The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-10 00:00:00

DURHAM.

RE-ELECTION Or THE SOLICITOR-
GENERAL.

DURHAM, MONDAY.

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in the new Town-hall this afternoon at 11 o'cloek ,
the Mayor, Mr. Monk, presiding. The Solicitor-
General was accompanied from his committee-rooms
by a number of his supporters. The attendance of
electors in the hall was considerable.
The usual preliminaries having been gone through,
The MAYOR called upon any elector who had a
candidate to propose to do so.
Mr. Alderman ROBSON nominated the Solicitor-
General. He said that the circumstances attending
his election must be pleasing to the electors, and he
was led to suppose that the elevation of Mr. Ather-
ton to the office of Solicitor-General was not only
gratifying to that gentleman's supporters, but Betio-

factory to the party who hitherto had consistently
opposed him. He said that the ancient city of
Durham had rekson to be proud of the men it sent
to Parliament, and he most heartily proposed the
re-election of the Solicitor-General.
Mr. Alderman STOREY seconded the nomination.
There being no other candidate, the Solicitor-
General, amid loud and continued cheers, was de-
clared duly elected.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL rose, amid loud cheers,
to return thanks for the honour done him. He
said that they had elected him a fourth time
to Parliament, and this election was deeply gra-
tifying to him, as by it they put their seal of appro-
bation upon the propriety of his accepting the
office of responsibility to which he had been ap-
pointed by the Crown. He accepted the office in the
full confidence that he should not forfeit the approba-
tion of the freemen and electors of Durham, and he
had not been disappointed. He glanced at the lead-
ing features ofour domestic policy. With regard to
a Reform Bill he echoed a remark made by the Mayor
that he hoped before long the commonalty of the
country would be admitted within the pale of the
Constitution. He did not pretend to be more ac-
quainted with the ,Cabinet secrets with regard to a
Reform Bill than any other person, but he did ex-
pect that when the measure was brought forward
by the Government it would be of a straightfor-
ward and practical character. He said so in con-
tradistinction to the measure produced by the late
Derby Government. He reiterated his opinion,
often expressed in that hall, in favour of the ballot.
He was not sanguine of a speedy settlement of the
vexed question of Church-rates, but he said that it
was a thousand pities that the question could not be
settled amicably. He alluded to the volunteer
movement, and expressed his confidence that the
men of Durham, now they had entered on the
movement, would continue in the right spirit. He
said the horizon of foreign politics was far from
clear, and he was sure that there was not one per-
son in the hall who would not support Lord John
Russell in his determination that this country,
should be no party to the restoration of the de-
throned princes in Italy. (Cheers.)
Mr. RULE, a member of the Foreign Affairs Com-
mittee, having brought the question before the
right hon. member,
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said that he had no
difficulty in stating that the Chinese were guilty of
treachery in the late Peiho affair;
On the motion of the SOLICITOR-GENERAL,
seconded by Mr. Alderman ROBSON, a cordial vote
of thanks to the Mayor was carried with cheers,
and the proceedings, which were very brief, con-
cluded.

AL►MISSION TO THE NAVAL SERVICE

The following correspondence has been published :
Liverpool, Oct. 21,1859.
My Lord Duke,—ln conformity with your
Grace's request, made to the deputation from the
Committee of the School-frigate Conway, when they
had the honour of waiting upon you to solicit
the favour of two cadetships annually in her
Majesty's navy, as prizes for such boys from the
Conway who may be found to have made the great-
est progress, and in every way qualified for so dis-
tinguished a reward, I have to state, at your Grace's
request, the grounds upon which the application is
based.

The Conway is the only institution in the king-
dom estab!ished with the sole view of giving afloat
to boys of respectable parentage desirous of adopt-
ing the sea as their profession such an education as
will particularly qualify them for and tend to ele-
vate the mercantile marine of this country, and
make them " officers" and gentlemen.
Since the opening of the school on the Ist of
August last 57 boys have been admitted, some of

them sons of deceased masters in the merchant
service, whose education is being entirely paid•
for by philanthropically-disposed ship-owners of
this port, while the remainder, including sons of
officers in her Alajest's service, are at present re-
ceived on payment of only about one-half the cost
of their education and maintenance on board. It is

intended to admit 150 boys in all,or as many as the
ship can accommodate.
That the prospect of obtaining so honourable a
reward for nautical and other attainments as a
cadetship in her Majesty's navy would alone induce
many to adopt the profession, and prove such a
stimulus to the boys as to encourage the hope of
the Conway being serviceable to the State and an
honour to the country.
That it is desirable to encourage and foster in
every way among the youth of this country that
inborn love for the sea which has made England
the greatest maritime Power in the world.
That, looking to the important position occupied
by the port of Liverpool, it would be most desirable
to enlist the sympathy and co-operation of the mer-
cantile marine, more particularly as it is in con-
templation to, in a manner, connect the two ser-
vices by the " reserve system," as recommended by
the Commissioners in their report on the best means
of " Manning the Navy."
That as her Majesty's navy, under the proposed
" reserve system," must look to the shipowners of
the United Kingdom to employ the " reserve men,"
the granting of the request now respectfully made
would be so gratifying to upwards of 800 shipmas•
ters of this port who form the Mercantile Marine
Service Association as to render certain their hearty
co-operation in carrying out the propositions of
Government.

That the Committee of Conway, in making the
respectful request from your Grace of two cadet-
ships anivally, do so on the understanding that the
boys are to pass such an examination as your Grace
may see propel' to direct, and would beg to refer to
the fact of other branches of her Majesty's service
having been thrown open to competitive examina-
tion with manifest advantage.
Believing that a compliance with the request now
made would insure the success of our institution, I
anxiously wait your reply.
I have the honour to be, my Lord Duke,
Your Lordship's obedient humble servant,
JAMES BEAZLEY, Chairman.
To his Grace the Duke of Somerset, First Lord
of the Admiralty.

Admiralty, S.W., Oct. 26, 1859.
Sir,—l have had the honour of receiving your
letter of the 21st inst.

Having had the advantage of hearing a deputa-
tion from the Committee of the School-frigate Con-
way, and having fully considered their views in
favour of naval cadetships being given annually as
prizes to boys educated in that institution, as well
as the subject recapitulated in your letter, it ap-
pears to me that the application is at variance with
the principles which should be adopted in admis-
sions to the public service.

An advantage is proposed to be given to one
naval school over all other schools in the country,
and this exclusive advantage is said to be justified
because "other branches of her Majesty's service
have been thrown open to competitive examination
with manifest advantage." Following this analogy,
the proper course, as it seems, will be that some
cadetships should be given every year, to be com-
peted for by boys from this and some other schools,
nor, indeed, can any good reason be given why
schools should have an advantage over an officer's
son educated at home.

A system of competition for some cadetships is
now under consideration, and should it be adopted
I should be willing to name one or two boys an-
nually from the Conway, if that school is satisfac-
torily conducted, to compete with other boys for
one of them.

I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedt. servant,
James Beazley, Esq. SOMERSET.

Committee of Management, School-frigate Conway
•

4, Chapel-street, Liverpool, Nov:2, 1859.
My Lord Duke,—l have the honour to acknow-
ledge the receipt of your Grace's letter of the 26th
of October, which I have laid before the Committee
for the Management of the School-frigate Conway.
The Committee regrets that its 'application in
favour of some cadetships being annually given as
prizes among the boys educated in the Conway
appears to your Grace to be at variance with `the
principles which should be adopted in admissions
to the public service.
The Committee, however, feels obliged that your
Grace should be willing to " name one or two boys
annually from the Conway, if that school is satis-
factorily conducted, to compete with other boys
for one of some cadetships"—a system of competi-
tion for which you mention to be now under con-
sideration. It trusts that, in considering the
system of competition for the cadetships alluded to,
and in further consideration of the application of
the Committee, the distinct features of the Conway,
the claims of the mercantile navy upon the State,
and, the national benefit of recognising and encou-
raging that service may not be lost sight of.
The Committee does not desire any exclusive ad-
vantage to be given to the pupils of the Conway,
and it would gladly see the favour which it asks
extended to any similar institution. It is, however,
the only institution of the kind in the kingdom,
and has the distinction, as compared with other
schools, of being established by the officers of the
mercantile navy connected with the cort of Liver-
pool, to afford their own children and other re-
intendedboys
instruction and training on for the sea at once
thoroughspectb tle
practical
bo hrdship,a
cannotsoundndafail andito remember
liberal
that
education.
Your Grace when
this country has been engaged in whr valuable
assistance has always been rendered to the State
by the officers of the mercantile service. During
the late war with Russia they conducted the trans-
port service in the most efficient manner, and,