The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-22 00:00:00

tions to make against him, and they insisted that
he should be suspended while they examined his
books. Was that, he asked, a fair position to place

a manager in ? (Hear, hear.) Now, what were
the charges that led to his suspension ? The first
charge was that he cashed a note for £3OO, and
held it for a certain number of days without charg-
ing interest upon it. His reply was, first, that in
one year that person paid £36 for interest ; se-
condly, that he charged him 18s. 4d. on account
of this note (as was understood) ; and, lastly, that
he had at the time £670 in the bank on which he
received no interest. He might remark that when
he called for the books, in order that he might be
able to re-out the charges of Mr. Arber, he was met
by the statement that that gentleman had exacted
a pledge from the directors that he should not have
access to them. How, then, was he to answer his
accusers ? (Hear, hear.) When he did obtain
access to them, the result was that the cashier
admitted that three statements of his on which
some of the charges were based were incorrect. He
was charged with having concealed from the direc-
tors that he had in his possession an overdue note
for £4,000. The directors knew that there was no
foundation for that statement. The truth was that
he refused to renew the note, that £3,000 was paid
before the charge was brought, and that the whole
amount was paid ultimately. (Cheers.) He never
attempted any concealment at all. (Hear, hear.)
The chaages were all ex parte statements, and he
emphatically said those who had made them had
been the means of shutting up the bank.
Mr. STOHWASSER here interrupted the speaker,
but the chairman ruled that he had no right to do
so, and insisted on his sittinc, down.
Mr. CLACK continued—He repeated that they
were the means of shutting up the bank. If the
accounts as they stood last Christmas were care-
fully examined, it would be found that half of the
monies in the bank came to it through private con-
nexions of his own. The reason why his services
were originally sought was, he believed, that he
had been in the neighbourhood for thirty-two
years, and that he was expected to bring a large
number of customers. The condition of the bank
was, he repeated, sound in January, the only loss
that had occurred being £3OO, and if it had not
been interfered with it would have steadily worked
its way upward. (Hear, hear.) Tt had been stated
that losses had occurred through the adoption of a
reckless mode of advancing money ; but that state-
ment had no foundation. As regarded the mutilated
books, he would observe that when questions were
raised by Mr. Maynard, with regard to the value
of particular bills, he observed that there were liens,
and it was when Mr. Maynard inquired for the
lien book, to which he referred him, that the muti-
lation was first discovered. The animus of all the
charges against him was connected with the £3,000
to which he was entitled. The accounts would
show that there had been no recklessness in the
management. Mr. Arbor, having got £l5O of the
promotion money, afterwards applied for the situa-
tion of surveyor and valuer to the bank, which he
did not obtain.

Mr. STOHWASSER again interrupted Mr. Clack,
and the chairman again decided that he had no
right to do so, Mr. Clack being entitled to pursue
the course that he was doing in consequence of the
manner in which he had been attacked.

Mr. CLACK said, in support of the statement which
he had just made, he would read the following letter
from Sir Henry Bulwer :—" Paris, Aug. 8, 1856.—
The bearer of this, Mr. Arber, is a man with a griev-
ance; he wants to be made auctioneer, valuer, &c.,
to the bank. I hope you will excuse my giving him
these few lines for you. I have known him some
time, and should be very glad if anything could be
done for him." Mr. Arber came to him (Mr. Clack)
before the last half-yearly meeting, and told him
that if Mr. Roebuck attempted to put him down
as he had done previously, he would do his best
to fight it out with him, even if the shutting
up of the bank should be the result. That had
been the result of the course pursued. As regarded
the management, he had been obliged in the case
of a young bank to coax business to some extent,
and that necessity might have entailed some losses
which would not have been suffered by an older
establishment, but he had always conducted the
business to the best of his ability, and he ventured
to say that throughout the whole of the transac-
tions in which they took part, the directors and
himself were actuated by a desire to do their duty
fairly and honestly. (Cheers.)
Dr. BENNETT said, having been led to investi-
gate the affairs of the bank for himself, he had
been led to the conclusion that there had been
great misrepresentation with regard to their real
state ; and independent bankers had confirmed him
in the opinion that the bank was a good concern,
and that, had it been allowed to go on, it would
hare succeeded. (Hear, hear.) As to the allega-
tions with regard to serious bad debts and misin-
vestments, the accounts now presented afforded a
sufficient answer to such statements. (Cheers.) He
trusted that the meeting would terminate the affair
in such a way as to avoid any needless loss. It
would be best to forgive and forget on all sides,
and as there appeared to be a fair prospect of their
realising £4O a share let them not be guilty of the
folly of risking the diminution of their assets by re-
ferring the matter to a committee of investigation.
Mr. BROOKS did not admit that they would get
off well if they received back £4O per share. From
the accounts presented in January, it appeared that
the deficiency did not exceed £lO,OOO ; and, as Mr.
Maynard now estimated it at £40,000, there must,
of course, have been a loss of £30,000 in realising
the assets of the bank. He should like to have that
explained.
Mr. MAYNARD explained that he had taken the
loss at the maximum, and that the sum returned
might be considerably more than £4O. £35,000
was the utmost loss, he thought, that could arise.
In reply to a question from Mr. BROOKS,
Mr. MAYNARD said it was possible that the
shareholders would get back as much as £45 per
share. He added, that since the transfer of the
business there was received up to the 17th of May
£84,000, and up to the present time £130,000,
making a total of £214,000. Of the proceeds of
the Government stock there remained, after re-pay-
ing a loan of £70,000, a balance of £6,100.
Mr. KENDALL, solicitor, stated that the directors
had divided the £l,OOO voted for them without
waiting for the confirmation of the meeting, under
the advice of the firm to which he belonged, adding
that the only object of seeking it was to avoid the
possibility of a Chancery suit.
Mr. ANDERTON hoped there would be no objec-
tion to the vote of £l,OOO for the directors.
(Cheers.) As regarded the amendment, he believed
the sole result of adopting it would be that the
shareholders, instead of getting their money within
two or three months, would have to wait a twelve-
month for it, and the inquiry would possibly end
in a Chancery suit. (Hear, hear.)
At this stage of the preedings a very animated
dialogue took place between Mr. Anderton and
Mr. T. A. Jay, in which anything but compli-
mentary language was used on both sides.
Mr. .NonToN, a director, said the directors were
quite ready to have an investigation, having, as
they believed, been guilty of few errors in judg-
ment, and of none in principle, in conducting the
affairs of the bank. (Cheers.) As regarded the au-
ditors, it was no doubt their duty to see that the
accounts were faithfully kept ; but when they went
beyond that; and sought to control the actions of
the board, they were guilty of attempting to usurp
the functions of others. (Hear.) The directors could
have no interest in injuring their own property,
gentleman-like
that
occoncommunications
Air .W and if the auditors thought they had anything to
complain of, they should have had recourse to
htleixeamboinaerdd:
Walker had wiadt
been
as if' the directors were in so
me way parties to the
mutilation of the lien book---(loud cries of no, no)—
which he might observe, did not contain the securi-
ties, but was only an index to them. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. Jay had remarked that whereas in January last
the loss on past due bills was stated to be X 1,200, it
to be £30,000.
now appeared He forgot that over-
due bills did not necessarily represent lost money.
(Hear, hear.) The directors had, he repeated, no ob-
jection to an investigation so far as they themselves
were concerned; but it should be remembered that
three t at
appointed, that ha
d
not liquidators had been
andtheyd
not yet commenced their action,a
that the effect
would of adopting the amendment be to place in-
vestigators over them, who would also, perhaps
have others over them in turn. (Laughter.) [A,
VOICE—The Court of Chancery.] In such a case it
might well be asked, " Quis custodiet ipsos ens-
As
todes ?" (" Who shall watch the watchers ?")
regarded Mr. Clack, he could not help remarking
that had a foreigner entered the room, and listened
to some parts of the discussion he would naturally
have supposed that the shareholders had been in
some way defrauded of their money, whereas, in
fact, there was no pretence for saying anything of
the kind. (Cheers.) There might have been some
irregularities, but no man who was acquainted
with the facts, and who had a proper sense of jus-
tice, would call them crimes. (Cheers.)
On the amendment being pnt from the chair 11
hands were held up in favour of it, and it was nega-
tived by a very large majority.
The original resolution was then adopted, there
being only three dissentients.
The CHAIRMAN having declared the meeting at an
end,

On the motion of Mr. ANDERTON a vote of thanks
was unanimously accorded to the hon. and learned
gentleman and his brother directors.
Mr. STOHNVASSER said he thought that before
the meeting separated something ought to be said
in favour of the auditors. (Laughter, cries of oh,
oh, and hisses.)
The meeting then separated.

HEAD-QUARTERS OF THE SECOND
AUSTRIAN ARMY.

(From the Times' Special Correspondent.)
SORESINA, JUNE 10.

Nearly all the wounded Austrians are to-day in
safety behing the Mincio, none but utterly hope-
less cases having been left behind. Poor fellows,
they have had a dreadful week of it. In excellent
health and on horseback, I have found the sun and
dust (the latter especially) almost insupportable ;
what must some of them have suffered, dragged
along ten or twelve hours a day on the springless
ox carts of the country ? I mentioned to you
before that the ambulance waggons are numerous
with this army, much more so than is usual with
any other European army, but they still fall far
short of the exigencies of such a retreat as this.
The heavy baggage is two days' march behind us,
that is to say two days' march nearer the Mincio,
so the roads are now unencumbered ; but at first a
total jamb seemed inevitable. This will not sur-
prise you when you consider that this army with its
trains of artillery, pontoons, ambulances, baggage,
&c., cannot occupy less than 120 miles of road. The
day we left Abbiate Grasso it took me three hours
to reach Castelletto, a village only two miles off,
even on horseback, I having missed the opportunity
of riding with the General, owing to a Croat having
given over the British Commissioner, Captain
Mildmay, to the hands of the Provost-Martial, on
suspicion of being a Piedmontcse. He was liberated
after some little trouble, but at head-quarters they
positively forbad him to run the risk of riding
back through the town to call for me, as had been
agreed, so he sent a messenger, who arrived about
an hour afterwards, telling me where to join him.
I accordingly mounted and proceeded leisurely to
the suburb where the head-quarters had been, and
where I expected still to find them. I confess I
felt exceedingly uncomfortable when I'discovered
that every Austrian was gone, and that my appear-
ance caused such alarm to the Italians that all I
approached to ask the way took to their heels. It
was not till they had closed and locked their front
gates that a dozen of them ventured to appear at a
first floor window to parley, but then we soon cams
to understand each other, as they all spoke at once.
From Binasco we went on the 6th inst., by Pavia,
to Belgiojoso ; this journey of under 20 miles re-
quiring 11 hours, so crowded were the roads,
although the finest and broadest in Europe. Had
the French been in a condition to follow, confusion
must have ensued. That they did not follow proves
beyond the possibility of a doubt that they under-
state their loss at the battle of Magenta, if it be

true, as the telegraph announces, that they pre-
tend only to have had 2,500 killed there. If their
loss was so trifling, why did they pause four days ?
On Wednesday, the Bth, their advanced guard
first came on the Austrian rear guard, General
Boer's brigade, near Malegnano. In the fight which
ensued General Boer was killed, but the next day,
yesterday, Benedek moved out from Lodi and drove
the French beyond the Lambro, whence they did
not venture to return to molest, as they might have
done, the corps which to-day crossed the Adda.
The head-quarters remained two days at Codogno,
whence they proceeded yesterday to Cavatigozzi, on
the direct road to Mantua, and here to-day, to be in
the centre of the army.
The army has retreated in three main columns,
the first, second, and third corps, and part of the
seventh in the centre, protected by the rest of the
seventh and the eighth on the right flank, and by
the fifth, joined at Codogno by the ninth, on the left
flank. Urban holds Treviglio and Bergamo on the
extreme right. The sixth corps is at Verona, the
11th at Mantua; so the army is approaching its
resources. By this evening the whole will be across
the Adda the Bth and part of the 7th corps by
Lodi, where there was a wooden bridge, which is
probably burnt at the time I write. Pontoon
bridges were thrown across at Vinzasca and Formi-
gana for other corps, and the sth and 9th and the
garrisons of Piacenza and Pavia cross at the fortress
of Pizzighettone. The two former places are already
destroyed and abandoned ; the last-named and Lodi
will be demolished to-morrow, or perhaps next day.
Pavia was given up on the 6th, the day I was there,
but re-occupied on the Bth. Yesterday the place
was again abandoned. Piacenza was almost perfect
as an intrenched camp for about 40,000 men. How
they can have made up their minds to destroy the
result of so much skill and labour I know not. It
must strike all who have watched the events of the
last few weeks attentively that there have been
frequent changes of purpose in the Austrian coun-
cils. There was the resolve to act entirely on the
defensive ; then the threat to overrun Piedmont
after three days ; then that was not carried out at
the request of England; then a defensive position
was taken in the Lomellina, and abandoned almost
without defence; then the troops crossed the
Ticino so scattered that it must have been intended

either to march straight back to the Mincio, or
else to try some coup-de-main on the left ; the
next day battle was accepted, and the victory
abandoned the day after, when nothing was
requisite to secure it but to remain quiet; then
came the retreat; then the day before yesterday
Pavia was re-occupied, and Benedek turned so
fiercely on the Frenchman that his outposts ran no
risk of being disturbed for some time to come ; then
yesterday the backward movement was resumed,
and to-day here is the army on the east of the Adda.
I suppose you look to me for some explanation of
all this, but I can only guess what is wrong, so I
will not risk being unjust by telling you what I
guess, but will mention some facts which will enable
you to judge for yourself. 1. There was latterly
an electric telegraph direct from Vienna to the head-
quarters of the operating army, and messages used
to arrive sometimes every half-hour, even during
the night, much to the disturbance of the superior
staff. 2. General Hess, Count Gyulai's superior
officer, met him at Bereguardo on the morning
of the 3d inst., at daybreak. 3. General Hess was
present at the battle of Magenta next day.
Now, whether this retreat is a masterly move-
ment or a most weak one, I think that it will be
unfair, considering these coincidences, to give all
the praise or all the blame to Count Gyulai. Of
course, the whole army is furious ; the Lancers
have torn the flags from their lances ; the Jagers
have thrown aside the flowers they always carry in
their hats during war. Indiscreet officers give vent
to their feeling in words ; the more discreet twirl
their moustaches by the hour together ; but I must
in justice add that the general tone is that of stern
determination to let the future atone for the past.
The more I see of this huge army the more con-
vinced I am becoming that, whatever Power de-
votes its attention to the perfection of the indi-
vidual soldier will secure an almost incalculable
advantage in warfare by being able to use fewer,
men, who will be more easily fed, and who can
be brought to bear on any one point with much
greater facility. With the Austrian system of
recruiting it is impossible to make really efficient
soldiers. A peasant boy is enlisted nominally for
eight years, but after two leave of absence is
given, and he is not called on again except in case
of war. Three-fourths of this army, then, even of
the Artillerymen, are men of less than two years'
service. To such men the warfare of this country
must be most trying. The trees are so numerous
that they never see their enemy. till within a couple
of hundred yards, and they never see their own sup-
ports. That an army so composed can have fought
on equal terms for ten hours with a superior force
of picked French troops proves that with good
management during this campaign the men can be
depended on next year to do anything which sol-
diers have ever done.

Like all allied armies, the French and Sardinians
abuse each other. French prisoners say of their
friends, " Ces . . . la ne se battent pas," and a Sar-
dinian gentleman, carried et' by a patrol the day
before yesterday, says the French Guards never
stopped running from Magenta till they reached
Vercelli. 2,000 Austrian soldiers were got together

close to Milan, having straggled so far as thaiwhen
their regiments were beaten back on the 4th. Some
of them were seen fraternising with parties of
French who did not know the country and were

walking off straight to Milan. The French having
brandy in their canteens and the Austrians water
may have added to their mutual amiability. The
Commissariat of this army is not good. Clam's men
left Milan for San Martino at daybreak on the 3d
inst., some of them having just arrived from Verona,
and for 50 hours I am assured they did not even
get a piece of bread.
eA new division of the armies is expected shortly,
i
tsiseh army,
he
oennsatitshaa,
,onrredi
noa
ury9g,
Tthbh,
belonging
eel oos ,
an tngh do
tuiosgathhl
seoo pfierrsatt i n
Tgh Nev i tfho u the
te,
organiesed.
Each destined for Italy
generally
ieonnes-ini.
aulaln r a:
marshal,
corps armee consists of two divi-
beeringsaisdtess,ebfuftou
teiuitenant-general, or lieutenant-
fieldey call it here; the divisions
three ; the brigawdoe srombaettfaelwionhave
three; the brigade Consists of four battalions of
huehsaatl
have
Austrian
sny
infantry, a troop of cavalry, and a battery of artil-
lery—in all 4,200 men when complete. Besides
these there is a force of reserve artillery and a
cavalry corps, under General Count Mensdorff, a
most dashing officer. By the way, I y, neglected
in m's last letter to mention the name of the
colonel who led that gallant charge at Ponte
Magenta. It was Baron Dlitsheim, with three
troops of his regiment, the Preussen Hussars. In
consequence of the frightful slaughter of officers in
every late affair, the Emperor has ordered that they
shall wear caps. This will be a great boon to the
Quartermaster-General's Staff, of whom 13 have
fallen already, being so easily known by their light
green plumes. If a battle is accepted on this side
of the Mincio, the Austrians must hurry up more
cavalry. At present they have only 5,000, quite
enough for patrolling, but utterly insufficient to

manoeuvre on the open country about Montechiaro
and Castiglione.
The people are very frank with the Austrian
officers. They acknowledge that they would prefer
to be under a purely Lombard Government, but
they add that if either France or Savoy attempt to
annex them they will assist the Austrians to come
back.

We are promised the re-establishment of postal
communication to-morrow. It has been quite cut
off for the last ten days, so that I have been much
puzzled how to send, my letters to you. However,
I hope you have received, them bare.

THE HEAD-QUARTERS OF THE
ALLIED ARMIES IN ITALY.

A letter from Cassano, on the banks of the Adda,
dated June 13, says
Another promenade militaire has lirought us
over the Adds. Although the Austrians have suc-
ceeded this time better than before in destroying
the bridges over the river, not only at Lodi but
likewise at thisplace and Vaprio, this measure has,
as you see, not very much retarded the progress
of the allies. Provided as they are with a nu-
merous pontoon train, calculated especially for
this country, with its numerous rivers and
canals intersecting the road, a few hours were
sufficient to re-establish the means of commu-
nication. As for defending the banks of
the Adda, the Austrians could scarcely think of
it, except in a very desperate case. The reason of
this is simple enough. The right, or Lombard bank
of the river, commands the opposite bank almost all
along its course. A crest or plateau of from 40 to
100 feet in height skirts the right •bank, now
approaching the river quite close, and now receding
a little distance from it. The other side, on the
contrary, is an uninterrupted plain, which the eye
can follow almost to the banks of the next tributary
of the Adda and Po—the Serio. It is something
like that of San Martino and Turbigo on the Ticino,
with the difference, however, that there is no canal
and corresponding elevation on the opposite bank.
There is, indeed, a canal alongsidethis river, which
fertilises the district of Lodi, but it is on this side
of it, and at this point so close to it, that it looks
more like a little branch than a separate stream,
only a narrow bank intervening between the two.
The Adda is the last line of defence which exists
up to the Mincio ; there are, indeed, here and there
positions which possess a certain strength, but they
are isolated points only, where the defender may
offer a battle under favourable conditions, if he be
so inclined. All the different roads which come
from north-west and south, after passing the Adda,
unite in two main roads, one in the north by
Brescia to Verona, and the other by Pizzighettone
and Cremona towards Mantua. These two roads,
or one of them, at any rate, must always be the line
of operations for an army marching to the east, but
there are so many byroads and crossroads connect-
ing the two that for an arm 4, used to forced marches
nothing is easier than to deceive the enemy on the
object of its operations. The more one approaches
the Mincio the easier this becomes, for the two
main roads converge.
Whether the Austrians will receive us in the
famous rectangle of fortresses, or will meet us on
the road, remains to be seen. We know that they
have received great reinforcements, and likewise
that others are still on the road ; it will probably
depend on whether they are able to bring them up
in time. On the other hand, the allies have like-
wise taken their measures to oppose to these efforts
on the part of the enemy others on their side.
Whatever one may say about the rapidity with
which the French army appeared on the scene of
action in Italy, France was not prepared for the
war ; the regiments which had to leave in hot haste
were on a peace footing, except those which came
from Algeria. They had scarcely more than one-
half of their strength, the rest being on what is
called conge reruntvelable—that is, after serving
three or four years, the men are allowed to go on
furlough, which is renewed at short periods, until
they have served their time. It is only since the
war has begun that these men have been called in,
and most of them have by this time arrived. Their
number alone will add quite a third to the forces,
and then it must be remembered that these are not
recruits, but seasoned soldiers, most of them dating
from the Crimean campaign.
Thus both parties are
.preparing with equal
vigour for the great occasion. In the meantime,
until it happens, the allied armies, at any rate,
have an agreeable time of it in this fertile and
beautiful Lombard plain, through which they, are
marching. It is like an agreeable promenade in a
park. Although the country between Milan and
the Adda is similar to that further west, yet the
richness of the vegetation, combined with the per-
fection of cultivation, gives it an entirely different
character. Thus you have the long, •straight
chaussees, it is true, but they are not those mono-
tonous sunburnt roads, with equally monotonous
rows of willows, or naked, closely-planted poplars,
cropped close as charity boys, but you have a road
protected in most parts by high, full-spread chest-
nuts, poplars, and , elms, which impart shade even
at noon-day. Two little ditches, with clear, flow-
ing streams, on both sides, impart additional:fresh-
ness, and vivify a dense mass of brUshwood and
creepers at the foot of the high trees. Besides the
wild vine, which creeps up gracefully under the
branches of its more powerful neighbours, you find
there all the old acquaintances—the nut, the rasp-
berry, the cranberry, and every variety of th(
three, while at their feet near the fresh water,
nestle a number of wild flowers in all their varied.
garments. The side roads are no longer those tire-
some nursery
garden rows, which must have served
as models for the background in the pictures of the
early Italian school. The richness of the vegetation
has transformed them into delicious cool country
lanes. The rice-fields have quite disappeared, and
the corn-fields are much less frequent. Instead of
them the eye roams over large plots of grass, chiefly
thick Lucerne, which is grown in large quantities in
this country, renowned for its dairies. The formal en-
closures beyond are so completely hidden by the rich-
ness of the brushwood and the free growth of the
trees that they seem the borders of a considerable
forest, just sufficiently cleared to admit the grass-
, song thteo nightingale,
have
forgotten
plot. All this mass of verdure is animated by the
t the
heblancukmbierrdo,oas ndlark,
whoof
seem
sports-
men of Lombardy, or, perhaps, think that while
the cryis " Morte ai Tedeschi' "they, as good patriots,
have nothing to fear. From Milan all along to the
Adda the villages succeed each other with as much
rapidity almost as in the neighbourhood of Lon-
don, only they arc picturesque Italian villages,
and not uniform suburban hamlets. Besides these
you almost every moment meet one of the
cascini, or large detached farmhouses,or see them in
the distance, peeping out of the trees beyond the
road. Every one is the centre of groups of peasants,
who seem to have forgotten their work in their
anxiety to have a look at the troops. Everywhere
you are greeted by the sounds of music and glasses,
gaping crowds saluting and crying " Evviva,"
troops reposing and refreshing themselves ; the
whole looks like going to a fair.
And through this jubilee the soldiers have to
march by easy stages. When they arrive at the
halt for the day they encamp in the green fields to
the right and the left, the tents are soon pitched,
there is plenty of wine, bread, and meat, plenty of
wood to cook with, and water everywhere. A de-
tachment goes to the village to fetch clean straw,
and the bivouac is as comfortable as can be. Now
and then, indeed, a shower comes down to spoil
the fun, but no one cares much about this while
there is plenty to eat and drink, and the next
morning the sun does the rest. Not the least im-
portant part of the afternoon's business is foraging
for dainties, which is pleasant work among such
numbers of rich farms; eggs, fowls, and milk are
never wanting, nor is the payment at full market
price only, but often rather more. If it goes on
like this, the peasant will soon lose his fear of war,
which, in his mind, is always equivalent to giving
without receiving.
The stir, animation, and easy life which the army
leads at present are, it seems, contagious, for every-
where you see volunteers, whom you can recognise
by the tricoloured feathers in the hat, and often a
piece of printed paper behind it, with Cacciatori
delli Alpi printed on it. The name of Garibaldi,
the less severe discipline, as it is supposed, and the
romantic character which attaches to his troops,
seem all to be so many allurements, which take
much more than the regular military service in the
regiments. With all this the good people, I think,
rather deceive themselves, for the Cacciatori delli
Alpi have just as much regular drilling to undergo
before they join as if they were regular soldiers of
the line of his Majesty Vittorio Emmanuele 11.
Those who are under the superintendence of the
captain of the depot at Como have, I dare say, found
this out by this time.

The question of a further issue of Victoria Six
per Cent. debentures is under discussion by the agents of
the colony in London, but the joint-stock banks being wil-
ling to make advances on this security, there is no com-
pulsion from want of funds to bring them out at any parti-
cular time.
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noxious and substitute health for disease.

THE PEERAGE.

The present Ministers have not yet appealed to
heir constituencies,-they have exercised no act of
Government, they have scarcely had time to enter
the offices of their several departments, and yet
they have elevated two gentlemen to the Peerage
—Sir Benjamin Hall and Mr. Vernon Smith. It
is, of course, desirable that when a politican has
established an inconvenient claim to office there
should exist some honour which he may be induced
to accept instead of the coveted post ; nor can we
doubt that in the cases of Sir Benjamin Hall and
Mr. Vernon Smith the usefulness of the institution
has been properly tested. But it remains to be
seen how long the Peerage can be made to render
such services without losing its efficiency as a part
of the Constitution. It must be confessed that of
late the privilege of creating peers has been suffi-
ciently asserted. In the memory of living men the
House of Lords consisted of little more than 250
mombers, even counting the 28 representatives of the
Irish Peerage; now the number is about 460, and
there is every reason to believe that in a few years it
will have reached 500. In fact, since the advent
to power of the second Pitt the British peerage has
changed its character. Pitt's policy placed the
greater part of the Tory gentry in the Upper
House, and Pitt's successors kept possession of
power for the first 30 years of this century. The
consequence was that the rural balance of power
was disordered, and in every county there were old,
wealthy, and powerful Whig families in the ranks
of the commonalty, while much inferior houses en-
joyed the honours of the peerage. That Earl Grey
and Lord Melbourne should have advised King
William and her present Majesty to remedy these
inequalities was only natural, nor can we blame
them, although from 1830 to 1841 an immense in-
crease was made in the number of the Lords, an in-
crease loudly protested against by the Tories of
that day.
But with the equalisation of honours between
the two great parties this extravagant diffusion of
honours might well have ceased. We are not about
to indulge in any sentimentalism with respect to
the aristocracy and its privileges, but, for better or
worse, the House of Lords is an institution of the
country, and ought not to be tampered with to suit
the convenience of every Minister. Now, it seems
to us that the making of peers has for the last three
or four years especially been carrried to a length
which is prejudicial to the dignity of the Upper
House. Take first the creation of law Lords. Three
years since the house took upon itself to declare that
a peerage for life did not confer the right of sitting
and voting as a peer of Parliament. On the legal
question it is our duty to submit to this high
authority, but, as it is notorious that the oppo-
sition -was prompted by other than legal convic-
tions, we may ask what has the House of Lords
gained by this obstinacy in refusing the admission
of peers for life ? There are now sitting on its
benches five ex-Chancellors—Lords Lyndhurst,
Brougham, St. Leonards, Cranworth, and Chelms-
ford. Lord Wensleydale and Lord Kingsdown
have been lately created, Lord Cottenham and
Lord Truro are dead, leaving families to inherit
their honours. So great is the necessary influx
of legal personages that men -without sons are
notoriously sought, in order not to fill the house in
the second generation with members of no ancient
lineage and with very slender fortunes. But, with
every endeavour to keep down the number of
ennobled legal families, the Peerage is receiving a
continual accession of them, while the appellate
jurisdiction, the pretext for this yearly creation of
new Barons, is inefficient and dilatory to a degree
known only to lawyers and their unfortunate
clients. But, if veteran judges must perforce be
brought into the house, and their families, rich or
poor, be made part of the Peerage in order to obtain
a Supreme Court, there can be no such reason for
constant creations of country gentlemen and second-
rate politicians. For some time this process has
been going on with increased rapidity. We have
had the Peerages of Aveland, Fermoy (Irish), Ken-
mare, Chesham, and Ebury conferred on indivi-
duals more or less commonplace.; while Lyons,
Wensleydale, and Macaulay suggest merit of
various kinds. Since Lord Derby's accession to
office we have been favoured, as far as we recollect,
with Chelmsford, Kingsdown, Churston, Clyde,
Elphinstone, Leconfield, Egerton, Tredegar—pretty
well it will be allowed for sixteen months. And
now we have two new Peerages, while other ambi-
tious Whigs will, no doubt, shortly make their way
' to that empyrean of earthly greatness—the Upper
House. To this must 13e added the constant in-
' crease by the establishMent of claims to dormant
titles, the calling out of, abeyance of baronies by
writ, and the sundering of these old dignities from
the higher ones with which they were held. Thus
within the last year the two Scotch Peerages of
Newburgh and Herries have been successfully
claimed; a nephew of the late Duke of Leeds has
succeeded to his barony of Conyers, and no doubt
other events of the same kind have taken place.
The extinctions of,Peerars by failure of heirs by
no means counteracts this constant increase, and
it is for the Lords, who have shown themselves so
indignant at the very moderate and reasonable
proposal of creating one or two lawyers Peers for
life, to consider how far the indefinite extension
of their_ numbers is consistent with their dignity
and usefulness. To us it seems that a change in
the constitution of the Upper House must sooner
or later be the result of this extravagant scattering
e of honours.