The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-29 00:00:00

THE MURDER AT ACTON.

Yesterday afternoon the inquiry into the circumstances
under which William Davey, 34, T division, a police con-
stable, came by his death, on Monday evening the 19th
inst., was resumed before Mr. James Bird, the coroner for
West Middlesex, at the George and Dragon Tavern, Acton.
The excitement in the district appeared to be unabated,
and the inquest-room was again crowded most incon-
veniently.

Mr. Treherne, of 17, Gresham-street, and Acton, attended
to watch the proceedings for the widow and the Commis-
sioners of Police. Mr. It. Ha) nes, jun., of 12, Southamp-
ton-buildings, Chancery-lane, and of Wandsworth, was
present on behalf of Isaac Brooks; one of the accused men
in custody.

James Edwards repeated his evidence given on Tuesday.
Jane M'Robey deposed that she resided at Mill-hill, Ac-
ton. She did not know the persons Joseph and Isaac
Brooks until she saw them at the police court. On the
evening of Monday, the 19th, about a quarter-past 8, she
was,walking with her husband across the fields leading
from Acton to Turnham, and on reaching some part near
Cumberland Villa she was startled on seeing a man there
was too dark to enable her to recognise his features. Joseph
lßearonoinksg, onw a
whom she
ogunHe had on a dark coat and cap, but it
had seen at the police court, strongly
resembled the man in stature. His hands were crossed en
the muzzle of the gun, having his chin resting on the back
of his hands. Witness's husband was with her, and they
No other person was near the man she
saw.walk walked away.

James ‘Robey, a tailor, the husband of the last witness,
repeatedames l\i
the evidence given by him at the police court.
In addition, the witness said the man ho saw appeared
about the stature of Joseph, but he could not identify
him, as in the dark so many men appeared about the same
build.

Miss Emma Rice deposed that her father lived at Albert-
terrace, Knightsbridge. The witness repeated her evidence
given on Tuesday at Hammersmith police-court.
Charles Calling repeated his evidence, clearly identify-
ing Isaac Brooks as being present after the deceased had
been shot.

Robert Moores deposed that he was at Petherton-villa on
the night of Monday, having walked down there on the
evening that some one had been shot. It was between 8
and 9. He saw Isaac Brooks standing there talking to the
last witness, Catling ; but he (witness) could not hear what
was being said.

By the JurY--lle did not notice what dress Isaac
had on.

By the Coroner--
Witness had not seen Isaac Brooks for
a long time, perhaps some weeks. He knew him well, and
could not be mistaken.
Thu inquiry was then adjourned for a week.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES. —The expectations raised by the allusion
to America in the Emperor's late address to the
French Chambers have been justified with little de-
lay. We publish to-day a direct offer of mediation,
conveyed in a despatch from M. Drouyn de Lhuys
to M. Mercier, and dated on the 9th of the present
month. This letter cannot have been received by
the time that the Asia left New York, but we shall
probably not have many days to wait for the
answer. Whatever that answer may be, the step
taken by the Imperial Government deserves our
favourable consideration, though we see no reason to
regret that we were not parties to it, We have pre-
ferred throughout to err on the side of non-inter-
ference, and to bear the silly imputation of a desire
to see the Great Republic of the West torn in pieces
by intestine discord rather than undertake the
slightest responsibility for its destinies. It is still
our belief that this course was the lesser of two evils,
and the reproaches heaped on England by the Federal
press for entertaining the bare idea of mediating, by
a portion of the French press for declining to me-
diate, and by the Confederate press and readers for
not being prepared to do more than mediate, have
altogether failed to shake our judgment. lA' e share
the opinion which Mr. Cobden expresses in his
homely way, by comparing the reasoning powers of
an infuriated nation to that of a mad dog, and we
know that warlike passions are not less implacable
where the combatants are brothers. We recognise,
too, as we are bound to do, the fact that the North-
ern and Southern States are contending fora stake
far more real and vital to their interests than the
objects which are supposed to justify ordinary wars,
however ruinous may be the method which they
have taken to decide their differences. We learn
from history that the greatest atrocities of civil
war have been occasioned by an alarm, often un-
founded, of intervention from without, and we have
learnt that the American people are unable to dis-
tinguish between intervention and mediation even
in idea. While we cannot discern, then, any pro-
mising sign of a disposition to listen to reason from
Foreign Powers, however friendly, we heve
anxiously watched the political reaction which is
slowly bringing about the ascendancy of moderate
over violent counsels in the great cities of the North,
and which must be strengthened by the policy of
the Proclamation. After that unconstitutional act,
which the Republicans themselves cannot defend
except as a measure of war, mediation seems to
come too late, and no hope of a peaceable settlement
is left unless it is forced on the South by crushing
defeat, or on the Washington Government by some-
thing like a revolution in the North. Such are our
reasons for adhering to the belief that, if any moment
can be opportune for speaking of peace to belligerents
so desperate and so proud, such a moment has not yet
arrived. The Emperor Napoleon, however, thinks
otherwise, and the arguments by which he supports
his overtures command our respect, as the avowed
motive of them must command our sympathy.
How will this second tender of good offices by
France be received ? It does not follow that because
all such advances from Great Britain have been
spurned by anticipation, and even Russia has been
fain to abstain from anything but general expres-
sions of good will, M. Mercier will not be able to
get a hearing. Public sentiment changes rapidly in
America, and we learn by the last mail that Mr.
Vallandigham has already advocated in Congress
just such a plan of mediation, without arbitration,
as is here indicated. A further rise in the premium
on gold, and an open declaration of want of confi-
dence in the Ministry on the part, not of the Demo-
crats, but of a Republican majority of the Senate,
must predispose the President to conciliation. In
these respects the conjuncture is not unfavourable
to M. Drouyn de Lhuys's purpose, but there is one
untoward circumstance which may more than com-
pensate for the advantage thus gained. We allude
to the recent publication of that letter in which the
Emperor plainly avows his design of setting bounds
'to the aggrandisement of the Anglo-Saxon race
and republican institutions on the American Conti-
nent. We are much mistaken if the disclosure of
an intention to extend to Mexico what American
writers are pleased to call. the " peculiar political
system" of Europe does not call forth an outburst
of indignation which would prove fatal to any
French proposal, even if it were otherwise satisfac-
tory. That it is not, and cannot be, satisfactory t.)
both parties must be manifest to every one, and it
will be more than we can hope it it should be satis-
factory to either. Whu.t is to be the basis of nego-
ciation? M. Drouyn de Lhuys says that France
has abstained from prejudging that question, but
how can a single conference take place, with or
without foreign mediation, till it is decided ? The
North takes the restoration of the Union as its
starting point; the South will tolerate no discussion
on its own right to independence. The Washington
Government is committed—not to a permissive sta-
tute for the abolition of slavery, but to a decree
emancipating every slave in the seceding States ;
the new Confederacy is founded on the maintenance
of slavery, even if the propagation of it be not an
essential part of Southern policy. Far be it from
us to say that peace between two such Powers is
impossible, and that nothing but the exhaustion of
the one or the other can quench the strife. We be •
lieve that the principles of a fair and permanent
compromise have already been grasped by impartial
men on both sides of the Atlantic; but, though we
should not despair of tracing the outlines of it, we
should despair of persuading either belligerents, in
their present temper, to give it a thought. The
Emperor Napoleon is more sanguine, and we heartily
hope that the renewal of his pacific efforts may open
the eyes of the Americans to that which all the rest
of the world can see so plainly.

PosT.—The Emperor of the French has now re-
solved to act without the cooperation of the other
maritime Powers. M. Drouyn de Lhuys' despatch
to M. Mercier is dated January 9, and has doubt-
less by this time been communicated to Mr. Seward.
In substance it differs materially from those pro-
posals which the French Government originally
suggested should be made by the three great Powers.
It combats the notion that mediation on the part of
neutral Powers is incompatible with the pride or
independence of a belligerent, but at the same time
suggests that no objections can be offered to nego-
tiations between the belligerents themselves. In
fact, the alternative is offered to the Federal Go-
vernment either of accepting foreign mediation or
of opening negotiations with their opponents. The
French Emperor announces a readiness to act in a
mediatorial capacity if invited to do so. It is rather
with the view of facilitating negotiations between
the belligerents than of determining the grounds on
wtiich they should be based, that the French Go-
vernment tender their assistance. To quote the
words of the despatch :—" In offering our services
to faeilitate negotiations between the belligerents
we have abstained from prejudging these
bases." No suggestion is made that an
armistice should be agreed on by the North, and in
this particular the despatch of the French Minister
is distinguished from the proposals which consti-
tuted the groundwork of the projected mediatorial
intervention of the three maritime Powers. Nego-
tiations between the belligerents are, according to
the French Government, absolutely essential in
order to hasten the termination of the war. These
negotiations may be carried on, if the Federal Go.
vernment so please, through the instrumentality of
friendly Powers; or, if not, may be opened directly
with the authorities of the South. " The opening
of negotiations between the belligerents would not
necessarily involve the cessation of hostilities.
Nothing would hinder the Federal Government
from retaining the advantages which the continua-
tion of the war might offer, and it might never-
theless enter into negotiations with the South."
Then follow a few suggestions as to the manner in
which meetings between the representatives of both
parties might be arranged, and the questions at
issue duly canvassed. Even in the event of imme-
diate reconciliation not being effected," the armis-
tice" by which we suppose the French Minister
means the opening of negotiations, " would never•
theless exercise an ameliorating influence upon
present events." Such is the substance of the pro-
posals which have been submitted by the French
Government to the Federal Cabinet, and in a few
days we shall know in what spirit they have been

received. We confess we are not sanguine about the
result. By the mail which has just arrived from
America, we find that at least one of the New York
journals has declared that, in the event of foreign
mediation being in the first place accepted by the
South, the North might subsequently take it into its
consideration. But we fear that the pride of the
great Republic has not yet been sufficiently abased
to lead it to act on suggestions coming from this
side of the Atlantic. In respect to the proposed
negotiations with the South, we believe with the
French Emperor that they present the sole means of
terminating the war. The upshot of those negotia-
tions is not doubtful, and it is idle to suppose that
they would or could be opened by the South on
any other basis than the recognition of its inde-
pendence. " The recollection of former times and
common interests" can never efface those still more
recent reminiscences which have been seared upon
the memory of the South by the invasion of Vir-
ginia under General Pope and the occupation of
New Orleans by General Butler. Should negotia-
tions be:opened between the belligerents, the less
allusion there is made to past times the more likely
they will be to come to an amicable understanding.
But is the North in a frame of mind to open nego-
tiations on the basis of recognising the indepen-
dence of the South ? We fear not. Although a
strong and numerous party in the North—one, day
by day, increasing in power and influence—is vio-
lently opposed to the present Administration, j et
up to the present moment it has shown no sign of
willingness to acquiesce in the severance of the
Republic. The Democrats are still the champions
of the Union. Are not these proposals of the
French Emperor premature ? Two months have
not materially changed the temper of the North,
and now, as then, we can detect no field for the
exercise of those mediatorial offices which the
French Emperor is so anxious to discharge. What
will then be the result P The Federal Cabinet will
perhaps thank France for her kind offices, but will
still go on raising armies, building ships, and print-
ing notes. The South will recognise in the course
taken by the French Government a desire to see
her independence speedily established, and will
doubtless keep it in kindly remembrance. But what
will France do if her proposals aro rejected ? The
French Emperor is most anxious that the war
should be speedily terminated, and will feel in a
corresponding degree disappointed if a second time
, thwarted in his attempt to mediate between the
belligerents. On the future plans of the French
Emperor it would be idle to speculate, but he is
beginning to manifest by unmistakeable signs that
his patience is well-nigh exhausted.
DAILY NEWS.—The Emperor of the French seems
to have addressed another despatch to the Ameri-
can Government on the subject of the civil war
which is still raging between the North and the
South. This is not the first time the Emperor has
attempted to stay the struggle. Last time he pro-
posed an armistice, during which hostilities were to
cease, and Europe was to obtain cotton. That pro-
posal being objected to, the Emperor now proposes
that the North " should enter into direct negotia-
tions with the authorities of the South." For this
purpose it is suggested that the representatives of
the two parties might meet in a city which could
be declared neutral. The grievances which have
led to the separation could be examined. The re-
presentatives might consider whether secession is
an unavoidable extremity, and whether the recol-
lection of former times and common interests is not
more powerful than the causes which have brought
the two people under arms. No reasonable man
imagines that after what has happened, and under
present circumstances, the North and South can
come to terms. In order to attain this object, not
only must both parties abandon their ground and
repudiate the principles which they have hitherto
declared to be essential—the North must withdraw
the proclamation of emancipation, and the South
must reject slavery, the corner stone of their policy
—but the South must permanently submit to be
ruled by those against whose rightful dominion they
have arisen in arms. There is assuredly an anta-
gonism between the North and the South—between
free labour and slave labour, which transcends the
genius of accommodation. The " irrepressible con-
flict," now that it has broken out into war, cannot
be suppressed, it must be quenched in blood. The
conquest of the South or permanent separation is
inevitable, and possibly Louis Napoleon knows this
as well as any man living. But he may, perhaps,
hope that a meeting between the accredited repre-
sentatives of the North and South may tend to
clear up the essential issues of the dispute, or that
in any event he may show himself to the world as
a powerful peacemaker. So long as th© French
Emperor confines himself to offering advice and
to counselling a cessation of hostilities, the course
of the British Government is clear. It has simply
to maintain, as hitherto, a strict neutrality. It is
for the President and his Cabinet to determine
upon the course which they will pursue. That
course can only be settled by considerations of their
own honour and dignity ; for they may rest as-
sured that whatever course they may determine
to pursue, in that the people of this country will
acquiesce. But even if recognition was practically
possible, it by no means follows that it ought to be
conceded. If the South were another Hungary or
another Italy there might be good reason for
facilitating the entry of such a state into the
family of nations. But the Southern Confederacy
is based upon peculiar principles. If the decla-
rations of its leading ministers and its holy men
may be believed, the corner-stone of the new edi-
fice is Slavery—traffic in human flesh. In times
past States tolerating this iniquity have been ad-
mitted amongst the powers of the earth. But
happily, even in the darkest period of the world's
history, no collection of men has been acknow-
ledged as a nation, whose very existence arose out
of the alleged necessity of slave labour. At all
events in these days the admission of such a new
State is out of the question. The United States,
of which these revolted people formed part, de-
clared from the beginning that Slavery was no
essential part of their constitution. The sl ave-
trade was forbidden by stringent laws, and slave
labour was gradually to cease. Unfortunately
the unscrupulous and selfish statesmen of the
South have hitherto managed to evade these obli-
gations; but now that the North- have thrown off
the Southern yoke these obligations have been
religiously fulfilled. For this country to enter
into political relations with a nation which has
systematically refused to acknowledge its obliga-
tions (unless some new and stronger guarantees for
good faith can be invented) would be with open eyes
to enter into contracts with men to whom the most
sacred promises are ropes of sand. The King of
Dahomey may be the head of an independent
State, but he is not the sort of potentate to
whom England should send an ambassador. Be-
fore England can consent to establish relations
with a King of slaveholders or a Republic of slave-
holders there must be some distinct understanding
on the question of slavery and the slave trade. A
clear provision must be made that slavery shall
cease, and that the slave trade shall be absolutely
prohibited, before the Government of this country
can consent even to entertain the question of recog-
nition. The policy of this country, and the sacri-
fices which the English people have made in tivis
great cause, make this absolutely imperative.. It
cannot be endured that England should continue to
sacrifice the lives and the treasure of her subjects
to maintain a costly squadron on the coast of Africa,
whilst at the same time she establishes friendly re-
lations with a new Power, the very object of whose
existence is to neutralise her efforts in behalf of the
African. In this, as in higher things, we cannot
serve two masters. If the people of this country
repent of their virtue, and prefer to abandon the
negro to his fate, let them withdraw their squadron
from the coast of Africa, and allow the traders in
human flesh to have their way. Though millions
have been spent, and thousands of gallant men have
died on that fatal coast, it is better at once to put a
stop to loss of life and of treasure than to aggravate
that loss by acknowledging a new Confederacy of
slaveholders. But if England does not repent of
her virtue, and still acknowledges the watchword
of her earlier days, and let her proclaim her irre-
vocable will that come what may she will hold no
communication with the South, unless they are
ready to provide for the extinction of slavery within

their borders, and for the effectual suppression of
the slave trade abroad.

HERALD.—It is not surprising that at this period
of comparative inactivity the cry of the peace party ,
faint and inarticulate in its first utterance, should
be heard, both in the North and South.
From all sides there is the suggestion of
peace —peace, not the consequence of pro-
tracted hostilities, of brutal massacres, of ser-
vi:e insurrections, but of peaceful compromise,
mediation, and truce. The New 1 ork Tribune,
erst the most fanatical of prints, calla upon the
South to accept foreign mediation, if it be offered,
and the North to join her. Is it the consciousness
of the waning strength of the Republican party, or
the conviction that the war is hopless, that has
forced Mr. Horace Greeley's organ to this tardy
concession ? In Congress Mr. Vallandigham, of
Ohio, the only Northern representative who has
consistently opposed the war from the beginning,
has proposed an armistice or foreign mediation. In
New Jersey the Legislature has been called upon
to consider the expediency of an armistice and a
convention for discussing the terms of an amicable
settlement; and the Richmond Inquirer, whilst
declaring against all compromise upon the question
of Reunion, also urges an armistice. That the organ
of the rabid Abolitionists should have so far altered
its tone as to speak favourably of foreign mediation
marks a wonderful change of public opinion in the
United States since the day when Mr. Seward re-
pudiated, with true Republican vulgarity, any
attempt at mediation by the benighted monarchies
of the Old World ; and although it would be pre-
mature to argue that the mob of the North has
lost its power and respectability, at least the
time seems gone by when the offer of mediation
would be construed as an insult, and resented as an
act of hostility. The state of the New York
Money Market, and the candid announcements of
Mr. Spaulding must open the eyes of the intelli-
gence of the North to the danger that is at hand.
From first to last one of the most noticeable fea-
tures in th© American character has been the
facility with which it has dropped unpalatable
and inconvenient opinions. We are quite pre-
pared to find foreign mediation in a month or two
the rallying cry of a great party in the States.
The French Emperor appears to have been duly
apprised of this change of sentiment, and to have
skilfully availed himself of the opportunity it
afforded. Not content with the churlish refusal
of the Government of this country to aid him in
terminating an &)jeotless and bloody conflict, he
has persevered in his initiative, and monopolised
the whole merit of a friendly, a humane, and a very
particable offer. For our own honour's sake as well
as in the tremendous interests we have involved in
the struggle we cannot but express our regret that
to France alone the offer of mediation is due. Every
consideration, whether of feeling, of duty, or of
policy, should have dictated to our Government the
origination of the proposal which has emanated
from the Tuileries. Yet her Majesty's Ministers
seem to be incapable of assuming a responsibility,
and leave to France the honour as well as the ad-
vantage, of appearing to befriend both the belliger-
ents. Moreover, the mere fact of the silence of our
Government is in itself an obstacle to peace. The
offer of mediation, which, backed by England, would
be at once accepted, may possibly be regarded with
coldness and suspicion coming from France alone.
Our holding back is a secret encouragement to the
North to continue the struggle—an implied admis-
sion that it is not desirable. the Southern Confede-
racy should enter into the family of nations. We
do not attempt to forecast the effect of the French
dispatch. "Direct negotiations" between the North
and South we believe to be impossible at the pre-
sent juncture. We question even whether the time
for a convention of the states has yet arrived. But
an armistice, givin4 time for peaceful discussion,
might not improbably convert the suspension of
hostilities into their total abandonment; and this,
whether in the interests of the North or South, we
should be glad to see pressed. One thing is certain
—whether, as the Emperor insists, " the recollec-
tion of former ties or common interests is not more
powerful than the causes which have brought the
two peoples under arms," or whether the memory
of recent outrages has raised an impassable wall of
partition between the North and South, it will be
an eternal disgrace to this country that she stood
calmly and coldly aloof from the struggle, appar-
ently only occupied in turning the great trouble of
her kinsmen to her own advantage.

COUNTRY MARILE TS.

,1,--

LYNN-TUESDAY.

To-day there was a moderate attendance, and wheat in
good supply. Prices were unaltered. Barley scarce, and
rather advanced in price. Beans and peas came to hand
slowly.

White 50s to 53s Barley. 3Bs to 41s
It'd 49s to 51s Grinding. ..32s to 33s
Beans .34s to 38s Oats
New —s to —s Peas .. —s to —s

HULL—TUESDAY.
A poor supply of English wheat to-day at market, which
met a slow sale at about last week's currencies. Foreign in
limited sale. Barley for malting sold steadily, at fully late
rates ; grinding rather higher. Oats, beans, and peas un-
altered.

Wheat.... Old white.... per qr.
Old red
New white .. ~
New red .... „
Dantzic Konb , &c. old white 52s Od to 57s Od
Dutch, Belgian, and French. 688 Od to 62s Od
Baltic and Hamburg, red
St. Petersburg and Riga, old 5OB Od to 52s Od
Barley.... English malting 3ls Od to 38s Od
Grinding 30s Od to 33s Oct
Saal and Oderbruck
Holstein and Danish 2Bs Oct to 29s Od
Grinding
Oats English, old 26s Od to 28s Od
Archangel and Riga, por at osl2lel to 13d
Friesland and Dutch 0:513c1 to 08130
Swedish and Danish oBl2ld to osl3d
Beans ....English, old, per qr 4ss Od to 46s Od
New pigeon 42s Od to 44s Cd
New tick. 4os Oct to 42s Oct
Egyptian
Peas Foreign boilers .. 36s Od U.. 38s 6cl
Grinding
Tares .... Spring. —s Od to —s Oct
Indian Corn
Linseed, feeding
crushing
Foreign Bl5 oto 9 0 0
Rape cakes 6 5 oto 610 0
Bones

arty ,

Lould
)uth.
L of
pro-
ser-