The Sun.
London, England, 1861-06-22 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JUNE 22, vlB6l.

T H E

oXFORD,

6, OXFORD-STREET.

This noble building being now complete 1, its architectural
beauty, elegance of ornamentation, and brilliancy of lighting
render it one of the sights of the metropolis. Open Every
Evening,. The programme is varied, and includes Selections
(by a full company of principals, powerful band, and chorus)
from " Macbeth" and "Un Ballo in Maschera." both operas
by Verdi, the composer of the day—The wonderful Solos on
the Cornet-a-Piston of the renowned LEVY—Scotch Duets by
the Misses Stuart, and other vocal and instrumental music
of the highest order. Conductor, Mr. F. Jonghmans. he
Comic portion of the entertainment is supported by MTiss
(4 men, Messrs. Sam Collins, Harvey, and French (the Nerves),
W. H. Wieland, E. Marshall. and W. Randall. Admission,
sixpense ; Balcony and Stalls, one shilling. rriVatC
Boxes, 10s. 6d.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS am—Morning, lh. 34m.—Afternoon, lh. 38m.
To-MORROW.-Morning, 2h. sm.—Afternoon, 2h. 30m.

TI 1 WEATHER.—SuN OFFICE, JUNE 22,
THEILMOMETER, IN THE SHADE!.
72—highest since noon yesterday.
63—lowest this morning and during the night.
74—this day at noon.

BAROMETER-29.90.
WlND—South . Westerly ; light, with rather dull
weather.

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THE SUN.

~~

LONDON, SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 186 L:

Sir MORTON PET° has at length drawn from the
Government a full explanation of its views in
regard to the forts at Spithead. The Premier
retains his opinion in favour of constructing them,
and it would be uncandid not to confess that he
showed a strong case in their favour. If by no
means convinced that Captain COLE has not quite
as strong a case for ships versus forts, it is not easy
to deny that when military and naval men of the
highest authority press opposite opinions on the
Government, the latter may well hesitate to
adopt exclusively the views of either.
Then there is a real difficulty not to be over-
leaped at a venture, in the simple fact that genius
will not cease to invent. It lies dormant, as that
of the rustics of whom GRAY sung, till the occasion
furnishes the spark, when forth it comes to the
reversal of all old conceptions and plans. It is
astonishing what the Russian war has done in this
respect. Never within the recollection of any
man living has the science of military projectiles
and the means of resisting them made such
strides as within the last few years. It has seemed
by turns as if nothing could be invulnerable ; then,
ns if everything might be pierced or crushed. At
the present moment the superiority of the
attack appears to be again achieved by the in-
ventive genius of Sir Wm. ARMSTRONG, and no
amount of iron mail which a ship can carry appears
capable of resisting Ms 200 pounders, much less his
proposed 300-pounders. We have lately heard of
their smashing eight inches of iron bars, though it
seems doubtful whether the best plates could be
dealt with so easily.

This fact, if fact it be, not known when it was
proposed to place our sole reliance on a fleet of
iron sides at Portsmouth, doubtless is in favour of
adding the forts. They may, of course, be built
of any thickness and strength, and if an iron-
clad vessel can no longer pass them with com-
parative impunity, the argument in their favour
is much strengthened. They can be armed with
a weight of artillery which iron-clad vessels
could not carry, and the destructive range
of which is enormous. We cannot, how-
ever, e7en if we accept Lord PAL3IERSTON'S
arguments, dispense with a fleet as part of the de-
fence of Portsmouth. We have to protect it, not
only from shot, but from shells ; and shells may be
thrown from a distance at which the most power-
ful artillery in the forts could produce no impres-
sion on an enemy's ship. The forts may be useful
in combination with ships, but we cannot rely on
their keeping a hostile vessel from taking a position
in which she might receive a minimum of injury her-
self, while causing the greatest at Portsmouth. Indeed
we much fear that after all nothing but an irresis-
tible floating; force can make dockyards and arsenals
so near the sea perfectly secure. We should not
he ,:nrprise 1 to find that the result of experience
will requiro that destructible stores should all be
removed to a safe distance from the shore, the rail
and suitaYe mechanical arrangements making it
quite easy t o place them on shipboard without loss
of time, or 13erious extra trouble.

Although the hon. member for Honiton's motion
last evening; was negatived without a division—it
would be impossible not to allow that there was
something in it. The laughter, loud laughter,
roars of laughter, shouts of laughter with which
the extravagant evidences of absurdity ad-
duce(' in the course of Mr. COCHRANE'S speech
were inter) opted —proclaim more emphatically
than any majority upon a division coald possibly
have done, I.he reason there is for any rational man
in&isting up -m a dispassionate re-examination and a
earefalrevil ion of the present preposterous system of
competitive Examinations. All that Mr. COCHRANE
insisted lir on arguing was, "that the evidence
taken befort . the Select Committee on Civil Service
Examinations proves that the system of examina-
tions should be modified, in neu, m order to meet the re-
quirements .of the public service." The member for
Ifoniton further insisting in support of this motion,
that the members of the Select Committee had re-
ported in of ,position to the evidence adduced befcne
them. Aft er Mr. ITENNtssv has endeavoured to
defend the conduct and the report of the select
committee, Mr. MoNCKTON MILNES solemnly
assures the. houso that were it to agree to the
motion tit= before, it, that motion would be found
in the end to be tantamount to a vote of censure on

the committee. Why—that—of course. Surely the
very thing aimed at ! And—supposing this report
to be really found, upon further scrutiny, to have
been drawn up in direct opposition to the evidence
adduced before the select committee—small blame
to the House of Commons if it pronounced its
opinion thereupon very decidedly ! But no !—com-
mittees of this kind are apparently supposed to
enjoy a Royal immunity from blame. The King can
do no wrong—is a loyal and constitutional axiom.
The Commons are trying to apply it apparently to
Select committees. So at least we are led to imagine
by the argument brought forward yesterday against
Mr. B. COCHRANE'S motion, by the zeal with which
that argument was supported by the Chancellor of
the Exchequer and especially by the resolute man-
ner in which the member for Honiton's suggestion
was negatived without a division at the close of the
discussion. Yet—set aside as simply vexatious
though this suggestion of Mr. COCIIRANE'S has
been, the outbursts of laughter with which
the extracts from the examination papers
were received when the various queries or theses
were cited by the hon. gentleman in the course of
his speech will not be very speedily, we may be
quite certain of that, lost to the popular recol-
lection.

The extravagant folly indicated by the " posers"
submitted to the candidates for honours through
the medium of these competitive examinations—
the utter and drivelling absurdity of many of these
most fantastic themes for disquisition could hardly,
we conceive, by any possibility, be surpassed.
Here, for example, is a little bunch of these in-
quiries. Quoth some of the learned pundits in
1860-61, addressing themselves to the youthful
candidates coming up before them for examina-
tion :—" Out of what other languages has the
English language been formed ? What difference
does the English of the Spectator present as com-
pared with that of the authorised version of the
Bible ? What do you understand by the words a
good English style ?' Give rules for writing such
a style." Why the accurate definition of " a good
style" might baffle the ingenuity of all the Fellows of
the Royal Society rolled into one, aided and abetted
in their endeavours by all the wisdom appertaining
in the past and in the present to the whole ag-
gregate of the French Acadamicians. BUFFON has
wittily said, Le style, c'est l'homme :—and remem-
bering that long before the age of BUFFON the old
Classic Roman had averred no less truthfully or
less axiomatically, Quot homines, tot sententice—
we may form some fair idea of the bewildering
variety of definitions of " a good style" opening up
before any honest young scholiast's dazed and won-
der-stricken imagination !
Again—glancing down the examination papers
from which Mr. COCHRANE made some of his
wickedly ironical extracts in the House of Com-
mons, tickling even his opponents into frequent
paroxysms of laughter—Does it not for all the world
look, really and truly, as if some immense practical
joker had filled up large portions of those official
papers with the most preposterously ridiculous
interrogations—
" What do you understand by a ' figure of speech' in
English ? Write a series of short sentences, each contain-
ing an example of a figure of speech."

Why, it is almost irresistibly suggestive to any
reasonable young competitor, to answer inquiries
like that, with—how otherwise can we express it
than by saying with—an unlimited amount of
chaffing ! Again—here are some further exemp-
lars :

" Give a list of English historians, characterising each
of them by a single epithet." (Laughter.)
" Write a short sketch of the origin of Parliaments in
England, and show how their power has progressively in-
creased." (Laughter.)
"Write a letter describing the overland route to Calcutta
via Marseilles, and containing information on the natural
productions of the States through which the writer is sup-
posed to pass, and on their commercial relations with other
nations." (Laughter.) Why (said Mr. COCHRANE), that
was not a question, it was a volume.
" Write a short life of the Emperor NAPOLEON I."
(Laughter.)

Certainly—either reading or listening to inquiries
like those we cannot but feel that the system of
competitive examination sinks in our estimation
—" And to be grave," as POPE says—
" And to be grave exceeds all power of face."

Mr. COCHRANE'S motion may be negatived with-
out a division, and be thus conveniently got rid
of. But even when the objections raised by
the hon. member for Honiton have been thus coolly
swept aside—one is still left laughing scornfully
over the ludicrous queries excerpted by him from
the examination papers of the Civil Service Com-
mission, as well also as from the almost equally
ludicrous examination papers of the Council of
Military Education.

llt is no want of goodwill to our American neigh-
bours to say that we ought not to lie at their
mercy. The boundaries of our Empire, whether
we wish it or not, stretch alongside theirs from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, and seem likely to do
so. The Canadians show, as yet, no indication of
wishing either to dissolve the Imperial connection
or to transfer their allegiance to their blustering
neighbours south of the lakes and the St. Law-
rence. For aught that appears, therefore, we may
for a long time to come be expected to deal with
Canada, in military matters especially, as a part of
the British Empire. The great colony well knows
that we should never think, if she wished, in Ame-
rican phraseology, to "secede," of employing the
means now resorted to by the Northern with the
Southern States of America. We have no doubt
that if separation should come it will be with the
regret mingled with the hope with which parent
andr the
danghter part, when both feel that it is time
o
younger to become an independent mistress.
Under these circumstances both England and
Canada are bound
communications hat: edeon i
thet s uttwmoo
cs
ot
utnot rpi
ee
sr. fe c t the
Our colony itself, we may
say all our continental
colonies, there Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova
IScotia, are very desirous to do their utmost in this
work of physically uniting themselves as closely as
possible with. the mother country. They wish,
were it practicable, to make the naturalbondas
strong as the political and social bond. So strong
that it shall tend to preserve the political Union,
and to perpetuate the social and commercial one,
if ever the first were better relaxed. They have
made it easy for our sons and daughters who
seek a British American home to travel in vari-
Gus directions two thousand miles westward of
Quebec, and have come forward to meet us more
than a hundred miles to the east of the old capital
of Canada. New Brunswick and Halifax have
each also done somewhat in the same direction.
These still remain, however, rather more than
three hundred miles, which the colonies are
not equal to without the aid of an English gua-
rantee. There are no engineering difficulties, but
capitalists want the security of an imperial gua-
rantee for a minimum di-vidend of 4 per cent. on
a capital of £3,000,000.

As the proposal is made it seems to be a very
small risk indeed. First, the colonists offer £60,000
per annum, or half the interest; next, they ask our
Government to pay £60,000 a-year for the convey-
anc3 of mails, military stores, and troops between
Halifax and Quebec. .Last/y, they offer all the

ungranted lands for ten miles on both sides of the
line, which can hardly fail, in no long period, amply
to reimburse the imperial treasury. On these terms
they will be able to provide substantial contractors
to undertake the railway, and to find capitalists to
advance the money.

All former Governments have been favourable
to the project, which has, indeed, been before suc-
cessive Governments ever since 1839, in the time
of Lord DußnAm, " who strongly urged the con-
struction of the railway." The colonies have never,
however, previously been able to advance so strong
a claim as at present, because never previously have
they by so many hundreds, indeed thousands, of
miles of constructed railways made this completing
one so desirable, while the estimate for guaranteed
capital is now reduced by these extensions from five
to three millions.

One fact would appear, politically, to settle the
question. For six months in the year ice prohibits
our maritime and river access to Quebec. We are,
for that time completely cut off, in the military
sense, from Our colony; we are completely at the
mercy of the touchy citizens and Government of the
United States, one of whose juvenile weaknesses is
to find a marvellous pleasure in being as uncivil as
they can to all older nations, and to England in
particular. This is certainly anything but an
imaginary consideration. The promoters of the
railway observe :—" As illustrative of the extraor-
dinary position in which we are placed in regard to
our communication with Canada, we may state that
during the Crimean campaign it was considered
desirable to move some of our troops and stores from
Canada to the seat of war ; the winter had closed
the navigation of the great highway ; the United
States Government were neutrals, and refused to
allow either men or stores to pass through their
territory for embarcation ; and at enormous trouble
and expense they were brought by sledges through
British territory to Halifax."
We have, indeed, official authority for the political
importance of the Railway. In 1849 commissioners
were appointed by the present Chancellor of the
Exchequer to survey the line. In their report they
say :

" In a political and military point of view, the proposed
railway must be regarded as becoming a work of necessity.
The increasing population and wealth of the United States,
and the diffusion of railways over their territory, especially
in the direction of the Canadian frontier, renders it abso-
lutely necessary to counterbalance by some corresponding
means their otherwise preponderating power. Their rail-
way communication will enable them to select their own
time and their own point of attack, and will entail upon
the British the necessity of being prepared at all points to
meet them. It is most essential, therefore, that the mother
country should be able to keep up the communication with
the Canadas at all times and seasons. However powerful
England may be at sea, no navy could save Canada from a
land force. Its conquest and annexation are freely spoken
of in the United States, even on the floors of the Congress.
Weakness invites aggression, and as the railway would be
a lever of power by which Great Britain could bring her
strength to bear in the contest, it is not improbable that
its construction would be the means of preventing a war at
no distant period. The expense of one year's war would pay
for a railway two or three times over."

Commercially, as the line can be constructed so
cheaply, there can be little doubt of its success.
We need it at the present moment. So strangely
uncivil are our Northern friends, that by their new
tariff they detain and examine at Portland our
goods which are simply in transit to Canada; so
hostile to England are the new protective duties,
the temptations consequently to smuggling so
great, that we are told " Already there are piled up
in the warehouses and on the quays of Portland
immense quantities of British goods consigned to
Canada, which have not yet been suffered to bo
forwarded to their destination, as, under the new
American tariff, every package of goods is required
to be opened and examined before being allowed to
pass over the protected soil of the Northern States."
We are gratified, therefore, to learn that at the
recent interview of the Deputation with the
Duke of NEWCASTLE at the Coional Office, his
grace expressed his entire concurrence in the pro-
posed railway, and intimated that, if responsible
parties came forward to carry out the work, he
would endeavour to induce his colleagues to agree
to aid any feasible plan for that purpose.

The House of Commons had but very recently
under its consideration that delicate question in
regard to the Volunteer Movement—" Who shall
pay the Piper ?" And the House, after mature
consideration, decided most wisely that the piper
should yet continue to be paid by the Volunteers
themselves. Upon reflection, none can have re-
joiced more hearti:y in that decision than our Rifle-
men. For, supposing the Commons to have come
to a different conclusion upon the matter, the glory
of the volunteer movement would have passed
away ipso facto, and inevitably have faded out
instanter. The fact being, of course, that the dis-
tinguishing merit and peculiarity of this movement
cannot be better intimated than by saying that it
has been from first to last, that it still is, that so
long as it lasts it must ever continue to be—
spontaneous and self-supporting. The Volunteers,
in truth, arrogate to themselves no invidious dis-
tinction, in contrast with the Royal Navy and the
QUEEN'S Army, by claiming for themselves par
excellence, and for themselves alone, the title of
THE VOLUNTEERS. To a certain extent, of course,
every red coat and every blue jacket in Her MA-
JESTY'S Service is also, in his turn, a volunteer. In
a general way, the Right Hon. JONATHAN PEEL
only gave utterance to the simple statement of an
obvious fact when he remarked that all the
branches of the War Department alike are com-
posed of volunteers, and of none but volunteers.
Yet, while this is said with a certain sense of
exultation, it must be borne also in recollec-
tion that the soldiers and sailors enrolled under
the banner of the SOVEREIGN are alike paid in
hard cash out of the Exchequer for services ren-
dered to tlie Crown. Not so our Volunteer Rifle-
men. They, it will be remembered, from the
outset of their career, have volunteered their
services to the Crown and the country in the I
.
fullest sense of the word—looking for no remu-
neration whatever save the sense that they
are doing their duty by both, by the
Crown and also by the country, in thi it
character as patriotic Englishmen. Insomuch is all
this the case with the Volunteers—hence, indeed,
as we all know, their title as VOLUNTEERS—that
however, they to
the sole response of a practical kind vouchsafed to
the movement by the Government has been the
presentation
nevereach hvaovluenhteaedr—opfaya
they never
Pay
will have—or, Pay,
e
however, nst ant to
wbaes r
no what
longer thg,yeceiving it, they cease upon the
i
OnWednesday,do
wn atW are.
e WhoQre shall pay the Piper ?stminster, the question,
It was rather, Who shall receive
•the Pipes ? And
the London Scottish Rifle Volunteers were the re-
cipients of the honour down in that grand old Hall
where so many of our Kings have held their revels
on their Coronation Day. Six sets of pipes, and
together with them a banner, costing altogether a I
hundredpoun ds,leavingup wards of a hundred pounds
additional to be handed over to the bard fund of
the corps, have been the result of the subscription
made to this end very recently among the Scottish
ladies resident in the metropolis. Bugles have
often before now been given by ladies to various
rifle corps—one not many months back, it may be I
remembered, was presented in this way by Miss 1
ANGELA. BURDETT COUTTS to a rifle corps in which

that munificent lady took a particular interest—
but the present is, we believe, an exceptional in-
cident in the rise and progress in this country of
the Volunteer Movement. In presenting to the
London Scottish Rifle Volunteers these charac-
teristic symbols of the interest taken in them by
their fair countrywomen, Lady ELcHG, having
remarked to those who were attentively listen-
ing to the gracious words that fell from
her lips in making the presentation,
"It is gratifying to us to present you with this na-
tional instrument :" added very gracefully, "We
are proud of our national corps, and well pleased
to add in this way to the outward marks of your
nationality. The wild notes of the pipes are, lam
sure "—said her ladyship, like a true Scotchwoman
as she is—"dear to every Scotch heart ; they awaken
pleasant memories of home and country ; they aro
associated with the gallant deeds of our heroic
countrymen in all parts of the world, and we are
not without a hope, too, that these pipes may in
some degree do the work of the recruiting sergeant,
and that, attracted by their stirring sounds, many a
good Scottish heart and arm may be gathered to
our ranks." Referring pointedly to what it is that
lends such an especial significance to the Volunteer
movement, Lady ELCIIO said very admirably, " The
truth is, we look upon our volunteer army as the
best security for peace, and we believe that so long
as the noble zeal and steady perseverance which
have astonished Europe for the last two years con-
tinue to be shown, so long, by God's blessing, will
our native land be safe from insult or attack."
That, indeed, is the source of all these enthusiastic
demonstrations in favour of the Volunteer Move- i
ment. And a little while afterwards, when the
noble lord, the Colonel of the London Scottish, had
risen in order to add a few words to those already
uttered by his lady-wife, he amusingly translated
the earnest advice given to the corps by Lady
ELCHO, he whimsically translated it thus into the
plain vernacular, " That advice," he said, "in
homely language, is that you will stick to it like
men ; and depend upon if you do, you will not only
give satisfaction to yourselves, but will perform a
great national duty. It is your duty to attend your
drill, so that you will be competent to perform the
task you have undertaken ; it is your duty to up-
hold this movement into which you have so freely
entered, so that you may not render yourselves a
laughing-stock; and so, as Lady ELciro has so
truly said, that this country may be for ever safe
from every insult and attack." Advice like that,
words like that, will come home to every rifleman
in the land, whether they be Scotchmen marching
to the sound of their bagpipes, or English Volun-
teers of all ranks and classes mustering to the
bugle call, or tramping steadily to drill, shoulder
to shoulder, to the sound of the drum and fife.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales honoured
Mr. Desanges with au inspection of the Victoiia Cross
Gallery at the Egyptian Hall, yesterday.

The Duke of Roxburghe and the Marquis of
Bowmont have loft the Clarendon, for Norway.

Viscount Bury writes to say that he was pre-
vented by an "unforeseen accident" from voting, as he fully
intended to do, with Sir John Trelawny on Wednesday.
His Highness the Prince of Santo Mauro, with
the Duke and Duchess of Coriglivno and the younger
branches of their family, arrived at the Brunswick Hotel,
Jermyn-street, yesterday morning, from Italy.

Marshal Niel, it is said, will be sent to Turin,
en lnission extraordinaire, to compliment Victor Emmanuel
on his recognition by France as King of Italy.

The alarming news on the state of the Sultan's
health is considered quite true in Paris. His illness is said
to be a complication of a cancer in the stomach and a
disease of the spinal marrow. Politicians are speculating
on the probable consequences of his death. His eldest
son, only 17, has already been put in possession of a harem,
in which it is said he takes as groat delight as his father
did before him.

GREENWICH HOSPITAL.—In accordance with a
recent act the Most effectual measures are now being em-
ployed to improve the condition of the pensioners. The
new clothing now being made up within the establishment
is a gr a , both as respects quality and pat.
tern.el't imPr
The ugly hat, universally hated by the in-
mates, is to be superseded. The allowance known as
" tobacco money" has been much increased. Many minor
details have besides been arranged, under the superinten-
dence of the Governor, Sir James Gordon, which have
given the utmost satisfaction to the inmates.
THE GREENLAND FISHERY.—Mr. J. S. Walker
of Hull, has just received a later, dated Lerwick, June 17,
from whence the following is an extract :—" The Perse-
verance, of Peterhead, paF•sad this day, with from 7 to 8
tuns. The seal fishing has proved a failure, as will be seen
from the following report :—Alexander Harvey, 30 tuns ;
Clara, 7 tuns; Dublin, 7 tuna; Elena, 30 tuns; Jan
Manan, 20 tuna ; Kate, 7 tuns ; Resolution, 7 tuns;
Xanthus, 20 tuns."

It appears by a telegram received at Lloyd's
that the missing Canarlian steamer from Quebec has foun-
dered after striking an iceberg in the Straits of Belle Isle,
and that 35 of the passengers an] crew were drowned. This
vessel was the first boat of the season that attempted the
dangerous passage by the Bello Isle Straits,! generally full
of ice at the present time of the year, and full inquiry will
doubtless be called for as to the propriety of sending a large
steamer through such a route.

GRAND CIVIC BANQUET TO THE JUDGES.--Last
evening, following a time-honoured custom, Mr. Alderman
Alibis and Mr. Lusk, the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex,
entertained her Majesty's Judges, the Lord Mayor, the
Court of Aldermen, several members of the House of Com-
mons, and also of the bar, together with some of the minis-
terial officers of the Corporation, at dinner, at the Albion
Tavern, Aldercgate• street._

DEATH OF Mn. S. LEIGH SOTHEBY.—lmmedi-
ately before going to press ye received the sad intelligence
of the sudden death of Mr. S. Leigh Sotheby, the chief of
the well-known firm of literary and artistic auctioneers,
Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkilson. Mr. Sotheby was connec-
ted with the literary world, xot °lily in his business capacity,
but as the writer of several important and expensive works
of considerable value. His " History of Block Books" is
one of the gems of literary antiquarianism, and he was just
on the point of publishing i splendid and elaborate work
on the "Autograph of Milton." Mr. Sotheby had but
lately removed to his estatein Devonshire, in the hope of
enjoying that Olitlin Clell2 digtitate which he had so well de-
served.— Critic.

GREAT FALL OF RAIN IN BIRMINGIIAM..—Dur-
ing a heavy thunderstorm in Birmingham on Thursday rain
fell to the deptn of 1.17 inches. This tremendous fall of
rain is upwards of one-third of the average fall for the
entire month of June for seven years, which is 3.00 inches.
The storm began at 9 a.m., and lasted four hours.
TllE WIMBLEDON RIFLE CONTEST.—Mr. Ross
the veteran shot, and father of the youthful champion who
carried off the honours of rifle shooting in the great contei.t
last year, is, we hear, in active training for the approaching
meeting at Wimbledon. He is full of confidence, and pro-
bably never shot so well since his boyish days as at pre-
sent. In proof of this fact we may mention that within the
last few days, at a range el 1,000 yards, he hit the target
15 times in succession and the bull's-eye five times, count-
ing 20 points—a feat which we believe no one ever before
accomplished. It is tolerably evident, therefore, that should
he try his fortune in the rifle lists at Wimbledon his oppo-
nents will have to confront a formidable competitor.
THE KINGSWOOD MURDER.—A German was ap-
prehended near Sandgate, in Kent, on Thursday evening,
on suspicion of being one of the persons concerned in the
murder of Mrs. Halliday. In height and appearance he
corresponds with the description given of the elder of the
men on whom suspicion has fallen. A shirt, torn into feet
mufflers, was found upon him, a*d there were besides ex-
tracted from the inside of the lining of his coat a begging
letter and an emigration passport, both in German. He says
that he left Hamburg five weeks ago, but in other respects
his statements are very contradictory. He was examined
last evening, and remanded.

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT NEWlNGTON.—Yesterday
morning, between one and two o'clock, a fire of a most de-
structive character broke out in Newington-causeway,
which laid in ruins property roughly estimated at a hundred
thousand pounds. The fire was discovered raging on the
premises of Messrs. Goldsmith Brothers, fruiterers, No.
38, Newington-causeway, by the policeman on duty, who
instantly raised an alarm, when the inmates made for the
staircase, but were met by a huge body of fire, and were
obliged to escape over the roofs of the adjoining houses. So
rapidly did the fire rage, that it quickly caught the exten-
sive premises of Messrs. Hayward's floor cloth and table
cover manufactory, which stands upon upwards of an acre
of ground, containing an immense stock of floor-cloth, oil,
and other inflammable articles. The building, being com-
posed principally of wood, burnt very fiercely. A good
supply of water and great engine power being obtained,
every exertion was made t..) check the progress of the
flames. In vain, however, did the firemen throw immense
streams of water on the bui dings adjoining the fire as well
ds into the die itself. The conflagration spread, and before
it was finally overcome it had laid in ruins or severely in-
jured thirty houses,

a-:-~

LATEST NEWS.

- •

FRANCE AND ITALY.
La Patric of this day publishes the following in
very prominent type :

"The Cabinet of Turin perfectly agrees with
France on the subject of the recognition of the
Italian Kingdom. It admits the reserves relative to
the question of Rome and the Patrimony of St.
Peter.

" C)unt Vimereati is expected this evening at
Paris. He brings the official reply of the Sardinian
Cabinet."

PARIS, JUNE 22:

The Moniteur of to-day announces the definitive
appointment of Daoud Effendi as Governor of the
Lebanon.

TURIN, JUNE 22.

A deputation from the inhabitants of Rome were
yesterday received by the King, and presented an
address.

ROME, JUNE 20.
No improvement has taken place in the health
of the Pope.
Reactionary agents have been sent to Umbria
and the Marches.

TURIN, JUNE 21.

The Opinione publishes a letter from the brother
of Count Cavour, denying the assertions of the
Gazette de Prance in regard to the circumstances
which accompanied the last religious acts of the
Minister.

The Turin journals announce that, at the request
of Baron Ricasoli, Signor Carutti, Secretary-
General to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, has
withdrawn his resignation.

CRACOW, JUNE 20.

The Czas of to-day publishes news from War-
saw, announcing that M. Wielopolski had proposed
the formation, under the title of Polish Military, of
a flying column of 6,000 men, to maintain public
order in the country, instead of the Russian troops

SOUTHAMPTON, SATURDAY MORNING.

The North German Lloyd's steamer New York,
Captain Wenke, from New York on the Bth inst.,
arrived off the Needles at 8 a.m.

LIVERPOOL, JUNE 22.

The Royal Mail Company's steamship Persia,
which sailed to-day for New York, took £154,467

in specie.

TRANCE.

PARIS, FRIDAY.

The circular of the French Government to its
representatives abroad, announcing to them the re-
cognition of Italy, and giving them such instruction
as may be necessary, has just been forwarded.

There is no truth in the statement that the terms
of the recognition have given dissatisfaction to the
Italian Cabinet. It is almost needless to say that
these terms were previously arranged between the
two Governments.

The Presse of this evening says :
" The reply of the Government at Turin to the
French propositions respecting the recognition of
the Kingdom of Italy has arrived, and is in the
affirmative.

" The Cabinet of Turin entirely agrees with the
views of France."

The Patrie of this evening states that the Cabi-
net of Turin admits tho reservations made by
France in regard to the question of Rome and the
Patrimony of St. Peter.

The Presse states that Fluid Pasha has been ap-
pointed Governor-General of Syria.
" It has baen already mentioned," says the Inde-
vendanco, " that the Emperor Napoleon would meet
at Vichy the Marquis de Lavalette, the Duke de
Gramont, and M. Ad. Barrot, the French Ambas-
sador at Constantinople, Rome, and Madrid. It
appears, according to certain rumours, that to those
names may be added those of MM. de Moustier and
La Tour d'Auvergne, who will come, one from
Vienna and the other from Berlin, and perhaps even
M. de Montebello, who represents France at St.
Petersburg. This would be a Punch diplomatic
Congress, particularly if Count Walewski and M.
Thouvenel should accompany the Emperor to Vichy
—one for the whole season, and the other for a few
days."

BOURSE, June 21.—Business continues very
limited in amount, but prices well maintained.
Threes, for the account, are now at 67f. 85c. Rail-
way Share Market quiet, but firm. The following
are the last quotations :

41 per per Cents ... 96 70 Credit Fancier —
Do end month.... I Belgian 41 —
3 per Cents
Do. end month 67 90! Roman .
Bank Shares 2515 ' Austrian
Credit lUobilier.... 700 —' Spanish Threes 5O
Do. Account 7Ol 25 ' Home Debt

LOSS OF THE CANADIAN.

THIRTY-FIVE PERSONS DROWNED.

A telegram revived in Liverpool, yesterday, an-
nounces the total loss of the royal mail steamer
Canadian, en route from Quebec to Liverpool, with
mails and passengers. The disaster was occasioned
by the vessel coming in contact with the masses of
ice with which the Straits of Belleisie (through
which she was sailing) are at this season frequently
crowded. In half an hour after the collision the
vessel foundered, and 35 persons perished. The
following are despatches on the subject from
Londonderry :
"LONDONDERRY, Friday.

" The North Briton, from Quebec on the 7th inst.,
has arrived, and landed all mails except those for
Liverpool. She reports the loss of the Canadian, in
Cie Straits of Belleisle, on the 4th inst., from striking
an iceberg: She went down in half an hour after-
wards. Thirty-five passengers are lost."
Another account says :

" The Canadian was lost on the 4th inst. She
struck an iceberg 11 miles east of Belleisle, and foun-
dered in 35 minutes after, five miles from the island.
It is supposed that 24 passengers and 10 of the crew
are lost. Capt. Graham and the saved went to St.
John's in a French vessel ; the first and fourth offi-
cers and five seamen were left behind to intercept
the North Briton to follow; attempted, but could
not get south. Impenetrable ice and fogs."

LIST OF THE CREW AND PASSENGERS SAVED,

CREW.—Captain Braham, Mr. Kenny, W. Smith, T.
Bakewell, J. Alexander, J. M'Dougall, R. Gardener, W.
Mackay, R. Gavin, H. Broadfoot, H. Spencer, W. Duff, J.
Shearer, J. S. Livingstone, J. Davies, R. Howarth, A. Blon-
dell, W. Cleary, F. Buchar, J. Pascoe, D. M'Kinsie, D.
Campbell, It. Richards, C. Melville, P. Smith, G. Higgs,
Mrs. Carey, William Carroll, J. Cotterill, William Mitchell,
Wm,
.Stewart, G. Hill, W. Hillbrand, D. H. Lloyd, J.
Fallagher, J. West, L. Kellenberg, D. Craig, F. Nicholson,
G. Smith, J. Jones, Mr. Thibodo, W. Johnstone, R.
Nichol], G. Parker, L. K. Smith, R. Northsworthy, M.
M'Leod, M. Lavotich''J. Roscoe, J. Runnington, J. Hamil-
ton, J. Johnston, D. Gillespie, D. Sloan, R. Wanson,
R. Curtiss, J. Wallace, A. Brannar, W. Forester; D.
M'Donald; W. Hamilton, G. Willis, W. Hallatt, E. Faw-
cett, J. Laverty, E. Gillespie, R. Owen, T. Clinch, M.
Brush, W. Thomson, J. Ramsay, J. Clarke, R. Maclean, J.
M'Whalley, H. M'Kenny, W. Aicken, R. Leithwaite, J.
Wray, W. M'Clelland, H. Mitchell, G. Hamilton, P. Clare,
T. Dixon, R. Harris, C. Moss, J. Evans, T. Darlington.
PASSENGERS.--Mr. Rathbone, Miss Clow, lady, and
child; Mr. Bedford and child ; Rev. H. Gleeson, Mr.
M'Call, Mrs. Campbell, Mrs. Noble, Mr. Ardagh and lady;
Miss Ardagh, J. W. Mathew, J. Brandon and lady; Mr.
J, Gordon, Mr. M'Fie and lady ; R. Young, H. Brady, W.
Thomson, J. R. Scott, T. Berriman, M'Namee and child ;
Mr. Samuels, Mr. Fife, Miss Holt, Mrs. D. Drushy, Mr.
Gilmour and lady, servant, and two children; Mr. Morris,
Miss M'Fie, R. W. Dean A. M'Kay, A. R. Harrison, G.
Gil, Mr. Deck, W. Hamilton, W. Patterson, W. Patrick
and daughter, W. Berglikole, W. Montgomery, A. Mus-
tail, Isabella Galloway, D. Dunlop, E. Moran, J. Jetts,
wife and child, Jane Tweed, Jano Jamieson, Mrs. Wing-
fiek, Margaret Hilly, Priscilla Cheshire, Catherine Bake-
well, J. Hamilton, IV. Lowry, W. Atkinson, H. Falloon,
Alice Hamilton, J. Smith, W. Gillis, Esther Dale, 0.
Tagie, C. M'Cann, Eliza Graham, George Rennie, D.
Williams, D. Carry, Isabella Webster, M. Bird, J. E.
Togext, F. Ashby, E. Brigwell and boy, T. Roe, J. Carry,
T. S7kes and wile, R. Wallace and Jane Cleghorn.
Crew, 88 ; passengers, 89.

TILE DISPUTE IN THE BUILDING TRADES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,•--The carpenters and joiners of London wish
to state through your columns that they have de-
cided to join in offering the same terms to the em-
ployers as the bricklayers and masons—viz., 6s. per
day of 10 hours for the first five days in the week,
3s. for Saturday, leaving work on that day at 12
o'clock. This decision having been arrived at after
mature deliberation and good faith, the men sin-
cerely hcpe the above terms will be accepted as a
compromise honourable alike to employers and
employed.—On behalf of the carpenters and joiners,
W. R. CREMER, See. pro teen.
Committee, Mitre Tavern, St. Martin's-lane,

June 21.

THE REFORMATION OF RELIGION IN

ITALY.

Yesterday afternoon a lecture was delivered on
this subject by Signor Gavazzi, in Willis's Rooms,
King-street, bt. James's, to a large and fashionable
audience.

The meeting was presided over by Lord Cal-
thorpe, who having stated that Signor Gavazzi's
visit to England on the present occasion was for the
purpose of raising funds to enable the Italians to
raise anti establish a National Italian Evangelical
Church, _ _ _

Signor GAYAZZI rose to address the meeting, and
was received with much applause. Having for a
considerab:e time addressed those present in
Italian, he stated, as they were assembled on a
matter of business, he must state that matter to
them in English in the best way he could. He
was glad to say that Italy had now to a great ex-
tent obtained constitutional liberty, and his desire
was to give her religious liberty. He had adopted
Naples as the present field of his operations, and he
had done so for two reasons. In the first place,
the Neapolitans were more fit for evangelisation
than any other portion of the Italian people. If
well guided, they would follow the truthful teacher,
and as their feelings were truly religious, if once
satisfied that the religion they professed was idola-
trous, they would at once renounce it, and adopt
that which they considered better. One instance
of that was to be seen in the number of converts
from Rome they had already made in Naples in
comparison with the rest of Italy. Then his se-
cond object in fixing on Naples as the centre of
his operations was, that he might be near Borne, for
let him tell them that he had the strongest wish,
and he believed his wish would be granted, to
make his great evangelical speech in the Colosseum
at Rome. (Cheers.) The lecturer then went on
to state that his object was for the present to open
a large chapel in Naples, and provide means for
preparing future evangelisers, several priests
being already desirous to work in the evangeP-
sation of their country. He also wished to obtain
a good supply of books, especially commentaries
on the Bible, and the best books on the Romish
and Neologian controversies, for the use of
the future evangelisers while under training. It
was also intended to establish a printing office, for
the purpose of publishing a daily evangelical
paper, together with religious tracts, independently
of foreign printing. To aid in carrying out these
objects, he now therefore appealed to the English
people. An English committee had been appointed
in London, on which were some of the most dis-
tinguished evangelical Christians of the day, while
another had been established in Naples, and through
these committees the whole of the money subscribed
would be transmitted. After commending these
objects to the audience in eloquent and impressive
terms, the lecturer concluded amid much applause.
An enthusiastic vote of thanks was then passed
to Signor Gavazzi for his lecture; and a similar
vote having been awarded to the chairman, for
his kindness in presiding, the proceedings ter-
minated,

I.E.RRIFIC FLOOD A 7 GREENFIELD.

Yesterday afternoon, the Greenfield Valley,
Saddleworth, was devastated by a flood, more disas-
trous than any during the present century. About
half-past two o'clock, the water from the hills rushed
down with terrine violence, sweeping everything
before it, and doing damage to a considerable
amount. The weirs above Messrs. Bottomley's
Mill, which were erected immediately after the
flood in 1857, were completely washed away; three
wooden bridges and one stone one were swept for-
ward through the garden to the mill, the willow-
ing house of which was washed away. Considerable
damage was also done to the dwelling-
house, into which the water penetrated, and
destroyed much of the furniture. The lower
rooms of the mill and dychouse were also inun-
dated, and damage to the amount of some thousands
of pounds was done. At Mr. Buckley's (Waterside
Mill), the torrent swept away the roads and fences,
and covered the land to a considerable depth, tear-
ing up trees, and carrying down everything that
stood in its course. At Clubhouses, a row of cot-
tages near the bridge, the water became dammed
up, and completely filled the lower rooms in all the
cottages fronting the river. In one of these, the in-
mates, consisting of an old woman, the wife of Wil-
liam Bradbury, her granddaughter (a ctherhild
child en -
betwi en
two and three years of age), no
trusted to her care, were occupying the lower set of
rooms, with no outlet but the front doer. Through
this entrance the water rushed before the inmates
could be rescued. A young
woman gallantly at.
tempted to save them; but her efforts were of no
avail, and Mrs. Bradley and the two children were
drowned. The body of one of the children was
washed down a mile and a half, and, • when re-
covered, was fearfully mangled. Several narrow
escapes occurred further down, several persons
having had to be got out at the roof, so sudden was
the rush of the flood. Many houses were com-
pletely deluged in the lower rooms, and the inha-
upper storeys.
to calculate,
bitants had to seek refuge in the
The loss to property it is impossible
but it must be immense.