The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-17 00:00:00

THE BALLOT SOCIETY.

The weekly meeting of the executive committee
was held oa Tae-day, at the offices, 5 Guildhall
Chambers, Mr. M. E. Marsden in the chair. Mr.
Whitehurst, Mr. Elt, Mr, Sydenham Nodes, Mr.
Le Maitre, and Mr. Man were present. The Go-
vernment measure to renew the Corrupt Practices
Prevention Bill engaged the attention of the com-
mittee. With regard to this measure a corre-
spondent from Preston wrote :—" The Corrupt
Practices Act here is a dead letter. It is openly
set at defiance. I believe the ballot would have
prevented mush of the corruption, and I believe
the Liberals would have succeeded. lam bound
to say that with a very curious experience as a sort
of pupil in electioneering matters under the late
Mr. Coppock I never witnessed anything so open,
flagrant, impudent, avaricious, and abominable as
the corruption of all sides here." A correspondent
from Lincoln wrote :—" This constituency has sunk
into a fearful state, and the evil is spreading; pub.
lishing the election expenses is a complete farce,
for nothing is published but the usual legal ex-
penses, whilst all the heavy payments are not pub
lished." After examining the provisions of the bill,
the committee determined that measures should be
taken to call the attention of the House of Commons
to the futility of the proposed legislation. The
committee also agreed to the following resolution in
reference to the proposed bill :—That this commit-
tee desires to record its conviction of the utter
futility of the measure introduced by the Govern-
ment renewing the Corrupt Practices at Elections
Prevention Bill, the experience of recent prosecu-
tions having demonstrated the complete failure of
direct legislation or penal laws to prevent bribery,
and with regard to intimidation, that no attempt
even has been made to put in force the designedly
delusive protection afforded by the Act. The pre-
valence of bribery and intimidation at the last
general and other subsequent elections being patent
to all the world, the committee feels constrained
to state its belief that the Government are not
sincere in their professed desire to remove from
our elective system the evils by which it is disgraced
RE

'SULTS OF A D 4 I'S DREDGIVO.

First in numbers, activity, and certainly in self-
assertion, are the crabs ; not the familiar crustacean
of Hungerford market, but relatives of all sizes and
every conceivable form. Here are flat, fat, com-
fortable crabs, well fed, contented with things as
they are, manifest marine tories, differing utterly
in appearance and habits from other truculent
revolutionary fellows with ungainly limbs, mali-
cious eyes, and absolutely blood-thirsty aspect.
Then there are spiny crabs, the porcupines of the
sea, squinting with horrible persistence; tiny deli-
cate crabs, smaller than a silver threepence; and,
strangest of all, the slender Arachnidw, ocean
spiders, with legs of threadlike thinness and astound-
ing length, and eyes set curiously on long foot-
stalks, pointing, fingerlike, in all directions. Next
come fierce Paguri, or soldier-crabs, snugly housed
as to their hinder parts in the shells: of defunct
whelks and trochi, their ruling passion for warfare
strong even in the dredge, fighting here beneath our
very eyes each for the possession of a neighbour's
more desirable habitation. Then there are the star-
fishes, with long rosy arms twining ovet every-
thing, alarmed brittle stars strewing the heap with
suicidal fragments, neat Cribellas, charmingly
marked Ophiocomas, and here and there the
beautiful Palmipes. Less conspicuous; but more
lovely than either of these two families, come
the mollusca and their brilliant representatives,
Eolis and Doris of the waving plumes, majestic
Aplysia, and the emerald Acteon, accompanied
by their testaceous relatives spiry Turritellas,
ribbed cowries, murderous whelks, the gem-
eyed Pecten, " butterfly of the sea," and the pearly
earshell. As for zoophytes, their name is legion.
All the finer species of Actinia are represented.
and Sertularia, Laomedea, and Campanularia crowd
the stones, weeds, and pebbles, till every portion of
their several surfaces is alive with the beautiful
atomies. Dwarf corals and Lepralia, meet us at
every turn, and now then we may detect, half
hidden in the mud, the tube of an Edwardsia, or
perhaps even the brilliantly spotted covering of
the rare cloak anemone. Then there are the worms,
not only Serpula and Sabelle, the pride of all
aquariaa naturalists, but Phyllodoce, Nais, and the
strange rainbow-hued sea-mouse (Aphrodite).
Nereides of all forms and dimensions, some bril-
liantly phosphorescent, others of a comeliness need-
ing no such enhancement, and last, not least, the
rarer Auricomada.—Once a it eek.

A CONFEDERATE PRIVATEER IN THE CHINA
SEAS.—A rather star; ling announcement (says a Hong
Kong letter of the Ist March) was made a few days ago
of the presence of a Confederate privateer in the China
seas. She is reported to have been fallen in with by her
Majesty's ship Pioneer, on the coast of Borneo, and, if
there at all, must evidently have been on the look out for
American ships outward bound, being just in their track
by the Palawan passage against the north-western mon-
soon. This rumour, so alarming to American vessels, will,
however be speedily put to rest one way or other; but it
is particularly unfortunate for them that the Federal Go-
vernment has not a single aar vessel of any description
in these waters, except the Saginaw, and she is rotten and
useless.

THE DEEPEST " DUG" WELL IN THE WORLD.—
A clever lecture by Mr. Henry Catt tells us that tho War-
ren farm well is not an Artesian, having been dug, not
bored. The!scientific facts, he says, learned from this great
work are :—That the upper green sand has no existence
in this locality ; that the gault is double its usual thick-
ness; that Mr. Martin, of Pulborough, is right in saying
that gault should be classed with chalk; and, lastly, that
digging is better than boring a w ell. The upper chalk
extends 418 feet; the lower, 214; :the gray marl, 155;
blue marl, 173; firestone, 8; gault, 282 ; ditto with
green sand, 25 ; clay, 5; green sand, 6; ferruginous
beneath; from which we may deduct 10 per cent. for the
dip. In the strata pierced fossil oysters and ordinary gault
fossils wero found ; also fossil wood, perforated by the
teredo, in some cases having the cavities filled with bisul-
phate of iron, He believed the water came from Ditchling
Common. Mr. Hollis said that the Artesian well at the
County Lunatic Asylum at Hayward's Heath was nearly
900 ft deep, and its supply derived from the ferruginous
strata. The water was very wholesome, and the supply so
abundant that, after they had pumped out 40,000 gallons, it
hardly lowered the level one inch. —Sussex Express,
POPERY IN EDINEURGH.—The Cowgate of Edin-
burgh was the scene of an unwonted spectacle on Sabbath
morning, the 6th inst. The large church acquired by the
Roman Catholics some time ago at the corner of St.
Mary's Wind was visited by Bishop Gillis, who was
met at the entrance to the court of the chapel by a pro-
cession of "wee brokers" and others, bearing painted
wands, crosses, flags, and banners, and other insignia of
the "Holy Guilds" of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Joseph.
" His lordship," on alighting from his carriage, was
greeted with the blare of a brass band, the bells of the
church were rung, and the flags which adorned the ex-
terior of the church flaunted a welcome. The bishop—
with some reason—congratulated the crowded congregation
on the progress of the Romish system in Edinburgh, when
such a public demonstration was possible. The proces-
sionists have, perhaps, kept within the letter of the law by
confining their movement for the most part within their
own grounds; but it, is time that Protestant worshipperS
were inquiring whether they can legally be disturbed by
the ringing of bells and the noise of brass bands during the
hours of Divine service on Sabbath.—Edinburgh Week.
OUR. LOST ONES.—There is another stage for the
overtempted and fallen workwoman to go through. If only,
by a glance we must recognise that there is a great multi-
tude of the lost,—some few revelling, but many hungering;
some hardened, but many humbled; some worldly wise,
planning for personal or family advancement; but many
more the victims of rash affections, as well as passion and
sheer weakness. Some are every moment disappearing,
drowned in river or canal, carried out dead from hospitals,
or crawling into cellars, or workhouse infirmaries, to die :
but more and more appear to take their places. Even the
well-meant endeavours to reclaim some infinitesimal pro-
portion of them act as an opening of the way for others to
enter the same path. Is there no hope, then ? Is there
nothing to be done to amend such a state of things as our
survey thus has far shown us ?—Once a Week.

LIFEBOATS FOR SPAIN. --Yesterday three large
powerful self-righting lifeboats, on the plan of the National
Lifeboat Institution, intended for the Spanish coast,
e:
under-
went their harbour trial in the Regent's-canal Dock,3s i,
f.
Lime-
house. house. Two of the boats are 32 feet long, an
The proceedings were conducted under the superintendence
onerintel‘ni
Messrs,
of the inspector of lifeboats to the institution,
e
Forrestt, lifeboat builders, and other gentlemen, eing also
present. The trials were, as usual,
of
a veryof seven
eharacter. These lifeboats will complete a
boats which have during the last twelve months been
siessatisfactory
aeries
They are to be placed respec-
tively and sent to Spain.
Huelva,Malaga, Valencia,
tively at Corunna,
deserves much credit for
Tarragona, and Barcelona. Spain
those messengers thus providing its coast'with
neighbour, has
Portugal, emulating its
Gigon,
also five lifeboats on
the plan of the society now. building by Messrs. Forrestt.
The National Lifeboat Institution has also eight lifeboats
building for different stations on the coasts of the United
Kingdom. Many of these boats are the special gifts of
benevolent persons to the institution, As an illustration
of the value of such benefactions it may be stated that
several such boats have, during the last 12 months, been
the means of saving the lives of 188 persons from different
wrecks on our coasts. Altogether, nearly 700 lives have
been saved by the lifeboats of the institution during the past
two years. •