The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-23 00:00:00

BREAD.

The prices of wheaten bread in the metropolis are from
7id to 8d , of household do., sid to 7d per 41b loaf.

HIDES AND SKINS.
; 801 b to 881 b, 3id to 4id ;
8.
041 b, Od to Od ; 1041 b to
Market hides, 561 b to 641 b, 2td to 3d ; 641 b to 721 b, 3d
t'
1121 b, Od to Od. Horse hides, 9s Od to lOs 6d ; calf skins,
light, 2s 6d to 4s Od ; full, 7s Od to Os Od ; polled sheep, Os
to 3; d9t6olb4dto
°811334td0 ;9
6712b1,b4Td Btoolbsd
Od to Os Od ; half-breds, Os Od to Os Od ; Downs, 7s Od to
9s Od; lambs, 2s 6d to 3s 10d; shearlings, is 7d to Os Od.

The M.P.'s I Saw at the Derby.

(From the Field.)

The form of the motion for adjournment which the
Speaker put on Tuesday night in the House of Commons
should have been "that this house do now adjourn over
the Derby Day," for that is the exact meaning of the ad-
journment on the Tuesday preceding the Derby. When
the House commenced day-sittings on Wednesdays, an ad-
journment over the Derby Day of course became a legisla-
tive necessity, because it is impossible that" Mr. Speaker"
can be in two places at once; and, as he must be at the
Derby, he could not very well take the chair in the House
of Commons at the same time. Still, although the adjourn-
ment over the Derby has of late years been looked upon as a
" standing order," the Minister of the day, in submitting the
motion, has usually made some allusion to the great carnival,
always trying to be funny on the subject, and not always suc-
ceeding ; but on the present occasion Lord Palmerston made
the motion as a mere matter of course, and without adding
a single word upon the subject. Yes, it is now understood
that the House of Commons on the Tuesday before the
Derby Day adjourns to Epsom Downs; and, although the
popular branch of the Legislature does not go to Epsom in
a body, I sappose we may assume that the great bulk of
them are there somewhere; but, whatever they may be at
Westminster, the members of the House of Commons when
they go to Epsom Downs are not gregarious, and therefore,
in attempting a record of the " M.P.'s I saw there," it
must not be understood that I intend to give a kind of
" division list" of the members of the Legislature who were
at Epsom. Why, Asmodeus himself would be unable to do
so. On such an occasion Epsom is a mighty bottle of hay,
and the members of the House of Commons may be consi-
dered the proverbial needles thereof.
Auspiciously for my mission, at the very moment that I
arrived, in that pitiless rain, at the grand stand, the
Prince of Wales drove up, his carriage literally dash-
ing through the mud, which all around the entrance to
the stand was of the consistency of and far more plentiful
than turtle soup. Thus the first member of Parliament
whom I met—for as the Prince is the first peer of the realm
he is of course a member of Parliament—was the Heir ap-
parent to the British Throne, on this, his first visit, to the
world-renowned Derby. His royal highness was aecom-
panied by the Duke of Cambridge, the Prince of Hesse,
Major Teesdale, and Capt. Westerweller, and he was con-
ducted to the Jockey Club stand, where he was met by
Lord Torrington, Lk.rd in Waiting. The royal party were
well prepared for the inclement day, and they seemed to
find much consolation in the cigar case, for they smoked
incessantly. The Prince of Hesse seemed to me to take more
interest in the proceedings than the Prince of Wales did,
but perhaps this impression was produced by the Duke of
Cambridge being almost continuously engaged in explaining
everything around in minute detail to the Prince of Hesse.
It was said that when the horses took their preliminary
canter for the Derby, the Prince of Wales was most struck
with the appearance of The Gillie, and backed his fancy
for £lOO.
Having seen the Prince and his friends take their places
in the part of the peculiar stand—certainly not conspicuous
for its importance or architectural dignity—which is appro-
priated to the grandees and magnates of the turf, I took my
way about the course and into the paddock, and on the road
thither I met the Earl of Cardigan and his lady, and they
appeared to me to be in some annoyance at the miscarriage
of some instructions which had been given in London.
They had come down by railway, and I expect the carriage
which was to have conveyed them to the course was the im-
portant part of the miscarriage to which I have alluded. I
then met the Earl of Chesterfield, who, as he dashed into
the mud at the entrance to the paddock, seemed rather to
enjoy a rainy Derby Day. He was all alone in his glory.
Then came the Earl of Shrewsbury, also alone, but I could
plainly see that he didn't like either the rain or the mud.
He, however, was compelled to struggle through both, in
order to reach the paddock. And indeed it was quite a relief
to get into the paddock, for although it is true you could
not escape the rain there, yet the splendid turf was so de-
lightfully elastic, that it seemed as if one was walking on
velvet. Of course, like all the rest of the folks who had the
privilege of the entree, I bent my steps to the spot where
the favourite was being led about the enclosure; and
when I reached the levee—for such I supposed it was—l

found myself sidu by side with the Earl of Dudley, who
was earnestly discussing the points of the favourite with
Sir Joseph Hawley, who, I should say, knows a good point
of a racehorse when he sees one if any man in the world
does. The Earl of Dudley discussed the subject so earnestly
that the thought struck me that it was strange that a man
of his enormous wealth did not keep a stud. He is a yacht-
ing man, I know ; I wonder he is not a racing man as well.
How very loudly that peculiar-looking gentleman in the
light, very light, green coat, with extraordinary facings, is
talking to all around him, and oracularly giving his opinion
on the other side of the favourite. Some people who listen
to him may think, and justly so, that his opinions are
occasionally full of sound, sometimes of fury, and always
signify nothing. But he must not be recognised by me in
my glance round the paddock—for, is he not a member of
the Jockey Club, and very often blatant in his demands for
a peculiar exclusion especially connected with Newmarket?
and is he not a representative of the poetic lyre of Eng-
land ?

But make way, there I for here is approaching a wond-
rous judge 01 men and horses too, ana one wnose opinion,
when expressed upon any subject, is circulated over all the
world. He is an old man—a very old man--but he walks

as erect as he did half a century ago, and with as firm a
tread, and there is as much fire in his eye now as then. He
approaches, leaning on the arm of the Marquis of Ailes •
bury ; and he, too, comes to have a look at the favourite,
Yes, the Prime Minister of England— Lord Palmerston—
forgetting all the cares of State for the hour, comes person-
ally to examine the great favourite for the great race. And
if you will look down at his boots, you will see that the
venerable Prime Minister has spurs thereon, which fact
plainly shows that, spite of that drenching rain and of the
rivers of mud that are in the roads, he has ridden down
from London, to be one amongst the mighty multitude that
is the feature world-renowned of the great Derby Day.
Having critically examined the favourite, Lord Palmer-
ston, with a springy step upon that springy turf, still lean-
ing on the arm of the Marquis of Ailesbury, makes the round
in the paddock of the other horses ; and he is on of the last
to leave the exclusive spot, and wend his way bace k, careless
of mud and water, to the Jockey Club Stand to view the

race.
Here they come trooping to see the favourite. Hero is Mr.
Bailie Cochrane, who, whether on the back benches of the
House of Commons, or on the Downs of Epsom, always ap-
pears to me like an overgrown boy. And next comes Major
Baresford (the immortal W. B.) ; he is not so upright now as
he was before the Frail electioneering days of years ago. See
who comes hero, literally skipping along as though he were a
schoolboy in a playground. Lord Henry Lennox forgets his
speech that he did make the other day and the speech that
he is going to make about the affairs of Italy, in his anxiety
about the favourite. Why, surely we shall " make a
House" presently around the favourite. Mr. Bankes Stan-
hope scrutinises Lord Clifden through his eye-glass; Sir
John Hay tells Sir Edward Codrington that the favourite
is the finest horse he ever saw ; General Peel points out to
Mr, Greville what he thinks the best point about the horse ;
and Mr. Whiteside solemnly takes the opinion of Mr. Napier
Sturt, who gives it, and then appeals for confirmation to Capt.
Gerard Noel, who, by the by, I saw compare his betting-book
with Mr. Knatchbull Hugessen at the door of the House of
Commons on Tuesday night, and in the face of the whole
house during the discussion of the temporalities of the Irish
Church.
The course has been cleared for the race, and now the
paddock is deserted. I, like the rest, take my way to the
stand, and I go round by the back entrance, and there I
stumble against Mr. Daniel O'Connell, who is floundering
in the mud—the only remaining son of the great Dan—who
until a few weeks ago was the member for Tralee, who is
now an income tax commissioner, and who therefore was
perhaps on the look out for whom he might surcharge.
And so the last M.P. I saw there was an ex-M.P., who,
let us hope, will be exemplary in his new office.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS FOR THE
ENSUING WEEK.—Monday—Geographical, at 1—
Anniversary ; Linnean, at 3—Anniversary. Tuesday—
Royal Institution, at 3—" Sound," Professor Tyndall;
Zoological, at 9—" Mr. Motley's Birds from Borneo," Dr.
Sclater. Wednesday—Horticultural, at I—Great Exhibi-
tion ; Society of Arts, at 8 ; Archaeological Association, at
81,—" Recent Discoveries of Antiquities, Salop," Rev. T.
Owen Rocke ; " Pedigree of Derwentwater of Cattle Rigg,"
Mr. Powell. Thursday—Royal Institution, at 3—" Geo-
logy," Professor Ansted ; Antiquaries, at 8—" Portraits of
the Wives of Henry VIII.," Mr. J. G. Nichols. Friday—
Horticultural, at 2 Election of Fellows ; Royal Institu-
tion, at 8—" The Vedas," Professor Max Muller. Sa-
turday—Horticultural—Promenade; Royal Institution, at
3—" Electric Telegraphy," Professor W. Thomson.—
Athenceum.

FATAL ACCIDENT AT BRISTOL.—An accident,
attended with a fatal result, occurred on Thursday
at the Bristol Suspension Bridge works. Several stagings,
on an immense scale, are in course of erection, to be used
subsequently in the erection of the bridge, owing to which
the men are compelled to work at a very great height,
thereby incurring great peril in the progress of the work.
The accident referred to took place in the afternoon of
Thursday, at the buttress of the bridge, on the Peigh Wood
side. Two men were engaged on the top of the tower in
fixing a portion of the staging, one of them being on the
temporary platform and the other just below him, suspended
in a seat for the purpose of performing his part of the opera-
tions. There were two men at the bottom of the tower en-
gaged in steadying a " guy" rope, and assisting those on
the staging in fixing a " derrick " or pole, when by some
means or other the " gug" rope to which the derrick was
attached slackene too much, and the deceased, who was
steadying the pole and endeavouring to place it in position,
was overbalanced by its weight, and was precipitated to the
bottom of the buttress, a depth of 70 feet, falling headfore-
most upon the stones, literally smashing his skull,
surgeon was sent for, but his services were unavailing,
the poor fellow only survived a f'ew
, was
minutes,e savedtherefore H
sbssycpl as
com-
panion, who was at work beside h
ropes to which his seat was attached,
with a scratch of the face.

More Federal Ships Burned by the:Alabama
and Florida:

PERNAMBUCO, May 1.

The Bremontier, French barqne from Bordeaux
(out 35 da s), bound for California, put in here this
morning to land the master and crew of two Ame-
rican vessels taken and burnt by the Confederate
steamer Florida, Captain Moffat, which is now
cruising off Fernando de Noronha.
Taken April 23, lat. 1.12 S., long. 28.55 W.,
American barque Henrietta, of and from Baltimore,
437 tons (out 26 days), Brown master, bound for
Rio de Janeiro with 3,100 barrels, 300 half ditto,
flour and sundries, consigned to Phipps Brothers ;
burned same day.
Taken April—Ship Oneida, of New Bedford, 437
tons, Potter, master, from Shanghae (out 86 days),
bound for New York with 8,060 half chests of tea;
burned same day.
Previously taken and burned —Ship Common-
wealth, of Boston, 1,245 tons, with a general cargo,
bound for Francisco, California; barque Lapwing,
of Baltimore, 504 tons, California clipper, from
Boston with a cargo of coal, bound for the Cape of
Good Hope. This vessel is being fitted out as a
Confederate cruiser, 35 new guns having been sent
aboard. _ _

The masters report that nine other vessels had
been previously burned by the Florida.
BURNED BY THE ALABAMA.

March 23—Schooner Kingfisher, of Fairhaven
(whaler), 121 tons register (36 barrels of oil) ;
burned same day.
March 25—Ship Nora, of Boston, 927 tons, from
Liverpool, bound for Calcutta, with 1,520 tons of
salt ; burned March 26.
March 25—Ship Charles Hill, of Bostoa, 699
tons, Percival, master, from Liverpool (out 41 days),
bound for Monte Video, with 990 tons of salt, lat.

1.23 north ; burned following day.
April 4—Ship Louisa Hatch, of Rockland, 853
tons, Grant, master, from Cardiff (out 28 days), 3.30
south, with 1,033 tons of coal for the Peninsular and
Oriental Company, bound for Point de Galle (Cey-
lon). The Alabama having taken out a supply of
coal off Fernando de Noronha, the vessel, &c., was
burned the 19th inst.

April 15—Barque Lafayette, of New Bedford
(whaler), in 1.23 north ; burned same day.
April 15—Schooner Kate Cory, of Westport, 125
tons (whaler); burned 19th April off Fernando de
Noronha. _ _

The masters of the Charles Hill and Louisa
Hatch, with 60 men, arrived here from the Island
of Fernando de Noronha on the 26th April ; and
there still remained on the island, 42 men, waiting
a vessel for this port.
The Alabama is reported to have passed this port
on the 29th inst., steering for the southward.