The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 8, 1865.

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 1865.

It might naturally have been expected from the
activity recently shown by the opponents to the
Malt Tax that many weeks would not be suffered
to pass without their making some demonstration
within the walls of Parliament. Accordingly, last
evening Sir FITZROY KELLY moved a resolution,
" That, in any future remission of indirect taxation,
this House should take into consideration the duty
on malt, with a view to its early reduction and ulti-
mate repeal." The House, however, after a length-
ened debate, arrived at an opposite conclu-
sion, and by a majority of 80 refused to put
the question. Sir F. KELLY cannot complain
that his motion did not obtain a fair hearing,
or that it was disposed of by a thin house, for
more than four hundred members mustered at the
division, and the discussion occupied the whole
evening. The speakers on both sides expressed
themselves with moderation and brought forward
their arguments fairly enough, but the greater part
of the speech-making was left to the opponents of
the tax, who might console themselves for the ill
success of their motion by the public expression of
their sentiments. They had certainly a good case
to bring forward end it was entrusted to able hands.
Sir FITZROY KELLY, who occupied the chair at the
late great out-of-door meeting, moved the resolu-
tions, and, of course, set them in the best possible
light. He was followed by another speaker of no
insignificant position, Sir BULWER LITTON,
who naturally espoused the cause of the
agriculturists, and brought the artillery of his
powerful logic to bear against the immovable au-
thorities of the Exchequer. Mr. Du CANE, whose
name is favourably known in debate, came in to
support his leaders, and, after several other inter-
vening speakers, Mr. HENLEY wound up the dis-
cussion by a brief and straightforward address.
On the other side, the Government were contented
to entrust their defence principally to Mr. MILNER
GIBSON, but the reasons which he alleged were suf-
ficiently powerful to influence the house. On the
part of the Opposition it was argued, with some
plausibility, that the repeal or at least the reduction
of the Malt-tax, was justly to be expected from the
other remissions, and Sir B. LYTTON contended that
it was in fact a logical consequence of the repeal of
the corn laws. The mover of the resolutions wisely
enough refrained from asking for immediate repeal,
but ingeniously framed his motion so as to include
many supporters who might be averse to a
sweeping change. Sir BeLWER LITTON in
his vigorous address especially dwelt upon this
point, and argued that since the farmers paid their
- share of that income tax which was avowedly levied
for the sake of establishing free trade, they had a
right to some share of its benefits in the reduction
of this obnoxious duty, But he said it was asked,
" How can you expect us to repeal all at once a
duty that yields £6,000,000 a year? A mere re-
- duction would not satisfy the agitators, and would
not get rid of the exciseman." " Reasoners of this
kind," continued the right hon. baronet, " sum up
by saying, since we cannot give you all we will
give you nothing. But is that the way in which
Reformers deal with reforms ? And is that the
way in which we ought to rest and be thankful ?
Why every abuse would last to the end of time

if one party did not concede something, and
the other party did not accept a something as an
instalment of the whole demand." This is true
enough and the anti-malt tax agitators have shown
wisdom and moderation in not asking too much. As
we have before said, if no contingency should alter
the position of affairs during the year their claims
may fairly be taken into consideration next session,
when a partial reduction of the tax may with all
justice be granted them. But however much so
large a duty may be opposed to the spirit of our
commercial legislation, and .however described, it
may be that no one class should have to complain
of a long standing and unredressed grievance,
we very much fear that when the long
wished for day arrives, and the burden of
the malt tax is lightened, if not totally removed,
that the farmers will find their expectations disap-
pointed. Mr. MILNER GIBSON very pertinently
asked how it would be possible to secure to the far-
mer of barley land the advantages of the repeal.
" Is it not obvious," says the President of the Board
of Trade, "if the profit of any particular kind of
agriculture were greater than the profit upon the
general kind of agriculture that competition would
force down the profit, and the excess would go to
the landlord in the shape of rent ? The advantage
to the farmer must be temporary, because if the
profit of the barley lands increased new tenants
would in a short time come forward prepared to
give higher rents for those lands, because
they would be satisfied with the ordinary
profits derived from the employment of capi-
tal in agriculture." This is a polite way
of saying that the landlords, generally speak-
ing, would avail themselves of the repeal to raise
their rents, so that the real profit of the reduction
or abolition would go into the landlord's pocket
rather into the farmer's. Mr. GIBSON says that
the amount of duty which every man pays for
every shilling spent on tea is at least 4d. ; for the
same value in coffee and brown sugar, 2d. and a
fraction ; while for every shilling spent on beer he
only pays lid. This is a practical way of stating
the case and more convincing than the same gentle-
man's argument, that spirits have as much right to
be free as beer. This is a most unsound iproposi-
tion, and we do not wonder that it should have
called forth expressions of marked dissent. No
wise than will wish to see so dangerous a tempter
as gin dispute the position of the comparatively
harmless malt. The one is far less likely to be
abused while its ordinary use is beneficial, but the
other has already far too many victims among our
toiling classes. The public has a good right to de-
mand a further reduction of the tea duty, and a
reduction of the oppressive income-tax, which falls
so hard on the struggling professional classes, before
the House decides on a repeal or even a considerable
reduction of a tax, which is in reality rather a
diminution of the landlord's profits than a burden
on the farmer, and whose removal would probably
be more beneficial to the brewer than to the con-

sum er.

The demands made by Prussia, in respect to
the Schleswig-Holstein affair, has exceeded the
worst expectations of the prophets respecting
the long prognosticated settlement. It will
be seen in the long run that Prussia has gone
too far in her encroachments, and that she
has tried the temper of other States, large and small,
beyond endurance. Austria is as yet quiescent, but
it may be the lull before the storm, or she may deem
it politic to keep on friendly terms for the present
until matters have become more fully developed,
and a crisis is imminent. The hesitation that has
marked the course of the Vienna Cabinet is a suffi-
cient proof that all is not so smooth as a casual
looker on might suppose ; there is no doubt that
great caution is required just now to enable the
EMPEROR and his Government to extricate them-
sieves from the false position in which they are
placed. There is certainly no reason to pity them
since they had no equitable claims to any part
of the Duchies, but so far as they can be
considered apart from their victims they have been
ill-treated. As allies with Prussia, and partners in
the Dano-German war, they have been outwitted
at every turn, and now are threatened with the
failure of all their plans and projects. It is not
likely that, under these circumstances, we shall
hear no more of the affair, allowing that for the pre-
sent M. BISMARCK'S proposition is acceded to. The
minor States of Germany, are also greatly dissatisfied
with the aspect of affairs, and many machinations
are being resorted to, in an underhand manner, to
try their strength and seek for the chance of effect-
ing some alteration in the case as it now stands.
The inhabitants of the Duchies are also testifying
their disapprobation to the Berlin scheme pretty
strongly. Although but little attention is paid to
their wishes, just now, in any quarter, it may safely
be argued that in this manifestation we may recog-
nise signs and tokens of a coming storm, or at all
events of a very unsettled state of things. Prussia
is not likely to find the road so pleasant as it was
at first pictured to be, and doubtless before very
long the aspiring statesmen, who have sent forth
her armies to conquer, and presided at her councils
with so much wisdom and justice, would be very
glad to undo the past if possible, or at all events to
modify in some respects their zeal for conquest and
rapacity in annexing these conquests. Perhaps even
now they may secretly entertain the feelings that
hereafter it cannot be concealed they possess. There
is another piece of treachery that cannot be too
strongly denounced, and that is the conduct of the
Berlin Court to the Duke of AUGUSTENBERG. HOW
was it that last year we heard nothing of all the
duonua nothingbe tr
ss t
aanstaaito lnkgehabeerteowdliet aryri g h t s ? Then there was
enbuAtusutrniiatyanaandprusa
sicaomasplettoe
the validity of the claims of that Prince. The fact
is that this is a game in which each party is thrown
over in turns as it suits the temper of the chief
mover, and when the day of retribution arrives,
who can say how many and how bitter will be the
foes who rejoice at the downfall of a Power which
in its palmy days was false to its friends, implac-
abletoitsfoes, and a scorner of all those senti-
ments of honour which should animate the conduct
of the rulers of a great country, and be the main-
springs of the actions of its people.

It is greatly to be deplored that after all the ex-
pectations so recently indulged in concerning the
cessation of. strkes that we should again hear of the
recurrence of that pernicious practice. A more
disastrous system cannot prevail than this, and the
injuiries that such a course inflicts on all are almost
incalculable. It seems strange that nothing can
teach the masters more consideration, and the men
more patience. It is quite certain that whatev3r
objects either side has in view by the prolongation
of the dispute are entirely thrown away by the
effects vroduced through such confusion. Immense
damage is azille to both parties, and what is almost
I;'6rse than all, is the suspicious feeling engendered
, said that one strike seems to pave
i(,11- the minAs of 1
..,e
cannot another. The conduct of
all concerned. It may fairly
the way for
the masters
1
this matter. It is a
t
such grasping propensities
be too much deprecated in
&orriepatro4p;
ttayntahasttrtihveeytow
illclutch bail
) as by this extortionate

manner of proceeding they are constantly causing
the outbreaks whose consequences are so greatly to
be deplored. A combination may be good or bad,
according to circumstances ; but it is a fearful
power to wield, and great caution is requisite on the
part of those who have such opportunities at their
disposal. So far as can be gathered from the
details of this last affair in Staffordshire, it would
seem that the masters are resolved to stand their
ground, and that coute qui coute, they will not yield
a point or abandon their intentions. What can be
more mistaken than this line of action, and when we
reflect upon the consequences of such a determina-
tion the best means of estimating the affair in its
full magnitude is to consider the numbers thrown
out of employ in consequence of the grave misunder-
standing that has occurred. The wages of thirty
thousand persons were stopped on Saturday night,
and if the dispute continue and the lock out
become general, it will follow that two hundred
thousand, or thereabouts, will be deprived of their
usual means of subsistence. Surely these facts
speak volumes as to the nature of these strikes, and
should influence those who are at all able to do
anything in the matter to check the continuance of
these unhappy altercations. There can be no doubt
that great harm is done by the pertinacity of
the Trades' Unions, by which means these
strikes are often fostered, when they otherwise
might not attain to such lengths and assume such
dread proportions. The class that goes about under
the name of delegates also causes considerable in-
jury, and it was mentioned at the Chamber of
Commerce the other day that many make their
living by going about from one place to another on
the pretence of finding out the wishes and inten-
tions of the operatives, and thus they fan the flame
of discord, and in reality very often create the dis-
pute that they pretend to explain away and put a
stop to. The sooner the plan of arbitration is
adopted universally the better it will be for all. If
masters and men agree to conform to the de-
cision of a committee of independent per-
sons, the results must be very different from
what they are when both rush into the
contest,. resolved upon working out their prejudices
to the utmost, and very often in the heat of argu-
ment and the excitement of the altercation they
insist upon far more being agreed to than was ex-
pected at the outset. A struggle for supremacy
between employers and employed is always greatly
to be deplored on many grounds, and it is very evi-
dent that these strikes and lock-outs never really
settle the matter so that the disputed point is finally
set at rest. One side yields from exhaustion very
often, or the other gives in to suit convenience, but
the bitter feeling rankles in the mind, and the dissatis-
fied notion remains the same; and so it goes on until an-
other outbreak occurs to shock the community and
to paralyse the energies of the trade in the locality.
It would be a great relief to the minds of those
who regard these questions in an impartial manner
could they see a little more consideration exhibited
by the masters. They are all on the alert directly
a whisper is given, or a hint heard, as to their
privileges being assailed, but we never hear or see
any signs exhibited that the welfare of their opera-
tives is a matter of their concern. This should
not be—property has its duties as well as its
rights, and until these are looked upon in a

true light and in a right spirit, we shall not witness
the end of strikes, and the cessation of vexatious
altercations. The men, also, are greatly in fault by
persisting in seizing every opportunity to vindicate
their claims, regardless of loss and neglectful of
after consequences. Until more thought is
given to the requirements of their position
by both parties, it would seem almost hopeless
to expect a better state of things to supervene. 'No
desirable result can possibly ensue from these con-
tinued strikes ; they must, on the contrary, cause
an immense amount of injury to all parties imme-
diately concerned in them, the particulars of which
those at a distance can hardly .estimate or fully
realise. It is melancholy to observe the constant
recurrence of these deplorable strikes, at a time
when the spread of education is so uni-
versal, and when the various classes of
the population possess so many means of
informing themselves on the subject of labour in
its extended application and remote influences be-
yond the immediate effects of momentary loss and
profit. " A little learning is a dangerous thing,"
we are told, and so must that information be which
only allows the masters to think of their own profits,
and permits the men to care for nothing but their
own prejudices, both sides regardless of conse-
quences which are solemn and serious.

STATE OF THE WORKS OF Mt, THAMES EMBANK-
MENT.—Yesterday the works of the Thames em-
bankment, which were injured by tho bursting of a coffer-
dam on Thursday last, remained in the same flooded state,
many parts being submerged from 12 to 14 feet in depth.
The powerful steam pumps were again set to work,
but without any material reduction in the depth of water,
consequently the operations in this section have been sus-
pended until the cofferdam is substantially repaired, or a
new one constructed. The men have not, however, been
thrown out of employment, as Mr. Furness, the contractor,
has commenced the construction of cofferdams near White-
hall, where more than 100 men are employed in pile-driv-
ing, and it is expected that a new dam will be commenced
in a few days on the site of the late disaster.

REMOVAL OF THE COLOSSEUM, REGENT'S-PARK.
—Considerable alterations are about to be carried
into effect in Regent's-park by the removal of the Colos-
seum, and the appropriation of the site to the ornamenta-
tion of the park. The site comprises about two acres of
ground, upon which it is intended to erect a terrace and
several first-class houses. A further change will take place
by the formation of an ornamental garden and other im-
provements, which it is expected will considerably increase
the value of the property.

GENEROUS AT LAST.—A venerable-looking gen-
tleman was seen two days back in the Avenue de
Noailles, at Lyons, offering handfuls of gold and silver to
the passers-by, and crying out, " To-morrow is the end of
the world. I am rich ; what can Ido with my fortune ?
Let us share, my friends, and pass merrily the few moments
which remain !" One woman alone accepted the proferred
money. The person thus conducting himself was formerly
a silk manufacturer, and, it is hardly necessary to say, was
out of his mind. Some friends of his family, hearing of
the incident, took him to his own house.
THE FRIGHTFUL SUICIDE ON THE GREAT EASTERN
RAlLWAY.—Yesterday Mr. Richards, the deputy
coroner, resumed, at the Chasseraux Arms, Park-lane,
Tottenham, the inquiry respecting the suicide of Mr.
Edward Edwards, aged 48 years. It will be remembered
that the deceased, on Wednesday morning last, was found
lying on the rails of the Great `Eastern Railway, near the
Ponder's End Station. A train had passed over his neck,
and nearly severed his head from his body. He had latterly
become very desponding in mind, in consequence of having
become addicted to habits of intoxication. His business,
he had stated, was going wrong. A letter in his pocket
indicated that he had designedly destroyed his life, as he
stated his sufferings were horrible. The jury returned a
verdict that the deceased committed suicide while of un-
sound mind.

PLYMOUTH,Johnstone,
717 Tuesday.--Tho t
e sdoanys
7onThe ship
Goolwaiine Capt.
A.
the Orient
C
be-
longing to Messrs. Anderson, Thomson, and
ter-court, from Adelaide for London, wa was
offPortlanofd
B -
yes-
terday. She left on Dec. 1, and brings eight cabin
passen-
gers and a cargo consisting of 2,715 bales of wool, 2016
bags of copper ore, 16,225 ingots and 4,862 tiles of copper,
91 casks of tallow, several bales of leather, and a quantity
of bones, horns, gum, &c. The Essex, 1,042 tons, Capt.
Attwood, belonging to Messrs. Money Wigram and Sons,
of Blackwall, left Plymouth Sound at 10 a.m., on Friday,
for Melbourne, with a full general cargo and a large num-
ber of passengers. The Coldstream, 756 tons, Capt. Ken-
nedy, belonging to Messrs. Teighe and Smith, sailed at 6
p.m. with 295 Government emigrants for Adelaide, under
the charge of Dr. Jolly, surgeon-superintendent. Tho Lo-
belia, 900 tons, Captain Ullman, belonging to Messrs. 3,
Lidgett and Sons, is hourly expected from London to em-
bark Government emigrants for Queensland. The Hoims-
dale, Captain Perris, belonging to Messrs. Phillips, Shaw,
and Lowther, is now on her way down Channel, and is
appointed to embark passengers here on the 13th inst. for
Melbourne.

THEATRE-ROYAL ADELPHI,

Miss Bateman's Be-appearance as Julia.
Last evening's performance of Sheridan Knowles's
popular five-act drama " The Hunchback" could
not possibly have gone off more brilliantly than it
did from the rise to the fall of the curtain. That
the evening's entertainment was, for some reason,
regarded by the frequenters of the Adelphi Theatre
as one of a very exceptional character, was manifest
enough indoors by the densely crowded state of
the house in all parts, and out of doors by the
long string of carriages in waiting trailed
all down the Strand as far as Duncannon-street.
As the whole town had, in fact, known full well
during some days previously, the occasion had, in
truth, an especial and very peculiar interest of its
own—for inasmuch as it was the one on which Miss
Bateman was to make her appearance for the third
time in London as Julia, in " The Hunchback."
The remarkable success achieved by her in the
impersonation of that very difficult but very charm-
ing character, had been, in some measure, dis-
tressingly baulked by reason of several weeks of
severe indisposition, necessitating, under able medical
advice, the lengthened withdrawal of the young
actress from the discharge of her professional en-
gagements. This illness of hers, however, having
now at length happily terminated, Miss Bateman
appeared once more last evening upon the scene of
her former triumphs in London. Having witnessed
the first performance, some weeks since, of "The
Hunchback " as that drama is now cast among the
Adeiphi Company, and having then recorded
the highly favourable impression produced upon
our mind by the representation of the play as a
whole, but, above all, and in a very especial
manner, by the exquisitely graceful, and pathetic
impersonation of Julia by Miss Bateman—
hitherto famous alone in the country as Leah
—we have only now to affirm quite distinctly that
that impression was signally confirmed last evening
upon our witnessing the event of the repetition of
each—of the play, that is, and of that particular im-
personation. The conspicuous or salient points of the
latter, meaning by this of the Julia of the night, were
still of course (and oh, so exquisitely ! with such in-
tensity of passion in the one, with such pathetic ten-
derness in the other!)—" Why wont you speak to
me, Clifford ?" and " Helen, I hate you !" The latter
through the clenched teeth ! The former with visible
and audible anguish—dissolving in tears`! The young
actress's first appearance upon the stage last evening
was the signal for a burst of acclamations.
Throughout the night she was greeted with
marked and reiterated evidences of the admiration
and, more than that, of the emotion created among
the audience by her performance—Miss Bateman
being recalled more than once before the foot-lights
—upon the last of these occasions (after the fall of
the green curtain) being led across the stage by
Mr. Webster himself. The success, the triumph,
of her Julia is a fact, therefore, assured
and unmistakable. Again, moreover, we have
to record the brilliant effect produced by Miss
Henrietta Simms' delightful impersonation of Helen.
Her two great scenes with Master Modus (sawnily
played by Mr. Billington), were, thanks to Miss
Simms' riant espi4glerie and vivacity, marked by
alternate and sometimes simultaneous explosions of
laughter and applause. Messrs. Toole and Romer,
as Fathom and Thomas, fooled each other to the
top of their bent, again,
in their one scene together
—as laughably almost as though they had been a
couple of the Clowns of Shakspere rather
than a couple of the serving men of Sheri-
dan Knowles. A passing word of commen-
dation, moreover, appears to be due to the Lord
Tinsel of Mr. Ashley—really, in its way, an ineff-
able representation of lordly impertinence and in-
souciance. Upon Miss Bateman's return to the
boards of the Adelphi—though it must still be only,
for prudence sake, for three instead of for
six nights per week—we would here offer our con-
gratulations alike to the ever-enterprising manager,
to the public generally, and to the charming young
actress herself. Happily, on the off-nights, " The
Hunchback " of Sheridan Knowles is alternated
with the same dramatist's chef d' ceuvre, of " The
Love Chase," in which Mr. Webster, one
of the most legitimate and accomplished
among living actors, impersonates his original cha-
racter of Wildrake—Mrs. Stirling being the Widow
Green, and Miss Henrietta Simms the sparkling,
radiant Constance. The performance of " The
Love Chase" this very evening, it will be seen, will
be honoured by the presence of their Royal High-
nesses the Prince and Princess.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAM.)

FRANCE.
PARIS, MARCH B.'

The elections to the Presbyterian Council took
place to-day, 2,586 voters being present. M.
Guizot was re-elected by 1,298 votes against 1,288
obtained by M. Barbezat.
BOURSE, March 7.—The market is somewhat
heavy, but prices have not receded. Threes, for the
Account, are now at 67fr. 85c. Mobilier have been
done at 890 f. Railway Shares are somewhat more
active, and quotations are well sustained. The
market closed as follows :

4i per Cents....: 94 75
Do. °lid month —
3 per Cents. 67 85
Do. end month 67 85
Credit Mobilier
Do. end month
Bank Shares 3525
Credit Foncier 1295
Roman —

Italian Loan 65
Do. end month 65 20
Ditto Threes —
New Mexican
Russian —
Austrian
Spanish Threes
Home Debt —
Deferred
rAYS.

Cash. Acct.
Orleans
Northern lOl5 1015
Lyons and Mediterranean 950 ... 952 50
Southern 583 75 ... 583 75
Western 540
Eastern
Sardinian 303 75 305
Austrian

Lombard 546 25 ... 550
North of Spain 313 75 ... 310
Saragossa 371 25 ... 372 50
Ditto to Barcelona — ...

Address of the French Senate

PARIS, March 7.

The following draft of the Address, in reply to
the Speech from the Throne, was read in the Senate
yesterday.
" SIRE,—The Legislative session, far from ap-
pearing an embarassment to your Majesty, is, upon
the contrary, only an opportunity for entering into
communication with France, of showing the vigi-
lant initiative of the monarch, the agreement of the
great Powers, and the liberty of discussion and of
control. It is a moment of useful trial for our con-
stitutional forms. When a nation sees the Govern-
ment afford it without intermission, order and secu-
rity, the development of its resources, and the
essential satisfactions of liberty, it understands that
its institutions are upon the true course, and your
Majesty has been able to say to this grateful people
—' Let us firmly maintain the bases of the Consti-
tion.' They will be maintained unaltered so long as
the imposing voice of those millions of suffrages
shall be heard, which have made and will re-make
our fundamental plebiscitums.

" Your Majesty, not wishing a barren.session, has
traced the programme of that of 1865. It is charac-
terised by your Majesty's constant desire to turn
the powers placed in your hands by the national
will, to a larger emancipation of individual forces.
To aid liberty by authority, in place of weakening
authority by liberty, is the true, safe, and efficacious
policy. Private liberties are fundamental liberties.
Political liberties are only their guarantee ; and a
State is in a normal condition when the latter suffice
to secure the former, and power itself lends them
the support of its protection. After having endowed
the country with commercial liberty, your Majesty
asks the Legislative bodies to deliberate upon the
extension of the communal and departmental free-
doms, an excellent innovation, intended to release
the central administration from too heavy a burden,
without weakening the energy of its springs and its
powerful unity.
" Prosecutions in criminal matters, already, much
mitigated, will be purged in a fitting measure from
some remains of security not indispensable to arrive
at just repression.
Personal restraint, suspended by the Provisional
Government on March 9, 1848, and re-established
shortly afterwards by the law of Dec. 13, at the re-
quest of the Bank of France and of commerce, will
be submitted to the test of a new examination, in
which the necessities of credit and the regard due
to personal liberty, will be carefully weighed.
" Commercial companies will be regarded from
the point of view of freer action for the legitimate
combinations of private interests.

" Lastly, primary instructions, in which so many
ameliorations have already been introduced, either
in the treatment of the teachers or in the number of
schools and the attendance, will receive a livelier
impulse under the influence of that just and liberal
idea that, in a country of universal suffrage, every-
body should know how to read and write.
" The moral progress of the nation will thus keep
pace with its material advance. The great works
will be continued this year without appeal to credit,
and their increasing development will add to that
vast movement of international commerce which has
risen since 1851 from 2 milliards 614 millions to
upwards of 7 milliards. It is more difficult to express
in figures the moral progress of the people. But if
we reckon .upon the one hand the subventions de-
voted to religion, to schools, and to the arts, and,
upon the other, the tendency of the laws, the favour-
able inclination of the population towards that which
elevates existence, and the more marked taste for
intellectual pleasures, it is evident that the moral
activity of France has not remained in arrear. The
Legislative measures of which your Majesty is taking
the initiative will throw fecund seed upon a soil
already prepared by successful effort.
" Nevertheless, a State like France could not exist
even in the midst of general prosperity, without suf-
fering some occasional inconveniences. Owing to
the unforeseen variations in the rates of money, and
the price of certain articles of prime necessity, in-
dustrial and economic embarrassments have occurred,
as has also been the case abroad in all the great
markets. Here, however, more than elsewhere, private
interests have lessened them by their prudence and
their courage. If France likes to trace the protect-
ing hand of the Government in public affairs, she
knows how to preserve herself amidst the difficulties
which have surprised her in her private activity.

" It is further to be remarked that this crisis tends
to disappear by the resolute attitude of our com-
merce, our manufactures, and our workmen, and
that the situation of our finances has not suffered
any injury. The provisions of the Budget will
therefore be realised in their entirety.
" We have seen with satisfaction the inquiry
ordered by your Majesty into the question of the
banks, which took up an important position in the
deliberations of the Senate last session. It will be
undoubted utility to have light thrown upon this
subject, which so directly affects the economical
problem of the irregular oscillations in the rate of
money. _ _

" The position of agriculture, as regards the too
moderate price of cereals, has attracted your Ma-
jesty's attention. The country will thank you for
this watchfulness over one of the most essential
points of agricultural prosperity.
" The troubles which fanaticism and ignorance
have excited in Algeria have been a subject of pre-
occupation, but not of uneasiness. Wherever our
soldiers are there is victory. But the victory of
France is that of moderation and humanity. After
having re-established obedience, your Majesty has
now no other desire than to resume the work of
colonisation. By the unity of power your Majesty
will give security to the European colony,
without its having to fear an abuse of military
authority. The Arab population upon its part,
will feel our strength without losing any of the
benevolent intentions of your Government. May
it remember always that humanity is not weakness,
and that justice inflicts severe chastisements upon
rebellion.

" In another order of ideas, unexpected emotion
has been aL oused by the relations of the State and
the Church. France, the disseminatrix in the world
of the principles of 1789, is never indifferent to what
tends to call them in question. Your Majesty has
understood this feeling, and has ordered the execu-
tion of the law which sums up, in this matter, the
most incontestable maxims of ancient and modern
public right. In this no injury has been done to the
religion dear to the majority in this country ; for it
is under the empire of this right, constantly exer-
cised since the time of St. Louis, that France had
obtained from Rome herself the title of ' mirror of
Christianity.' The law of April 8, 1862, constitutes
one of the essential attributes of sovereignty. It is

nothing but a defence against possible abuses from
abroad and at home. France will not allow it to
pass out of date. But she wishes, at the same time,
that harmony should reign intact between two
Powers, the union of which, solemnly consecrated
by one of the greatest acts of Napoleon 1., has been
kept up by striking benefits under your Majesty's
reign.

" Abroad, your Majesty had stated the removal
of the difficulties which divide States as the durable
work of a European Congress. This generous idea
has not been realised. But the war which has dis-
tressed Denmark, and the dissensions by which
Germany is agitated, have soon proved how much
wisdom there was in your previsions. In the midst
of these events your Majesty has observed a calm
and neutral attitude, confining yourself to stating
principles.
" But Italy in her turn merited more serious at-
tention. In that country are found causes for grave
solicitude—viz., the consequences of our glorious
war of 1859, the settlement of the new kingdom,
and the independence of the Papacy. The Conven-
tion of the 15th September, promulgated under un-
expected circumstances and responding to pacific
symptoms, has opened fresh prospects to reconcilia-
tion. By transferring her capital to Florence, Italy
has barred the road of Rome to passion. By ac-
cepting the treaty, she has associated herself by
solemn promises with your Majesty's thought of
protecting the Pontifical frontier, of securing the
financial situation of the Roman Government, and
of facilitating the recruitment of its army. Effica-
cious negotiations were therefore commenced. It is
your desire, Sire, that they should proceed more
rapidly. The Convention, loyally and completely
carried out, will lead to this object. It will be so
by your Majesty, who has always desired the ap-
proach of the two States ; it will be so by Italy,
who will be mindful of her engagements and of
France. No doubt the future may conceal unfore-
seen eventualities. In that case your Majesty has
reserved to yourself full liberty of action, and France
may repose upon your wisdom.
" Last year Mexico was but still a battle field,
where everything was obscure save the military supe-
riority of France. Now an empire has succeeded,
upon whose cradle are graven the names of Napo-
leon 111. and Charles V. May these names inspire
it with those virtues which found States, and cause
it to forget the passions by which it is torn ! Some
grave questions have survived the civil wars.
Let us hope that the enlightened and firm prince
Mexico has placed at her head will be able to solve
them by energetic and prompt resolution, and that
France, by the testimony of her soldiers soon re-
turned to their homes, will learn that he reigns over
a people henceforth sheltered by the flag of order.
Further, general opinion now knows that if your
Government has persevered with so much resolution
in its difficult enterprise, it has not been to arouse
the antagonism of races and to lay for ourselves
distant foundations, but to draw the two worlds
nearer by the pacific and prosperous exchanges of
civilisation.

" Sire,—Your Majesty has pronounced a grand
sentence, which has vibrated throughout France and
the world : The temple of war is about to be
closed.' Peace will, therefore, henceforth be the
policy of the future. You have at the same time
decreed to our armies one of the most magnificent
triumphs of which history has chronicled the remem-
brance. Soldiers of civilisation, of the right of
nations, and of the legitimate interests of countries,
these brave men have merited this glorious testi-
mony of their supreme chief by shedding their
blood in the four quarters of the globe. Now let
us unite to labour in concert to fecundate this last-
ing peace. Peace contains in her bosom inex-
haustible treasures ; the Imperial Government will
cause them to spring forth. In her genius France
possesses immense forces which multiply prosperity
tenfold; she will place them at the service of the cause
she represents. Then we shall see parties disappear,
and the nation increase and prosper. France, richer
with regard to institutions, intellect, commerce, and
arts, will draw closer the bonds which unite her to
the dynasty, and your son will see how to reign by
the policy of concord and progress and by the love
of the Sovereign for his people."

Naval and Military Intelligence.

-...--.-_---

The Phaeton, 34, screw frigate, Capt. G. Le G.
Bowyer, whose arrival at Spithead from service in
North America and the West Indies on Monday was
announced in The Sun of yesterday, sailed again from
Spithead yesterday afternoon for Sheerness, to dis-
mantle and pay out of commission. Previous to
leaving Spithead the military and naval invalids who
came home to England in her from the West Indies
were transferred from her by a Government steamer
to her Majesty's ship Victory and the shore. Among
the officers and passengers who came home in the
ship were Surg. Collins, R.N., Dr. McSwiney, R.N.,
Ensigns Roger and Barker, 2d Regiment, and the
two Masters Hamley, sons of Col. Hamley, R.E.
In consequence of the severity of the weather, the
iron screw steamship Achilles, 20, Capt. Edward W.
Vansittart, could not leave Hamoaze on Monday.
Port-Admiral Sir Charles Fremantle, K.C.8.,
Commander-in-Chief at Devonport, paid a compli-
mentary visit on Monday to Admiral Edhem Pasha,
in command of the Turkish squadron now in Ply-
mouth Sound.

MARKE T S --This Day.

MARK-LANE.

The arrivals of English wheat up to our market to-day
were very moderate. The condition of the produce being
poor, good and find samples were held at fully Monday's
currency, and changed hands at that day's prices, not-
withstanding that the demand ruled far from active. For
damp qualities the trade was heavy at late rates.
With foreign wheat the market was but moderately
supplied. For all descriptions the market was very quiet,
but without leading to any quotable change in prices.
Floating cargoes of grain wore in fair request at full
quotations.

The supply of barley on sale was tolerably large. For
all qualities the trade was dull, at about previous rates.-
Malt moved off slowly, at late rates.
Oats were in moderato supply, and the demand for them
ruled heavy, at drooping prices.
Beans met a slow sale, at late rates. Peas were firm

in price.
In flour there was a moderate demand, and prices ruled
firm.

ARRIVALS THIS WEEK.
Wheat. Barley. Malt. Oats. Flour.
English and Scotch 1,060 670 2,150 5,480 810
Irish — 3,020
Foreign
brls.

COMPARATIVE QUANTITIES AND PRICES OF GRAIN for the
Week ending March 4, 1865 :—Wheat, qrs., 87,168 ; average
38s 6d—barley, 55,640 ; 28s 11d—oats, 9,711 ; 20s 2d.
Corresponding week in 1864 :—Wheat, 74,030 ; 40s 6d—
barley, 56,105 ; 32s Od—oats, 14,518 ; 19s. 4d.

BOROUGH HOP.
Very little change has taken place in the price of hops
since our last. On the whole the market is steady.