The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-13 00:00:00

Z4l,t

C'W I 4.4.
ii"v 44444

LONDON, THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1865.

The difficulties which the Home Government ex-
perienced in dealing with the Confederate war
vessels appear to have extended to the antipodes.
The Melbourne authorities have been greatly per-

► plexed by the presence in their port of a vessel bear-
ing the ominous name of the Shenandoah, and, after
a great deal of discussion and dispute, matters ended
by arriving at a very angry pitch. It seems that
the Shenandoah, after obtaining stores, crew, and
equipment from another vessel, named the Laurel,
sailed from Madeira to Melbourne, at which port
she arrived on the 25th of January, having captured
and destroyed many priZes by the way, after the
fashion of the Alabama. On her arrival at Mel-
, bourne the captain requested permission to land his
' prisoners, to procure supplies, and to repair his ship,
promising to respect the neutrality of the colony.
After some deliberation on the part of the authori-
ties this permission was granted him, a board of
nautical men being appointed to see that no unne-
cessary work was done to the vessel. So far, all
went smoothly. The colonists, who appear in this,
as in most other public questions, to share the sen-
timents of the old country, gave the Southerners a
very cordial welcome. It is idle for the friends of
the North to deny that the sympathies of this coun-
try are in favour of the Confederates, not be-
cause their hatred of slavery is diminished,
but because they believe that the war arises
from the determination of a nation to esta-
blish its independence, with which slavery
has nothing to do. In return for the hospitalities
shown to him by the Melbournites, Captain WAD-
DELL threw open his ship to all comers, and invited
inspection. The ship is described as being very un-
like an ordinary man-of-war, and its crew only
numbered about 70 men.t.But, as might havebeen ex-
pected, the American Consul now appeared upon the
scene after the fashion of Mr. ADAMS in England,
and began harassing the Victorian Government
with demands and expostulations. He demanded
that the ship should be seized as a pirate because he
had heard from the landed prisoners that the ship
was formerly called the Sea King, had been partially
equipped in an English port, and had never been in
a Confederate port. The unreasonableness of such
a demand after permission had been asked and
granted for the stay of the vessel in port, and while
the captain, officers, and crew were acting in accord-
ance to the agreement, and respecting neutrality,
was at once at once apparent, and accordingly the
Law Officers of the Crown, when asked for their
opinion, decided that as no offence had been com-
mitted within the jurisdiction of the Melbourne au-
thorities, the vessel must go unharmed, and they
advised that, as in the case of the Alabama at the
Cape, the antecedents of the vessel should not be
inquired into so long as she respected the laws.
The Confederate flag was flying over her, and
therefore she must be accepted as a regular belli-
gerent. Upon this the Consul waxed wroth, and
declared the Foreign Enlistment Act to be a dead
letter, but no more could be done. After a few
days, however, the second part of the story began.
The Consul came back with the tale that the
Shenandoah was recruiting men, and produced some
evidence to that effect. On the strength of this the
Government issued a warrant for the apprehension
of a nian named CHARLEY, who was believed to be
on board the privateer. The police-superintendent
went to the vessel with his warrant, but the officer
in charge of the Shenandoah refused to permit the
vessel to be searched. The next day the superin-
tendent returned, when the captain was on board,
when the captain also refused permission to search,
and gave, it is said, his word that no such person as
the " CHORLEY" referred to was on board. Being
pressed on the point, he declared he would fight
rather than submit, upon which the police super-
intendent withdrew. Upon this the leave given
to Captain WADDELL to effect his repairs
was withdrawn, a proclamation was issued
in the dockyard that no more assistance was to be
given to her, and a body of constables sent down to
enforce the order. Some correspondence ensued
between the Melbourne authorities and the captain,
in the course of which the latter solemnly declared
that no persons were on board his ship excepting
those who were on his shipping articles, and that no
one had been enlisted since his arrival in port. A
watch, however, was still kept up, and one night a
boat with several men was observed putting off
from the Shenandoah. It was pursued, and the
men stopped and questioned. One of them proved
to be the " CHARLEY" so much spoken of, and two
others were also British subjects. These weretaken
into custody, and CHARLEY committed for trial for
a breach of the Foreign Enlistment Act. If
the facts turn out to be as above represented, the
Confederate captain and officers can hardly be ex-
cused from having attempted to deny facts, and
having acted unfairly to the Victorian authorities.
At the same time it is fair to admit that they had
reason to be justly indignant at the warrant to
search a ship which had been for some weeks thrown
open to all corners, especially as the meddlesome in-
terference of the Federal Consul could have been no
secret to them. If Mr. BLANCHARD had been a little
less active there would have been less opportunity
for animadversion ; and as there appears, after all,
to have been very little proof of the recruiting pro-
pensities of the Shenandoah, further than the
presence of the redoubtable master, who was,
after all, coming on shore when captured,
it seems to have been rather much ado about
nothing. Captain WADDELL seems certainly to
have behaved with scant courtesy to the Melbourne
authorities, but he must have seen that they were
merely acting at the dictation of the Federal agents.
We should like to know whether there has been no
Federal recruiting in Australia ? There has
been a good deal done on the shores of
the British Isles themselves, so it would
be very unreasonable to suppose that some of the
motley crew who compose the Federal armies have
been drawn from our southern colonies. We shall
probably hear a good deal of the wickedness and
cruelty of privateering, to which we would reply
that however unjustifiable such practices may be,
they are not to be reproved by Federals or
their admirers. The very name of the vessel in
question is an answer to them. If the destruction
of mercantile property and the temporary detention
of crews be a hardship, what must we call the total
demolition of a people's sources of food, of the
granaries, the corn fields, and the farm produce of
the fertile Shenandoah Valley. What must we think
of the ruined homesteads, the burning cities, the
houseless women and children, the sick and aged
dragged into the streets to be uncovered, which
have marked the triumphant progress of SHERMAN
and SHERIDAN through the South ? Let the North
start privateers, and let the South invade Penn-
sylvania, and we shall find our moralists hold a
different creed. As it is, the privateers of the sea
hadavvea,nintagteheoftheopinion of all disinterested persons, the
privateers on shore.

It seems as if there were to be no end of the disputes
that take place in the iron trade. No sooner do the
public learn that there is a fair chance of the matter
being adjusted than a new source of altercation
arises, and all is again confusion. It is evident that
there are some who do not wish to have the affair
speedily settled, and either to serve their own ends,
or from mistaken motives, urge on the discontented
until a solution of the difficulty seems next to im-
possible. It was unfortunate that the meeting be-
tween masters and men did not take place at Wol-
verhampton as was arranged by the Mayor, because

it mil* have expedited matters, and, at all events,
it world have enabled the different sides to under=
stand a. little more clearly the chief points of differ-
ence that must be arranged prior to arriving at a
mutual understanding. Through some most unfor-
tunate blunder the plans were altered, and thus the
masters waited in one place and the men in another
till both sides were wearied, and no interview took
place. The Mayor had taken great pains in the
matter, and it was very unsatisfactory that all his
trouble went for nothing. Thus an opportunity has
been lost, which may not occur again, and the
chances thrown away of a settlement being
arrived at. It would seem that the mas-
ters showed a desire to come to terms to
the utmost of their power, and expressed their
readiness to meet their own men at their own works
at any time. Yet this is more vague and indefinite,
and it is greatly to be regretted that, when they were
in the mind, employers and employed, could not
have conferred. Doubt and hesitation may arise
among a few as to what the rest may think, and,
therefore, the chances are not so favourable or par-
ticular as in a general meeting. At a general meet-
ing of the puddlers it has been resolved to ask for
another interview, and not to return to work until
they have it. It is, therefore, to be hoped that the
next attempt will be more favourable, although we
have reason to doubt when a put-off occurs in a
matter of this kind, for so much may happen to
change the minds and. alter the opinions of the
parties concerned in the dispute. If the masters
are wise they will concede to the desires of the men
and consent to an arbitration. This will be the
only safe and sure way of settlement of a lasting
character that can be made and that is worthy of
the name. Unless affairs are put upon this footing,
allowing, for the sake of argument, that an adjust-
ment of differences takes place, it will only be a
very temporary, and cannot possibly last. Nothing
can be more fatal to the interests of the trade,Kor
more ruinous to the operatives themselves, than
this system of strikes and lock-outs, and really, in
the present advanced stage of cultivation, we have
a right to expect that good sense and right feeling
should triumph over narrow notions and a sectarian
spirit. Nothing but sinking prejudice and putting
a stop to class tyrannies can avail, and all the parade
and the speechifying will do no good unless some
sure foundation is laid, and after all the annoyance
that has been gone through it will be indeed a pity
if some lasting settlement does not result. One of
the chief advantages of arbitration is that both
sides are fairly represented, and reason carries the
day instead of force and the pressure of circum-
stances. There can be nothing but jealousies and
heartburnings resulting from the prosecution of
such modes as have lately been resorted to. The
friends and advisers of the men can do no better
than earnestly to entreat them to abide cheerfully
by the results of arbitration where carried out. It
is not likely that any court of appeal will decide
constantly in their favour any more than
it is probable that it would be always
against them. To give and take, to bear and for-
bear, is the true secret of maintaining peace, and
unless both masters and men will look beyond the
momentary concerns of the present into the effect
and ultimate consequences of their actions it will be
idle to expect that any satisfactory solution can
occur, and those who indulge in the expectation will
find that their ideas are erroneous and their wishes
most illusory.

Mr. BUCKSTONE is always an amusing speaker,
and last night he had a fair and fitting oppor-
tunity for the display of his powers, in speaking of
the Theatrical Fund. Nineteen times has Mr.
BUCKSTONE been called upon to discourse upon the
merits of this institution. It need not be said that
it was a congenial subject, and that ample justice
was rendered to it by the eloquent speaker. Of
the claims of this institution to support little need
be said, for all must feel that it is a disgraceful
thing for those who have ministered to the amuse-
ments of the public to perish in want and misery.
They have strutted their brief hour upon the stage,
and when they can do this no longer, through fail-
ing health and strength, it is too bad for them
to be cast aside as a worn-out garment, or
a toy that has served its turn and is no more
regarded. Mr. WILKIE COLLINS, who took the
chair, very forcibly expressed the feeling that
should pervade the subject, when he said that " the
time must come to the actor when the curtain could
no longer rise upon him, and when he must sink
into oblivion so far as the patrons of the drama
were concerned." Mr. BUCKSTONE explained that
large as their capital was it barely sufficed for all
that they had to do with it. The names of the
QUEEN and the Prince of WALES head the list.
mr. BUCKSTONE eloquently pleaded the cause, which
he truly called the cause of the drama, and paid a
just tribute to the actors And actresses for their zeal
in coming forward to render their gratuitous ser-
vices to any charitable undertaking connected with
the institution it was their pride and honour to sup-
port. The concluding passage of this speech speaks
for itself in its vigorous and veracious phraseology,
and appeals alike to the reason and the fancy. " Our
accounts are open to inspection, we always present
an uncooked balance-sheet, our Secretary is always
correct in his figures, our treasurer has never
absconded with any of our money, and none of us
have ever been hung, or even transported, except
with delight when receiving the applause of the
public." It is to be hoped that a liberal recognition
will be made of this earnest and eloquent discourse,
and that so estimable a charity will receive the
support that it eminently deserves.

EASTER TERll.—Yesterday the lists of the arrears
for the forthcoming Easter Term were exhibited.
As Easter Term falls this year in the holidays, a good deal
of misunderstanding exists. The legal terms are fixed by
Act of Parliament, and by the Ist William IV., cap. 70,
sec. 6, it is enacted " That if the whole or any number of
days intervening between the Thursday before and the
Wednesday next after Easter-day shall fall in the Easter
week, there shall be no sitting in Banco on any of the in-
tervening days, but the term shall in such case be pro-
longed and continued for such number of days of business
as shall be equal to the number of intervening days before
mentioned, exclusive of Easter day, and the commencing
of the ensuing Trinity term shall in such case be postponed,
and its continuance prolonged for an equal number of days
of business." It appears that in the court of Queen's Bench
there are 1 new trial rule for judgment and 18 for argu-
ment; in the special paper there are 1 for judgment and 5
for argument. It appears that in the Court of Common
Pleas there are 1 enlarged rule and 17 new trial rules, 1
postponed motion, and 19 demurrers. In the Exchequer of
Errors and Appeals there are 1 for judgment and 9 for
argument; there are 5 rules in the premptory paper; and
in the special paper, 1 for judgment and 7 for argument.
In that court there are only 2 rules for new trials. Easter
Term is generally a busy one, arising from matters tried in
the spring circuits. Saturday next is the first day of term
"according to act of Parliament," and it will be prolonged
several days, as neither the equity nor common law courts
will sit until Wednesday next, the 19th inst.

THE PRITCHARD CASE.-..We understand that, so
far as that part of the chemical analysis in the case of the
late Mrs. Taylor which was conducted in Edinburgh before
the organs were handed over to Dr. Penny of Glasgow, is
concerned, the report of the medical men will be in the
hands of the Glasgow authorities on Friday or Saturday at
latest. Though, of course, nothing has been allowed to
transpire as to the result of the analysis, we believe we are
justified in stating that the tenor of the report is much
more likely to strengthen than to dispel the suspicions
which have gathered around Dr. Pritchard in relation to
this most serious case.—Scotsman.

Captain Pegrim, the commander of the Nash-
ville, the first Confederate cruiser which crossed the At-
lantic, left. Southampton a feW days since for the Confede-
rate States,