The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-18 00:00:00

Acting-Manager, Mr. H. Barnett.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE
Lessees, Messrs. Lindus and Vining.
THIS EVENING the drama of AURORA FLOYD. Miss
Amy Sedgwick, Miss Henderson, and Mrs. Simpson ; Messrs.
Eoxby, G. Melville, G. Belmore, C. Seyton, Wallace, and
Cathcart.
After which, KILLING TIME. Mr. Geo. Vining, Mr. C
Seyton, and Miss Amy Sedgwick.
To conclude with a new whimsical Extravaganza, entitled
BEAUTIFUL HAIDEE ; or The Sea Nymph and the Sallee
Rovers. Misses M. Oliver, Helen Howard, Hudspeth, Hen-
derson, and Murray ; Messrs. C. Seyton, G. Belmore, Fitz-
James, Moreland, and Cockeriii.

NEW THUATIIE-R0 YAL, ADELPHI.-
Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster.
THIS EVENING, THE TRIAL OF TOMPKINS. J.
L. Toole, Paul Bedford, Sefton, Miss Kate Kelly, and Miss
A. Seaman.
After which, at Eight o'clock, AURORA FLOYD. Miss
Avonia Jones, Miss H. Simms, Mrs. Billington ; Mr. Benj.
Webster, Mr. Paul Bedford, Mr. R. Phillips, Mr. Billington,
)Ir. Stuart, Mr. Sefton, Mr. Romer, Mr. C. J. Smith.
Commence at 7.

Tr HE THIRD EDITION OF " THE SUN,"
Containing the Latest SPORTING INTELLIGENCE,
can be had Every Evening of

G. R. GLENIE, NEwa AGENT,
No. 4, Connaught-terrace, Hyde-park.

The Weath,lr—Sun Office, April 18, 1863.

THERMOMETER.
Highest since Noon yesterday
Lowest during the night
This day at N00n.....
Wind—Northerly ; light, with fine sunshiny weather.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAT.—Morning, 2h. 10m.—Afternoon, 2h. 28m.
To-monatow.-Morning, 2h. 49m.—Afternoon, 3h. sm.

00001minki4..% 11:;1144..
efrdThZ.:9C7,lo., ev-•

LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 1863.

The debate on the Harbours of Refuge last night
is well worthy of attention. Sir F. Salmi. moved
" that so much of the report of the Commissioners
on Harbours of Refuge as applies to Waterford,
Wick, and Padstow be carried into effect." The
hon. gentleman made an effective speech, and con-
cluded by stating that it was incumbent on the
Government to construct harbours at those places.
He proposed £125,000 for Wick, there was not an
harbour of refuge between the Orkneys and the
Frith of Forth, " Suppose this country were in-
volved in a war with a northern Power, where
could the cruisers of this country find refuge in these
seas." Padstow Harbour had been examined with
great care, and it would be most useful for coasting
vessels, and for that be asked £40,000. For Ire-
laud he only asked for one harbour, Waterford,
and that could be done easily for £50,000. Mr.
Salmi observed that anyone who had witnessed a
shipwreck could never forget the scene, and would
never cease to use his best efforts to prevent its
recurrence. Sir J. ELPHINSTONE strongly urged
the necessity of constructing a harbour at Peter-
head. He said the advantages that would accrue
to the merchant shipping would be considerable.
The hon, member at the end of his address wisely
urged the noble lord at the head of the Govern-
ment to consider this subject, for it was not a light
thing for a committee to sit two sessions,
and to be followed by a commission whose report
should remain a dead letter, while we
were carrying on at other places works of more
than questionable utility. After several hon. mem-
bers had urged the claims of various localities, Mr.
GIBSON made a most unsatisfactory speech. He
said that it would never do to let people
think that the Government were to take the
responsibility of providing for such works.
After doing his best to damp the energy and
discourage the efforts of all those speakers who
had preceded him, M. GIBSON seemed to insinuate
that, by acceding to these suggestions, it would be
militating against private enterprise. It is true
that such a course of action is like all the rest of
the Ministerial policy at present. The Government
will undertake no duties that it is possible for them
to decline, and they will shirk all responsibi-
lity that *an at any cost be put off.
Mr. BENTINCK truly stated that he thought
the time had eome when action ought
to emanate from the Government of the day. For
his part, he thought that, without giving money,
the authorities might contribute greatly by giving
',convict labour for such works." Fur many years
this term had been a farce only. He firmly believed
that by the adoption of this plan much good might
be effected, and he hoped that the Government
would take it up in a manner befitting a subject
of such great national importance. Sir JOHN
PAKINGTON made a very sensible speech, which
was characterised by that energy and clear-sighted-
ness that always distinguish his remarks on naval
questions. He said that he thought the tone of the
speech of the President of the Board of Trade was
not creditable to the Government nor satisfactory
to the House. The right hon. gentleman seemed
to forget that this question had originated with
the former Government of the noble Viscount;
and the late Mr. WILSON, as a member of that
Government had always advocated it. He had pre-
sided over the committee that bad sat two sessions
on the subject ; and when Lord DERBY came into
power, Mr. WILSON had urged on him (Sir J. PAL
IN GTON not to neglect the report of that committee.
"Nothing could be stronger than these repolts con-
cerning the construction of these harbours for the
protection of our commerce, our shipping, and
our seamen." He felt bound to appeal from the
evasive address of the right hon. gentleman
and to ask the noble lord at the head of the Govern-
ment whether they were to go on year after year with
a matter of so much importance unattended to. The
motion of Sir F. SMITH was then negatived. This
supineness and inaction on the part of Govern-
ment bugged to those who look on that they

are acting a very inconsistent course, and that all
the outcry about expenditure is simply an excuse
for the non-performance of their promises. While
they refuse to contribute the sums for neces-
sary harbours of refuge, they are wasting
money at Alderney and other useless places.
Again, another argument might be employed, that
if the Government will not expend money, it might
at least exert its influence in other ways. Har-
bours of refuge are most desirable, but a well-
found ship is independent of them, and three-
fourths of the vessels that are lost on our coasts are
sacrificed because they are provided with defective
ground-tackle or cables. The owners of vessels
should be compelled to look to this, They may
risk their own property if they like, but they have no
right to jeopardise the lives of their crews by their
faulty arrangements and careless supervisi'n. It
is to be hoped that this subject will not be allowed
to drop, but that those able and willing to interfere
will insist on its receiving proper attention when
It again comes before the House,

The curtain has just fallen over the mortal career
of another of our military heroes. Death has been
busy among our celebrities in the brief months
that have already flitted by in the present year. It
is but a few weeks since we were called upon to la-
ment the close of the long life of honour which
ended in the demise of Sir JAMES OUTRAM.
This very day has witnessed the last obsequies of
one of our foremost statesmen, and now another
name is to be added to the list. It ie true that we
cannot call Lord SEATON'S death premature. He
had reached an age which is allotted to few, and his
public career, whether military or political, had ended
many years since. He will not be missed from the
busy scenes of social life and politics, for many to
whom the name of COLBORNE was once familiar
have long classed it among the memories of the past.
But its sound still ealis up the recollection of the
long struggle in the Peninsula, the retreat which
closed in the victory of Corunna, the storming of
Cindad Rodrigo, the hill at Orthes, and the last
charge at Waterloo. Such associations would in-
vest with interest a less honoured name and less
gallant memory. As has been often the case with
England's worthies, though less often in the mili-
tary than in any other profession, the late Field
Marshal was not specially favoured by the gifts of
fortune. He was the son of a country gentleman,
whose means were impoverished by unfortunate
speculations, and who died leaving his family very
scantily provided for. It was not until his mother's
second marriage with a dignitary of tiY inchester
that he obtained his education at that school.
When once he entered the army, how-
ever, his promotion was rapid. The vacancies
in those days were too fast and frequent
to keep subalterns long in expectation. Young
COLBORNE took an active part in the busy scenes of
the time. In Egypt, in Sicily, in Sweden, and
the Peninsula, he shared the honours and perils of
the war, and in some of the most important engage-
ments he took a prominent part. At Bidassoa he
carried an important point, At Orthes he led the
attack on SOULT'S position, and to him has been
attributed the origin of that forward movement at
Waterloo which carried the fortunes of the day.
That day left no more European laurels to be
gathered by the bravest, and soldiers were forced
to turn their swords into the batons of civil autho-
rity, not always with success. We all know how
ill the stern discipline and despotic authority of the
Commander-in-Chief suited the free will and out-
spoken independence of the English people.
Strange to say, the complaint brought
by some against Lord SEATON'S civil government is
his too great laxity in conceding the wishes of the
restless lonians. He bore the unenviable dignity
of Lord High Commissioner of the Islands for some
years, during part of which time he had to deal
with the disaffection created by the events of 1848,
" the year of revolutions." Before filling that office,
however, he had held a colonial appointment of
still higher importance as Lieutenant-Governor and
Commander-in-Chief in Canada. The esteem and
affection which he gathered even in the midst
of the Canadian revolt was strongly tes-

tified by the large number of addresses
presented to him by the inhabitants of Canada,
who, whatever their nation or colour, united in tes-
tifying their regret at his departure. On his re-
turn to England in 1838 he was raised to the
peerage, but he seldom took part in the debates of
the Upper House. It is but a few years, however,
since he was raised to the dignity he had so
hardly earned, and received the baton of Field
Marshal. His long life has closed in peace and
honour after the hairbreadth 'stapes and snares
through which the young soldier had to pass. He
has outlived most of his contemporaries, but their
names will still be classed together in the record of
that tremendous struggle, which reversed thrones
and resuscitated dynasties, and formed the modern
map of Europe.

The report which the Registrar-General has just
presented to the Home Secretary contains some
curious particulars. Much may be learned from
these documents, and by their means we are enabled
to mark the progress of education, the development
of sanitary laws, and to test the commercial pro-
sperity of the people. The year, whose statistics
are just brought under our notice, is the year before
last, and thus we are unable as yet to trace the effect
produced by the Lancashire crisis in the deaths
and marriages. The general character of these
returns, independently of any casual fluctuations, is
highly satisfactory, the population increasing at the
rate of a million in every five years. In 1836-40
the population of England and Wales was rising
through its sixteenth million ; in the middle of
1861 it is computed to have risen to 20,119,496 ;
thus showing an increase of more than five millions
in the 25 years. The English registration, says the
Report, now exceeds the population registered in
1837 by the number cf the present population of
the Metropolis and the three Yorkshire Ridings'
The advance in the numbers of births, deaths, and
marriages is of course also large, the births in
1861 exceeding those of 1841 by 184,000; the deaths
marriages by 82,000. The
by 91,000, and the
aggregate number of names entered on the register
during the twelve months of 1861 reaches the aston-
ishing amount of 1,458,932. The year on the whole
was healthy, as proved by the lowness of the death-
rate. Trade was somewhat depressed,
which pro-
bably produced some effect in slightly decreasing
the number of marriages, while a more visible con-
sequence is found in the emigration of 30,000 persons.
The marriages afford us some curious statistics.
It appears that five marriages are performed by
banns to one by license, while only sixteen in the
course of the year reached the dignity of a special
License. The popular theory of the dangerous
fascinations of widows seems, like many other
theories, to have no foundation on fact, for the num-
ber of widowers who re-married was nearly double
the number of widows ; and while there were more

than twice as many marriages between widowers 1
and spinsters as between bachelors and widows,
for one widower who marries a widow there are
nearly two who marry spinsters. It is not, perhaps,
surprising:to find that, of persons who marry under
age, three to one are females; but in many districts

the number of women marrying under twenty-one
are more than a fourth of the whole number of
brides. In London, early marriages are very rare,
owing, it is thought, to the expense of house-rent.
Another potent influence among the middle classes
is the rage for gentility and love of ostentation
which makes young people look with scorn on the
simple manner in which their fathers and mothers
began life. The bride and bridegroom must start
on the same scale that their parents reached after
twenty or thirty years of prudence and moderation ;
and as it is easier in this busy and overcrowded
metropolis to spend money than to gain it, it is no
great wonder that the difference in the number of
early marriages in town and country is so great.
The educational test supplied by the register is
tolerably satisfactory. The number who signed
with marks in 1861 showed, it is true, no consider-
able diminution from 1841, but, if we allow for the
rapid increase of population, we shall find that this
apparent standing still is in reality progress.
Tested by proportion, the amount of signatures by
mark fall in the twenty years in question 11 per
cent. It is not surprising that London holds the
foremost place in the educational comparison—the
numbers of those who can write being respectively
89 and 82 per 100. The rules which regulate the
degrees of provincinal education are not, however,
easy to define. It is found that, generally speak-
ing, the men in the Northern counties have received
more education than those in the Southern, which,
perhaps, is owing to the higher degree of intelli-
gence cultivated by mechanical employment; but
this does not apply to the women, for the females in
Lancashire are not more advanced in knowledge
than those in North Wales. Other statistics,
fruitful in suggestions to the social philosopher
and reformer, may be found in this report, which
has been compiled with a degree of care and assi-
duity that reflects credit on the Registrar. It affords
us also a subject for national gratification and
thankfulness when we see such a practical testimony
to the health and prosperity of our nation, and the
gradual but sure advance of knowledge and culti-
vation.