The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-16 00:00:00

1176.RWAY.

King Charles XV. has just opeh%ed at Christiania
the Session of the Storthing of Noriv.ay with the

following speech :--
"Honourable Gentlemen and Norwegian or-In
seeing you again assembled before me to deliberate
on the affairs of the country, I conform to the terms
of the fundamental law by signalizing in a summary
manner the object upon which your attention will
be called. In the greater part of the country the
bad crops of the last three years, as well as circum-
stances unfavourable to several alimentary sources,
have exercised a temporary pressure upon our
economical situation, and, as a consequence, the
ordinary state of the public revenue has suffered a
diminution. From those motives I have caused the
Budget for the next three years to be drawn up
with the greatest economy that is compatible with
the solicitude necessary for regular progress. The
measure which will be submitted to you shows that
it will not be necessary to create any fresh charges
nor to increase the others in order to cover the ex-
penditure. Among the Bills to be presented is one
concerning a question on which the Storthing, as
well as the Government, has been for a long time
occupied—that is, criminal procedure. The ques-
tion is now sufficiently ripe for the Storthing to come
to a decision upon the materials prepared. The de-
cision recommended by the Bill submitted to you
tends not to abrogate, but to ameliorate our judi-
cial system. I cannot advise the abandonment of
a system which has been developed naturally and
conformably to the state of the country, and which
even now, although it has not for a long time
been subjected to any radical amelioration, may
suffice to assure the efficacy of the penal laws as well
as to protect the innocent. The introduction of
juries, setting aside their value, causes me tofear that
local reasons in a great part of the kingdom do not
appear to admit of a procedure founded upon that
system, and that state of things would require
great sacrifices of time and money on the part of
the treasury and the public. After having, how-
ever, enunciated my personal conviction, I add that
for several reasons it is important that the question
should be decided during the present session, and I
desire to be in accord on that subject with the na-
tional representatives."
After having announced the introduction of a bill
on the administration of forests, the King continued:
" A bill will be submitted to you, tending to ob-
tain necessary contingent for the army in case of
war, and to ameliorate its qualities by employing
the conscription instead of voluntary engagements.
I believe those two measures to be indispensable for
giving to the army all its value, and for enabling it
to be worthy of the sacrifices which the people make
for it. In furtherance of those measures I ask for
no fresh resources nor for the prolongation of ser-
vice in time of peace. I only propose that of which
other nations, which have founded their defence
upon the system of conscription, have for a long
time past recognised the necessity. I trust that the
Storthing will acquire that conviction from the do-
cument which accompany the bill.
" Since the last session the question of the revi-
sion of the Act of Union between Norway and
Sweden has been the subject of deliberations. I

have expressed my views relative to that question
in the declaration consigned to the proces verbal of
the sitting of Feb. 18 of the Suedo-Norwegian
Council of State, which minute will be communi-
cated to the Storthing at the same time as the other
documents connected with the matter. I refer you
also to that declaration itself, as being the expression
of my solicitude for the union as well as the auto-
nomy of each of the two kingdoms. In it I also
expressed the hope that the representatives of the
two kingdoms would support my efforts to bring
that business to a successful end, I again express
that hope for the present session of the Norwegian
S torthing.
" I continue to receive the most satisfactory proofs
of the kindly feelings of all the foreign Powers.
In now declaring the deliberations of the Stor
thing of Norway to be open, I implore Providence
that it may direct and bless your labours ; and I
assure you of all my grace and royal favour."

THE SECRETARY AT WAR ON THE

AMERIC.AN STRUGGLE.

HEREFORD, WEDNESDAY.

The Herefordshire Agricultural Society held its
annual meeting here yesterday, when there was the
usual great display of Hereford cattle, after which
the agriculturists dined together. There was an
unusually large muster at the dinner table, it being
understood that Sir G. C. Lewis, her Majesty's
Secretary at War, would be present. The chair
was taken by Sir Velters Cornewall, and among the
guests at the cross-table were Lord W. Graham,
M.P., Sir T. E. Winnington, Bart., M.P., Mr.
Mildway, M.P., Mr. King King, M.P., Colonel
Clifford, M.P., &c.
Sir G. C. LEWIS, in reply to the toast of his
health, concurred in a wish expressed that war and
war secretaries would cease ; but if it happened
a foreign nation thought we were unprepared, and
was tempted therefore to make a descent upon our
shores, it would neither lead to honour nor to the
interest of this country that we should be found
unready. He referred at some length to the dis-
tress prevailing in the cotton districts. He ex-
pressed a hope that it would be of short duration
only, and that the war which was now going on
in the United States, and the blockade of the South-
ern States, which prevented the cotton from coming
to this country, would before long come to an end.
That was a subject on which many different opi-
nions were and had been entertained. The goNern-
ment of this country was placed in the position of
having to choose between two opposite courses, viz.,
recognition of the Southern states on the one hand,
and sympathy or alliance with the States of the
Federal section of the 'Union on the other. Well,
the Government avoided both these
peuxrtsrueemde extremes.
They had consistently and strenuously
middle course of
strict neutrality, and had abstained
direct or indirect countenance or assist-
from giving
tthaetgreatbelligerentcomplaints
had been parties.
ance to either of h
fes. (Hear.)
It had been
the government at Washington that the
made by
nt of England had not • •
governme maintained this strict
neotralitY, because it had reco4nised the South as
a belligerent power ; and it had been said that by
recognising the South as a lr be igerent power we
had departed from a strict . line of neutrality. Now
h© (Sir G. C. Lewis)
could not but think that if
any impartial person fl re ected on the course of this
unhappy contest,
he would come to the conclusion
that no word of the English language would apply
with greater aptitude to the Southern States than
the word " b
e igerent." These parties had com-
bined for
when they looked to the number of armed men they
had raised, when they looked to the large armies
they had brought into the field, to the ability of the
generals by whom those armies were commanded,and
to the pertinacity with which' the contest on their
part had been waged, it could not surely be denied
that they deserved the name of " belligerent"in refer-
ence to the manner in which they had carried on the
war against the United States. Under these cir-
cumstances it seemed to him (Sir G. Lewis) that a
more unfounded charge could not have been made
against the Government of this country than that

,
of having departed from the principle "-ttglnin.o.•<.;:Yr` /,."1
trality by recognising the Southern Sta ti
gerents. (Hear.) But when the Governm2lt wtyi s
asked to go a step further, and to say that the
Southern States have constituted themselves an in-
dependent power, then it seemed to him that inter-
natior al law. would 21)t be on our side. Every-
body who read the accounts in the newspapers of
what was doing in America could see that although
there was a war there between these two
contending powers, it was a war which wasiiiifet
undecided—a war which was waged on the part
of the Northern states for the purpose of restor-
ing the States to the condition of union they
were in before the war began ; and on the part of the
Southern States it was a war to establish their inde-
pendence. But the war must be admitted to be un-
decided ; the battlefields were still reeking with the
blood of thousands of soldiers killed on both sides;
and until the war had been; decided on one side or
the other, or until it: had been-decided'so far in fa-
your of the Southern Stais es as to induce the Northern
States to recognise their independence, or to prove
to foreign States that the contest, was exhausted, and
that the Northern states were incapable of continu-
ing the contest, until that moment arrived it could
not be said, in accordance with the established doc-
trines of international law, that the independence
of the Southern States had been established.
(11ear, hear.) He believed it was the general opinion
of the people of this country that the contest would
issue in the establishment of the independence of
the South. He himself did not express that opinion,
but that was the general opinion in this country.
Let them look to the state of things established be-
tween the parties. It could not be said that the
Southern States of the Union had de facto esta-
blished their independence. That being a matter of
notoriety, he could not think they were guilty of
any neglect in not recognising the independence of
the South States. His noble friend (Lord W.
Graham) had expressed a wish that he should give
them some information as to the probability of our
making a reduction in the national expenditure on
account of the army and navy. He was afraid no
great diminution could be effected in the public ex-
penditure on that account -without sensibly dimi-
nishing the power and efficiency of those forces.
(Hear, hear.) It might be that the allowance to the
army and navy was greater than was required, and
that some reduction might be made next year, but
the recent discoveries in science, and the consequent
change in the arming of both army and navy, had
necessarily entailed great extra expenditure. The
right hon. gentleman concluded with some brief re-
marks on the distress in Lancashire.
The other toasts were chiefly of a local and per.
sonal character.

LITERA7 U.RE.

The South Vindicated. By the Hon. James
Williams. With an Introduction by John

Baker Hopkins. Longmans.
Whenever men's interests are at stake, it is vain
to expect them to confess themselves in the wrong ;
and we have certainly no such Quixotic intention
as that of trying to convince the slaveholders of the
South, or their advocate Mr. Williams, that black-
ness of skin, or the faintest taint of negro blood,
are not infallible proofs that the individual thus
marked is fit only for slavey. But although we
dissent in toto from the conclusions at which the
writer arrives, we nevertheless admit that many of
the facts and statements which he brings forward
in defence of his compatriots are curieos and inte-
resting, whilst the statistics given in the ini.roduction
prove, what has been shown by the present contest,
th at the South, as regards material prosperity and all
appliances of civilisation,is no jot behind the States
of the North, though this may not be saying much.
So far the work at the present time possesses pecu-
liar interest, and it will unquestionably tend to dis-
sipate many of the false impressions respecting the
South which are so rife, and are so industriously
disseminated by its opponents. The letters of which
the work is composed " were written at Constanti-
nople during the canvass for the Presidency of the
United States in 1860, and forwarded at the time
for publication in a political journal." They have
since been collected, 'and the book, of which the
present edition is, with the exception of a few ad-
ditional notes, an exact reproduction, is the first
entered according to the copyright act of the Con-
gress of the Confederate States of America. Mr.
Williams devotes considerable space to show that
up to the beginning of the present century slavery
was not merely tolerated, but even strongly encou-
raged by the British Government. No doubt it
was, and the alteration in our policy simply proves
that we have gradually become more enlightened.
He is also aware, perhaps, that in the reign of James
I. torture was employed in England; that little
more than a century has elapsed since rebels' heads
were fixed on Temple Bar ; and that about the same
period, if we mistake not, the punishment of burn-
ing alive for certain crimes was still in vogue with
us. As well from these precedents might he justify
the occasional torture and burning alive of slaves
in America at the present time as slavery itself.
And how about the " Southern chivalry" selling
their illegitimate offspring?

Orley Farm. By Anthony Trollope. 2 vols.
Chapman and Hall.
Whatever opinion may be formed as to the cha-
racter of the heroine of this work, there can be no
doubt that it is, in itself, entitled to a foremost
place in modern fiction. As regards artistic exe-
cution it leaves little to be desired. The pictures
of the external aspects of modern English life are
not more admirably true than are the delineations
of motive and passion. Mr. Trollope has the rare
faculty of reflecting images without distorting them.
He never intentionally caricatures. He writes not
for the groundlings but for the judicious. Never-
theless, so accurate are his portraits that all, learned
or unlearned, might recognise and take pleasure in
them. Were we to assign a motive for the tale we
should say that it was to expose what Mr. Trol-
lope might term the injustice of English law
Thus, the heroine twice, through the efforts of her
lawyers (who, on the last occasion, know her to be
guilty) escapes the penalty of her crime, only making
confession and restitution when forced by circum-
stances. And the author's favoulariwteycehranraacmteerdamFeonligx
the young men of the tale, a
Graham, who has certain utopian ideas respecting
the importance of truth and justice, is permitted,
though ugly, crotchetty, and poor, to carry off that
epitome of femenine sweetness—Madeline Staveley.
But although we fear that the " good time," when
lawyers will use all their efforts, not to gain their
client's cause, but to hoist up truth from the bottom
of that mysterious well she so much affects, will bo
long in "coming," its anticipation by Mr. Trollop°
will do no harm. We may smile at the impractica-
bility of the theory, but we must, nevertheless,
admit that in a model world it would be perfectly
in place. It is not our intention to give a close
analysis of the plot. We would rather refer our
readers to the tale itself, and we will merely inti-
mate that Lady Mason, the young widow of a City
Knight, disappointed in her attempt to induce her
husband to leave the estate of Orley Farm to their
infant son, forges a codicil to the will, and for
twenty years retains possession of the property. On
her son coming of age he unwisely deprives an
attorney, named Dockwrath, of some fields, who at
once looks through some old law papers in his pos-
session, and discovers a document which fully
convinces him that the codicil is a forgery. Accord-
ingly he imparts his information to the legal owner,
a trial takes place, and Lady Mason, through the
efforts of her counsel, is acquitted ; but having been
forced to confess her crime to Sir Peregrine Orme
to prevent his marrying her, she, or rather her
son, gives up the estate to their opponent, and they
then go abroad. Of course there are various under-
currents of action, but this is the main stream ; the
interest centres in Lady Mason, and if we are forced
to condemn, we at least pity her. Her opponent,
eminently
disagreeable, a just man, is necessarily
Dockwrath, made
who
is at the bottom of the
disagreeable, whilst the attorney,mischief, or rather misery,
is the incarna.titoene of vul
hungryg a r
children
ng
to
oupnrnoivnigde
ißutor l
then he has n

A malignant fever has broken out in Philadel-
,,hia, it is supposed to have been occasioned by some bags
;limit from the West Indies,

..zSMEN, by
11001.), Esq., in 1 every week.

Vow Rudy, handsomely bound in Magenta cloth, gilt, price
4e. 6d. ; post free, Is., the
lECOND half-yearly VOLUME of FUN, with
numerous Engravings by talented artists, and humor-
ous Articles by the following distinguished writers :
W. Bailey, Esq. W. S. Gilbert, Esq.
W. Barber, Esq. T. Hood, Esq.
E. L. Blanchird, Esq. T. S. Jerrold, Esq.
G. W. Bridgeman, Esq. W. J. Drowse, Esq.
F. C. Burnand, Esq. Godfrey Turner, Esq.
H. J. Byron, Esq. &e., &et, 4tc.
treet, London.

Office, 80, Fleet-1

«A DANGEROUS IN OMAN,"
in "SATURDAY NIGHT," every week.

One Penny.

MANSION-HOUSE COMMITTEE for the
RELIEF of the COTTON OPERATIVES.
The Lord Mayor and Committee beg to announce that, by
the kindness of the Governors of Bridewell, a portion of that
Building has been placed at their disposal for the RECEP-
TION of CLOTHING for the use of the SUFFERING
POPULA PION in the DISTRESSED DISTRICTS.
They therefore invite contributions of Clothing of all kinds
and of Blankets, and request that they may be sent to the
above-mentioned place, viz. :
Bridewell, Bridge-street, Blackfriars, E.C., for the
Committee.

CRY S TAL PALACE.-TO-MORROW
(FRIDAY). Open from Nine o'clock till dark.
LEO I' ARD at Half-past Three o'clock.—ONE SHILLING.

LEOTARD AGAIN TO-MORROW AT HALF-
PAST THREE.
------

CRYSTAL PALACE.-QUEEN'S (WEST-
MINSTER) CADET CORPS, —The Annual Contest
for Prizes for Athletic Sports will take place on SATUR-
DAY next, at Three o'clock, opt the Sports Ground, near the
Cedars.
'The Band of the Corps (by permission of Earl GrosTelior)
will be In attendance.—ONE SHILLING.

• ..-For full particulars of amusements see first page.
,ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT-GARDEN
This Evening, THE PURITAN'S DAUGHTER.
Commence at 8.

THE A.T -ROYAL, DRURY-LANE.
Thaw Eventn7„ at Seven, THE COLLEEN BAWN. And
at half-past Nine THE RELIEF
OF LUCKNOW.

TTIEATRE-ROYAL, HAYMARKET.
.s A DAUGHTER TO MARRY. Atter which,
FAyIF COUSDT. With DUCK HUNTING.
And TILE GALIGLiN FETE.
Commence at 7.

NEW THEATRE-ROYAL, ADELPHI.
This Evening, THE GREEN BUSHES. Followed by
THE SHILLING DAY.
Commence at 7.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
This Evening, THE RENDEZVOUS. After which, at a
quarter to s, KING HENRY VIII. With BORROWING
A. HUSBAND. Commence at 7.

.ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.
This Evening', PEEP O'DAY. Followed by KILLAR-
'WY. Conclude with THE COLLEEN BAWN SETTLED
AT LAST. Commence at 7.

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.
This Evening, AIA.ZEPPA. Brilliant Scenes in the Circle.
Concluding with a Comic Ball
mmen et.
Commence at 7.

stance of the EMPRESS, is a matter of corn-'
paratively but very small importance indeed.
At whose soever instance he is doing it—he is
doing its He is declaring by this decision that he
will accept his Ministers collective resignation,
and forthwith appoint their successors—he is declar.
ing by this autocratic decision of his against the
Unification of Italy, and for a policy of reaction
in the Roman Peninsula ! Whether he can blow
cold now, as readily as he blew hot when he led his
army into Lombardy—France, Italy, Europe will
soon enough demonstrate. In any case, the
course the French EaLPEROR is now adopting must
by an almost unavoidable necessity lead to war.
Whatever may be done in this matter by the
Italian Government, with RATTAZZI as Minister, it
is hardly probable that the Italian People will
quietly submit to be parcelled out anew at the
whim and pleasure of a Gallic Autocrat.

---
MR. and MRS. GERMAN REED, with MR, JOHN
PARRY, Every Evening (except Saturday), at the Royal
Gallery of Illustration, 14, Regent-street, at 8,

W. S. WOODIN'S CABINET OF CURIOSITIES,
Polygraphic Ilan, King William-street, Charing-cross..
Commence at 8.

-----
ARGYLL ROOMS, Great Windmill-street, Hay.
market. Open every evening for Promenade and Danciag.
---

---
CANTERBURY HALL.—EVERY EVENING.—
Grand Operatic Selection and Cantata --Unsworth, Eugene,
and Duley,the great comic trio, &C.
Commence at 7.

THE OXFORD, 6, OXFORD-STREET, EVERY
F.v E v DA-Cir.—Grand Operatic Selections, with full band and
chorus.—The comic performance of Miss Caroline Parkes—
Stec kel on ale Flying Trapeze—The Ethiopian oddities of
Bumsey, Newcomb, ,sio.
Commence at 7.

The terrible accident at Edinburgh was due to
two things—the use of a single line for the traffic
both ways (under the circumstances of repairing the
line unavoidable) and the depth and winding of the
cutting being such, as to prevent the engineer of
either train from seeing at a distance the train
approaching his own, and slackening his speed or
reversing the engine. This was at least the essen-
tial cause of the accident; special care had been
taken, however, to prevent this double cause from
giving occasion to a collision. The means adopted
are thus described by the Scotsman:—" A points-
man had been stationed at the western extremity of
the curve for the purpose of making signals to trains
approaching Winchburgh from the west, as to
whether the rails were clear for the safe passage of
trains along the single line. A pilot-engine has also
been permanently stationed there for the purpose of
following each train to the point where the working

of the double line of rails is resumed . It would ap-
pear
that last night a ballast train, composed of en-
gine, tender, and truck, passed westwards as usual
a little after six o'clock, conveying a portion of the
men who at that hour ceased their work on that
part of the down line which is being relaid. The
pointeman at the west end of the single line, whose
name is George Newton, seems to have mistaken
this short ballast train for the pilot-engine follow-
ing the six p.m. train from Edinburgh for the
North ; and it would appear that, when the train
which left Glasgow at five p.m. reached his station,
he—und Ir the impression that the passage of the
pilot-engine ( for which he had mistaken the ballast
train) had denoted that the single line to Winch-
burgh was clear—allowed the Glasgow train to
pass on and meet the Edinburgh train, with the

fatal result of which our readers are now aware."
There does not appear, therefore, to have been
any neglect on the part of any one ; and if it shall
turn out, on further inquiry, that the pointsman
really mistook one engine for another, he cannot
even be brought before a jury. It is said, indeed,
that he had been placed at his post but half an
hour before, and this oversight—though it would
hardly be such if the pointsman, though new to
that spot, had been in long practice on railways
before—seems at present to be the only blame-
worthy aet in connection with this fearful cala-
mity. It seems not unlikely that the line being of
such a peculiar character, the forthcoming verdict
must be that it was due to the pointsman's mistak-
ing a ballast engine for a pilot engine.
What is wanted is some infallible indicator in

cised over France during the March, April, and I
May of 1818, by the Provisional Government estab- I
lished at Paris after the February Revolution, there 1
is recorded one act Which will secure to that short-
lived Government an honourable, and grateful, and
admiring remembrance. Can anyone doubt for an
instant as to what that act was ? Is it not yet held
in vivid recollection throughout not merely all
France, but all Christendom ? The act passed at
one famous sitting of the Provisional Government
in the Hotel de Ville, with the veteran DUPONT
DE L'EURE presiding in the chair, but with the
poet LAMARTINE at his elbow, as the real Presiding
Genius of the conclave—the act immediately after-
wards read by LAMARTINE to the multitude out-
side, in the midst of their ringing acclamations
—the immortal act declaring the abolition
thenceforth i❑ France of the Punishment of
Death for Political Offences !

the Secretary of War wishes us distinctly to un-
derstand. There is a distinct shade of difference
between him and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The latter says that Mr. JEFFERSON DAVIS has
made the South a nation. Sir GEORGE seems
to say, " not just yet." The South is, ho
says, a " belligerent," though we have been
much blamed by the North for admitting
so much ; but it is not correct to say that
the question on which the war was begun
has been answered yet. The South has justified
us in acknawledging it as a belligerent, for it has
been so for a year and a half, and " when we look
!tt the firmness and consistency with which they
have .combined for the purpose of carrying on the
war—when we look at the numbers of armed men
they have brought into the field, and the ability of
the generals by whom those armies have been com-
manded—the pertinacity with which the contest on
their part has been waged—the extent to which
they have threatened even the capital of their
enemy —when these things are looked at it surely
cannot be denied that they deserve the name of
belligerents, and that they have carried on a war
against the Northern States. I confess it seems to
me that an unfounded charge is made against the
Government of this country when it is said that
they have departed from a strict neutrality by re-
cognising the belligerency of the Southern States."

But Sir GEORGE argumentatively rejects our
right to recognise the South at present. He can
not of course deny that according to international
law we may do bo at any time ; but he thinks it
would not be fair yet. We may have our opinion
as to what will be the result of the contest—the
prevalent opinion is that the South will succeed—
he will not say that he dissents from that opinion,
but he denies that it has yet succeeded. The
state of the war must be acknowledged, he thinks,
to prove that the South has not yet succeeded in
achieving its complete independence, The North
has not been induced to recognise it. Until the
North has done this, or until it has become so ex-
hausted as to give up the conflict, the South cannot
be said to have gained a de facto independence.
With so strong an opinion against recognition in
one of the members of the Cabinet, certainly
among the most competent to judge, it is, we suppose,
useless to expect anything of the kind from our
Government for some time to come.

THE SUN, LONDON THURSDAY 115117E'4ING, OCTO3FA 16, 1862,

MORE COTTON FROM INDlA.—Three other verse,
of the homeward-hound cotton fleet have arrived at Liver-
pool— the Broughton Hall (Rennie), with 8,042 bales; the
Ann Buckle (Pendleton), with 4,089 bales ; and the Toboah
(Morrison), with 5,363 bales.

[sILAT ES r NE WS.

Negotiations for the conclusion of a treaty of
commerce between France and Holland have been for some
going on. The friendly relations which exist between the
two Governments allow no doubt that those negotiations
will be promptly terminated.
About 60,000 hectolitres of foreign corn have
been landed at Marseilles within the last few days. These
new arrivals,which have increased a stock before very con-
siderable, has led to a fall which reacts on the markets of
all the Southern departments. _

The General Assembly of Shareholders of the
Gaming Establishment of Homburg has decided, by 606
votes to 9, that in future, whether in winter or summer,
peasants, workmen, commercial clerks, and apprentices,
shall be excluded from the rooms of the company.

PROPOSED VISIT OF MR. GLADSTONE TO NORTH
WALEs.—Wednesday next, the 22d inst., has been fixed
for what is called " cutting the first sod" of the Wrexham,
Mold, and Connah's Quay Railway, which task Mrs. Glad-
stone, wife of the Chancellor, has undertaken to perform.
In the afternoon of the same day the Chancellor of the
Exchequer will preside at a cold collation at the Wynn-
stay Arms Hotel, in Wrexham, where a large party is
expected to assemble. On the morning of the 22d the
corporation of Wrexham will present him with an ad-
dress. The day will be observed as a general holiday in
the town.

MINISTERIAL CRISIS IN
FRANCE.

PARIS, OCT. 16.

The Monsteur of this morning publishes a decree
appointing M. Dronyn de Lhuys Minister of
Foreign Affairs, in place of M. Thouvenel, whose

resignation has been accepted.

EVANGELICAL ALLIANCE.—The 16th annual
conference of the British Organisation of the Evangelical
Alliance was opened by a soiree and meeting held on Tues-
day evening at the Freemasons' Hall, the Hon. A. Kinnaird
presiding. There were also prevent the Hon. and Rev.
Leland Noel, M. Naville (Geneva), Mr. Henderson (Glas-
gow), Dr. Kalopothakes (Athens), Dr. Barclay (Jerusa-
lem), and many ministers of several denominations. The
chairman, in welcoming the visitors, said that, looking
back upon the history of the Alliance, he thanked God for
the blessing which had attended its operations. Its princi-
ples had been extended in this country, on the Continent,
in America, and in other parts of the world. The Rev. Dr.
Urwick (of Dublin), the Rev. George Smith (Poplar), M.
Naville (of Geneva), the Rev. C. Hebert, the Rev. J. H.
Hinton (Baptist), and the Rev. F. Greeves (Wesleyan),
having briefly addressed the meeting, the proceedings ter.
minated.

THE BRAZILS.

THE GALWAY' LINE—The following is a para-
graph, which we find quoted in the New York Herald :
" The St. John (N. 8.) Courier says that it bas learned from
a reliable source that the Imperial Government have signi-
ed to the Government of Canada their willingness to allow
the Galway line to ply between Galway and Quebec
during the summer and Galway and Portland during the
winter, till the completion of the intercolonial railway, pay-
ing a subsidy of £BO,OOO, the Canadian Government paying
£20,000; and that when the railroad is completed the Im-
perial Government will pay the whole subsidy, £loo,ooot

TITUNDERSTORM.—A rather severe thunderstorm
raged over the western part of Worcestershire yesterday
(Wednesday). It commenced about 8 a.m., and continued
with some violence for two hours. The discharges of elec-
tricity were very frequent, but appeared to be at a consider-
able altitude above the earth. Rain fell occasionally in
torrents. The atmosphere had been extremely close and
hot for the season for two days previously, but became sen
sibly cooler after the storm, which was a very unusual one
at this season of the year.
STEAMBOAT COLLISION AND Loss OF LIFE.—
Yesterday intelligence was received at Lloyd's of a fearful
collision off the Sunk Light, between a large screw steamer
and the Elizabeth, Captain Robertson, on her passage from
Shields to London. The steamer struck the Elizabeth on
her port bow, cutting her down below the water line. Capt.
Robertson got on board the steamer, and had barely done
so when his vessel went down, the crew, five in number,
perishing with her. The mate was picked up by a Dutch
galliot, which put him ashore at Gravesend.
LIFEBOAT SERVICES.—During the past two years
the lifeboats of the National Lifeboat Institution have saved
740 shipwrecked persons on the coasts of the United King-
dom. This valuable society is now earnestly appealing to
the public for additional support to meet the very heavy
and continued charges on its 123 lifeboat establishments.
PRESENTATION—SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY.—
The chief officers of this railway have, we hear, presented
Mr. R. A. Duncan with a handsome silver tankard, on the
occasion of his retiring from the service of the company to
undertake the management of a branch bank and of landed
estates in the north of Ireland. The cup bears an inscrip-
tion, "To Mr. Duncan, from his brother officers, in testi-
mony of their regard and esteem." An address, expressing
their cordial wishes for his welfare, accompanied the gift,
which is intended to serve as a souvenir of the happy and
pleasant intercourse with him which existed for many
years. _ -

LISBON, OCT. 15 (Evening).
The Messagerie Imperiales' steamer Guienne,
with the above mail, arrived here this evening.
Rio de Janeiro, Sept 25.—Exchange on London,
261 to 261; on Paris, 369 to 365. Coffee—Good
first, 6,800 to 7,000 reis. Shipments of coffee since
the departure of the last mail, 75,500 bags, of which
53,000 were for the Channel ; stock, 160,000 bags ;
freights, 30s. to 355.

At Bahia, exchange on London was quoted 261;
on Paris, 365. Sugar—Whites, 2,300 to 2,400 reis ;
browns, 1,700 to 1,900 reis ; cotton, 16,000 to
17,500 reis.

At Pernambuco, exchange on London was quoted
264 to 27. Sugar—Whites, 3,800 to 4,400 reis ;
browns, 1,850 to 2,000 rein; cotton, 24,000 to
25,000 rein.

The royal mail steamship Magdalena, which left
Southampton on the 9th ult., arrived at Pernam-
buco on the 28th ult.

SOUTHAMPTON, OCT. 16.

The Hamburg and America Company's steamer
Borussia, from New York on the 4th inst., arrived
off the Needles at 11.10 a.m. this morning.

THE ACCIDEN7 ON 7HE EDINBURGH

AND GLAS(7OW RAILWAY,

LATEST PARTICULARS.

EDINBURGH, WEDXESDAY AFTERNOON.

The full extent of this awful calamity as far as
regards the injury to the persons in the train is not
even yet known, although we are happy to say that
there has been up to this time no addition to the
loss of 17 lives already announced, many of the suf-
ferers, however, remain in a very critical condition.
The public excitement continues to be very great
on the subject here, and all day the police-statior,
infirmary, and the other buildings to which the det.d
and wounded were conveyed, have been surroundedi
by crowds of people anxiously awaiting the re-
moval of their friends. A large number of the per-
sons who were injured, and who were in ftie first
instance taken to the hospital, have since been re-
moved to their own homes ; but the removal of the
dead has not yet commenced. About thirty is
the number of those who are seriously injured,
but almost every passenger in the train received
slight hurt. Although there will be a full inves-
tigation into the circumstances of the accident,
both by the procurator fiscal, assisted by the sheziff
substitute, and an inquiry also by the company, yet
in accordance with the Scotch law, such examine,
tion will be in the strictest degree private„ and w ill
only be pub lished in an official form after the con-
clusion of the whole inquiry. A shun private in-
vestigation took place at Linlithgow yesterday,
which resulted in the committal of the pointsmin
Newton, but the general feeling of the public here
is, that there should be an open judicial inquiry in-
stituted by the government into the mode of manag-
ing the railway on the part of the higher officials.
It is alleged that the line has been for months in
the most insecure state, and the wonder is that, the
accident did not occur before. Very little indeed
can be added to the copious details given by the
Scotch papers, either as respects the incidents of the
accident or the causes which led to it. It is undia-
stond that steps are being taken by Mr. Dunlop,
the deputy chairman of the line, with a view to in-
stitute a searching inquiry into the, accident.
The line was opened again for passengers, though
not for goods traffic, last night, and to-day the regular
trains have been running as if nothing had hap'
pened,

ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY.

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