The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LON)D7OI'N, SATURDAY 14:VENING, APRIL 24, 1868.

House of Commons. There is no delay that can
fairly be objected to in this. Mr. DISRAELI is
prepared to meet his opponents face to face, and
to discuss the important questions in all their
bearings.

We canaot conclude without directing attention
to the petition from the Liverpool Chamber of
Commerce, which will be found in another part
of our impression. The gentlemen by whom it
has been signed are deeply interested in promoting
the welfare and prosperity, both of England and of
India. The arguments they have adduced for refer-
ring the measures of the present and thelate Govern-
ment to a Select Committee, are worthy of serious
consideration. They of course desire, in common
with every disinterested and unprejudiced person,
that the Government should be transferred to the
Crown, and that the Indian Minister, by what-
ever designation he may be known, may be as•
sisted by a Council, the majority of whom may
have a personal knowledge of India. And
they desire that the electoral principle should in
some dejree be adopted, in order to secure to some
extent the independent character of that Council.
The electors being parties who have held military
or civil appointments, and also from European
residents in the different Presidencies. The
members of the Council should also have a
better salary than that proposed, and not be
debarred from sitting is the House of Commons.

There are other suggestions worthy of notice,
which may properly be canvassed on another
occasion, before the question is fairly brought
before the Legislature.

The public will be delighted to learn from the
statement of Lord DERBY last night that no
exclusive privileges will be granted to Aus-
tria, or, indeed, to any party in the proposed
telegraphic lines of communication with Alex-
andria. When the matter was lately canvassed
we denounced the bare idea of granting a
monopoly as preposterous and absurd. A
monopoly implies a special benefit to one
party at the expense of the others. And to give
Austria, of all nations, a monopoly, were simply
ridiculous. Other countries may display more of
self than is consistent with fairplay, but Austria
is the very :incarnation of covetousness and
all uncharitableness—not even excepting Naples.

Some of these days we may be at war with
Austria, or countries nearer home, and to be
dependent for our communication with Alex
andria and India in such dilemmas were
utter folly. No ! if other people can make
telegraphic lines, so can we, and better lines
too, inasmuch as we shall be independent of
their encumbering help. We pointed out
some time ago, that a line might be
laid down either by way of Malta or Corfu ;
but as the Earl of MA.LME6BURT stated last night,
a line could be laid by way of Gibraltar
to Malta, thus obviating every foreign
obstacle to our despatches, Lisbon excepted.
At any rate we are now in safe hands as to the
fature, for no monopoly will be tolerated in a
matter that concerns not only the best interests of
the present generation, but those of our posterity.

Last night a resolution was carried in the
House of Commons, without opposition, for impos-
ing a duty of Id, on all cheques on bankers with-
out exception. It is said that the representatives
of the moneyooraoy were primed and loaded, and
fully prepared to discharge a volley of objections
against the proposition, but somehow they all
hung fire, and before any one could be induced
to offer resistance the position was captured and
the hostile flag floating over the bastion 1 Every
impost is in some degree objectionable. It would,
indeed, be a fiscal paradise in which there would
be no taxation, where there was no debt to be
liquidated, and there were funds in hand for the
maintenance of the national establishments and
the national defences. But in these days we can
carcely hope for such an Utopia—ways and means
must be provided. Every demand must be
promptly liquidated, and taxation is a necessary
evil. Whether the Financial Minister "strikes
high or low" he cannot please all parties. The
attempt would be as vain as that celebrated in
nursL.,y fables as the story of " The Old Man and
his Ass." The balance of inconvenience must be
fairly apportioned, and that which is least onerous
to the community at large impartially selected.
We have no hesitation in asserting that there
is no indirect tax against which fewer objections
can be offered than one on cheques. Every such
cheque represents some transaction ; and if the
receipt stamp is to be maintained, it is only rea-
sonable that the purchaser should contribute
equally with the vendor to the revenue in refer-
ence thereto. Each may be supposed to have pro-
fited in some degree, and there should 11,/
reciprocity. No man would abstaidWrititrr

business transaction because it would require: a
"Queen's head" to be affixed to the epistle in.
which he concluded it, nor would any man
go to the trouble and annoyance of keep-
ing a large quantity of cash on hand
because he might be compelled to expend
a few coppers, which he would freely bestow on
the first crossing-sweeper in avoiding the incon.
venience. At all events, as all persons who can
write cheques may reasonably be supposed to be
amenable to the Income Tax, they will benefit by
the reduction of 2d. in the pound, which Mr.
DISRAELI has sanctioned, far more than they will
suffer by the contemplated tax on cheques.

As we have stated, " the nimble penny" has
proved wonderfully productive. It is the prin-
ciple of "small profits and quick returns" which
has proved so beneficial to all who have fairly
adopted it. The Post-office and receipt stamps
have proved its efficacy. But wherever an excep-
tion has been allowed there have been evasions.
For all practical purposes, so far as the tax ou
cheques were concerned, Liverpool or Man-
chester would be considered within 15 miles
of Lombard-street. The extent of evasion may
be estimated from the fact that during
the last financial year 660,000 penny bill,
or rather cheque stamps, were issued, while there
were 73,400,000 penny receipt stamps. Under these
circumstances, Mr. DISRAELI is fully warranted
in calculating on at least 300,0001. for the
revenue, without placing any serious burden on
any person who is not fully able to sustain it.

We trust Lord DERBY will listen to the very
temperate and anything but hostile Counsels of
Lord GREY respecting the Oaths Bill, and recon-
sider his declared int3ntion of vsting for the
omission of the fifth clause. His lordship (x_
prcs3cd some regret at the thought of taking such
a course, and well he might do so, since no pos-
sible practical good could result from if, and the
theory of legislative purism is surely not worth
fighting for—for nearly twenty-five years now—
with the House of Commons and the country.
The House of Lords is, in truth, now like a be-
sieged town, an English Kars ; it has done
enough for its honour, and as it wili
not have to surrender to Sepoys, buc,
to honourable men, it is time for it to capitulate
before risking the last political horrors.
appeal, grounded, Lord. Dann—i
emd,usats fietel
wtashe, foonrcecoonf
sLidoerrdatGioßnEBYo'Si

pure statesmanship. Lord GREY not only ab-
stained from denouncing as bigots those who took

the view of the Premier ; but, he acknowledged so
many difficulties in his own mind, as to ground
his present strong desire to settle the question,
on the political position of the question. Setting
aside the merits of the case, that is, as
they might he estimated by each indi-
vidual Lord, as a House, is it the consti-
tional duty of the small band of hereditary
legislators to resist indefinitely the long and con-
stitutionally expressed wishes of the nation ? Is
the House of Peers to be a governor or fly-wheel
to the engine, regulating and checking the impul-
sive action of popular sentiment, and its mode-
rated influence on our very aristocratic House of
Commons, or is it to be a permanent barrier
against the long and soberly expressed will of the
coup try

In every way the country has spoken in a man-
ner to which the House of Peers is bound to listen,
and to which, if it exists for the country, and not
merely to def./ it, it must listen. The first city
in the kingdom, the city whose hospitality
alone, every Cabinet accepts, and would think
itself slighted were it not offered—London--has
for years sacrificed one of its votes in the House
of Commons, for the single reason of placing its
wish before the Legislature in the strongest form.
The first constituency in the Empire—one hon-
oured, at least, with four members—one which
represents all our great monied and mercantile
interests—persists in telling the House of Peers
that it cannot concede its right to elect a Jew to
represent it in Parliament, as well as to represent it
municipally at the Mansion-House. The succes-
sive Houses of Commons, returned under all
conceivable diversities of circumstances, have
remained faithful to the question of Jewish
Emancipation, and by constantly increasing
majorities have settled the question for that
HOME'. ONE HUNDRED and FIFTY-THREE was
the last of a long series of majorities for the
settlement of this long-disputed question ; is it
nut time then that we hear no more of it ? Is it
decent for the House of Lords to resist the City of
London, expressing as it does the feeling of all the
cities in tho kingdom, and the House of Commons
any longer ? Is it dignified ? Does it not represent
their Lordships in the light of wilful theorists or
purists rather than of statesmen. No one of them
pretends that the least practical evil could result
from conceding the Jewish demands ; op-
position cannot, therefore, be grounded on admi-
nistrative, political, or statesman-like reasons ;
it can only result from the individual predilec-
tions of certain Peers, indulged in contravention
of all public considerations.
Lord DERBY should also consider his relation
to the House of Commons. We do not wish to
taunt him with being in a minority there ; we do
not wish him to condescend to anything unworthy
of his position. But we must think that, under
all the circumstances, he might see in this conces-
sion to the Commons a graceful acknowledg-
ment for the fair way in which the majority of
the House has dealt with his Government. It has
tolerated no factious opposition ; on the contrary,
it has refused, and, if fairly treated, will, we be-
lieve, yet refuse, to lend itself to any party
scheme for overthrowing the Government of the
Noble Lord. But the House has a right to ex-
pect a quid pro quo. It could hardly expect
Lord DERBY to vote for the five points of the
charter ; but here is a po7-te on which the Com-
mons of England have long set their heart—a
point which they must insist on till they gain it,
a point which the Peers must at some time, and
soon, too, concede ; if, therefore, there be a case
in which Lord D ERBY could with perfect honour,
and in consistency with a Statesman's duty, con-
cede to the Commons, it is in the case of the
Jews. We think the House of Commons
has . deserved the concession at his hands.
It would not be a bribe, or a bid
for popularity, but an acknowledgment of
fair support. An acknowledgment that neither
the onslaughts of the Thunderer from without,
nor the restless machinations of the Palmerstonians
within, could induce the House to withhold from
him that fair play which Englishmen delight in.
The business, too, has reached the point in
which the House of Commons will probably no
longer tolerate inaction. It has been with diffi-
culty hitherto restrained from admitting the Jews
by a resolution of its own. Indeed, if it does not
do so, should the Lords refuse this bill, it will pro-
bably incur the contempt of the country. It will
not be endured that our representatives should
be bearded, year after year, by a few hostile Peers,
worthy men, indeed, some of them, but the greater
part of them hardly known, except to those who
are familiar with peerage lists—mere voting
machines for bye-gone prejudices. Is it worth
~Lord DERBY'S while, on their behalf, to drive
the House of Commons now to proceed by reso-
lution, and to hazard another quarrel between the
Commons and the Law Courts, in which the
former must be victors ? For ourselves, should
the fifth clause of the Oaths Bill te rejected, we
should urge the Commons to seat Baron ROTHS-
CHILD by resolution, and to dare all the old
impracticables among the Peers to do their worst.
The country would certainly stand by the Com-
mons, and upset the men who may be very good
theological Peers, but who would have proved
themselves to be no statesmen.

THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY.—It was
mentioned some days back that a pamphlet had been
promised by Mr. Mowal, the late secretary of the
Great Northern Railway Company, on the subject of
the differences which resulted in his connexion with that
establishment being terminated. It is now said that the
couternWated publication will not take place at present,
Mr. Mowatt having commenced an action against the
company in the Court of Common Pleas for damages
for wrongful dismissal.--Times.
CRYSTAL PAL/VOL—The largest and purest gold
nugget yet dkcovered will be exhibited to pubic view at
the Crystal Palace on Saturday, the 1-t of May. It
weighs 1,743 ounces 8 pennyweights, and is of the com-
puted value Of 7,5001. 10,000/. was offered for it at
Melbourne. It was found at a depth of eighteen feet
from the surface at Kingower diggings, a place
in the B nriigo district, about 120 miles from Melbourne,
by a party of four diggers, who have brought it to Eng-
land fur exhibition. One of the party will attend at the
Crystal Palate daily for a few days, from and after the
Ist of May, to explain particulars in reference to this
most extraordinary specimen of our fenua deposit.
NEW DUTIES ON IRISH SPIRITS.—After the 19A1 of
April, 1858, th re are to be gran ed to her Majesty cer-
t sin addi:ional duties n spirits imported in•o Irel.nd—
v a., on spirits not being SW 13, t rued or mixed with any
a title so that the degree of strength thereof cannot be
Syltes's hydrometer; for r ,ry gallon of
ascertainedstrengthbef
proof by such hydrometer, and so in pro-
' portion for any greater or less strength than thestrength of
proof, and f r a y greater or less quality than aga on, of
and frrn a British possession in America or the island of
Mauriles ; and rum of and from any British possession
• i bin the liod s of the Eact India Company's charter,
in regard to A II:eh the conditions of the Act 4th Vie-
tori s, cap. 8, have or shall have fulfilled, 8.. 21 per gr 1
lots ; and on nun, shrub, cordials, and liqueurs of and
front a B:itish vo3session in Am••rica, or the island of
Mauritius, or a British possession %ithin the limits of
the East India Company's charter, qualified as afore-
said, Be. 2'. per gallon. A bill to impose these new
duties on Iri .11 ,p.rits is now before Parlament, and
has already been real a first time.
IRELAND.—Captain Mercer's Battery of Artillery ar-
rived at Ballionsilig on the 21st from Newbridge, hav-
ing marched in front Ferrnoy, 20 miles. Col. Parren's,
C. 8., depot, consisting of the 47th, 481) 57th, and
99th depots, are ordered to Cork from Fer Ly. A do-
t schment of the 17th Regiment will shortly embark for
Canada.
The opening of the ExhiLit.ion of the Imperial Horti-
cu Itural Society at the Palma de l'lndustrie has been
definitively • fixed for the 12th May. That day will be
reserved for the authorities, the ladles patronesses, and
the members of the society. The public will be admitted
the day fo!lcwing and to the 27th incluerre!

ATEST NEWS.

INDIA AND CHINA.

ALEXANDRIA, APRIL 20.

The Calcutta and China mails, per Hindostan,
leave this afternoon, with intelligence from Calcutta
to the 23d of March, Madras to the 29th, Ceylon
to the 2d of April, and Hong Kong to the 15th of
March.

The Bentinok, with extra ma is and passengers
from Calcutta, arrived at Suez on the 14th.
There is intelligence from Luoknow to the 22d
of March. On the 20th Brigadier Campbell's force
returned from pursuit of the enemy.
Hutchison, of the Lancers, was dangerously
wounded, and Cooper, of the Rifles, dead.
On the 21st the Nombries (Nana's) retreat was
stormed. He escaped, and a reward of 50,000
rupees is offered for his head.

Outram's force had discovered and destroyed
rebels in Lucknow, and the Prime Minister is
among those reported as killed. Cape, of the 13th
Native Infantry, and Thackwell were murdered by
the enemy. Fanatics still fire on our troops.
The Governor-General's proclamation calling on
the Zemindars to submit had produced no effect.
Oule is pacified, the enemy flying towards Sun-
deera. Jung Bahadoor goes to Allahabad. No
civil officer had yet been sent to Lucknow by the
Government. Some inhabitants were returning to
the city.
The heat was increasing daily.

A telegram from Allahabad of the 24th states
that Sir Hope Grant was sent on the 23d to dis-
perse a body of insurgents under Rajah Jajlal Singh
at Karee, and returned perfectly successful. He
took 12 guns.

The Disarming Act was being enforced in the
North-west provinces.

The sentence on the King of Delhi had not ye'
been made public.

In the Calcutta Import Market British piece
goods and mule twist had improved, but business
in general was limited. The produce market was
dull. Government securities had improved. Fours
are quoted 18 die. Exchange on London, 2s. 11d.
to 2s. 14d. for credits ; 2s. lid. to 2s. lid. for docu-

ments.
The Madras import market was pretty active.
Money rather less abundant.
Exchange,
documents 2s. lAd.

13 prominent Mexican Reactionista had been cap-
tured by Garz while attempting to band from the
British mail steamer.

Havannah dates at Charleston to the 10th inst.
Sugar and molasses quiet. Freights dull. Ex-
change on London 60 clays', 11. premium. Money
plentiful but trade dull. Current rates 6to 8 per
cent. on good paper. Business in exchange limited,
and prices lower, London, 82. to 9 per cent. ;
France, sf. 15c, to sf. 18ic.
The following are the latest quotations for stocks :
—Virginia Sixes, 91; ; Missouri Sixes, 838 ; New
York Centrals, 87. i ; New York and Erie Shares,
23i- ; Reading Railroad Shares, 481 ; Michigan
Centrals, 651 ; Michigan Southern, 241 ; Cleveland
and Toledo, 44i ; Panama Railroad Snares, 1074 ;
Illinois Central Shares, 92i ; Illinois Central Bonds,
881 ; Chicago and R. I. Shares, 744 ; Milwaukie
and Miss. 33 ; Galena and Chicago, 881; Lacrosse,
9 ; Del. and Hudson, 1061 ; Cumberland, 18.
Cotton firm, at 12/ for middling uplands. Re-
ceipts decreased. Little inquiry for export. Flour,
with large receipts, 10e. lower. Mess pork receded
10c. ; other kinds unchanged. Beef, ditto. Freights
dull.

LIVERPOOL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

TO THE HONOURABLE TIIE COMMONS OF GREAT BRI-
TAIN AND IRELAND IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED,
THE PETITION OF THE LIVERPOOL CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE
Humbly showeth,
1. Thatyour petitioners have always scrupulously
abstained from interfering with the purely political,
and party que tions ; but as the Lest interests of
British commerce are closely bound up with, and
must be directly affected by, the nature and cha-
racter of the Government of India, and the de
velopment or non-development of the vast resources
of that portion of our empire, they feel themselves
bound to offer the following suggestions upon the
propositions now before your Honourable House
for transferring the government thereof from the
East India Company to the Crown.
2. The propriety of such a change having been
affirmed by a large majority of your Honourable
House, your petitioners deem any expression of
their opinion on that point uncalled for.
3. Your petitioners agree with the principle em-
bodied in both bills, and also in the resolutions now
before your honourable house, that the Secretary
of State to whom the Government of England may
be entrusted, should be assisted by a council com-
posed of men, the majority of whom have a per-
sonal knowledge of India from residence in that
country, but without limitation as to the particular
locality of that residence.
4. Your petitioners are also of opinion, that to
secure to some extent the independent character of
the Council, as well as its efficiency in point of
knowledge, the election of some of its members
should be entrusted to persons who have previously
held military commissions or civil app rintments in
India in her Majesty's service or in that of the
Government of India, or who may possess a direct
interest, to an amount to be specified, in some
property situate in, or charged, or se.eured on the
revenues or territories of India ; excepting that no
person should vote in respect of any civil or mili-
tary appointment until he had retired from active
service.

5. Your petitioners deprecate, however, the
extension of a similar electoral privilege to any of
our Parliamentary constituencies, feeling satisfied
that those bodies are neither sufficiently acquainted
with, nor sufficiently interested in, the wants of
India to qualify them for such a trust.
6. Your petitiousra further venture to suggest
that, among the European residents at the Presi-
dencies of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, uncon-
nected with either of the services, constituencies
might be found to elect a portion of the Conned—
constituencies who would value the right of elec-
tion, and be guided, in their choice of members, by
the true interests of India.
7. Your petitioners are of opinion that the small
salary proposal in tie bills now before your Hon-
ourable House, for members of the Council, is cal-
culated to lower the dignity of the office in general
estimation ; and that the amount thereof ought to
be materially increased, or the position made
purely honorary ; in which latter case, your peti-
tioners would suggest that the members of the
Council should not he prohibited from sitting in
the House of Commons.
8. It a'so appears to your petitioners that the
Council should have more substantial powers than
are proposed by any of the measures now before
your Honourable House, and should accept a con-
current responsibility. It can hardly be doubted
that the Secretary of State for Indian affairs will
usually be selected more for 1 is weight and influence
in Parliament than for his knowledge of India.
Individuals deservedly distinguished as Indian
statesmen, are frequently comparatively un-
known to political circles in this country,
especially in time of peace, and they most
commonly return home ignorant of parlia-
mentary usages and too little accustomed to ad-
dressing public assemblies to be eligible as the chief
organs of Government on Indian affairs in the
House of Commons. If tee knowledge of India
possesse I by such men is to be made fully
available, it must be by giving some real
powers to the proposed Coursed of which it is
to be hoped they will become members. Your
petitioners are fully aware of the danger of unduly
diminishing the responsibility of her Majesty's
Minister for India by thus augmenting the powers
of the Council appointed to assist him ; but they
trust that the wisdom of Parliament may devise
means of averting this danger,' and should it be
incurred, they cannot but regard it as an evil some-
what less than the reduction of the Council
to a position in which it might be capable of advis-
ing if called upon to do so, but would be wholly
incapable of giving effect to its opinions. It may
indeed be questioned whether the bast men would
accept of seats at a board at which their united
opinions were liable, at any time, to be wholly dis-
regarded, by a Minister who might possibly know
less than any member of the council of the subject
in question.
9. Your petitioners are further of opinion that it
is a matter of vital importance to the interests of
both India and England, that the patronage
hitherto at the disposal of the Court of Directors
should be transferred to the Council ; and that, in
the event of appointments being distributed by
competitive examination, the management of such
examinations should be in the bands of the Coun-
cil. Your petitioners deeming it unwise to add to
the excessive amount of patronage already at the
command of the Executive Government.
10. In conclusion, your petitioners venture to
express the hope that, at no distant day, some plan
may be devised by whicwhicha portion of the proposed
elective power may with propriety. be committed
to the hands of natives of India, in combination.
with European residents, if only by way of initiat-
ing a system of self-government, which may ulti-
mately relieve this country of the great danger ever
attending an attempt to govern, entirely from with-
out, a distant people whose habits and opinions
have so little in common with our own.
11. Your petitioners, however, dreading the
effects of hasty legislation on questions of such vast
difficulty and importance, humbly pray
That the several measures bereinbefore mentioned
may be referred to a select committee of your
honourable house, and your petitioners will ever
pray, Jsc.
(Signed, on behalf of the Liverpool Chamber of
Commerce,)
CHRIST. BUSHELL, President.

ATTEMPTED ESCAPE OF A PRISONER FROM A RAIL-
WAY CARRIAGE.- Oil Toursday afternoon an accident of a
fearful character occurred on the Midland Railway, be-
tween Roth well Haigh and Woadlesford, a few miles
from Leeds. It appears from what we were able to as-
certain that, yesterday afternoon, the superintendent f
the West Riding police, stationed at Knaresborough,
arrived at the Wellington station, Leeds, in charge of a
prisoner named James Clayton, alias Laycoek, en route
for Wakefield, the latter having been sentenced that day
by the Knaresborough magistrates to three months' im-
f prieonment in the House of Correction on the charge of
obtaiciag si, by false pretences from a lady at Low
Harrowgate. They left Leeds by the 420 pm, up
train to Wakefield and Barnsley, travelling in a third-
class carriage, and shortly after they had passed R ith-
wel Haigh, Clayton, who is a notorious character, suc-
ceeded in eluding the observation of the officer, and
leaped out of the window. He fell upon his forehead on
the space between the rails, rolling over with his body
to the space between the down line, his legs remaining
over the inner line f inetdi. • It is probable that he was
stunned, if not disabled, by the fall, fer immediately
afterwards the North-Eastern train from York, du: at
L weds at 4.55, came in sight, and though the driver
whistled and put on the break, the man remained
ruotionieks, and the whole ( f the train passed over him.
Toe train was stopped as se on as possible, and the driver
and guard returned to the spot, when it was found that
the poor fel,ow'e legs from a little belies, the knee had
been cut off, the upper part of the body having gone
under the carriages without sustaining any serious in
jury. He was still alive when they got to him, though
unconscious, and was placA carefully in the guard's
van, and brought to Leeds. On the arrival of the train
at Leeds he was removed to the infirmary, and received
immediate attention ; but he was in such a state of pros-
tration from the shock to the system, that it was icapos-
sible to proceed with any surgical operation. Up to a
late hour last night he was still alive and partially con-
scious, but there were only the faintsst hopes of his re-
covery. The officer returned to Leeds, by the North-
Eastern express from York, arriving at the station
within a few minutes of his rit,fortunao prisoner. We
may add that not the slightest blame aetaches to the
driver of the North-Eastern train, as he did not Fee
the body uetd within for ty or fifty yards of it. —Leeds
Mercury.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC AlvD THE

CAUSE OF SARDINIA.

LAMARTINE'S REPLY TO GEN. LA MARMORA.

The Presse of Thursday publishes the following reply
of M. de Lamartine to the late speech of General La
Marmon, Sardinian 111ini.ster of War, i❑ the Chamber
of Deputies at Turin :

"Sir,—We owe respect to existing powers ; we have
nothing but bad pleasantries for fallen ones ; such i 1
the maxim of certain statesmen on both sides of the
Alps. I have not the honour to know General La
Marmora. I believed him to be a serious man.
Ile attributes to me to-day in his comic-heroic
speech in the Turin chamber some absurdities and
puerilities which one would blush to ascribe to an idiot
of the Alps. According to this statesman, when in
Ales.;andria in 1856, I mistook some Pieimontese
sappers in their shirt sleeves for Austrians ; the chamber
laughed, says the report of the sitting; it would have
laughed a good deal more if it had known that I have
never set foot either in Alessaddria or in Piedmont since
1822, when one of my intimate friends, General Marquis
de Lauerges, commanded the garrison, and caused mo
to admire the fine Piedmontese troops under his com-
mand.

"According to the same General La Mariners, I re•
plied in 1848 to an envoy of King Charles Albert, who
sought of me French intervention in Italy :--'No, I
wilt never suffer the Mediterranean to become an Italian
lake.' Instead of laughing at this, the Chamber of
Deputies at Turin ought to have been seized with
great admiration at such extraordinary foresight ; for
with what prophetic genius must he be endowed
who could dread the monopoly of the seas by
three steam frigates and the five or six brigs
of the Sardinian navy in tie presence of the
innumerable French and English vessels which covered
the seas with the shadow of their sails. This almost
equals the sublime foresight of that British newsinongdr
who feared the monopoly of the ocean by the galiot of
Sr. Cloud I There must be a great fund of credulity is
a Minister of War of Turin who could seriously attribute
such follies to a minister of the republic at Paris. The
fact is that I never had any relations, official or non-
official, with King Charles Albert in 1848 but through
the respectable and loyal Marquis de Brigno!e, minister
of that unhappy prince to the French republic ; and if
I had talked such stuff to that man of good sense and
heart, he would have thought he was assisting in the
congress of Charenton.

"to speak seriously, all the foreign policy, irreproach-
able policy, of the republic while I directed it, was pro-
claimed in what is called my 'manifesto to Europe.'
All the special policy of the French republic with regard
to Piedmont, a policy which was scrupulously honest,
consisttd in these two facts :—l. Not to advise King
Char:es Albert to an offensive, inopportune, and ra-h
war with Austria ; because a great Power like France
is morally and jointly responsible for the acts to which
it has instigated an allied Power inferior in strength. 2.
If Piedmont, badly advised, entered upon war, and if,
after an impolitic aggression, it incurred dangers to its
existence as an independent nation—to descend the Alps
to its relief, and to take between Austria and it the
position of an armed mediator.
.Why otherwise did I
assemble the day after the revolution of February.the
army of the Ales, if it was not for this policy ? Such is
the whole mystery.
" As to the policy of General Cavaignac after me I
have not to reply thereupon. While respecting the
motives which doubtless animated it, and of which I am
ignorant, I said myself at the time that there was be-
tween my policy and that of General Cavaignac the
width of the Alps ; that is to say, that he kept the army
of the Alps on this side of those mountains, and that I
would have placed it on the other; but to judge of the
fidelity of the tribune recollections of General La Mar-
mora respecting General Cavaignac by those which con-
cern me, I little doubt that those recollections, upon
.which I prejudge nothing, will one day be corrected or
commented upon by those who are the natural guardians
of that general's memory. lie is dead, but in history
the tombs of such men speak best.—Receive,

‘` LAMARTINE,
" Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
of the Republic.

"Pariq, April 21, 1851."

VISIT OF HER MAJESTY TO ALDERSHOT.

Her Majesty, accompanied by the Prince Consort, Prince
Arthur, and the royal suite, left London by the South-
Western Rail way at five o'clock on Thursday evening, and
arrived at Aldershot shortly after six. Her Majesty was
received with a royal salute from the troops, who were
drawn up in line in front of their cantonments. The royal
party did not stop, but drove direct to the Pavilion, where
they passed the night. It was fully understood that a
grand field-day would have taken place yesterday, and in
anticipation of a great influx of company, preparations of
considerable magnitude had been made in the neighbour
hood of the camp. The general orders, however, weie only
issued for a parade and inspection without firing, to the
disappointment of the public, and the undisguised satis-
faction of the troops, who looked forward with no sort of
pleasure to a heavy field-d ay under a scorching sun, and
amid never-ceasing clouds of dust.
The' Queen arrived on the ground shortly before eleven
o'clock, when her Majesty and the staff immediately rode
slowly up and down the two lines, minutely inspecting the
different militia regiments. The Queen ayes dressed in
military attire, the scarlet habit with the general's sash,
and the blue ribbon of the garter, with a plume of feathers
in her hat. Her Majesty rode between General linolloys
and the Prince Consort. The inspection having concluded,
the Queen and the staff took up their position at the foot
of a hill at the north side of tho valley, while the troops
marched past in the order in which they stood on the
ground. The regiments of the line, of course, bore them-
selves with the usual perfection of discipline, and the ad•
mirable way in which the militia regiments acquit.ed
themselves, and their soldierlike, and trim appearance
was the surprise and admiration of all. Among the
tine regiments the 21 Battalion of the sth Foot were
especially conspicuous, from the red roses which both men
and effacers wore in their shakos and on their breasts
in honour of St. George's Day, whose name the regiment
has always borne. The Kerry Regiment, though small in
number, were also conspicuous among the Irish militia
regiments for their perfect discipline. After the marching
past, the troops broke up and returned to their lines with-
out any salute, and the visitors left the ground an , thing
but edified by the result of the day's proceedings. Upon
their return homewards a sight awaited them which in
awful gran ieur and devastatinginfluenceput into the shade
the mimic warfare which they had been witnessing. A
fire, which hal originated among the furze on Frimley
Heights, rapidly spread into some extensive pine planta-
tions, and in a short time the whole range of hills was
wrapped in a sheet of flame for miles distant ; the
gigantic clouds of smoke and sheets of fire could be
seen rising from the country as from an extensive city
in flames. Of course, nothing could be done to arrest
the progress of the conflagration until it had consumed
Pal the wood and furze land within its reach ; and as
this would not involve the loss of any considerable amount
of property, and would in other respects be quite harm-
less, those present looked upon the spectacle only in
a picturesque point of view. After the troops had re-
turned to their cantonments, her Majesty and the royal
party, returned to the Pavillion, where they changed
their dresses and partook of luncheon. The Queen and the
Prince Consort subsequently drove over the picturesque old
domain of Farnham Castle, and paid a visit to the Bishop
of Winchester there, and upon their return in the evening
they drove round and inspected the camp and the new per-
manent barracks. In the evening the Queen honoured the
amateur theatrical performance at the north camp with
her presence. "A Wonderful Woman," and several other
pieces, were very successfully performed.
To-day thera will be a grand review and field-day, at
which it is expected that Marshal the Duke of Malakoff
will be present, at the conclusion of which her Majesty
will return to town.

NAVAL AND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.

THE SQUADRON OF REARADMIRAL CHADS.—The Re-
nown, Diadem, Curacoa, and Racoon, came into Ply-
mouth Sound yesterday, having been called in by the Lap-
wing, sent out for the purpose.
The Gorgon, steam-vesel, Commander J. Dayman, this
day received her armament from the Royal Arsenal, con-
sisting of two 68-pounders, four 32-pounders, and four
small brass guns. Her crew is now complete, and she is
fully rigged and ready for sea. Si'. is ordered to leave the
harbour on Monday next for Greenhithe to adjust compasses
and proceed thence to Plymouth, in order to join the Aga-
memnon, for the purpose of assisting to lay down the At-
lantic telegraph cable.
Boilers and machinery for the following new steam ves-
sels will be forwarded from Woolwich forthwith :—Re-
venge, Plymouth ; Lien, Devonport • Orlando, Pembroke;
and for the Aurora and Dragoon. The machinery has been
manufactured by Messrs. Maudeley, Son, and Field.
The Challenger, screw corvette, recently launched, is in
a forward. state, and is expected to be ready for commis-
sion early in June.
The Tiny and Midge steam gun-boats arrived at Ports-
mouth yesterday morning from Chatham in tow of the
Adder steam vessel.
The Flirt, Ready, and Thrush gun-boats are ordered to
Portsmouth from Deptford.
The Victoria and Albert Royal steam-yacht, Captain
the Hon. Jos. Denman, A.D.C., will be docked next ‘Ved-
nesday, to be prepared for her Majesty's summer service.
The half-yearly inspection of the c Ape of Royal Engi-
neers at Brompton Barracks, Chatham, is to take place to•
(ley, the inspecting general officer being Lieutenant-Gene-
ral Sir G. A. Wetherell, K.C.8., K.II , Adjutant-
General.
The whole of the depots comprising the 3d Battalion of
Infantry at Chatham were assembled on their parade-
ground, Brompton-huts, on Thursday afternoon, for the
purpose of hearing read the sentence of a district court-
martial recently held at Chatham garrison on Colour-Ser-
geant Robert Bond, 70th Regiment, on a charge of deser-
tion from the depot of his corps at Chatham. For this
charge he was sentenced to be reduced, in the presence of
the whole battalion, to the rank and pay of a private. The
sentence of the Court having been read by the Adjutant
the prisoner was marched to the front, when Lis " stripes"
were cut from his arm in the presence of the troops. The
prisoner has been branded with the letter " D."
Orders have been received at Chatham for the following
East India depots to furnish reinforcements for °what ke-
tion for India :-Bth, 10th, 19th, 20th, 23d (Royal Welsh
Fusiliers) 24th, 29th, 321, 35th (Royal Sussex) 43d
(Light Infantry), 52d (Light Infantry), '3,1, Gist, 70th,
t7osteBninstinbSeirthof aini3dar9ll;lll,7ogoi'lmjeenuts,. reinforcements,
exi cot :d to embark at Gravesend on the let of May.

HERR JOACHIM.—This great violinist has just arrived
in L ,ndori, where he has not been beard f several
years. He is to make his first appearance at the Phil-
harmonicConc,rt on Monday next, when he will perform
Beethoven's violin Concerto, together with the singular
piece which everybody has heard about, but few have
1 sLened to—Tartini's famous "Sonata del Diavolo,"
consisting of the great old master's reminiscences of a
dream in which the Devil entertained him with a solo on
his own instrument. This sonata, of enormous difficu.lty,
is esteemed the most original and imaginative of Tartan's
compositions.