The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-10 00:00:00

gents could not be pursued, and therefore Colonel
Nostiz withdrew the troops to bivouac at the town
of Bielsk, and next morning effected a junction with
another division of troops, and definitively resolved
to march against the rebels."

wanted for a people which has just rid itself of an
unconstitutional King, and which cherishes like-
wise a great national idea.
While thus the cause of Duke Ernest makes rapid
progress in all directions, the National Assembly
has taken measures to bring forward once more
before the world the wishes of the Greek nation.
It could not do otherwise. Above 200,000 votes
have been given by Greeks from all parts of the
world, and the Assembly has to count and record
those votes. A special paragraph in the rules relating
to this process was brought forward yesterday for
discussion, and a commission of 20 members drawn
by lot has been intrusted with the work. The read-
ing of the paragraph led to a great manifestation in
the Assembly. M. Tricoupi got up and sp,gre on
the subject of this unanimous wish of the Greek
people. He is one of the most eloquent men in the
Assembly, and was first brought to notice by an
eloquent speech on Lord Byron. The subject, as
well as the disposition of the Assembly and the
audience, was well calculated to stir up that elo-
quence, which, although displayed at a late hour,
carried every one away.
The early part of the sitting was taken up by the
election of the two remaining Vice-Presidents and
of the four Secretaries, which ended in the complete
triumph of the Plain over the Mountain. Not one
of the Vice-Presidents or Secretaries of this latter
was elected. Tbis result was due to a combination
of all the Ministerial fractions, that of the President
included. It looks as if the new candidate, by
offering the prospect of a speedy settlement, had
acted as a sedative on the party passions which had
been stirred up in the Provisional Government itself.

In Warsaw the women of all classes are preparing
lint for the wounded men in the forests ; and it is
stated that the nuns of the St. Felicia Convent wish
to proceed to the woods to nurse their countrymen.
Some persons suspected of the attempt to poison
the Margrave Wielopolski and his family have been
apprehended, and have been examined, but the
official report does not state whether the accused
are Russians or Poles. In the Russian camp the
reform-seeking Margrave is looked upon as the
cause of all the evils, and particularly those which
press the Russian Government at St. Petersburg
on the road of liberal reforms.

THE GREEK REVOLUTION.

(From the times' Correspondent.)

ATHENS, Jan. 31.

On Tuesday last Mr. Elliot received a telegram
stating that Duke Ernest of Saxe Coburg was ready
to accept the Crown of Greece if it were offered to
him ; that he was warmly supported both by France
and England ; that ho would retain his paternal do•
minions ; and that, having no children, he reserved
to himself the right of proposing at once to the
Greek nation a successor who was ready to adopt
the orthodox religion.
Good news from Europe has been scarce of late,
but the scarcity has been made up for by this last
intelligence. Since it arrived we have received the
mails, which bring us more or less reliable details
and ornamentations, and the impression produced
by the news may be judged of from the eagerness
with which these details have been seized upon and
discussed. Among these are some further condi-
tions which Duke Ernest is said to have laid down
—these are, an accession of territory towards Epi-
rus and Thessaly, through the mediation of Eng-
land and France, and a loan of £BOO,OOO.
Even after reducing these two last conditions to
their true value, as a disposition on the part of the
Western Powers to see what can be done both with
respect to a regulation of the frontier line towards
Turkey, and to a future loan, which is indispensable
to Greece, enough remains to satisfy all but the
most unreasonable, for the support of Duke Ernest
by France and England presents chances of a
speedy solution of difficulties.
And this is more than could be hoped for. In
spite of all that has been said, written, and done,
the name of Prince Alfred has not been eradicated
from the minds of the people. Under all circum-
stances, it would have been difficult to allay so
general and spontaneous a feeling, and to direct
minds into another channel ; and it was much more
so in this case, where there were so few other chan-
nels open. All those who were in any way connected
with the three great powers were excluded by the
protocol. The choice of an Italian Prince would
have offered almost equal difficulties on the part of
those great Powers. The very name of Austria is
hated; the doubtful Constitutionalism of Prussia
was little calculated to attract eyes in that direc-
tion; so nothing remained but to study the Almanache
de Gotha, and find out the least objectionable in the
numerous list of little German Princes, or else, as a
coup de desespoir, to enquire whether any of the
numerous sons of the late Sultan Abdul Medjid was
disposed to be baptised and to undertake to annex
Curkey to Greece.
There was the additional difficulty of hitting upon
one who, if not supported by the three great Powers,
would at least not be objected to by them; and, in
spite of all the grand ideas of popular sovereignty
which are now the fashion, this was a very serious
consideration. There was, indeed, the example of
Italy, which did a great many things in the very
teeth of divers great Powers ; but the Italians
are a nation of 22 millions, and the Greek race all
over the world numbers little more than one-tenth
of that number. And then Italian national unity
was a great idea which carried away every one,
but how could the Greeks be expected to get up en-
thusiasm, or even a unanimity, for any one of those
whom it was still left open t o them to choose ? With
such difficulties before them no one can blame the
Greeks, or call them unreasonable, if they are faith-
ful to the choice of their hearts, and will not give
up until those who oppose the choice can agree
upon some one who might be acceptable to them.
They say, " We have made our choice, and we have
no other. It is for the Powers who prevent us from
having him we want to find a solution ; on them be
the responsibility. What is the use of our choosing
again but to risk another refusal ? So let the
Powers come to an understanding and make a pro-
posal, and wo will see whether it suits us." Such
has been the language all along of everybody, and
no one has even troubled himself about another
choice.

In the meantime the people at large are still wait-
ing for the arrival of Prince Alfred. Were it not for
the unanimous accounts which come in from all the
provinces, it would be almost incredible to what ex-
tent his name has become engraven on the minds of
the masses. Only the other day Mr. Scarlett made
a trip along the coast in her Majesty's ship Queen,
and stopped for a couple of days in the secluded
little Bay of Kranidi, to the south-east of Nauplia.
It is as wild and little visited a spot as any in Greece,
with only a couple of small villages on the hills. In
the afternoon the party took a walk on shore, along
the narrow path which leads up the hills, when
I they were met by a peasant driving half-a-dozen
donkeys before him-. Hearing one of the ladies speak
Greek, he immediately inquired when Alfred was
coming, and would listen to no reasoning, insisting
that Greece cannot get on without him. Wherever
the party went it was the same—at Poros, Nauplia,
Argos, everywhere addresses and demonstrations.
In vain were all devices resorted to to avoid them—
the whole population had conspired to make their
wishes manifest. Whenever a stranger makes his
appearance he must submit to be questioned and
harangued on the subject. The nationality of the
stranger matters little, and only 10days ago I heard
a most amusing account of Alfred m inifestations
made for the benefit of a French gentleman and
lady who were making a tour in the Peloponnesus.
The only awkward thing is the hard-sounding
foreign name of Alfred. Even by affixing the en-
dearing diminutive and making " Alfredalis" of it
it cannot be naturalised, so the simple-minded
people have taken to calling him "the Son of the
Widow."

Such being still the feeling of the masses, it was
not surprising that the first quality which seized
hold of their imaginations when Duke Ernest
was announced was his relationship to Prince
Alfred. He is " the uncle of his nephew."
" Ernest" is even more difficult for a Greek tongue
than "Alfred," so the candidate goes among the
people under the name of " the uncle." Whether
the qualification of being " the uncle" was taken
into consideration by diplomacy or not I don't know,
but it certainly is the one which is most calculated
to recommend Duke Ernest to the masses of the
people, As it is also known that ho wishes to
propose a nephew as his successor, the transition
from illusion to reality becomes so much the more
easy.
To those who think as well as feel, his greatest
recommendation is that he comes strongly sup-
ported by France and England. Prince Alfred
promised such real and fancied advantages that
every one would have braved any displeasure
on the part of Russia and France, but no one
dreamt of doing so for any one else who could have
been named. The warm support promised by Eng-
land and France to the Sovereign proposed is a
guarantee that the Western Powers again work to-
gether in the Eastern question; and this is of no
small value for a people who so eagerly look for-
ward in that direction.

Since he has been proposed, every one inquires
eagerly about the Duke's personal qualities ; and
these can only strengthen the disposition which
exists to look favourably on the new candidate.
The man who alone among all Continental Sove-
reigns was not frightened by the events of 1848.49,
and who alone resisted the general reaction in 1850,
which was so fatal to Constitutionalism—he who
has warmly espoused the cause of German
nationality, and has stedfastly adhered to the pro-
mises he had made to his peop,e,--is the very man

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 10, 1863.

tense interest in Greece. The cases of Greece and
Italy are not parallel. The latter consolidated under
one head many old-established and organised go-
vernments ; the former has destroyed an organised
Government, good or bad, and claims territorial ex-
tension at the cost of her patron's ally. Recom-
mending a King under a constitutional protector
looks very like imposing a sovereign, and very un-
like a grant of free choice. Lastly, Greece believes
that when all has been tried Great Britain will give
in, if they only nail their colours to the mast, and
give them Prince Alfred !

stable named Richardson, No. 219 H, with a prostitute
hanging on his arm. The unfortunate woman is much
disfigured, and has been in a state of great suffering ever
since the occurrence.

then on him would rest the acceptance or rejection
of its advice.

Mr. James Jackson, house-surgeon at the London Hos.
pital, said the prisoner's wife was brought there on the
night of the 31st of January with one side of her face, her
neck, and her arm severely burnt. The liquid did not go upon
her eye. If it had the sight would most probably have
been destroyed. Some of the liquid fell upon the eyelid.
The injuries were effected with some corrosive substance.
Vitriol, that is to say sulphuric acid, would have done it.
The prisoner made no defence.
Mr. Woolrych committed the prisoner for trial.

SOUTHWARK.—Bartholomew Mahoney, aged about
20, was summoned by Inspector Upton, M division, for
maliciously firing a loaded rifle in the public streets, thereby
endangering the lives of the inhabitants.
Mr. Williams, a shopkeeper, carrying on business in New-
square, Dockhead, said that on the afternoon of the 21st
ult. he saw the prisoner with a gun in his hand, which he
was frequently in the habit of carrying. About two o'clock
he heard the report of firearms near his windows, but on
going out he saw no person, excepting a few boys playing
about. He, however, perceived that a rifle ball had pierced
a panel in Mr Newell's gate, which hundreds of persons
passed almost hourly.

Mr. Burcham observed that there was not sufficient evi •
dente to prove that the prisoner fired the gun. He gave
him the benefit of the doubt by discharging him, although
morally he had no doubt that he had fired the rifle.

LAMBETH.—John Witham, a man of respectable ap-
pearance, was charged with intermarrying with Matilda
Burgess, his former wife, Emily, being then and still living.
Both the wives were present, and each had an infant in
arms about the same age.

The prisoner did not deny the charge, but said that six
years ago his first wife left him to live with a young man,
by whom she had since had three or four children; and,
under these circumstances, he thought he was at liberty to
marry again.
Ho was remanded.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TlMES.—There can now be no doubt of the mag-
nitude of the Polish insurrection. The dates and
the names of places cannot err. The column of
Polish news and a map of the country are enough
to show how widespread is the revolt, and how
little progress has been made in suppressing it, in
spite of alleged victories over the insurgents. We
cannot but expect that public opinion in England
will be much moved by the news of these events.
This generation has been brought up in the belief
that the partition of Poland was the greatest of
modern political crimes. It has also been accus-
tomed to look upon the particular Government of
the late Emperor Nicholas as harsh and vindictive
beyond the precedents of the most despotic
monarchies. The right of the Poles to throw off
so oppressive a yoke, and the duty of sympa-
thising with them, and, if possible, assisting
them, has passed into the creed of every liberal
Englishman ; and however strong may have been
the feelings of men on this subject years ago, they
have been made still stronger, first by the Russian
War, and then by the spectacle of Italy successfully
winning her freedom from a Government much less
oppressive than that of the Czar. How, then, shall
we ask our countrymen to act at such a time as
the present P It is a difficult question, for England
has little influence with the Government which has
driven the Poles into rebellion, and she has no
direct power. In the heart of Europe, far beyond
the reach of Western fleets or armies, the Impe-
rial troops are fighting with hasty levies of
Polish citizens, or peasants led by men whose
bold spirit or the possession of a military train-
ing has marked them out for command. The
first impulse of a people like our own is to meet
and protest against the violation of human rights,
or to demand:of the Government that it should take
some steps to make the national opinion known at
St. Petersburg. But a Government has a very plain
and decided path of duty. Experience has shown
how impolitic, how undignified, how mischievous, it
is for statesmen in office to make themselves the
mouthpiece of national indignation or irritability.
It is for the people, for the press, for private men in
Parliament to express sympathy and antipathy ; but
for Ministers of the Crown there is one golden rule
in foreign policy—either to do something or to say
nothing. The curses instead of the blessing of re-
volutionists have been on this country many times
during the present century because high officials
by imprudent language have held out hopes which
could never be realised. The speakers meant no-
thing but to express in vigorous terms public opi-
nion at home, or to rebuke a high-placed evildoer
on some continental throne. But those who are
in the heat of a revolution and whose fate is trem-
bling in suspense cannot make allowances for Mi-
nisters who are also members of Parliament and
accustomed to make popular harangues. They think
that the land of liberty is about to intervene actively
in their favour, and when they find that all the de-
monstrations meant nothing, and that the eloquent
statesmen content themselves with a smartly writ-
ten despatch, they not unnaturally accuse England
of selfishness and deception, if not of truckling to
absolute power. We may hope, therefore, that if
Mr. Hennessy or any other private member brings
the subject of Poland before the House of Commons
the Governmentwill meet the question prudently and
with a sense of this responsibility. It is just be-
cause we think it the duty of civilised nations to
do their best to bring to an end the long agony of
a brave people that we would deprecate any rheto-
rical commonplaces about liberty and despotism and
the iron domination of the Czar. In this respect
the conduct of the French Government, with which
we should have to act in any remonstrance, might
wisely be taken as a guide. It may be said that
the Emperor Napoleon has shown himself too favour-
ably disposed to Russia, and that his Minister the
other day checked rather too unfeelingly the sym-
pathies of the Assembly with the Polish cause. But
we cannot condemn this conduct when we remem-
ber how little was done by the annual protests of
the Chamber of Deputies in Louis Philippe's time,
and by that Monarch's ostentatious ratification of
them. Nothing went more to give Nicholas a be-
lief in his own strength, and to encourage him in
assuming an arrogant tone towards Europe, than
the spectacle of the first Continental Power and its
chosen dynasty thus showing their impotence to
help his rebellious subjects. The French Emperor,
perhaps, has no intention of interfering even by
amicable counsels. It may be that when the dis-
cussion took place two or three days ago the Govern-
ment was not yet aware of the serious character of
the insurrection. But even now it may think
that the Russian army, with its numbers, its dis-
cipline, and its resources, must shortly crush the
bands that have risen up against it. To do anything
effectual for Poland must be to carry armies half
over Europe, and first to fight the German Powers
which shared the guilt and the spoil of the par-
tition. Influenced by these considerations, it
may be that Napoleon will do nothing for the
Poles; but whatever may be his intentions, we
cannot blame his Government from refraining
from any premature anti-Russian demonstrations,
and we trust our own will follow its example.
Far be it, however, from us to suggest that this
opportunity of redressing the greatest of European
wrongs should be allowed to pass away unused. It
is impossible to read the intelligence which comes to
us from Poland without feeling that the present is
one of those great national struggles which ought
not to be suppressed in blood. Nor are we without
some reason for supposing that other provinces of
the empire are almost wearied into revolt. In Poland
itself it is difficult to conceive how an insurrection
could have been so well planned, and should have
broken out so suddenly and so successfully, unless
something like disaffection existed among the troops
who had been so posted, after the experience of many
previous revolts, as to act with the best advantage
against the population. The changes through which
Russia is passing and the personal character of the
Emperor combine with the resolution of the Poles
to encourage a hope that the Russian Government
might be disposed to make concessions. The peace
of Poland, the esteem of Europe, and the progress
of Russia herself require that the scandalous ri-
gour of the Warsaw Government should be abated.
Is it out of the power of nations like England and
France to recommend these necessary reforms? We
think it is not, and that the goodwill of Prussia
and Austria might possibly be secured for such a
scheme. At least, the opinions of the civilised West
might be deliberately made known to the Czar, and

DAILY NEWS.—A paragraph in the notices of
motion printed in our summary of Parliamentary
business yesterday discloses a little corner of Mr.
Gladstorn's forthcoming Budget. The duties on
tobacco and snuff are to be reduced. At present
these duties yield nearly one-fourth (£5,604,032)
of the total revenue (£24,000,000) derived from
customs duties. Our financiers have always treated
these luxuries as articles which they were war-
ranted in taxing as heavily as possible, without that
tender regard for the interests of the consumer
which is just when duties on articles of necessity,
such as sugar and tea have become, are in question.
Accordingly a customs duty 3s. I.ld. per lb., equal to
900 per cent. on the value, is levied on unmanu-
factured tobacco, and a duty of 9s. sd. per lb. on
imported cigars and snuff. An agitation for a re-
duction of these duties in the interest of the con-
sumer is perhaps what nobody would think of at-
tempting. Not but that there is a great deal to be
said of injustice and inequality in the levying of the
tax on various classes of the community, since the
real Havannah and the cheap and nasty cigar, the
one worth ls., the other 10s. or I ls, per lb., pay the
same duty. However, we do not expect to hear the
Chancellor of the Exchequer proposing a reduction
of the duties in committee on these grounds. We
rather anticipate that, like his predecessors, he will
consider it right to levy as large an amount of duty
as he can from tobacco, and will recommend a re-
duction of the rate as a protection to the revenue,
and indeed as a means of increasing it. Mr. Glad-
stone proposes to reduce the duty on foreign cigars
from 9s. sid. to ss. per lb., and on snuff from
9s. bid. to 3s. per lb., while other manufactured
tobacco is to pay 4s. He further proposes that
" unmanufactured tobacco warehoused in any
warehouse approved for security of duties
of Customs may, in such warehouse, be
manufactured or converted into the articles
denominated cavendish or negrohead tobacco;
and upon every pound thereof produced by such
manufacture or conversion there shall be charged
and paid on the delivery thereof for home consump-
tion the Customs duty of 3s. 81." Some change in
this direction is necessary if we are not to lose the
large revenue we now derive from these articles,
and with it the means of absolving more impor-
tant commodities from excessive burdens. Under
the present system of duties the revenue from
tobacco and snuff is languishing. It does not par-
take of the elasticity and movement common to the
revenue derived from other articles which enter
into general consumption. The duty is checking
consumption, or at least what for fiscal purposes is
the same thing, it is checking the consumption of
the duty-paid article. In their report for 1861 the
Commissioners of Customs show that while in the
preceding year the consumption of currants rose 33
per cent., of spirits 11 per cent., of refined sugar 6
per cent., of tea 6 per cent., and of coffee 3 per cent.,
that of tobacco rose only 1 per cent. For the ten
years 1850-1860 our importation of manufactured
tobacco stood still, and since the latter date it has
been falling off. Nobo. y believes that we actually
consume less tobacco than we formerly did; the
falling off arises from the evasion of duty. Our
high rates place a premium upon smuggling and
adulteration. The Report of the Commissioners of
Customs are full of stories, some of them very enter-
taining, of the ingenuity by which the revenue laws
are evaded in respect of these articles. Against the
professional smuggler precaution may be taken, but
when the bulk of our seafaring population, and
nearly all the people who hang about the shipping
in port, dabble in smuggling as an occasional occu-
pation, it is another matter. Indeed, our revenue
officers admit that they cannot prevent the smug-
gling of tobacco while the inducements to it are so
great. The true remedy for this state of things,
injurious alike to the public treasury and public
morals, is that which was pointed out by Mr.
Hume's Committee in 1844 ; it consists in reducing
the rate of duties to such a point as that smuggling
may become unprofitable, while the loss to the re-
venue will be repaired by the increase in the quan-
tities of the commodity brought to duty. We have
reduced Customs duties for various reasons of late
years—some in order to encourage trade, some to
lighten the burden to the taxpayer; these tobacco
duties need alleviating for the sake of the public
revenue. The enormous consumption of tobacco
leaves not the least room for doubting that an aug-
mentation of the revenue would follow the proposed
change.
HERALD.—The Duke of Saxe-Coburg has defi-
nitely declined the throne of Greece. The an-
nouncement jars strangely with the report that Mr.
Elliot bad intimated the consent of the Duke to the
Greek Provisional Government. But from Lord
Palmerston's explanations last night it may now be
assumed that his Royal Highness is not likely to
change his mind again ; and that, notwithstanding
Duke Ernest's desire to oblige Earl Russell, who did
soi-disant Liberal Germany a good turn in his
Schleswig despatch, and who has set his heart upon
giving the Greeks a King of his own choosing, the
throne of Greece is still vacant. The terms of the
Duke seem, indeed, to have been so exorbitant, or
his determination not to " change his position" so
strong, that Earl hussell at one time broke off the
negotiation and looked elsewhere for an eligible
Sovereign. And now the gift has dropped from his
bands; he is once more in search of a constitutional
King. We shall not be surprised to find him re-
turning toKingOtho,and recommending the Greeks
to make a third trial of that unfortunate Sovereign.
Possibly the lonian Islands may bribe them into
accepting his lordship's dictation. For our own part
we were not so confident as our contemporaries pro-
fessed to be, that the Greeks would ratify Earl Rus-
sell's undertakings. They gave him no commission
to choose them a Sovereign ; and the particular per-
sons he had selected as King and Crown Prince
were, for very good reasons, especially objectionable
to them. The Great Powers, in recognising the
Provincial Government, have recognised the
right of the Greeks to choose their King, and have
undertaken to recognise any King whose election
should not be a violation of treaties or an encour-
agement to revolution and aggression on Turkey.
The Greeks elected Prince Alfred, but the English
Government intimated to them that the Prime
could not accept the throne. The Greeks did not
reply by asking the English Government to procure
them some other King. Earl Russell has acted
precisely as if they had given him that commis-
sion. He picked out King Ferdinand of Portugal,
and declared him King. When Ferdinand de-
clined he elected the Duke of Saxe Coburg ; on the
Duke's refusal he selected Prince Leiningen—and
then he came back to the Duke, and presented him
anew to the Greeks as their King. The Greeks
we expected would resent this interference with
their independence, and would resent more espe-
cially the selection. The Duke of Saxe-Coburg is
an able and upright prince; he is connected with
the Royal family of England. But these merits will
scarcely weigh against his nationality, his age, and
his unfortunate want of children. The Greeks
learned in the reign of Otho to hate Germany and
the Germans. What they most congratulate them-
selves upon in this bloodless revolution was that
they had done for ever with Germany ; and yet
they were asked to take another German Sovereign,
to bear the presence of another shoal of German
councillors and courtiers. They wanted a King for
whom they could feel some enthusiasm; they
wanted a young man, v%ho, living in Greece, mak-
ing it his country, might imbibe something of
Greek feelings; a King who, although not born a
Greek himself, might found them a Greek dynasty
—a King from whom there might spring princes
born on the Greek soil, bred up in Greek traditions
and customs, knowing no other home than Greece,
no other passion and interest than its glory and
prosperity. They were offered a King whose age
prohibits enthusiasm, who told them plainly enough
that he did not care about them, and that he thought
their sovereignty a somewhat thankless task; a
King whose affections and interests, much of whose
time, must have been devoted to his other posses-
sions, and who is childless. The only chance for
the Duke of Saxe-Coburg was, that the English
Government made his election the price of the cession
of the lonian Islands. To gain that increase of
territory the Greeks mightactept a Sovereign whom
they disliked in the hope that they would soon have