The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-17 00:00:00

.ILAL--

lity of Swit;,:erlaL'il t.n the same manner as if they belonged
, _ ,

" In the =anti) t 3 e, and with reference to the considera-
tions which I had .the honour to explain to you in the
audience which you were good enough to grant me on the
13th of March, my i nstructions impose on me the duty of
protesting formally, f n the name of the Swiss Confothuution,
against every measure which may have for object to annex
these provinces to Fr ance, till such time as the Powers of
Europe, to which the Imperial Government has itself
dared that it would s übmit this question, shall have de-
cided.—l avail naysel.t.of this occasion, &c.,

"KERN."

The Chinese questiolz was again brought forward
for discussion on a vote; of credit being asked for
carrying on the war. Sir DE LACY EVANS, much
to our surprise, objected. to our resorting to mili-
tary operations in ordtir to bring the faithless
Chinese to a sense of just ice for their treacherous
conduct. The gallant General has become
wonderfully peaceful of late, no doubt from
motives of humanity, feeling that he can-
not join in the fray. Wa regret this; but we
cannot coincide with him. So doubt if the Chinese
had acted in the spirit of their professions and had
ratified the treaty instead of butchering our gallant
men in an ambuscade, there would be no necessity for
the expedition now on foot to vindicate our honour
and avenge the loss of our people. But we are bound
by every sense of duty and self-respect to convince
the Chinese that they have grievously wronged us,
" outer Barbarians" though we be ; mid that we
are resolved to " do or die" in the attempt.
We refer to the speeches of Lord JOHN RUSSELL
and Lord PALMERSTON for the policy proposed to
be carried out—a pacific policy if the Chinese meet
us in a temperate manner, but the reverse if other- ,
wise much to the horror of the hon. member for Bir-

mingham.

A report of the proceedings at the annual meet-
ing of the National Lifeboat Institution appeared
in our impression of yesterday. The general yearly
meeting was held at the London Tavern on Thursday
last, and was attended by a numerous and influential
assembly. We have often directed the public
notice to the merits of this institution, which pos-
sesses a claim on our sympathy and active assist-
Rice second to none. Admirable as are most of our
philanthropic societies, and great as are the benefits
they offer to the sick and needy, there is assuredly
none that makes so powerful an appeal to the sym-
pathy of a maritime nation. We have the melan-
choly certainty of the long number of wrecks and
disasters at sea, to prove to us the necessity of its
establishment ; we have often the mournful con-
viction that, had an efficient lifeboat been at hand,
when catastrophes occurred, many valuable lives
would have been saved; and we have also the most
satisfactory testimony to the efficiency of its
management, and the noble courage of its men in
the numbers they have rescued from imminent
peril. The report which was read at the meeting
by Mr. LEWIS, the able secretary of the institution,
was full of interest. It stated that the total num-
ber of life-boats now in the possession of the society,
including those in course of construction, amounts
to 101. Mr. LEWIS remarked that though this
noble fleet was outnumbered by the navies of Com-
merce and War, it was the largest life-saving fleet
the world had ever seen. The past year, unfortu-
nately, has been particularly productive of wrecks
and disasters on our coasts. During that time, we
learn from the printed chart, the number of vessels
wrecked on the coasts and in the seas of the United
Kingdom was 1,416. Of these 527 were total
wrecks, 58 were sunk by collision, 540 were
stranded and damaged so as to require to discharge
their cargo, and 291 otherwise injured by collision,
making the total number reach the vast aggregate
of 1,416, and the loss of life, as far as can be
ascertained, amount to 1,646. In the case of two
wrecks alone, those of the Royal Charter and Po-
mona, upwards of 800 persons perished in the
darkness of the night, without the possibility of
assistance reaching them. We are glad to find
that JOSEPH ROGERS, the Maltese seaman, of the
unfortunate Royal Charter, has received the gold
medal of the institution, in recognition of his ser-
vices, in swimming through the heavy surf to the
rocky coast of Anglesey, with a line round him,
which was subsequently the means of saving the
greatest part of the scanty number who survived the
awful catastrophe. It is an honour very rarely
bestowed, and, like the other honours of the
society, is never granted except when life has been
risked in the service of others. When we bear
this fact in mind, the list of rewards affords no
slight testimony to the heroism of our seamen.
"During the past year one gold medal, 20 silver
medals, 13 ♦otes of thanks inscribed on vellum,
and £l,lOB 15s. 31 have been granted for saving
the lives of 449 persons on the coasts and outlying
banks of the United Kingdoms Many of these
services have been of the most gallant and noble
character, performed at imminent risk of life." The
following incident is oue of many instances:—
"It should be borne in mind, that the services of a life-
boat are usually only called into requisition when it would
not be safe for any other kind of vessel to approach the
wreck. One illustration may be given on this point :—On
the 30th January last the ship Ann Mitchell, of Glasgow,
was wrecked on Arklow Banks. Several fishing smacks
attempted in vain to approach her. The steamer Ruby,
bound for Bristol, laid-to for five hours with the view of
laudably succouring the crew; but the sea was so very
heavy that neither smacks nor steamer could even come
within hail of the wreck. The Arklow life-boat, belonging
to this institution, made her appearance. She nobly ran
through the heavy breakers, and succeeded in taking off
the whole nine men on the wreck."
Mr• Lewis gave the following brief summary
of the events of the year :
" The lifeboats of the Royal National Lifeboat Institu-
tion had, at various points of our coasts, been actively called
into operation on 61 occasions during the past year. Two
hundred and eighteen lives had been saved from 39 wrecks,
and five vessels had been assisted safely into port. For
these valuable exertions the total sum paid to lifeboats'
crews was £733 18s. 9d. On these occasions, and on those

of quarterly exercise, the lifeboats were manned by about
4,000 persons. Nearly all the services took place in stormy
weather and heavy seas, and often in the dirk hour of the

night."

The operations of the committee were summed
up as follows :
" Since the formation of the institution, it has expended
on lifeboat establishments .£36,948 os. Bd., and has voted

82 gold and 658 silver medals for distinguished services in

saving life, besides pecuniary awards, amounting together
to £12,759 los. 3d. During the past year expenses had been
incurred on either additional now lifeboat stationsor the re-
. . _

placing of old boats, transportins: carriages, and houses, by
new ones, repairs, stores, and alterations of boats, carriages.,
and houses, and for exercising the crews of lifeboats,
amounting altogether to £11,120 18s. 3d. This great and
national work hid, however, only been accomplished by
the society incurring liabilities to the extent of a further
sum of £3,831. The receipts of the institution from all
sources, amounted last year to £11,652 I Is. 6d."
The-report concluded by alluding to the satisfac-
tion which the supporters of this institution must
fuel in finding its operations so widely extended.
Its utility is recognised by all the mAritime powers,
and many Governments have had lifeboats built
under the superintendence of the institution.
Some of these boats have already been instrumen-
tal in saving life on the shores of the Black Sea
andit Aau
Englishmen residing in distant lout-
ieslot,r v alias
r frequently sen
thatd tokens
Engi fshteir
approval, and we cannot suppose
lsslleac told,

their sympathies and assistance. The real merit
nearer home will neglect so forcible an appeal to

of the work rests with—

the gallant men who go,
:xi face of death, to seek and save the stranger or the foe."

If they are so ready, with the risk of life and limb,
in this good cause, surely the public at large need

not be chary of their support. No one who-looks'
at the Wrtck. Chart of the British Isles, published
yearly by this society, but must thrill at the
thought of the stout hearts and
,sturdy frames
that have . gono down in the pitiless Waters,
of the anxious eyes that looked in vain for
their coming, of the desolate households and
widows and orphans whose dear ones perhaps
perished on their own coasts with no hand
stretched out to aid them. Surely, when millions
are readily voted for the destruction of life and
men, taxes readily submitted to, sums of such com-
paratively small amount should be speedily forth-
coming for such a purpose.

We can only echo the regret expressed by Mr.
FORBES, chairman of the Massachusetts Shipwreck
and Humane Society, that on looking at the Wreck
Chart of the British Isles, in some cases hundreds
of miles still intervened between the lifeboat sta-
tions. It only remains for the public to give effi-
cient support to the indefatigable labours of the
committee, and to prove that the Royal Lifeboat
Institution is not only an effort of private benevo-
lence, but the recognition and fulfilment of the duty
owed by a commercial and maritime nation to
sailers and seafarers of every clime.

WRONGS IVIIICII CRY FOR REDRESS.

TO TILE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

- - -
SlR,—Some of the newspapers yesterday, advo-
cating the objects of the bill "for placing the em-
ployment of women and children in bleach works
under the regulations of the Factories Acts," which
I, in conjunction with Lord Ashley, have had the
privilege to introduce into the House of Commons,
inform the readers that " the second reading" was
to take place after Easter. That information is a
mistake, and may mislead some of the promoters of
the measure. I have therefore to request that you
will have the goodness to announce that Wednesday
next, the 21st inst., has long been fixed for the
second reading.—l am, &c.,

JOSEPH CROOK.
House of Commons, March 16.

Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cam-
bridge and the Princess Mary honoured the performance
at the Royal Olympic Theatre with their presence last even-
ing.

The Countess of Caledon arrived at her residence
on Carlton-house-ten-tee a few days since from Osborne.
The Countess of Dunmore and family are shortly
expected in town from Dunmore-park, Stirlingshire. Her
ladyship has taken a nansion on Carlton-house-terrace for
a term of years.
Lord Londesboro3gh has arrived in town from
Grimston, Yorkshire, His lordship will leave town early
next week for the Continent.
Lord and Lady Wensleydale entertained a select
circle at dinner last evening, at their residence in Park -
street. Later in the evening her ladyship had an assembly.
Lord and Lady 0 verstone will leave town in a
few days for Overstone-park, Northamptonshire.
The Baroness de Clifford and the Hon. Mrs. and
Miss Russell will return to town on Tuesday next, from
Kirby-Mallory, Leicestershire.
The record of recent ecclesiastical preferments
contains an announcement which we cannot regard other-
wise than with unbounded satisfaction : it is the appoint..
ment of the Rev. William Wordsworth Talfourd to the
living of Winceby, Lincolnshire. The appointee is the
second son of the departed poet and judge, tho living is in
the gift of the Lord Chancellor.
Mr. Cobden is expected to arrive in Paris, from
Cannes, on Tuesday next, to meet M. Chevalier and the
principal free-traders of France.
M. JULLIEN.—We hear that this eminent musi-
cian, in whose behalf a subscription was being collected, is
no more. He died, we believe yesterday, in a lunatic
asylum in Paris.
Exchange quotations from China have been re-
ceived yesterday, dated Feb. 15. The rate at Hong Kong
was 4s. 91d., showing no alteration, but at Shanghai it had
receded from 6s. 61d. to 6s. 41d., and was therefore between
2 and 3 per cent, more favourable for this country.
Ennis, the steeplechase rider, died on Thursday,
from injuries which he received whilst riding at Coventry
on Wednesday. He has left a wife and three young children
quite unprovided for.
ACCIDENT TO A RACE HORSE.—On returning
from Coventry, and passing through London on Thursday,
Joskin was run into by a cart, and so severely injured that
it is doubtful whether he will be enabled to continue his
racing career.
THE GREAT EASTERN.—This vessel Will noW be
quickly completed and despatched to sea on her first voyage,
the whole of the new capital, in the shape of preference
shares, having been subscribed for by the present proprie-
tors of Great Ship Company.
ROYAL NAVAL SCHOOL, NEW CROSS. Lord
Clarence Paget, the Secretary of the Admiralty, has kindly
placed at the disposal of the council of this school a naval
cadetship for competition amongst the sons and grandsons
of naval and marine officers.
THE WEST RIDING OF- YORKSHIRE.—The Hon.
Edwin Lascelles, the chairman of the West Riding magis-
trates, has called a meeting of that body, to be held at
Wakefield, on the 23d inst., "for the purpose of taking into
consideration whether it is advisable that the whole West
Riding should form one constituency, as proposed by the
intended Reform Bill, or should be divided into two sepa-
rate districts, each returning two members to Parliament."
THE LATE FIRE IN CHEAPSlDE.—Yesterday Mr.
W. Payne, the coroner of London and Southwark, held an
official inquiry in the Court of Common Pleas, Guildhall,
respecting the cause of the late calamitous fire which oc-
curred on the forenoon of the 27th of February last, at 2272
Wood-street, city. Several witnesses were examined, and
the jury returned the fellowing verdict :—" That the fire
was accidentelly caused by an explosion of gas from want of
proper caution being taken by the Great Central Gas Con-
sumers' Company's servants. '
THE LORDS' COMMITTEE ON CHURCH-RATES.—
Yesterday the proceedings of this committee and the
minutes of evidence were printed. The report has already
been published. The witnesses examined this session were
the Rev. W. Champnoys, Mr. C. Erwin (churchwarden of
Rotherhithe), G. Coode, Esq., Sir E. L. Parrott, Bart.,
Toulmin Smith, Esq., and T. B. Bunting, Esq. The
minority in the committee opposed to recommending any
measure—virtually the anti-church rate minority—consisted
of Lord Stanley of Alderley, Lord Monteagle, and Lard
Ly redone
TELEGRAPH BETWEEN ENGLAND AND INDIA.—
The first private telegram between India and England, via
the Red Sea route, was received at Lloyd's to-day, dated
Calcutta, March 10, thus reducing the communication be-
tween the chief Presidency of India and the capital of Eng-
land to a period of six days. When the entire line of tele-
graph wire has been laid the period of communication will
be reduced to two days. The telegram referred to was as
follows :—" Calcutta, March 10.—Ship Red Gauntlet,
bound to London, burnt and scuttled. Some cargo will be
saved."
Loss OF AN AMERICAN SIIIP.—PLYMOUTH,
Friday.—The third mate and 17 of the crow of the Lady
Suffolk were landed here this morning out of the Mecklen-
burg. brig Mares Berout, Captain Muller, from Constanti-
nople, now in the Sound. The Lady Suffolk, Captain
Lavender, 1,500 tons, belonging to Now York, from Liver-
pool, with salt for Calcutta, sprung a leak forward on Mon-
day evening last, which increased to such an extent that on
Tuesday morning she had 18 feet of water in her hold, and
finally sank. The captain, his wife, and crew, 3,5 in all,
took to the boats, in long. 9 40 W., lat. 49 30 N., and after
buffeting about for eight hours were picked up by the Eng-
lish brig Sappho, bound to Gibraltar. Shortly after the
Mecklenburg brig hove in sight, and relieved her of the
number landed at Plymouth,
WRECK ON TILE NORFOLK COAST.—PALLING,,
Friday Night. —About three o'clock this morning the
schooner Eliza, laden with coals, from Shields to London,
missed stays in a heavy squall, and while in the
act of wearing took the ground, there being much sea
on at the time. The new lifeboat belonging to the Royal
National Lifeboat Institution was manned and launched as
soon as possible, and proceeded off to the wreck, and after-
wards brought on shore are ship's crew of seven men The
vessel is full of water, and the sea breaking completely over
her. It is, therefore, expected that she will becbme a total
wreck. Although the hour was so early, it was gratifying
to observe the promptitude with which the lifeboat's crew
turned out of their beds to go off to the rascuo of their
fellow-creatures. The National Institution's lifeboat on
this station, like all its boats, is in first-rate order and
always ready for instantaneous service, as was the case for-
tunately on the occasion in question.
REPRESENTATION OF NORWICII.—The heads of
the Liberal party in Norwich held a private meeting on
Thursday eveninfe, and agreed to support Sir William
Russell and Mr. E. Warner as their candidates at the forth-
comingelection of two members for that city. Col. Adair,
who contested East Suffolkin the Liberal interest at the last
general election in opposition to Lord Henniker and Sir
Fitzroy Kelly, had been solicited to come forward, but ho
declined to accede to the invitation. The Liberals express
their determination in the event of a contest, to abstain
from any corrupt practices, and state that they will prefer
to petition against rather than win an improperly con-
ducted election. It is to be hoped that they will perse•
yore in this virtuous resolve, and there can be no doubt
that many of the most respectable and intelligent members
of the party are heartily disgusted with the doings of former
years. At present there is no temptation for any improper
proceedings, no Conservative candidate having appeared,
although ruinour has mentioned one or two gentlemen as
likely to stand on that aide. Sir William Russell and Mr.
Warner arrived in Norwich yesterday afternoon, and were
to address a meeting of the electors last evening at the Royal
Hotel. A motion will be made in the House of Commons
on Monday evening for the issue of two new writs for Nor-
wich, and in the event of the application being successful,
the election will, of course, take place towards the close of
next week.
GOOD TESTIMCNY TO CHARACTER.—There are
lia.b:inds who can do justice to the qualities of their wives
under any circumstances. A Belgian journal furnishes an
example. A woman was lately accused of poisoning, and
wits On the point of being condenmed, when she entreated
that her husband should be called to speak to character.
dl)Teeolsniitseceoentinhgr, requeste was granted, and the husband testified, with
tuispewrbifefrlavnask,nielisss,sttihllatbetihnegbaelshtep.proof ofa mthe
persuaded"innocen,
he
said, ~that if say wife had the slightest inclination for
wouldwshtehe
jury
ihuat
uv ea begun f
ai tuhgr.
tee,r,f oarnsdhpe
rho adsucd
eed-
d rue most cordially for the last ten years." This evi-
the acquittal of the woman,

ENING, MARCH 17. 1860

LATEST

.--,..--........---.

CALCUTTA AND CHINA MAILS.

E \V S.

The following telegrams have been received a
Mr. Reuter's office :

PARIS, MARCH 17,

The 211oniteur of to-day, in its report of the last
sitting of the Legislative Body, states that the elec
tion of 31. de la Ferriere has been annulled.

TURIN, MARGH 16.
Governor Farini is expected to arrive here on
Sunday next. The city was illuminated last night.

MODENA, MARCH 16.
The result of the voting in the "Emilian pro
vinces has been proclaimed, and is as follows :
Total number of electors inscribed on the lists
526,255. Number who voted, 427,512.
For annexation to Piedmont 426,006
For separate kingdom 756
Cancelled

FLORENCE, MARCH 16,

A decree has been published convoking the elec-
toral assemblies for the 25th March, in order to
proceed to the election of deputies to the Parlia-
ment.

CHAMBERY, MARCH 16.

The Currier des Alpes announces, upon infor-
mation derived from an authentic source, that the
Ist and 2d Regiment of Dragoons, now stationed
at Lyons, have received orders to leave for Cham-
bery.

ZURICH, MARCH 16,

The Federal Council has addressed a note to
Paris and Turin, protesting against the annexation
of Chablais and Faucigny to France, as the treaty
of 1816 prohibited the cession of the neutralised dis-
tricts of Savoy to any other Power than Switser-
land.

PESTH, MARCH 16

, .
Yesterday about 200 students attempted a de-
monstration in the churches and churchyards of
this city. Several students were arrested. On an
attempt being made to rescue them, the police re-
sorted to their weapons, and wounded several per-
SODS.

The population did not in any way take part in
this demonstration.

CONS TANTINOPLE, MARCH 7 (via
MARSEILLES).
The Ministers remain in office, the Grand Vizier
adopting the programme of his predecessors, who
are reconciled with him. He has also undertaken a
reorganisation of the law courts. Sir Henry Bulwer
has assembled the diplomatic corps, and spoke in
defened of the tax on European house rents. The
Ambassador of Russia strongly opposed the project,
and by his arguments convinced some of his col-
leagues.

M. Ralchinsky, the principal agent of Russian
Pauslavism, has proceeded to Bulgaria to organise
an agitation in that province.

A Bulgarian journal, published by Russians, is
about to appear at Constantinople.

The Taletha and Ripon left Malta for Alexan-
dria at six p.m. on the 14th and noon of the 15th
inst., respectively.
The Colombo left Suez for Calcutta on the 9th.
The Nubia arrived at Aden, en multi to Suez, on
the 10th inst.