The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-01 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY CONTEST.

Yesterday a special and most exciting meeting of
the Vestry of St. Pancras was held at the Vestry-
hall, Camden Town, for the purpose of considering
certain motions, of which notice had been given by
Mr. J. R. Collins, for withdrawing the parochial
accounts, amounting to upwards of £200,000 per
annum, from the London and Westminster, and to
transfer such accounts to the Camden Town branch
of the. National Bank. Mr. Churchwarden ,Law-
ford presided.
Letters were read from Mr. Ewings, general mana-
ger of the London and Westminster, and from Mr.
Chester, manager of the Camden Town branch of
the National: That from Mr. Ewings expressed-re-
gret at learning a proposal was to be submitted to the
vestry to remove the banking account of St. Pancras
from the London and W,lstminster, and to appoint
the National treasurers in their place. It reminded
them that the London and Westminster had held
the accounts for over 26 years, had from time to
time made considerable advances, and trusted that
their long connexion would not be severed so sum-
marily, but that the claims of the London and West-
minster would receive that courteous and deliberate
consideration they were entitled to by length of
service. The manager of the National applied for
the account on the ground of the advantages which
its central position in the parish afforded to the local
boards and their officers, offering every facility, and
security to any amount.
Mr. J. IL COLLINS moved his resolutions, which
enforced the advantages afforded to the inhabitants
—" That it was advisable the vestry should' avail
itself of the advantages thereby afforded by appoint-
ing the National treasurers to the vestry and direc-
tors of the poor; that the resolution dated Aug. 28,
1839, be rescinded, appointing the London and
Westminster treasurers ; that notice be given to the
London and Westminster that they would cease to
be such at the close of the collection of the current
rates on March 24 next ; that the National be ap-
pointed as such treasurers from that date ; and that
the necessary steps be taken with that object, and
with respect to security, Sze." Mr. Collins went
into statistics to show that the commercial stability
of the National was quite equal to the London and
Westminster, and that being ratepayers, and afford-
ing the advantages of local banking accommodation,
the latter was deserving support. lie pointed to
the fact that Islington, Holborn Union, and Clerken-
well had placed their accounts with the London and
County, and Paddington and Kensington with the
National, from a similar cause.

Mr. STOCKTON seconded the resolutions.
Dr. CoLLINs very warmly denounced this pro-
ceeding as most unfair to the London and West-
minster, and ridiculed the idea of the National being
at all equal to the former bank. He moved an
amendment expressive of confidence in the London
and Westminster as the treasurers of the parish, and
regret that any proposal for the removal of the ac-
counts should have been contemplated.
Mr. DOUGLAS seconded the amendment. He looked
upon this movement as having originated in the
connexion of a certain gentleman who was a direc-
tor of the National with that borough. (No, no,
and hear.) The fact was that the National was a
series of Irish banks, and if this Fenianism got tho
upper hand what would become of their security?
(Laughter and hear, hear.) He contended, if they
carried these proposals they would be going from a
good security to an indefinite one.
Mr. RAFLES, Mr. CAMERON, and Mr. FURNESS
supported the original proposals. The National had
been established thirty-one years, and twenty-one
in England, and it was contended that after the
services the National had recently done the parish,
in lending it £50,000 for
paving purposes at low in-
terest, were deserving of every consideration.
Mr. NODES and Mr. ELDRIDGE supported the
amendment, and the latter contended that by
taking this step they were involving themselves by
taking the liability of all the Irish banks on their
shoulders. (Laughter.)
The amendment was negatived by
a majority of
52 to 11, a second amendment by 51 to 10, and on
a division the motion was carried to rescind the ap-
pointment of the London and Westminster as
treasurers by a majority of 53 to 10.
An amendment to postpone the subject for six
months had but four supporters. An amendment
to divide the accounts between the National and the
London and South-Western, another local branch
bank, was negatived by 46 to 5.
whole of the resolutions withdrawing
majority ; and
Ulttihmeaatecicyouthnet
oivheip,lndguration
the
pro-
ceedings discussionclosed.
from the London and Westminster, and appoint-
ing the National as the parochial treasurers, was
aftercarcarried
ase d. on
equally
t overwhelming
of ee hours l

1 HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

THIS DAY.-IfOrning, • 3h. 6m.--Afternoon, 3h. 26m.
TO-Moßßow.-Morningt 3h. 45m: Afternoon, 4h. 2m.

fit
*4- ;
Utt,

LONDON, THURSDAY; 'EB,RUARY 1, 1866.

As time goes on, and more facts are collected
about the "-martyr. GOaDoN,4' we have more and
more cause to wonder at. the extravagant asser-
tions that were made at • the outset concerning
nim. Never was there *a
more manifest determi-
nation to make the worse appear the better cause
than throughout this Jamaica business, but the
time draws near when the mask will be taken
from those who have contrived to deceive many
with false appearances. A gentleman, who was
lately a member of the Legislative Council of Ja-
maica, has stated that GORDON was a man of most
violent temper, always against the authorities,
and as for the statement put forth so glibly,
that there was not a title of evidence
to convict him, he read a letter which showed that
he was deeply implicated in the rebellion. Before
the outbreak GORDON had been trying to purchase
not only arms and ammunition, but also a war
vessel used by the Confederates as a blockade
runner. It is said' that the captain of the Con-
federate vessel is about to start for Jamaica, in
order to give evidence before the Commission, so
that in all probability we shall soon hear enough,
and more than enough, to prove that GORDON'S
guilt was fully proved. Mr. BOWERBANK'S narra-
tive of the late disturbances in Jamaica is very in-
teresting, and it is of importance to dwell upon all
the authentic details that reach us, for oven now we

may as well realise the state of matters so far as
we can. He states that the state of feeling in Kings-
town was dreadful in its anxiety just before and
after the arrest of GORDON. Each hour brought
news from the disturbed districts and different parts
to show that there was great disaffection among the
people, and that seditious language was used. Mr.
BOWERBANK declares that there were " distinct
evidences of organisation," large bodies of men
went in particular directions, and added greatly to
their number by swearing in the people as they went
along, which, of course, is a convincing proof that
there existed a determination and a pre-arrangement
among them.

The various cruelties of the "awful scenes" at
Morant Bay, on that fatal Wednesday (Oct. 11) arc
not given in full here, but quite enough is men-
tioned to prove their atrocity and horror. Some
white people from their places of concealment heard,
if they could not see, and their accounts are de-
plorable. Thus one person remonstrates with an-
other for having assisted to murder PRICE—" We
were ordered not to kill black people ;" and the
answer was, " Neber mind ; though him got black
skin, him got white heart." Again, when Dr.
MAJOR was saved as being a doctor, a woman said,
" Doctor or no, kill him : my orders is to kill every
white man." It is worthy of notice that Mr.
BOWERBANK states, that from all he heard from eye-
witnesses, he believes that the " printed accounts"
of the scenes which were beheld by those who
landed from the Wolverine are not exaggerated.
There was a method in the madness of the rebels,
which shows that they were more intent upon the
future than the present in an honest rebellion, if
the term is admissible, the excitement and enthu-
siasm of the many carrying away those concerned
in it, and they forego future gain for the gratification
of present revenge, and the adjustment of wrongs,
real or imaginary. In Jamaica we find that the
rebels spared the houses, crops, and living stock on
the estates in recent instances, which they would
not have done had they been suddenly wound up
to fury by the ill-treatment they received from
the rebels. It was no ebullition of the moment,
but, on the contrary, a deep-laid scheme,
and a carefully concocted plan, and had not the
outbreak been a little premature, no doubt all the
skill and promptitude of the authorities could not
have preserved the inhabitants. The black women
were the worst in mutilating the dead and ill-treat-
ing the living, but Mr. BOWERBANK positively
contradicts the report that women were flogged
with the sanction of the chief authorities. Hearing
that one magistrate had allowed such a thing to
take place, Governor BYRE at once removed him
from the commission of the peace. Brigadier-
General NELSON likewise counter-ordered the
sentence of a court-martial at Morant Bay to
the same effect, so that here or elsewhere the
most unfavourable assertions are shown to
have been the most untrue. The Rev. Mr. RAD-
CLIFFE, in a letter to the Times of to-day, reiterates
the statement he made some time ago as to the
occasional " threats" used in the House of Assembly
by Mr. GORDON, and he furnishes many proofs of
the validity of his remarks. He states that his
"documentary evidence" for the House of
Assembly is such that, in giving extracts, his diffi-
culty is selection, and not want of matter; and
that the phrase of " driving the whites into the sea"
has become " crystallised into a really and compen-
dious metaphor, to express all threatening language
as to the whites, either inside or outside the
House." Many extracts are furnished which
are most conclusive as to the dangerous
state of feeling which existed for some time
past in Jamaica. Mr. OSBORNE said in 1858 that
the government of that country would be left to the
black and brown men in twenty years' time. Mr.
SPEAKER was fighting with a shadow ; for it is in
the course of GoD's providence that the change to
which I allude should occur, and there is no alter-
ing it. GOD has destined that the wrongs of Africa
shall be vindicated in those lands." Some of Mr.
GORDON'S speeches are quoted to prove how violent
he was; and the writer truly states that if his remarks
are not treason, it is difficult to know what treason-
able language is. He said on one occasion that if such
a member provoked him to the use of " strong
language, he would tell him that if the Governor
continued his present course we will have a rebel-
lion, an insurrection, and sword bayonets in this
country, and he will be pelted and hooted, because
the people are not going to consent to the tyrannical
' conduct of the Governor." And again, he said,
" Therefore, per se," as the hon. member states,
" the people would be quite right to break into an
open rebellion." All these sentences are significant
enough, and have a deep and deadly meaning in
them.

It is never a very gracious or popular task to
impose taxes ; whether direct or indirect there
are sure to be plenty of persons on whom the
new imports will press heavily, and who naturally
enough are ready with arguments in favour of the
transfer of the burden to other people's shoulders.
Still, if a Government is to be carried out at all,
and especially such a costly and elaborate Govern-
ment as ours, the national exchequer must be re-
cruited by means of the useful though unpopular
agency of the tax-gatherer. Mr. GLADSTONE, though
always one of the most remorseless of creditors so
far as Schedule D is concerned, has lately won
golden opinions from the tax-payers by his reduction
of the tea and sugar duties, and of the fire insurance
duty, although for the latter he deserves little credit.
The agitation for the repeal of the malt tax
threatens, however, to disturb his equanimity, and
unless he is prepared to make some concession on
this point he will find his Budget for 1866 a trouble-
some matter. The arguments in favour of the total
abolition of this tax have been marshalled in for-
midable array by Mr. WILLIAM RAY SMEE, F.S.A.,
in a pamphlet * to which we have already
referred, and which certainly makes out a
strong case, founded not so much on the
claims of the producer as on those of the
consumer. According to Mr. SmEE's care-
fully compiled statistics there is a very large sum of
money wasted between the malt grower and the
beer drinker, and the actual malt tax of £1 is. Bd.
per quarter is raised by the vices engrained in the
system to an actual cost of £3 10s. Bd. per quarter.
Taking the average price of barley and hops, the
charges for making malt and for brewing, he finds
that the cost of the liquid extracted from a quarter
of malt is about £2 Bs., which quantity of malt is
never brewed into less than 90 gallons of ale, and
always into more by the great brewers; and gene-
rally into 144 gallons of porter—the oue costing
lid. per quart, and the other ld. Thinking
that many persons will hold it incredible
" that the ale costing lid. per quart and the
porter Id. should be usually sold at Bd. and 4d.,
SMEE takes the trouble of referring to the Re-
port of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, by
which it appears that " the quantity of malt con-
sumed in the brewing of each barrel of beer is de-
termined to within less than one-fifth part of a
bushel;" and the result of this test proves that one-
quarter of malt was made into 121 gallons:of liquid;
this, moreover, for export beer, which is usually of a

* The JlEalt Tax. By William Ray Sui-e, Faq., F.S.A.
Mann, Nephews, Goruhilt.

better quality than that brewed for home consump-
tion. As for the hops, the only remaining ingre-
dient, our rigorous censor finds that the quantity
brewed with a quarter of malt costs, on a fair aver-
age, 6s. Bd. So that the conclusion which he
arrives at on the authority of the Excise
is that " the malt duty being 21d. the gallon, the
barley, malting, brewing, &c., 4d. the gallon, and
assuming there were no duty upon malt and nothing
to pay for licences, then the cost price of all sold
retail at 6d. the quart would be sd. the gallon,
or 14d. per quart." A little further on he
puts the case still more strongly and suc-
cinctly. " The Government obtain from
this sixpenny ale id. tax, and by the system adopted
the price is augmented 4d. ; that which otherwise
would be 2d., on being taxed id. is not raised to 21d.,
but to 6d." Certainly if these figures arc actually
founded on existing facts, their " inexorable logic"
points strongly against the continuance of the
malt tax in its present form.

Every one knows that between the brewer and
the licensed victualler, and the builder, and the
landlord, more than a fair trade profit has to be
made out of beer sold retail. No sooner, says Mr.
SMEE, is a house completed and a licence obtained,
than the builder at once largely augments the value.
The capitalist buying it charges more rent than if
it were used for any other trade. The licence com-,
mands a premium, so that the licensed victuallers
themselves declare that they have sunk sums vary-
ing from £5OO to £lO,OOO, to the enormous aggre-
gate of £50,000,000. Then thebrewer, whose capital
is locked up in the purchase of public houses, charges
high to get remunerating profits, and the publican
who does not find the ld. a quart profit which he
gets sufficiently rapid to repay him for the money
sunk, takes to the easy and comfortable method
of increasing his revenue by adding " saccharine
matter, water, and salt." It is well if nothing less
innocent forms part of the questionable beverage.
The great perplexity of the question still re-
mains to be considered, and it is one which the
Chancellor of the Exchequer is not likely to let
us forget. The malt tax brings in about six mil-
lions a year to the national exchequer, and how-
ever attractive the total removal of the impost
may appear, it would not be very easy to sur-
render that amount. Mr. SMEE suggests as
a remedy that the duty should be levied
not on the malt, but on the liquid, the
same as in France, by which means " the adulterated
beer and malt made from improper materials will
be taxed the same as the genuine, and be made to
pay the duty it now altogether escapes." This tax
is one halfpenny per gallon. We would have the
retailer pay once a month on the quantity of beer he
has sold during the four weeks, when " the ale will
be 2kd. the quart instead of 6d., and the porter 2d.
instead of 4d., and the revenue will be nearly the
same as at present." How far this plan would work,
and whether it would answer the purpose, we leave
our financiers to consider ; but, at any rate,
something might be done by the reduc-
tion of the malt tax, say one-third. The
heavy losses of the agriculturists during the past
year give them a claim on the Chancellor of the
Exchequer's consideration which he is not likely to
be allowed to overlook ; and if it is once generally
believed that other interests are affected by the tax
there will be no rest until a change is made. The great
difficulty is to obtain some security that the profit
derived from the lightening of the tax will
not find its way into the pockets of the landowner,
the brewer, and the licensed victualler. If the
rights of the question were more widely understood
there would be less fear of fraud and imposition,
and Mr. SMEE has done good service in collecting
facts and figures which, so long as they remain
uudisproved, are unanswerable arguments.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Wednesday Evening.

The Moniteur to-day publishes some of the long
despatches between France and the United States
upon the subject of Mexico, but I do not see in
them any important fact which is not already
known.

The following is all that the Moniteur contains in
regard to Spain. In the provinces of Barcelona
and Tarragona the insurgents have almost entirely
disappeared. There was no longer any doubt in
Catalonia that in a few days the country will be
entirely tranquil.
The Siecle says, in reference to the most recent
of these despatches :—" The French Government is
actuated by the same sympathies as the Government
of the United States. It establishes a distinction
between the right of war which it has adopted, and
the principle of intervention, for which it professes
the same doctrine as the United States. W ithout
ambition, without any other thought than that of
protecting French interests, France will recall the
_expeditionary corps as soon as it can with dignity
for herself and safety for the people." The yellow-
boa, containing the documents in question, con-
eists of 226 pages. The documents amount to 120.
A woman of 32 years, named Jeanne Leveque,
has been tried before the Court of Assize, at Nantes,
for the murder and mutilation of a male child to
which she gave birth. It was proved that she
boiled the body in some soap suds, and then cut it
into small pieces, thrusting them into a barrel of
vinegar. She admitted the fact of having given
birth to the child, and, indeed, indicated the spot
where the mutilated remains were found. She,
however, persisted that the child was dead when
born. Various experiments were made with the
remains by medical men with the view, if possible,
to ascertain whether the child had ever breathed.
The jury found the prisoner guilty, but with " ex-
tenuating circumstances," and she was sentenced
to hard labour for 20 years. I cannot ascertain
from the evidence one single extenuating circum-
stance, but French juries are very clever in dis-
covering them. Perhaps one extenuating circum-
stance was that the woman endeavoured to preserve
at least a portion of the child by putting it into
vinegar.

M. L. Reveliene, formerly a deputy for the Loire
Inferieure, and one of the editors of the Univers,
has just died at Paris in his 91st year.

A young actress, Blanche S , has commit-
ted suicide, not exactly for love, but for money, at
least that was her explanation, for she left upon the
table a piece of paper on which was written, " I
poison myself because my lover cannot keep me
any longer." She was the mistress of a gentleman
who told her the other day that in consequence of
reverses he could not afford to give her so much as
he had done. Blanche passed Sunday night with
her lover, and partdok of supper, as it is stated,
with a very good appetite, but in the course of
the night he was awoke by her groans, when
she soon expired. She had swallowed a large
dose of mercury (corrosive sublimate), and died in
great agony. While the doctor who was called
in was attending to his patient the gentleman in-
flicted a serious wound upon himself with a knife
which was on the supper-table.
In addition to the blue and yellow books, two
other important documents have been presented to
the Chamber of Deputies—the project of law for
the supplementary credits of 1866. These docu-
ments were—the ordinary budget, 8,531,183 f. ;
extraordinary budget, 76,276,005 f.
It is stated that the iron-clad frigate the lluescard,
built in England for the Peruvian Government, and
which recently sailed from Plymouth for Brest, is
to be detained in the latter port until the differences
between Spain and Peru are settled, of which there
now appears to be some prospect.
There were some incidents in the career of the
late Prefect of Police (Gisquet) which I think will
interest your readers. lie was born of poor and

obscure parents at Vezin, in the department of
Moselle, in 1792. His father was a Custom-house
officer. At the age of sixteen M. Gisquet entered
the well-known house of the Brothers Perrier as a
clerk, and soon obtained the entire confidence of the
head of the firm, M. Cashnir Perrier. Casimir Per-
rier became a Minister, and was so esteemed in
France that his funeral, in 1832, was the most gor-
geous and imposing ceremony of modirn times.
Gisquet, from a poor banker's clerk, at a salary of
£24 a year, became himself an influential banker,
and on the 14th October, 1831, was appointed Pre-
fect of Police under Louis Philippe. Ile was then
39. Gisquet's administration of the Police Depart-
ment was marked by despotism, and the most ar-
bitrary regulations. There were police spies every-
where. Perhaps the system he adopted was so
odious in the eyes of the Parisians that his measures
had the basis of that unpopularity which ultimately
drove Louis Philippe from the Throne. It is only
just to say, however, that his agents were very
clever in detecting crime. When the great
robbery of gold and silver medals and
other valuables took place at the Royal
Library in 1831 he soon discovered the thieves. The
principal one was a man named Fossard, an escaped
convict. One of his accomplices was an elegant and
fashionable lady, who lived in great style upon the
produce of stolen property. A great quantity of
the gold and silver medals was melted into ingots
and the rest were thrown into the Seine. Under
the immediate superintendence of M. Gisquet they
were fished up near the Pont de la Tourrelle. They
comprised some valuable numismatics, including the
seal of Louis XI., the silver shield of Hannibal, and
the medals of Antiochus. M. Gisquet took very
severe measures against the St. Simonians, and
forcibly dispersed a meeting, at which their head,
the father Enfanten, presided. The father soon
after left France for the East with a large number
of followers. M. de Chateaubriand was imprisoned
by order of M. Gisquet in consequence of his parti-
cipation in the well-known affair of the Duchess de
Berri. During his administration an impostor
who pretended to be a Dauphin of France, was
arrested. He called himself Baron de Richemont,
but his real name was Louis Hector Hebert. Be-
fore the Court of Assize Hebert persisted that he
was Louis XVII., and said that he escaped from the
Temple, not on a wooden horse like that at the siege
of Troy, but on a horse made of pasteboard. Hebert
was sentenced to be imprisoned for 12 years. In
this case Gisquet was not so fortunate as usual, for
Hebert contrived to escape. Gisquet was Prefect
of Police at the time of Fieschi and the infernal
machine. Fieschi had a great desire to have a pri-
vate interview with the Prefect, and while in prison
wrote him a letter begging the Prefect to come and
pay him a visit, humorously remarking that M.
Gisquet would be sure to find him at home. So
determined was M. Gisquet to put down dan-
gerous allusions everywhere that he waged
eternal war against the theatres. The most
harmless verse or dialogue was suppressed
under a threat of having the theatre closed. Even
the harmless mummery of the procession of the fat
ox on Shrove Tuesday was alarming to M. Gisquet's
eyes, and he tried, but unsuccessfully, to induce
Louis Philippe to suppress it. It is only justice to
say that M. Gisquet's administration was not all of
a mischievous tendency. He it was who arranged
the omnibus system in Paris. I may remark that
this system is most admirably arranged at the pre-
sent time. It is remarkable for cheapness, speed, and
regularity. As an instance, I may mention some
of the omnibuses which go beyond the barriers.
The charge is regulated by distance from station to
station. By what are called the American omnibuses
you may go for more than a mile outside for one
sous, and upwards of three miles for three sous.
Under M. Gisquet's superintendence search was made
among the records of crime, and he found that in
1840 the number of persons whose names appeared in
the archives of those accused was no less than 500,000.
Prefect of Police is comparatively a modern title.
Formerly the Police Administration of the capital
was confided to what were called Prcvots de Paris
and to the Lieutenants Criminals. Among the
names most known as Prefects of Police are those of
Cochon, under the Directory ; Fouche, under the
Consulate, the Empire, and during the Hundred
Days ; Decares, Duke of Gluksberg, during the
early years of the second Restoration. Under the
Government of July (the Revolution), the Prefects
were Mangin, Guisquet, and Delessant. Caussi-
diere and Ducoux, in 1848, and Pietri under the
second Empire. The present Prefect of Police is
M. Boittelle, formerly a cavalry officer.

A Liverpool Packet Ship Wrecked in
Mid-Ocean.
_

RESCUE OF THREE HUNDRED PERSONS.
(From the Boston Advertiser of Jan. 17.)

.diTsthreesfsacatus
On Sunday forenoon, intelligence arrived in this city
that a wrecked company of over 300 souls, rescued from a
sinking ship in mid-ocean, had arrived in the lower har-
bour in a condition which required the immediate attention
of a benevolent communioti
developed, make a story privation,dwhich we r e
which speedily
it
is seldom our lot to record.

The three-decked ship Gratitude, formerly the John J.
built in New York
ißno
IyBds,
sa, va ensds ehl
aoifl
63 1 0 tons, rating A 11,.,
from Liverpool, sailed from the last-
named port on the 18th of November last for New York,
under command of Captain M`Stother, with a crew of 33
men and 275 passengers, mostly
English, Irish, and Scotch
emigrants. The ship had not been many days at sea before
the weather became tempestuous, and several violent gales
succeeded one another in quick succession, badly straining
the vessel, injuring her spars and rigging, and stripping
her of the greater part of her canvas. On Christmas-day a
serious leakage was added to the other misfortunes of the
voyage, and it became necessary for the passengers to aid
the crew in working the six pumps belonging to the ship,
the whole male adult company on board being divided into
reliefs of four hours each, and after performing their allotted
tasks, lying down in wet garments to a fitful and unsatis-
fying rest, to be roused again when their appointed turn
o sh the
came round. Notwithstanding all exertions, the leak gained
slowly but steadily, rendering it necessary to occasionally
lighten the ship by throw3inog
and r ve a
pe portion
r ite.
T of
eship was
cargo,
thuswhich
relievedconsisted
of
between
twl lead, tin,
o and 400 tons up to Jan. 1.
On New Year's-day, about noon, in lat. 41.30, long. 33,
when hope had nearly deserted the worn and wearied com-
pany, a sail was descried in the distance. It proved to be
the barque Fredonia, of 431 tons burthen, built in Boston
in 1853, running under a British flag, but still owned in
Boston, commanded by Capt. Edmund Burke, and on her
passage to Boston from Fayal, which port she left Decem-
ber 13. Captain Burke, on discovering that the Gratitude
was in distress, approached her, and passing under her
stern spoke the ship, learning her condition, and deter-
mined to lie near enough to render her assistance. The
leak continuing to gain, and it becoming apparent that
the efforts of her wretched and nearly worn-out passen-
gers and crew could not long keep her above water, Capt.
Burke began to make preparations for taking them on
board his own vessel, for this object throwing overboard
his cargo of oil, between decks.

The process of transferring, which was effected by means
of small boats, began at nine a.m. on the 3d inst., and was
finished about five p.m., being accomplished without the
loss of a single life. The women and children were first
taken from the wreck, Captain APStother standing with a
loaded pistol to secure them the first chance of rescue. The
wrecked people had but little opportunity to save their
property, and most of them escaped with no clothing but
what they wore. A few barrels of bread were also taken
from the Gratitude.

When the ship was abandoned she had three feet three
inches of water in her hold. There had previously been
four deaths on the passage. One seaman, named William
Kavanaugh, was instantly killed by falling from the lower
foretopsail yard.

Captain Burke, after performing his duty so nobly, found
that his supply of food and water was very scanty for the
large number of persons huddled on board his vessel, and
it became necessary to put them on an allowance of half a
pint of water and one biscuit per day, with the addition of
a few oranges, which formed a part of the Fredonia's cargo.
The condition of the wretched emigrants, thus placed on
short rations and unavoidably crowded together, beggars
description. The constant restlessness, caused by discom-
fort, and the crying of the children, left little opportunity
for sleep, and the women and children grew feebler daily,
while the less hardy of the men became rapidly emaciated.
Most of the passengers, however, bore their sufferings
with fortitude and anxiously awaited their arrival in port.
The Fredonia arrived in our lower harbour early on Sun-
day morning. Upon the arrival of the barque at the wharf
the passengers and crew were immediately landed. It was
a pitiable sight to behold them as they emerged from their
crowded quarters, weak, emaciated, and thinly clad, many
of them—men, women, and children— barefooted. Some
had not strength to walk up the plank to the wharf. An
infant died in its mother's arms as she was leaving the
vessel. The city government and the benevolent people
of Boston provided every necessary comfort for the suf-
ferers,

LA TEST INTELLIGENCE.

(RELTTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

SPAIN.
THE SPANISH PASSIVE DEBT.
MADRID, JAN. 31.

The usual monthly auction for the Sinking Fund
of the Passive Debt took place to-day. The prices
fixed by the Government were for the first class
interior, 31.80, and for the second interior, 17.75.
Private tenders were made from 31.25 to 32 for the
first, and from 17.16 to 18 for the seeond interior.
No offers were made for the exterior.

MADRID, JAN. 31 (Evening).

In to-day's sitting of the Senate General Concha
proposed that only two Senators should be allowed
to speak on the address to the Queen, namely, one
for and the other against it.
BAYONNE, FEB. 1.

Advices received here from Madrid to the 30th
ult. state that the Ministry had presented a bill sub-
jecting the press and political association to very
stringent regulations.

Public opinion greatly blames the Ministry, as
hopes were entertained that tranquillity being en-
tirely restored, they would first of all introduce the
measures necessary for the re-establishment of pub-
lic credit.