The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-21 00:00:00

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THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 21, 1862.

PRICE..... -...4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

THE NAVY.

ThE NASHVILLE.

NE W AMERICAN TAX BILL.

being, and necessarily succumbed to the curse of
its birth. If a favourable result, securing the in-
terests alike of the Crown and the country, is to be
obtained from the approaching elections, a stop
must be put to the agitation for progress devoid of
plan which governed those which recently took
place. Every doubt respecting the actual inten-
tion of the Government must be removed, and the
itnoswinaurdastisoinngltehaLtihseterosp,pfionds support sition,
in the only directed
ad-
vice of the Crown itself, must he steadfastly op-
posed. The task of the present Cabinet will be to
enlighten public feeling fully upon all those points.
The Cabinet will be compelled to declare that the
decision to be come to is highly important. The
question is whether the power of government is to
remain with the King, or to vested in the Chamber
of Deputies. The programme of the newly consti-
tuted Ministry will be no other than that laid down
in the speech of his Majesty on the Bth of Novem-
ber, 1858, and it will henceforth smooth the way
for every healthy development and every reason-
able and lasting reform."
The article concludes in these words :
" The Prussian people will remember at the fit-
ting hour that the banner of progress has hitherto
been borne in the van by its noble minded King,
and will refuse to follow any other flag bearing a
similar inscription."

The Confederate steamer Nashville reached Beau-
fort, South Carolina, on the 28th, at 7 a.m., from
Southampton, having successfully eluded the block-
ading steamers at the entrance of the harbour, one
of which—the Albatross, it is supposed—fired some
twenty or thirty shots at her without effect. She
had on freight 3,000,000 dols. worth of stores, in-
cluding powder.
An officer of the Nashville gives an interesting
account of her adventures :
" Leaving Southampton at 4 p.m. on the 3d of
February, within full sight of the Tuscarora, which
had but just returned from a six days' cruise outside
the harbour, and was then engaged in coaling up, the
Nashville steered for Bermuda, and, after success-
fully weathering a terrific gale of six days' duration,
which disabled one of her engines, reached her des-
tination at 2 p.m. on the 20th, without having
caught so much as a glimpse even of the eight
vessels of war which had been expressly detailed by
the Lincoln Government to effect her capture, and
whose vigilance had been stimulated by the offer of
200,000 dols. as prize money for the rebel' steamer.
Supplying
herself with coal, the Nashville departed
from Bermuda at 11 a,m, on the 24th ult., under the
pilotage of the master of a Southern schooner which
had run the blockade a few days before with a cargo
and who expressed the
d
to conduct the ship
On eEne26th nit, she encountered,
ability
Domingo, with an assorted
osfo fullest
fl
el
tetl uhysrtepi caeomtnnotafiiprndgaeeirnnt ca.
eno
the Gulf Stream, the Yankee
schooner Robert Gilfillan, Captain Smith, bound
cheese, and other pro-
schooner such of her
frompro-
visions. aisrigeon Peo. hf i
iRa
odenemrl
pork,hv ii an gt
from St
butter,
the
cargo as was deemed valuable, and transferring her
crew to the steamer as prisoners, the prize was
Friday morning the steamer
Afi rbe
odu, t andda indawn
n a
of en w minutes completely destroyed.
reached the vicinity of her destined harbour, off
rwehnitelyin which
at w awsecsh forpie d aYankee war steamer,
theappa-
approaching vessel. It was
the crisis of the trip; and its perilous nature may
wa that the entire ar-
mamentconsisted of two rifled 6-
antagonist consisted of
'never, but with every
pb
ee
:un nd deer rs
os, tf
wo ot
hhdi
el we
Nth
that
nt
vi
fl
herse k nao t a
mg
ense calibre and
pitch of deter-
mination, energy
. wroughformidablet Nothing
u dp aunted,
ngt
nen
tnte guns
e, oh
highestf
wi
the gallant commander of the Nashville,
displaying at his masthead,
a
the uncertain
and
light of the morning, was well calculated to blind
sdplwayitihngit th
a e
signal stare
flag,w stripeshioh,
in
the Yankee commander as to the real character of
the stranger, ordered his vessel to be steered boldly
towards the blockading steamer. The manceuvre
was promptly performed, and the Nashville was
almost within musket range of the Yankee, but be-
tween her and the harbour, when Captain Pegram
ordered the stars and stripes to be lowered, and in
their stead the stars and bars of the Confederacy
displayed at fore, main, and peak. This defiant
movement of the Nashville was almost immediately
after responded to by the Yankee, who, as if now
recognising the rebersteamer, fired a volley after
her, and started in rapid pursuit, firing as rapidly
as the guns could be loaded and discharged ; but the
eager agitation of the Yankee gunners marred their
aim, and the shots fell far wide of our noble steamer,
which was then dashing onward under a full head
of steam, and in a comparatively few minutes was
safely within range of the protecting guns of Fort
Macon, and beyond the range of her chagrined pur-
suer."

The brigantine yacht Alfred, the property of Mr.
Cunningham, the patentee of the system of reefing
, topsails from the deck, was berthed alongside Ports-
mouth dockyard on Wednesday, for the purpose of
exhibiting that gentleman's new plan for the rig of
steamships of war. The improvements claimed by
Mr. Cunningham for his system consist of a reten-
tion of a full amount of square sail power ; a greatly
increased amount of fore and aft sail power;
in the arrangement of spars and rigging,
with a considerable reduction in the quantity of
standing and running rigging; a better arrange-
ment of the standing rigging for the supprt of the
masts than is obtained under the old system ; a bet-
ter division of the sails and spars; the ability to
brace the yards nearly fore and aft when steaming
head to wind, and a great reduction in the weight
aloft. This plan gives an amount of fore and aft
and square sail sufficient to meet all the require-
ments of ocean-going steamships. In the Defence
and the Resistance the Cunningham plan has not
been carried out fully in the fitment of the topsails,
as the lawer yard is fixed to the cap, on the Ame•
rican plan of Howes double topsail yard, and the
upper yard only rolls the sail up. By this arrange-
ment, when both topsails are furled and yards
stowed, both yards lie together at the cap, the lower
yard some 10 or 12 feet higher from the deck than
it would be if it also were fitted on the Cunning-
ham plan. It offers great obstruction to the wind,
and must of necessity increase the strain aloft when
contending against head winds and seas. The
display of the Alfred's topsails fully proved
the great advantages which would be ob-
tained by the Defence and Resistance were they
fitted with both their topsail yards on the patent
reefing plan, in lieu of the lower one being made
a fixture, as at present. This alteration, in addi-
tion to the advantages referred to, would also ren-
der their rig more agreeable to the eye. The yacht
was visited by Rear-Admiral H. Eden, Rear-Ad-
miral Superintendent Hon. George Grey, Major-
General John Stevens, and many other officers, all
of whom took great interest in the proceedings.
The paddlewheel steam sloop Styx, 6, Comman-
der the Hon. W. J. Ward, was appointed to leave
Plymouth Sound yesterday (Thursday) for the
North American and West Indian stations,

TEE APPEARANCE AND .EXIEIV7 OF

A COAL MINE.

The artisans and labourers employed on the Py.

lades, 21, 400 horse power, under repair in No. 4
dock at Chatham, have been transferred to the Ra-
coon, 22, 400 horse power, which was taken into
dock on Wednesday, to be thoroughly repaired and
made ready for commission. The repairs required

___..e...__.e........_
) 1 .',
THE WESTERN BANE LIqp.II4I;ZOS:,
Y. MESSRS. BAIRD.'
'' ,4.57-_,4,,-...7..t
,c..::
t
_--4.--___.
On Wednesday the Second Divisiol:l 0 Ate obet—,-..
of Session pronounced judgment in the case .01e
liquidators of the Western Bank of Scot land
against Mr. William Baird and Mr. James Bajrd.
It will be recollected that with thirteen out of th.e
former directors of the bank, whom the liquidators
originally prosecuted, a compromise was latelr
entered into whereby the thirteen agreed
to pay a sum of £200,000, in full dis-
charge of the liquidators' claims a gainst-
them. Messrs. Baird, however, stood aloof from
the compromise, and they now pleaded that the
liquidators, had, in discharging the 13, practically
discharged the whole claim. This plea the Court
has now dismissed, and the judges, after reading
lengthened opinions, unanimously agreed to certain
findings, to' the following effect :—" First, that it is
relevantly averred that the defender, James Baird,,
and other persons who were in office with him from .
June, 1853,
,to June, 1856, were jointly guilty of
gross negligence, by failing to perform the duties
of management intrusted to them, and leaving
these duties to be performed by the manager, with-.
out any superintendence or control by the board of
directors, or any quorum or authorised committee
thereof, by means of which the manager was enabled
to make advances out of the funds of the bank, in
violation of the contract (which limited the busi-
ness of the bank to this country), to James Lee and
Co., of New York, to be employed by them in the
prosecution of the business of the bank in America ;
in consequence of which heavy losses were sustained.
by the bank. Second, that it is relevantly averred
that during the period from June, 1847, to 1852
the defender, William Baird, and other persons
who were in office with him as directors of the bank,
were jointly guilty of gross neglect by failing to
perform the duties of management intrusted to
them, and leaving those duties to be perfOrmeaTy
the manager without any superintendence or control,
by means of which negligence the manager was;
enabled to make, and did make, advances out of the
funds' of the bank, by way of discounting bills to
persons known to be unworthy of credit, by which
great losses were sustained by the bank. Third, the
Court find in the same terms against the defender'
James Baird, as applicable to the period, June, 1852,,
to June, 1856." To the above extent and effect the
Court sustained the relevancy of the action, and.
allowed the pursuers to lodge the draught of issues
prepared in accordance with these findings. To any
further extent the Court found the averments in the
record irrelevant as grounds of action. The liquida-
tors had by a previous minute withdrawn ' the
charges of fraud originally contained in the record,
and by the present judgment various other charges
confined to gross negligence' were dismissed by the
Court. In particular, the Court wholly dismissed.
the second branch of the action, which sought to
find the defenders liable for the whole losses sus-
tained subsequent to the loss of one-fourth of the
capital, to the extent of several millions sterling.
The Court held that, excepting on the ground of
fraud, which had been departed from, this branch
of the case could not be sustained.

,

THE SECESSION PRISONERS AT.
CHICAGO.

(From-the New Yok Times.)

CHICAGO, FEB. 24.