The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-02 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

The day of the Sultan's return is not positively
known. It is believed that he will be here on Satur-
day or Sunday. He is now at Smyrna, where ho
will remain to attend mosque to-morrow. The news
received at the Porte states that he is highly pleased
with his voyage, and that he has been particularly
struck by the sight of a railroad. It is considered pro-
bable that, with his usual impulsiveness and impe-
tuosity, he will on his return devote himself to
schemes of railway extension in his dominions.
It is to be hoped that this will not degenerate
into a mania ; and that his eagerness will
be limited to a desire to offer every legitimate
inducement for public enterprise; but if to
his extensive hobbies of military and naval pre-
ponderance were to be added the costly one of con
strutting railways out of the public revenue, he
would soon find that the resources of the country
will not bear such a burden.

Great preparations are being made to celebrate
in a becoming manner the return of the Sultan.
The quays, the heights in the suburbs commanding
the entrance to the Golden Horn, and the barracks
of Pera are bristling with cannon, which are to fire
imperial salutes ; and the glaziers will, no doubt,
derive much benefit by the damage which will
thereby be occasioned to the windows of the neigh-
bouring houses.

The following intelligence has been just received
from Circassia :—The Grand Duke Michael arrived
at Anapa on the 28th (Ramazan) in order to make
a grand military promenade, and visit the chain of
forts erected by the Russians between Anapa and
the Kouban, through the Shapsukh country. Oa
his road he was first attacked by a body of 250 Circas-
sian horsemen, who took prisoner an aide-de-camp of
the Grand Duke and killed 180 Russian Dragoons.
Afterwards, in a plain between the forts Haplkaleh
and Shebzkaleh, his force was assaulted by a body of
3,000 Circassians, who completely routed the Rus-
sians, killing a great number. The Grand Duke,
with the remains of his force, fled in disorder to the
Russian camp on the Kouban river. The Russian
Generals commanding in this engagement were
Jokimok, the same to whom Schamyl surrendered,
and Babootch.

Extraordinary Charge of Setting Fire to a
Lady.

Yesterday morning Mr. Rafiles Walthew, deputy
coroner for Middlesex, held an inquest at the Spread
Eagle Tavern, Lower Homerton, respecting the
deat of Mrs. Anne Jarvis, aged 42, who lost her
life through crinoline, under the following circum-
stances :
Mr. E. Charles Baxter said that he was a medical
student, and was residing with Mr. Jarvis at his
mansion, High-street, Homerton. On last Monday
week, when witness returned home, he found the
servants in a state of great consternation. They
said that Mrs. Jarvis had that afternoon been fear-
fully burnt in the front parlour. Witness went
upstairs and found her fearfully injured from fire.
She said that she did not know exactly how it had
occurred, and the first thing that she distinctly re-
collected was her rushing into the hall and scream-
ing for assistance. She wore a very extensive crino-
line; and, at the time of the occurrence, had on a
cotton morning dress with a loose jacket, The
hearth-rug and the burnishing of the steel fender in
the parlour were much burnt, and no doubt her
voluminous dress had been burning some time before
the unfortunate lady was aware of the occurrence.
No doubt the crinoline had forced the folds of the
dress over the fender into the grate where a large
fire was burning.
Mr. J. Ayles said that about one o'clock on the
the day in question he was passing outside the
house when he heard piercing shrieks of " Fire."
He saw the flames through the windows. He went
in—he did not see who opened the door—and saw a
lady in a body of flames. He assisted in putting
them out. Deceased said to a young lady standing
on the stairs, " You sat me on fire. You know you
did. You said you would do so, and you have done
it at last." The young lady was deceased's sister,
and she said nothing in reply. Deceased appeared
to witness to be rational enough. Witness did not
observe any fire in the parlour grate or any lucifer
matches. Mrs. Jarvis was an invalid.
Elizabeth Mellisk, nurse, said that deceased
rushed out of the parlour shrieking. There was only
a little fire in the grate. Deceased's sister sometimes
quarrelled with her, but witness never heard her say
that she would set deceased on fire. There was no
quarrel that morning. The sister was downstairs
five minutes before Mrs. Jarvis was burnt. Wit-
ness heard Mrs. Jarvis saying in the hall, " You
have done this." Witness believed Miss Easton,
the deceased's sister, had been alone with Mrs.
Jarvis. Deceased said to Miss Easton, " You have
done it. But for you it would not have happened."
Miss Easton said nothing to the charge. She as-
sisted in putting the fire out. The deceased lady
was not of sober habits. Miss Easton was a lady
of perfect sober habits.
Miss Emma Easton said she had been residing at
her brother-in-law's for the last three years. Wit-
ness was in the kitchen at the time the accident
happened. She heard a scream, and sent the cook
up to see if anything had happened, The cook ran
down, saying, " Mrs. Jarvis is in flames." Witness
ran up, and saw deceased on fire in the hall, Wi

ness got a hearthrug, but a person who ran in from
the street got the tablecloth out of the room, and
put it over the deceased and put her clothes out.
She then said that witness had set her on fire.
Witness was not near the room at the time. She
sometimes would throw herself on the ground in
paroxysms of passion, and then she would charge
her dearest friends with injuring her. Except at
such times witness never had any quarrel with her.
Witness had not the slightest idea of how the acci-
dent happened. There was a guard on the parlour
grate when witness went into the room with Dr.
Somers. She wore a very large crinoline, and in
that way, no doubt, the dress caught fire over the
guard. Deceased could not always be kept from
taking too much wine.
Caroline Brown, cook at Mr. Jarvis's, said that
Hiss Easton was in the kitchen when deceased was
heard screaming. She ran up to assist her sister,
and took the hearthrug to her. They were all in
the hall when the witness Ayles ran in from the
street. Miss Easton attended Mrs. Jarvis after-
wards, and the latter would not have any one else
to wait on her.

Mr. Ayles re •called, said that when he entered the
house no one whatever was in the hall but the lady
on fire. No one took a hearthrug to deceased or put
a finger to her but witness. No one came to the
place until witness had thrown deceased on the

the door
ground.caro Deceased see
linetrewnsamtheadt qshueitehasdober.
opened
but the burning lady. She was
for Ayles, who ran in, and seemed toobserve
Misscertainthat
Easton and the servant maids had run up before
Mr. Aylts came in.
Dr. Eustace Somers said that he was called in,
and found the deceased most dreadfully burnt. Her
clothes were consumed and her stays burnt through.
She died from the injuries on Tuesday morning.
She was not sober when witness first saw her. She
charged her sister with having set her on fire, but
she never did so subsequently. There was a space
of three inches at the fire-grate unprotected by the
guard.

The Deputy-Coroner, in summing up, said that
the case was a most lamentable one. There was
clearly not the slightest foundation for
the
against the sister of the deceased. charge
The Jury returned a verdict that " Deceased lost
her life accidentally through her clothes catching
fire, she having on at the time a large crinoline and
being under the influence of drink."
The proceedings then terminated.

Full benefit of reduced duty obtained by pur-
chasing Horniman's pure Tea; very choice at 3s. 4d. and
4s. "High Standard "at 4s. 4d. (formerly 4s. Bd.), is the
strongest and most delicious in3ported. Agents in every
town supply it in packets.

The select committee appointed by the House of Com-
mons to consider the subject of metropolis tolls re-assem-
bled yesterday to proceed with the inquiry. Mr. Wright.
son in the chair, and the other members of the committee
were present.
Mr. John Parson, vestry clerk of the parish of St. Luke
and deputy-chairman of the Metropolitan Railway, was ex-
amined by Mr. Wilkinson. He said he knew the City-road
well, which extended from the Angel at Islington to Fins-
bury-square. From Finsbury-square to Old-street it is a
City-street. Beyond that northward it is a metropolitan
road. Old-street is a paved street. Old-street-road had not
been paved because the larger portion of it was in the parish
of Shoreditch, and they had not thought fit to pave it. As
they had not done so the parish of St. Luke did not think
it worth while to pave that small portion of it within that
parish. The maintenance of the City-road would be very ex -
pensive, the greater part being through and not local traffi
The main thoroughfare is not of such a character that the
turnpike in the City-road can much affect the local traffic.
There would be very little benefit conferred upon the
parish by the removal of the gate. In the parish of St.
Luke there were 1,200 houses rated at £lO and under, and
they formed one-fifth of the whole of the houses in the
parish, The rateable value of the property is about £163,000
per annum. The rates now assessed amounted to ss. 4d. in
the pound per annum. The parish is a vary poor one, and
was unable to bear further taxation. They had remon-
strated against the Metropolitan Board of Works imposing
any tax upon them for metropolitan improvements or parks.
They were so centrally situate that they were unable and
unwilling to contribute to objects of public improvement
when they could not participate in the advantages. They
would be very remotely benefited by the embankment of the
Thames, although they had to pay towards it. The parish
had been put to a large expense in renewing the footways,
which had been cast upon them by the Metrop lis Local
Management Act since 1856. The cost of lighting the parish
was £2,500 per annum. About 5 per cent. of the rental of
the parish was lost by empty houses and removals without
paying the rates. The Commissioners of Roads propose to
give up the most expensive parts of the roads in the parish.
Except by building nearer the footpath in the City-road
there was no means of increasing the value of the property
of the parish. At some distant period nests of poor dwellings
might give way to manufactories, but such improvements
were very slow in their progrees. The greeter part of the
property of the parish belonged to corporations, and was let
out at long leases, and the occupiers of it felt little interest
in carrying out public improvements in the parish. He be-
lieved that it would be but fair that the commissioners
should pave the City-road from Old street to Finsbury-
square, which would cost about £4,000, and that they should
contribute the sum of £5OO for six years towards the ex-
penses of the parish.
The Chairman—Can you give us any history of the City-
road, for I find that it is quite straight, and it appears to me
that it must have been formed through other roads, cutting
off corners and angles ?
Mr. Parson—By a plan we have, of the date of 1731, I
find that the City-road was then formed through fields, and
I believe it was made for the convenience of the mail coaches
passing to the Post Office.
By Mr. Russell Gurney—He did not think it was fair
that the tax should be taken off vehicles and put upon the
parishes.
Mr. Gurney—Are you not aware that the Commissioners
of Roads have no power to tax vehicles, and the onlymoneys
they can obtain must be derived from tolls.
Mr. Parson—lf they have not the power, they ought to
ask Parliament to give it them; and it would be no greater
hardship in London than it is now in Birmingham,Brighton,
and other places, where a small fee was charged upon all
vehicles. The small fee thus obtained might go in relief of
the cost of maintaining the roads in the different parishes.
By Mr. Wilkinson—There is no doubt that it is economi-
cal to have paved instead of macadamised roads, and it was
through their poverty and not their will that they had any
macadamised roads in the parish.
By Lord Henley—He suggested the commissioners should
pave the road from Old-street to Finsbury-square, and they
should give them the interest of £lO,OOO from 1864 to 1570,
and then the parish would pave the entire road to the
northern boundary of their parish, and take the roads upon
themselves hereafter.
By Sir W. Jolliffe—He wished some public body should
take to the roads under their control for ten miles round
the Post Office, and that all vehicles should bear a small
license fee, as it was a serious thing to relieve omnibuses
from the sum of £3,000 per annum paid for toll at the City-
road-gate. Therefore he was of opinion that they should
impose a small license fee, and they had a precedent for doing
so in Brighton and Birmingham. He was not in favour of
maintaining tolls, as it was most disagreeable to be stopped
on a journey, and compelled to put their hands into their
pocket to pay the toll. That was not only a loss of money,
but it was a loss of time, and therefore in lien of tolls he
was in favour of a license fee.
By Mr. Russell—lt was only poverty that prevented all
the streets from being paved. In the city of London there
was not a macadamised street.
Mr. Russell Gurney remarked that itegent-street was
paved.
Mr. Parson said that Regent-street was an exception, as
the shopkeepers there had such a road as best suited their
customers without regard to cost. They had it paved with
wood, because there was less dust and noise, but the cost
never entered into their consideration.
Mr. Booth Scott, civil engineer, and a member of the In-
stitution of Civil Engineers for 25 years, said he had been
chief surveyor of the parish of St. Pancras for the last seven
years, and had under his charge 54 miles of macadamised
roads, 12 miles of paved roads, and 150 miles of footways.
He found that the charge for paved roads was less than that
of macadamised roads. Albany-street cost £14,000 a year to
maintain it as a macadamised road, whereas if it were paved
with borrowed money, £14,000 would pay off the interest
and principal in ten years. A paved road required to be
relaid about every eight years.
Mr. Browse, surveyor to the Commissioners of Roads, was
recalled, and in answer to Mr. Russell Gurney, he said he
had gone over the books to find the expense of the repair
of the City-road, and he found that the cost for the last four
years averaged £2,648 per annum, exclusive of establish-
ment charges. Two-thirds of that road is in the parish of
St. Luke.
Mr. Russell Gurney said he looked upon the introduction
of the clause proposed by Mr. Wilkinson as irreconcilable
with the principle of the bill. It had been urged by his
learned friend that the road might be maintained as a paved
read for one-third less than it was at present, but so far
from that making it in his favour, he believed it established
the case of the bill, as the expense would be so far dimi-
nished. He characterised the speech of Mr. Wilkinson as
against the preamble of the bill, and ought to have been
made two days ago. Mr. Parsons suggested that the ex-
pense of maintaining this road should be defrayed by a tax
upon carriages, but the committee had no power to impose
a tax on carriages.
The room was ordered to be cleared, and after about an
hour's exclusion, on the re-admission of the public,
The Chairman said, the committee would adopt the clause
as regarded the building on the site of the City-road; but
with respect to the others requiring the Commissioners of
Roads to pave a portion of the City-road, and to pay a con.
tribution of £5OO for six years, towards paving the re-
mainder, they were negatived .
Mr. Lovely, vestry clerk of Hammersmith and Fulham
parishes, said he did not know if he was precluded from
doing so by the passing of the preamble, but if he were not
he wished to propose a clause exempting the parishes of Ful-
ham and Hammersmith from the operation of the bill; and
that all the words in reference to those parishes should be
struck out from the first column of the first schedule.
The Chairman said at that stage they could not entertain
the proposition, but it would be open to Mr. Lovely to pro-
pose a clause at a later period of the bill.
Mr. It. Gurney said, it appeared to him that this propo-
sition might be considered in discussing the third section,
when it would be introduced as a proviso, in respect to the
time when the bill should come into operation.
Lord Henley said although the parish of Hammersmith
had presented a petition, no evidence had been offered
against the bill while the committee where considering the
preamble,

The Chairman said that perhaps the most convenient way
would be for the committee to deal with the question which
was then before them.
Mr. Lovely then proceeded to address the committee on
the oppressiveness of the charges upon the parishes of Ful-
ham and Hammersmith, as they now bore burdens far ex-
ceeding those of St. Pancras and St. Marylebone, and many
other parishes. Indeed, with two exceptions, the parish of
Fulham was the highest rated amongst those that were to
be affected by this bill. It paid local rates to the amount of
6s. in the pound, exclusive of 9d. in the pound for house-
tax ; and it was now proposed to add to that taxation is.
lid, in the pound for maintaining the roads. Therefore he
contended that this would be a burden upon that parish
which it was uttsrly unable to bear, or to meet the require-
ments that would be thrown upon them by this bill. If the
period of five years were allowed them to be exempted from
the operation of this bill, the parish would then have reco-
vered itself from its present depression.
The Chairman—Am I to understand that you merely wish
for the operation of the act to be suspended, as far as you
are concerned, for five years so as to put off the evil day ; or
have you any prospective advantages at the termination of
that period that will put you in a better position.
Mr. Lovely said that the Metropolitan Board of Works
was at present constructing largo main drainage works in
the district, which would give them outlets by which they
could better drain their property, and thus enable them to
obtain higher rents, The local Board of Works had also
borrowed a considerable sum of money for the improvement
of the district, and indeed they had laid oat £16,000 in five
years, which would in time react upon the parish, and lead
to increased rental.
The room was ordered to be cleared, and after a very brief
exclusion, ein the parties being re-admitted,
The Chairman *rinan said the committee had negatived the pro-
viso which was proposed,
and had passed the 2d clause of
the bill.
The committee djourned at 4 o'clock.

TIMES—It is not surprising that the Battle of
Charleston should still be made the subject of
observation and comment. Lord Hard wicke is of
opinion that its results should induce us at once to
resume the construction of our Spithead Forts ;
and the Duke of Somerset expressed his conviction
that an experiment more instructive for us at the
present stage of our inquiries could not possibly,
have been tried. It is quite true that our informa-
tion is still imperfect on certain important points,
but the additional details which reach us daily are
full of interest and value. The Duke of Somerset
fell into a slight error in saying that " another
Monitor" had been sunk. That was not the
case. The Keokuk, which was the only ship
actually destroyed in the action was a ves-
sel constructed by Mr. Whitney after plans
of his own, and it seems that she carried
her guns, not exactly in revolving tnrrets, but
stationary casemates resembling them. According
to our latest information the attacking squadron
comprierd three varic ties of ironclads. The heaviest
and as it was supposed the most powerful vessel
was the Ironsides, which had been elected by Ad.
mire! Dupont for his fl gahip. She was termed a
frigate, and is represented as nearly on the plan of
the Warrior and the Gloire, though she carried
only 16 guns. The Keokuk we have already de-
scribed ; and then came the seven Monitors, some
of which, however, were improvements on the ori-
ginal vessel of that name. If all these ships could
have got fairly into action we might have derived
some valuable instruction from a comparison of
their performances, but accidents placed the
Ironsides and the Keokuk under great disad-
vantages. In the order of battle the Wehaw ken
was to lead the van, armed with a raft at her bows
to clear away torpedoes. She was to be followed
by three Monitors, and the Ironsides, with the Ad-
miral's flag, was then to take the centre of the line.
After the flagship followed the three remaining
Monitors, and the Keokuk, known or surmised to
be the weakest ship, had to bring up the rear. But
the course of events deranged all this order. The
Ironsides, partly from her great draught of water,
but more from her bad steering qualities, became
quite unmanageable, and after vain attempts to get
into action she signalised to the other ships to pass
her. On the other hand, the Keokuk, though
the least protected of the Ironclads, was also
the best sailer. She steamed and answered her
helm better than any of the others, and as she
was bravely manned and commanded she passed
the rest in their struggles to advance, and
found herself foremost under the Confederate
batteries—an honour which cost her dear. In the
course of a few minutes she was riddled with shot,
and as the Ironsides was out of fight, and two
Monitors disabled by injuries to their turret ma-
chinery, five ships of two guns each were all that
remained to bear the brunt of the battle. That it
lasted, under these circumstances, less than half an
hour can be no matter of wonder. With regard to
the actual experience of the fight, Mr. Ericsson,
the inventor of the Monitors, reminds the American
public that no vessel;can be readily manoeuvred in
strong currents and shallow water; but it is plain
from a concurrence of reports that the Ironclads
were all defective in powers of steerage, though the
Monitors were better than the frigate. Some
allowance, too, is claimed for the inexperience of
the crews engaged in a warfare so novel, on a scene
o perilous. Although little seems to have been
done by the torpedoes, they had the effect of
keeping the ships' crews in constant expectation of
mischief, just as troops falter at the idea of a mine,
and it was only with the greatest caution and sus-
picion that the vessels advanced. It seems, also,
that, with the exception of the Montauk and
Passaic, no ship had had any practice with
her revolving guns, and we are told that the
din produced by the incessant impact of heavy
shot on iron plates rendered the orders of the
officers inaudible. Still, it was really proved that
for a certain space of time iron plating, even
imperfect,
_would resist a tremendous cannonade.
We doubt if there was a single life lost in the
attacking squadron. We have seen a return of
fourteen wounded, but it is not said that one
man was killed. It must be remembered, however,
that very little mark is offered to hostile shot by
vessels of the Monitor build. They are described
on this occasion as looking like small floating
islands just raised above the surface of the water.
It detracts a good deal from the utility of this
lesson that a certain portion of the case is unknown
to us. The Duke of Somerset correctly remarked
that we " did not know exactly the sort of guns
that were used," All we can tell at present is
that the Federals seem to have employed a small
number of cannon of enormous calibre, while the
Confederates had many more guns of less weight.
But it would be very useful if we could obtain some
accurate information of the effects produced by the
Sin. cannon of the Monitors. These pieces actually
throW a aoteb. ball, and if their system of heavy
ordnance is good for anything such an example
ought surely to tell. Yet we cannot learn that
these prodigious missiles were particularly destruc-
tive ; indeed the fire of the Federals against the
forts appears to have been as bloodless as that of
the Confederates against the ironclads. Even the
masonry suffered little. Fort Sumter showed marks
of shot, but only such as
might have been produced
on an ordinary wall by an ordinary cannon. We
suspect the Americans themselves are now some-
what doubtful of the capacities of these immense
guns. A New York journal attributes as imperfec-
tions to the ironclads not only the delicacy of their
machinery but the character of their artillery; and
it is obvious that unless the power of these ponder-
ous projectiles can be decisively established there
would be many considerations telling against their
use. A ship carrying two 300 pounders is still but
a two gun ship, and an accident to one of these
pieces deprives her at once of half her power. If
the effectiveness of the guns is also made to depend
on delicate machinery the chances of accident is
much increased. In this very fight two out of nine
ships were rendered as completely powerless as a
frigate would be with all her 40 guns dismounted
one after another. Unless some plain and distinct
preponderance of advantage is gained by this con-
centration of armament, we should remember the
old proverb against carrying all our eggs in one
basket. Lord Grey asked some questions about the
distance of the town of Charleston from the protect-
ing forts, and Lord Derby made some remarks on
the range at which the engagement was conducted.
There is probably some uncertainty prevailing on
these points, but we find it stated in one of the
Federal reports that the distance from Fort Sum-
ter and Fort Moultrie to Charleston city is four
miles. A Southern report further states, though
only by way of estimate, that the ironclads did not
approach within 1,200 yards of the batteries of Fort
Moultrie; bat it seems clear that Fort Sumter, at
any rate, must have been engaged at a much shorter
range. An impression evidently prevailed in the
squadron that the ironclads would be able, not
merely to run the gauntlet of the batteries, but to
turn round and knock Fort Sumter to pieces from
the harbour side before steaming on to the city.
But these and all other expectations were disap-
pointed by the "obstructions," to which—and not
to the Fort batteries—the Federal journalists
ascribe the miscarriage of the attack. This, no
doubt, is so far true, that the Forts would probably
not have stopped the ships if they could have run
on uninterruptedly; but that is saying very little.
Such obstructions are of the very essence of these
systems of defence, and the Duke of Somerset re-
marked that exactly similar contrivances bad been
suggested as supplementary to the forts at Spit-
head. These are the means which give forts their
chance, but as they can always be employed their
agency may always be presumed, and we should re-
open the question of the Spithead defences with
that understanding.
HERALD.—On the 17th ultimo Prince Gorts-
schakoff received Lord Napier, the Duke de Monte-
bello, and Count Guido Thun, and listened to the
despatches addressed to them by their respective
Governments on the Polish question. The text of
the different notes has already transpired, and on
their very face very little appears calculated to ex-
cite the susceptibilities of the Russian Government,
seeing that the guarantees for the constitutional
administration of Poland given in the Treaty of
Vienna give a colourable justification to the act of
interference itself, It becomes, however, at this mo-
ment, extremely important to consider what is the
ultimate definite aim which England, France, and
Austria propose to themselves,
what ulterior object
they have in view, carefully veiled in the
studied ambiguities of diplomatic language. They
most certainly do not dream of realising the
vision of the insurgents. The resuscitation
of the Poland of 1772, and the consequent
political annihilation of Prussia, and subject-
ing to the Polish yoke Russian provinces of four
times the extent of Poland propel- If such an ob-
ject manifested itself on the part of France and Eng-
land it would soon most effectually weld together
in the strongest opposing; union not only the par-
titioning powers, but all the Governments and peo-
ples of Germany, who would begin to suspect that
some design upon the Rhenish provinces of Prussia
lurked behind the " idea" for which Europe was to
be precipitated into a general war. Nor can the
three Governments contemplate the severance from
Russia and complete independence of the Poland of
1815. Insuperable practical obstacles oppose them-
selves to the realisation of this scheme, however con-
sonant with the claims of justice and theoretically
desirable it may appear. First, the kingdom of
Poland, in this restricted sense, could not be re-
established by the Western Powers without the con-
currence of those who shared in the dismemberment
on account, if for no other reason, of the impose,

bility of access to the scene of conflict ; secondly,
and for analogous reasons, it could not, without the
same assent, maintain its independence for one hour
after its creators had ceased to provide it with ma-
terial support. Entirely hemmed in by the territory
of its enemies, not only without a mile of coast line,
but resting on no single foot of neutral territory,
dependent upon Prussia, Austria, or Russia for every
outlet for its raw produce, and for every cargo of
merchandise imported in exchange, would such a
state enjoy any of the conditions indispensable to
national existence? Would not that constant strug-
gle for an extension of its boundaries which its
cherished recollections of the past and aspirations
for the future sufficiently stimulate, be imposed upon
it as a necessity of its being, if it would evade a sure
decay by a process of suffocation? But we have not
merely to do with probabilities. We have abundant
evidence—if we required proof to maintain an asser-
tion that has never been denied—that the nobles of
Poland, who are the present insurgents, will not con-
sent, if emboldened by success, to finally sheathe the
sword until they have again brought under their
own rule the Russian provinces of Vollaynia, and
Little Russia, which they so long held by the same
tenure which subjects themselves to the galling
yoke of the foreign conqueror. It is useless for
Europe to say, " Thus far and no further." What-
ever territory, whatever power, whatever privileges,
Europe might induce or compel the Czar to give,
would be used as a vantage ground and as a lever
to obtain more, and to pursue zealously and unceas-
ingly that end which every insurgent has in view,
and which no Polish patriot would disown. If
Europe is not prepared to countenance a constant
series of sanguinary conflicts between Poland and
the three neighbours which encompass it, how can
it interfere to bring about a state of things which
must unavoidably produce this result ? With what
right, with what plausibility, can it call upon Ru
sia to accede to the restoration, in its full indepen-
dence, of the Poland of 1815, if such are the conse-
quences inevitably linked with it ? What, then, do
t he powers whose notes have just been read to Prince
Gortschakoff seek to attain? We trust and believe
that their only object is to secure for the Poles a
larger share of self-government and more personal
independence than, it is assume ), they have hitherto
enjoyed. If this be their sole motive, then, what-
ever Prince Gortschakoff may think of the expedi-
ency of their joint remonstrances at the present mo-
ment, they will meet with no divergence of senti-
ment in the counsels of the Czar. In the procla-
mation of amnesty published on the 12th ult. the
Czar has anticipated their utmost wishes. He there-
in called upon the Poles to assist him in the realisa-
tion of his project of extending the rights and
privileges " already given them by charter, and of
progressively developing and widening, in the
direction already traced out, the spere of activity
of the local institutions of the provinces
of the kingdom." But, as the amnesty further
declares, this realisation entirely depends upon the
Poles themselves lending their active co-operation
to the attainment of the end. So long as the
victim avails itself of each restriction removed,
every fetter struck off, every loosening of the cord to
make vain attempts at struggling with its quondam
conqueror in pursuit of an independence which we
grieve to think is a thing of the past, it will be mani-
festly impossible for the Czar to carry out those
" liberal intentions of which," to quote the words of
the French note, " the reign of his Majesty the
Emperor Alexander has already given such striking
proofs." Indeed, if we compare the condition of the
Polish people—not of the " nobles," a minority of
about one-fifth of the population from whom alone
the insurgents draft their resources, but of the entire
people—we shall not find a period in Poland's his-
tory with which the years since the accession of the
present Czar will not most favourably contrast.
Under the rule of Polish Diets the peasantry re-
ceived no more consideration than if they had not
been any constituent part whatever of the nation.
They were not merely serfs in the Russian sense of
the word, holding land by a certain number of
days' service, but they endured all the horrors of
Georgian slavery whilst possessing the keener sus-
ceptibilities of the white man. They were not pro-
tected by any of those edicts which the Russian
rulers always found it their interest to enact and
enforce. No acts for preventing cruelty to animals
restrained the overseer's lash ; their life was only
protected by a moderate amercement imposed upon
the murderer until 1768, scarcely four years before
the first dissolution, when the dangers that
threatened the law-giving nobles from without in-
duced them to attempt the conciliation of their sub-
jects within. Compare the condition of these pea-
sants under the government of the Emperor Alex-
ander. The rule of the hard taskmaster is at an end.
No robot, or forced labour, can be extorted from the
unwilling slave. Whilst the noble has been com-
pensated by the State for his loss, the peasant
knows that not only the labour of his own hands
is his own, but the little hut and its surround-
ing allotment. which he and his ancestors have
tilled for others' benefit, he can now call his
own freehold. Nor was this an act of sudden im-
pulse, but the crowning stroke of a long series of
measures for the amelioration of the state of the
serf. Secular as well as religious schools have been
established throughout every district in the king-
dom, to give elementary instruction to children in
their own language. Numerous small scholarships
have been founded to enable those who show more
than average ability to pursue their studies in the
gymnasiums. Agricultural schools have been
formed to disseminate modern improvements in the
cultivation of their farms. The odious poll taxes,
such as the dvorovie paid by every labourer and
household servant, have been finally swept away.
At this very moment, in the province of St. Peters-
burg, where no insurrection has stopped the current
of progress or improvement, the Commission of the
Diet of the Nobles has elaborated a plan for be-
stowing on the former serf a certain share of repre-
sentation. Can it be wondered that the peasant
population, revelling in the newly-acquired dignity
of personal freedom, should refuse to rise and turn
their arms against the Czar, in whom they see their
benefactor and protector, on behalf of nobles from
whom they have only experienced oppression and
injury ? Did space allow us to follow tip this com-
parison between Poland under Polish rule and under
that of the Emperor Alexander, to compare the
treatment which all " dissidents" received at the
hands of the then dominant Roman Catholic Church
with the freedom which every sect and religion now
enjoy—to count ap the degrading disabilities from
which all, not excepting the Jew, have been set
free—to show how the Evangelical confessions have
been authorised to decide their matrimonial causes
in their owu consistorial courts, to touch upon the
reforms introduced to secure the impartial adminis-
tration of justice and the independence of the
judges, we should have no difficulty in showing
cause for our opinion that it will not be from want
of liberal sentiments in the counsels 6f the Czar
if Poland does not receive a still fuller measure
of the free institutions and national self-govern-
ment which he has already so largely introduced.
POST.—The state of our relations with America
has for some time past excited a degree of uneasi-
ness which, though under the circumstances excus-
able, is nevertheless, we are happy to believe, not
well warranted. It may with truth, we think, be
said of our American cousins that their bark is
worse than their bite. It is their habitual custom
when they conceive themselves aggrieved to fulmi-
nate the most terrible threats against their fancied
aggressors—threats, however, which, when their
equanimity is restored, they never dream of carry-
ing into execution, nay, which they almost bring
themselves to forget that they beve ever uttered.
There are no individuals without their failings, and
in like manner nations are not altogether free from
petty weaknesses. The kingdoms of the Old World
are not without their blemishes, and none but the
veriest optimists can be disappointed at discovering
that the great Republic of the New World is not
absolute perfection. Parvenus are proverbially the
vainest of mankind, and perhaps the peculiar cir-
cumstances: under which the Government of the
United States arose, and the extraordinary rapidity
with which the Western Federation attained a fore-
most place in the rank of nations may have contri-
buted in no trifling degree to the overweening sense
of their own importance possessed by the American
people. However this may be, it seems to be taken
for granted by them that they can achieve anything
upon which they set their minds, and that in the
event of war they must under any circumstances
crush their enemies. Fortunately, however, for the
peace o f the world, the American nation considers
whenit has demonstrated through the mouths of
its representatives in Congress, and through the
pens of its newspaper editors in the daily press,
the facility with which it can sweep its adversaries
from the face of the earth, that it has done all
that is necessary to vindicate its dignity. The
Americans delight in this harmless kind of war-
fare ; and if their conquests are unsubstantial,
their victories are at least bloodless. Now,
it is scarely necessary to remind our readers
how frequently since the commencement of the
present civil war the Northern armies have (on
paper) overrun Canada, and the Northern fleets
wrested from Great Britain the naval supremacy of
the world. Whan Commodore Wilkes carried the
Southern Commissioners in triumph into New York
the Northern press demonstrated how powerless'
England was to avenge the insult to her flag, and
the Reuse of Representatives confirmed, by' its
formal vote, the unanimous approval with which
the nation viewed the act of the gallant officer. But
with formal votes and angry denunciations the
American Congress and the American press con-
tented themselves. Now, once again, is the storm
raised in the cities of Washington and New York ;
and again do threats resound of the vengeance which
a Republic in all the freshness of its youth and