The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 7, 1862.

MADAGASCAR.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—l have the pleasure to forward you a copy
of the report of the proceedings of the Embassy
despatched to Madagascar for the purpose of con-
gratulating King Radama 11. on his accession to
the throne. I also have hurriedly thrown together
a few remarks, with the hope that they may prove
acceptable.
The eyes of Europeans have been for some time
past open to the importance of this most productive
country. It has, however, only been for the last
few months that a door has been opened for the
reintroduction of European influence. The report
will furnish you with the most important facts in
connexion with the mission, and I shall endeavour
to fill up a fewpages with facts which could scarcely
find a place in a formal document the kind,
Queen Ranavalo died on the 16th of August, and
the scene that occurred on the occasion is worth
noting. It was related to me by one of the officers
of the palace. For three weeks previously a large

number of officers and soldiers had been constantly
a mounting guard outside the palace. On that event-
ful morning their inquiries were, as usual, an-
swered vaguely, and about two hours afterwards it
was ascertained that the Queen was dead. In an
involuntary tumult of joy the officers and soldiers
threw their shields, swords, and assaigais up into
the air, and I can easily conceive demonstrated their
joy in many other unmistakable ways. They saw
immediately, however, that this was mistaken po-
licy, and endeavoured to correct it by sending a
report through the city that the Queen was much
feebler. But their behaviour, and the news they
attempted to circulate, were evidently too incon-
gruous for the latter to obtain belief.
It appears to have been with considerable diffi-
culty that Prince Rakoto (now Radama II.) suc-
ceeded in asserting his claim to the throne and main-
taining his right. He is the son of the late Queen,
but no more like her than light to dark. He, in
fact, errs in policy in an altogether opposite way,
by being too lenient. An unsuccessful competitor
for the throne, named Rambousalama, a cousin of
the King, was allowed to go unscathed, and is, or
was at the time the Embassy left Antananarivo, in
what the King is pleased to term " honourable
captivity."
What the consequence of this leniency will be it
is impossible to foresee. It is certain that Rambon-
salama has adherents in the capital, if not in the
King's palace, and should any revolution succeed,
and Rambousalama attain his object, things will be
worse than ever. The avowed desire of Rambon-
salama is to carry out the Queen's policy in all its
horrible completeness.
t It is, perhaps, one of the most curious facts on
record in the history of any nation, civilized or not,
that after 30 years had passed, during which blood
ran like water in Antananarivo, the son of that very
Queen should absolutely refuse to sanction the exe-
cution:of his bitterest enemy when he had him in his
power. Such is the fact. King Radama 11. bas be-
gun his reign upon the broad principle that he will
not shed blood. The only way in which the King
resented the attempt to supplant him was by caus-
ing a number of the followers of Rambousalama to
be branded on the forehead and banished into a
distant province.
The experience of the Embassy goes far to sub-
stantiate thoroughly the statements made by for-
mer travellers with regard to the wholesale mas-
sacres perpetrated under the Queen's authority.
One officer, high in rank, told me that during a very
few years that he had been engaged in active ser-
vice he had seen, in the aggregate, at least 100,000
men put to death after successful actions. No pri-
soners were kept ; the men were immediately
slaughtered in a systematic way, 1,000 at a time,
and the women and children were sold as slaves.
The Hovah officer who narrated this to me added,
in an innocent way, that he could not bear to see
fathers and children, husbands and wives separated,
and he used to weep sometimes. This fact came to
the Queen's ears, and he was no longer sent on such
expeditions. The tribe of Beosileos is that which
principally suffered from the Queen's barbarities.
Their province is nearly due south of the Huai's'
legitimate territory.
fihe persecutions among the Christians are really
astonishing in their details. The reports of former
travellers are, as far as my experience went, per-
fectly trustworthy in this respect also. Chain gangs
of from 15 to 20 hapless beings used to perambulate
the country dependent upon chance for subsistence.
When death relieved one of them from his grievous
burden of life the vacant chain was dragged about
by the remainder, and this continued until the
chain had done its cruel work.

I had a visit from several Christians the night
before leaving Antananarivo. One was a poor
old woman, about 70 years of age. She had, 11
van before, been chained together with 17 other
victims. They died one by one, and she for four
years had dragged the vacant chain after her. The
iron collar had worn deeply into her neck, and the
mark of the chain was also plainly visible on her
ankle. I saw several others who had been sufferers
in a similar way. They had been released only two
%months before, at the accession of the King.
It is difficult to ascertain how many Christians
ere put to death—some say 2,000, others a great
many more. They were usually crucified, being
bound on with cords, and stoned.while on the cross.

'The crag mentioned by former travellers, down
which those charged with any crime were thrown,
is about 50 or 60 feet in perpendicular height ; the
face of the rocks continues at a steep incline for
about 300 feet. The whole is overgrown with

prickly pear.
A most singular uncertainty has hitherto existed
with regard to the distance from the coast to the

capital. Mr. Ellis has omitted to noticee it in the

work he published some four years ago, and no re-

liable information has been received since. The mem-

bers of the embassy were gravely assured that it
_ _

might be travelled over in two days if moderate ex-
pedition were used. We found that with our bag-

gage and numerous attendants it was impossible to
travel fast. I should think it might be accomplished
in six days, a very limited quantity of baggage
being a sine qua non.

The scenery of the country through which our
route lay is to some extent described in the report ;

.. •
I shall therefore only allude to one or two peculiar

spots.

While travelling in canoes we passed through a
narrow channel connecting two lakes. This deserves
a few worth of description, as I have been unable
to find any previous account of it. It is termed
" Rano mainte," literally "black water," and well
it deserves the name. It is about three miles in
length, and not more than seven feet wide, there
being hardly room to force the canoes along. The
dense, rank, tropical vegetation on both bides
arches over, and for the entire distance light is
nearly excluded. There is a dead silence, and when
we passed through there was not a breath of
wind sufficient to stir a leaf. Right and left we
saw an endless complication of interarching roots,
while the maze of stems and plants in all stages of
decay effectually shut out the free air of Heaven
The .Arum is very abundant, and grows to the
height of at least 12ft.

The tract of country contained between a point
of 25 miles west of the lakes, and another about 100
miles west, is, I venture to say, as healthy as any
part of the world. This tract is devoted to no put._
pose but that of pasture land. One may indeed pass
over many miles of the finest grazing country with-
out seeing any living human being, or even a bul-
lock. In fact, there seems to be rather a scarcity of
animal life in Madagascar. There are wild cattle,
which, singularly enough, have no hump, while
those bred for exportation, upon which Mauritius

and Bourbon depend entirely for supplies of fresh

beef, have the hump largely developed. The dimen-
sions of some of the fatted cattle are prodigious. At
Antananarivo one was presented to the members of
the mission of which the measurement was as fol-
lows—viz., round the base of the hump, sft. Gin. ;
girth Bft. ; measurement round the hind quarters,

sft. gin.
The forests resound with the cry of various kinds
of lemurs. The Age-aye is very difficult to be ob-
tained, and it appears to' be almost impossible to re-
tai❑ one alive in captivity, even in its native coun-
try, for any length of time. I was told at Tamatave

that one had been kept alive for three weeks, but
at the end of that time he died, having commenced
to pine away from the moment his captivi,y began.
I am therefore very doubtful of the pract.c ability of
landing one alive in England. I sha'l, however,
make the attempt.
The rivers and lakes abound with al *g ators, of the
boldness and size of which many stories are told.
In the journal of Mr. Hustle, the British Resident
at Antanarivo in the time of Radama 1., I find it
mentioned that, in order to cross a river infested
with them, and at the same time to save the bul-
locks accompanying the party, blank cartridges
were fired from each side of the river during the
whole time the party were crossing. This plan does
not appear to have been very successful, however,
for the journal from which I quote goes on to state
that very many bullocks were torn in pieces, and an
alligator was killed measuring 23ft. in length. The
ordinary length is about 15ft.
The forests abound in timber of the most beauti-
ful description and the greatest variety. There is
more particularly the tree termed Volum bodiyina.
It exceeds in beauty the finest rosewood. It is closer
in grain and much more durable, and is considera-
bly heavier than water. Madagascar abounds in
gums, some of them of the most curious description.
The arrival of the Embassy at Tamatave had been
announced at Antananarivo by special courier, and
the King was represented to us as being very much
pleased and surprised at the promptitude with which
it had been despatched.
About 8 o'clock on the morning of Oct. 16 we
were met by a deputation who were sent to escort
us to the dwellings we were to occupy during our
stay. The officers composing it were five in number ;
three of them were officers of the Palace, each
dressed in a fancy uniform consisting of a blue vel-
vet tail coat, with gold lace in profuse abundance,
black cocked hat, with plumes of red and white
feathers, and dark-coloured trousers, with a
broad gold stripe. One of them was very
pleasing in appearance, with a clear olive
complexion and an European cast of countenance.
Horses were brought from the capital for us to
ride, that being intended as an especial honour.
It is almost needless, after the idea of the country
that the report will convey, to add that it is im-
practicable for horseflesh. Even the immediate
approach to the capital is for some distance along
a narrow path through a ricefield, which of course
is a swamp. For a great distance it consists of a
steep hill, with occasional gullies two or three feet
deep, and projecting rocks of granite of an equal
height impeding one's progress, toilsome enough at
the best.
Until we reached the foot of the hill on the sum-
mit of which the city stands we were followed and
hedged in by the wondering populace. It was
quite a novel sight for them. For 30 years no
European had reached the capital with the good
will of the Sovereign, much less at his invitation.
In one or two instances permission had been un-
willingly accorded to visit the capital, but a date
at which the stay of the foreigner (whoever he
might be) should terminate was always stipulated.
The people were clad in the simple flowing white
garment known as the lambs. When we com-
menced to ascend the lookers-on contrived to perch
themselves on the high steep banks between which
the approach to the city had been made. They
seemed, so to speak, piled on each other in order
to get a satisfactory view of us as we passed. About
half-way from the capital we were met by another
deputation, accompanied by a body of soldiers in
scarlet uniform and a band of music. We halted
while the body of troops were drawn up and pre-
sented arms. The band played " God Save the
Queen " while we were all standing, dissolving
under the vertical rays of the sun.
No description of Antananarivo has as yet been
published which conveys at all an adequate idea of
its appearance. Tho most prominent object is the
Palace, which is an astonishing structure. In conse-
quence of the death of the Queen, and the Court still
being in mourning, no person is permitted to enter
it. It is three stories high, with a roof of immensely
lofty pitch, surmounted by an eagle, with expanded
wings, executed in bronze. There are massive

wooden balconies, corresponding to each story, with
heavy balustrades painted red. The shutters are
arranged so that no opening can be seen, and fitted
so perfectly that we could form no idea how many
windows or doors there were. The pillars support-
ing the balconies are enormously heavy-looking,
and are said to consist each of one piece of wood.
The centre support or the roor is aibu nail Lu be one
spar 120 feet high. I have seen trees' in the central
forest quite capable of furnishing such a spar; the
great marvel is how, being of one piece of wood, it

can have been brought a distance of 70 or 80 miles
along the most diffieult part of the country, over
very steep mountains, and through devious mountain
gorges. The proportions of this building are, of
course, hidden as one approaches the city by the
multitude of smaller houses and huts around it.

It is difficult to estimate what the population of
Antananarivo can be. No information could be ob-

tained on that point. I should imagine it to be about
30,000. The neighbourhood of the city, it must be
borne in mind, is very thickly peopled, every little
hill having a village on its summit.
The view from the heights is very extensive, but
bounded on all sides by high mountains. Rice fields
are numerous in the vicinity of the capital, but
there is, nevertheless, a sterile appearance conse-

quent upon the absence of all trees. There is not
a tree for 30 miles in any direction around Antana

narivo. It is said that all the forest within tha'

distance was cut down in order to prevent a hostile
force drawing near and finding the capital unpre-
pared through ignorance of its approach.
When we at last entered the capital we had to
thread our way, accompanied by the officers and a
multitude, which contrived to disperse itself into
every nook and corner available for the purpose of
overlooking us, the tops of mud walls being pre-
ferred. All this time a deafening noise was going on
—a Babel of many voices—each voice being used
con amore; ; and although the officers did their ut-

most to calm the enthusiasm of the populace by ad

ministering energetic kicks on all sides, yet I am

bound also to state that the obedience they mei

with was not such as I should have imagined the
persuasive character of the late Queen would have

incaleated.

The day after our arrival we spent in receiving
visitors and presents, which consisted for the most

part of bullocks, fowls, geese, &T. Sometimes these
presents were accompanied by letters, in cases where
the donors were familiar with English. One of
them I cannot forbear transcribing, it is so remark-
able for being terse and to the purpose :
"To Colonel Middleton—l send you and your
companions a bullock, by my son. How are you
after your journey saith
" RAMONJA, 14th Honour,
Officer of the Palace, Prince."
Many of the officers have retained a knowledge
of English surprisingly well. Several of them were

educated in England 35 years ago ; among the num-
ber is the King's present Chief Secretary, who has

a perfect knowledge of English, and uses idiomatic
..._ .

phrases with entire accuracy. During many con-
versations with him I never knew him hesitate for a

word. He was also familiar with the French lan-

guago, and renders it into English. He is by no
means a singular instance of ability and acuteness
in the Malgache character.
The King received the mission most cordially.
He inquired repeatedly after the health of her
Majesty, and desired the Chief Secretary to
make inquiries about Viscount Palmerston, who
seems an especial favourite at Madagascar.
The King is short in stature, and has a mild, ami-
able countenance. The Queen, who was present

both at the first and final reception of the mission,
has a most intelligent face, a high forehead, and a
head well set on. She carries herself with a becom-
ing natural dignity.
Many of the presents which the Embassy brought
to Madagascar from the Governor and
people of
Mauritius had been left behind on account of their
bulk. We expected that great difficulty would be
experienced in getting them up to the capital. We
were, however, somewhat surprised to find them on
our, way down more than 30 miles on the road.
In order to get them through the forest a road will
have to be cut in places.

It has been currently reported that the King is
a Christian. It is premature to say so now, but

there is ground to hope that he will become so.
At present he professes a sort of Deism, which
his Chief Secretary has engrafted upon him.
Since the King's accession a school has been
established at Antananarivo, and, considering the
short time it has been established, it bids fair to be
productive of great good. At the time of my visit
there were 80 children ; they were taught to read
and write, and a few of them were making progress
in English, under the tuition of a Malgache
schoolmaster.

Should this brief, hasty, undigested sketch be
acceptable, I shall be glad to continue my remem-
brances of Madagascar. I know from personal
observation, that it is a country wonderfully rich
in metals of various kinds. It is confidently
asserted that coal exists to the westward. It now
requires a judicious, firm hand to amalgamate the
conflicting elements that exist among the Hovah
people, and to raise the social standard of the sub-
ordinate tribes, who are despised as inferior. This
done, Madagascar will soon take a stand among
the civilized nations of the world.
I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
A MEMBER OF THE EMBASSY.
Port Louis, Mauritius, Dee. 5.

7liE LORD ADVOCATE ON THE NEW

YEAR

On Friday evening, the chairman of the Cham-
ber of Commerce of Edinburgh (Mr. Jas. Richardson)
held a conversazione in the Hall of the Highland
and Agricultural Society of Scotland, at which the
address of the evening was delivered, according to
invitation, by the Lord-Advocate, M.P. for the city.
There was a large attendance of mercantile and
professional gentlemen. After a few complimentary
remarks by the chairman,
The LORD ADVOCATE said,—Very gladly as I ac-
cepted the suggestion of your chairman that I should
prepare a short address for our meeting to-night, I
at once encountered a difficulty which all lecturers
feel deeply—the choice of a subject. My first idea
was, naturally, a commercial and professional one:
I had seen treatises on the history of a pin—a bit
of coal—a lump of mud—and such homely matters,
which were rendered interesting and instructive
enough by the treatment of details not generally
familiar. I thought I could have woven a discourse
reasonably attractive out of the origin, history, and
adventures of a bill of exchange. It seemed to me
that this important and useful document formed a
delicate link between the mercantile and the legal
community. My friend, however, shook his head.
It did not strike him as a lively topic, and he doubted
my capacity to make it even tolerable to such an
audience. (Laughter.) I differed from him, and
have not relinquished the hope at some period or
other of proving to him how much of imagination
and romance lurks in a bill of exchange. But, of
course, for to-night his will was law, and I at once
relinquished the idea of adopting that theme for
my observations. But my affections, disappointed
in that quarter, found it difficult to fix themselves
elsewhere. Bankruptcy seemed a dreary topic at
such a season—(laughter)—and imprisonment for
debt—(renewed laughter)—drearier still. Feudal
conveyancing was too tame; the Trent affair and
the rights of neutrals much too fiery ; and when at
last I was informed that I was announced to lec-
ture on a popular subject, leaving the choice
entirely to myself, I chose in despair the most
popular subject I could think of—" A Happy
New Year." (Loud applause.) A happy new year !
There is always a shade of melancholy which
mingles with the cheerful salutation, " A happy
new year—may it be happier than the last ! No

year steals away with its burden without carrying
pleasures with it, and leaving thorns behind. That
which has gone, marked as it has been by many

great and fortunate events, leaves us in gloom;
many faces have gone with it which we shall see no
more, and at its very close there fell on this nation
that irreparable loss which has darkened a Royal
home, and has plunged the country in sorrow.
The nation has laid at the feet of their bereaved
Sovereign the deepest sympathy and most uni-
versal grief which over inspired the hearts of this
free people ; pouring out at once the expression
of their dutiful loyalty in their beloved Monarch's
deep distress—their grief for her desolated house-
hold—and their sense of a bitter public and
personal calamity. Scarce one has uttered the
familiar greeting of " A happy new year," without
a sense of the solemn pall under which it has
been ushered in. (Applause.) May it be happier
than the last! and in what audience could such a
theme be more arpropriatc—tho compliments of
the season more cordially exchanged—than in a
Chamber of Commerce. Commerce is eminently
conversant with the future. In most avocations in

life we have our daily tasks. We can, for the most
part, shut ourselves up in the present—deal with
the present circumstances, unravel the knot, or
fulfil the obligation which lies before us, and leave
yesterday and to-morrow to answer for their own
toils, anxieties, and cares. But the spirit of com-
merce lives in the future. Its ventures are all
shipped in that dark uncertain sea; trusted to ele-
ments which vary with every setting sun, and
changing and inscrutable as the pathway of the
winds. The merchant is ever casting his bread
upon the waters of the future—the chance of which
he can so doubtfully calculate, but which he spends
his life in reading; and as he strains his eyesight to
scan the dim obscure, and thinks how paltry a
weight on this side or that may destroy the balance
of his schemes, no one surely has more reason at
such a time to reciprocate the wishes of his com-
rades for a happy new year—(applause)—not for
himself only, but for his comrades also. For, slowly
as the great truth has dawned on communities and
nations, it now begins to shine with brightness,
reflected back from many prosperous cities and
happy homes, that the earth is wide enough for us
all; that in that interchange of useful things and
services which we call trade, we gain by the gain of
others, and loss by their loss. How true this is
might be learned by one day spent on the Stock
Exchange. So finely knit together has the great
fabric of human commerce become, that ono throb
or thrill in its etxremest part vibrates to its centre.
The pulse on this side the Channel and on that ;
on the east or on the west of the Atlantic ; on the
far Pacific and on the Indian Archipelago, beats
in regulated sympathy ; so that, in a more ma-
terial sense than the Roman dramatist intended,
nothing of humanity is foreign to it. If
time and progress have not made the nations
of the earth better neighbours, they have at least
taught them at what risk they qaarrel. The jeal-
ousies of the Italian republics of old—their wars of
self-protection—their feverish efforts at mutual
supplanting, have left their only permanent result
in the wise laws of mutual forbearance in which
they originated. So the commerce of this our
time, expanded far beyond the limits reached by
Venice in her proudest days, and borne to lands
unexplored, and nations unknown before, is fast
resolving into one great community of interest
those nations who so long had no thought but how
to rise on the ruins of each other. Not in the spirit
of philanthropy only, but in a spirit of the purest
selfishness also, may the British merchant wish his
comrade, here, or at the antipodes, a happy new
year. (Applause.) Certainly, if we are to guide
our anticipations by the past. we have no cause for
despondency, although we may well learn to dis-
trust our attempts to penetrate the future. The
rebound of this nation after the peace of 1815,
and the amazing increase of the gathering pile
of British commerce, and with it of British
prosperity since that time, the wildest dreams
of her merchants forty years ago could
not have contemplated. (Applause.) After advert-
ing to the immense increase in the wealth of
the country in that period, and reiterating the re- '
mark that the true secret of international as well as '

national prosperity is that we gain by our neigh-
bour's gains and lose by his losses, his Lordship
proceeded to say :—When I first began to think of
politics and political economy Malthus was in the
ascendant, preaching the uncomfortable doctrine
that we had too many mouths to feed and too little

food to fill them, and beseeching and entreating the
rising generation not to marry. (A laugh.) It is
a notable example of how little this world is go-
verned by pure logic, that I believe of the thou-

Bantu who read and agreed with his books, not one

ever took his advice; and it is just as well for us
that they did not, for if the philosopher and sage
had fallen asleep in 1825, and had woke up this new
year time in 1862, he would have found us with a
largely :increased population, rather in want of
hands than over-burdened with them. I speak, of
course, not of periods of temporary depression, but
of our normal state ; and there can be no doubt
that during the last fifteen years the return of
labour has immensely increased, and that in pro-
portion to its scarcity. The fear which Malthus en-
tertained was by no means unfounded if regard was
had exclusively to a narrow range of probabilities.
Ile saw this nation closely packed within our island
country, with no ranges of unoccupied land to re-
claim—no vast prairies or untamed forests to reduce
to cultivation. He saw our hives of industry gra-
dually accumulating a tangled and mixed population
' within their circuit, attracted thither by temporary
impulses of trade, and liable to be thrown adrift
whenever that impulse began to flag, or times of
distress approached. He naturally asked himself
the question—Where will all this end ? Must not
the surges of this growing and swelling sea some day
overflow its banks, and sweep the rocial fabric to
destruction ? So, indeed, it seemed; yet the danger
has vanished, the cloud is dissipated, and we hardly
stop to ask ourselves how the danger, which seemed
so imminent, has been averted. The solution which
this apparently perplexing problem received is an
illustration as significant and striking as any I
could give of the vanity of forebodings drawn simply
from an estimate of probabilities within a con-
tracted sphere. One simple accident—or incident
—was sufficient for the time, at least, not only to re-
dress the balance, but to turn the scale. The dis-
covery of the Californian, and immediately after-
wards of the Australian gold fields, caused such a
currant of emigration from our shores that we shall
hear no more of the Malthusian creed during this
generation; and thus, in the simple course of Pro-
vidence, were all the vain:musings of despondency
and the vainer demonstrations of philosophy melted
away, and the very element to which we looked
with dread has been made the instrument of our
prosperity. (Applause.) No doubt no inevitable
laws in any certain operation could have led
us to the foreknowledge of that special
result ; but we might have rested in the im-
plicit faith that industry and progress in the
arts never worked the ruin of a nation, and that
the chief danger of States lies in the endeavour
by artificial changes to prevent or retard the
operation of the great laws of society. This
leads me to take notice—not in any party, but
in a Catholic spirit—of the great illustration of the
truth which I have made the theme of my remarks,
I mean the great problem which it has been re-
served for our day to solve—that our neighbour's
advantage in trade is ours also, and that the same
laws which regulate commercial intercourse in the
same city, or county, or nation bless in like manner
those who give and those who receive between the
nations of the earth. I have the less scruple in ad-
verting to this topic, not merely because the prin-
ciple is now, on our part at least, universally ac-
knowledged, but because, looking back on the past
neither of the great parties in the State can claim
any very early prescience in this matter, and that
the experiment has been laden with golden fruit
beyond the fondest expectations of those by whom
the tree was planted. The very last of the returns to
which I referred is swelled by a large item—namely
the value of corn imported into this country during
the year 1860; but the significance of these figures
is immense. It means in a year of unusual scarcity
we were able to avail ourselves of the abundance of
others; that not only was famine warded off our
shores, and our poorer classes were preserved from
that deadliest of public calamities, but that our on-
ward path of progress was not even checked, nor
were our resources crippled for a moment, Others,
no doubt, were the gainers, but that detracted no-
thing from our practical advantage. We were none
the poorer that the wheat-growers of America or
Poland found such ready market on our shores. And
surely the heart which faints in the commencement
of a new year, oppressed with vain foreshadowing
of evil, may take courage from the response which
events have given to the doubts and dismay of 1845.
(Applause.) To these I allude in no sneering or cap-
tious spirit. The venture was doubtless great, and
the interests which failure would have jeopardised
were immense; but none of them suffered—all of
them have gained. With our liberated commerce
we obtained a prosperous and contented people, and
were borne in peace and safety through the tempest
of '4B, while thrones were shaken and discord
reigned throughout Europe. (Applause.) With our
liberated commerce we breasted the great war of 1853,
and came out of that protracted struggle as fresh in
resources as when we entered it. We have tided
over the only year of scarcity which that period has
known without almost a wound to remind us that ii
came and has passed; and while our experience o

tho blessings of free trade crowds and increases on us
day by day, they have not been confined to our own
shores, Its direct benefits remain still to be elabo-
rated by most of our neighbours. But, beyond doubt,
the reflux of that flood of prosperity which has
visited ourselves has not been without its influence
abroad. The commercial energies of France have
during the last 10 years made wonderful advance.
Spain is now waking up, after a trance of two cen-
turies, and the locomotive glides along those fertile
valleys, from which free trade should extract even
more than their ancient renown. And Italy, the last-
born of modern Europe, but not more the cradle of
arts than of commerce, where grew the germs of all
we have most valuable in our commercial code, and
which taught to medimval Europe the great prin-

ciples of mercantile and public law—she, too
bids fair to renew her ancestral honours, and cover.
once more, in honourable rivalry, with her merchant
navy the waters of the Mediterranean. Every Bri-
tish merchant—every Briton wishes for a happy
new year. (Applause.) After some remarks on the
fact that the same principle of mutual gain and loss
ruled commercial transactions under the Bankruptcy
Law, the Lord Advocate went on to say—But in
our wishes for the new year, there is ono I cannot
help expressing to the Chamber of Commerce. Of
course, we all wish and pray that this new year
may run its course unmarked by any of those mer-
cantile convulsions which have from time to time
depressed our interests. These may come, however,
from causes no one can foresee or can prevent ; but
there are some precautions which our traders can
take, and which I hope a more healthy mercantile
morality will inspire. I allude to the reckless giving
and taking of credit, which, along with overtrading
if they do not cause, at least enormously enhance
the misery and disasters of these periodical derange-
ments. it is in vain to hope to regulate this mat-
ter in any way by legislation. If false representa-
tions have been made to induce the credit, the law,

no doubt, will reach the delinquent, But the great
majority of cases are not of that kind. The reck-
lessness is on both sides—with the man who gives

as well as the man who takes. Often it is mutual,
and it depends on the chances of the period which
becomes the insolvent, and which the injured cre-

ditor. For my part, I do not profess great sympathy

for the man who, in his haste to drive a trade, with-

out any inquiry into the means of his correspondent,
or perhaps in the knowledge of his want of means,

furnishes him with the materials for transactions

entirely disproportioned to his capabilities, and is

filled with profound indignation when the inevitable

result occurs. This, no doubt, is one of the tempta-
tions which periods of great prosperity hold out,
when, as we have seen in our day. great fortunes aro

rapidly realised, and a few fortunate ventures place a
man in ease and affluence all his days. Nor perhaps

do we always stop sufficiently to draw the line

with fairness between the successful and unsueeess-

ful gambler. But the remedy lies, as I have

said, in the nurture of a higher and sounder tone
of mercantile morality,andthat can alone be effected

by the efforts and exempla of merchants. (Ap-
plause.) His lordship Ethen adverted to :another
view of the same principle as applied to legal pro-
fessional emoluments. He said—Many persons fear
that if the transferof land were to be made as simple
almost as the transfer of movable property, as far
as that can be done with safety to the records—
many people may think that the profits and emolu-

ments of those who have an interest in that matter

would greatly suffer. I believe that is an entire

delusion, and that it has been proved so in 411 cases

of the kind. Whatever facilitates transactions in-
creases transactions—whatever increases transac-
tions it is the interest of those who are professedly
engaged in them to promote. (Apple use.) I am per-
fectly certain that, speaking for my own craft, we
have much more interest in the cheapening of con-
veyancing than almost, any other body of men.
(Applause.) As another instance of the same kind,
his lordship referred to the County Courts of Eng-
land, and the extension of the Sheriff Court juris-
diction in Scotland, as having, after a temporary
depression, still left the Supreme Courts as busy as
ever. He said—From the carrying off smaller cases
in the courts, and from the general cheapening of
the cost of litigation—whether it was that a taste
for litigation was thereby inspired (laughter), for I
have been told, although it is most incredible, that
that is a taste which can be acquired—l say, what-
ever be the cause, the result is that the counsel in
Westminster Hall are as well employed as they:ever
were. (Applause.) There is another subject, how-
ever—and one which is uppermost, I presume, in
all minds at present—to which I intend to allude
shortly before I close. We have hitherto been at
peace, and, at all events, in the only war that we
have had for the last five and forty years we were
not at war under circumstances which to any
great extent disturbed or deranged our trade.
But of late there has been considerable
interest excited upon the subject of belligerent
and neutral rights, and men have gone back to
long-forgotten books, and have raked up
Grotius and Vattal, and a host of other learned
names, that are now sought to study what are the
rights as between two belligerent Powers, and par-
ticularly what are the rights belonging to those
who are engaged on neither one aide or another—
namely, what are the rights of neutrals. Now, that
is a very difficult subject, and certainly I have no
intention of inflcting upon you a lecture upon inter-
national law. I only mean to make one or two
remarks on that part of the topic which may rather
seem cognate to the general theme of my observa-
tions. Now, it is quite true—as was said, I think,
in some of the recent discussions—that to certain
extent international law must be the conscience of
the strongest. But, on the other hand, there is such
a thing as a code of international law. It is a code
which was, as I already hinted in the former part
of my observations, originated by the Italian com-
mercial republics of Venice, Genoa, and the other
republics of that early Christian era ; and the cele-
brated work of the Consolato del Hare, the first
copy of which known to exist is somewhere about
1000, contains truly the germ of all that has ever been
insisted on or written on that subject since. And it
is most important that, as war cannot sometimes be
avoided, there should be something settled and fixed,
and firm principles on which these matters should
be regulated. lam not sure—and Ido not by any
means like to express an opinion upon the subject
—that even in this matter the principle to which
I have been referring might not with great benefit
be allowed more operation than it has hitherto re-
ceived—l mean that the less heavily belligerent
Powers deal with the colours of their adversaries,
in all probability each is likely to gain in the end.
And accordingly there was, as you know, some
years ago, after the Russian war, a convention at
Paris, by which several of the great Powers came
to certain resolutions in regard to this matter,which
I allude to just now because it exemplifies very
strongly how shortsighted it is, with a view to the
narrow range of probabilities which may be placed
before a nation or an individual, to come to general
cenclusions. Among the things which the great
Powers were agreed upon was the abolition of pri-
vateering. America declined to join with the great
Powers in that convention, because she said—and
she said with a great deal of force and power—
" That is a very good position for you, Great Bri-
tain, you have a largo fleet, and a large standing
fleet, independent of your merchant navy; but for
our United States, whose principles does not lead us
to maintain a large standing navy, of course if we
go to war with you we must trust entirely to pri-
vateering ;" and accordingly at that time declined
to join the convention. And what has been the re-
sult? Why, America was looking to the chances
of a war with this country, but she has unexpect-
edly gone to war—the Northern against the
Southern States, and the Southern States maintain
no fleet, and they are obliged to have recourse to
privateering ; so that her refusal at that time to
join in what was evidently for the general good, for
the interests of humanity and civilisation, has been
the cause of one of the bit-erect and severest re-
sults of this unhappy war between the Northern
and Southern States, all of which would have been
avoided if she had taken a larger view of the
matter in 1856. (Applause.) It was debated a
the Congress of Social Science of 1860 whether

would not be desirable to exempt merchant ships
altogether from seizure in the event of war. Now,
I hoard that very learnedly discussed. I cannot
say that I was convinced of the affirmative of the
proposition. The difficulty is that war really
knows no rule but self-dafence, and that it is difi-
cult to say that you are to allow your adversary to
go on with his commerce, and cover the seas with
his fleets, while at the same time he is endeavour-
ing to do you all the evil and all the mischief in his
power. The Lord-Advocate concluded by saying,
—We are all waiting now in suspense. We are
all looking towards the West,waiting for the tidings
that are to come; and, when we look forward to the
new year, much of its happiness will depend upon
what that news may be. Once more, then, a happy
new year. While I speak, the balance still trembles
between peace or war, and uo one can predict which
way it may incline. Fortunately, we are prepared,
with steadfast hearts, for either issue. We can
honestly say we desire nothing of our neighbours'.
The lust of conquest has long been dead to our
councils. We can see the prosperity of others with-

out envy, knowing it is the reflection and must be
companion of our own. In the internal regulation
of the affairs of- others we desire not to meddle.

We are conscious of no motive, no wish,no tendency
to offend. But, while we wish for nothing that is
our neighbours', we mean to preserve all that is our
own ; and while wo were never more anxious to
avoid, we never were more determined or ready to
repel aggression, or to maintain our honour or our
rights. (Loud applause.) If war comes, it will be
because, maintaining our rights and honour with
temper and with dignity, we could not avoid it.

Still—absit omen—may peace prevail ; and if our
Transatlantic brethren will do us justice in this
matter, then, and then only, I wish them, as I wish
you, a happy new year. (Loud and prolonged
applause.)
Sir W. JOHNSTON moved a vote of thanks to the
Lord-Advocate for his address, and
The Hon. B. PRIMROSE moved a vote of thanks
to the chairman.

The company then partook of refreshments in the
Museum.

FOREIGN NAIL PACKET LIST.

MAILS DUE.

Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton. Jan. 18,
via Marseilles Jan. 12,
Brazil and Cape Verds, by British packet. Feb. 3.
Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Feb. 1.
China, Penang, and Singapore, via Sonthampton Jan. 18.
via Marseilles .. Jan. 12.
Falkland Islands Feb. 3.
Gibraltar, via Southampton .... Jan. 10.
India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton Jan. 18.
via Marseilles Jan. 12.
India (Bombay), via Southampton Jan. 10.
via Marseilles Jan. 4.
Lisbon Jan. 11.
Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Jan. 10.
via Marseilles Jan. 4.
Newfoundland .. Jan. 8
Oporto and Vigo . Jan. 11.
U. S. and British N. America, Ly Brit. packet . .., Jan. 8.
_.. ....

--' by U.S. , packet
by Canadian packet Ja.n. —.
W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe Jan. 10.
Bahamas, via New York Jan. 16.
Mexico

All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, 1 Jan. 13.
California,and British Columbia..

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THE RECOGNISED PROSPECT OF

PEACE.

(17o.;»1 the Money MarZet _Review)

A strong opinion has been expressed in this jourr al ,
based upon the information circulating among the best in-
formed Americans in this country, that the affair of the
Trent would be settled without war. Wo rejoice to see that
day by day the prospect of war recedes further into the
background. Even within the week now closing the whole
of the English press has come round to the belief that there
will be no rupture, and the latest intelligence shows that a
similar alteration has occurred in the tone of the press of

America. To show the suddenness of the turn taken by the
latter, we cannot do better than quote the following very
pertinent remarks in the circular of Messrs. Neill Brothers,
of New York, dated Dec. 9, which has arrived by the Africa.
We have here, be it remembered, the testimony of practical
men of business:—

" We are happy to be able to inform you that during the
past three days there has been almost salutary and extraor-
dinary change in public sentiment here and throughout the
country. It was to a great extent a game of brag' after' all,
and none the less so that the people had deceived them-
selves quite as much if not more than they deceived others.
No new light of importance has by the recent arrivals from
Europe been shed on the question; the only fresh point in
the arguments raised by the English or French press is that
of the breach of form on the part of Capt. "Wilkes (even
supposing him right in treating Messrs. Mason and Slidell
as contraband of war) in not bringing the vessel into port
to be adjudicated upon by a prize court, yet whereas a
week ago nine out of every ten men would tell you that
England might threaten as she pleased, but the pri-
soners would never be given up, now the balance of opinion
is quite the other way. It is evidently coming to be the
general feeling that the prisoners are not worth fighting for,
and people hail with satisfaction the news from Washing-
ton that " the President is determined to avoid a foreign
war." The commercial classes see clearly enough that it
would ensure the triumph of the South, and thus be, as they
term it, the destruction of the country. Though the an-
swer of the Government to Lord Lyons is not given, it is
evident that in the minds of the people, who really rule,
good sense has already triumphed over passion and preju-
dice. The Government will, therefore, be free to act as its
interests dictate, and they assuredly point to the preserva-
tien of peace with Great Britain at all costs. The idea that
the Government seek a war with that country, as an oppor-
tunity of retiring from the contest with the South, is quite
untenable, and it is, of course, ridiculed by all Americans.
They have still the firmest faith in their power to re-tnnex
the South upon their own terms ; whereas a retirement from
the contest under the pressure of a foreign war would im-
ply a recognition of the Southern Confederacy upon terms
dictated by the latter. When taken in connection with the
fact that the North still believes in its power to conquer the
South, the idea will indeed appear at once too absurd to
need refutation.

Upon a deliberate review of the delicate and apparently
extremely haz irdous relations of this country with Great
Britain, we are inclined to believe war between the two
nations now more distant than we thought itbefore:tho pre-
sent complication arose. The American Government had,
for some time past, acted upon a presumption that Eng-
land's interests in the preservation of peace with them was
so great, that she would bear any number of petty indigni-
ties rather than make them a cause of war. This idea will
now probably be modified, and there may be a little more of
that respect shown to British subjects which they are ac-
customed to receive in other foreign countries, and fewer
arrestsbof them without process of law, or opportunities for
their justification or defence.

We can assure our readers most explicitly that these ad-
vices are confirmed by nearly every private letter that has
come forward by the last steamers. Some houses which
have a dozen or a score of such, nearly all from trustworthy
correspondents, have been almost surprised at learning
how.unanimous is the testimony that the American people
and Government will do everything in their power to
avoid war with this country, and that, in fact, they will
not have war unless Great Britain forces it upon them.
This, as we know well enough, would be totally opposed to
the whole policy of the British Government.
" If further confirmation be needed of the view tha peace
will be maintained, it is to be found in the assurances given
personally by the members of the Washington Cabinet to
the most eminent bankers and merchants in America.
These assurances are of the most positive kind, consistent
with the upholding of the position of the Government as
towards England. We can state, too, that the President
has expressed himself unreservedly in the same sense to
persons who have made special reference to him on the
matter. The burthen of these official communications is,
simply, that the Government of the United States are not
so mad as to go to war with England, now that the civil
war demands every effort they can make.
Attention has naturally been struck by the delay which
has occurred in the official presentation by Lord Lyons of
the despatches from his Government. This delay is un-
questionably in the interest of peace. The American Ca-
binet have been informed as to their contents, and the
withholding of the despatches themselves argues a prospect
that the aemand contained in them will be complied with—
that is to say, that the Southern Commissioners will be re-
lease d without the official summons being formally
lodged. This view may perhaps prove to be a little over-
sanguine, but we beg our readers to remark that it prevails
so generally among well-informed Americans in London
that they would not feel in the least surprised were the
Europa on Monday next to bring Messrs. Slidell and Mason
to Liverpool. It is highly probable that the news by that
vessel will in any case be highly important. It is quite clear
that we are now at the very climax of a crisis.
We think we shall not be far wrong if we advise our rea-
ders to look beyond this wretched affair of the Trent—to
consider it settled, allowing for the due amount of diplo-
matic coquetting—and to glance for a moment at the state
of our relations with America after the release of Messrs.
Slidell and Mason. There are many signs which lead us to
suspect that, now that the British Government have gained
the advantage of making Canada tolerably secure, they in-
tend to take high ground towards America. Wo apprehend
that other questions of a troublesome kind will grow up be-
fore long. France is very anxious to induce England to
enter into a joint action relative to the ineffective character
of the blockade of the ports of the South. Were England
and Franco to unite upon this point, the Northern Govern-
ment would be in very grave straits.

POLICE INTELLI'IENCE.—Tan. 2.

LAMBETH. MODERN SERVANT-GIRLIS3I.--•
Catherine Brown, a cook in the service of Mr. Mar-

tin, proprietor of the Hand-in-Hand publichouse,
in Park-road, Brixton-hill, was charged before the
Hon. G. C. Norton with stealing two bottles of
champagne, five bottles of Guinness's stout, a
bottle of ale, and a bottle of cordial (orange boven)
from her master's ce:lar.

Mrs. Martin deposed that about six o'clock on the
evening before she went down to the kitchen, and
found the prisoner there in so helpless a state of
intoxication that she was obliged to be put to bed.
After the prisoner had been removed from the kit-
chen witness looked about, and in the platewarmer
she found two bottles of champagne and a bottle of
stout, untouched, and four bottles of stout in an-
other place, untouched ; but in other parts of the
kitchen she discovered a stout and an ale bottle
empty, and the bottle of cordial was also very nearly
finished.

Mr. Norton—Have you discovered where the
prisoner got all these things from ?
Mrs. Martin—Yes, sir. I found that the cellar-
man had inadvertently left the wine cellar door
unlocked, and the prisoner took all the bottles from
there.

Mr. Norton—How long has the pfisoLer been in
your service?

Mrs. Martin—Since the beginning of October
'ast.

Mr. Norton (to the prisoner)—What have you
got to say to this charge of stealing all this property
from your master's cellar and getting so drunk ?
Prisoner—l never went in the cellar at all, nor
took any of the bottles from there.

Mr. Norton—Then how could you get so drunk ?
Prisoner—Oh, that was with gin I bought myself.
Mr. Norton—Then you do not wish to plead
guilty to the charge.
Prisoner—No, sir; I did not take the bottles.
Mr. Norton—Then I shall send you before a jury.
Committed for trial to the Surrey Sessions.

HAMMERSMITH.—CLEVER CAPTURE OF A
DESPERATE BURGLAR,—WiIIiam Jones, a young
man who had the appearance of a bricklayer's
labourer, was brought before Mr. Ingham, charged
with committing two burglaries.

It appeared from the evidence, that shortly be-
fore two o'clock on Sunday morning police-con-
stable llaydon, 206 T, entered the premises of the
Cedars, a large school kept by Mrs. Itawlinson, in
the high-road of Hammersmith, near the turnpike-
gate, for the purpose of looking over the grounds as
usual ; and, while passing the front of the house,
he had his attention drawn to a pair of boots which
he had not observed when he went round a short

tine before. The boots were quite warm, as if they
had just been taken off the feet of some person.
The constable went to the rear of the house, and
saw the prisoner trying to conceal himself in a
corner. He took him into custody; and, while re
moving him to the front gates, the prisoner offered
great resistance, and threatened the constable with
violence. A desperate struggle ensued, and the
constable broke his staff across the prisoner's
head. However, on reaching the outside, the pri-
soner effected his escape, and ran down a narrow
passage to Brook-green-place, a locality thickly in-
habited by Irish, and known as the Rookery. He
was here fortunately stopped by Inspector Hard.
who heard cries or. " Stop thief," and he had to
knock him down twice before he could secure him.
The prisoner was without shoes, and he claimed the
pair found by the constable as belonging to him.
When searched at the station he was found in pos-
session of a formidable weapon in the shape of e.