The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-01 00:00:00

COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS.

asked,
lec ,
The opposition to thesystem
of competitive
xa ti
argument.i nao nsha s beeny
supported by one remark-
ablecertainl not anovhut it is
novel argue
m
,
urgede
a
with apparently,
wanitdh
greatasce energy, andrtainlynotasonnd otte
regarded,
pp
em I
t i
s much complacency by its authors. We are
with singular confidence of top
a
e, what ad-
vantage literary attainments can confer upon a
clerk in a public office, or a servant in any public
department. Take, for instance, the Colonial, the
Inland Revenue, or the Post-office department ; ob-
serve the duties actually devolving upon the clerks
employed in those services, and then say what use
can be found in Latin, Greek, mathematics, goo.
graphy, history, or natural science. The argument
has been pushed even further, r -
that in Gover

most part onl
even on4_ erui
aid spelling.
been worked with
order to place the assumed absurdity in the strong
light, we have been treated with specimens of the
veryp e c t a questionsn t
Excise putoffi officers
sc candidates d atefi
Custom-house p lace
have been asked, we are told, to answer questions
in European and Asiatic geography, and an in-
stance has been quoted as more than usually ludi-
crous, in which a candidate for place in the " Its-
land Revenue" Department was catechised about
the trade winds and the Gulf Stream. After
we have been thus entertained, and invited
to smile at such ridiculous proceedings, we
are asked, in a strain of grave expostulation,
clerks
whether we can really expect to get good servants
for public offices by examining. them in matters
which have no imaginable connexion with the duties
before them. We are testing, it is said, the fitness
of a man for one sphere of office by ascertaining
his aptitude for another. We are weighing with.
the wrong weights, and measuring with the wrong
measures. We want the best clerks, whereas all
we do is to choose the best scholars.

Now, on this pretty argument there is a word to
be said of considerable importance. If the reason-
ing is good for anything, it is good for a great deal
more than is here assumed. We are not concerned
to estimate the relative values of arithmetic,
geography, orthography, history, mathematics,
or other branches of knowledge, but it must never
be forgotten that these things, whether useful or
otherwise, are simply the ingredients of the com-
pound termed "education," and that they cannot be
disparaged without the disparagement of education
itself. If they are good for nothing, education is
good for nothing, and all our labour in this matter
is labour lost. To say that a man has no need of such
acquirement is merely to say that he has no need of
being educated, for education means teaching people
to write, to spell, to understand the configuration
of the globe and the events of past ages, and to
get an insight, more or less completely, into
those very branches of knowledge now put in so
ludicrous a light. If it is really true that these
studies, or, in other words, education, can have no
bearing whatever upon the duties of practical life,
it is clear that we are lying under a prodigious mis-
take, and squandering vast funds and pains in an
undertaking of utter inutility. We have been all
under the impression that in educating the youth
of the country—that is to say, in teaching lads
geography, arithmetic, and the like—we were ren-
dering them better qualified for the general duties
of citizens, and fitter candidates for their respective
callings, that of the Civil Service included. If,
however, education produces no such results, and
the best educated man is no better than another,
we should like to hear what the results me which
tire expected to repay us for our sacrifices and •
trouble.
As regards this question, the Civil Service of the
State differs in no respect from any of the ordinary
occupations of life. It is perfectly true, no doubt,
that a collector or supervisor may live out all his
days in office, and never once be called upon to make
a direct application of his geographical or historical
knowledge; but the remark- gill apply with pre.
cisely the same force to a tailor, a grocer, a shoe-
maker, a lawyer, a physician, or indeed anybody,
except an author or a schoolmaster, The studies
so ridiculed in the argument we are considering are
precisely of the same use to a civil servant of the
State as to a man engaged in any ordinary pursuit.
If they are irrelevant in one case, they are irrele-
vant in the other ; that is to say, they are irrelevant
altogether, and we may at once conclude that edu-
cation, which is composed of these things just as the
alphabet is composed of letters, may be given up
for good and all as a pure delusion and folly. The
very same contrasts which are drawn between duties
and qualifications in the case of Post-office clerks
may be drawn with equal smartness in all cases
where competitive examinations are employed.
Even in the Woolwich and Sandhurst examinations
—the most special of all—there are hundreds of
questions which might be shown to be utterly un-
connected with any probable duty of militafy life.
If we are wrong in the matter of the Civil serrice,
we are wrong everywhere, and, instead of subsi-
dising, educational establishments from the funds of
the State, and pushing the work of public instruc-
tion by all possible means, we ought to decide at
once that no one should be taught or expected to
know anything beyond the actual sphere of his im-
mediate and daily calling. This would tend won-
derfully to simplify a great national problem,
erabutl
we doubt if the theory is likely to find gen
acceptance.
The truth is, that in this system of competitive
examinations we are but acting in accordance with
all the principles of education and duty recognised
in modern times. We found and support National
Schools in order to rear better citizens for the na-
tional benefit. We prescribe the studies to be pur-
sued in these schools, according to their presumed
bearing upon the actual duties of life. We teach
arithmetic, history, geography, and the rudiments
of various sciences, simply because such acquire-
ments are believed to conduce to a man's value as
a citizen of the State, and to render him a better
man for his work, whatever may be his particular
ourschwoaoyi;
occupation. When the schoolmaster first went
n
I'taught the
in
right abroad it was expressly for the diffusion of useful
g s arc
IWe oepdeg
that lV e
the hopethi we
with such infinite pains are really
useful things,
and that in proportion as they are learnt
they really do make the learner fitter for the
various callings of life. If this
then it follows at once that the is the case,
must be sound, for in adopting competitive system
carrying out our own principles, it we are merely
the most approved scholarsW e are selecting
design. We are from schools of our own
studies which we have rewarding excellence in the very
previouslyprescribed as most
serviceable. We have been trying to train up good
citizens, and we select for the service of the 'public
those who have
given the best promise on this very
ground. We have spared no effort to encourage
education, as the best possible thing for the State,
and we choose for
theimmediate service of the State
those whose education
appears the most complete.
Of course, there is another side of the question.
We may be wrong instead of right. All these
studies and sciences of which education is com-
pounded may be utterly without use in fitting a
man for any practical duties, and may, indeed, as
is now intimated, actually detract from his value,
by inspiring him with a feeling of independence.
All this may perhaps be true. We cannot say we
think so, but we are willing, for argument's sake,
to note the possibility. What we wish to adell
that in this case our whole theory of educations
tumbles down together. The entire structure
the
laboriously raised comes down with a run: I
pains is
knowledge we have inculcated
withsuch
rather worse than useless in a
Government'esman's shop,
it is equally undesirable in 4 traat
d ing om.
and in every household throughout
—Times.

t:hdei
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EAaptleEalnrdisip'emid nPrEpNet.rg.iatTe .18seanS,ea8y; be avoided by persons
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ithe"Xding only their address to E.
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Indßesteorer, without medicine or ex-
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receiverffYe'reklng rsatqa;tlos r aa
strong nerves, sound lungs, and
t Pe— to the most enfeebled,constipatioMn,sUlirvinerg teohenarpelmitiOnVtas!
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nervousness, palpitation,
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paralysis,dysconsumption,epia'
flatulency, cough' as biliousness, fevers, sore throats, catarrhs, colds
impurities, eruptions,
dysentery,. t
noises inthe ears,. rheumatism, gout,
1 ysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplessness, acidity, palpi-
tation, heartburn, headache, despondency, cramps, spasms,
milking, fits, bronchitis.—" Unquestionably tie safest Guide
to health.,'

MEM

xi even 'unmet,, -
rnment situations requiring for the '
Ey bodily work it is absurd to insist , ;:,,, : „ - , , ,_,-,-.111,,,,
idimentary quEdifications of eigherin.',_ .., ~..,:-.,..!;.t `,-("-: ----4 t
No point in the w..cle diseussioithatr, ' .- ..- '''' ''':'. ;I • t,c- ''''..4!;."'
with a better will than this, and, in . "*.
... ' 1
_ _

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AL ENGLISH OPERA, COVENT-
. "OY GARDlCS—under the Management of Miss LOUISA
FYNE and Mr. W. HAR ON , RIS Sole Lessees.
THIS EVENING, CROWN DIAMONDS. Miss L. Pyne
wrisa Thirlwall ; Mr. W. Harrison, Mr. H. Corr!, Mr. A. St.'
Albyn, Mr. Horneastle, and Mr. G. Kelly.
To conclude with the First Act of TROVATORE.
Conductor—lir. Alfred Mellon.
Doors open at Seven. Commence at Half-past.

RHEA TIVE:-ROYAL, HAYMARKET.
Lessee, Mr. J. B. Backstone.
THAR EVENING the perforraanoeg will commence with
THE SUN AND THE WIND. By the Leclercqs.
Followed by DOES HE LOVE ME ? Messrs. Howe,
chippendale. E. Villiers, and Buckstoue Miss Amy Sedg-
wick. Miss Florence Haydon, and Mrs. Wilkins.
After which, the revived comedy ot THE IRISH AM-
BASSADOR Mr. John Brougham, Miss Florence Haydon,
rs. E. Fitzwilliam.
And ANY PORT IN A STORM.
Commence at 7.

of this morning were received, we heard that
the rebels had been repulsed in one attack on
the city, and were then meditating another. It
would appear, therefore, that they have made
the expected attack, and were repulsed with
terrible loss. We have little doubt that we shall
learn that the few Europeans by the help of artil-
lery, threw the rebels into confusion, and then the
natives pressed on them with the barbarity and
cruelty common to both sides. The Tae-pings
will doubtless not again bo foolh is enough
to attack a Chinese town where Euro-
peans have a large stake. We seem, however, to be
at war now with both parties—the rebels and the
Imperialists. We trust both of them will receive
a lesson which will not need the cost to us or to
, them of repetition. We ought to have no more
Chinese or Caffre wars. Defence against elected
- Emperors is burden enough in all conscience.

-------
li OTA I, PRIN C E S S'S THEATRE.--
Lessee and Manager, Mr. A. Harris.
THIS EVENIN, an adaptation of Victor Hugo's
Gcele-
brated Play of MT Y. BLAS, by Edmund Falconer, Esq,
when Mr. Fechter, the favourite actor of Parisian renovrn,
will make his sth appearance on the English stage:supported
by Messrs. W. Lacy. Meadows, Garden, Graham, Raymond,
Morland, Collett, Paulo, Daly, A. Harris ; Miss Rose
Leclercq, Mrs. Weston, and Miss Heath.
To be preceded byiSIISAN SMITH.
After which, THE FIRST NIGHT. Mr. A. Harris and
MI a Maria Harris.
__.-------------_

England now looks to Lord PALMERSTON to do I
his duty; Right and left, from Whig and Tory
alike, we hear the praises of his Italian policy. He
and Lord JOHN RUSSELL have, we are told, main-
tained a policy of non-intervention, both by their
own practice and by their inauence with other
Governments. We do not, on the whole, deny it.
We have always acknowledged their foreign policy
to be their redeeming policy ; but, to retain their
credit with the country, it must be dignified 'and
consistent. We must not allow ourselves to be

THEATRE-ROYAL LYCEUM.
soi. Lessee and Directress, Madame CELESTE.
THIS EVF,NINCIr. the performances will commence with
Colman's celebrated comedy of THE JEALOUS WIFE :
principal characters by Mr. Gore Vining, Mr. H. Neville,
Mr. John Rouse, Mr. Forrester, Mr. T. Lyon Mr. H. Butler,
Mr. J. Johnstone, Mr. .1. Morris, Mr. Clifford Mrs .H Rouse
Miss M. Ternan, and Miss Goughenheim. ' "J.
After which. THE ABBE VAUDREUIL. Mr. IL Neville
and Madame Celeste.
To conclude with MAGIC TOYS. Valentine, Miss Lydia
Thompson.

trifled with.
Now, we think we may affirm, without contra•
diction, that the event of the hour—the intervention
of the French fleet at Gaeta—demands immediate
and energetic action on the part of our Govern-
ment. The telegraphic wires ought to be able
to carry the announcement throughout all Italy,
Austria, Prussia, and France, that "the British
Government has insisted on the non-intervention
of the French fleet with the Sardinian fleet, and
directed Admiral MUNDT to co-operate with
Admiral PERSANO in resisting any attack from any
other quarter than from the forces of FRANCIS II."
Surely we have not spent £34,000,000 this year on
our naval and military forces, to be mocked by the
Emperor of the FRENCH in this style. His inter-
vention so unceasingly and increasingly at Rome, is
scarcely bearable; but to have Mm interfering
again, just when and how he pleases, and, above
all things, at sea also, is intolerable. If he inter-
venes, we say, one of two things—either he must
withdraw his intervention, or we must follow his
example and redress the balance. If it please him
better we can send ship for ship for those of
Admiral PERSANO, whom he forbids to act by the
threat of his broadsides, and give the order to our
tars for a little gun practice at Gaeta. How
would our brave fellows who spent their holiday
in working GARIBALDI'S guns against Capua,
" Hurrah for a go at Gaeta "—why, the walls of
the fortress would fall like those of Jericho, at that
shout, before a gun was fired—that the hearts of
the garrison would fall or fail, we may be pretty
sure; and we should like to see whether his
Majesty the Emperor of the French would " send
a frigate to stop the firing" of English ships:
But seriously, for surely enough it would not
come to that, Lord PALMERSTON has but to inform
Louls NAPOLEON that, as we did not intervene
for the people of Italy, so we could not, and
would not, allow him to intervene for
a second tyrant in Italy—the telegraph would
convey an immediate order to the French fleet
to let PERSANO alone, and we would instruct
our Admiral to inform PERSANO that liberty of
action was restored to him. Lord PALMERSTON
has every argument in his favour, He can point
the EMPEROR to what consistency with his own pub-
lished views demands—and he can point him also
to the impossibility of his maintaining pleasant re-
lations with England if he thus insults the strongest
public sentiment of the country. Lord PALMERSTON
may truly enough tell him that he could not face
Parliament for a day, next sprig, if he could not
show that he bad gone to any lengths in prevent-
ing intervention against Italian liberties. He may
point to the speech but yesterday of a zealous Tory
like Mr. PULLER, at an agricultural meeting, too,
as proof of the unanimity of Englishmen of all
parties in regard to Italian liberty—and in regard
to non-intervention, too. And he may certainly
tell him that the nation which spends thirty-four
millions for war purposes, and raises two hundred
thousand volunteers, by one impulse, is not exactly
the nation to understand, by intervention, tying
its own hands, and lettingthose of a French Emperor
to do all the mischief they can to the cause which
England adores.
For ourselves, the more we think of this impudent
interference the more we believe it bo be for the
basest purposes. It will be coupled, doubtless, with
other obstructive communications and proceedings.
And we believe, and must believe, till we see a better
explanation, that the EMPEROR is bent on a second
robbery. He has succeeded so well in Savoy and
Nice that he is really bent on something
more. He will make himself such a thorn in the
side of a renovated Italy, that CAVOUR will be
glad, again, to buy him off with a cession. Eng.
land cannot at the present moment do more
towards the rescue of Sardinia and Genoa than by
sending decisive orders to our Mediterranean
fleet—preceded, of course, by an intimation to the
EMPEROR that England insists on non-interven-
tion at Gaeta. Let it be remembered, also, that
these unnatural annexations will be the ground of
future wars. It may be so even yet in regard to
Nice and Savoy. But the cession of Genoa, of all
places in Italy, and of Sardinia, would certainly,
some day, issue in a war. This is not the time for
cutting up nationalities again ; and the Emperor of
the FRENCH is, of all men, the most inconsistent
in making the attempt.

One of our most popular female novelists—Mrs.
GASKELL, authoress of " Mary Barton"—wrote
two or three years back a serial tale in Mr.
DICKENS'S Household Words, a story called
" North and South," in which were brought into
vivid contrast the characteristic peculiarities of our
northern and southern population. A wider con-
trast than any there presented to view admits just
now of being very readily illustrated by the hand
of an American writer of ,imagination through the
juxtaposition within the framework of a single
truthful, and picturesque narrative of the North
and South, not of the United Kingdom, but of the
United
States. What a hint for an episode that
daringly adventurous but disastrous invasion of
Virginia, led on by old JOHN BROWN,
and known now far and wide in both
hemispheres as the Harper's Ferry Insurrection !
How terrible a historical romance it might be with-
out its writer -venturing anywhere upon one single
particle of exaggeration! From the initial chapter
-lo the denouement it would need only (for the ex-
:i.ting of a profound sense of horror in the mind of
iis reader) it need only be " ower true__a tale
founded upon fact—a romance born of reality.
Supposing, in this hypothetical fiction commemo.
jrative of the days of Mr. BUCHANAN'S Presidency
—supposing, at one part of his narrative the
novelist were to describe a poor book-awker of New
England, driving his humble carht laden with
itinerant literature one fine morning in the early

................-
spring of 1860 along one of the public highways in
Texas, and chancing, as he jogged onwards, to
come suddenly, at a turn of the road, upon a rabble
throng dragging along with them a wretched
negro just caught in the apparent attempt to run
away in quest of life and liberty. Supposing the
novelist went on to relate how the unfortunate
slave, upon being questioned by his captors
as to the identity of the person who
had induced him to fly thus from the
miseries of slavery—obeying the wild impulse
of the moment in the desperate hope of having his
life spared to him by the declaration, pointed out
the first person he chanced to see on being thus
questioned, the unhappy man indicated being
the luckless book-hawker then passing by with his
cart accidentally. Supposing the romance writer
then went on to tell us in so many words that the
cart and its contents, consisting of cheap volumes
and pamphlets, were overturned and smeared with
tar and ignited for the roasting to death there
and then summarily upon the spot of the unhappy
roving bookseller. Supposing the narrator then
added that none but the wretches actually engaged
in the arrangement of this impromptu auto da fe
could endure to remain withia hearing while the
flames of this terrible pyre were doing their devilish
work of destruction. And supposing we were
then simply informed by the historical novelist
that all this was simply but too true, that it was the
faithful narrative of what did actually occur in the
spring of 1860, in the State of Texas during the
later months of the rule of Mr. BUCHANAN
as the Pro-Slavery President ! We should
merely in that case be reading the record
of an actual occurrence. We should only be
glancing down one page of the hideous "Reign of
Terror" in the Southern Division of the United
States in the years 1859 and 1860—the last two
years of our boasted modern civilisation ! Lynch
law being there so paramount, that during those
years of the rule of this last Pro-Slavery President
in those Southern States, " every stranger," we
read, " was dogged, suspected, and more or less
persecuted; Governesses and schoolmistresses
were expelled from their abodes, or turned back
on their road to their situations, merely because
they were supposed to be of Northern origin. Com-
mercial travellers were searched and poftted out
to public suspicion ; and two had half their heads
and beards shaved, and were sent away, after a
scourging, to the train, attended by a jeering mob.
The scourgings—by an insane imprudence inflicted
by negroes—of artisans, ministers of religion,
hawkers of goods, and others; and the tarring and
feathering, the ducking, the hideous mock proces-
sions to exhibit the victim to indignity and ill-
usage, are abundantly sickening." Turning from
these melancholy particulars, however, of the bar-
barous cruelties rife in the Southern States of the
American Republic in 1859 and 1860—let us revert
awhile to the consideration of the incidents capable
of being presented to view by any novelist who
would accurately trace, side by side, the actual
condition of things in the North and South of the
United States. Look, might the novelist write,
"upon this picture and on this !" taking his data
from the same reliable sources as those which have
recently contributed their store of facts to the
calculations of one of the able reviewers in the
Edinburgh. Referring, for example, to the state
of agriculture in the North and in the South, in
language thus positive, and certainly most impres-
sive :—" In regard to agriculture, which is the
pride of the South, the contrast is remarkable.
Every acre and every husbandman in the North
produces twice as much as in the South ; so
that now the annual hay crop alone of the
Free States exceeds in value the total produce of
the South, including cotton, tobacco, sugar, and
farm crops of every kind." Referring thus to the
state of manufactures in the Free and Slave divi-
sions of the Republic :—" The manufactures of
Massachusetts alone exceeded last year those of
the entire range of Slave States in which various
factories have been set up within a few years, in
the vain hope of employing the slaves profitably is
them." Nay, developing the contrast no less strik-
ing, in regard to industry and commerce, canals
and railroads, churches and charities, in the man-
ner following :—" In commerce the case is the
same. Throwing out New York, on the one hand,
and admitting New Orleans on the other, the
supremacy of the North is astonishing, the tonnage
of Massachusetts alone exceeding that of the col-
lective Slave States. Last year, Maine alone built
more shipping than the whole South. The imports
and exports of New York alone were last year
larger than those of not only Virginia, once the
leading State, but of all the Southern ports
together. Railroads and canals go with the in-
dustry and commerce, and both show three times
the length in the North that they have in the wide
levels of the South, so favourable to their forma-
tion. No Slave State pays for its mail transport,
and the entire group does not pay one-third of the
mail charge ; whereas Massachusetts, after paying
for herself, yields a surplus larger than the whole
amount raised in South Carolina. Churches and
charities follow the proportions of population, and
the peculiarities of `the domestic institution,' so
that the inferiority of the South is a matter of
course. The church property of the South is less
I than one-third that of the North; and Massachu-
setts gives to the support of missions alone eight
times the amount of charity afforded by open-
handed South Carolina." As to the educational
contrast, thus writes the reviewer :—" The two
sections were once so nearly equal in their appara-
tus of college education, that there are now only
two more colleges in the Free tfian in the Slave
States—the numbers being 61 to 59 ; but the Slave
States are educating 747 ministers of the Gospel,
while the Free States educate that number anp
nearly 10,000 more—vis., 10,762; and something
of the same proportion is shown by the profes-
sional schools, where the South shows 3,812 stu-
dents, to 23,513 in the North. In the free schools
of the North there is a larger proportion of the
small, despised, free-negro element of the popula-
tion, than there is in the South of the dominant
white population. There are nearly three millions
of pupils in the one section, to little more than half
a million in the other ; and the difference is not
compensated for by private schools, which are
everywhere inferior to those of the North. As for
the press, South Carolina, which leads the march
of intelligence in the South, and is five times as
large as Massachusetts, had, at the last census, 141
printers, and not one publisher, to the 1,229 prin-
ters and 59 publishers of Massachusetts. Of authors,
South Carolina had two and Massachusetts 17."
Enough, however, and more than enough, illustra-
tive of the deteriorating influences of Slavery.
Evidence it certainly does afford to us, that no one
surely can fail to appreciate to the full, that Mr.
BUCHANAN, by reason of his pro-slavery policy,
will, at the close of his rally lamentable rule, be-
queath to his successor labours sufficiently hercu-
lean to fill up the whole of that successor's four
years' tenure of the throne-like chair of the Preei,
dentship, with all its solemn responsibilities.

A marriage is arranged to take place between
the Earl of Southesk and the Lady Susan Murray, sister of

the present Earl of Dunmore.
The mortal remains of the late Earl Manvers
will be deposited in the family vault of the Dukes of King-

YD
1..

stop, at Heinle Pierrepont, Notts, to-morrow.
Lord and Lady Ashburton arrived at Bath House
yesterday, from Scotland. The noble lord and her ladyship
will leave town to-day for the Grange, Hants.
Lord and Lady Rokeby are expected at Montagu
House to-day, from Hazlewood, Herts.
Sir Robert Peel, Bart., M.P., left town yesterday,
to join Lady Emily Peel at Geneva.
PASSPORTS.—" A Dane" writes to say that the
reported abolition of passports in Denmark is unfounded ;
they are still required.
" The Municipal Council of Paris," says the
Pays, "has concluded the affair of the new opera house,
and decided that, in spite of the opposition of some pro-
prietors interested in the question, the construction of the
theatre shall be proceeded with at once."
THE NORTH BRITON.—LIVERPOOL, Wednesday.
—The Montreal Ocean Steam-ship Company's screw
steamer North Briton, Captain Borland, which was ashore
at Ballycastle Bay, got off at 6 p.m. yesterday, and pro-
ceeded for this port under steam, but up to the time of the
despatch of our parcel (5 p.m.) she had not arrived in the
Mersey, probably owing to the dense fog which has prevailed
here all day.
We (Scotsman) understand that the junior
branches of Mr. Laing's family are to reside in Edinburgh
during Mr. Laing's absence in India. The right hon. gentle-
man is to be accompanied by Mrs. Laing and their eldest
son, who goes in the capacity of secretary. The right hon.
gentleman is -expected in Edinburgh next week, with his

family.
It appears to be somewhat doubtful (says the
Bury Post) whether the Prince of Wales will enter Cam-
bridge University as a member of the college of which the
Prince Consort is an honorary member, the authorities at
Trinity. College not yet, it is said, having received any
official information on the subject, and a rumour is abroad
that he will place his name on the boards of Magdalene
College.
Glengarry estate, a fine Highland property, has
been sold by the Ettil of Dudley, to Edward Ellice, Esq.,
of Glenquoich, at the price of £120,000. Mr. Ellice some
years ago purchased his present property of Glenquoich
from the late Glengarry, and, by his new acquisition, be-
comes proprietor of the greater portion of the old Glengarry
estates—the other considerable portion being Knoydart,
which was purchased by James Baird, Esq.
THE NORTHERN BURGHS.—The Scotsman of
yesterday states that the day for the election of an M.P.
for the Northern Burghs, in the room of Mr. Laing, is ex-
pected to be about the 16th proximo. By letters received
from Wick, we learn that Lord Bury is still the only candi-
date, and that the rumours of opposition are becoming fewer
and fainter. His lordship is in London, having been sud-
denly called up from Wick in consequence of Lady Bury
being delivered of a still-born child. He is expected to visit
Dingwall, Tain, Cromarty, and Dornoch in the course of
next week.
The town of Brighton (says the Gazette) never
was so full of visitors as at the present moment, and the last
few fine days have brought them out in countless numbers
to enjoy the beauty of our marine promenade and drive.
So mild was the weather on Tuesday, that ladies found
parasols of great comfort to keep off tie warmth of the sun.
This is no exaggeration, for Tuesday was as warm almost
as any day we have had throughout the summer. Lord and
Lady Bridport, Lady Harold, and Baron Wilde and Lady
Mary Wilde are among the latest arrivals at the Bedford
ilditel. Count and Countess Bernstorff have taken their
tinarture from 1, Belgrave-place.
STEAM TO NEW YORK.—SOUTHAMPTON, Oct. 31.
—The North German Lloyd screw steamship Bremen,
Captain H. 'Wessels, sailed hence to-day for New York,
taking out German and English mails, about 260 passen-
gers, and a full cargo. The New York steamship of the
same line, Captain Von Sauten, is due off Cowes on the 7th
proximo rom New York, with mails of the 27th inst. The
Vanderbilt steamer, Captain Lefevre, is hourly expected
yi
um-
brellas
g e-r
Majesty."
New York, with mails of the 20th inst., and leaves
again on her return voyage on Wednesday, the 7th Nov.
The Hamburg-American Company's screw steamer Teu-
tonia, Captain Taube, will leave this port, with German
and English mails for New Yerk on Sunday next.
MANCHESTER.—PRESENTS TO GARIBALDI.—In
reference to the presentation to Garibaldi of a quantity of
haversacks, camp bed bottoms, ambulances, cavalry corn
sacks, and other useful articles, by Mr. Briggs, merchant,
of the city of Manchester, we understand that gentleman
has received from the liberator of Italy an autograph letter,
of which the following is a translation :—" Sir,—l hav',
received the bale which you kindly sent me to supply the
great wants of my army. I thank you very particularly,
and I also thank you in the name of my country. The
sympathy and proofs of interest which every day we receive
from your noble and generous country convince us still
more of the justice of our cause, and it is knowledge of our
rights that give us the victory. I am at your service when-
standing
pn inn attendancetd e who, playing-
fields,
the ad
b
y h
with
, ever lam able.—G. GARIBALDI.—Mr. T. Briggs,"
THE QUEEN AND THE ETON BOTS.—On Friday
last her Majesty, attended by the ladies and gentlemen of
the Court, rode:out on horseback, and. on returning to the
Castle the Royal party were overtaken by a shower of rain.
flAesl theyd s, two
wwe
of
were
thepassing
studentsthe
w lodge-gatewere
ethe politeness of an Etonian, asked if they might be per-
mittedi
je
st
yt
.o umbrellas. offershor ttloyTtahhf
The offer
r Qw uare
dew: a
tsahngedrraahei ladyiennrucse l
ceased,
their s
were brought back to the young gentlemen by Lord
A. Paget, the Equerry in Waiting, with her Majesty's
likeness on the obverse side of a sovereign, which the
Queen had sent to each of the boys, in acknowledgment of
their politeness. The delighted youths lost no time in en-
gaging the services of Mr. Martin, the Eton jeweller, for
the purpose of having them appended to their watch chains,
an ornament, it need not be added, they prize far beyond
the intrinsic value of their gold watches. The names of
the youths are the Hon. Mr. Ponsonby and Mr. Salt, son
of the member for Stafford, both pupils in the house of Mr.
Waite.

r

No British officer was killed.

engaged.

RUSSIA.

VICTOR EMMANUEL AND FRANCIS IL—The
Union has the following :—" Several journals commit an
error, and we ourselves have not escaped, In describing
the relationship which exists between the King of Naples
and the King of Sardinia as that of nephew and uncle. This
is ov ing to the word nepote in the Italian language signify-
ing not only ' nephew,' but the child of other relatives than
brothers and sisters, even of cousins. It is then a mere
form of language to call Francis 11. the nephew' of Victor
Emmanuel. The King of the Two Sicilies is not the son of
a sister of the King of Piedmont, but of a female cousin
somewhat distant in degree, but nevertheless his nearest
relative. The King, in fact, is son of Maria Christina
Caroline, daughter of the late Victor Emmanuel 1., King
of Sardinia, the last Sovereign but one of the elder branch
of the House of Savoy. It was this Princess who was a
model of all virtues, and is most affectionately remembered
in Naples; who is called 'the Saint.' Victor Emmanuel
11., son of Charles Albert, is the second King of the branch
of Carignan, The Queen of Naples was the last descendant
of the direct Royal race of Savoy, and as such, as we have
said, the nearest relative of Victor Emmanuel II."
REFUSAL TO BURY A DRUNKARD.—At Frome on
Monday considerable stir was made by the circumstances
under which a man has been buried here. An inquest was
held a day or two since on a man named Deacon., who was
for many years a gravedigger at the parish church, when
the jury returned a verdict of "Died from natural causes."
It appears that application to bury the deceased was made
to the Rev. J. Shaw, one of the curates of the parish church,
the vicar of which, the Rev. W. J. E. Bennett, is now tra-
velling on the Continent. Mr. Shaw refused to bury the
man Deacon, as did also the Rev. Mr. Bedford, the other
curate. They alleged as a reason, it is said, the dissolute
habits of deceased, and that some years since he was sen-
tenced to some months' imprisonment for being concerned
with others in stealing from the church some•cleth. How-
ever this may be, they refused to bury the man, and it was
determined to inter him .at the Wesleyan chapel. The re-
latives, however, subsequently altered their resolve, and
determined to force his burial in the parish churchyard. At
four o'clock on Monday, therefore, the body was brought
to the churchyard, attended by four mourners and a large
crowd. The grave was found to be on'y partially dug, and
having waited for this to be completed, the coffin was
lowered, and, without a word of prayer or other service, the
wife threw in a clod, and the party withdrew, amid the loud
execrations of the crowd on the conduct of the clergymen.
There is no doubt that this extraordinary conduct will be
immediately brought under the notice of the bishop of the
diocese.—Western Daily Press.
CHESS.—The great chess match between Messrs.
B. Horwitz and I. K olisch, to which we have already had
occasion to advert, was continued, as by preconcert, on
Tuesday afternoon. The amount of interest centered upon
this great mental conflict it would be hard to exaggerate.
As matters now stand, each party having been successful
in scoring one game, the winner of the next two will be
entitled to the honours of victory. In consequence of the
indisposition of Mr. Horwitz, an armistice of 24 hours has
been agreed upon, and play will be resumed at two p.m.
this day.
THE FORTHCOMING FIGHT FOR THE CHAMPION-
SIIIP.—Yesterday evening there was a great gathering of
members of the prize ring and admirers of the pugilistic art
at the public-house known as The Three Tuns, Moor-street,
Soho, kept by a noted pugilist named Alec Keene, for the
purpose of witnessing the final deposit in reference to the
great fight which is to come off on Tuesday next. The
stakes are £4OO and the championship of England, the belt,
which is the token of the championship, having been left
in the hands of the referee, after the contest between Sayers
and Heenan, to be fought for by any persons who might be
courageous enough to enter the lists for the purpose. Al-
though the betting has not been so large as in the late com-
bat between Sayers and the Benicia Boy, an immense
amount of money has been staked, many gentlemen hold-
ing high positions in society being of the number who are
backing one
one or other of the candidates for the chief honour
of the ring—namely, Tom Paddock and Sam Hurst, known
as "The Staleybridge Infant." As in the ease of the last
battle, there is a great disparity between the ages of the
men, Paddock being 36 years of age, and Hurst barely 25.
Paddock held the championship for some time, but was de-
prived of it by the superior skill of Sayers, not, however,
without a tolerably severe struggle. It was confidently
stated at the meeting last night that so secluded and unsus-
pected a place has been selected for the forthcoming fight,
that there will be no chance of an interruption from the
police.

A PRIZE FIGHT PREVENTED.—Arrangements
had been made for a prize fight to take place on Tuesday
morning between a man named Taylor, of Stanningley,
near Leeds, and a Bradford beerhouse keeper, called Wood-
ruffe, on a retired part of Sowerby Moor, five miles from
Halifax, but the combat was prevented by the interference
of the police. The stakes, we understand, were £25. Mr.
Superintendent Wardle, of the Halifax division, had inti-
mation given to him that the fight was likely to take place
in the parish of Halifax. The men under his direction
had instructions to hold themselves in readiness. The
police were put upon the track by a number of tabs
entering Halifax from Bradford very early on Tuesday
morning. A great number of rough-looking men followed
on foot. Mr. Wardle assembled upwards of twenty of the
police, and the greater number of them followed the cabs
to Luddenden Foot, where the people got out of them, and
walked up a Rto,4) hill to the moor. In the course of an
hour Ab 01.1". 400 persons had collected. The police stopped
formation of a ring, or any preparations for fighting.
The morning was very misty, and the police could not see
more than a few yards before them. The mob made a
detour, in order to escape the police. and prepared to hold
the fight near the original plac,,, lint it was prevented.
The police then kept the prtcipals in view. The mob:were
finally dispersed, to their great dissatisfaction. The party
returned to Halifax, but in the course of a few Jana they
left, ostensibly for Bradford,

Lord and Lady John Russell and Misses Russell,
who are staying with the Duke of Bedford, at Woburn
Abbey, return. to Pembroke Lodge, Richmond, to-morrow•

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 1, 1860.

E w Q

CAPTURE OF THE TAKU
FORTS.

The following despatch has been received at the

Foreign-office :
"FOREIGN-OFFICE, Nov. 1, 1860.

" Accounts were received, late last night, from
her Majesty's Agent and Consul-General in Egypt,
through Trieste, announcing that the Peiho Forts
were taken by the Allies on the 21st August, and
that the British and French Ambassadors were at
Tien-twin on the 26th."

SHANGHAI, SEPT. 4.

The Taku forts were taken on the 21st August

The Allied Plenipotentiaries arrived at Tientsin
on the 26th. They would start shortly for Pekin,
escorted by cavalry.
The Chinese Government has promised them an
honourable reception.
The rebels have withdrawn from Shanghai, and
a better feeling of security hascsince prevailed.
On the 18th and 20th August they attempted to
enter the city, but were repulsed with terrible loss.

SHANGHAI, SEPT. 4.
The Taku Forts were captured on the 21st Aug,
after five hours' hard fighting.

The enemy were allowed to march out, leaving
munitions, &c.
The Allies lost 400 men killed and wounded.

The 67th and 44th Regiments and the Marines,
with 1,500 French, were the troops principally

CALCUTTA, SEPT. 22.
Symptoms of disaffection are manifested by the
6th European Regiment at Dinapore.

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

Nov.
CALCUTTA AND CHINA MAILS.

The Vectis, with the avove mails, arrived at
Marseilles at 7 a.m. Mails were to leave for
London at 10 a.m.

The Massilia, which should have brought the
mails to Marseilles, broke her port cylinder after
leaving Alexandria.
The Pera, with the heavy portion of the above
mails, was at Malta on the 29th, and may be
expected at Southampton about the 7th inst.
The Ceylon, which left Southampton on the 20th,
reached Malta on the 29th October, at 8 p,m., was
to leave for Alexandria at midnight.

DEATH OF THE DOWAGER EMPRESS OF

ST. PETERSBURGH, THURSDAY.
The Dowager Empress of Russia died this
morning at half-past eight o'clock.

MILAN, OCT. 3

The Perseveranza piblishes letters from London,
asserting, upon authentic information, that Eng-
land does not support the assembling of a congress,
and that Prussia entertains similar views.

NAPLES, OCT. 31.
King Victor Emmanuel has crossed the Garig-

liano.
Capua is being besieged by Garibaldi.
The bombardment has commenced.

PARIS, OCT. 31.

During the last fe cv days there have been some
partial engagements between the troops of Francis,
11. and those of Victor Emmanuel. There are
different versions of the results, but an approach-
ing general action is expected.
It is believed that Victor Emmanuel will not
enter Naples until after Francis 11. shall have
quitted his States ; nevertheless, great preparations
are making for his reception.

VIENNA, OCT. 31.

Count Rechberg has given explanations to the
diplomatic corps in reference to the interview at
Warsaw. According to these explanations, Aus-
tria put the three following questions to Russia and
Prussia, viz. :

"Will Russia and Prussia recognise the facts
which have been, or may be, accomplished in Italy ?

" Should Austria be attacked by Sardinia, and
the latter be supported by another great Power,
what would be their attitude ?

" In the event of another war, and of its being
transferred to any part of the territory of the Ger-
man Confederation, what would Prussia do ?"
Count Rechberg informed the diplomatic corps
that the Austrian Government is about to address
a circular note to its representatives abroad on the
nature and result of the Warsaw interview.

SARDINIAN FLEET.
MARSEILLES, OCT. 31.
Advices from Naples state that on the 27th inst.
the Sardinian flotilla cannonaded the Royalists
near Gaeta. The French admiral despatched the
frigate Descartes to stop the firing. Admiral Per-
sano thereupon retired expressing his regrets at
the conduct of the French, and afterwards returned
to Naples.

PARIS, OCT. 31

The Pagrie says—" It is not true that the Aus-
trian Government has informed the European
Cabinets:that it had determined to send an ultima-
tum to Turin. Positive and reliable information
states that Austria will remain on the defensive,
and that General Benedek has received instructions
to that effect."

CONSTANTINOPLE, (via Marseilles), OCT. 24.
The Grand Vizier and Riza Pasha are concerting
measures for the improvement of the finances.
The Levant Herald has received a third avertisse•
tent.

PARIS, OCT. 29.
Count Kisseleff is expected here to-night from
Warsaw. After All Saints' day the Court will
proceed to Compiegne for a month.

MALTA.
VALLETTA, OCT. 27, 4 P.M.
Since the mail closed yesterday the French
steamer Mersey has come in from Beyrout, and, as
a supplementary mail is to be made up by her, I
take this opportunity to add a few lines.
This morning, at 11 o'clock, a telegram was re-
ceived from Catania, dated October 27, 10 a.m.,
announcing 'that telegraphic communication has
been re-established with the continent for Govern-
ment despatches.
I have also to state that Signor Olivia, for some
months past Vice-Consul here for the Government
of King Francis 11., has received a communication
from the Pro-Dictator of Naples, nominating him
Consul-General at Malta for Southern Italy. His
vise has not, however, been recognised here, either
by the Post authorities, or by the agent of the
French Messageries Imperiales steamers, and the
Sardinian Consul continues to act as heretofore,
since the appointment of a Provisional Government
at Naples, by giving such perilous as are desirous of