The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-24 00:00:00

200 MUCH SP URGEON.

What an ephemeral thing fame is, had it never
been known before, might be learned from the
comical case of Damm v. York, tried in the Sheriffs'
Court a few days since. The defendant, a confeo-
tioner, ordered from the plaintiff a supply of fairy
boxes for his bonbons, the lids to be decorated with
portraits of " celebrated living personages,"
those
specified being Mr. Spurgeon, Mr. Sergeant Shee,
Miss Amy Sedgwick, and another celebrity named
Punshon, better known to the eaters of sugar-plums
than he is to us. But when the order was executed
the defendant objected to pay on
fthe ground that
there were too many
fromrg. eo n
thiss .
case Spurgeon
s‘e
that heel) sp pe SaurPrsug eons in each dozen, and
gone down, and ifit,a,
Ser-
geant Shee is come up in his stead. The defen-
dant
would not have been too
dant did not object to, Mr. Sergeant Shee, but tie
put
plaintiff had " Only the
that was too nianY. other day and 12
Spurgeons to the
much, but now he won't go down even with
the help of the sweetmeats. " With devotion's
visage i d pious action," as Polonius says, "we do
sugar o'er the devil himself,' but sanctity and sugar
together fail to Sweeten Spurgeon any longer.
The mouth waters for him no more, and his very
face on a box discomfits the comfit-maker. The
Court held, and we think very properly, that
the plaintiff had done a monstrous thing in
putting five Spurgeons in every dozen. The de-
fendant had, no doubt, "ordered Spurgeon," but
that was no reason wby he should be ruined
with Spurgeons. The case, however, was ad-
journed for the production of the list of portraits
which the manufacturer of the boxes had received
with the order. We must be more attentive in
future to the confectioners' shops. It is plain that
much is to be learned there of the spirit of the age,
and the fluctuations of public opinions and tastes.
A collection orsweetmeat boxes for a series of years
would be as valuable to the historian as a cabinet
of medals, or a portfolio of caricatures. It is plain
that Mr. York had his Protestant portraits and his
Popish ones. When this case is resumed, we hope
to hear something of that " great unknown," Pun.
' shon. "He ordered Punshon." " Who is Pun.
shon ?" " Oh, he was very famous."—Examiner.

THE ARMS'TIi..O.2IrG

Thite has been no warlike invention of modern
days which has excited higher hopes, and certainly
none about which such a mystery of secrecy has
been maintained, as in all relating to the perform-
ances and manufacture of the Armstrong gun. Like
the well-known wild-goose shot, no tale is too mar-
vellous for credence as to the accuracy and range
of this celebrated ordnance, while, on the other
hand, the Eleusinian mysteries of the secrets of
Freemasonry are supposed to be as nothing he
n
compared with the obscurity which shrouds all
pertaining to the construction of the piece rhohem-
selves. Now, on both these points, and without at
all departing from the rule of regarding the inte-
rests of the public in this matter, we hnk we m. ay
venture to afford our readers a little information.
We may premise, first of all, that there is scarcely
any tale current regarding the enormous range and
deadly accuracy of the Arms rong gun which istl nos
more or less true. In fact, the pow er which
artillery possesses is almost beyond belief, and,
if
our artillerymen are but educated up to the proper
use of these most scientific weapons, there is an
achievement in the history of modern warfare which
is not easily to be surpassed. The secrecy which
envelopes all the long and elaborate processes by
which every part of the gun is brought to the highest
degree of manufacturing excellence has, however,
become useless, because totally unnecessary. We
by no means intend to deny that the gun under-
goes some peculior process or processes, the reason
for which is known only to one or two of the chiefs
of the two great factories at Elswick and Woolwich,
,and which is so carefully concealed that it is made
a rule never to mention it even among themselves.
This we may term the common secret, for if anything
is more certainly known than another it is that this
mere verbal concealment must in the natural course
of all such things before long be broken. Fortu-
nate it is, therefore, that there exists beyond this
little mystery another and the best of all known safe-
guards
under which any manufacturing process can
ever be concealed—the secret which can neither be
told nor stolen—the secret of unmatched mechani-
cal and manufacturing skill. The English are the
foremost people in the world for their skill and art
in iron work, and, taken as a whole, the Armstrong
gun is, for lightness, strength, and the minute ma-
thematical accuracy of all its many component
parts, the very finest specimen of wrought iron
work that has ever been put together in this coun-
try. llere is a secret beyond the reach of either
spies or traitors—a secret only within the attain-
ment of nations which shall labour for it as we have
done any time this century. No one ever thought
of concealing the secret of the manufacture of loco-
motives ; on the contrary, we at once set about try-
ing to teach the world how it could best be done.
What is the result ? After 25 years' incessant
schooling and sending our mechanics among the
nations of the earth all people still come to us for
their machinery and engines, all save the Ameri-
cans, and even they rely on our aid for their
greatest engineering triumphs. So confident are
the managers of the Armstrong factories of these
facts that in their opinion the public might safely
be admitted to view the processes of manufacture,
without the least fear that any amount of observa-
tion would ever penetrate the so-called mystery.
-What these numerous processes consist of we shall
now briefly describe to our readers as clearly as we
are able to convey in words the outline of a long
and often obscure manufacture. The Government
are often, and not unjustly, blamed for adherence to
routine, to the negleet of rare and valuable opportu-
nities. On the other hand, then, it is only just that
when, as in the present instance, the War-office has
exerted an extraordinary amount of firmness and
activity in pushing forward the manufacture of these
magnificent pieces of ordnance, it should get the
credit for an amount of progress almost incredible
with such a weapon And in such a space of time.
Not the least obstruction is ever placed in the way
of an occasional visitor to the Armstrong factories
seeing the finished gun. In fact, a man would no
more derive information from an inspection of the
long, slim, intelligent-looking piece than one who
had never seen steam machinery could make a pair
of paddle engines from a mere glance into the
engine-room of the Great Eastern.
It is in the forge shops that the long stages of
manufacture commence—where men labour at works
to which those of the Cyclops were mere jokes, and
in which at first the visitor stands aghast to find
himself involved in such a raging little world of
furnaces and steam hammers—where the glare is
blinding, and the noise, smoke, dust, and clatter
tremendous and unceasing. In one corner is a
little hammer, possessed apparently by ten devils
in steam, and which incessantly beats with a terrific
reverberation upon a small round disc of copper ;
in another is the tube of a gun, through a compli-
cated arrangement of water-pipes passes, to keep it
cool while the red-hot trunnion pieces are fitted and
shrunk on. In one part stands a row of short iron
tubes, about approaching which the visitor must be
careful in the extreme, for dim as they look they
are nearly all red-hot, and the air in their vicinity
scorehef like a blast from an oven. In other places
men work with a battering-ram of iron, striking
violently against the ersd of something sticking out
of a furnace, the blows on which make the glowing
brickwork leap and tremble, and threaten to let
loose the mass of flame that roars within like thun-
der. On every side, in clouds of steam and chok-
ing dust, through the thick gloom of smoke, or
labouring faintly in the white glare from ardent
furnaces, men are seen busy, while every now and
then these furnace doors fly open, and the crane
draws forth a seething mass of metal, hissing and
sparkling like a fire king, lighting up the factory
with its brilliant whiteness, and leaving a train of
glowing particles behind. Careful must the visitor
be to give these dreadful masses a wide berth, as
the workmen, protected by leather and their
faces shielded by crape masks, drag them past
to where the steam hammer thumps the reluc-
tant pile of metal into a rough semblance of its
future form, when, after roaring and sputtering
under a stream of cold water, it is wheeled off to
undergo another of the many stages by which it ad-
vances slowly towards completion. These and a score
of other similar operations, too numerous to more
than glance at, are thechief things which strike the
visitor on first entering an Armstrong factory, and
it is only after a time that he dimly perceives the
object of each work and sees what it means and leads
to. Let us commence at the beginning and suppose
that the manufacture of 25-pounder guns is going
forward. In one corner of the factory is a very long
but narrow furnace, in which are placed, as fast as
they arc wanted, bars of the finest wrought iron,
some two inches square and 40 feet or so in length.
In the manufacture of the 100-pounder Armstrong
gun bars of not less than 90 feet would be required.
In front of this furnace is a roller, the diameter of
which is equal to the rough-made tube of a 25-
pounder when first rolled. Directly one bar is
heated to a low white heat it is wound out through
.an aperture in the door of the furnace slowly and
closely over the roller. When the whole bar is
thus coiled up as close as possible the roller is
turned on end, and the coil (termed a No. 1 coil) at
once knocked off. In this state, and havidg much
the appearance of a flattened corkscrew about three
feet long, itis rolled away to a large furnace, where
in ten minutes it is heated to a bright white heat,
placed on one end in an iron cylindrical case under
a steam hammer, and flattened down and welded
with tremendous blows till only about 2 feet 6 in.
long. Three of these tubes make a complete 25-
pounder gun.
As fast as the short lengths of tube are finished
they arc wheeled away into the turning shop—an
immense place, where, though everyone is busy,
the light and quiet are a relief after the sombre
glare and dreadful uproar of the foundry beyond.
here the short lengths of No. 1 coil arc bored in•
side and turned on the outside to within 1-10th
of an inch of their proper diameters, in order
that the minutest flaw, if any should exist, in
the welding may be discovered. When all is seen
to be perfect they are again returned to the foun-
dry, and two lengths of tube placed, with their ends
touching in a jet of flame from a blast-furnace,
where, when sufficiently heated, they are welded
together by blows from the iron battering-ram we
have already mentioned as worked by men against
the furnace in so strange and rude a manner. Three
No. 1 coils thus joined make the tube of the gun ;
but an immense amount of labour has still to be ac-
e9replished before it takes the field as the most per-
fect.piece of ordnance the world has yet seen. Over
thejenctio of the trunnions the first and second tubes, near where
been rolled,s come,
a second coil or tube, which has
simiiawelded, turned, and finished in a pre-
tube3r while in a manner to the first, is placed on the
over this
again brighte red heat, and so shrunk on.
mas-
sive belt of foregendtinbieriosni,
the third coil, a shorter, Inas-
to which the trunnions are
fixed, and while stoshrinliing on the water-
-I);Pes we have alluded
tube itself to prevent its hela'ati gln ss a
jet through the
this manner
the tube of the gun is finisheclih ut the breech has
:yet to be attached. In the first, en
, nd . and third
but
the rolled
coils we have here mentioned the fibre of)
iron is hid transversely round the gun, l
ii-Teech piece, which has to bear the whole ba
coact; ssion of the explosion, such an arran,emewnatrcdf
,
the' Nbre would yield to the first shot. Lie breech,
the
therefo,-e, is formed of several pieces of wrought
iron, sbffped like coarse wedges or the staves of a
barrel, veil h the fibre of the iron running longitu-
dinally to tf.ie gun, and all of which are welded
and wedge Ll. together in one tubulav mass under
the steam ha .ulnier. This, like the No. 1,2, and 3
coils, is sirnii, irly turned down, rough finished, and
shrunk on to 1 'orm the breech while red-hot. Out-
side this again ere two double coils of wrought
iron, rolled on •c• 11 11
t their fibres at right angles with

_ . ..
that of the breech piece underneath. In this way,'
then, having_ at the breech and . trunnions a triple
coat of rolled metal, the tube is finished, and
looks like a long and very thin cannon from which
the muzzle and breech has been cut off. While in
this state its outside is turned down to its precise
size, and the whole gun given over to the mea-
surers, who, with an exquisitely fine instrument,
termed a micrometer, measure each part with ma-
thematical accuracy. Any portion that deviates
more than the 3,000 th of an inch from its exact
size is condemned, cut out, and replaced. In this
state it for the first time leaves the forging room
and passes to the finishing shop, where turn-
ing lathes, boring and rifling machines, with
many others of eccentric forms and unknown uses,
abound in all directions. Here the gun is first
placed on end in the boring machine—a very beau-
tiful and powerful piece of mechanism, which bores
down vertically into four guns at once. Each gun
is bored twice, and each boring occupies no less
than six hours. The first time the gun is bored
out to within 1-1000th of an inch of its proper
diameter; at the second turning it is finished:
When the boring is ascertained to be perfect to
within half a hair's-breadth the rifling is begun
forthwith. This is, of course, a very simple part
of the operation, the gun or tube being merely laid
horizontally in a turning lathe, and the rifle
grooves cut in it, one after another, in the course of
about five hours. In the Armstrong gun there
are 40 close fine grooves, each of a peculiar angular
shape, about 1-Bth of an inch deep, the pitch or
turn of the rifling being slight—no more than one
complete turn in 10 feet 6 inches. The next pro-
cess is to cut a square hole or " slot," as it is called,
in the upper side of . the breech, corresponding to
where the touchhoie of an ordinary gun would be,
and to turn a deep fine-threaded screw in the open
breech at the end of the gun, or, as we may still
continue to term.it, the tube. At this stage of the
manufacture, if nothing had ever been explained to
the visitor, he would see at a glance the whole
priaciple of the gun, and when shown -what is
termed the " vent piece," would even be able to fit,
load, and fire the piece with ease. The powerful
hollow screw which fits into the breech at the back
is worked backwards with most perfect ease and
rapidity with a common weighted handle. Thus,
when about to be fired the powder and conical shot
are introduced into the breech of the gun through
the hollow screw, and deposited in the chamber.
Behind these the " vent piece" of steel faced with
copper is dropped in from the opening above, and
thus forms the breech of the gun, which a single
turn of the screw wedges up and keeps immovably
in its place behind the charge. When fired the
screw is turned back, the vent piece removed, the
chamber of the gun sponged out through the hol-
low screw, the powder and the conical shot are
again placed with the vent piece behind them, the
screw closed up, and the gun fired in a single
minute. As a matter of course, the touchhole is
through the vent piece down, into the chamber of
the gun, with which it communicates by means of
a common friction tube. The fitting of the vent
piece, in order to prevent all escape of the explosive
force, is a matter on which almost the entire effici-
ency of the gun depends, and therefore it is regu-
lated to a degree of nicety whilab seems almost use-
less, till the reason for such rigid exactness is
known. All of them, therefore, are made alike,
each vent piece for each class of gun being precisely
similar in form, size, and weight. Thus a vent
piece made for one 25 or 40 pounder will fit indis-
criminately all other guns of the same calibre in the
service. The exactness of the copper ring which
faces these vent pieces, and fits into the end of the
rifled barrel, is also a matter of chief moment. It
is the manufacture of this ring which occupies the
little steam haisasner with the incessant uproar we
have mentioned, so that it is always the first object
to attract attention on enterinc, the forge-room. The
gun thus fitted with its breech piece and screw is
complete as a piece of ordnance, and has only to be
sighted for its long range, and stained to that deep
rich tint which makes it look so well, and shows so
beautifully the fibre of the iron winding round and
round the gun up to the slender muzzle. This
staining operation is soon effected by painting over
the metal with a mixture of lime water and acid,
and leaving it in a moderate oven to oxidize. The
slight brown rust is then wiped off and the ,gun
polished to the tint of a new finely-twisted barrel.
The screw handle and vent piece are tinted of the
richest purple steel colour.
The operation of "sighting" for the long range
is a far more delicate and important matter, for we
need scarcely say how much of accurate firing de-
pends on this. The common sight for ordinary short
range is placed in a line from the back of the breech
to above the muzzle. The long range is affixed to
the right hand side of the breech of the gun on the
right trunnion and on the right hand side of the
muzzle—to counteract in some measure by this line
of sighting the tendency which the gun has to throw
its ball to the left of the mark. This deviation to
the left, however, is common to rifled cannon of
every kind which have the pitch of their screw
turning in that direction, and rice rersa. The sight
is a perforated one, and of such extreme delicacy
as to enable the most minute object to be covered
at almost any distance. In fact, nothing which can
be clearly seen is too small to be aimed at, and to
be aimed at by the Armstrong gun is to be hit.
Thus, then, so far have we given our readers an
outline of the main features connected with the
manufacture of this as yet unequalled gun. At the
commencement of the present financial year (not
quite 10 months ago) the Government, or rather, as
we may more properly term it, the War-office un-
dertook that 100 of these pieces of ordnance should
be completed before 1860. Already, owing to the
untiring energy of Sir Benjamin Hawes and others,
this number has been trebled. What may not be
hoped this year from the combined efforts of the
War-office, from the increased experience, resources,
and indefatigable activity displayed by Sir William
Armstrong, by the managers of his Elswick works,
and by Mr. Anderson, the manager of the most
important factory of all at -Woolwich ? But already
have we far exceeded the limits we assigned to
ourselves at the commencement of this article, and
still much more connected with the gun that is of
interest to our readers remains to be told. How
can any judge of the efficiency of a piece of ord-
nance till they are informed of its cost, its weight,
its durability, its range and accuracy as compared
with those of the artillery it is intended to super-
sede? These are matters which cannot be stated,
much less explained, in a few words, and, that they
may be laid before the public in a manner which
will at least enable them to form an opinion for
themselves, we must defer continuing our remarks
to another occasion.—Times.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE—Jan. 23.

GUILDHALL, Mr. Maximilian Gutkind, a
general warehouseman, lately carrying on business
at 39, Noble-street, was brought up for final exa-
mination relative to the charge of unlawfully ob-
taining goods on credit under the false pretence of
carrying on business in the ordinary course of trade
within three months of his bankruptcy, with intent
to cheat and defraud his creditors.

Mr. Metcalfe appeared for the prosecution and
stated, that in consequence of the evidence which
he was about to adduce, in confirmation of that
given on the last occasion, it was his intention to
charge the bankrupt with conspiring with St.
Losky to obtain large quantities of goods, of which
the creditors had been defrauded.

Mr. Sleigh conducted the defence, and in reply to
Mr. Metcalfe's proposition, proposed that the charge
before the Court should be completed before any
fresh case was opened.
The former evidence having been read over,
Mr. Thomas Heifer was called and said—l carry
on business in Sheffield as a cutler. I received an
order from the bankrupt on the 10th August last for
a quantity of razors to the value of £192 12s. The
execution of the order was delayed, and on the 7th
September I received the letter produced =ging
the delivery of the goods, which were accordingly
forwarded on the 10th to the bankrupt's pre-
mises in Noble-street. The cask in which
the goods were packed was marked " G. L., 2.'
On Friday last I went to Sava,e-gardens, and in a
warehouse there belonging to °Messrs. Barber and
Co., of Brewer's-quay, I saw a cask which I recog-
nised as the same in which I sent up the goods
ordered by the bankrupt, but the brand mark had
been altered to " 5.L.7.' I had had previous trans-
actions, and on those occasions he said the goods
were for the German market, and when he ordered
the last goods he said they were for the same quar-
ter as those previously supplied ; and I therefore
understood they were going to Germany. The
terms were for cadi after six months, or bills.
Cross-examined—lle gave me bills for the pre-
vious goods, all of which he paid honourably.
Mr. Joseph Jeaeocks said—l am manager to
Messrs. Cooper and Goodman, gun manufacturers
of Birmingham. I was at the warehouse in Savage-
gardens on Friday last, where I saw seven cases of
guns marked " S. L.," which came from our firm.
They were sent to our agent in London in October
last, and delivered by him to the bankrupt, whose
order I produce. The brand mark on the cases
when they left our warehouse was " M. G. and C 0.,"
and the numbers were 970 to 976 inclusive, but the
marks and numbers have all been altered. These
• goods have not been paid for. We are creditors to
the amount
paidamou fntoorfoinld4esli3vse.4d. The goods were to have
b
Mr. George Stanijo'rcl said—l am agent to
went Messrs.
necrwe rasr eh o and
o.cutlers, of Sheffield. I
,erncase of
on Friday
last and recognised a
of cutlery marked " S.
L.," which was, I believe, supplied by our firm on

the 2d of October last to thebankrupt. The amount
of that lot of goods was £7B 2s. 6d., but we never

receivetl the money.
Cross -examined—We had other transactions with
the liana:rupt, but he paid for all those goods.
Mr. Robert Sievers Cunningham said—l am
agent to INlessrs. Patterson and Co. of Birmingham,
electro-plate manufacturers. I found a box of goods
at the warehouse in Savage-gardens which had been
supplied to the bankrupt on the 22d October
last. I had previously seen the same box of goods
at the bankrupt's premises in Noble-street, the
value of those goods was £B4. He had other goods,
which makes our claim under the bankruptcy £92.
Cross-examined—The only other transaction was
for a few things for his own use, for which he paid.
Mr. Richard Buck said,—l am agent to Messrs.
Cooper and Goodman. I received the seven cases
of guns at the railway station, and then went to the
bankrupt's office. I scarcely looked at the person
I saw there, but I believe it was the bankrupt. He
afterwards called at my office, and told me which
was his pay-day, when if I called I could have a
cheek. I afterwards called with the invoice, and
asked for the money, and the person I saw said
that was not his agreement with Mr. Cooper. I gave
that person the order to get the goods. I do not
know the bankrupt when I see him. We have
never been paid for those goods.
Mr. Robert White said,—l am agent to Mr.
John Pegg, of Leicester, manufacturer of elastic
fabrics. On the 14th, 17th, and 30th of last No-
vember a quantity of goods, amounting to £33,
were sent to the bankrupt's order, and on the
Ist and 13th of September last a further quantity,
making our claim against the bankrupt £203. I
found the whole of the goods delivered on the 15th
of September (within three months of the bank-
ruptcy) at Savage-gardens.
Cross-examined—We had other transactions with
the bankrupt. If the amount were small the terms
were cash ; if otherwise, bills. All the former goods
have been paid for, either by bills taken up or run.
ning. The latter will go into the Bankruptcy
Court as they fall due. During the last two years
he has bought goods of us every month, for which
we have received of him upwards of £l,OOO. He
paid the bills as they became due. I never had to
ask him a second time for the money until this last
transaction. He always paid in a fair, businesslike,
and honourable way, the same as other people.
Mr. Thos. Willis said—l am managing warehouse-
man to Messrs. Turner and Co., of Leicester,
manufacturers of indiarubber webbing. On the
13th of September last, and the 17th of November
following, we sent up to the bankrupt about
930 yards of elastic webbing, and on Friday last
I saw those identical good at the warehouse in
Savage•gardens, in two cases, marked "S. L." I
also saw another case, containing 900 yards, which
we supplied in the previous month of August. The
amount of our debt is £5OO.
Cross-examined—We never received any money
for these goods. We have received some hundreds
of pounds of the bankrupt in respect of goods sup-
plied in other transactions, extending over several
years. I was not aware he was getting similar
goods from other firms in Leicester, or I would not
have supplied him with the last lot of goods. On
all the cases I saw at Savage-gardens there were
private marks known to me, indicating the number
and length of the pieces in each case, and from
which firms they respectively came.
Mr. David Whitehead said—l am traveller and
manager to Messrs. Whitehead and Co., Leicester,
elastic web manufacturers, and went to Savage-
gardens on Friday last, and saw there a case of
goods marked " S. L." which we supplied to the
bankrupt on the 27th September and the 28th
November last, the amount of value being £56 ss.
7d. and £4l Bs. 6d. The amount of our claim against
the bankrupt is £250. We have not been paid one
penny for these goods.
Cross-examined—l do not think we have had
£lOO of his money on other transactions. I will
not swear that we have not had £4OO, because I
really forget what the amount is.
Police-constable 114 said,—l have been on duty
in Basinghall-street during the last 12 months, and
have frequently seen St. Losky, who had a ware-
house on the ground floor at No. 42. During the
three months prior to the Bth Dec, last I often saw
goods taken in there, and on those occasions St.
Losky has close the shutters and left them so for
several days, until he came again to take them
away. He never employed any one to help him
except the carman. I never saw any clerk or por-
ter there. I have seen goods taken in and the shut-
ters put up as early as one o'clock in the day, St.
Losky's name was on the door. I was never inside
his warehouse, but as I have passed I have seen a
few bales on the floor, but nothing like the ordinary
appearance of business.
Mr. Sleigh inquired if the bankrupt was ever
seen there ou those occasions, and upon receiving
an answer in the negative, objected to the evt-
ience.
Mr. Metcalfe said this was not only a charge of
fraud against the bankrupt, but one also of con-
spiracy against him and St. Losky, and as the
goods had been traced to Basinghall-street it was
essential to show in what manner they found their
way to the warehouse in Savage-gardens, in order
to establish the joint dealing between St. Losky
and the bankrupt. In a charge of conspiracy that
which was evidence against one party was evidence
against every one accused.
Mr. Sleigh said the charge against the bankrupt
was for obtaining goods within three months of his
bankruptcy by means of false pretences, and no-
thing could be received as evidence which took
place in the absence of the bankrupt. It might
turn out that the bankrupt had been made the vic-
tim of St. Losky, in which case it would be
monstrous to admit evidence under cover of such a
charge, and so procure his conviction upon testi-
mony that could not otherwise be received against
him.
Alderman Salomons said the policeman's evi-
dence was very vague, and he could not see of
what service it could be to the prosecution, as
there were many respectable warehouses in the
city where goods were delivered, rebranded, and
sent away immediately.
Mr. Metcalfe then put in the bankrupt's examina-
tion before the Commissioner since the case was
last heard in this court, to show the amount of
assets.
Mr. Sleigh objected, and stated his reason for
so doing was, that in a recent case in which he
applied to have the bankrupt examined, the Com-
missioner most emphatically said be would never
be a party to tho examination of a bankrupt while
a criminal charge was hanging over him, and
where the object was to use his own evidence
against him.
Mr. Metcalfe said the examination took place
with the bankrupt's consent, and was confined
solely to a statement with regard to the good debts.
Knowing the charge against him in this court he
most carefully abstained from cross-examining him
upon any matters which might prejudice him with
regard to the criminal charge. The statement he
wished to put in was merely to show that the good
debts were under £5O, with the exception of one of
£B9 from a person to whom the bankrupt said he
owed a much larger sum, and a person named
Merles' in America, whose debt to the estate was
alleged to be £l,BOO ; but the bankrupt was not
sure that it was a good one, although he had heard
it was. His liabilities, he said, were £6,000.
Alderman Salomons said it was his duty to com-
mit the bankrupt for trial, and if he wished to say
anything he might do so, but that whatever he
might say would be used in evidence against him.
The bankrupt said he had nothing to say, but he
would leave his case in the hands of his counsel and
public justice.
After some conversation about bail,
Alderman Salomons said he wished to do his duty
strictly and at the same time with a due regard to
mercy to the bankrupt. He should therefore steer
a middle course, as he considered this case mate-
rially strengthened, by increasing the bail to two
sureties in £5OO, and the recognisance of the defen-
dant (the bankrupt), in double the amount.

BOW-STREET.—A young man. who gave the
name of George Dower, although described in the
warrant as E. C. Stevens, was charged with the
wilful murder of James Humphries, a seaman, on
board the American ship Devonshire, on the Bth of
December last.

The proceedings were taken under the Extradi-
tion Act, and the prisoner was apprehended by
Ticknor, the warrant-officer, on board his vessel,
now lying off Poplar. He appeared about 35 years
of age, under the middle size, and described himself
as second mate of the ship Devonshire.
Mr. Phillips attended as solicitor for the prosecu-
tion, and Mr. Cooper for the defendant.

The signature to the warrant by Sir G. C. Lewis
having been formally proved by Mr. O'Brien, the
second clerk,

Henry Shepherd deposed that he was a native
of New York, at present residing at 12, Prince's-
square, St. George's-in-the-East. Was an able
seaman on board the American packet Devonshire,
which sailed from New York on the Ist of Decem-
ber last, bearing the flag of the United States.
Capt. Thomas Anderson was the first officer, and
the prisoner was second mate. He remembered a
man named James Humphries sailing with him.
lie was not an able-bodied seaman, but acted as an
ordinary man. Saw him first on the 30th of
November, the night before sailing. He was on the
first or second night-watch. Saw the prisoner
strike him the first day the ship left port. He struck
him in the face, and knocked him down with a be-
laying-pin—a wooden instrument about 15 inches
long and about an inch and a half wide, used for
tightening the ropes. Humphries was on watch at

tie time. The assaults were repeated from time to
time until the Bth, when Humphries was lost. He
struck him with his fists, and kicked him violently
after he was down. Humphries did not resist him.
Humphries showed witness his left side. He was
was black and blue from the blows received, and
the bruises extended from the armpit all down his
side. His eyes were blackened, and witness saw
him spitting lumps of blood. He complained in his
hammock of pains in the side. Had often heard him
say to the prisoner, " For God's sake don't murder
me." He appeared in a very weak state.
By Mr. Hall—He was a strong, hearty man
when he joined the ship.
Witness—On the Bth of December Humphries
was with me. We were reefing the main topsail.
I was in the slings of the main topsail yard, and
Humphries was on the lee side of the yard, sitting
on the footrope. It was bet Ween 8 and 6 o'clock at
night. The prisoner was close alongside at the
time. I heard the prisoner say to Humphries,
" You son of a —, lay down on the deck"—
meaning go down, at the same time kicking him in
the face with his boots. Ho was standing up, and
Humphries was sitting down. Humphries got into
the maintop rigging, and descended as far as the
top, but could not get further down in consequence
of the rope stays or steps being crowded by other
seamen in advance of him. The prisoner followed
him down, kicked him again, and forced him on to
the backstays, the ropes at the back of the steps or
ladder, by which a man can descend by his arms,
there being no foot-rest. He told the prisoner he
could not go down faster, owing to the men before
him. While he was hanging on to the backstays
I saw the prisoner strike him in the face, upon
which he slid down the ropes.
By Mr. Hall—The backstays are not the usual
mode of descending. The ladder is:always preferred,
of course.
Witness—While Humphries was going down
hanging to the ropes, I saw the prisoner take the
backstays and shake the ropes till the deceased
• slipped down to the crane line, which caught him
in the crutch, and I then saw him fall back over-

board with his heels up in the air. The prisoner
was shaking the stays all the while. There was a
heavy sea, the wind was blowing hard, and the ship
was lying over very much, so that Humphries fell
clear of the deck into the sea. The pace of the ship
might be about seven or eight miles an hour. I
considered that he fell from the stays in conse-
quence of the prisoner shaking the ropes. I saw no
effort made to save him, although I heard after-
wards that the chief officer threw a lifebuoy over.
The ship was not stopped, and shortly after the
pace was increased by the maintopsail being mast-
headed. When I got down to the deck I heard a
cry that a man was overboard, but the course of
the ship was never altered. We were going N.N.E.
I had a conversation with the prisoner about
Humphries on one occasion afterwards. I said the
poor fellow was gone, and I did not know how soon
it alight come to my turn. He said, " The
was no sailor, and I calculated to drown him any
before getting to London." When the de-
ceased went overboard I should say we were a thou-
sand miles from New York—about off the Banks of
Newfoundland. I never saw the body of Humphries
after he fell. The crane line was about 25 or 30
feet from the deck. The vessel might have been
brought to.

The witness was cross-examined at great length.
the only material points being, —I do not remember
at what part of the ship we were standing when
the conversation with the prisoner took place, or
what was the date. It was during one afternoon
watch. I said what I did because the death of
Humphries was the talk of the ship, and I was in
fear of the prisoner myself the whole voyage. There
was no ill-feeling between us, but he was a man I
dreaded. Humphries was about my height (about
5 feet 6 inches), but stouter and heavier. When he
was struck with the belaying pin the blow took him
in the face, and he went down at once. I saw him
in the next watch, and his face was much swollen.
I could not give any cause for his ill-treatment. I
did not inquire about it—such things would not be
allowed. There were other seamen who witnessed
the death of Humphri( s. Fox was the name of
one. There were Bob and Tom—but I do not know
the other names of the men. It was during the
second or third night-watch that the first assault
took place. I cannot say which for certain, al-
though I may have said it was the second. I was
walking the deck at the time, and it occurred at the
fore part of the deck. The prisoner came up to
Humphries and said something which I did not
hear, and the blow followed directly. I can't say
if Humphries said anything. After being knocked
down he got up and walked away. I never said
anything to the captain about the prisoner hav-
ing shaken the stays. I was as much in fear of
him as I was of the prisoner. I might have
said something about the mysterious disappearance
of Humphries, because it was a mystery to some,
although not to me. I did not say anything
about it till I gave my evidence before the Con-
sul. The prisoner forced. Humphries on to the
backstays by orders whiell he was bound to obey.
The backstay rope is as thick as a man's arm.
did not cry out, "A man overboard," lest the pri-
soner should serve me in the same way. I believe I
could shake the stays myself if the ship was in the
same position as it was in then. The ship got to
London the day before New Year's Day.
Re-examined----When I got ashore I sought out
the relatives of the deceased, and informed them of
what had taken place. I saw his brother the first
night we were in London, and told him that the
second mate was the instigator of his being thrown
overboard ; but I did not then describe the way in
which it was done. I mentioned it on the 2d of
January, when we went to the Consul. The prisoner
had often threatened me.
By Mr. Hall—About 20 minutes or halfam-hour
after the man was overboard the crew were mus-
tered to see who was missing. There was some
doubt as to who the man was. I did not hear any
inquiry made about it before we were mustered.
Daniel Fox, also a citizen of the United States,
and one of the seamen of the Devonshire, gave
similar evidence. He first saw the prisoner and
Humphries together on the night of Nov. 30, when
the prisoner called him out of the galley, knocked
him down, and " booted" (kicked) him. I cannot say
if Humphries had any right to be in the galley. He
said, " I beg your pardon, sir, if I am doing wrong."
I cannot say whether he had any business to be in
the galley. It is not usual for the men to go there,
but he might have been a friend of the cook.
As he lay on the deck the prisoner raised his foot
and stamped with the heel of his boot on Hum-
phries's face. Witness corroborated the testimony
of the previous witness as to the prisoner's general
illusage of the deceased, and gave a similar ac-
count of the assault on the Ist of December and
of the catastrophe of the Bth, adding that when
Humphries was hanging in the back-stay the pri-
soner laid hold of the back•stay with his left hand
and struck the deceased with his right. He then
shook the back-stay, which was slack, as it always
is on the lee side when the wind is abeam. It was
owing to the shaking of the line, the weak state of
the man, and the effect of the blow that he fell into
the sea. The witness continued,-1 heard a cry on
deck, " A man overboard." I did not repeat it.
As far as I could see no effort was made to save him.
The ship was not hove to, but continued her course,
going at a rate of about eight knots an hour. As a
seagoing man all my life, I am of opinion that the
ship might have been hove to. If that had been
done, and if the man could swim, he might have
caught the life-buoy, got aboard, and been saved.
After a while the prisoner said to me, " I thought
you told me it was No. 2 Shoeblack that fell over-
board ?" That was a nickname given to one of the
boys. I said it was "London," which was a nick-
name of Humphries. I had not spoken to the pri-
soner about it before. Some time afterwards I
heard him say, " I have sent No. 5 Shoeblack Ash-
ing, and I'll send some more of them before we get
to London." He used to call Humphries " No, 5
Shoeblack." I never mentioned it to the captain,
for I was afraid of my own life ; I was afraid of the
pair of them—captain and mate. I had seen the
prisoner illuse the others. Men might have been
found to man the lifeboat. I heard several of them
say they would go.
Cross examined—Could not say whether Hum-
phries was an awkward sailor ; had not seen enough
of him. fle could go aloft very well. Had never
been struck or threatened by the prisoner. Heard
several ask who was overboard, but did not answer,
being afraid. About a quarter of an hour after
the occurrence the maintopsail was hoisted, and
when we came down the crew -were mustered
to see who was missing. After mustering, several
said it was " London." I did not say so till the mus-
ter showed who it was. It was before the muster
that the prisoner asked if I had said it was "No. 2
Shoeblack." I don't think the men near us could
hear, as they were hauling up a bunting. The night
we came on shore in London Shepherd and I went
to look for Humphries's relatives, and found his
brother Robert. We told him his brother had been
ill treated and thrown overboard. I told him about
the second mate shaking the backstay, but I did not
hear Shepherd mention it. I told several persons,
but only about the backstay to one. I forget who
that was. When the backstay is slack I could shake
it with a man on, or with 50 men, if they could get
on. The crew consisted of 20 men and four boys. I
was afraid to say at the muster who was missing,
because it might lead to inquiry, and if' I hallooed
they would find out what I knew about it, and one
of them might give me a slight push some day if
they found me in a similar position. I was in fear
of them both.

Re-examined—Shepherd and I talked of it to-
gether, but only when there was no one to hear us.
The first thing Shepherd said to me about it was,

that it was &scandalous thing for the second mats
to ill treat the man so, and then throw him over-
board.

Mr.-Phillips said that though the warrant Was
made out against E. C. Stevens, the prisoner had
never gone by that name.
Mr. Hall could understand how the mistake
arose. No doubt, a person of that name had been
engaged and entered, but failed at the last moment,
and the prisoner was substituted for him without
altering the register.
Mr. Phillips said that was the fact.
Mr. Hall said it did not matter, as the prisoner's
identity was clearly established.
Mr. Cooper had witnesses to produce, and should
apply for a remand to secure their attendance.
Mr, Hall accordiwgly remanded the prisoner.
General Campbell, the United States' Consul for
' London and its dependencies, attended to watch
the proceedings.

THE HON. TV. F. CAMPBELL, ILP.,
AND BIS CONSTITUENTS.

[The following is a more extended report than that which
appeared in our first edition of yesterday.]
A public meeting was held at the Three Cups Hotel, on
Saturday, to hear the Hon. W. F. Campbell on political
affairs.

In the course of his speech, Mr. CAMPBELL referred to
his motion upon Portugal in August last. Although it had
not come forward at such a time or in such a manner as to
rivet their attention, he would not shrink now from ex-
plaining to them briefly in what views it had originated.
Responsible as he was to them for the prudence of every
step he took in the House of Commons, they knew as well
as him that, at the fall of the late Government, the rela-
tions of Great Britain and Portugal had been seriously
compromised. As a maritime constituency they knew,
also, that for many years this country had employed a
squadron on the coast of Africa, at the cost of half a million
pounds a year, for the repression of the slave trade. In 1850,
on an attempt to induce the House of Commons to withdraw
the squadron, they refused, with zeal if not with unanimity,
to do so. In 1858, when an attempt was made to induce
them to control it by instructions, with still greater zeal
and a much larger majority, they declined to control its
operations or to limit its activity. The leading statesmen
wero irrevocably pledged to its continuance, and the nation
could not now recede from that line of policy to which the
squadron was essential. The Portuguese dominion on the
eastern and western coasts of Africa occupied the terri-
tory from which slaVes were unfortunately furnished. Un-

less, therefore, Portugal abetted the exertions of our
squadron by instructing the Governor-General of Angola
on the one side and the Governor •General of Mozambique
upon the other, to do their utmost to support it (and many
means were open to them), it was nothing but a useless
drain upon the finances of the empire—it was nothing but
a mischievous and inexcusable withdrawal to distant and
deadly climes of ships, of seamen, and officers, who, in
other regions of the globe, might be defending our safety
or adding to our influence. To keep up a squadron to
watch the coast of Africa, with Portugal upholding it,
might be good sense, and wisdom, and humanity ; to
keep up a squadron in those waters, with Portugal im-
peding you, was a wanton sacrifice of life, and un-
repaid expenditure of money, and a departure from
all the views which prudence dictated to empires. To
bring the authority of Portugal to bear on the Governor-
General of Angola and the Governor-General of Mozam-
bique, British influence and British exhortation were per-
petually required. And if any state of things occurred to
silence British exhortation and lock up British influence, do
what the squadron might, the slave trade would continue.
The transaction so painfully associated with the vessel
Charles et Georges rendered it impossible for Britain to hold
towards Portugal her wonted language on this subject until
Parliament liad interfered with such a motion as he offered.
Britain would have only courted the reply from any go-
vernment at Lisbon, "we did discountenancethe slave trade,
we did instruct the viceroys as you asked, we did oppose our-
selves to France, who wanted our negroes ; we did execute
our laws. You did not give us even countenance in peril
which you forced us to incur, and we will not again, without
new encouragement and new security, incur it." The mo-
tion was designed to offer that encouragement and furnish
that security on the part of the House of Commons, which
had a right to speak for the community. It appeared to ba
so calculated to the Minister of Portugal; to Mr. Lyons
M'Leod, our well-known consul from Mozambique ; to Mr.
Charles Buxton, who came down to the House of Commons
to support it ; to that distinguished individual whose talents

were now devoted to restore our Indian finance. The Op-
position were prepared to acquiesce in it. The Government
through more than one channel, had engaged to give it their
support; and although the state of the house (there being
scarcely 40 members present) induced him not to speak,
the practical result would have been gained—and this was
all ho aimed at—had not a member of the Cabinet taken a
part which, if he ever became acquainted with this subject,
he would no doubt regret to the latest day of his existence.
Mr. Lyons M'Leod had made a calculation that if our squad-
ron lost the active sympathy of Portugal, to render it
effectual 13 more.ships would bo required, at a new cost of
two hundred and fifty thousand pounds par annum. Such
was the burden which he (Mr. Campbell) h. 1 desired to
avert ; lint which Sir Gcurge Grey decided to impose upon
the public. In the same spirit, and on the same night, he
insisted, with headlong haste, trampling on all the forms
and usages of Parliament, on sending down commissions of
inquiry to Wakefield and Gloucester, which could have no
result except that of adding to the general taxation of the
country. Reflecting over that night, he (Mr. Campbell)
had come to the conclusion that Sir George Grey, wearied
by a long course of Parliamentary attendance, and weighed
down by the burden of a too responsible department, had
come to the House of Commons with a general idea that two
motions were before him, but one ought to be carried
and the other thrown out, and that in the hurry 3f the
moment he supported what he meant to have opposed, and
opposed what ho meant to have supported. On no other
ground could ho (Mr. Campbell) continue to regard him
with that esteem and admiration which he had felt for him
before, and which he knew was generally shared among the
party he belonged to. As regarded organic change, on
which at present so much apathy existed, he would only
state his general opinion as to the line we ought to follow ;
and he did so with the greater ease, because in August last
Mr. Cobden had anticipated what occurred to him about it.
In August last, at Rochdale, Mr. Cobden had lent his great
authority and eloquence to the position that, the best mode
of operating on the Reform Act of 1832 was to renounce am-
bitious schemes, and to touch separately, one by one, the
parts of that great system which required correction and
improvement. In support of his idea Mr. Cobden quoted the
expression of the late Mr. O'Connell to the effect that when
you had a doorway which would scarcely admit a gig and
horse, it was not a prudent thing to lay down as a principle,
that you would never enter it without a dozen waggons all
abreast 'or one another. So, too, he might have added, it
would not be a practical proceeding to refuse to enter a her -
bour which would only float a brig, unless you were allowed
to do so with a fleet :of line-of-battle ships. But setting
metaphor apart, experience was ready to convince all im-
partial minds that the attempt at large and comprehensive
legislation on Reform had been fairly tried and met with
uniform disaster. The well-known Mr. O'Connor tried it
in 1848, but his scheme had no support from any order of
society. Mr. Hume attempted it in 1849, in 1850, and in
1851, but he found nothing to respond to him except aver-
sion in the House of Commons, and indifference in the
people. Lord John Russell attempted it in 1832. In ten
days afterwards the ship, of which he had been the able
pilot, foundered. In 1854, the Earl of Aberdeen, blind to
all these lessons, rushed upon a similar experiment, and
met a similar repulse, although not at once subversive of
his Government. In 1859, the Earl of Derby, untaught by
these impressive antecedents, advanced a comprehensive
scheme, and sacrificed his Government midst the loudest
marks of reprehension. Impenetrable that man must be to
all the past could teach him who, in cold blood, defied the
voice of Mr. Cohden, after its sagacity and truth had been
so curiously verified. Not that Mr. Cobden was the only per-
son of distinction who had anticipated the point for which
he was contending. The Prime Minister himself in 1857,
just before the general election, gave utterance to the same
idea, and declared himself in favour of occasional reform as
preferable to large bills which were not framed to reach the
statute book. For the real truth was, that large ambitious
projects of reform were neverlikely to be carried. Ho would
point out a few of the impediments which met them. To
begin with such schemes involved, or were thought to in-
volve, an instant dissolution. When a dissolution was im-
pending the power of the House of Commons, as a delibera-
tive body, was suspended, because:its members were all en-
gaged in other scenes. And what could bemore unjust or
more irrational than to suspend its power and take away its
function at the very moment that you asked it to decide
upon a question which involved the fell or preservation of
the empire? It was natural fo; Parliament to feel shocked
at the position they were thrown into, and to discountenance
the measure which they were not enabled, in point of fact,
to weigh. Beyond this, when a Government propounded a
fancied
for and comprehensive measure of Reform, no one
for a moment that it expressed the views or had theappro-
bation of its authors. Aud Parliaments were notdisposed
to swallow measures which they felt certain were
regarded
with digtrust,lf not with scorn by the very cabinets who
offered them. .But further still, an Opposition
they would
knew that
by defeating a large and comprehensive measure
overthrow the Government. Their whole art and ingenuity
and power were therefore naturally strained to ascertain its
faults and to exaggerate their consequences. The only
change which we had yet succeeded in engrafting on the
act of 1832 was an extension of the Irish franchise in 1850,
introduced as a separate reform, debated without faction,
and carried that year through both Houses of Parliament.
Experience was therefore clear before our eyes as to how
success might be obtained and how failure might be courted.
If no other circumstance disqualified the Government to
alter the Reform. Act by ona large and final blow, their re-
luctance to adopt the ballot would appear to do so. If the
ballot were denied, in anymeasure which affected to dispose
of the whole question, the body of the electors who desired
it would be in a worse condition then they were at present.
But although he was in favour of occasional reform, it did
not follow upon that account that he was less ready than
the patrons of ambitious schemes to gyre effect to the
mature opinion of the people. Universal suffrage might

be carried by occasional reform. Annual parliaments
might be carried by occasional reform. Re-distribution of
the seats might be accomplished by that method. The
difference between the two was, that crude and comprehen-
sive schemes disturbed the public mind without altering the
law, whereas occasional reform had led to practical results,
and left the island in tranquillity. And that tranquillity,
however valuable in itself, was yet more to be valued as a
defence against the hostile Powers (if any such there were)
whose opportunity would be in our struggles and divisions ?
And here ho would remark that the volunteer movement
ought not to be suspended or discouraged because France
and England were engaged in a common enterprise, or
bound by new commercial treaties, or firm in the ideas of
mutual respect for one another. It had first been kindled
by the Laureate; it had been fanned by the exertions of
the Press ; and, last of all, Lord Elcho and other men of
public spirit, by foundling the Volunteer Association, had
endeavoured to perpetuate it. The Secretary at War had
lent his high authority and sanction to it. But neither the
Laureate, the Press, Lord Elcho, nor Mr. Sidney Herbert
had ever roused the country on the ground that an alliance
with France no longer to be cultivated. For his part, he
thought a French alliance was essential to the country and de-
sirable for Europe. If you looked towards the North and
East you saw a Power whose territory was unlimited, whose
Government was central and despotic, whose policy it was
to absorb weaker States into itself, and who swayed towards
that line by the irresistible desire of Northern populations
for those more sunny climes into which aggressive arms
could alone introduce them. Russia was that Power. Could
Great Britain unaided and alone suffice for the exertion of
restraining her? Would Prussia aid her in so doing?
Would Austria ? Would Sweden ? The melancholy years
of 1854 and 1855, melancholy from the blood they had ex-
pended, from the crime they had avenged, the weaknesses
they had laid open, the animosities they had left behind,
might answer that inquiry. United, :France and Britain
were able to contend with Russia. Without Britain, ships
would have been wanting ; without France, armies would
have failed. But even these great Powers were not able to
obtain a result such as their boundless sacrifices, their heart •
rending endurance, and noble feats entitled them to look for.
Let disunion grow up between France and England, Constan-
tinople would be Russian, and Europe no longer safe.
If you turn your eyes towards the West you see a young
and vigorous Republic uniting the extremes of servitude
and freedom, and of which, in spite of many virtues,
annexation is the ruling passion and the constant end. The
Continent of America can never fall under one dominion
so long as two naval Powers like France and England are
united. But it requires the union of two naval l'owers—
and Europe has only two—to form an adeciaate security
against that consummation. The Emperor of Brazil himself
might tremble on his throne, if he despaired of any steady
understanding between France and Great Britain. The
alliance of the two was necessary to the world ; but how
can you preserve it ? Equality of forces and mutual re-
spect was the foundation of so doing. In former years, to
balance the immense preponderance of France by land,
Great Britain exceeded her in line-of-battle-ships, in
frigates, and in gun-boats. If France became our equal
upon the land. How could you effect it? Would you in-
crease the army to 300,000 men? The spirit of the coun-
try, the necessities and obligations of the country would re-
sist you. Your only course was to depend, in some degree,
on volunteers. Such seemed to him the vindication of the
movement, and the closer France and Britain were united
the more essential to our honour was it to become a nation
of armed men. But it was said that the Emperor of the
French deserved our confidence, and that so long as he re-
mained upon the throne no danger would impend upon us
from that quarter. It was far from his intention to dispa-
rage that extraordinary person, or cast suspici.an on his
policy. Many calculations of ambition mieat strengthen,
many lint ulses of sentiment in prohibliing on his part a
rupture with Great Britain. He knew that the world could
furnish him with no equivalent ally. It could not be Rus
sia, for Russia was engaged always more or less in a policy
which France had renounced herself, and could never ac-
quiesce in from another country. It could not be America,
for the maxims of the United States prevented upon their
part the exercise of influence in Europe. It could not be
Prussia, for Prussia had not any navy by which France
could be supported. It could not be Austria, because the
views of Franco and Austria in Italy had always been irre-
concilable. Great Britain was the only Power, engaged in
no line of action, committed to no purpose which involved
disunion with France, and having the resources and advan-
tages for which France would naturally look in an ally. If
a rupture ever happened between Great Britain and the
Emperor, it would most likely be at some moment when
the weakness of this country in its national defences had
raised across the Channel a spirit of aggression which even
this great man was insufficient to subdue. But was his
life secured to us for ever ? Was it not possible that
a long career of agitation, of adversity, of struggle, and of
exile had imparted to his frame the cause of premature de•
cline ? Had not he been threatened ? Among the emis-
saries of the Pope as among the weak disciples of Mazzini,
might you not conceive the fatal hand which had not yet
occurred to him. And if something happened to the Em-
peror, what situation would arise ? The friends of that
dynasty which fell in 1830, the friends of that dynasty which
fell in 1848, the friends of tho Republic which ceased in
1851, as far as we could judge, would all spring into a mad
and internecine struggle for ascendancy; and what weapon
would occur to them ? How would they be likely to outvie
each other in the race for short-lived popularity ? Would
not hostility to Britain be the watchword by which each
would hope to awaken in its favour those dormant passions
which the present Emperor controlled ? Until, therefore,
the Emperor is proved to be not only a firm ally, but an
immortal one, all foresight calls on you to arm while his
life alone secures the order of his country. But granting
war to to in all contingencies improbable, there is another
ground on which a force of volunteers may be defended.
The power of a Foreign Secretary to uphold public law, to
vindicate the rights of British subjects, to negotiate success-
fully, to form satisfactory alliances, to prevent dangerous
combinations, depends not only upon skill, on judgment,
and diplomacy ; but on the fleets and armies which are
ready to give a point to his despatches and lend a substance
to his words. Suppose a country wholly undefended ; would
all the concentrated talent of Lord Bolingbroke and le r.
Canning enable it to form the treaties which it aimed at ?
Suppose it perfectly invulnerable on its coasts, and undis-
puted mistress of the sea, the most incapable of ministers,
with an electric telegraph to help him, would not be able to
sink it beneath a certain point of insignificance in the dis-
cussions of the world. In 1823, when France invaded
Spain, Mr. Canning protested ineffectually ; but a hundred
thousand volunteers were not arrayed behind his language.
It was necessary in 1826 to despatch 10,000 men to Portugal.
Had volunteers existed at that moment tho emergency
might never have arisen. So, too, the Russian war might
yet have been a dream had not the Czar been able to look
down with scorn on the defences of the country. Diplomacy
was no doubt the general result of arms. But arms were
also the vital power and indispensable condition of diplo-
may. The past autumn has been fall of illustrations upon
this point ; and if they wanted our foreign policy to proceed
with dignity and firmness, on thai ground alone theyre-
re-
quired the Channel fleet, a reserve of gunboats, which a
dis-
tinguished naval man had recommended, a hundred
thou-
sand regulars, which was not much beyond our ordinary a
limit, a hundred thousand militiamen, which the Duke
Wellington had called for, and a hundred thousand
vo-
lunteers, which was not too geeat a strain upon thebecause
gene-
ral enthusiasm. He had made these observationssome
he was informed that in the town theirar
existed
they
had as regards joining
thech backwardnessttllerYy
had lately resolved to have.
proceeded from
did a
obreedliietfrotthhaetir
jwuldfargmsUewnet. distant
uistta hen had for
the f
r
the present, it
movement. Having urged this p
shown the probability of war was not
ve
ron eason of
local
ftehael
grounds, Mr. Campbell said
thwahtehwe
ahsoupneddetro stheeeeavgee of every man
enrol himself in the artillery.
themselves,
the
fate e f
The young might feel a glow of pride and satisfaction in
butthe t e
consciousnessdefeud te
peufblliivc
tugueteulytu to
influence support
fortunes,
sure for old age ; in all the hours they had given
Europe and the movements of the world. They would lay
utoptahe servicetrea they would find a vent for the exuberance and
power which belonged to their time of life, and which,
unless it had a useful channel, would only tend to the con-
fusion of their fortunes and pursuits. As regards mon
who had outlived their youth, what was more essential
to them than some new form of toil and excitement to
arrest the gloom and the satiety which often hung on their
existence, to keep up the activity they were much too
prono to lose, to dissipate the cares which not unfre-
quently assailed him, and to animate them by the feel-
ing that the remnant of their lives would not be useless
to society ?He had no desire to appeal to-night to
party feelings ; but he could not hear without concern
that the recruits had not come as yet to any great extent
from his political supporters. It was true, indeed, that
legislation was in some degree exhausted, the circle of
t
t
bahtFa
hnybaredudeywsmet
leoteeei
mlwmnonae
middlesgT releasedteored
nti
orcmil
ccatetsh:esfuadrhnt,fo
however,
theow:lme
settvheohtbet
of men
edt
theymet l
coercion
esenr
dictationee' onibfomya mßgwhaeohofdtffooe Reform mtht
ihael
up:
oar wereloeriTrgmlgi
haaearrmmwnco
oligarchy,
Parliament
ftr,
the people, by whom corn had been taken from the
fetters which confined it to its native soil by whom the
ships of every land had been encouraged to, pursue an un-
impeded path over the ocean. In a short time—it might
be months, it might be weeks—they must be readyto see
their opponents face to face upon the hustings.ln the
House of Commons parties were now balanced, Europe,
Asia, and America combined to furnish opposition with
the weapons of plausible, although not of just attack. On
the question of Reform no Government was safe unless the
prudent counsel he had quoted from Mr. Cobden influenced their plans. The occasion might therefore be near,.
which, looking to the past, did not seem to them a distant.
one. When that day arrives, let it not be said by your op
ponents that while you were zealous to improve the laws. and institution's of the country, you gave them a monopoly
in the sense, the hardihood, and virtue of being forward toy
defend it.
The hon. gentleman, who wss frequently and loudly
oheered throughout, then sat down amidst great applause.
A resolution, expressive of confidence in the hon. gentle-
man, and approval of his course in Parliament, was pro-
posed, seconded, and carried unanimously.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

COLCHESTER-JAN. 21.

A fair supply of wheat ; the best samples were taken off
at about last week's rates; damp samples were unsaleable.
Malting barleys are higher in price, and grinding samples
were easy to sell at lower prices. Beans and peas in rather
soft condition, and rather cheaper.
Wheat, white 44s to 50s I Beans, Mazagan..32s to 36 ;
red 38s to 46s I Middle & small 33s to 425
Barley 36s to 46s I White peas 3Bs to 401
Oats 2os to 24s J Grey.. 32s to 36s

CHELMSFORD—JAN. 20.
The quantity of wheat shown to-day was fair for the
time of year, but very much of it in bad condition, with
a fair attendance. A very flat business, and the last week' a
prices declined is for inferior qualities. Spring corn, ex-
cept barley, looking down. Barley maintained late quota-
tions.
Wheat, white 40s to 50s
red 338 to 43s
Barley 30s to 37s
Chevalier 32s to 42s
Grinding 21s to 26s
Malt 608 to 66s
Chevalier 63s to 688
Oats 22s to 32s

Peas, Partridge 37s to 38e
White 37s to 393
Boiling 37s to 405
Dun 32s to 354
Beans, Tick 3Bs to 404
Harlow Ticks 40s to 43s
Mazagan .. 355 to 379

OXFORD-JAN. 21.

A fair quantity of wheat at market to-day, for which
the trade was very slow for fine samples ; and other grain
inactive. White ruled at 44s to 51s, red 40s to 47s per qr.
Barley, 256 to 40s ; oats, 18s to 30s ; 38s to 48s ;
hog peas, 38s to 425 ; boilers, 40s to 45s per qr, Flour,
326 to 33s per sack. Hay, from £3 56 to £4 5s per ton.