The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-14 00:00:00

THERMOMETER.

This morning
This day at Two o'clock 7l
Barometer-30.29.
Wind—N. ; moderate, and fine weather.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAL—Morning, lh. s:n.—Afternoon, :1h- 29m.
TO-MORILOw.-Morning, lh. 62m.—Afternoon, 2h. 12a,.

Zifig 4145, - Still,

LONDON, TUESDAY, JULY 14, 1863.

Mr. ROEBUCK has consented to withdraw his
proposition ! The momentous question is postponed
sine die. At the eleventh hour, at the critical mo-
ment of the encounter, the once determined assail-
ant holds his hand,
"And back recoils he knows not why,
Scared at the sound himself has made."

We must confess that we are disappointed in Mr.
ROEBUCK. It was not in this pusillanimous, vascil-
lating spirit that he orginated and perseveringly
carried out the famous Crimean investigation. No
cause should be undertaken unless wo are persuaded
of its justice. But if, so persuaded, we have once
"put our hand to the plough,', nothing should in-
duce us to turn from our cnterprise—nothing but a
conviction that we were mistaken, and that we have
embraced an unworthy cause. Such a conviction
can justify and even ennoble a change of opinion,
as was remarkably evidenced in the career of Sir
ROBERT PEEL; but we have no reason to suppose
that Mr, ROEBUCK is shaken in his belief as to the
justice of the cause he had so gallantly espoused.
He is in his heart as convinced of the rights of
Southern Independence as he was some three days
back. Why then does he shrink from the self-
imposed responsibility of advocating those rights
at the very moment of trial ? He draws back in
consideration of the PREMIER'S assurance that the
motion proposed would " interfere with the good
government of the country." On that assurance,
Mr. ROEBUCK withdraws, after having raised the
hopes of the lovers of Peace and the advocates of
Southern Independence, and Lord PALMERSTON
assumes the responsibility of the situation. What
his course will be, may be very easily imagined.
Following that very safe and prudent counsel which
assures us that—
" Success is virtue and misfortune shame,"

our Government will reserve their decision. They
will wait yet awhile until new telegrams again and
again announce new victories to the South, and at
last they will come forward with their tardy and
then valueless recognition of an Independence that
will then stand in need of no acknowledgment.
That such will be the case ultimately we do not
doubt. The instinct of the People, which is generally
far in advance of the actions of the Government, has
already long since aroused the popular sympathies.
Those sympathies found, as they have often found
before, a worthy exponent in Mr. ROEBUCK, but
he has abandoned his cause and neglected his op-
portunity. Lord PALMERSTON, of course, com-
mends him for so doing; but, while approving that
portion of the hon. member's conduct, the noble
Premier took occasion to administer to him a very
severe and well-deserved rebuke for his recent diplo-
matic interference. "I hope,"said Lord-PALM EASTON,
and the cheers of the House ratified his assertion" that
this will be the last time when any member of this
House will think it to be his duty to communicate
to the British House of Commons that which may
have passed between himself and the Sovereign of
a foreign country." " The British Parliament,',
added the noble lord, "is accustomed to receive mes-
sages from the SOVEREIGN of the United Kingdom
but we are in no relation to, we have no intercourse
with, no official knowledge of, any Sovereign o
any foreign country." The advisability of such a
rule is sufficiently obvious, and it might have been
supposed that Mr. ROEBUCK would have been the
very last person likely to infringe it. But as " some
failings lean to virtue's side," so do some virtues lead
their possessor into error. Thus it is with the
learned but impetuous member for Sheffield—
" Prone to the rash, revolting from the mean,"
his gallantry occasionally places him in a dilemma.
Proud of his position as a Tribune of the People, t r
allows himself to appear in Paliament as the envoy
of a foreign Sovereign I The resolute advocate of
the recognition of the South, an untimely prudence
arrests him in hie career, and carries disappoint-
ment to all who had relied upon him. As Lord
PALMERSTON admitted with regard to Mr. ROE-
BUCK, we are persuaded that he "acted with the
very best intentions," but these intentions have
proved singularly fallacious in their result.

The correspondence between the King of PRUSSIA
and his son, which has been recently published, is
of a significant character. If all that is reported
be true, this will not be the last altercation of the
kind, either verbal or epistolary. The first com•

munication reported is one from the CROWN PRINCE,
which was forwarded at the end of May. In this
his Royal Highness alludes to what the KING had
observed on the subject of the aspect of affairs.
You told me," said the PRINCE, "that I was more
liberal than you." This is manifestly true, for
recent occurrences have testified to the validity of
the statement. Then follows some very plain truths,
deferentially put, but not the less telling. The
PRINCE says that while he makes no opposition, he
yet must tell the truth. He conjures his father not
to attack the laws, and warns him of the insidious
designs and dangerous maciinations of the func-
',ionaries. " With their art of interpreting the laws
they know how to represent the legality and neces-
sity of their measures in such a sense that they lead
the Sovereign step by step into a very different path
from that which he had proposed to himselt to fol-
low." Had the KING taken this advice at the time,
what mischief might have been avoided and what
trouble spared. If the PRINCE wrote such
words, he has, indeed, proved himself a true pro-
phet, and there is no doubt that the same
verification will attend his later predictions. The
KING, in answer, declares that his son has not
been circumspect enough, and has made speeches of
an opposition character, and intimates that an
opportunity is offered to him to repair the mis-
chief that he has done by declaring energetically
in an opposite sense, by coolness towards the men
of progress, and by extolling the doctrine of the
Conservatives. The PRINCE protests against the
decree of the Ist of June, in a letter addressed to
M. BISMARK. He declares that be " considers
the restrictive measures against the press as
illegal, and prejudicial to the state of the Royal
house." He furthermore adds that they were taken
without his knowledge, against his will, and he
protests against them. The next day he writes to
the KING, declaring against the decree, and repre-
senting that the spirit of the constitutiou had been
violated by not submitting it to the Diet. The
KING had stated in his previous letter that it was
to be. On the sth the PRINCE made the celebrated
speech at Dantzic. This called forth a letter from the
KING, in which he " energetically disapproved" of
the address. In case the report was incorrect, the
KING demanded a contradiction in the journals, and
required the PRINCE to pledge himself to avoid such
declarations for the future. The PRINCE replied that
his words were not " thoughtlessly uttered. His
conscience had imposed on him for some time
past the necessity of adhering to the doctrine whose
truth he felt more and more each day. The wish to
avoid contradiction had kept him silent hitherto ;
but now the Ministry, without consulting him, had
compromised his future and that of his children.
He would retract nothing, but keep silence. As
for his position in the army and Ministry, he was
willing to give it up, and only desired to reside
where lie might bo a stranger to politics. The
KING'S reply was moderate ; he said that he wished
the PRINCE to express his opinion to no one but him-
self, and towards everyone else to maintain a strict
silence. M. BISMARK'S reply was not of great
purport. He said—" It depends upon your Royal
Highness to lighten or to render more difficult our
great task." The last sentence, in which he states
that he also has a conscience, is rather astonishing,
as no very visible proofs of its existence have been
apparent of late months. These reports of the cor-
respondence may not be altogether strictly correct,
but it is most probable that they are SJ in substance;
and, at all events, they faithfully represent the
spirit by which the various parties are actuated,
even if the details are not strictly accurate. The
speech of the CROWN PRINCE at Dantzie is an un
disputed fact, and, of course, it is we

known that its utterance most have pro-
voked the KING, and incensed his Ministers

to no common degree. Some communication is
cure to have been addressed to the _PRINCE, and
,orne forcible representations made to him. He
would have answered these letters, and after mak-
ing a public profession of his faith in the legitimate
rights of the state and his belief in the efficacy of
the freedom of the press, he could not abjure those
opinions in private. So far then there is every
ground for giving credence to these reports, and
granting their authenticity, it is a matter for re-
joicing that the heir to the throne of Prussia should
so comport himself at a critical juncture like the
present. It would be impossible to conceive a more
difficult position than that in which he is placed,
or to imagine a more delicate task than the one in
which he is engaged, to reconcile opposing interests,
to attend to conflicting claims, and so to adjust his
course, as, on the one hand, to give due respect to
his father, and on the other not to compromise the
coarse he so honestly believes in and conscientiously
advocates. This is, indeed, an awkward dilemma,
but the PRINCE appears to have steered clear of

any great collision, and to have avoided any csntre-
tamps that would have been peculiarly unpleasant.
So much decision and reticence speaks
well for his after career. In his place
many would have yielded to the temptations
that surrounded them, and allowed things to take
their course, ehrinking from the responsibility, and
disclaiming all idea of personal interferenc3 if
suggested to them. Again, some would have.
gloried in the notoriety of standing isolated, of
abandoning their position, and coming forward in
a reckless spirit of defiance to confront the KING
and oppose the Ministers, whose counsels so mili-
tated against the best interests of the country. The
PRINCE has done neither, but chosen and kept tht
difficult medium course which so few contrive to
maintain successfully, but which in the doubtful
ways of life has often been trodden with so much
success. The CROWN PRINCE is not called upon to
make a decided stand, because hs is not invested
with direct responsibility, at the same time he is

called upon to let the nation know if he approves
or disapproves of the startling changes that have
recently been made. This he has done entirely
and emphatically, and hence he merits the respect
of all who appreciate candour and admire self-

command. In the complicated affairs in which
hereafter he will be called upon to take a prominent
part, there is every reason to expect that he will
acquit himself to the satisfaction of the country
and the benefit of the community, while he adds
lustre to his own reputation.

We are not likely soon to find a limit to the
versatile capacities of steam. We have already
seen the greater part of DARWIN'S famous prophecy
amply fulfilled, and though " the realms of air" are
still left in undisputed possession of the man of
science and the professional aeronaut, there is no
saying what use another generation may put them
to. The advantages which we derive from the
application of steam power to machinery are, how-
ever, as great as those conferred on us by its assist-
ance in locomotion, and the mills and, manufactories
of our large commercial towns offer as striking a
contrast to those of a hundred years since as an
express train does to the pack horses of the middle
ages.

The powers of this wonderful agent have now,
however, found a new field in which they are likely
to be no less beneficial, though in a less conspicuous
form. It is u sphere where we shou!d hardly have
expected to find even our übiquitous friend. The,
eager traveller, the busy manufacturer, might well
be ready to hail its assistance with eagerneso and

delight; but who would have expected that the
great motive power of trade and manufacture would
be found offering its services to the time-honoured
but rival profession of agriculture. Yet so it is, and
the farmer, proverbially cautious and careful, slow to
follow new schemes and suspicious of modern inno-
vations is likely in future to be as anxious to "get
the steam up" as any of his more ambitious and
energetic fellows. Some years ago an agricultural
society offered a prize for an implement 'worked by
steam, which should turn up and till the land, and
prepare it for the reception of seed. The idea, as
might be supposed, was ridiculed in many quarters,
but there is no room far laughter now, for it has
been amply demonstrated that a 10-horse steam
engine can do the work of cultivation better and
cheaper than it can be done by horses; and this,
too, in hard clay land, where the task of ploughing
is both laborious and unsatisfactory. An interest-
ing letter from the Right Hon. E. DENISON to
General PEEL, gives an account of his experience in
steam farming. It is curious and amusing to find
the grave President of the Lower House coming
forward as an authority on such points. He speaks,
however, from personal experience, and therefore
commands attention. He says that he had long
been watching with interest the application of
steam to the purposes of agriculture, but it was not
antil the spring of this year that he made any ex-
periment with it. At that time a fine farm of 600
or 700 acres of clay land was left in a bad state by
a careless tenant, and he resolved to try the aid of
steam in reducing it to order. He procured a
10-horse steam engine, and worked it dur-
ing the month of May last. " When the
land Was baked as hard as a brick, and
when no implement, moved by horses, could make
any impression, my ten-horse power steam engine
began its work, smashing and breaking up the land
in a manner which was quite surprising." The
neighbouring farmers who came to look on at once
perceived the great advantages of the system, and
many of them declared they would gladly pay £1
or 11 10a. per acre to have heavy clay land so
broken up. The first outlay on the machinery,
says Mr. DENISON, is £5OO ; the cost of working,
when the ground is very hard, is 6d. per acre the
first time, and 3d. the second. The exact daily ex-
penses were £1 is. 4d.; and Mr. DENISON justly
observes tht-t the question is well worth the consi-
deration of farmers, especially those who have
strong clay lands to work upon. He suggests that
the heavy preliminary expenses might be met by
the combination of several neighbours, or by an
arrangement with some persons who would make it
their business to let out the machinery on hire,
charging so much per acre for the work. We have
little doubt that when once our large farmers have
fully realised the advantages of steam cultivation
they will find some means to avail themselves of
them, and that steam, which, as Mr. DENISON says,
" has brought Edinburgh within ten hours of Lon-
don, and America within ten days of England,''
will perform no less valuable, though humbler,
services in the cause of that old-fashioned tilling of
the soil to which, after all, we are all indebted
for bread.

Very general regret will be felt at the total de-
struction of a graceful and popular building. The
gay and brilliant Bazaar in La,ngham-place, so long
a favourite resort for fashionable idlers willing to
spend time and money alike at its fascinating stalls,
is now transformed into a heap of blackened ruins,
surrounded by a few tottering walls. The loss is
something greater than mere stocks of fancy goods,
many valuable paintings having unfortunately been
in one portion of the Bazaar, among them a famous
Titian. The large and valuable collection of a well-
known naturalist, Mr. WHITAKER, has also been
almost entirely destroyed, the poor little birds who
had been brought from all parts of the globe being
found dead i❑ their cages. Mr. WHITAKER'S de-
partment was just by the entrance in Langhani-
place, and consequently was entered before the
flames had reached, but the work of destruction was
unfortunately done by the smoke. A beautiful
cockatoo of great value, left in Mr. WHITAKER'S
charge, was among the victims, and his own collec-
tion of birds, insects, &c., are roughly estimated at
.E6OO. A fortunate exception to the devastation
was the escape of the lizards, who, with singular
sagacity, crept under the hay in their cages as the
smoke came in, and thus escaped unhurt. One of
the most painful features in the case is the number
of honest and industrious persons that will be thrown
out of employment by the catastrophe. Forty or
fifty young females presided over the stalls, and
many of these rented the stalls themselves, having
stocked them with the proceeds of their own in-
dustry. All their little property is thus suddenly
swept away, and the promising investment has
proved an utter failure. This is surely a case to
call for some help from the public, and we cannot
doubt that those who have often lingered at the
pleasant counters, and purchased elegant trifles
from these poor stall keepers, will willingly contri-
bute to their assistance in this sudden and lament-
able catastrophe.

IMPROBABLE !—A rumour is afloat to the effect
that an interview has been managed between Napoleon 111.
and Garibaldi, who has been ordered to Neris, the great
waters for rheumatism and neuralgia, and that already
several messages had been conveyed to and fro between the
great hero and the hero-factor before the departure of the
latter fiom Fontainebleau.

LIEUT.-COLONEL HENDERSON, late Controller-
General of the Convict Department of Western Australia,
and now recently appointed Chief of the Convict Depart-
ment here in England, is said to be the officer Sir Joshua
Jebb always hoped for as his successor. This selection,
therefore, must be a source of gratification to Sir Joshua's
family, as it seems to mark Government's appreciation of
their lamented relative's judgment and opinion in so im-
portant a matter as the appointment of his successor.

Mlle. Boucourt, a charitable lady well known at
Saint-Quentin, and who has just died in that town,
has bequeathed a capital of 17,000 f. and the income arising
from an inscription of 450 f. rente, to assist in the construc-
tion and repairs of a church in the Faubourg d'lsle ; to the
civil hospitals a sum of 20,000 f. for the foundation of two
beds for incurable patients ; to the establishment of the
Petites-Sceurs-des Faurres, 15,000 f, ; and 5,000 t. among
other institutions.

A " FAIR" PUN.—I remember (says Lord Eldon)
I was coming away from the Queen's Drawing-room in my
full dress as King's Counsel (Lord Clarendon, then Mr.
Villiers, was with me), and we came into the rooms where
milliners were collected to see the fashions. Said I, " Why,
Villiers, I think all the prettiest women are here." One
of the girls, and a most amazingly beautiful creature she
was, stood up and said to another, " I am sure that gentle-
man is a judge."
A correspondent of the Toronto Leader, writing
from Vicksburg, says the Confederates have a gnu
which domineers over the river, and is a pestilent bother to
the Federals, They call him " Whistling Dick." No gun-
boat has any business where this terrible gun can get a shot
at it. It shoots a ball two and one-half feet long, steel
pointed, weighing 2501 b., can tear through our best iron •
clads, and is thought to be the best gun of the war.
THE EXHIBITION BUlLDlNG.—Negotiations
it is said, now going on between the Alexandra Park Com-
pany and the contractors for the purchase of every part of
the Exhibition building except the picture galleries. This
Alexandra Park Company was some time ago formed for
the purpose of establishing a North London Crystal Palace
at Muswell-hill. The work of demolition is therefore for a
time suspended.

RAILWAY AND PUBLIC COMPANIES IN PARLIA-
MENT.—Yesterday in coznoiittee of the Lords the
bills of the London and North-Western Railway CompanY
for new branch lines and additional powers were passed.
The company, however, elected to withdraw the bill for the
proposed transfer to them of the Lancaster Canal, on the
ground of certain clauses proposed to be inserted. Mr.
Hope Scott, Q C., opened the opposition of the Scottish
Central to the Edinburgh, Dunfermline, and Perth, and the
clauses of the. North Eastern, Hull, and Doncaster Eaten.
lion Were settled.