The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-26 00:00:00

--ble badge of honour
-4 Englishmen
"nscious

among all ranks and classes
indiscriminately. We are perfectly e,
that the Victoria Cross and the Star of the Legt,'ll
of Honour are not by any means identical in their
significance. The Star of the Legion of Honour is
not, as is undoubtedly the case in regard to
the Victoria Cross, a symbol of heroism exclusively
—it is a token of merit of every kind and
description whatsoever, the merit of distinguished
gallantry, of course, inclusively. Aware of this
distinction between the two glorious orders, we
would only argue that the system regulating the
distribution of the Victoria Cross should be par-
tially assimilated to that established at the foun-
dation of the Legion of Honour by its immortal
originator, NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. Enough will
have been said in explanation of our meaning here
if we remark in conclusion, that we should
gladly recognise the award of the Victoria
Cross to one or two of those dauntless fellows who,
day and night, toiled, at the imminent peril of their
own lives, with a view to carrying of relief, if that
might have been in any way practicable, to 200 of
their entombed fellow-creatures—toiled day and
night to this end, suspended in the air over a hide-
ous and pestilential abyss (we all remember it !)
down at the Hartley Colliery.

Heartily glad are we that last evening the House
of Commons had a beginning and end of Mr.
COWPER'S absurd project fora sunken road besetting
Kennsington Gardens. Every one whe spoke about
it yesterday, except the hon. gentleman himself,
went dead against it. The honourable baronet
the member for Finsbury had already, at a
previous sitting, distinctly and positively
assured the House that the carrying out
of the proposed enterprise within the period of the
two short months now left for its accomplishment
was literally impracticable. And everybody felt,
when that assurance was given, that Sir
MORTON PETO spoke authoritatively upon a
subject of that kind, spoke from the fullness
of his own knowledge and from the amplitude
of his own practical experience. Before ever the
Chief Commissioner opened his lips last evening in
explanation of his particularly ridiculous project,
everybody there in the House felt certain that the
pet plan of Mr. CowPER must, if forced
upon the House for its acceptance or rejec-
tion,' be inevitably rejected. One after
another, those who took part in the discussion
yesterday, spoke directly against the bill of the Chief
Commissioner. ; The Conservative ex-Chief Com-
missioner was entirely opposed to it. The member
for North Licolnshire (Mr. STANHOPE BANKS) was
the same. The Prime Minister himself, if he can be
said to have given the project of his righ thou. col-
league any support at all, must certainly be allowed
to have done so in the most chilling and left-handed
manner well imaginable. Besides which, there
were two of the metropolitan members, who—
as admirably well became them—inveighed
against the scheme of the Chief Commis-
sioner as in many ways barbarous and
reprehensive. The hon. baronet the member
for Westminster was one. The noble lord the mem-
ber for Marylebone was the other. According to
the but half complimentary acknowledgment of Mr.
COWPER yesterday, when consenting at last to
withdraw the bill upon the very evening
set apart for its first reading—it was the
opposition, not of Sir JOHN SHELLEY, however
so much as it was the opposition of Lord FERMOY
that decided him in arriving at that determination.
Likening himself to a camel, Mr. COWPER, with a
clumsy facetiousness, said that Lord FERMOY
had broken his back—we may presume the
backbone of his 'project, —as by the
last feather. No matter how the back of it has
been broken, it has been broken. That is enough
for us. So that we shall henceforth hear no more
of this last new " COWPER'S Folly" dawn at Ken-
sington Gardens, any more than we trust we shall
hear any more this ensuing season about that old
" COWPER'S Folly" there—the Horse Ride.

OSBORNE, Feb. 25.—The Queen, with Princess
Helena, attended by Viscountess Jocelyn and Major-Gen.
Seymour, drove out yesterday afternoon.
The Lord Chancellor and Lady Westbury enter-
tained a select circle at dinner last evening at their resi-
dence in Belgrave-square.
The Earl and Countess Stanhope will come to
town to-day from visiting the Earl and Countess of Car-
narvon at Highclere House, Somersetshire.
Viscount and Viscountess Castlerosse have re-
turned to town from Manthara Court, Worthing.

Lord and Lady Harry Vane arrived in town a
few days since from their seat in Sussex for the season.

Lady Jane Lovett was safely delivered of a
daughter on Monday, at her residence in Chesham-street.

The Speaker will give his third full-dress dinner
party this evening at Westminster Palace.
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRIN CE ALFRED.—A tele-
gram was received from Queenstown yesterday afternoon,
which announces the safe arrival of H.M.S. St. George,
Capt. the Hon. Francis Egerton, from Bermuda, having on
board H.R.H. Prince Alfred. The Prince was quite well,
and it was expected that ho would disembark and proceed
by way of Kingstown and Holyhead to join her Majesty
and the Royal family at Osborne.
THE HEAD-MASTERSHIP OF ETON.—We have
reason to believe that the Head-Mastership of Eton has
been conferred on the Rev. E. Balaton, Fellow of Eton Col-
lege, and one of the Assistant Masters of the school. Mr.
Balaton was Davies's University Scholar in 1839, and
Brawne's Medallist in 1838 and 1839.

GRIMSBY ELECTION.—This borough, which has
obtained an unenviable notoriety by the barbarous deels
perpetrated on the day of the recent election, is likely to be
rendered more notorious. The property destroyed by the
mob has been valued, and is said to have been worth £750.
The work of restoration is now going on in the hotel,
There is much discussion as from what source the expenses
are to come—the county, or the hundred of Bradley-
Faverstoe--most probably the latter. The names of many
of the ringleaders in the riot are known to the authorities,
who are busy collecting evidence to bring them to jus-
tice. Some of them are said to move in high
life. During the early part of the week rumours were afloat
that Mr. Heneage and his friends were taking their prelimi-
nary steps to unseat Mr. Chapman, on the ground of
bribery and intimidation. These rumours are now proved
to be facts. Already several voters have been hurriedly
summoned to London, to be examined as to their having
been bribed.

SHIPWRECKS.—GREAT YARMOUTH, Feb. 25.
Yesterday and to-day a large quantity of goods, consisting
of apples, flax, cloth, wine, &c., has been picked up in these
roads, or washed ashore, supposed to have formed part of
the cargo of some unfortunate vessel, believed to have been
lost, with all hands, during hazy weather on Sunday,
while endeavouring to thread dangerous sandbanks which
beset the navigation off this coast. The following is a list
of the articles entered up to the present at the office of the
receiver of wrecks :—Two cases of cloth, marked H. and C.
and numbered 2 and 28 respectively ; two cases of wine,
marked F. W. H., No. 3; one baleworsted, IV. 8., 877; 10
casks apples, marked with a diamond and P ; 40 boxes can-
dles, marked S ; 11 bales flax, M. and C., four of which are
numbered 5,253, 5,247, 5,240, and 5,230. Besides these
there has been a large quantity of loose apples, flax, candles,
&c. Nothing is yet known of the vessel ; but as no pieces
of the wreck have been found it is inferred that she was an
iron steamer from one of the Channel Islands for Hull.
Another vessel, the schooner Elizabeth Ann, of Jersey,
from Burriana for Hull, with oranges, was totally lost on
the Hasborough Sands on Thursday afternoon last; the
crew and part of the cargo were saved.
THE NEW IRISH TAXING MASTER.—The Lords
of the Treasury having yielded to the requirement of
the Incorporated Law Society, and the profession gene-
rally, that the vacant office of taxing master should be
filled, the appointment was referred to the Lord Chan-
cellor, in whose gift the office is. His lordship lost no time
in the discharge of his duty. We understand he has ap
pointed David Coffey, Esq., or, as we may now describe
him, with the honourable prefix, " Master Coffey." We
may observe that Government had nothing whatever to
do with the appointment. When they resolved the office
should bo filled, they were functi officio. The appointment
is exclusively the Lord Chancellor's. Hereafter a question
will arise whether the business may not be effectively and
economically conducted by two, instead of three, taxing
officers. The Government, in consenting that the vao ineY
should be filled, reserved the future right of dispensing with
the third taxing master.—Freeman's Journal.

LATEST NEWS.

THE PRIVATEER SUMTER.

MADRID, FEB. 25.

The captain of the Sumter has been arrested at
Tangier at the instance of the American Consul at
Gibraltar and of the commander of the Tuscarora,
who went for that purpose to Tangier.

FRANCE.

PARIS, FEB. 25.

In the Senate to-day the discussion on the Ad-
dress was continued. Prince Napoleon protested
against the expressions used by M. de Boissy. He
said—

"In the Senate the standard of the younger
branch has been raised in opposition to that of the
older branch. I protested last year against similar
insinuations. I now repeat that I wish to defend
the constitutional and liberal Empire. That Empire
can endure liberty, but liberty must take its course
in the order established by our Constitution.
(Applause.) It is possible that others forget this,
but I, who remembered it when Napoleon was a
prisoner or in exile, shall remember it all the better
now when my duties attach me to the Emperor and
to his son, and that those duties agreed with a de-
votion of ancient date and an affection which will
never change. (Loud and prolonged applause.)
Against the insinuations that have been thrown
out against myself personally, I have determined to
answer them only by contempt."
M. Charles Dupin and Cardinals Morlot and
Mathieu, with Count Segur d'Aguesseau, defended
the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
M. Billault explained the measures taken were
owing to the enormous influence of the society,
which was not a French institution, having a repre-
sentative at Rome, and which had refused to accept
as its President a great dignitary of the Church,
who was at the same time a high functionary of
State. The Government could not tolerate a secret
power. The speaker dwelt upon the danger of re-
ligious excitement and upon the difficulty of Church
and State existing peacefully together. If the
Government were disposed to satisfy not merely the
rights, but the tendencies of religious minds, it was
equally decided to defend energetically the rights
of the State. (Much applause.)
The second paragraph of the Address was
adopted.

The debate will be continued to-morrow.

The emotion created in Paris by the letter of the
Emperor to General Montauban, and by the speech
of Prince Napoleon in the Senate, is increasing rather
than subsiding. The Constitutionnel endeavours to
calm the public mind. In its first leader of this
day it says :—" The spectacle which we have wit-
nessed during the last few days will, we are con-
vinced of it, bring with it a good warning. Violent
outbursts, no matter from which quarter they
come, are never good, and they are more inopportune
than ever under a government the chief ambition of
which is to go hand in hand with the wishes of the
nation. The power of the Imperial dynasty
consists in this : it is at the same time the in-
vincible barrier to the resurrection of the old regime
and to the enterprises of demagogy. The Empire
is revolution turned into order; it has rightly been
styled so for a long time ; it is modern society
itself, and it has the extraordinary good fortune to
possess as a second ifounder a political genius who
has known how to earn the admiration of Europe.
Personifying all the great principles which are the
soul of France, and avoiding equally all extremes,
the Emperor is Catholic without being Ultra-
montane, a Conservative without being a reac-
tionist, a Liberal without falling into revolution.
What signifies, then, the programme of a news-
paper or the words of a speaker? Does not the poli-
tical programme of France stand forth in brilliant
characters? Is it not manifest to all beholders? And
what other programme could be compared to this
one, magnanimous as it is wise, so often, and
always so eloquently described by the Emperor
himself ? One day the Emperor said—, Wherever
the flag of France is unfurled nations know that a
great cause precedes it, and that a great people
follow it.' And again—' Faithful to my origin, I
cannot regard the prerogatives of the Crown either
as a sacred deposit that no one dare touch, or as an
inheritance from my ancesters, which must be, above
all things, transmitted intact to my son. The elect

of the people, representing its interests, I am always
willing to abandon, without regret, any prerogative
useless to the public welfare.' How many more
noble words might we not quote, all emanating
from that patriotic heart which beats in time
with the heart of France. Have acts, even for a
moment, ceased to respond to spontaneous pro-
mises P Have we not beheld, without going fur-
ther back than two years, the powers of the great
bodies of the State increased, the liberty of the
press extended, the centres of the working popula-

tions improved and rendered healthy, the rural
population admitted to the participation of the

benefits of a political system which has no distinc-
tion of caste or party, and only considers the

French people ?

Have we not, in a word

the nation more honoured and influential
abroad, and gaining daily in strength and liberty
at home ? When we recall so many and useful
acts, is an attempt now to be made to disavow
and deny them ? No; but the violent discus-
sions of the last few days might engender
doubts in some unreflecting minds. The truth is,
that never, at any time, did a more complete har-
mony exist between the Government and the great
bodies of the State. Despite outbursts of a purely
personal character, the spirit of our assemblies re-
mains the same ; this was visible yesterday in the
sitting of the Senate. One speaker went so far as to
make conditions for his support. The protestation
was not long forthcoming, and when Baron de Riche
mond declared that 10,000,000 of electors who had
placed Napoleon 111. upon the throne had con-
secrated by their votes an absolute inheritance
without conditions or restrictions,' the Senate
hailed the statement with the warmest applause. It
would also be a strange illusion to suppose that the
manner in which the proposed dotation to the Count
of Palikao has been looked upon by some benches
of the Chamber is anything else than a legal scruple
or a view to economy. The Legislative Body has
given too many proofs of intelligent devotion to the
Government of the Emperor, to the army, and to
the people not to remain faithful to its wisdom and
patriotism. Thus, as we have already observed, the
excitement of the last few days will be a wholesome
lesson. Personalities will only once more have
shown what unchangeable confidence exists between
the Government of the Emperor, the great bodies
of the State, and the country,"
BOURSE, Feb. 25.—The market opened rather
lower than the closing rates of yesterday, but after
a time prices improved. Threes, for the Account,
are now at 70f. 30c. Railway Share Market quiet,
but pretty firm.
The following are the last quotations :-
4i per per Cents ... 100 40 Credit Fonder 1385
Do. end month.... 100 651 Belgian 4f
3 per Cents
Do. end month 7O 60) Roman
Bank Shares 3100 Austrian
Credit Mobilier.... 757 50 Spanish Threes —
Do. Account 766 25 I Home Debt
RAILWAYS.

Cash. Account.
Orleans 1385 .. 1387 50
Northern
New ditto .. 947 50 ..
Lyons and Mediterranean 1088 75 .. 1085
Geneva..
Southern
Western
Eastern • ........ , 591 25 .. 592 50
Sardinian
Austrian .....
Lotrburd

Exchange on London, at sight, paper, 25f. 161 c: ; money,
25f. 14c. ; three months,spaper, 25f. ; money, 24f, 971 c.

WAKEFIELD ELECTION.—On Saturday a meet-
ing of non-electors was held in the Music Saloon. Mr. B.
Preston occupied the chair, The meeting throughout was
of a unanimous and enthusiastic character. Sir J. Hay has
hitherto declined to meet the non-electors, and the speakers
very freely declared that his disinclination to meet them
arose from his knowledge that they would reject him. Two
resolutions were passed. One expressed•satisfaction at the
restoration of political privileges to Wakefield, and de-
claring Mr. Smethurst to be a fit and proper person to re-
present the borough—the other pledged those present to
use all legitimate means in their power to secure that gen-
tleman's triumphant return. The nomination of candi-
dates will take place to-day.