The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-15 00:00:00

" The financial system devised by the wisdom of
Your predecessors has proved adequate to supply
all the wants of the Government notwithstanding
the unexpected and very large increase of expendi-
ture resulting in a great augmentation in the
necessary means of defence.
The report of the Secretary of the Treasury well
exhibit the gratifying fact that we have no floating
debt ; that the credit of the Government is unim-
paired, and that the total expenditure of the Go-
vernment for the year has been, in round numbers,
175,000,000 dols., less than one-third of the sum
Wasted by the enemy in his vain attempt to con-
quer us ; less than the value of a single article of
export, the cotton crop of the year.
" The report of the Postmaster-General will show
the condition of that department to be steadily im-
proving, its revenues increasing, and already afford-
ing assurances that it will be self•snstained at the
date required by the Constitution, while affording
ample mail facilities for the people.
" In the department of Justice, which includes
the Patent-office and Public Printing, some legis-
lative provisions will be required, which will be
specifically stated in the report of the head of that
department.
"I invite the attention of Congress to the duty of
organising a Supreme Court of the Confederate
States, in accordance with the mandate of the Con-
stitution.

" I refer you to my Message, communicated to
the Provisional Congress in November last, for such
farther information touching the condition of
Public affairs as it might be useful to lay before
Vu, the short interval which has elapsed since not
ying produced any material changes in that con-
dition other than those to which reference has
already been made.
"In conclusion, I cordially welcome the Repro-
Eentatives, who, recently chosen by the people, are
fully imbued with their views and feelings, and
can so ably devise means to the needful provisions
for the public service. I assure you of my hearty
co-operation in all your efforts for the common
Welfare of the country.
(Signed) " JEFFERSON DAVIS."

At the head police office, Dublin, on Thursday,
f°l4' womeNinmates of the South Dublin Workhouse, were
charged with having attempted to burn the workhouse last
Week. The prisoners were committed for trial.
WAKEFIELD ELECTION PETITION.—Our Wake-
field correspondent states that a petition was forwarded to London yesterday from the Liberals of that borough, who
Pray that Sir John Hay may be unseated. The petition
alleges bribery, treating, and undue influences.
VOYAGES OF THE GREAT BRITAIN STEAMSHIP.
Melbourne
Great Britain is advertised to sail from Liverpool for
41elbourne on the 16th of May, and this induces the reflec-
ticn that it is only due to the spirited exertions of her
grivners to call public attention to the passages of this ex-
traordinary vessel. To the Great Britain must be traced
the first practical application, on a large scale, of steam
11.!Qc1 as a secondary, and not as the principal motive power
'4
a vessel ; and the remarkable regularity of her pas-
sages sufficiently proves that such an adaptation can
alone accomplish a voyage of upwards of 13,000 miles,
4 a moderate length of time and at no exces-
lve ell:le/Ise. Going back to 1858 we see that her passage
ont in November was made in 64 days ; home in 67. The
succeeding passage in 57 days out, and 62 days home. The
17,,e1t Passage was 62 days out and 68 days home. The fol-
jag passage 63 days out and 66 home. The last Aus-
tralianmail announced her arrival out in 63 days; and she
telegraphed as having left, a full ship, on the 13th of
111141'Y, but as she was coming round the Cape of Good
I,)Pe her passage most likely may be prolonged a few days.
Qa result of three years' passages thus clearly demon-
strates that the use of steam as an auxiliary enables the
length of the voyage to be reckoned upon with certainty,
Within a day or two, and contrasts favourably with the nn-
certala and often protracted passages of the merely sailing
vessel,

pa's lsiT IN PARIS.-" The Lent season," says a
li letter, 4g turns out to be more pleasant than the
Vinter, on account of the more rational style of enter-
taining and of dressing that it brings with it. In the reli-
'l
,"18 World indulgences are proclaimed at St. Roeh, musical
ses
Illos
to chanted at St. Eustache, and pilgrimages enjoined
a ....a QJ of the_ eitv insanine
church close to the Luxembourg. Any one who walks
°l* drives there and pays a franc for this ill-executed piece
°I art, in the immediate vicinity of Delacroix's glorious
frescoes, obtains for his soul the benefits which a visit, under•
taken of course with pious intentions, to the Holy Sepul-
chre, would confer on it. In the salons of the Duchess
Trevose and the Princess Galitzin, chess-playing is resorted
to about twice a week. In other hotels litanies are said for
the success of the Pope, the Ring and Queen of Naples,
and the destruction of all the enemies of the church. The
same thing takes place in nearly all the Roman Catholic
churches. In the English Episcopal chapels there are Lent
lectures once a week, and seven times in one in the imme-
diate neighbourhood of the Madeleine, whfch is an humble
imitation of St. Barnabas, Pimlico, but which is just as
well attended by ladies at a loss for some means of passing
their time. The Empress listens once a week to the exhor-
tations of a Dominican friar, and spends the rest of the
Week in giving concerts and matinees. The Princess Clo-
tilde is constant in her attendance at her oratory. But she
does not look more serious than anybody else when driving
a little pony pbtaton of wicker work in the Bois de Bou-
logne, every morning, from nine till eleven o'clock."

A HULL SHIP SEIZED BY AN AMERICAN CRUISER.
`-The American news contains an account cf the capture of
the Labuan British screw steamer (owned at Hull), of
1,200 tons burden, while lying at Matamoras—and, it is
alleged, clearly in Mexican waters—by the United States
ship-of-war Portsmouth. The vessel has been sent to the
North for adjudication, and the captain was detained as a
Inisoner. The Lauban left this country with an ordinary
earge, comprising no warlike materials of any kind, and
was loading with cotton at Matamoras, on account of a
Manchester house, for her return voyage. The charge
against her, and which is believed to be entirely unfounded,
1.8 that she had landed ordnance stores at Matamoras, but
It u 3 to understand how even that plea can cover a
111-zure by an American vessel at a Mexican port. The
4., 13 Island correspondent of the New York Times says
that " the capture was so clearly the result of an unfortunate
mistake, that the delivery of the vessel to the English
authorities and the payment of a heavy bill of costs by the
United States Government are regarded as almost certain."

EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF BITROLARY.—Liver-
Pool (says the Mercury of that town) is evidently infested
at present by a gang of daring burglars. Whether the
steeplechase had anything to do with bringing these gentry
to the good old town we cannot say, but it is clear there
are some adepts in their profession prowling about seeking
*bora they may plunder. On Wednesday evening last Mr.
Samuel Thorneley, of Lord-street, who resides at No. 31,
Edge-lane, looked, as usual, before retiring for the night at
the fastenings of the house, and found them all safe.
The following morning, about 2 o'clock, he and the other
hlmates of the house were aroused from their slumbers by a
'violent crash and noise. Jumping from their beds, they
called out "Who is there ?" but received no answer, and
/fore
young Mr. Thorneley could dress himself the thieves
From
got clear off, taking with them, however, no plunder.
a careful examination of the premises there is little
doubt
that the burglars first made an attempt to enter the
house from the back. They had broken the sash of the
pantry window and forced open the window. In conse-
quence of the stancheons, which prevented any large aper-
ture, it is supposed that, as is often done in such cases, a
child
had been lifted in at the window, in the hope that
Frwould be able to open the door from the inside.
jere
t the pantry the child must have got into
'Le butler's pantry, the window shutter of which
Was fastened with bolts and cotters. Although ho
I;27coved the cotters, still the child could not get out of the
close,
pantry, as the stancheons in the window were too
1,()8e) and there was no getting through the door, as the
13,4-18,itetlernner:ibs_g_was on the other side. The child was in this
dilemma
he could not get into the house through the
pantry, and the window in the other pantry being
high from the ground he could not get back again the
Way he came, and no man outside could push his arm far
enough in to be of service in assisting him out of the trap
into which he had been forced, much to the annoyance, no
doubt, of the leaders of the gang, who were waiting for ad-
144en• Under these circumstances, there was only one
''.eaPerate alternative. To have allowed the child to remain
14
,the Pantry till morning must have led to certain
detection,. and therefore the thieves appear to have deter-
mined, at all hazards, to rescue the child. Going round to
thie
hall window, they with s me powerful instrument
forced iu one-fourth of the window frame, broiling the
glass, smashing the shutters, and bursting open the fasten-
nge• It must have been the crash when this was done that
aroused the inmates. The thieves made their way at once
, • the butler's pantry, and, not noticing the fastening,
buret the door open, and so liberated the child. Whether
they took their departure by the way they entered or
c,i,lrough the front door is not known, but they got clear off.
'")1140 of the gang must have been severely cut, for on exa-
mining the ball window the remaining panes and'sill of the
'Window were found to besprinkled with blood. The police
on the alert.