The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-23 00:00:00

in favour of intervention. He justly indeed com-
mends a body`of half a million of men, the greater
part of them enduring the severest trials on ac-
count of the war, for refusing to support any pro-
posal to put an end to the war in favour of the
South. We all know here that the real reason for
this is the universal detestation in which slavery is
held by our working men, and their resolution to
suffer anything rather than afford encouragement to
a republic whose corner-stone is human bondage.

All classes appear to be joining in the good work,
and advocating it in their wonted style of appeal_
At one public meeting, in the Produce Exchange,
we find a kind of American SPURGEON, the Rev.
F. L. CtrYLER, pleading with racy humour and
vigour. It is " dividing the big loaf which our
Heavenly Father has given us with our starving
brethren across the water." It is an act of " simple
justice" to friends, since " whatever be the opinions
of kings or of emperors, of statesmen or of aristocrats;
the labouring masses of Europe are with us in our
death-grapple for popular liberty." When solicited
to petition for breaking the blockade, the noble
fellows replied, " No, America's battle is our battle ;
we will rather starve than hinder a nation that is
fighting for the rights of labour and universal free-
dom"—" shall such men be allowed to suffer P GOD
forbid, while our granaries are bursting." He would
have GRISWOLD'S vessel loaded till she would not hold
another sack, send her to Liverpool, lay her along-
side the docks, let her open, not her batteries, but
her butteries, discharging 100 bags of bacon every
hoar ; let her fire a broadside of flour barrels, each
barrel aimed at hungry mouths in the abodes of
poverty; and when Liverpool has been thoroughly
sacked with sacks of grain, and bombarded with
barrels of flour, when the golden grain has been
poured oat, without money and without price, then,
if JOHN BULL is not conquered, I shall have no
faith in Gospel gunnery:.

England will surely respond as becomes her to
this generous outburst of feeling from the merch-
ants, politicians, and SPURGEONS of America.
"Charity covereth a multitude of sins," and if this
truly generous charity did not do so in our
case, then, indeed, we should be most uncharit-
able. It may well erase all the impressions which
the rant of a CASSIUS CLAY, and the pretentious
bombast of Mr. SEWARD, and the folly of
WILKES'S flatterers may have made. We accept it,
as we did the generous violation of the strict laws
of war, when Commodore TATNALL, exclaiming
that " blood was thicker than water," sent aid
to our distressed crews in the disastrous business
of the Taku Forts. Let us cherish such develop-
ments of the better feelings on both sides, and for-
get our mutual taunts, and provocations.

With what a light and delicate hand Mr. LAYARD
touches on all the great questions of the day !
His constituents don't get much out of him in re-
gard to any one of them it is true—but they do
get something. Ex. gr.—Referring to the anxiety
for some time prevalent as to the precarious state
of our relations with the Chinese—" It was his con-
viction," said Mr. LAYARD, "that we never were
further from a war with the Chinese than at the
present moment." Alluding to the tremendous
civil war still, and so long, raging on the other
side of the Atlantic—" He believed the policy
pursued by the Government on this question,"
quoth Mr. LAYARD, " had pretty well need the
unanimous approval of the country." Comment-
ing upon the great European difficulty— thus
spake the hon. member for Norwich to his South-
wark constituency, " He trusted the French occu-
pation of Rome would soon be terminated."
Glancing onwards to the new European difficulty
that has very recently sprung up a little further
away there to the east, the Under-Secretary for
Foreign Affairs thus threw a flood of
light upon that dark portion of our diplo-
macy "In the affairs of Greece her
Majesty's Government did not wish to inter-
fere." Nay, he went even a little further and
added—{We knew it all perfectly well beforehand,
it is true—but no matter of that ! Here it is all
over again from the lips of the Under-Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs, the alter ego or re-
presentative of the Earl RUSSELL}—" They (her
ivrajesty'm Government) had accepted the revolu-
tion, and had gone a step further. If the Greeks
promised to govern themselves as a constitutional
nation, and to respect their engagements, the Eng-
lish Government were willing to give them up
the lonian Islands, but it must be evident that they
could not give them up the lonian Islands while
Greece had been ill-governed." Not a syllable about
Prince ALFRED, observe! But then, it is true, that,
under the circumstances, was by far too important
and delicate a subject to be touching upon even by
so gingerly-stepping an Under Secretary. The
"Dangerous" part of the ice therefore is dexterously
evaded and adroitly skimmed round until the nimble
skater over the frozen topics of European Diplomacy
can feel a more solid congelation under his keen-
shod and mettlesome feet, and can go careering
off in a showy attitude such as that " struck" by
him anent that old familiar theme of diplomatists,
the situation of Turkey in respect to Christendom !
" He did not wish to give the Turk more than the
Christian, but he would give him as much. He did
not think that because a Turk believed in MAHOMET
they should treat him with injustice. They should
maintain the policy of non-intervention in Turkey
as elsewhere." Turning his regard to the past, he
had a flourish of exultation to indulge in in respect
to the Commercial Treaty with France. Scruti-
nising the present, he eulogised the long-suffering,
famine-threatened artisans of Lancashire. Looking
onward to the future, he evidently cherished the con-
viction at heart of an approaching triumph over all
coming antagonists of the Great Liberal Party, as
now led and championed by our veteran Premier,
Lord PALMERSTON. Altogether the speech delivered
yesterday by Mr. LAYARD, to a large gathering
of his transpontine constituents, was about as super-
ficial and as amusingly evasive of anything bearing
the shadowy semblance of a Ministerial revela-
tion, as a political address could well be. If
constituencies can be so amused by the hour, well
and good—that is purely a matter for their own
consideration. So think not the electors of Roch-
dale and Birmingham, however, judging from the
bold, and earnest, and comprehensive, and search-.
ing harrangues addressed to the pick of them re-
cently by their respective representatives.

" Down in Dorsetshire"—all among the farmers
—at Blandford, a borough to be sure, for the sake
of his Grace the Marlborough, but one much easier
for the traveller to find on hi 4 map, t han on the land
itself,—in thin out of the world place and county,
politicians have been talking politics. Of course
the two county members the Hon. W. H. PORT-
MAN, and Mr. H. KER SEYMER, were th© chief
performers. The well known 5.G.0., however, took
a part, and our district also contributed the poli-
tical dessert in the shape of another PORTMAN, the
member for East Middlesex. It was of course a
meeting of the Blandford Agricultural Society, and
greatcoats,distributedto thet
othenumber ismietn saidwho
of
had
one
beengreat
hundredret
5t ploughing, mowing, thatching,
Ipurst::
ts Of apiculture.and other peace-
ful
Some of the coats, we
are also told, werd " Premiums for long servi-
tude." Well that Mr. WALTiZI% NYW3 not there to

prove thL%t neither master nor man merited a pre-
mium for sticking to each other, if the one paid
well and the other worked well. Perhaps the man
who best deserves a prize for " long servitude" is
the man who has a bad-tempered master, and yet
contents himself to serve him patiently and well.
Should not the complement to a testimonial for this
prize be another testimonial to the character of the
master ? Good service under difficulties is that
which surely ought to gain the first prize.
Mr. COBDEN does not appear to have delivered
his admirable address at Midhurst in vain; it was
meant as an elementary lesson on the North and
its manufacturers to the
.Midhurst rustics of high
and low degree there, and is incomparably the best
little hand-book we have yet seen for the agricul-
tural mind. The member for Dorsetshire had
learned from it that the great body of manufacturers
were not in a position to do more than they had
done. It is now easily understood why the mill-
owners cannot afford the rates themselves which
they have to pay. It is by this time apparent to
even county members, that a manufacturer whose
property is almost wholly invested in mills and ma-
chinery, can have nothing to spare when those mills
produce him less than nothing ; being, in fact, in
the position of a farm which had to pay rent, rates,
and tithes, although it might have been smitten
with complete barrenness. It is pleasing to see
that Dorsetshire and Manchester, at last, are likely
to understand each other, and not less so that the
understanding is to be one begun by the benevo-
lence of the South towards the distressed of the
North:

Dorsetshire appears to be orthodox on the Greek
question, its faith was expounded with applause by
one of its members ; it is that we feel very much
complimented by the wish of the Greeks to have
our Prince, but that he is far better off " as mid-
shipman on board one of his mother's ships than he
would be as King of GREECE." Poor Mr. BRIGHT
came in for severe censure, tempered, however, with
the pity all Englishmen feel for a disap-
pointed man. He had had the misfortune
to see his pet land of Democracy overwhelmed by
the crash of its institutions, hence he must be for-
given for indulging in the Pickwickian pleasure of
letting them know a bit of his mind about aristo-
cratic institutions, patronage, State churches, and
all the old world inequalities and grievances. His
American hobby had broken down, and poor Mr.
BRIGHT had lost his temper. We may safely leave
it to Mr. BRIGHT to put himself right with the
hon. members for Dorsetshire next session. They
may look out for a hard backhander.
Mr. KER SEYMER has been travelling in Italy,
and told the sons of the soil somewhat of his expe-
rience there. He seemed anxious to justify him-
self, as a Conservative, for supporting revolu-
tion in Italy. But he did so, very efficiently,
she wing that Italy, after a sleep of cen-
turies was only awakening to demand those
liberties which Conservatives here would be the last
to surrender. Mr. SEYMER was surprised to find
that the inhabitants perfectly understood the ques-
tion of the " temporal power ;" and that while
warmly attached to their religion, they considered
the POPE'S temporal power an injury rather
than a benefit to it. They contended earnestly
for his spiritual power, but "saw no reason
why he should misgovern some hundred of thou-
sands of Italians." Perhaps Mr. KER SEYMER
will now appreciate the clear understanding which
English Dissenters have on the subject of the tem-
poral power" of the English Church. He may
cease to wonder that they can clearly distinguish
between Bishops as spiritual persons, and their
mischievous power as Legislators, on any liberal
question on which they think it worth while to
give their votes. There are, we can assure him,
" temporalities" in England, quite as objectionable
to half his fellow Englishmen, as the POPE'S tem-
poralities are to the Italians.

THE AMERICAN BLOCKADE.—NEW YORK, Dec. 9.
—The schooners Emma Tuttle, Levi Rowe, J. C. Roker,
and Brilliant, of Nassau, were captured by the blockading
squadron, off Wilmington, on the 3d inst. The schooner
Ariel, of Boston, and the Anna Maria, of Nassau, in at-
tempting to run the blockade, were run ashore off Little
Run, South Carolina, to prevent them from falling into
the hands of the Federhls. The Memphis (steamer), cap-
tured on tho Slat June, and, the Elizabeth (steamer;, cap-
tured on the 31st May, off Charleston harbour, have been
condemned and their cargoes forfeited.

EAST KENT ELECTION.—Sir Norton Knatchbull,
Bart., addressed a meeting of the electors at the Town-hall,
Dover, yesterday afternoon. He replied to the principal
arguments levied against him by Sir Ed. Dering at meetings
throughout the country, professed his adherence to Church
and State, and the Queen's Government, as distinguished
from that termed Lord Palmerstsn's ; his advocacy of the
national expenditure for sterling worth and progressive im-
provement, and his deep sympathy with the Lancashire dis-
tress, and admiration of Lord Derby's conduct as compared
with Lord Palmerston's. The only clues. ion put was re-
specting the Maynooth grant, for which he would vote the
abolition. A vote of confidence was accorded, with one dis-
sentient, on the motion of S. Wood, Esq.

ANOTHER CRINOLINE FATALlTY.—Yesterday
morning a young woman named Caroline Evans, residing
in Bermondsey-street, had just lighted the fire, and was
turning round, when her dress, which was extended by
crinoline, came in contact with the flames, and was ignited.
Her screams brought assistance, but in spite of it the whole
of her dress was consumed, and her person fearfully burned.
She was conveyed to Guy's Hospital, but expired shortly
after her admission.

POSTMAN DROWNED.—On Friday morning the
body of Wm. Howell, postman from St. John's to Alfrick,
was found drowned in the river Teme at Powick Mill. The
deceased was on duty as usual on Thursday, and about a
quarter to 7 o'clock he called at Mr. Willis's, of Wick, on
his return journey, but not reaching home at the usual
time inquiries were instituted, and on the following morn-
ing his hat was found in the river, On a further search
being made his body, with the mail-bags strapped to it,
was discovered in the mill pond. It is supposed that the
unfortunate man, through the darkness of the night,missed
his way, fell into the river, and was drowned.—Birming•
ham Gazette.

EFFECTS OF THE WAR.—In Southern Indiana,
Southern and Central Illinois, the greater portion of lowa,
and all of Missouri, agricultural produce is worth next to
nothing; while all over the West, the prices of cloth, of
sugar, of molasses, of salt, of iron—all the great necessaries
of farm and household economy, save only breadstuffs and
meat for man and food for animals—have in some cases
doubled, mothers quadrupled in price. In the localities that
we have mentioned a buihel and a half of corn will buy but
a pound of sugar, and three bushels of corn, or a bushel
of wheat, only equal in market value a pound of common
coffee. Cotton cloths and coarse woollen fabrics—articles
wholly indispensable among farmers—are sold at enormous
figures. In large districts of the country the bushel of
wheat that wculd once buy six yards of coarse muslin is
now paid for a yard and a half of the same goods. While
this is true of merchandise, the prices of labour have in-
creased so enormously that on thousands of farms the grown
corn crop is not worth the bare cost of gathering and pre-
paring it for a market. And, in addition to these disabilities
under which the farmers labour, increased taxes are a cer-
tainty that no power can ward off.—Chicago Trzbune.
DEATH OF THE EARL OF GIFFoRD.--We have to
record the death of the Earl of Gifford, which took place
yesterday morning at Dufferin-lodge, Highgate, after a
protracted illness.

HIGHLAND BURYING PLACES.—An English ar-
tist writing about the Highlands describes a lonely church-
yard in an island on Loch-Awe. The island, he says, had
been inhabited before, long ago, by a convent of
Cistercian nuns. They were turned out at the Reformation,
and their poor little chapel has been left for the winds to
sing in ever since. Not many stones are left of it now, and
its fundations lie low amongst the moss-covered tombs of the
old chieftains. But the people bring their dead here yet, and
lay them under the shadow of their broken walls, so that
the island is a land of death, of utter repose and peace. Was
it not well in barbarous mutineers to bury their dead in
lonely isles, where the foot of the marauder trampled not the
grass on the grave, and where living came not, save in sor-
row, and reverentially ? The mainland was for the living to
fight upon, to hunt upon, and to dwell upon ; but this green
isle was the Silent Land, the Island of the Blest. Hither
the chieftains came, generation after generation, borne
solemnly across the waters from their castled isles ; hither
they came to this defenceless one, where they still sleep
securely, when their strongholds are roofless ruins; their
claymores dissolved in rust; their broadlands that they
foughtscenda forn ts saelnl
tthienitro lievxeisl,e sotoldmaalde
aresdoelsde; anrtfdort
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