The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-31 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 31, 185 3.

LONDON, MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1853.

We have not for a long time read a document
in which the statesman and the Christian are more
admirably combined than the reply of Lord PAL-
3iKRSTON to the Moderator of the Edinburgh
Presbytery of the Church of Scotland. It was
received indeed in no very Christian spirit by the
divines whom it more immediately concerned, but
it will, we trust, suggest a view of the subject to
thousands of minds which shall direct their reli-
gious sentiments, in regard to the visitation of the
cholera, to the most happy and really religious
results. The Presbytery wished the Govern-
ment to appoint a day of national fasting and
prayer. Lord PALMERSTON'S reply, Conceived ix
the very spirit of some of the most solemn warn-
ings of Scripture itself, is in substance, that " the
fast which GOD bath chosen" is not " to bow down
his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and
ashes underhim," but, amongst similar things, " to
deal our bread to the hungry, to cover the naked,
and to house the poor." Thus thought IsATAH, and
thus thought Lord PALMERSTON; but to apply to
himself the language of the Rev. Dr. CLARK, we
would not " wish to be sharers in the responsi-
bility of those" who presume to censure such sen-
timents in her MAJESTY'S Home Secretary, and in
the words of the Rev. Dr. MUIR, applied to the
Government, " there can be but one unmingled
feeling of pi ty'2,that Christian teachers should fail
to appreeintirlithe admirable reply addressed to
them. r Tr:.

Lord PiiMERSTON agrees "that humble re-
signation to the Divine Will, and sincere acknow-
ledgments of human unworthiness are never more
appropriate than when it has pleased PROVIDENCE
to afflict mankind ,wlth some severe visitation ;"
but he does not think a national fast suitable on
the present occasion. And why not ? For the
very best, the most religious of reasons. He thinks
that the manner in which this awful disease has
appeared, shows it to be a warning, and a warn-
ing not' of neglected devotional duties, but of neg-
lected social duties. That the appropriate national
offering to the ALMIOILTY, therefore, is immediate
attention to those duties. Because we ourselves
rarely cross or visit the streets inhabited by our
poorer neighbours, we have suffered those streets
to become centres of wide- spreading spreacnng and dread-
fully fatal pestilence. We ,
are alarmed at the
result, because it touches ourselves. This last
visitation has spread to the upper classes at New-
castle, to a far larger extent than it ever did before,
and if the language of PROVIDENCE can be at all
interpreted by mortals, we are sure that his Lord-
ship has interpreted it aright. " Am I my bro-
ther's keeper ?" has been the, sentiment tacitly
indulged by us ; and cholera commencing amongst
our " umrashed" brethren, and slaying an equal
number almost of ourselves, is the reply of HEA-
VEN. The voice of the neglected condition of our
scenes of
filth and misery has "cried from the
ground" tsr SuP4tmE JUDGE. We have
supinelfo'verlooked all Ire wretchedness of this
filth and overcrowding, and. all its debasing and
demoralising effects ; overr9 ked its results in
crowding our penitentiaries".. d prisons, and scaf-
folds too ; overlooked thoaands of our fellow-
countrymen growing up in circumstances which
must anirnalise, nay, bestialise, every appetite
and instinct, take the bridle of conscience and rea-
son -oft every passion, and render the human I

intellect but a more cunning purveyor than the
senses of the brutes for depraved propensities ;
we have overlooked all, or p2ssed by on the other
side far too long, but now those who have the
means are warned that they must use them—that
if they would not see men die by hundreds, would
not support by heavy rates their widows and or-
phans, and would not incur the visit of the dread
monitor to their own better-kept dwellings, they
must bestir themselves to rescue their neighbours
in time.

We have had a most severe infliction on one
town. The pestilence is withdrawn for a time ;
but the records of that town testify, beyond all
reasonable doubt, that filth is death, and cleanli-
ness is life. The ALMIGHTY, as his Lordship ob-
serves, has established His laws, and He demands
obedience to them. He has shown us that noxious
gaseous exhalations, under certain circumstances,
may be terribly fatal ; but he has also shown
that prevention of these exhalations, and attention
to premonitory symptoms, are almost uniformly
successful. One of the most striking ccnfirma-
tious of the justice of Lord PALMERSTON'S view is
the entire success with which it pleased GOD to
crown the care and efforts of the surgeons and
officers of the garrison and barracks at Newcastle.
Death was close around them ; only 250 yards
from them the disease made fearful ravages ; yet
amongst 519 persons (including 11 women and
21 children) there were 451 cases of diarrhcea,
9 cases of dysentery, but no cholera ; and amongst
107 persons belonging to the garrison outside the
barracks, 29 cases of diarrhcea, 2 of dysentery, 1 of
cholera (a child), but no death ! Now, what was
the cause of this exemption ? The garrison
surgeons, while gratefully acknowledging the
mercy vouchsafed them, record their adoption of
the advice of Lord PALMERSTON as the means of
their deliverance—to use his language, they took
care that the places under their charge, " should
be freed from those causes and sources of con-
tagion which, if allowed to remain, will infallibly
breed pestilence, and be fruitful in death, in spite
of all the prayers and fastings of an united, but
inactive nation. When man has done his utmost
for his own safety, then is the time to invoke the
blessing of HEAVEN to give effect to his exertions."
We must refer our readers to The Sun of the 28th,
for the details of precaution adopted ; they may,
however, be summed up in a sentence, as, the
most rigid removal of every species of filth, and
the most immediate attention to premonitory
symptoms. One of the surgeons was always in
the barracks. Death raged most fearfully all
around them, but, with cleanliness and care in
their hands, these exemplary surgeons and officers
" stood between the living and the dead, and the
plague was stayed."

We put it to our readers in every town in the
kingdom whether their first step ought not to be
a most diligent following of the officers and sur-
geons of the Newcastle Barracks. As our Home
Secretary has pointed out, "an interval" is now
allowed us. What thousands of lives may be
saved if it be only used with invincible determi-
nation. If funds connot be obtained otherwise,
a liberal subscription in behalf of the wretched
victims of filth would be more pleasing surely to
the MOST HIGH than a fast. At all costs, the
food of pestilence ought to become the food of
our crops ; and what in our alleys and streets is
pregnant with death, to multiply in our fields the
staff of life. We hope that if needful anywhere,
or generally, our Home Secretary will supply
powers which may be wanting by an Order in
Council. He can be perfectly sure, not merely of
an indemnity, but of applause, for straining his
powers in such an emergency. And an emergency,
our readers must remember, it is ; for it has been
the wont of the cholera thus to retire for a time,
and to reappear with fearful vigour. Aware of
this, it is almost manslaughter for the authorities
of a town, a village, or even of a house, to tole-
rate for a day the well-known causes of cholera.

The account of a brush between some Russian
steamers and gun-boats on the Danube, and the
Turkish Fort of Isactcha, to which we alluded on
Saturday, and in which the first blood was shed
on either side, has been speedily followed by the
intelligence of an armistice or temporary truce
between the belligerents. It is said that this
further delay has been conceded by A ED-UL-
MEDJID, at the earnest desire of Lord STRATFORD
DE LEDCLIFFE, with a view to further negotiations,
which it is confidently anticipated will be attended
with more auspicious results than those which have
already proved abortive, reflecting so much dis-
credit on our diplomatists.
This latter intelligence, which appears to have
received very general credence, came by electric
telegraph from Vienna on the 28th instant. If
well founded, it certainly offers a better prospect
of a pacific solution of the difficulty than any
which has yet occurred. It cannot for a moment
be supposed that the representative of any of the
European Powers, more especially Lord STRA TFORD,
would take upon himself the responsibility of advis-
ing the deeply-aggrieved SULTAN to consent to further
delays, except on the well-grounded expectation
that the time might be turned to good purpose in
laying the foundation of a permanent and honour-
able peace. Were it otherwise, it would afford
additional cause of complaint to our injured ally,
and exhibit the conduct of England during the
entire transaction in (if possible) a more unfavour-
able light than that in which it might have been
regarded. It would, indeed, be deeply criminal
on the part of the English Ambassador's conduct,
for which no excuse could be accepted, or even
offered.

Lord STRATFORD is not the person likely to
commit so grave a mistake, more especially after
the instructions recently received. Before he
could venture on such a step, unless well aware
that the CZAR and his advisers are animated by a
very different spirit from that heretofore exhi-
bited, that arrangements similar to those that
have already been rejected, would now be
willingly entered into ; that the Porte would
give what Russia would freely accept as the
preliminary to the total evacuation of the
Principalities, and the restoration of the status
quo. There is nothing very improbable in the
supposition that the Noble Lord may have
received a significant hint on the part of the CZAR
that his good offices might be successful. We have
already explained thatNieuoras is now thoroughly
convinced of the imprudence of his conduct—of
his folly in having " endeavoured to pluck the
near ere
and his anxiety to
seize any possibleitwas feuxlclyusreipkr" retracting without a
severe wound being inflicted on his
greatly ainorer
relied°Proen.
As was long since
declared,
Ithe efficacy of his bullying, believing that the Turks
would never venture on resistance, unless sustained
and encouraged by the Western Powers, and that
he believed could not have been accorded, from
the absence of a complete cordiality between
France and England, and from the intense dis-
like to war generally felt throughout the British
dominions. He is now, however, sensible of his
error. He perceives that the SULTAN will not
sacrifice his independence, and that lie will be
sustained and encouraged by the Maritime
Powers, which are cordially united in their
genera] views, and ready to co-operate with
each other in honourable competition as to
which shall render the most efficient and
valuable services to their ancient ally, and
most obviously, the weaker side. He also sees
that the people of England are not inoculated
with the " peace at any cost or price" mania, and
that no journal or Minister can influence the
popular feeling on such a point—that he has, in
fact, gone the full length of his tether, and that
he must therefore retrace his footsteps with all
convenient speed if he would avoid the very serious
consequences of his misconduct. Under such cir-
cumstances, then, it is exceedingly probable that
the intimations would be given to warrant Lord
STRATFORD'S further interference, and his urgent
application to the SULTAN for the further post-
ponement of active hostilities
He must;, however, have fully explained his
motives, and the foundation for the hopes he en-
tertained before ABD-UL-MEDJID could have con-
sented to any additional procrastination. The
mistake into' which the parties concerned in the
Conferenee of Vienna fell too greatly complicated
matter's, and reflected too much discredit on

the actors, to render it probable that a simi-
lar error would again be committed. If
the intelligence be authentic, it may be re-
cived as prima facie evidence that the terms
are already agreed upon, or at least that
the remaining differences are so trivial that they
can certainly be removed, and amicable relations
restored between the parties.
Already the effect of this intelligence has been
very decided. Stocks and shares rose rapidly.
There was an improvement of nearly two per
Cent. in Consols, and Railway and Mining
Shares experienced equivalent advances. Should
further corroborative accounts be received
the Bears may be compelled to disgorge
a considerable portion of their ill-gotten
booty, and the capitalists who came forward to
sustain the national credit will receive the well-
merited rewards of their spirit and enterprise.
While, however, we point to the probable results
of a final arrangement, we would once more re-
peat the advice we tendered on Saturday, viz.,
that parties should not suffer themselves to be
either unduly buoyed up or depressed by the
daily rumours which are circulated for the pur-
pose of creating those variations that produce
the great profits of the un conscientious operators.
Let capitalists have full reliance on the resources
and credit of their country, and be equally on
their guard against the tricks of Bulls as well as
of Bears—of the speculators for a rise as well as
of those for a fall.

The recent extraordinary improvement in the
communications with Australia affords the best
commentary on the extraordinary apathy and
carelessness so long prevalent with respect to the
best interests of our important antipodean colonies.
Notwithstanding the dazzling discoveries of gold,
and the great impetus thereby given to emigra-
tion, we still remained stupidly insensible to the
advantages to be derived from our close connec-
tion with a land abounding in gold. It seemed
as if it were not considered worth while to conci-
liate the regard and good-will of those who,
though removed to so great a distance, were still
thoroughly English in all their thoughts and feel-
ings, and who, if fairly and considerately treated,
would be not merely willing, but most anxious, to
cement more closely the bonds by which they are
united to their mother country. With far less
opportunities than they now possess, the Austra-
lians have proved themselves, in proportion to
their numbers, to be by far the. best customers
for our manufactures, and also the most
capable of supplying the raw materials for
our staple productions. It is impossible to calcu-
late the beneficial results of our trade with the
fifth quarter of the world, when it has been judi-
ciously and discreetly developed, and our supplies
are suited to the exigencies and wants of the colo-
nists, not varying from a scarcity to a glut, and
back again to a dearth. These untoward changes,
which have deprived commerce of its legitimate
character, and reduced it to a species of lottery, may
be ascribed to the want of postal facilities—the
means of ascertaining, within reasonable time, the ac-
tual requirements of the country, so that the articles
transmitted to the other hemisphere may be suited
to the wants and wishes of those whose necessities
and tastes must be primarily consulted ; and yet,
when attempting to provide for that great defici-
ency, we only offered a bi-monthly communication
—six in the year—through the stinginess and
parsimony of the Government, who thought
26,000/. per annum sufficient to apply to a service
to which five or six times the amount ought
unhesitatingly to have been devoted. Under
such circumstances, it is by no means sur-
prising that the service thus dealt with
should have proved a total failure—that the
Government stipendiaries, who did not find the
assistance which they received an adequate com-
pensation for the restrictions by which they were
bound, should have retired with loss from the
undertaking. As it is, to private enterprise, un-
assisted by Government aid, but at the same time
happily unfettered by Government interference,
that we are indebted for the vast improvement
that has really taken place, and by which the
average time of transit has been reduced from
four months to little more than two months,
the General Steam Navigation Company will
doubtless most deservedly realise very handsome
profits by the spirit and enterprise displayed in
their arrangements. But the evidence they have
afforded of the feasibility of achieving such re-
markable progress reflects additional disgrace on
those in office, who permitted the important prob-
lem to be solved by a private company, with
private means only at their disposal. It having,
however, been proved, beyond the possi-
bility of doubt, what can be done, no
excuse remains for Ministers, on whom the
duty primarily devolves. It is shown that the
journey to Port Philip and back again can
be performed each way within sixty-four days.
Tho Argo has done it in that time, going by the
Cape of Good Hope and returning by Cape Horn,
and it only remains to be seen in how much less
time the journey may be performed ; whether the
nine weeks may not be reduced to six, or even
five weeks, by adopting the principle submitted
by the Eastern Steam Navigation Company, and
the practicability of which will speedily be tested.
How very easily this amelioration may be effected
will be at once ascertained from a comparison of
the distance travelled, and the average speed at-
tained by the Argo, the most successful of the
vessels engaged in the traffic up to this time.
It appears, then, that the voyage out and home
—including a delay of nearly six weeks in Aus-
tralia—has been made in five months and nineteen
days. The time actually engaged while under
steam or canvas, has been 121 days, and the dis-
tance traversed 27,900 miles, being an average
of about 230 miles per diem, or 9.583 miles per
hour. Now, it is calculated by Mr. BRUNEL, and
his opinion is sustained by Mr. SCOTT RUSSELL
and other competent authorities, that an average
speed of 15 miles an hour may easily be achieved,
and that even 16, 17, or 18 may readily be anti-
cipated. The first-mentioned rate of 15 miles
per hour would accomplish the voyage within less
than forty days, and we might even, by the judi-
cious combination of the screw and paddle-wheel,
and the introduction of a larger class of vessels
built with a greater view to speed, reduce that
time to five weeks, or, possibly, to little more
than a calendar month. It is not, however, by
cheese-paring economy, by a stinginess and parsi-
mony more befitting a small trader than the Go-
vernment of a great nation that such objects can
be achieved. If Ministers hope to do that which
may justly be required at their hands, they should
abandon the penny-wise-and-pound-foolish policy,
and exhibit a liberality proportioned to the im-
portance of the object. They may feel well-assured
that the money thus appropriated will not be mis-
applied, and that the popular representatives, the
guardians of the public purse, will readily approve
of an expenditure so laudable in every respect,
and which promises to return such ample equiva-
lents in one form or other to the National Exche-
quer.

ILLNESS OF THE DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER.—The
Duchess of Gloucester is ill. Forsond some time
latterlyimepasthea
cough has been very troublesome, her
Royal Highness has been indisposed,
baffled the skill of her medical hasT hitherto
baffled attendants.
Duchess is staying at her London residence, Gloucester-
house, Park-lane, and here on Tuesday she
received a
visit from the Queen, who travelled to town from Wind-
sor Castle on that day. Their Royal Highnesses the
Duchess of Kent and the Duke of Cambridge have also
paid a visit to her Royal Highness, and his Majesty,
the King of the Belgians and his Royal Highness Prince'
Albert, have called personally at Gloucester-house
during the week to learn the state of the Royal Duchess.
Her Royal Highness has reached an advanced stage of
life, being 77 last birthday, and the continuance of the
cough with which she is troubled has recently had a weak-
ening effect upon her frame.
HOSPITAL FOR CONSUMPTION, BROMPTON.—Yester-
day a sermon was preached at the Collegiate Church of
St. Katharine, Regent's Park, by the Rev. John Oliver,
MA., on behalf of the Consumption Hospital, at Bromp-
ton. During a very earnest appeal the rev. gentleman
introduced a variety of statistics, showing the beneficial
workings of the charity. The hospital, it appears, is
about to be considerab;y enlarged, by the opening of a
new wing, which has just been erected, to complete the
original design of the building. Space will then be
afforded to 230 in-door patients, instead of the present
number of 90. Active measures are being taken to raise
the necessary funds for completing the undertaking, and
it is hoped that the new wing will be thrown open for j
the reception of patients early in the ensuing spring.

MONEY MARKET

AND
CITY INTELLIGENCE.

CITY. TWO O'CLOCK.

The sales of cotton at Liverpool on Satnrday
were estimated at 5,000 bales. The market was
heavy, without alteration in prices. The sales
comprised 3,550 American, 120 Pernam and Ma-
rauliam at 6id. to 61d., 100 Egyptian at 74d. to
is. and 1,000 Surat at 21d. to 44d. per lb. The
Railway Share Market was firm at advanced prices.
The corn market is steady this morning at about
last Monday's prices.
The ship Royal George, from Geelong, Victoria,
has on board 16,365 ounces of gold.
Accounts from New York state that an improve-
ment had taken place in the Stock Market. The
total value of merchandise, including specie, ex-
ported during the week ending October 15,
amounted to 2,531,889 dollars, te greater part
consisting of breadstuffs and provisions. The large
exportation of flour and wheat to Europe tended
to increase the total shipments, but they would
have been much greater if it had not been for the
firmness with which breadstuff4 were held,
and the advance which had taken place in
prices. At the latest date, however, there
were symptoms of weakness. Cotton was
lower, and freights were firmer. For the week
ending Oct. 15 there were some important changes
to notice in the returns of the City Banks the
discounts decreased to 1,291,725 dollars, and the
circulation 208,744 dollars. The deposits increased
to 1,082,914 dollars, and the specie 1,063,570
dollars.

A very fair explanation of the cause of the recent
heavy decline in certain railroad bonds, is given by
a New York journalist, and the following is a
portion thereof :
" We showed recently that the immense amount of
railway bonds, city bonds, county bonds, borough
bonds, and village bonds, remaining in the hands of
speculators as so much dead weight, was one of the
1 principal causes of the present embarrassment, and
would produce many failures. For more than two
years the manufacture of these bonds has been going on,
and they have &been put off at auction, at private
sale, and bartered in different ways, so as to produce
the needful, at almost any sacrifice. Within the past
twelve months we have had sales at auction of railroad
bonds, averaging at least one million of dollars per
week. The sales have ranged from fifty per cent.
upwards, but even this great sacrifice did not deter
the manufacturers from letting them go. If the
price was not large enough to give the amount
of money required, enough bonds were sold to
make it up. So long as the machine was in
operation it was easy enough to supply as many
as this market would take. After parties here had
become pretty well surfeited, it became necessary to
look abroad for purchasers. Agents were therefore dis-
patched to Europe, loaded down with bonds of every
variety, and a very choice selection was offered upon
the most favourable terms. The greatest latitude was
given these agents in making their negotiations. The
sole object in view was to get rid of them at good
prices ; but get rid of them at any price, rather than re-
turn without. In carrying out these intentions, all
sorts of barter trading was resorted to. Railroad iron,
dry goods, merchandise of every description, were
taken in exchange, at high prices, and sent to this
country for sale and consumption. This was the first
great cause of the increase in the value of importation
and it has reached an extent far beyond our most
extravagant calculations. The excessive importations
produced by these forced purchases abroad, caused a
rapid accumulation in the revenue from customs,
withdrew from the channels of trade an immense
amount of gold and silver, and locked it up in the
government depositories, as so much dead capital."
The railway meetings announced are the follow-
ing :

Company. Date. Place, kc.
Charleroi and Erquelines...Nov. 12, Charleroi.

Great Indian Peninsular.... Oct. 31:0ffice.

London & South-Western...Nov. 15, 61, Waterloo-road.

The amount of railway " calls" due next month
is 1,112,2261., making 10,916,0271. this year.
The English Stock Market has advanced mate-
rially, upon the belief that the draft of a new Note
has been acquiesced in by the Sultan and the Em-
peror Nicholas, and upon the report in other quar-
ters that King Leopold has drawn up propositions.
The Bears have again been the principal buyers.
Consols were 93i 1, and have since been
done at 94!,. They are now 944- to 94g. The
New 31 per Cents. have been quoted
941 to 95k, and the 3 per Cents. 92i to
93-h. Bank Stock has recovered to 112.
East India Stock has been steady at 247, and South
Sea Stock at 113. There have been bargains in
Exchequer Bills at 4s. premium, and in East India
Bonds at 2s. discount.

In Foreign Securities there have been extensive
transactions, and in most cases at advanced quota-
tions by sympathy with the English funds. Spanish
3 per Cents. have been marked 44k, and the
Deferred 21 to 24. Portuguese 4 per Cents.
have been dealt in at 41. Brazilian New Four-
and-a-Half per Cents. are at 95. Equador Stock
has been at 5, and Mexican Bonds have risen to
251. French Four-and-a-Half per Cents. have
been done at 100 50, with the exchange at 25 10.
Russian Four-and-a-Half per Cents. have been
quoted 98, Dutch Four per Cents. 94 to 95, and
Sardinian 93 to 94. Peruvian Active Bonds have
been at 71, and Portuguese Four per Cents. at 41.
The railway share market has been very buoy-
ant, but there has not been a large business doing,
except in the old lines. Lancashire and Yorkshire,
Midland, South-Eastern, and Caledonian are up
1/. to 11. 10s. French shares have been 15s. to 1/.
higher.
The Gold Mine Shares have been more in de-
mand, and there have been fuller quotations paid
in some instances. Brazilian Imperial have risen
1/. to 1/. ss.

The Land Companies' Shares have been buoyant.
Australian Agricultural have risen 1/. to 31., and
Peel River about 10s.

Australasia Bank Shares are 2/. higher.

BRITISH FUNDS THIS DAY.
(From the Oficial List.) . . . . .

Business done.
Bank Stock ..
per Cent. Reduced Annuities
3 per Cent. Consols Annuities 93 i4A 4 31 4.} 4
New 3} per Cent. Annuities 941 5, 43 51
Long Annuities, Expire sth Jan., 1860 5 5-16
Dittc 30 Years, Expire 10th Oct., 1859 5
India Stock
India Bonds, £lOOO ..... ...............
South Sea Stock
Consols for Account
Exchequer Bills, 2d.
£l000
X5OO -
Small 5 1 p

PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAY.
Brazilian Bonds, 5 per t 'eut
Ditto New, 1852, per Cent .
Cuba Bonds, 6 per Cent 99
Danish Bonds, 1825, 3 per Cent

Ditto 5 per Cent
Equador Bonds
Grenada Bonds, Deferred

SPORTING NOTES.

" HAY AND CORN " DOINGS AT NEW-

MARKET.

The Houghton Meeting was brought to a conclusion
on Saturday, and so far as the sport was concerned
made a good end of it. Fifty-eight races were decided
during the week ; the fields were numerically strong
and the principal encounters close and exciting. On
the last day alone the card numbered fourteen events ;
and instead of "too much of a good thing " becoming
tedious and wearing, the published returns of the meet-
ing show that the interest and attraction of the racing
were sustained to the end. The incidents of the sport
were occasionally remarkable. Those connected with
the Cambridgeshire I have already described ; besides,
too, they are now so well and widely known that a fur-
ther reference to them is unnecessary. The extraordi-
nary running of Seahorse, on Friday and Saturday,
has proved beyond dispute, that the reputation
which preceded him to England was well-founded.
Still his performance on Friday, when he " cut down"
his opponents with consummate ease, scarcely prepared
the "ring " for the racing ability which he displayed for
the Houghton Handicap. , For this event he was
weighted at Bst 101 b, no difference being made between
his impost and that of Ephesus, who had the advantage
of two years in his favour, and who was supposed to be,
with few equals and no superiors, one of the fastest
horses on the turf. Seahorse, however, defeated him by
a head. This performance is glaringly incompatible with
Seahorse's " exhibition" for the Cambridgeshire, and his
running on Tuesday was therefore unquestionably a
mistake.

The proceedings connected with the First and Second
Nursery Stakes have excited unmitigated disgust and
indignation. They admit of no extenuation. They are
not even to be palliated by the most urgent " hay and
corn considerations." The manner in which these han-
dicaps were framed was glaringly unjust ; indeed, the
seeming favour which was shown to certain horses
would merit harsher language, but in charity I shall
only impugn the judgment of the handicapper, and not
his impartiality.

For the first Nursery sixty-eight horses were weighted,
but the majority of gentlemen indignantly dashed their
pens through their nominations the moment they saw the
Handicap. Eighteen only accepted, and appearances
certainly justified the suspicion that it was made to
serve certain clerkly party. Although, however, the
way was made as clear as possible for Punch-box, yet
the "good thing" did not come off. The scratching
system, too, was pursued with a daring disregard of
public opinion. Duchess of Lorraine colt, Bridesmaid,
and Brother to Little Swift, were all struck out at the
last moment. The investments on them had been fre-
quent and heavy, and in Striking them out their respec-
tive owners had scarcely the paltry plea to urge of being
forestalled in the market. Little Swift, the stable com-
panion of Punch-box, was even weighed for, and his
number was placed on the telegraph-board ; his with-
drawal, therefore, was a shameful act, and Handi-
cappers ought to keep him in remembrance whenever
he runs. John Osborne, too, was taken off Pillion
to ride Punch-box, without either the consent or
knowledge of his first master, Mr. Saxon. Thus was
Nursery No. 1, managed. Nursery No. 2, merely oc-
casioned a repetition of a similar scene, in which the
same persons were the principal actors. It therefore
presented little novelty, although it was so clumsily con-
trived, that it searcely roused less indignation. Thirty
horses were weighted, six only accepted. Mr. Clark's
two, and six others. Punch-box again ran second, but
it was not the handicapper's fault that he was not first.
Reports have reached me that a certain silly nobleman
has again commenced his crusade against the press. I
believe that be made himself ludicrously conspicuous at
Newmarket, on Friday evening, by the vehemence with
which he preached against the members of the Fourth
Estate. He spoke loudly against the unintelligible fus-
tian and trash of the press, and concluded by expressing
a strong opinion that horse-racing should be confined
exclusively to the aristocracy. There is, however, a pro-
verb about the Kilkenny cats, that has lost none of its sig-
nificance. Should my readers delight in the curiosities of
literature and the works of noble authors, they will find
ample examples of the fustian and trash spoken against in
every page of " Abd-el-Kader" and the " Deluge."
The Worcester Autumn Meeting will commence to-
morrow. At present it obtains little notice, and it is
not likely to be very successful. No betting has yet
taken place an the Worcester Handicap, for which the
most favourably-weighted animals appear to be Little
Fawn, Little Davie, and Massaroni. Little Fawn, how-
ever, has incurred an 81b. penalty, which may mitigate
against her success.
Oct. 31. A FRESH MAN.