will
amount to £13,683, leaving a balance of £3,955 for the next
account. The receipts on the Wicklow line show a small
increase as compared with the corresponding period of 1861;
while the receipts on the Kingstown line exhibit a falling
off of £2,018. The total expenditure on revenue account is
less by £1,700 than for the corresponding half of 1861. The
directors feel satisfied with the state of things, when they
consider the many causes that produced almost a stagnation
in railway traffic in Ireland during the past summer. Gra-
tifying progress has been made with the works of the ex •
tension to Gorey and Enniscorthy. Anticipating the open-
ing of the line to Newbridge in the coming spring, an addi-
tion has been made to the rolling stock of 20 waggons, ex-
pressly adapted for mineral traffic. With a further view to
the accommodation of the mineral traffic, the directors have
obtained the sanction of the Board of Works to lay down a
branch line of rails from the Kingstown Railway to the
Traders'-wharf at Dunleary, and the necessary works for
this are now in progress. They have every confidence that
the company's engineer will be fully able to redeem his
opromise to
the
stir
es
ent open the
year.
Acting
tn Enniscorthygon the wwish
duringexp t
es
st
ehde autumnby
the
shareholders at the meeting in August last a complete
change in the mode of collecting passenger tickets on the
Kingstown line has been effected and found to work well.
The subscribers and ordicary passengers are now charged
in direct proportion to the distance for which they use the
railway. The capital account shows that £1,215,219 had
been expended to the 31st of December last. The revenue
account for the half-year ending the 31st of December shows
that £28,314 had been received on the Wicklow line, and
£32,746 on the Kingstown line, making together £61,050.
The expenditure on the Wicklow line amounted to £10,202
and onithe Kingstown to £11,422, together £21,624, leaving
a balance of £39,436. From this is deducted £16,292 for
rent and other payments to the Kingstown Company, and
£5,356 for interest on loans, leaving £17,785 for
_dividends
on preference and ordinary shares.