The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, MAY 27, 1862.

THE NAVY.

The operation of tenting the rudder of the iron-
plated frigate noyal Oak, 51, 1,000 horse power,
took place at Chatham Dockyard yesterday after-
noon, in the presence of Mr. R. Abothell, one of
the constructors attached to the department of
the Controller of the Navy, Mr. Lloyd, and the
principal officials of the establishment. The trial of
the rudder-post, and the apparatus for working the
rudder was deemed eminently satisfactory. The
greatest efforts are being made to complete this
fine frigate, but owing to the whole of the requisite
machinery not having been fixed, the work of coat-
ing her with her armour plates proceeds but slowly.
The Racoon, 22, 40U horse power, undergoing a
thorough refit at Chatham Dockyard, will shortly
be out of the hands of the shipwrights' department,
and in the course of a few days will be unlocked
for the purpose of shipping her masts. She will
afterwards be placed in the same dock to be rigged
and completed for sea, when she will be commis-
sioned by Captain his serene Highness the PI ince
of Leiningen.
The screw steamship Sanspareil, Capt. George
Le G. Bowyear, just returned from Vera Cruz and
Bermuda, is now preparing at the Devonport dock-
yard for service in China:
The screw steamship James Watt, 89, Capt. Ed.
Codd, is expected at Plymouth from the Mediter-
ranean.
Port-Admiral Sir H. Stewart, K.C.8., inspected
the crew of the eteauaship Donegal, Capt. Sherard
Osborn, yesterday morning in Plymouth Sound.
She was appointed to go into Hamoaze in the after-
noon, and to be dismantled and put out of commis-
sion.

The screw steam transport Himalaya, 6, Capt.
John Seccombe, was appointed to leave Plymouth
Sound yesterday afternoon for the Mediterranean,
calling at Gibraltar.
In order to provide the additional space for the
enlargement and extension of Chatham Dockyard,
preparations have been commenced by a party of
Royal Engineers, under the direction of Lieut.-Col.
Lovell, C. 8., for the demolition of the large mar-
tello tower at the entrance to Chatham Harbour.
The tower is of great strength and solidity, and was
constructed, upwards of two centuries since, to de-
fend, in conjunction with Upnor Castle, the dock-
yard at Chatham from any hostile attack from the
sea. Of late years, however, the fort has been
permitted to fall into decay, and the proposed ex-
tension of Chatham Dockyard has rendered its
removal necessary.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—Capt. F. H. H. Glasse,
C. 8., to the Terror, for service at Bermuda, vice
Capt. Hutton, whose period of service has expired ;
William S. Lee, midshipman, to the Galatea, as
supernumerary ; and James P. M'Ewen, second
master, to the Dromedary.
Capt. George Ramsay, C. 8., is to have the
" good service" pension vacant by the promotion of
Capt. Goldsmith to los a Rear-Admiral ; Captain
W. J. C. Clifford, C. 8., is to have the " good ser-
vice" pension, vacant by the promotion of Captain
Frederick to be a Rear-Admiral.

PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS ON

MEXICO.

A second part of " Correspondence relating to
Affairs in Mexico" has been printed and laid before
Parliament. It embraces the proceedings of the
expeditionary forces from the occupation of Vera
Cruz by the Spanish troops on Dec. 17, 1862, de-
tailed in detpatches from Commodore Dunlop, of
the Challenger, down to Earl Russell's despatch of
May 22, 1862, to Sir C. Wyke. The ambiguous
conduct of Dur French allies, their insincerity and
want of principle, are painfully apparent through-
out. The latest paper in the collection, Earl Rus-
sell's despatch of May 22, embodies the views of
her Majesty's Government on the conduct of France
in this matter, as the following extracts fully show.
Earl Russell thus winds up the farce of Anglo-
French intervention, with an approval of Sir C.
Wyke's withdrawal of England from all participa-
tion in the expedition :
"Her Majesty's Government regret to find that
the hope of agreement between the commissioners
of Great Britain and Spain, ou the one hand, and
of France on the other, was completely extin-
guished, and that Admiral Jurien de la Graviere
and M. Dubois de Saligny had determined to march
on Mexico, while you and General Prim were of
opinion that there was no reason for refusing to
meet the Mexican commissioners in the conference
which had been fixed to meet at Orizaba on 15th
of April.
" The difference of opinion among the commis-
sioners appear to nave cnietly turned on two points.
The first of these related to the protection given to
General Almonte by the French army, and the
demand of the Mexican Government that he should
be sent back to France. The second point of dif-
ference is thus stated by M. Dubois de Saligny in
the conference of the 9th of April :
" M. de Saligny insists on this point, that it is
impossible to deny that the real and principal ob-
ject of the convention was to obtain satisfaction for
the outrages heaped on foreigners by the Mexican
Government, and to enforce its observance of trea-
ties ; that the temporising and conciliatory system
hitherto pursued was condemned by what was daily
occurring, inasmuch as the reign of extortion,
tyranny, and violence had been made doubly op-
pressive, and had rendered the situation of
proofs of this
the complaints daily
forforeignersi
aqauailtley ianfftoorl
de re adb
be
y; that
sent in to him; that the attitude of the allied
forces appeared to have stimulated the Government
to redoubled audacity ; that, for his part, he
formally declared that ho would not treat with that
Government; and that his well-matured opinion
was that it was necessary to march upon Mexico.'
"Her Majesty's Government approve your con-
duct on both those points. They consider that the
in Mexico, under the
protection presence of
oGf
tebnee
Frenchral Alm
army,on might fairly be t e
con-
sidered as a provocation to civil war, and her Ma-
jesty's Government could not haveapproved a mea-
etrencdoenndeucting negotiations with
; for at that time the
of Mexico was a government with
sGwaucilivriecehwrhntamthvoeeinna peacefulatgthatllieswe settlement of their differences.
Her Majesty's Government are also of opinion
when, in answer to M. de
~
unchangeable resolu-
tionGhoivsernment of President
thatsaii
gnynooytu,at
oa
declaration
tr ee dat rightlyw i ththe
ef
Juarez, you refused to affix your signature to the
answer addressed by the French commissioners to
General Doblado, and thereby broke up the Con-
ference, and put an end to the joint action of the
three Powers.
" Her Majesty's Government greatly regret that
the co-operation with France should cease; and
they regret, above all, that the hope of the fulfil-
ment of the objects of the Convention of October
31, which might have been attained before the end
of April, had the conference met on the 15th,
should thus have been abandoned.
" Her Majesty's Government have -every reason
to be satisfied with the determination you took.
They concur in the opinions given by General
Prim, and are happy to find that the conduct of the
representative of her Catholic Majesty has been ap-
proved by the Government of Spain.
" Nor is there any reason to regret the course
taken by her Majesty's Government. Had they
delayed asking redress from the Government of
Mexico from the wrongs of British subjects, they
would have given rise to just complaints from those
Who ate entitled to her Majesty's protection. Had
they pursued their own course separately, and re-
fused to act with France and Spain, they would
have produced irritating and unsatisfactory rela-
tions, perhaps collisions, between the military and
naval forces of the three great European Powers.
Had they, on the other hand, evinced an insur-
mountable repugnance to treat with President
Juarez, they would have been wanting in due
regard to the independence of the Mexican people.
" Had her Majesty's Government, therefore,
taken any other course than that which was
adopted, they would have incurred the risk of evils
greater even than the separation which has now
occurred.
" You will understand that while her Majesty's
Government lament the course taken by the Com-
missioners of the Emperor of the French, nothing
has occurred to impair the friendly relations which
continue to subsist between the two Governments
of Great Britain and France.

~ I am, &C.,

" RUSSELL."

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE.

THE EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES
The committee re-assembled yesterday morning
to proceed with the opposition to the bill. The
Right Hon. W. Cowper in the chair.
Mr. W. Tite,
M.P., was examined, He said that
he was of opinion that an embankment of the
Thames was most desirable between Westminster
and Blackfriars-bridges, and it should be carried
lower down, if possible. He was also in favour of it
being carried further up the river, as far as Chelsea
if possible, and a plan for that purpose had already
been approved. The embankment between West-
minster-bridge and Blackfriars-bridge should be
accompanied by a readw4y. Still as there was a
great crowd at the West-end, and some further
communication was required to free the crowded
state of the Strand and about Charing-cross, he
wanted a street somewhere near St. Martin's Church,
tio as to enable persons to get along to the City
without interfering with the Strand, which was at
present very inconvenient. As regarded the em-
bankment; he preferred the plan of Mr. Bazalgette,
the chief engineer to the Metropolitan Board of
Works. He wished to see a broad communication
direct from Charing-cross to the embankment road.
Something more than the embankment was required.
If the embankment was carried up to Blacktriars-
bridge, and then a way made into Cannon-street, he
thought it would be of the greatest possible advan-
tage. The public road would be a great convenience,
but it would be of more advantage if more lateral
communications were made with it. Persons com-
ing down from the West end, Pall-mall, Piccadilly,
and all that part of London, and seeking to make
their way to the House of Commons, would re-
ceive no facility from the Whitehall-street pro-
posed, and he could not see how the crush was to
be avoided, although it might perhaps be di-
minished He was satisfied no heavy traffic
would fdlow the course proposed. There would
be no relief by this scheme at the corner
of Parliament-street, or at the corner of Bridge-
street. 'They were constantly stopped at that corner.
That traEc was due to the omnibuses and to the
heavy trkffic coming from the railways and going
out to tint part of London ; that would be diminished
if they got a street wide enough to put a line of posts
in the niddle, by which the traffic would be divided.
If they jut a street as wide as the bridge they could

divide the traffic into two streams, one going one
way and the other another, and they could take
shelter in the crossing. When Mr. Bazalgette s
plan was under examination and consideration by
the Metropolitan Board of Works, the possibility
of the embankment was suggested, and it was known
that the Duke of Buccleuch and other gentlemen
objected to that plan. Still his plan contemplated
a roadway in front of Montague House and White-
hall Gardens. He agreed with the principle of a
solid embankment. The great majority of the plans
proposed show a roadway all the way in one sense
or another. With regard to the plan of Mr. Penne-
therne, and the widening of King-street, he thought
that portion of the plan was a necessity, and they
could enable the Metropolitan Board of Works at
once to carry out that, which is excessively wanted
for public convenience and in the sense of public
taste. It was impossible to conceive a great nation
like this, after the discussion upon the Foreign-office,
could leave that magnificent building in a street not
much wider than the room they were now in. They
then got into a broader part of the street, and could
wait until happier times, except that immediately
at the end he should round the two corners very
liberally. The removal of the northern block in
King-street he estimated would cost something
like £lOO,OOO. It must be done at any rate. As-
suming the saving to the Metropolitan Board of
Works of £92,000 by reason of its being repaid to
the cost of the embankment, that would be equal to
half the cost of removing this. If the board had
.009,000 in r.okot it might do w great deal in
widening King-street. Supposing Bridge-street to
be widened the width of the bridge, any stream of
traffic which was coming over the bridge in this
direction to get down there they must cross the
whole stream of traffic going the other way. Even
if Bridge-street were widened he believed there
would be a greater impediment in it from the great
traffic, for that and the omnibuses would not be
subserved by the road along the front of the house
of the Duke of Buccleuch. The Metropolitan Board
df Works have at this moment in hands greater
works than this which they were carrying out.
There was nothing more simple than the carrying
out of this embankment ; it is a simple wharf wall,
which is done everywhere; the great difficulty was
where to find the money, and then to buy the pro-
perty. That wanted judgment and skill; but the
Metropolitan Board of Works had a staff and com-
mittees quite accustomed to these things. If the
house chose to entrust it to the Metropolitan
Board of Works the engineering work is literally
nothing. The practical work of purchasing the
property was not worse, if as bad, as that which
they had had to do with, and had done successfully
in Southwark. He was sorry it was • not shown
upon the plan. They dealt at once with the free-
holder, and they had a committee which sat once
or twice a-week, which called and heard what every
man had to say as to his trade. If they did not
agree it was sent to a jury ; but having heard his
case, and his lawyer and surveyor, and being all
men of business, they generally came to a fair com-
promise. He was decidedly opposed to any em-
bankment being continued in front of the Houses
of Parliament.
Some other evidence having been given in oppo-
sition to the bill, the committee adjourned.

THEE THREATENING,
LETTER CASE IN CORK.

The persons implicated in the extraordinary
threatening letter case in Cork have been remanded.
According to the depositions of Mr. Leahy, J.P„
and Mr. Galgey, the following were the circum-
stances that led to the outrage :—The farm occupied
by the O'Connells at Lisheens, near Cork, was not
inherited ; it was purchased by the elder John
O'Connell in 157),.) from Mr. St. Dolman. Shortly
after coming into possession he commenced dealings
with Messrs. Leahy and Sons, bu'Acr merchants.
The nature of the dealings is not exactly stated,
but it seems to have consisted in the advance of
money to purchase cattle, to be repaid in butter
produced on the farm. In November last the
O'Connells were indebted to Mr. Leahy about £lOO.
Seeing that they were not good farmers, having
been previ3usly in a different occupation, and
that the cows had been removed from the land,
Mr. Leahy took proceedings to recover the debt,
and an execution was issued on the 20th of March.
It was then discovered that there was a prior exe-
cution for the rent, which was 40s. an acre. On
the 10th of April the sheriff put up the farm for
sale in the County Court, and the purchaser was
Mr. Galgey. This gentleman went on the land to
seek possession, but he was warned to be off as a
trespasser, was told it was well for him he was not
in Tipperary, and that he would get into trouble.
On another occasion, when he went to propose a
settlement, he was treated in a similar manner, and
shots were fired in a plantation near him. Subse-
quently one of Mr. O'Connell's daughters went on
her knees in the street and cursed Mr. Leahy so
bitterly and violently that he had to call upon the
market beadle to restrain her. One of the daugh-
ters, Anna Maria, also cursed Mr. Galgey on the
lands. She went on her knees, with a book in her
hand, and prayed that the grass and the corn might
not grow, that her curse might light upon him and
his children. She cursed him "by the twelve tribes
of Israel and by the twelve Apostles. She cursed
him very loud—so loud that it could be heard at a
considerable distance."
When the two gentlemen received the threaten-,
ing letters they were struck with the similarity of
their phraseology to those curses, and also with the
fact that, though 80330 of the letters were posted in
Cork and others in Queenstown, they were all
written in the same feigned hand, and seemed evi-
dently to have had the same origin. The letters
were couched in the most horrifying terms. They
were given in evidence by the gentlemen threatened
and read. They are almost too blasphemous and
atrocious to be printed, but it is impossible other-
wise to give an idea of the fiendish spirit of
vengeance which they breathe. With the six
O'Connells was ansooiated a porgon named Jeremiah
Forde, said to be skilled in drawing plans. Messrs.
Leahy and Galgey swore that they believed the
prisoners were the authors of the letters, and that
they felt their lives to be in danger. The prisoners
denied the charge. The male prisoners were re-
manded, the two women were let out on bail.
The following are letters which were received
by Mr. and Mrs. Leahy respectively :
" Vile Wretch,—You have been the cause of much
pain and uneasiness of mind to Mr. O'Connell, for which
as s
you will suffer, as sure as God is in lleavon—
us on the
ure as
Christ died for our sins—as suro as He will judge
last day. I and five or six more will watch and shoot
f you
for being the cause of having the land be sold—a
dor. e
sake of £9O. By Heavens ! you will suffer for your o.ings.
Here is a brief description of what will happen until the
coroner will give his verdict:--[Hero are depicted in pen
and ink a coffin, with body in it, and pistols, Sze., lying be-
side it.] Your coffin will be bought if you do not see that
a settlement will be made between Mr, O'Connell and that
infernal scamp Galgey. You are the d— scoundrel who
caused the work to go on. It rests with you now to put a
stop to it. Yes, if you value your own happiness, you will
see a settlement made, or, by the great God who reigns
over us, I will have your life, you devil on earth !" [here
is also the figure of a coffin by way of signature,

" May.
i 4 /qrs. Leahy,—This is a murderous letter, but not at all
sufficient to repay the villain, your husband, for the wrong
he has done. You cannot but know that he sold out the
Lisheens estate, which belonged to John O'Connell, Esq.,
which was a very mean act to do—all for the sake of £9O,
and he having the lease in lieu of it until paid. No matter ;
part of the money will pay his funeral service. Yes, by
Jesus Christ and his blessed Mother and his eternal Father'
I and seven or eight more will have his life. His heart's
blood in a bottle will only satisfy our thirst. Oh, God of
Heaven, if I had hold of him at this moment 1 would tear
him limb from limb. Christ, of Heaven, to say that such
wickedness should be practised in a Christian land, and
undeserved. See what will happen. [Here the figures of
a pistol and a coffin.] By Christ, who died for us all, this