The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-02 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

Advice.% from the West India and Pacific stations,
received by our Southampton correspondent by the
present mail, report that her Majesty's ships
Aboukir, 80, Commander Cracoft, C.B. ; Shannon,
39, Capt. Jones ; Nimble, 5, Lieut. Hallowes ; Ro-
sario, 11, Commander Palmer, Cygnet, 5, Com-
mander De liantzou ; and Lily, 5, Commander
Heneage, was It Port Royal, erarnaiCa. A naVaT
court-martial has been held on board the Aboukir,
at which the surgeon of the Nimble was convicted
of certain charges preferred against him, and sen-
renced to six months' imprisonment in England and
to be dismissed from the service. The screw sloop
Cordelia, 11, Commander John B. Scott, from Bar-
badoes and Granada, arrived at St. Thomas on the
12th December. The frigate Leander was at Callao.

- •
The corvette Charybdis arrived at San Francisco on

the 14th November, on her way to Vancouver's
Island, in 35 days from Panama. The Jamaica
Guardian of Dec. 9 has the following :

" We learn from a private source that a lament-
able occurrence took place on board H.M.S. Steady,
between Bermuda and Halifax. 'The surgeon, who
was unwell, took a sleeping draught, which, from
the disordered action of the heart or the too large
quantity taken, proved fatal, for on a brother officer
going to call him the next day the unfortunate
man was found dead. The Steady, we learn, is
ordered for a cruise in the Caribean Sea. Com-
mander Harvey and Lieut. Cameron have been ap-
pointed to another ship."
The screw steamship Achilles, 20, Capt. E. W.
Vansittart, attended by the paddlewheel steam ves-
sel Medusa, arrived in Plymouth Sound at 10 yes-
terday morning. She will probably go into the
North or Queen's Dock at Keyham, as the New
Long Dock at Devonport, in which she was last
placed, is now occupied by the Prince Consort.
The iron cased screw steamship Research, 4, Capt.
Arthur Wilmshurst, will, after her compasses are
adjusted, leave Plymouth Sound for Portsmouth
or Cowes, to succeed the Achilles.

Me crew of the steam gunboat Shamrock
(tender to the Fisgard, were paid off and
dis-
charged at DevOnPort on Saturday. She will be
placed in the fourth division of the Steam Reserve
in Iramoaze.

The War Department screw steamer Balaklava
left Plymouth on Thursday evening with con-
demned stores for Woolwich.

The 'repairs and alterations- in the ironcased
screw steamship Prince Consort, 35, Captain Geo.
0. Willes, C. 8., at Devonport, may be completed
by the 2d of February next.
In order to facilitate the progress of the works
connected -i.with the construction of the ironclad
vessels at Chatham Dockyard, the Lords of the
Admiralty iave given directions for the introduc-
tion at t tablishmenti-by way-of experiment;
of-
one of the r
go steam traction engines man ufactureci
hby S'foss Aveling itn(t Porter, Rochester, with 1h
view of - ing the advantages which would resin
froth the a option Of that description; of engine hi
the dockytird. In accordance with their lordships''
instruction*, the firm mentioned has just completed
the „construction of a traction engine of great power
and capacity, in which have been introduced seve-,
ral valuable improvements to adapt it for the de-
scription of work to which it is intended to be ap-
plied. The engine will make its appearance in the
dockyard for the first time to-day, and for the next
few weeks will be employed in the heaviest descrip-
tion of work, in order to enable the authorities to
judge and report upon its capabilities, prior to the
formal introduction of this kind of motive power
into the Royal dockyards in place of horse and
manual labour.

The naval transport Bonnetta is ordered to load
at Chatham dockyard with stores for Woolwich
Dockyard.

A naval court-martial assembled on board her
Majesty's ship Victory, at Portsmouth, on Friday,
and continued its sittings through Saturday fore-
noon, for the "trial of George Walker, a private,
Royal Marines, serving on board her Majesty's ship
Edgar, on a charge of breaking into the gunroom
steward's berth on the night of the 17th of
December, and stealing therefrom a quantity of
wine and spirits. The Court was composed of
Capts. Preedy, C. 8., of the Hector, president ;
Vansittart, of the Achilles ; Seccombe, of the Duke
of Wellington ; Pasley, of the Highflyer ; and Hen-
derson, of the Urgent. Capt. G. P. Hornby, of
the Edgar, prosecuted, and Mr. E. Hoskins offi-
ciated as Deputy Judge-Advocate. The Court
found the charge proved, and sentenced the pri-
soner to be imprisoned in Winchester Gaol for 12
months with hard labour, and afterwards to be dis-
missed from her Majesty's service.
Mr. James P. Peake, master shipwright of Devon-
port Dockyard, was last week superannuated with
an allowance of £670 per annum. In order to re-
duce the expenditure at this establishment, 100 men
are to be discharged. The reduction commenced
on Saturday.

The large caisson at the entrance to the third
dock at Chatham requiring some repairs, opportu-
nity will be taken to remove it and float it into No.
4 dock to-day, for the necessary defecti to be made
good. The advantages resulting from the use of
iron as a material for the caissons are so great that
in future the whole of the caissons required for the
dockyard -atx to be of iron instead of wood.
The tenlers of Messrs. Beert -and 6's' .7:Gabriel
and Son, and Peter and Rolt, for the supply of
Riga and Dantsic timber for the service of Chatham
Dockyard, have been accepted by the Admiralty,
the prices ranging froM £4 ls. 6d. to £5 per load.
Leave of absence 'from the camp at Colchester
has been granted to Col. Dickson, of the 16th
Lancers, until January 21. Leave of absence has
also been granted to Major Swaffield, of the 9th
depot battalion, until March 14.
The following appointments were made on Sa-
turday at the Admiralty :—Commander E. S.
Meara and Commander E. F. Lodder to be Inspect-
ing Commanders in the Coastguard ; Chas.Wotton,
master, to the Indus for the Sphinx ; Sub.-Lieut.
Harry T. Grenfell to the Edgar; Adolphus F.
Turner and Richard C. Massie, midshipmen, to the
Cadmus ; Chas. G. W. Aylen, midshipman, to the
Prince Consort ; James :E. Russell, midshipman, to
the Revenge ; Chas. C. Stuart, naval cadet, to the
Cadmus ; Geo. F. Banks, surgeon (additional), to
the Meander ; Thos. Craig, surgeon, to the Rattle-
snake ; and Michael W. Cowan, surgeon, to the
Zebra.

THE BISHOP OF BRITISH COLITMBIA.—The Rev.
Dr. Hills, Bishop of British Columbia, is to be married this
month to Miss King, of Madingley, near Cambridge. The
right rev. prelate will leave England shortly afterwards
for British Columbia, which. he quitted in June, 1863.
During his stay in England Dr. Hills has been collecting
funds with which to carry on his diocesan operations with
increased vigour.

Address to the King of Prussia.

BERLIN, Friday.
The following address, furnished with 1,708 sig-
natures, has been forwarded by the inhabitants of
Konigsburg to Herr von Bismarck for presentation
to the King. It has also been transmitted direct to
his Majesty from the province of Prussia, where
copies are still circulating for further signature :
" Most illustrious and Most Mighty King,
" Most Gracious King and Lord,
" The elevating consciousness which the most
recent occurrences have called forth in every Prus-
sian breast, coupled with rejoicing at the grand ex-
ploits of the Prussian army and Prussian diplomacy,
impel us respectfully to lay before your Majesty's
throne the expression of our thankfulness for the
brilliant results gained to the Prussian State through
your Majesty's wise guidance, with the assistance of
Almighty God, and to state further the wishes which
animate our hearts as Prussians.
" The exploits of the Royal army—and especially
the admirable storm of the entrenchments at Duppel
and the incomparable crossing to the island of Alsen
—have woven a new garland of fame for the history
of Prussia, and given a fresh impulse to our feeling
of pride in the Prussian name, The labour of your
Majesty, to which future generations wilt pay the
tribute of inexhaustible thanks—the reorganisation
of the army—has proved a brilliant success. Prussia,
mindful of her traditions, has again won for herself
an honourable position in the council of the Great
Powers. The connection of Prussia with Austria,
her natural ally, has acquired new consecration and
the guarantee of firm endurance by the battle-fields
of Schleswig-Hol.itein, where Austrian troops have
again fought side by side with the Prussian army
for the first time since half a century, and by their
common diplomatic action.
" Nor have the sons of Prussia, true to their

oaths, so joyfully shed their blood in vain. The
glorious war has been followed by an honourable
peace, which more_tinveg2tils the hopes and wishes
so long cherished by the German nation—nay, even
far surpasses the boldest expectations entertained at
the commencement of the war. Schleswig, Hol-
stein, Lauenburg, are now fully and for ever freed
from the yoke of the Danish rule.

"Henceforth the Duchies will participate in all
the blessings which German life, trade, and com-
merce bring with them. But a series of the most
advantageous prospects, hardly yet fully appreci-
able, is also to be expected in future for Germany
herself. The acquisition of this coast land, with its
excellent harbours, and population accustomed to a
seafaring life, secure a new and brilliant rise for the
maritime position of Germany.
" But, most gracious King and Lord, this new
acquisition can only truly become a blessing to Ger-
many, the increase in.territory will only become an
increase in power, when the Duchies shall closely
ally themselves with the North German great power
of Prussia, and unite their fortunes with those of
our state. It is the historical mission of Prussia to
be a strong guardian of Germany in the North, and
it is only by permanently establishing her power by
sea also that she is in a position to fulfil this lofty
task. Connection of the Duchies with Prussia in
military, naval, and diplomatic affairs, is the very
least that our state can must demand as the
fruit of the war, if she will not prove untrue to her
historical traditions, and repudiate the base of her
position as a great Power established by the famous
Elector and Frederick the Great. But we almost
apprehend that even such a result would hardly suf-
fiC3 truly to satisfy the interests of collective Ger-
many.

" Most illustrious King and Lord,—YourMajesty
will very graciously permit us—urged by love to
the ruling house, which we revere as subjects,
filled with sincere devotion to the Prussian father-
land, and in firm reliance upon your Majesty's
paternal cOnsideration—respectfully to lay the wishes
•
of our hearts regarding the future of Schleswig-
Holstein at the foot of the Throne, without thought
of arrogating .to ourselves thereby any influence
upon the policy of the Royal Government. We are'
unable to see any other issue in the Schleswig-Hoh
stein question, to recognise any other solution satis-
fying in equal measure the interests of Germany, of
Prussia, and of the Duchies, than that which the
legitimate representativ(li of the population of
-Lauenburg have recently proposed for that countity\,
Al) the three Duchies in the hands of the King of
'Prussia, united with the. Prussian monarchy under
the; sceptre of ,the iitusti cxis nonenzollern ; the ex-
cellent harbours and the hardy population familiar
with the sea utilised for all time in the Prussia
navy to the increase of the power and reputattV of
Prussia and the effective protection- of entire Ge-
rmany ; what a glorious elevating prospect for every
Prussian heart is tot here opened for the entire
future of the fatherland.

"An occurrence in ancient Prussian history pro-
videntially points out the way to this future. The
marriage of the Danish Princess Elizabeth with
your Majesty's illustrious ancestor Joachim 1., of
Brandenburg, has given the issue of that union
eventual heredifai.y tights-to the Schleswig-Holstein
Duchies which have /lever been abandoned, but on
the contrary have frequently been recognised in
later times, and have been especially confirmed by
the German Emperm—rights which now awake
out of their long slumber to new historical life.
The Prussian nation hopes that these chartered
rights will now receive , conscientious examination,
and that the Almighty, whose hand so visibly directs
the history of Prussia, may grant that the illustrious
Royal IkuSe of Hohenzollern may acquire legiti-
mate possession of the Duchies, to the fame and
glory of Prussia and the honour and power of col-
lective Germany.
"May. God preserve and bless your Majesty
God bless our Prussian fatherland !
" Konigsberg, Deconber, 1864."

M. Mon and the Emperor.

PARIS, Jan. 1.

M. Mon had an aldience of the Emperor yester-
day at the Ttiileries to present his credentials as
Ambassador ExtraWinary and Minister Plenipo-
tentiary of the Queen of Spain.
The Emperor was surrounded by the great officers
of State and of the 'household.

M. Mon addressed his Majesty as follows :
" Sire,—l have the honour to remit into the
hands of your Majesty the letter of her Majesty the
Queen of Spain, which again accredits 'me as Am-
bassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to your
Imperial Majesty.
" In resuming the functions which the august
kindness of your Majesty has rendered so easy, I
esteem myself happy in responding tope wishes of
my Sovereign, who knows my devotion the com-
mon interests of two great nations, and in,showing,
at the same time, my profound gratitude tor your
Majesty's-good,
"Deign, sire, to 'permit rtte to hope that under
such happy auspices it will again be possible for me
to be useful to my country by labouring to draw
closer the tie of esieeni and friendship which unite
her, to France."

The Emperor replied that he rejoiced at the
choice which the Queen had made of M. Mon to
represent her; that the reminiscences, still fresh,
which M. Mon had left in France should assure to
him the most cordial reception, and that no one
could contribute better. than he to maintain the in-
timacy of the relations between the two countries,
to which his Majesty attached so great an import-

ante.
M. Mon and his suite were conveyed to and from
the Tuileries in Court carriages.

MEAT 1 MEER'S 11.1-310IIIS are preparing, we believe,
under the hand of M. Gruneisen in the shape of " Recol=
iections"- of that great composer, by•a musical critic ear itle
of appreciating him.
•
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other hardshirs which make the young man old.

Mr. Gladstone on the Coal Resources of
the Country,

On Friday evening, Mr. Henry Beckett, F.G.S.,
of Wolverhampton, delivered a lecture in the As-
sembly Room, Mold, on " Geology in its applica-
tion to the coalfields of North Wales, Sir Stephen
Glynne presided. The Right Hon. the Chancellor
of the Exchequer was present, and moved a vote of
thanks to the lecturer. He congratulated the au-
dience on the justice which Mr Beckett had done
to the coalfield of Flintshire, stating that he (Mr.
Gladstone) was not satisfied with the treatment
which that coalfield had received in a variety of
publications. It had been assumed that because
that was an old mining district—a district where
for a long period of time their forefathers had
been scratching and grubbing, as it were, the
surface of the earth—the coals there were ex-
hausted, and there was no more occasion to think
about them except just by way of gathering up
some scraps and leavings which those Who came
before them had not been able to extract from the
bowels of mother earth ; but he himself had
cherished a hope, which had strengthened from year
to year and which was now coming to a state of
great confidence and vigour, that it might likewise
be considered as a very young coal mining district
--that it was a district to the real character of
which people were only just beginning to awaken.
He thought the signs had already appeared that
this was a true conclusion, and he confidently looked
for the multiplication of those signs from year to
year. The general rule in that district had been
in former times to stop at the main coal. It was
assumed for some reason or other, that that was the
ne plus ultra, the very farthest point downwards
of the coal measures, and the workings in any
seams under the main coal had been very insigni-
ficant. But when they came to compare what had
taken place in adjoining districts—going, for ex-
ample, down the bend of the Dee to the extreme of
thetestuary—they found great clusters of 'coal mea-
sures cropping up at different points, and it had
never been proved yet that the whole of those coal
measures were not lying undisturbed and tranquil
under the main coal, waiting to be dug up. It was
a district in which they might hope that before
long deep shafts would be brought into operation.
They had now every reason to believe that the
coalfield of that district passed under the estuary
of the Dee and connected itself with the Lancashire
coalfield ; and he was sanguine enough to believe
that the day was not far distant when the estuary
of the Dee, which now meant a vast surface
lying ahnost entirely useless, would be recovered
from the usurpation of the sea and brought
under cultivation, while the mineral enterprise of
this great country was at work underneath. Refer-
ring to some observations by the lecturer on the
dismal prognostications supposed to have been made
by Sir W. Armstrong in regard to the probable ex-
haustion of the coal supply of this country, Mr.
Gladstone said he had been told that in those spe-
culations Sir W. Armstrong referred simply to the
district within whiCh he spoke. He hoped that 200
years were not to see the exhaustion of the mineral
wealth of England, for—having immense confidence
in the resources of this country as 'well as in the
character of the people, which under God was the
best of all its resources—he did think that there was
nothing certainly which lie for one should contem-
plate with such apprehension as the exhaustion of
its mineral wealth, and especially of its supplies of
coal. He backed Sir W. Armstrong's recommenda-
tion of economy in the use of coal ; and he could
not help mentioning that a' very intelligent gentle-
man had informed him that they were cheapening
the production of gas in Manchester at such a rate
that it was highly probable that after the lapse of a
few years all houses occupied by the labouring part
of the population in particular would use no coal at
,all, but would have all the functions of light,
warmth, and cooking performed by gas. This opened
a most important source of economy to the working
classes, while it also indicated a hope that we might'
be permitted to economise our stores of coal, and at
the same time see removed that which was like a
great blot on the face of creation—viz., the mass of
smoke which disfigured large, districts of this
country.

SPIRIT OF TBE PUBLIC JO

-

iiRNALS

-" TIM SATURDAY kEVIEW" ON THE STAMI .PARTIES.
---111,, prospr-f!tr, of the variona political parties s ' • rernaini.
e
at the close of the ,year, in-their long-e-tab • ed state of
uncertainty and'inf;pcnse. Tile ' unfortunat '-ffCn.t made
in the last session, by the OppoSition, to giv a premature
coup de grace to the Ministry has ended in p:•olonging its
life ; and Mr. Disraeli, with his usual geulurt, has once
more enjoyed the privilege of conducting his followers to
a splendid strategical defeat. Chance blunders may at any
hour bring about the fall of a "dovetailed and tesselated',
Cabinet, but no great change is to be looked for in the re-

lations of English parties so long as Lord Palmerston pre-
serves his health and his hilarity. The Premier is, indeed,
to English politics what the rope is to the Italian ques-

.on—an excuse and a reason for inaction. During his
tenure of office the ultimate-tug of war stands adjourned
by tacit consent. There is a pleasant and general under-
standing in the Hotta, of Commons that the veteran Mini-
ter is to be allowed, in his declining years, the inestimable
political luxury of having no programme at all. Every
awkward- sea-monster that rears its head to look at the
progress of the Ministerial vessel disappears at once as
soon as the English Nereus of the waves has pronounced
the magic and simple word " To-morrow." The Manches-
ter party lie down again for a little longer, and Mr. Bright
spares the aristocracy for one more year. The Irish
Church goes once more to sleep, and is even heard
snoring across the Channel. The Church-rate and the
Ballot, it is true, come trotting annually out, but they
trot in again contentedly and happily after having had
their customary gallop across the downs. Lord Derby
translates Homer. Lord Stanley hardly takes the trouble
to raise his head from the absorbing pages of his
blue-books. Mr. Disraeli, anxious to make the Most of his
time among the country gentlemen, is either piping his
pastoral pipe with Arcadian simplicity over the Cotswold
'sheep, or else busy in confirming the religious faith of
churchwardens and of rural deans. If Lord Russell could
be kept from writing letters, if Brother Ignatius or some
enterprising Bishop could operate on the stony heart of the
Lord Chancellor and turn him into a shining candlestick,'
and if Mr. Gladstone would cease to aggravatethe opposite
benches by airs of superior sanctity, the Ministry might,
with fair good fortune, be secure against the annoyance of
even a serious reconnaissance in force. " So long as there
is nothing to be done, Lord Palmerston and his colleagues
will-probably succeed as well as any one else in doing it to
the complete satisfaction of the country. And for the next
year or lwo the- prospect of Ministerial sloth is not likely
to be considered, by any section of the political world as a
national misfortune.,; While the head of the present Go-
vernment continues in power, the thought, indeed, that.he
is understood by all alike to be the comfortable embodi-
ment of the principle of political adjournment will as little
disturb the.mass of the House of Commons as it-will cer-
tainly not detract from his own capacity for enjoying life.
He will doubtless end his career charmed with its pleasant-
ness, and bequeathing to hie successors a stormy voyage,
'and no particular policy by which to guide their course.
It- is not perhaps easy to train a crew of practised seamen
in still waters, but there is some truth in the, charge
brought against the Premier that ho has laboriously
abstained from educating a school of_future,atatesinen.
one suspects Lord Palmerston himself of feeling discom-
posure at the fact that he is chiefly tolerated by the Con-
servatives because they distrust' Mr. Disraeli, and by the
extreme Liberals because they have hopes of Mr. Ghtdstone.
But the noble lord—if his countrymen rightly read him L.-.
is not the man to agitate himself by brooding over the idea
of a posthumous deluge, or to trouble his quiet age by won-
dering whether he might.not have done better in his youth.
A jovial politician of eighty need not be overwhelmed by
melancholy, even if he is only a .stop-gap after all ; and
the convenience to Englishmen of having a stop-gap of the
:kind is acknowledged on all hands. Neither of the great
parties in the House of Commons can be anxious to preci-
pitate a hasty though inevitable struggle ; while it is clearly
for the advantage of the country to postpone for the pre-
sent the consideration of many problems, the discussion of
which will be tumultuous and the result obscure. Mean-
while political prophets may amuse themselves with guess-
ing at the details of the unhappy hurricane which, it is to
be feared, will sweep over the Liberal party after Lord
Palmerston's retirement. Heaven only knows what will
become of the 'Liberals ; and, abut for fear of irreverence,
we might assert that not even Heaven could say what will
become of the Whigs. The hopeS which both Whigs and
Liberals smite years'ago might have entertained of an able
and acceptable substitute have been lately scattered to the
winds by more than one premature and melancholy death.
What hopes of the kind might still have survived in
Mr. Gladstone have been dissipated by that accom-
plished and versatile orator himself. That hereafter,
at some future date, Mr. Gladstone may yet lead a consi-
derable party in the country, is both possible and probable.
That he can tieVeir lead the present House of Commons, is
absolutely deaf: Putting aside the many brilliant foibles
which mar his political character, it is only too evident
that he is born with what M. Louis Bittuo calls a geniu

for creating implacable enmities. The storm of antipathy
which his personalappearance excites upon the Conserva-
tive benches might be explained in part by natural causes.
But the Whigs themselves would as little consent to serve
under the generalship of Mr. Glitdstone as the extreme
Radicals would tolerate the mild and feeble sovereignty of
Sir G. Grey. As for Lord Russell, since his translation to
the Lords, he has, to the Liberal 'party, become a sound-
ing voice. Occasionally, like the;defied Romulus, ho may
Appear, in spite of his apotheosis, to a stray and admiring
senator. But the mass of the country, if not of the House
of Commons, are chiefly convinced Of his existence be-
cause they heard him continually—as a Roman poet heard
Jupiter—thundering at a considerable height above ihem
in the clear and cloudless sky of an English House of
Lords. In a few years, the great difficulty of the Liberals
will be, not who shall give his name to a Cabinet, but who
shall lead the party in the-Commons, and it is to be re-
gretted-that Lord Russell's translation has bereaved his
natural associates of an honest, though egotistical, general.
THE "Lois-Box REVIEW" ON BQXING DAY.—" Boxing
Day," as it is elegantly designated, has been a great occa-
sion with tho humbler orders from time immemorial ; with
them its due celebration is no innovation, as it is with the
middle classes. To get in subscriptions in the morning,
and to be " glorious" in the evening, is-the old prescriptive
way of keeping this yearly festival ; and to the present
time, though the asking for gratuities is greatly on the
wane, as a result of better education and the proportionate
increase of self-respect, the other feature of the day's cere-
monies is maintained with a persistency with which we
should be very glad to dispense:. It is a melancholy and
humiliating fact that the season in which we celebrate the
chief festiVal of our religion—a religion remarkable for the
,severity of its opposition to all forms of sensualism and
grossness—is the very one that developes in the highest
degree the peculiar vice which wo appear to have derived
-from our Gothic ancestors, who, in the old heathen times
could not imagine a Valhalla without perpetual fighting,
`or a Paradise without ever-flowing streams of beer and
'meed. It has been shown by statistical returns that we
are the most drunken people in the world ; and it is but too
Obvious from police reports that Christmas is our most
drunken season. The debauchery begins on Christmas-
eve ; it grows faster and more furious on Christmas-clay
it culminates on Boxing-day ;it returns like a ground-
swell on the eve of the New Year, and for a week or two
later it troubles the regular flow of industrial life with its
muddy and brawling .current, We last week quoted in
I)urhiterztrrevitnrcitte4t4,easage4o,4 fc-work oa ixieritals
in which it is stated thatihroughout the first half of. Janu-
ary the number of cases of delirium tremens arising from
ChriStmas drinking bouts is largely increased in all our
charitable institutions for the sick and wounded. . Anyone
who was about the streets of London last Monday will
readily comprehend the truth of this assertion. From an
early hour of the day to a late hour at night the pavements
were rendered offensive by staggering bacchanals—some of
them mere youths, others grey-headed men—all loud and
open in their degradation, as thOugh it were an understood
thing that the day excused the deed. The emptiness in
other respects even of the most crowded thoroughfares
was remarkable. Decent people, with those few excep-
tions whom necessity called forth, were in their homes,
enjoying a quiet day with their families, or a merry day
with their friends. The eating houses and coffee houses,
which were compelled to keep open for the sake of the few
regular customers who might be expected, looked dull and
cold with nearly empty rooms, in odd corners of which
solitary and depreSsed men, with a spite against the world
for that particular-occasion, consumed plates of turkey in
moody seclusion, and execrated their destinies for bringing
them to that pass. But the public houses were alive and
roaring with trade and, clamour. Policemen knew that a
good day's work was cut out for them, and were not dis-
appointed. Rows set in steadily with the early after-
noon, and were at high-tide by midnight. In the hours of
the evening, between the admission of theatre-goers to
their respective places of amusement and the salient flood
of the departing crowd, the Strand itself would have been
a desert but for parties of inebriate explorers, bound for
nowhere in particular, and not infrequently finding that
dubious locality passing, by some mysterious process, into
the very positive fact of a police-cell. Drunk hUsbands
wrangled with drunk (or sober) wives, and miserable
children wept impotently at the brawl. The police were
in-requisition in a variety of ways; and next morning,
at one police-office alonc--Worship-street—nearly fifty
charges were disposed of, arising principally from the ex-
cesses of the previous day. Christmas-day itself,'however,
had been scarcely less prolific in the fruits of debauchery.
The cells and the gaoler's room at Bow-street would hardly
hold all the prisoners it was fouud necessary to cram into
them. "The charges against these persons," says a report
in the daily papers, "varied in degree, as drunk and
riotous,' drunk and disorderly,' drunk and assaulting
the police' (or others), and simply drunk,' which usually
means so utterly imbecile and helpless as to be incapable
of riot, assault, or indeed of anything but lying iu the
gutter." There is. a tendency on the part of magi-
strates generally to accept the excuse of the 808:-
son " urged I.y offenders, who modestly confess
-next morning to .having taken "a drop too much"
overnight. This is a very- mistaken kindness. The

, season is no excuse • whateve, ntiless the fact of cele-
brating a Christian festival to be r dcd as a natural in-
eentisT to getting filthily intoxic4, .11 We do not say that
the Most elan-apiary of inagista.7aAntdd " put .down "
drunkenness, any more than Sir or ',Laurie -could " put
down„ suicide; but the bench sirs Id at least refrain froot
1014-ng-it on the back. -That thesel llipost:3 Of 'l.l ~,,-11,,n,
sometimes have )11°f:A tragical sea ~ is :town by a stotl
reported in the pup;l.l.l7is week.. 4 woman turned middle
life invited some of herfeinale fr*ls to a merry-making.
They all got dead (ironic; the "hosfe '. reeling about ti,
room, fell on to the, bars of the:..gmete; bet' clothes were
ablaze in a moment; the guests, tkre too helpless to do
anything but scream ; 'and when . as;3istance arrived, the
poor wretch was past the reach of aid or hope Such is
the dark side of an English Christmas !
THE " EXAMINER" ON TILE END or 1864.—We cloSe
the historic ledger Of 1864 with a shrug rather than a sigh.
_lt
may sound ungracious in ears pious and polite to say
that it was upon the whole a good-for-little year, and that
we are glad to have done with it. But in truth and can-
i dour, what else can-We.say ? Neither abroad nor at home
have any of the high hopes cherished at its commencement
been realized. TwelVe months ago hUmanity foLdly, per-
suaded itself that enough of blood 'and treasure had been
squandered in:the American Civil War, and that one wgy
or other. it -must soon terminate ; yet here we are on
another New Year's Eve, and with unabated slaugh-
ter the end' is not yet, nor does it even. Seem to be

in sight, A twelvemonth since Poland was still in arms;
and Denmark still was an unpartitioned realm. Our diplo-
macy and our public opinion had fed the 'expectation in
both of help or interposition or succour of some descriptlOn,
but we have stood by and seen both victimssof rapacious
despotism hewn down and rifled in broad day in spite of
our :vain protestations and calls on heaven to witness the
injustice done. Then, by way of a finish, Mr. Cobden ex-
..

ults in the unsatisfactory figure England has cut in these
transactions; and Lord Napier, 'on quitting St. Peters-
burg for Berlin, congratulates the Czar upon England's
renewed acquiescence in his merciless treatment of Poland,
as calculated to cenient.the: mutual confidence and friend-
ship of the two empireS. A twelvemonth ago some san-
guine people imagined .tha:t. under the
.advice of France
Italian freedom and the Papacy might somehow, be recon-
ciled, and thafeavoiir's dream of a Free Church in a Pree
State WAS about to be fulfilled. We say the royal Go-
vernment consent to waive indefinitely its claim to call a
Parliament at Reins ; and We saw the French Einperor
pledge himself to withdraw his troops from that city.
Italian :pride and ambition nauseated the compact,
at first refused to swalloW it, and only did so even-

Wally, making making wry faces. No sooner is it ratified,
however, than the Vatican • breaks forth in terms of
denunciation of all concerned, and of every principle and
postulate of civil freedom recognised in Christendom. It
unfurls the old banner of reaction and of eccleSiastical
supremacy over all temporal privileges and powers ; and
calls on the faithful everywhere to sustain its antiquated
pretensions to civil and :religious supremacy. • Such is the
net result of that French. diplomacy so Ling described as
equally subtle and profound, far-sighted and invincible. A
twelyemonth ago we hoped against hope that the mad
scheme 14 setting up a European throne in Mexico would
not be persisted in, fraught as it must inevitably be with
the seeds of a desperate and sanguinary struggle between
republicanism and monarchy in the New World. No man
of any party in America affects to conceal the spirit in
•
•Which this sinister project is tiniversatirregarded thertyor
'to doubt that whenever the Civil War is ended, compensa-
tion will instinctively be sought for its troubles and humi-
liations in a national movement for the expulsion of Maxi-
milian the Inipostor and his foreign myrmidons.
Nevertheless we find the stupid cabinets of Europe, ono
after another, acknoWledging his-make-believe Majesty, just
as if he Were a real king by hereditary des Cent or popular 'elec-
tion. At home we have now our fill of industrial prosperity
and an uninterrupted span of public health, for which let
us be thankful. A few great crimes and two or three signal
scandals have ruffled the surface of our self-satisfaction
"but upon the whole; the year has passed without any
notable disturbance, f public tranquillity. In two or three
places numerous bodies of workmen 'have stru.ek.for higher
wages, and lost a great deal of valuable time in an unavail-
ing struggle to obtain them—but it is a good sign of head-
way made in the path of popular improvement that so few
symptoms of a desire to resort to violence manifested then:-
selves on the occasion. Even Ireland, otie.e so restless and
excitable, has, save in one sad instance, been true to its re-:
pentant vows of peace and order.• It is only sad to think
that there seems so little chance' of its improved-habits
being rewarded with •concessiondtb right and justice for-
merly refused on the plea of not yielding to insubordination.
When persons were shot and glebe-lands harried once a
month,. Parliamentary prilificians declared that' the law
must be vindicated before any, question of sectarian
equality was even considered. Now that there is not a
shillelah flourished it a fair, our conservative scribes
and hypocrites tell us the people are content, and
that theY haVe come to regard an alien " Church
establishment as a blessing. The legislative records of
1864, we are sorry to Say,' are only too well fitted to teach
the Irish people that in not being troublesome there is no
hope for theni. Pretty much the same leSson is inculcated

in like manner regarding our own grievance, that of exces.
SiVa taxation. The tone of grumbling has been so defer-
entially low that no regard whatever seems to have been
paid to it. We have allowed our Franco-phobists to'go on
pitching our money into the sea to try and find founds-.
tions there for marine fortresses, which, if they could even
be built, we should never be able to man, and which, if
manned,_ an invader would, as a matter of course, simply
avoid. We have allowed the War Office to go on manu-
facturing colossal guns at huge cost that are only certain
on trial to burst, because job-ocracy says it cannot make
out what better to do. In all departments, as Mr. Glad-
stone confesses, we are spending far more than we get any
value. for;. and no serious attempt has been made
during the 'year to turn over a new leaf in fiscal or
financial economy, .to abate taxation or to. pay off
debt. As for any extension of popular rights, the
thing has not even been whispered. The pledges
which the Parliament of 1859 took at its baptism it impu-
dently'forswore in its youth, and has half forgotten in its
decrepitude. Nobody would believe it now if it said
the contrary. So long as it cumbers the grokmd at
Westminster thedisfranchised industry and intelligence of
the country have no chance of .even a serious consideration
of their clainui, and in certain quarters that is an additional
motive for keeping it there as long as possible. But the
day of reckoning cannot be much longer delayed, and it
will assuredly be rigorous and resentful the longer it is
postponed.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

_r.__._.~~__~~r

LEICESTER—SATURDAY.
There was less than an average supply of wheat, the,
condition of the samples being fair. Buyers could only
supply their wants at an advance of is. per quarter.

YORK—SATITRDAY.
The supply was limited, and the attendance of the trade
was fair. Sales were made to a tolerable extent, and late
rates were exceeded about ls. per quarter. For white
samples prices ranged from 40s. to 455. for red 365. to 395.,
per 36 stone. There was a fair demand for barley, and a
good share of business was done at quite as much money
as last week ; malting 28s. to 30.; grinding, 255. to 275.1
per qr. Oats were a tolerable sale, and easily maintained.-
their value ; new 20s. to 22s,,per 24 stone.

OXFORD—SATURDAY.
There was a good attendance to-day, and a large quan-
tity of corn offering ; the sales made were at an ituprore,
ment on last week's rates ; the advance was reluctantly
.complied with and onl:.
samples.

NORIVICII-SATuRDAr.

•
There was a fair supply of wheat at this market to-day,
but the damp weather of the past, few days had affected
the condition of many samples ; all good and dry samples
realised an advance of ls. per quarter, but other sorts met
dull sale. The supply of barley was fair, and in somei
instances a trifling advance was obtained for the best sam-,.
ples. Secondary and grinding sorts met a limited talc outj
late terms.