The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-18 00:00:00

FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND.

(From the Daily News. )
For a sensible man, the Emperor of the French
does make sad blunders at times. When under the
influence of personal susceptibilities he is apt to say,
or cause to be said for him, things he must after-
wards wish had been left unsaid. The threats which
Count Walewski was instructed to utter against the

Belgian Government for not gagging the Belgian
press, in contravention of Belgialaw, was the first
of these hetises that attracted much notice. The
fulmination of the Moniteur against the English

press was the next. The article on the Neu-
chatel question which appeared in yesterday's
Monitevr is the third, and infinitely the
most absurd of the three. The attempt to intimi-

date Belgium betrayed a 'want of magnanimity ;
the denunciation of the English press was a sheer
waste of words ; but in both instances it might be
urged in extenuation of the blunder that the Em-
peror was wincing under sharp and unceremonious
criticism, more or less merited. But the tirade
against Switzerland is an explosion of self-love
much less easily accounted for than either of the
other two. The Swiss Government has not said or
done anything uncourteous towards the Emperor
of the French ; it has merely, with all courtesy,
declined to see with his eyes, and act in humble
obedience to his dictates, in a matter where its dig-
nity and power of self-preservation are at stake.
And for acting thus the Swiss Government is ac-
cused of "exaggerated susceptibility," and of seek-
ing to " gratify demagogic influences ;" and is
haughtily told that, in so far as France is con-
cerned, Switzerland " must not be astonished if,
in the course of events, she should no longer find.
the goodwill which she might so easily have ob-
tained at the cost of a very slight sacrifice."
Now what is this " very slight sacrifice ?" From
the foundation of the Helvetic League in 1815 till
1848 the constitution of the Canton of Neuchatel
was a most anomalous one. It was a monarchical
member of a Republican Confederation. In 1848 the
citizens of Neuchatel embraced an opportunity to
assimilate their domestic institutions to those of the
confederate states. This, as a sovereign state, mem-
ber of a confederation of states, they had a perfect
right to do. The Central Government of Switzer-
land, consequently, accepted the new constitution
of Neuchatel as a fait accompli. Since 1848 the
citizens of Neuchatel have remained, and they still
remain, perfectly contented with their new form of
government. Some months ago a few individuals,
acting apparently in concert with and at the
instigation of foreigners, att4rnpted to overturn the
republican government of Neuchatel. They im-
puted no oppression or injustice to the government
against which they arose in arms. They were utterly
unsupported by anything that could be called popu-
lar sympathy. They were put down by the local
authorities, in a few hours, with as much ease as a
meal-mob or any other riot might have been. There,
never was a clearer case of unjustifiable insurrec-

tion against constituted authorities. Contemptible
though the emente was, the Supreme Government
of the Helvetic League owed it to its own dignity,
and to the security of all peaceable citizens, to in-
stitute a judicial inquiry into the conduct of the
ringleaders of the insurrection. There is not a Go-
vernment in the world that would not have acted
—that has not at times acted—in the same way.
The Federal Government of America caused Col.
Barr to be tried for high treason. The English Go-
vernment had Frost and the leaders of Young Ire-
land tried for their insurrectionary attempts. In
the continental states of Europe trials for political
offences have been no rarities during the last quar-
ter of a century. In resolving to put the Neuchatel
rioters upon their trial, the Helvetic authorities
only did what it was unquestionably their right
and their duty to do. The unwarrantable attempt
of the foreign Monarch—who was suspected on
strong grounds of having been at least privy to the
designs of the emeutiers—to call in question the
legality of this exercise of the undoubted right of
a sovereign government, rendered it more than
ever necessary for the Helvetic authorities to carry
their resolution into effect. To have abstained
from an exercise of their sovereign right, from
fear of the threats of a foreign power, would
have been such a confession of weakness and
cowardice as could not have failed to invite further
aggressions. What had been at first merely a ques-
tion of expediency became a question of self-pre-
servation and a point of national honour. Tee
" demand" of the French Government, that the
Swiss authorities should forthwith release their
prisoners, was neither more nor less than a demand
that they should renounce their rights as the sove-
reign government of an independent state. Even
on the plea of humanity the " demand" was alto-
gether unwarrantable. It was an insult to the
Central Government of the Helvetic League to as-
sume that it would not temper justice with mercy.
To such a " demand" there was only one reply,
and that the Swiss authorities have most properly
given. They have civilly declined to sacrifice their
own rights and the rights of the Helvetic nation,
and have allowed the judicial investigation to take
its course.
It is to be hoped that the Central Government
of the Helvetic League may be strengthened to
endure with equanimity the loss of the " goodwill"
of the Emperor of the French, with which they
are threatened. Anything more serious they have
not to fear. The King of Prussia is notoriously
more given to speak about swords than to use them.
The "goodwill" of the French Government wills
not be needed on 'the present occasion. And if
Switzerland is so unfortunate as to fall into the had
graces of. the French Government, she may console
herself with the lively sympathy which her digni-
fied conduct will excite among all truly liberal Go-
vernments. In rejecting the insidious counsels of
France, Switzerland is in truth asserting the com-
mon rights of all constitutional states. The " de-
mand" that the Neuchatel prisoners should be set
at liberty was in fact an attempt to obtain an ad-
mission that popular Governments have not an equal
right with despotic Governments to punish rebels.
What would Austria have said to any " demand"
from a foreign Government to liberate Robert
Blum without trial ? What would Napoleon 111.
have said to any " demand" from a foreign G)-
vernment to liberate the emeutiers of Angers ?
And what right has any King or Kaiser, who would
have resented such an interference with his own
exercise of sovereign authority, to call in question
the title of the republican Government of Switzer-
land to indict a just punishment on conspirators,
Who have endeavoured by force of arms to subserve
the ambition of a foreign Prince at the expense of
their country's liberties ?

(From the Times.)
The Neuchatel question forms the subject of a
sdearyirsparzasno;uncement in the Moniteur of yester-
had sought 41'o' as was already known to the world,
intercession of France, which ac-
cordingly asked
release the theßoyal. Swiss Federal Government to
trial. As this was w ist prisoners, for her sake, without
as to be done a.t the solicitation of
France, it
assumed that the honour of the
Federal Government would be saved, and that
committed to
France would be comt
offices for a settlemee—t employ her good
with th,e ideas of switzet the, question in conformity
declined, and the afe.eier,"(l- The offer has been
arnpadttclethoad followtilot:: i Ihe
with a little of that ver7;l,rah..ow informs the world,
Switzerland,she does
htohtatahtdheolnatttheer
with some reason to et testiness which is ascribed
must rot be surprised if
tieuernnoyiegs: ti have
thegen obtainedui
n e
sideof France the good will a
a conclusion ap-
at a yery sligliik sacrifice.
pears to us sAittle in harm°,
the original
kindness which must have prom t
intercession that we hope it is
and that France is not really going r overstated
example of the two disputants,
point of honour into the quarrel. We . throw another
that the days had gone by when Europe wl3
to
convulsed with questions of etiquette, and toe
trifles light as air, of absolutely no substantial
ial
significance, were to be made the occasion of the
most real and momentous disasters. If France,
however, is to discontinue her mediation for'
the peace of her neighbohrs simply because one of-
fer
has been declined, one experiment has not she_
ceeded, one view of things not been adopted, aro
•f the result of that express and formal withdrawal
is encouragement to the stronger and discourage-
ment to the weaker, then we feel that we have
overrated the progress of liberal and ratie-ial
ideas. The boast that we live in the uiue-
teenth century does not in that case mean quite so
much as we thought. It is still possible for a
world to be shaken for a continent to be deluged
with
ulith_nviar blood, for civilisation to be arrested in
d progress, on some question of mere
fornaandanner. Whatever other °barges might
be brought m
against the allies in the late war, it
could never be
quarrel was not pretended that the matter of the
whole world .
and
of the gravest consequence to the
even now, when another Con-
ference is about to
assemble, there can be no
to
doubt, at least, as the importance of our de-
mands. There can be as little doubt as to the
utter unimportance of
the matter in the Neuchatel
question.
We feel that we have a right
heard in this affair, seeing that
on various occasions
to speak and to be
we have shown how readyw,e
are to sacrifice dig-
nity when our own material interest
can be set against the general interest is not such as
the world. IT Prussia, Switzerland,
and peace of
will refer to any American authority
t , andthey France
will be
informed that we have made it a rule to give up
everything in that part of the World, when it was
only a name on our side but a substance
side of the United States. Yes, we
on the
emphatically, we have, during the last 20
years, 1

given up a dozen Neuchatel sovereignties or pro-
tectorates to the Republicans of the New World.
We shun the responsibility of disturbing the peace
of the world for an empty title. May not Prussia
do the same ? May not France counsel her to do
so ? There was a time, indeed, when potentates
thought it the chief duty of their calling, and the
noblest act of their reigns, if they could write their
name and plant their foot in some new territory
where they neither had any material interest nor
the smallest hold on the sympathies and hearty
allegiance of the people. That evident folly was
redeemed, in the opinion of former ages, by the
hope that the single footstep might become at some
future day the nucleus and basis of empire. No
doubt, when Neuchatel was added to the titles of
Prussia there were those who fondly hoped one
day to see all Switzerland gathered to the Electoral
House of Brandenburg. Young and growing
States are apt to indulge in such dreams, and
sometimes suffer much before they c m bed sabu se 1
of them. Neuchatel has long lost this speculative
interest. She belongs only to the past, and.can
have no relation to the future in Prussian eyes.
That State, then, which affects so much prescience,
and which can act with discretion even when other
qualities might have been expected to predomi,
nate, ought to have anticipated the present dis-
agreeable phase of this question by writing
off a barren title from her dignities, and leaving
Switzerland at once to the Swiss. It is never too
late to repair an omission. What would have
been prudent eight years ago is not less so now ;
and, even now, Prussia will not lose honour by
acting on that suggestion.

BUSSIAIV RAIL WAYS.

(From the Times' Correspondent.)
ST. PETERSBURG, Nov. 30.
The Times has rendered a great service to the
capitalists of the West in putting them on their
guard against a certain project put forward for a
general network of railways to be constructed in
Russia by a joint-stock company. Hitherto the
object of companies of this kind has been to pro-
cure for their shareholders a higher rate of interest
than they could get for their money is the public
funds ; but in the undertaking in question the
shareholder can never, not even under the most
favourable hypothesis, hope for dividends which
exceed or even equal the interest that may
be obtained by buying into the Russian
funds the dividends which are payable
in London and Amsterdam. Moreover the con-
tract that has been signed by Messrs. Pereira,
Baring, Hope, and others with the Russian Go-
vernment contains a number of obscurities which,
even in a country with independent courts of jus-
tice, and where, if need be, the Government itself
may be amenable to them, would put the capital of
the shareholders entirely at the mercy of the Go-
vernment with which they contract. The fact that
the shareholders under the most favourable cir-
cumstances would never get any dividend higher
than the per centage guaranteed is sufficiently
proved by the way the line from St. Petersburg to
Moscow pays—a line which is incontestably and
infinitely superior to any other that can be con-
structed in Russia, and which, nevertheless, only
at the time of the latecoronation, returned enough
to pay 1 per cent. on the cost of construction over
and above the expenses of working, while up to
that time it had hardly covered current expenses.
The Times has brought out into admirable relief
several of the stipulations of Messrs. Pereira and
Co.'s contracts, which are of a nature to frighten
any speculators as to the responsibility the com-
pany is taking upon itself, and which may very
probably even reduce the percentage guaranteed,
if it do not entirely sweep it away. There are,
however, a few points more that may still be added.
Who for instance, will indemnify the company if,
as will inevitably happen to the greater part, if not
to all of the lines, not even the expenses of work-
ing are covered by the receipts Who will indem-
nify it for the repairs which from time to time will
become necessary, as, for instance, the renewal of
the sleepers, and also of the rails ? We find in the
contract nothing said about the creation of a re-
serve fund that is to provide for these expenses,
nor of any guarantee of any supplementary per
centage for this purpose.
In order to give those who nevertheless might
feel disposed to throw in their lot with the company
in question an idea of the extent of the obligations
which this company has contracted, not only as
regards the construction of the lines of railway, but
also with respect to the term within which the
lines must be completed, let us take the railway
that ha 3 the greatest extent, and to which the Russian.
Government appears to attach particular impor-
tance, probably because it is intended to serve as a
means of communication with the Trans-Caucasian
provinces, either by communicating with the banks
of the Kouban, or by crossing the Black Sea from
Theodosia (Kaffa) to RedouaKaleh. I mean the
railway from Moscow to Theodosia. The length of
this line is estimated in the programme at 1,356
versts ; the half of this length would traverse go
vernments the average population of which, accord-
ing to the latest data, quoted by Koppen, does not
amount to 800 souls per German league (14k miles
English). Immediately after passing Orel (a quarter
of the whole distance) wood begins to be very
sparce, and two-fifths of the whole length of the
line would pass along the barest steppe of New
Russia, totally devoid of all trees or even shrubs.
Where in this waste and desert would be the timber
necessary for the works, or the fuel necessary for
the locomotives, be found ? Ba.chmont, where
coals are to be had, is 210 versts distant from the
nearest point the railway will pass, and is to be got
at only across the steppe. Water even is very
scarce on the steppe in summer, a circumstance
that may be extremely inconvenient for the work-
ing of the locomotives. Again, in winter, those
fearful snowstorms are met with on the steppe that
at times bury whole caravans, and would certainly
interpose temporarily insurmountable obstacles to
the traffic, while the construction of the railway
itself would be immeasurably impeded by the deep
and broad fissures which are frequently to be met
with on the steppe.
Doubtless, all these obstacles are to be overcome
by dint of perseverance, time, and plenty of money ;
but would the shareholders, bound down by these
contracts to get the railway finished and to gua-
rantee its being opened between Moscow and
Theodosia by a fixed time, be able to estimate in
advance the whole weight of the obligations imposed
upon them ? And if they do not or can not get it
finished within the term fixed for the completion
and the opening, would not the Russian Govern-
ment consider itself authorised to take possession of
the railway, to finish the works, and insure its being
opened at the expense and on account of the share-
holders, and for this purpose lay an embargo on the
percentage it has guaranteed !
For procuring labourers—for setting in motion
the public officials, venal and corrupt as they are
in Russia to the highest degree—for a hundred
different things which is a country like Russia
will create almost insurmountable difficulties to
foreign entrepreneurs, whether for the construction
or for the working of the railways, the Russian
Government is in possession of means which stand
at its disposal alone. Why, then, one is tempted to
ask, does it hold back from taking on itself the
direct charge of constructing its own railways as it
did in the case of the line from St. Petersburg to
Moscow, and as it had begun to do with the line
from St. Petersburg to Warsaw?
It is true that the Government, according to the
letter of the contract now lying before me, is virtu
ally the master of the company, and can dictate to
it as soon as it has once embarked a sufficient
amount of capital for it not to be able to draw back;
but will it also suit the shareholders equally well,
for the purpose of getting 5 per cent., or, rather,
41 per cent. interest for their money, to place them-
selves absolutely at the mercy of the Russian
Government ? Let us suppose that a war of
longer duration than the one which has just come
to a conclusion should plunge this government in a
state of serious financial embarrassment which
::::ueueldrehgmni.::tare, permit of it fulfilling all its pecuniary
engagements, is it to be supposed for a moment
that it would continue to pay the shareholders
thhaesircognutarraarentteed 4i per cent., to the prejudice of
ruin its credeicitpayment of the interest on the loans it
on foreiv Bourses, and by so doing
holders for ever ?Or would it not rather be
met,
who that it would be the share-
holders be first sacrificed ?—a process
tenour of the contract, which,
the incomplete and obscure
might be carried out with
pparent legality, even though the
all the forms of a
Government shouldeelrietfrraain from availing itself of
at
an
which empowers it to
arbitrary price:
that clause of ta,
buy up the railway
It seems to us that if thar
to act in a frank and ()Ilene contractors had wished
have appended to then- prospectus
they ought to
the detailed reports seat in
by
the
an abstract of
the architects they had employed tengineers and
different lines and form estimates of °thseurvey the
of construction ; or, if this latter cere of
one is led to believe from the short space
of
that elapsed between the opening and the clos. time
the negotiations—has been omitted, they ou ti
of
have frankly avowed that they had, as it is egalledt°
purchased "a pig in a poke. In the former case
public discussion might possibly have contributed
to the enlightenment of those speculators who
are
looking out for an advantageous investment of
their capital, and are not simply seeking to
realise
a premium out of the Egyptian darkness which
habitually shrouds all matters at the far end of
Russia.
I must, in conclusion, make one mote remark

for the benefit of those who think Russia a good
place for the safe and advantageous investment of
capital, and who are, therefore, desirous of selecting
it for the investment of their own. By persisting
in not confiding their capital to the Pereira Com-
pany, or any other company having a similar ob
ject in view, they will probably not deter the Rus-
sian Government from constructing its military
lines of railroad ; hut they will only constrain it
in that case to construct them itself, and at its
own cost, and for that purpose to borrow the ne-
cessary funds in the West. It may be confidently
foreseen that when the public debt of Russia has
thus at no very distant time ',been increased by
275,000,000 of silver roubles, the price of the Rus-
sian funds will rapidly fall, so far as to secure to
those who buy in at least from 6 to 7 per cent. per
annum, without their running any of the risks
they would incur in embarking in the company
brought out by Pereira and Co., and that too for
the mere chance of realising at most 5 or 4i per
cent. They need by no means for that Russian
speculators will rush to occupy the ground which
they leave open to them, inasmuch as, according to
the journal of the Russian joint-stock companies,
the entire capital which is embarked in these under-
takings in Cassia by natives does not exceed the
sum of 40 million of silver roubles. This last fact
does not seem to say much in favour of the confi-
dence which the inhabitants themselves of this land
of promise place in the success of this sort of enter-
prise in their own country. In fine, and all things
considered, I think I am not saying anything dero-
gatory to the company represented by Pereira,
Baring, Hope, and Co., when I style it a pilot bal-
loon sent up by the Russian Government for the
purpose of testing the degree of credulity inherent
in the capitalists of the West.

THE ACCIDENT T 0 THE ROYAL MAIL
STEAM-SHIP AMERICA.

(Prom the Liverpool Aliion.)
The Royal Mail steamship America left this port
for Boston, United States, on the Gth inst., with
54 passengers, a large mail, and a full cargo of dry
goods. It was then blowing half a gale, from the
southwest, but she proceeded on her course, steer-
ing south, half-west, and all went well until Tues-

day morning, when, being then 50 miles west of
Cape Clear, Captain Lang was compelled by the
violence of the storm—the wind having risen to a
gale and lashed the sea into a fury—to alter his
course, and to put the head of the ship to the sea.
This was shortly before 10 o'clock, at which period
the third officer, Mr. Cumming, wasstauding on the
Rain saloon deck, about 20 feet from the stern, giving
directions to the four men at the wheel. He says :
At 10 minutes to 10, or thereabouts, a heavy sea rose
about 30 feet hie), and I could see the clear sky
through the water. It knocked the ship's head off
about two points, bat she speedily recovered her-
self, rode over the wave, and made a bit of a wea-
ther roll to windward. In the Atlantic there are
generally three seas which follow each other in
rapid succession. The second sea rose about two
yards from the starboard side, it ran up to its full
height—more than half the height of the funnel,
and the broken water fell with immense force on
board, deluging the ship from end to end. I put
my hands behind me, and held on by a rope which
had been placed there a short time previously, but
I had the greatest difficulty in preventing the sea
washing me overboard, and, as it is, my arms were
much strained in keeping my hold for several
seconds, during which I was completely submerged.
The water cleared off, the ship partly recovered
herself, and I had an opportunity of looking round
to see the extent of the damage. The ship had
settled down by the head, and was quite motionless;
a great part of the bulwarks foreward, 7 or 8 stan-
chions, the fore part of the foreyard of the trysail
mast, the starboard side, and the top of the fore-
saloon had been carried away, the deck-houses, pad-
dlebox, and part of the floats were broken ; four
iron boat-davits were broken, and two boats had
been washed away ; and the brass and iron stan-
chions on the main saloon were broken or bent, and
part lost. She remained with her head buried in the
water until the third sea came and brought her up.
She then shook herself, and appeared to be all right.
At this time I saw the captain on the main deck,
which was filled with water ; he was washed from
the starboard side to the port side by a lurch of
the vessel. As soon as he oould recover himself he
waded, up to his middle in water, to the saloon
deck, and ordered the helm to be put up, for the
purpose of trying to get the ship before the wind,
that apparently being the only means of saving the
vessel.and the lives of the passengers. She would
not pay off until, by direction of the captain, a
foretrysail was hauled up and the engines were
put at full speed. She then went off about two
points, just at the time that a very heavy squall
came along. There was a great body of water still
on the deck, while the cabins were four or five feet
deep, and the engine-room was so flooded that the
fires ran the greatest risk of being extinguished.
To get rid of the water on deck holes were cut, in
order that it might flow freely to the bilge. The
ship remained in the trough of the sea for about
half an hour, the wind and waves acting so heavily
upon her quarter as to prevent her from going
round. Eventually the gale moderated a little,
the ship went off before the sea, and we made
direct for Liverpool. At noon the gale abated,
and we had very beautiful weather in the even-
ing, the wind being still south-west. We arrived
at Liverpool on Thursday morning. The scenes
on board when the ship was struck
were of the most distressing nature. The
ladies in their berths heard the splashing of the
water as it slushedabout the deck and rushed down
' the companions, and the hurrying to and fro of the
men, obeying the orders of the captain, and were
only prevented by the presence of mind of Mrs.
Neilson, the chief stewardess, from rushing franti-
caly on deck. The stewardess behaved most heroi-
callly, soothing the ladies and attending to their
wants, though she was herself frequently thrown
down by the pitching of the vessel. Two of them
contrived to make their way on deck in their night
dresses, wet to the skin, and their dishevelled hair
soaked by the sea, flowing wildly with the gale.
Their fears were augmented to unutterable bewilder-
ment by the male passengers rushing frantically
about, with clasped hands, calling upon the Almighty
for deliverance. The boatswain's mate had a remark-
able escape. He was lying asleep in his berth, in a
small deck-house forward of the starboard paddle-
box, when the sea came, breaking his room about
his head. He awoke to find himself floundering in
the water, with which he was covered. Seeingthro ugh
the water the clear sky above him, he imagined that
he had been washed out of his house on to the spon-
son, and finding a hole just large enough to admit his
body, he prepared to make his way through it,
and partly succeeded, working his way on to the
sponson, instead of from it, when the third sea
came and washed him back again on to the deck.
Mr. Grace, the first officer, also had a narrow escape.
He was clearinr, the forerigging, which had been
carried away, leaving nothing on the weather side
to support the mast, when a light sea swept over
the vessel, and nearly washed him and several sea-
men overboard. After all danger was over, and
when the ship was before the wind, several of the
passengers in their excitement got into one of the
starboard boats, and when told that there was then
nothing to fear they exclaimed, " What shall we
do—what shall wo do ? The Lord save us ; the
Lord save us!" Many of the passengers being sea-
faring men were as cool as the officers and men of
the vessel, all of whom from the captain down to
the cook were as collected as though ou ordinary
duty. The discipline, indeed, was perfect, the crew
rivalling the fortitude and heroism of the soldiers
who kept an unbroken file while the unfortunate
Birkenhead went down. During the height of the
danger the cook continued to peel the potatoes he
was preparing for dinner, while the under stewards
ceased only their various duties to bale oat the
water as it flowed into the saloon. All the officers
expressed much chagrin that the America should
be the first of the Cunard vessels to put back,
though all, in common with the passengers, were
thankful that the captain's seamanship and cool-
ness in the hour of danger had saved their lives.
We should not forget to state that the America,
in returning, spake the Baltic, outward-bound for
New York ; and within 24 hours after her arrival
at Liverpool the steamship Canada was provisioned,
coaled, stored, and manned, and the mails, pas-
sengers, and passengers' luggage transferred from
the former to the latter, which sailed on Friday
morning.

Immediately on the arrival of the Amerta at
this port, those of the crew who had bee,, in
j u red
were sent to the Northern Hospital. Theyrede-
were
as follows Allen, con ;,used leg ; F
rick Lewis, leg much brui
7.,ed ; Matthew Leary,
compoiyad fracture of the. nose ; and John Wilson,
comp'ound fracture of 'both legs.

EFECTWE STAMPING OP LETTERS BY THE POST-
OFFICE. —Lord Campbell yesterday, in the Court of
Queen's Bench, said he thought it right to state pub-
licly that he had received a very satisfactory answer
from his Grace the Duke of Argyll, the Postmaster
General, with respect to the important subject on which
he had addressed him—viz., the imperfect and slovenly
manner in which letters were stamped in the English
post•ofces, from which great inconvenience arose to
individuals, and the due administration of justice met
with serious obstruction. His Grace admitted that the
pres9ut system was defective, and pointed oat the great
difficulty of amending it in consequence of the great
number of letters which had to be stamped in a very
short time. His Grace, however, promised to use his
best exertions to remedy the evil ; and he (Lord Camp-
bell) bad no doubt, from the noble Duke's energy and
intelligence, that a complete remedy would be applied,
and that there would be no reason in future to make
any complaints on this subject.