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

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVONING, JANUARY 17, 1863.

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
bad 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 irded. Putting aside
the notions of those who are influenced by the na-
tural professional prejudice which deprecates a
change and would resist all innomtions, 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 as 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, and the restraints of etiquette, do
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. Fora man to claim so enormous
an amount as did M.r.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 amonut 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
aotiduct 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 as if all this
scandal could have been avoided haa there
been snore moderation on one side and more
consideration in the other. If Mr. KENNEDY had
conducted the case in a strictly leaalf orm he would
have been remunerated for his services according to
the letter of the law, 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
has 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 no con-
ventional forms will avail to shield the offender
against the undefined but well understood statutes
of good taste, fine feeling, and a nice sense of
honour. The decisions of such a referee do snore to

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 opiniop, 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

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 higher 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 fact," 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 bo 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.
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 bo 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 Indian posses-
sions, and so large the population, that the quantity
of cotton to be derived from thence, although small
in proportion to that lately derived from America,
ibsde
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will still be of very great importance to us, It re-
,s will
learnman s tw°
guard against ever again depending solely on
one source, and that a foreign one, for the supply
of an article on which the vitality of a nain
branch of our manufactures and commerce
entirely depends. A short-sighted and selfish
unfortunately too often in favour at
policy is u
Ilancliester, else when political prophets foretold
the coming storm, and even the least farsighted
could see its portents darkening the horizon, some
provision for the coming dearth might have been
made. Apres mei le deluge was too much the
motto; but unhappily the deluge has come
upon those unconcerned in the speculation,
while the speculators, in many instances,
have reaped a profit from a great mistake. Let
such learn from the practical knowledge and expe-
rience of a keen-sighted observer life Mr.

who sees no reason to alter the opinion he expressed
at Manchester four months since. ilt 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.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

AMERICA.

ARRIVAL OF THE GREAT EASTERN.
LIVERPOOL, SATURDAY MORNING.
The Great Eastern has arrived here, but brings
no later news than the 4th.
The iron-clad vessel Monitor had foundered at
sea, with two officers and 38 men.
The accounts from Murfreesboro are so confused
that it is impossible to say which side had gained
the advantage There was a report that General
Bragg was killed.
Severe fighting was going on at Vicksburg.
Sterling exchange, 147 to 1471. Gold, 134 i.
Cotto❑ firm, at 68c. for middling uplands.
The Aspinwall steamer had arrived with
1,277,000 on freight.

NEW YORK, lAN, 4 (Evening).

The latest news from Murfreesboro' is to the
afternoon of the 2d inst. The Federals were then
apparently in possession of the city, General
Rosencranz reorganised his forces the previous
night, and drove the Confederates nearly two miles.
Reinforcements were arriving.
Federal accounts of the battle at Vicksburg state
that it lasted five hours, when the Confederates
were driven back and out of their fortifications in
the rear of city. At night the two armies lay on
their arms with two bayonets between them., On
the following day Federal General Sherman re-
newed the battle, and carried a strong Confederate
position by storm. The, iron-clad Monitor foun-
dered at sea on the night of the 31st ult., south of
Cape Hatteras, with the loss of two officers and 38
men.

Great dissatisfaction prevails among the Ken-
tucky Volunteers on account of the Emancipation
Proclamation, sufficiently wide spread to produce
serious demoralisation among the troops of that
State. Many prominent officers have resigned.
An invasion of Texas is threatened from Mexico
a force of 500 to 1,000 men having been organised
under Cortesia for that purpose.
The Confederates say that they took 1,626 pri-
soners at Fredericksburg.

RUSSIA•
ST. PE rERSBURG, JAN. 16.

Colonel Tidebohl, the Russian Commissioner on
the question of the Turkish fortresses in Servia, has
left for Belgrade.

the appoaching day of conscription, which it is said
has been fixed for the 17th instant. What kind of
proscription it is to be and how it is to be effected
the secret circular of the Director of the Ministry of
the Interior, M. Keller, addressed to the Civil
Governors, has already explained. The principle
object of the recruiting, says the circular in ques-
tion, is " to get rid of the persons who are suspected
of disturbing public order, and those charged with
the preparation of the lists of recruits are enjoined
) to set aside all considerations regarding the family
relations and other circumstances of those indivi-
duals, and only take into account their political
opinion and character. Wherever young men, noted
for using free language, or for their patriotic con-
duct, are to be found, they are to be placed on the
lists, no matter what proportional n amber
is to be furnished by such or such a
town, the main object being to send away
every one distasteful to the Russian authorities.
The execution of the conscription is to be marked
by " quickness, zeal, and discernment," and the
extra military assistance has been given to the
civil governor to prevent any desertion. After
such declaration and conduct of the Government,
are the general agitation and uneasiness of the
public mind to be wondered at ? Are not those
who were first to violate the rights of Poland with
such unheard of cruelty, to be responsible for all
the consequences affecting public order which the
exasperated victims may, and likely will, be guilty
of ? For has not the Government sufficient force
of police and military, together with the innumer-
able courts-martial at its disposal, to accomplish
what it may please, instead of revenging itself on
sundry individuals, by kidnapping them in the
manner described,. without even hearing their de-
fence or passing a sentence upon them ? It is,
indeed, the exercise of a terrorism of the most atro-
cious despotism, such as Russia alone now can boast
of, in civiliE ed Europe.
Strict orders have been issued to the garrison
here not to keep any intercourse with the civilians,
which is an additional proof of the fear the Govern-
ment has in carrying out quietly its sinister
decrees. The officers are particularly watched,
and an address denying the sentiments
expressed in a letter pubiished some time ago in
England as to the disgust felt by them at the con-
duct of the Russian authorities towards the Poles,
is being submitted for signature—and when the
same is declined an explanation must be given. This
is the way in which the Government endeavours to
discover the discontented officers ; but whatever may
be its game it is sure to fail in that respect.
An occurrence, showing the laxity of the disci-
pline, has taken place a few days ago. A military
agentof the police, named Zlobiski, being tired of
his duty, and physically unable to perform it, had
in spite of that been ordered by the Captain-Com-
missary of Police to keep a night watch. This led
to some altercation between them, in consequence of
which Zlabiski tendered his resignation. There-
upon the Commissary began to abuse him ; the man,
exasperated, drew his sword, with which he inflicted
two wounds on the Commissary's head. The noise
of the struggle that ensued brought the Russian
Chief of Police, Sangbus, who used the most dis-
gusting language towards Ztobiski, and was about
to raise his hand, when the latter struck him twice
in the face. Overpowered at last, Ztabiski was at
once tried by a court-martial and sentenced to
receive 4,000 lashes and to be sent for life to hard
labour in Siberia. At his own entreaties that he
might be shot his request was granted, and he was
executed in the citadel on the 3d inst. in the
morning.

I The arrests and persecutions extend to other
ancient possessions of this kingdom, and Lithuania,
Volhynia, and Podolia, come in for their godly
share. Wherever the faintest mark of a patriotic
feeling is perceived, the police redoubles zeal and
activity in stitling it, and the poor victims are
immediately put out of the way. At Kamiensic
the Governor Braunschwerz, who had been the
cause of the arrest and the imprisonment of the
marshals at St. Petersburg, without waiting for
the result of the trial, takes every opportunity of
showing his revenge upon others. He despatched
to Siberia a Russian proprietor, M. Wolkov, who
has voted in favour of the nobility address—and an
Israelite named Szapiva, the head of the banking
house at Kiamiansic, who with five others came
in the name of the Jewish community to give their
adhesion to the said address, not enjoying the pri-
vilege of being members of the assembly of the
nobles. No fl ittery and cajolery was spared by the
Governor Braunschwerz to induce Mr. Szapia to
take steps in order to obtain his pardon. This he
peremptorily refused, preferring an honourable
exile for a just cause to an act of Imperial favour.
This speaks very highly for the bonds that now
unite the Poles and the Jews in one and the same
great object, which is the national independence.
On the New Year's day the Grand Duke Con-
stantine held a levee in the Royal Castle to receive
the congratulations of the ministers, the clerical and
civil dignitaries, and the foreign consuls resident in
this city. This is the first time since 1831 that a
concession of this kind has been made to the Polish
custom, as the Duke's predecessors always kept the
Russian New Year's day (13 days later than the
one of the Roman calendar), and all sorts of infer-
ences were drawn from this circumstance for the
benefit of the country. Reforms, grant of a con-
stitution, and other privileges, were to come out of
his Highness's mouth, but to the great disappoint-
ment of all nothing has been said by the Grand
Duke beyond a few dry compliments usually uttered
at such a festivity.
Meanwhile the trial of the 66 political prisoners
is still dragging on. Several abominable facts came
out again, during the last sitting respecting the
committee of inquiry. One of the prison( rs, Wyner,
stated that when he was under examination in the
citadel, from 9 in the morning till 5 in the after-
noon, he was not allowed either to lean on anything
or sit down, and when he fainted and asked for a
little water, this was refused to him. Another
prisoner, Hajdes, while undergoing the process of
the Russian inquiry, and subjected to all sorts of
tortures, sought some relief in glancing now and
then at the picture of our Christ, which hangs on
the wall behind the judge. Oa this being perceived,
the picture was removed, and with it the last con-
solation of the poor prisoner. One named Kui-
cimski, was kept five days on bread and water, in
this cold season, in order to confess what. he really
knew nothing about, and one, Z..vadzni, an orphan,
totally innocent, was imprisoned, without any
charge being brought against him. Public curi-
osity is much excited how this Russian State trial
will terminate.

The effects of the scarcity of cotton is also keenly
felt in this country among the manufacturing towns,
The workmen being out of employ, suffer great
privations; distress is general, though, perhaps,
not to the extent of that prevailing in England.