The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-05 00:00:00

LORD J. RUSSELL To AIR. BRUCE.

commissioners, and of the firmness with which you resisted
their attempts to dissuade you from insisting upon the
strict fulfilment of the stipulations of the Treaty of Tien-
tsin. That treaty provided for the exchange of ratifica-
tions at Pekin on a day not later than the 26th of June of
the present year, a time so nearly at hand as not to admit
of any further delay.
You were enjoined by the instructions given you by the
Earl of Mahnesbury, on your departure from England, to
insist upon being received at Pekin, and to refuse to ex-
change ratifications at any other place. You were fur-
ther informed that it might be advisable before your
departure from Shanghae to send an intimation to Pekin
of your approach, and to request that suitable arrange-
ments might be made for your honourable reception at the
mouth of the Peiho, and at Tien-tsin, and for your journey
from that place to Pekin. You were informed that the
Admiral in command of her Majesty naval forces in China
had been directed to send up with you to the mouth of the
Peiho a sufficient naval force, and you were instructed that
unless any unforeseen circumstances should appear to make
another arrangement more advisable, it would seem de-
sirable that you should reach Tein-tsin in a Britishship-
of-war.

Your conduct, therefore, in insisting upon bein,s, re-
ceived at Pekin and in proceeding to the mouth of the
Peiho, was in strict conformity with your instructions.
Upon arriving at the mouth of the Peiho you were placed
in circumstances of great difficulty, in selecting the course
you were to pursue, you were obliged to found that course
mainly upon presumptive evidence.
In these circumstances you had to weigh contingencies
upon which no safe calculation could be made. I can only
say, therefore, that her Majesty's Government, without
being able in the present state of their information, to
j -rage precisely what measures it might have been most ad-
visable for you to adopt at the moment, see nothing in the
decision you took to diminish the confidence which they
repose in you.

Her Majesty deeply regrets the loss of life which at-
tended the gallant though unsuccessful efforts of the Brttish
and French forces to clear the passage of the river. But her
Majesty has commanded preparations to be made which
will enable her Forces, in conjunction with those of his
Majesty the Emperor of the French, to support you in the
execution of the instructions which will be hereafter ad-
dressed to you.—l have, &c.,

(Signed)

J. RUSSELL.

BEDFORD PACES.-(THIS DAT.)

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH )
BEDFORD STAKES.

Blue:Jacket
04 1
Pan
2
York
3

Eleven ran.

TWO-YEAR-OLD STAKES.

.
Lucy
Rosalind
Forager

Five ran.
TOWN STAKES.
Dead heat between Little Nat and Lady Bird.
Eleven ran.
PRODUCE STAKES.

Mayday filly
Barabbas

Two ran

TUE PRICE OF HOPS.—It appears that the
brewers and merchants still desperately pursue
their game. Their agents have within the last few
days exhausted all their ingenuity to counteract
the effect of the statements which have been made
in our columns, and to beat down prices. The
factors have been going about with the story that
Mr. Bass has made up his mind not to buy a hop
as long as present prices are adhered to, and that
he means to go to Bavaria. One of our able cor-
respondents on this subject says that Mr. Bass has
distinctly stated that he would never go abroad
while ho could get East Kent hops. But suppose
he had said the reverse and stuck to it, what would
it matter except to his customers? Does any planter
believe for a moment that East Kent hops will
not fetch their price this year ? He need have
no fear. There is an unlimited market for fine
hops, if the planters will only now stand together,
and secure it. If the half-dozen great brewers
will not buy, there are a thousand small brewers
who will, and the only difference will be that the
planter will get a fair price for his produce, and
the consumption of bitter beer will greatly increase,
because the public will get it cheaper. But the
truth is that the great brewers must buy, and they
know it. We are glad to learn, by one of the letters
we publish to-day that the brewers throughout the
country are fast becoming alive to their own in-
terest, and are securing choice growths of hops
without troubling the merchants. This is good
news. The merchants have pursued their ingeni-
ous system of trade long enough, and if they do not
see the propriety of changing it altogether, we
should be extremely gratified to see them retire
upon their enornious fortunes. For our own part
we have greater confidence that fine growths of
hops will reach higher prices than at present, and
that those who do not buy now will have to give
those higher prices. All depends upon the firm-
ness of the planters at this juncture.—Kentish
Gazette.

TIIE FORBES MACKENZIE ACT.—Two cases were
tried in the police-court, Edinburgh, on Friday, which il-
lustrates a peculiar oppressive feature in the Forbes Mac-
' kenzie Act. One of the chief objects of the act was to sepa-
rate, so far as possible, the trade of the grocer or provision
dealer from that of the publican ; and the license granted to
the former class expressly prohibit the sale of exeiseable
liquors for consumption on the premises. In like manner
the publican is restricted from selling groceries or provisions
to be consumed off the premises. It so happens that these
two clauses would, if enforced, completely extinguish the
trade of the increasing class of keepers of restaurants and of
refreshment rooms at railway stations and elsewhere. In
Edinburgh the fashionable restaurateurs in some cases take
out a "grocer and spirit dealer's" licence, but this prohibits
them from selling a glass of wine at the counter; others
take out the publican's certificate, which prohibits them
selling a biscuit or bun to auy one who does not choose to sat
it on the premises. It is almost superfluous to say that the
Act is habitually transgressed on both sides, for, whatever
kind of licence he holds, the restaurateur or confectioner is
constantly in the habit both of supplying wine to be drunk
on the premises and of supplying baked meats and dressed
provisions for consumption off the premises. As the law
stands, the purveyor of refreshments to a jury sitting in
court, or to a dinner or supper party, is liable to prosecu-
tion if he takes the publican's or innkeeper's Bootee,—
which licence is the only one compatible with the exercise
of his ordinary business. The keeper of a licenced refresh-
ment room at a railway station, in like manner is liable
to prosecution for whatever he may sell to a passenger
taking his purchase with him into the carriage. The
present inquiry of the Royal Commission on the Licens-
ing System of Scotland has had one effect, in greatly stimu-
lating the police and other authorities to the enforcement
of the act; and, in order that the act might be tested in
all its bearings, the two cases referred to were brought before
the Edinburgh Police-court on Friday. One was the case of
Mr. David Doull, keeper of a first-class restaurant in
Princes-street. Edinburgh, and the other was that of Mr.
David Ridpath, the keeper of the North British Railway sta-
tion refreshment-room, and who happens to be one of the
councillors of the city. Police constables and other wit-
nesses were called to prove the sale in the one case of some
biscuits and tarts; and, in the other of some muffins which
were carried by the purchaser off the immediate premises.
The presiding magistrate, Bailie Cassels, said he had no al-
ternative but to administer the law as it stood, however
al.surd and oppressive he felt it to be, and ho imposed in
each case the lowest penalty authorised by the statute,—
namely, 255. Bailie Forrester, who was also present,
strongly recommended the parties to bring their ease before
the Royal Commission, being convinced that in any future
legislation on tho subject a grievance like the present could
not be overlooked. The case will no doubt bo brought be-
fore the Royal Commission- (who arc now in the north of
Scotland) on their return to Edinburgh, where their inves-
tigation is to close.
THE MUTINY IN THE GREAT EASTERN.—Mr.
Nash applied to Mr. Justice Byles at. Chambers, yesterday,
for a writ of certiorari to bring up the conviction
imprisonment
Johnson, who was sentenced to one menthe's iro p
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Fork ign-office. July 6.
Sir,—Her Majesty's Government approve the arrange-
ments, as reported in your despatch of the 4th of May,
which you have adopted, in concert with Sir Charles van
Straubenzee and Rear-Admiral Hope, for the purpose of
proceeding up the Peiho on your way to Pekin, backed
by an adequate naval and military force.—l am, &c.,
(Signed) J. RUSSELL.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL TO Mu. BRUCE.
Foreign Office, Sept. 26.
Sir,—l have received and laid before the Queen your
despatches of the 30th of May, Ist and 14th of June, and
sth, 13th, and 15th of July, the first three giving an
account of your proceedings up to the time of your depar-
ture from Shanghae for the mouth of the Peiho, and the
last three containing a report of the events hick occurred
on your arrival off the Peiho and of your subsequent return
to Shanghae.
The events of the first period are clear and free from all
obscurity, and I am happy to convey to you her Majesty's
entire approval of your communications with the Chinese
_ . .