The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 19, 1865.

Bengal Civil Service, received it for an act rendered
in connection with the relief of Arrah on July 29th,
1857 ; and Mr. Patrick Kavanagh, also a civilian,
was similarly rewarded for his services in carrying
despatches from Lucknow in November of that
year. There is a special star for India. Could not
her Majesty be advised to create an order for dis-
tinguished civil and military services in the colo-
nies ? Its benefits would be very great here if in-
stituted at once.

The goldfields on the West Coast of the Middle
Island are yielding more and more abundantly, and
the rush from Australia and all parts of New Zea-
land is increasing. The wrecks on that harbourless
coast have been of almost every-day occurrence.
Five years ago no one had crossed the Southern
Alps, dividing the Eastern from the Western coasts
of the Middle Island. There was a tradition that
a party of natives had once attempted it and
perished ; now diggers land at Canterbury, and
travel overland by thousands. Bridle tracks have
been cut by several routes, and a railway is seriously
entertained.

OCT. 15.

The detention of the steamer by the Governor
gives me the opportunity of setting doubts at rest
in reference to Mr. Broughton's murder. The Go-
vernment have received information from the resi-
dent magistrate at Wanganui that a native has de-
posed to the facts. It appears that Mr. Broughton
was brutally tomahawked on the Sunday afternoon
almost as soon as he reached the village, and that
his body was afterwards burnt. The three shots
and the hoisting a red flag on Monday morning
were intended as acts of defiance. Sad as it is to
think of his fate, it is in some measure still more
sad to think that up to this moment not a single
step has been taken to avenge it. General Chute
is not prepared to take the initiative of what may
be extensive operations without the Governor's
orders. The Governor is not prepared to issue any
orders until his Ministry advise him. The Ministry
are not prepared to advise his Excellency until the
Assembly re-seats them or supplies their place, and
the Assembly cannot do anything before Tuesday,
the next sitting-day. Did any colony ever present
such a series of complications as New Zealand is
perpetually doing?

Mr. Stafford has not yet formed his Ministry,
and appears to be hard pushed to get presentable
men. Mr. John Williamson, late Superintendent
of Auckland, has consented to take charge of native
affairs ; and Mr. Russell, the Defence Minister in
the Whittaker-Fox Administration, has consented
to fill the same office under Mr. Stafford. These
are the only offices yet filled up ; both are good
men. The other offices have been offered to the
leading men in the Opposition ranks, but as yet
without success. Should a " scratch" Ministry be
formed with the intention to fill up with suitable
men after the dissolution, it is the intention of Mr.
Weld's supporters to refuse a vote of credit, and in
that case, with the present state of Victoria in view,
it is not thought possible that the Governor would
grant an immediate dissolution. The supporters of
Mr. Weld, alarmed at the consequences of their own
supineness, are now clamorous for his return to
office, and a meeting has been called for to-morrow
with a view to decide on the course of action to be
pursued should Mr. Stafford meet the house on Tues-
day as the head of the Government.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

" THE EXAMINER" ON KING LEOPOLD.-Consti-

elude the remainder of his life, already more than
half past, in the agreeable and peaceful abode he
had inherited from his ancestors. Here and now,
with his wife and numerous retainers upon whom
to vent his ill-humour when he should begin to pine

for past pleasures, he really began to live. His
powers of observation were of the highest order,
and had been judiciously exercised. Hitherto
he had been in school. The time for medi-

tation had now come, and he felt desirous
of ascertaining what progress he had made.
To the question, Que scais-je? he was continually
asking himself, we have for answer the three books
which form the famous " Essays." Montaigne is
the type of every man of culture at a certain stage 1
of his development. He looked upon mankind, and
chiefly upon himself, diversely; and the conclusion
to which he came is the same as that to which others

had come before. He thought all was vanity and
vexation of spirit. Every one of us knows this ; but
most of us desire to forget it, or will not remember
it. Montaigne does not hide this from himself: He
never gives himself the air of one who is going to
reveal secrets. You want to know what is ? He can-

not satisfy you. You must go to others '• he can, at
the most, only tell you what is not. It is possible
that all organisation is tending to perfection, but he

does not know it. He is not sure even of immorta-

lity, and carefully abstains from saying that he is.
Indeed, with respect to this and other great problems
that interest us, he had no view at all, and did not,
we suspect, think it necessary to have one. Many
before and since Montaigne's time have troubled
themselves with these questions, and for certitude have
experienced only doubts. Some there have been who
eliminated these doubts by main force ; or, without

.• • ,
having them resolved, consented for their peace of
mind to believe them insoluble, and thenceforward
arrogantly assume that the opinions theyhave aban-
doned were unsound. But does it follow that he

who changes sides necessarily goes from darkness
to light ? If change of opinion were in itself pro-
gress, the popularity and influence of such a writer
as Montaigne would never be much. Before we can
decide what is truth, we must have an undisputed

titors might watch their experiment for the purpose
of escaping their losses and of dividing their gains.
It is difficult to understand how, even under exist-

ing conditions, money can have' been provided for
some of the costly lines. The alliances of the great
companies have almost put an end to the practice
of forcing a new line on one rival by threats of
introducing a competitor into a district ; yet it is
found that contractors are willing to pay themselves
in shares for an outlay which often seems entirely
unremunerative. For some years Parliament has
declined to inquire too closely into pecuniary re-
sources which are always forthcoming after a rail-
way act has passed. Committees have shown habi-
tual favour, even to unpromising undertakings,
where projectors, who may be supposed to be the
best judges of their own interests, apparently rely
on the profits of a new or imperfectly developed
traffic. Attempts to extort from existing companies
a share of their receipts. ought to be vigilantly
watched, though they are not necessarily to be con-
demned.

" THE ANGLO - AMERICAN TIMES " ON THE
CONFEDERATE COTTON LoAN.—The adjourned
meeting of the holders of the Confederate
Cotton Loan is announced to be held at the
London Tavern, on Thursday, the 18th day of
January, when resolutions will be proposed in con-
formity with the report of the committee, now in
the hands of the bondholders. The report in ques-
tion contains the correspondence between Messrs.
ERLANGER and Co., the contractors of the loan, of
Paris, Messrs. SCHRODER and Co., their agents in
London, and the committee's solicitors, Messrs.
FERRALL, CHAMBERLAIN, and BLAKE. Messrs.
ERLANGER and Co. state that they have no funds
under their control, and they refuse the inspection
of the contract made by them with the rebel Go-
vernment. They also state that they hold a large
amount of the loan. Messrs. SCHRODER and Co.
state that they are not at liberty to furnish a state-
ment of the money received in respect of the loan
or its application, but they give the amount of bonds
issued, viz., £3,000,000 ; amount exchanged for
cotton certificates, £376,600 ; amount redeemed by
drawings, £204,600 ; amount at present in circula-
tion, £2,418,800. Messrs. FRESHFIELD and Messrs.
CROWDER and Co. also decline to allow the inspec-
tion of the contract for the loan, or to furnish the
Act of the Confederate Congress authorising it.
The committee, in fact, find difficulties in every
quarter from those who were the chief instruments
in the issuing of the loan. They are evidently men
of the Tite Barnacle class, surprised that the bond-
holders should want to know what has become of