The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-08 00:00:00

THE ST7II, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 8; 1861.

THE SUN.

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 1861.

"'Tis a very pretty quarrel as it stands," said
Sir Luclus O'TRIGGER. And so also may it be
said by us of this still continued Budget Fight
between the Government and the Opposition.
But—How does it stand just now ? Look at the
close of last night's proceedings in the House of
Commons, and the political situation, the financial
situation, becomes very readily comprehensible.
There is the House in Committee upon the im-
perial and vital question of the " Tramways (Ire-
land) Act Amendment Bill." Clause 1 is agreed
to without any division. Clause 2 the Committee
divides upon, and it is carried by a clear majority
of 51 in a house of 263 a wonderful
number of members surely to have been
attracted down to the House by a measure of such
a character Clause 3 being proposed, Mr. BUTT
moves that the Chairman report progress—an extra-
ordinary proceeding under the circumstances.
Suspicions are upon the instant aroused as to the
cause of this sudden and, to say the least of it, very
singular proposition. Mr. POPE HENNESSY, like
an impulsive young man, as he is, blurts out the
suggestion that the proposal is only made to faci-
litate the business of the Government. Thereupon
there gradually rises as stormy a scene as the House
of Commons has witnessed for many a long--day
we were going to say—for many and many a long
night. Let us skim off just the cream of this little
impromptu, and most discursive, and highly perso-
nal discussion. Tho noble lord the member for
Stamtot El, the Hotspur of the Opposition, rises soon
after this, very abruptly, for the purpose of rapping
Gut a few sharp things in regard to the progress of
Public Business. He declares, point blank, in so
many words that the course now being pursued by
the Government in respect to the summary in-
terruption at that hour of the Committee
upon the MA Tramway Bill manifestly—
these are his NI ords—" had reference to
ulterior steps to be taken with respect to the
Budget, and was of a piece with the devices by
which that scheme had been characterised from be
ginning to end—devices by which it was proposed
to wreak the vengeance and spite of the right hon.
gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the
House of Commons—devices, he might add, more
worthy of a country attorney than of a
statesman. If,'' added Lord ROBERT CECIL,
" the right hon. gentleman sought to force his
Budget on before the proper time it was, of course,
open to him, backed by a majority, to do so; but
he was sure such tactics as those to which it would
seem he was condescending to resort for the purpose
would neither advance his own reputation nor tend
to expedite the measures." Bold, blunt words—full
of personality—yet words that, while they are
greeted with loud cheering, are permitted to pass
by, for the time being, without any response save
what might be regarded as such in Mr. CONING-
HAM'S incidental reprehension of an attack of that
nature, directed against the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer. Eventually, after a little further argu-
mer.t, the Committee divides upon the question
that the Chairman report progress, the motion being
carried by a clear majority of 102, in a House now
of 260 members, the Chairman leaving the chair,
and progress being reported accordingly.
Then it is that the confronting athletes grapple
with each other in real earnest. Mr. DISRA.ELI
puts it to the House, puts it to the Government,
puts it directly to the First Lord of the Treasury,
whether it be really "convenient" (to use the mildest
phrase), whether it be really " convenient" to pro..
ceed at that hour of the evening with a matter of
such importance as the Budget, and under circum-
stances so very peculiar, in some respects so abso-
lutely unprecedented. The Premier, thus appealed
to, rashly replies upon the spur of the moment—
.; I think this matter is quite as important as the
Irish Tramway, Bill, . and I don't see why we
should not go on with it." Lord PALMERSTON, we
say, rashly replies in these words, for, immediately
he has done so, Lord jouX MANNERS quietly re-
marks—" Some little time ago I think the noble
lord said the Irish Tramways Liu was much too
important a subject to be proceeded with at so late
an hour as half past 11 o'clock. I hope he is pre-
pared to carry our that principle in regard to this
matter." Something, certank,-,
like a retort direct
—that ! Insomuch that the Chancen,,. of the
Exchequer has nothing then for it but to rise
himself and calmly, but quite firmly, to insist upon
it that the business of the House in regard to the
Budget must, as a matter of course, be proceeded
with at once, and without any further delay what-
ever, as proposed by her Majcsty's Government.
Thereupon lioTsruit is "at it" again—and that too
more loudly, more outspokenly than ever. " Often
as I have heard,- says Lord ROBERT CECIL, " the
strongest and strangest statements from the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, I am absolutely aghast at
the audacity which he has exhibited on the present
occasion." He then goes on to argue the question,
What the Government are now proposing is to

subdue the House of Lords. This is the stage at
which the Government intend to obtain power to
take a course hitherto unprecedented f.r. half a
century. It has been the practice hitherto to divide
all measures of finance into separate Bills, and to
send them up separately to the House of Lords ;
but new, for a special object, to avenge a special
defeat, to gratify a special pique, and to gain the
doubtful votes of a special political .section, it is
proposed to varythe practice of half a century, and
yet the right hon. gentleman stands at that table
and tells us he is proposing to take the usual and
invariable course.'' So soon as the noble lord
has resumed his seat, Sir GEORGE GREY takes
up the cudgels for his colleague the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer—exclaiming in regard
to Lord ROBERT CECIL—" He has used language
to-night which I will not characterise, since I sup-
pose [an admission this !—and one that not unna-
turally elicits loud ringing Opposition Cheers !]—
since I suppose it was within the strict rule of
Parliamentary debate." Sir GEORGE adds, how-
ever,—thereby calling forth responsive cheers from
the occupants of the Ministerial benches—" But it
was language that we happily hear from few mem-
bers of this House." After Sir JOHN PAKINGTON
has expressed a vain hope that the Government
would even then think better-of it, and withdraw
their very urgent proposition, the House
divides upon the question of adjournment,
the:motion being defeated by a clear majority of 62
in a House then of 258 members. Thereupon quoth
the Chancellor of the Exchequer—for he could say
it then with dignity, having a majority—" I do not
think it will be any advantage to the progress of
public business to endeavour to press further the
proposal of the Government, if there is a disposition
on the part of the minority not to allow us to pursue
the usual course, It is our business to construe in
the most favourable manner the course of the
Opposition, and I feel quite sure it does not indi-
cate any intention to obstruct the progress of public
business. I shall therefore propose that further
progress on this order of the day be adjourned
until Thursday. It has this special advantage,"
Mr. GLADSTONE cannot help adding, "that it will
allow the noble lord the member for Stamford
time to reconsider the vocabulary in which
he has addressed us." Upon that vocabulary,
however (while, upon it, observe ! the
Speaker has nothing to say !)—Mr. DISRAELI, as
Leader of her MAJESTY'S Opposition, has something
to say, very different, indeed, to what is implied in
that haughty sneer of the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer. " I am glad," observes the right hon.
gentleman the member fer Bucks, " I am glad my
noble Mena the member for Stamford has received
this public acknowledgment from the Chancellor of
the Exchequer of the efficiency of his powers of
expression. I confess I have listened with satisfac-
tion to the noble lord both last night and to-night, as
it appeared to me that I never heard more constitu-
tional opinions expressed in more effective language.
I hope that on Thursday the noble lord the member
for Stamford will be prepared to take part in our
debates in which I think he has greatly distin-
guished himself. I was extremely pleased by the
meek tone in which, with this exception, the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer conducted the business. I
hope the right hon. gentleman and all his col-
leagues have found out that the best way to manage
the House of Commons is to defer to any reason-
able request. It may be very well to bully a
colleague. But there is one body in the world who
I can assure her MAJESTY'S Government can not
be bullied, and that is the House of Commons."
Plain speaking, all that certainly—" with [this
doubtless, yet to come from one side or from the
other] a vengeance !" The combatants are now
fairly breathed—but the buttons by this time are
knocked off the foils—and there -is a gleam in the
eyes of each that "means mischief." We shall see
another fight of it yet before the financial measures
are passed on, from the House of Commons, to that
" other place" not to be whispered of by name in
ears polite within hearing of the Right Hon. the
Speaker. To-morrow evening we shall know more
about it—as to the How, the When, and the Where
the next battle will be provoked by the Opposition
in respect to the fiscal and financial policy of the
powerful and—so very recently upon the last trial
of their strength—successful Liberal Government.

The best part of an evening was given last night
to the lonian Islands. We certainly must num-
ber ourselves with those who think them hardly
worth it. Mr. MAGUIRE thought, however, he
had got hold of a clever device for quizzing Lord
JOHN RUSSELL a little, by appealing to his des-
patch in favour of nationalities, as justifying the
islands in their desire to be united to Greece.
Except for this little bit of pleasantry we hardly
see anything in Mr. MAGUIRE'S motion to justify
his long speech. He did not certainly want the
blue books, which would have followed on the suc-
cess Of his motion—it was quite enough for him to
tease the Foreign Secretary, by telling him, that
on the principles which he assigned as valid in the
case of the revolted subjects of the POPE and the
other absolute monarchs of Italy, he must be pre-
pared to part with the islands to which in his
previous and unpopular despatch, he had alluded
as " our interests in the Adriatic." This opportu-
nity was too tempting to be lost, but then, it laid
the member for Dangarvan open to the reproach of
inconsistency in his former defence of Italian des-
pots.

But what ought to be done ? No one seemed I
disposed to make any proposal, though all practi-
cally came to one result—that we must not act
precipitately ; like Mr. DISRAELI, on Thursday
night, we must take time to reflect. What, then,
are the facts on which we have to reflect ? That,
for one thing, we have a protectorate which vi as
placed in our hands by the assent of all European
Powers, and that, when we took it, the inhabitants
were glad enough of such a security against the
Turks, the then Lords of Greece ; and they cer-
tainly had then neither any wish to come under the
Mussulrnan dominion, nor any means, unaided,, of
defending themselves against any Power. As soon,
however, as Greece gained her independence, the
seemingly never-dying sentiment of nationality
began to show itself, and has been growing
ever since. To us, looking on, it seems
as if it could be no gain to come under
the German rule of King °Trio, and
almost to merge their liberties in the venal Govern-
ment of Athens; but the Islanders think differently ;
the real treedom they enjoy under QUEEN VICTORIA
seems to them a kind of .
andby one , because
of
totallyit is
governed by a foreign nation ,
‘vstlrent race and language. Mr. LAYARD seemed
inclined to explain away this difficulty, but it
is a p!rmanent one, and will assuredly at some time
do its work. Whenever Greece shall be in a con-
dition to make it worth while to join her, we may
be sure that the general sentiments of all English-
men will be in favour of the seven islands reuniting
with their own people.

As to our engagement with Europe, and tho ne-
cessity of asking the great Powers whether they
will release us from them, we hold that line of
argument as exceedingly unimportant. There is
not one of those Powers which has kept
to the treaties of 1816. They may be a certain

kind of basis, or a starting point rather, for diplo-
matic discussions, but in the present condition of
France and Savoy, Belgium, Russia, Poland, Cra-
cow, Italy, all Europe indeed, or nearly so, it is
pedantry, not argument, to refer to any engage-
ments of 1815 as binding now. We may hold our-
selves quite at liberty to consider what is best for
ourselves first, for the inhabitants next, and for the
peace of Europe as affecting all of us, and these
considerations alone must decide what shall
now be done. To us the value of Corfu
as a naval station has been absurdly overrated.
The recent instances of the whole French fleet get-
ting up to Venice without our knowledge is but
one illustration of its uselessness to us as the key
of the Adriatic ; and indeed if it were so, what par-
ticular business we have in that sea, what business
worth the heavy coat of the government of the
islands, we have never seen explained. As to the
inhabitants themselves we must, to a great extent,
allow them to judge for themselves. If they prefer
-he wretched Government of OTHO, so that
they will keep us in perpetual trouble till they get
it, it is not for us to force on them the blessings of
our rule against their wish.
We must confess that after all that has beensaid
we see no reason to alter the opinion we expressed
before, that the people themselves should be left to
decide the question. We have perhaps a right to
ask that they shall come under an engagement
never to sell themselves, or to let the demagogues
sell them to any of the other great Powers. We
might retain all the rights a solemn treaty
could give us to intervene at once if
they even attempted to join any country
but Greece ; but, under these conditions, why
should we not leave it to a fair ballot—such a
ballot as not French commissioners, but an English
gentleman would take, to decide whether the
Islands preferred to remain With us or to unite
with Greece. All things nearly are relatively
different to what they were when we took the pro-
tectorate ; it is now acknowledged that the opinions
of nationalities are to count for as much at least
in territorial arrangements as the convenience of
rulers; and this too simple and obvious plan seems
to be the only one which will effectually terminate
all difficulties.

The course of the Government of Prussia and the
language held in her Chamber of Deputies, in re-
ference to the disgraceful affair of Captain MAC-
DONALD, can but fill the minds of Englishmen with
supreme contempt for both Government and people.
The officials of this country may, of course, in the
spirit too common with such personages, overstep
their duty, and they may do so towards a foreigner.
But if ever done, let all foreigners understand that
severe reprimand, and probably much more serious
consequences, would follow a foreigner's complaint ;
and, if anything, the severity of the punishment
would be greater if the individual aggrieved were
a foreigner. The helplessness of the man surrounded
by people of another country would give him the
same claims to special protection as is accorded to a
female amongst men. Yet, though these miserable
Prussian officials actually dragged a gentleman out
of the carriage by his heels, he, too, not being the
offender, not a single word of reprimand is uttered.
Again, if we allow, as we must, that every per-
son arrested by competent authority is bound quietly
to surrender—and this Captain MACDONALD did—
we cannot allow that any Government, professing
to be civilised, has a right not only to arrest him,
but to refuse bail for so confessedly a trivial charge;
not only to refuse bail, but to imprison him in a filthy
cell with felons ; and not only to do that, but to keep
him in this abominable confinement for a week,
and that when the British representative there was
ready to answer for his appearance—we say such
laws ought themselves to be the subject of an apo-
logy. Prussia ought to be ashamed that her own
subjects, and much more travellers in the country,
can be subjected to treatment so utterly the reverse
of what may be expected from any civilised coun-
try. We hear much of the praise of the Prussian
system of education—all we say is, heaven save us
from it, if it train petty officers to be such tyrants,
and the people such slaves as this affair shows
them to be.

We were more surprised at the language, as re-
ported, used by VON VINCKE in the Prussian
Chambers. He, as a liberal Prussian, ought to
have accepted Lord PALMERSTON'S and Lord JOHN
RUSSELL'S language instead of complaining of it.
He ought to have used it to point out to the Go-
vernment the necessity of thoroughly altering such
a system of tyranny and slavery as those to which
Prussian law trained the people; but instead of
that we find him talking about the "necessity to
England of the Prussian alliance."
What extraordinary conceit can the Prussian
notables have got into their heads ? We want the
Prussian alliance ! an alliance with the mean traf-
ficers in the Russian war ;—an alliance with a
country in which the heir to the Crown cannot
maintain his wife, but must take £40,000 at once
out of our pockets and £B,OOO a year besides—an
alliance with a country ever ready to sell its
friends for its own convenience, to bully
the weak, and to skulk before the strong !
If there be one country on earth which the conduct
of half a century, and that especially of the last
ten years, ha 3 made contemptible in English
opinion, that country is Prussia; and almost uni-
versal was the regret that ,the QUEEN selected
a husband for the PRINCESS ROYAL from
such a land, and asked Parliament to waste English
money on Royal necessities there. Probably the
next case of insult to English travellers will be in
Hesse Darnstadt, as the reward for £30,000
down and £6,000 per annum. The Germans
seem to regard the money of England as tri-
bute, and to be emboldened to insolence, because
we purchase husbands of them for our princesses
at a price ten or twenty times greater than they
would ever think of giving for husbands from Eng-
land for theirs. We beg to inform M. YON
VINCKE that we have not the slightest need of
Prussia, and that the people of this country only
wish we had no matrimonial alliance there.
Baron SCHLEINITZ talks of Prussia " Not sacri-
ficing her independence for the friendship of any
Power." We do not ask her to sacrifice what she
never yet had, at least in our life-time—but we do
ask her to behave with common decency in the com-
munity of nations. We never yet knew a gentle-
man, who if another gentleman had to coniplain
of the ill behaviour of the other's servants—though
it any sacrifice of independence to express his un-
feigned regret, to make reparation, if the case
admitted, and to rebuke or dismiss the offending
servant. Were Prussia really independent she
would not talk about it thus. What should we
think of
rd PALMERSTON'S mentioning:the
"independent !e" of England in any such dispute P

Their Roy al Highnesses the Duchess of Cam-
bridge and the -Princess Mary honoured Miss Coutts with
their company _yesterday afternoon, when Mr. Pechter had
the honour to give "a reading." A limited party were in-
vited to meet; their royal highnesses.
The Mat •chioness of Downshire's "dance " is un-
avoidably po Etponcd.
The Earl. of Brovnlow has arrived in town for
the season, ed'ter a len3thened tour on the Continent.
Field-IN/DX/AU:I Viscount and Viscountess Corn-
bermere axe (ape cted to arrive in town on Saturday for the
Onion,

Lord and Lady Leigh have arrived at their resi-
dence in Portman-square, from Stmeleigh Abbey, for the
seasun.

Lord and Lady Kenyon are expected in town in
a feiv days, from Gredington Hall, for the season.

Lady Howard de Walden is prolonging her stay
at Southsea.

The Hon. Freeman H. Morse, the new United
States Consul in London, arrived in town on Monday, and
is now staying at the Castle and Falcon, Aldersgate•street,
City.
Vice-Admiral Sir John Gordon Sinclair and
family have arrived at 66, Chester-square, for the season.
Sir Lawrence and Lady Palk have arrived at
47, Rutland-gate, for the season.

Lady Farnaby has arrived at the Queen's Hotel,
Upper Norwood, from Wickham Court, near Bromley.

INNS OF COURT EXAMINATION.—The Council
of Legal Education, in order to facilitate the intended visit
of the Inns of Court Rifle Corps to the corps of the Uni-
versity of Cambridge on Saturday, May 18, have made an
alteration in the day fixed for holding the examination of
the students of the Inns of Court. The examination will
be commenced on Wednesday, May 15, at half-past 9, and
continued on the two following days at the same hour.
A contract has been entered into between the
United States Government and the agents of the Hamburg-
American Steam Company to convey the United States
mails between New York and Southampton. The vessels
of this company consist of the Hammonia, Saxonia, Borus-
sia, Bavaria, and Teutonia, and they will henceforth sail
every alternate Wednesday. The contract granted to
them is in place of that hitherto fulfilled by the American
ships Fulton and Arago, which are now understood to have
been taken up by the Government for transport purposes,
and a new illustration is thus afforded of the manner in
which the war is causing a necessity for payments from
America to Europe.

The following letter from the Inland Revenue-
office, in answer to one addressed to the Right Hen. the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, will interest the public gene-
rally. " Inland Revenue, Somerset House, May s.—Sir,
The Board of Inland Revenue have had referred to them
your letter of the 29th ult., addressed to the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, and in reply to the inquiries therein sub-
mitted I am directed to inform you that an auctioneer's
license will authorise a person to act as house agent, and
that a person letting merely his own property will not be
required to take out a license as a house agent. I am, Sir,
your obedient servant, T. SARGENT.-Mr. Absalom Dell."

DESTRUCTIVE FIRES.—Last night a very alarm.
ing fire broke out in the large range of premises belonging to
Mr. John Mason, a modeller in plaster, carrying on busi-
ness at No. 25A, F roviden ce-row, Finsbury. The disaster
occurred in the following somewhat singular manner. Mr.
Mason was in the act of ascending a ladder in order to get
some figures to pack up for a country order, he having at
the time a lighted candle in his hand. Upon getting near
the top of the ladder it suddenly broke, and Mr. Mason was
precipitated to the floor, by which he was seriously hurt,
and the candle he held in his hand came in contact with a
crate of straw. Before he had time to get up, the straw
blazed away most furiously, and the flames ran rapidly
round that part of the premises. igniting not only the ground
floor warehouse but the show-rooms over. Engines were
soon in attendance, and the firemen were enabled to save
intact one side or wing of the premises, but the damage
done to the other portions of the property is serious, a large
number of valuable models having been destroyed. Fortu-
nately Mr. Mason was insured in the Sun Fire-office. A
fire also broke out yesterday in the bookbinding establish-
ment belonging to Mr. F. Watkins, 8 Paradise-row, Gravel-
lane, Southwark. It was caused by the overheating of ene
of the steam pipes.

FEARFUL INCIDENT AT THE FAlR.—Tuesday last
being the " pleasure fair" day in Bridgnorth, there was the
usual assemblage of "shows." Amongst these was a
theatrical establishment, in front of which was erected a
slack rope apparatus, consisting of two upright poles, with
a rope suspended across. Between 5 and 6 o'clock in the
evening, one of the company was engaged going through a
variety of evolutions on this rope, in presence of a large
concourse of people. One portion of the performance con-
sisted in the man slipping from the cross rope to one
suspended vertically from its centre, and from this he swung
with his head downwards, and afterwards slipped his
head into a noose and swung like a man hanging. This
noose was intended to fit under the chin and at the
back of the head, but by some means it slipped from
its position and encircled the neck of the performer. He
was seen to struggle, but it being considered part of the
performance, the people applauded and the band con-
tinued to play, while the man was in his death agony. At
length the performer's hands dropping to his sides, his
features beginning to blacken, with other unmistakeable
evidences that he was suffering from strangulation. A fear-
ful scene of excitement ensued. Women ran about shriek-
ing and wringing their hands, and for some time all was
confusion. At length a ladder was procured, and while
several persons held it in... iipeisixt-1.104:-,.. aa
they could from below, a man out of the crowd climbed up
and cut the poor fellow down. Owing to the agitation that
prevailed, and the imminence of the man's danger, proper
means were not used to cetch him as he fell, and he dropped
a distance of from 12 to 15 feet on to the platform, his
head striking the edge of it with great force. He was at
once conveyed to the nearest public house, and medical
assistance instantly procured. He remained for a con-
siderable time in a state of insensibility, but at length sus-
pended animation was restored, and he is now in a fair way
of recovery.--Birmingham Daily Post.
HOP INTELLIGENCE.—THE KENTISH PLANTA-
TIONS.—The report s from our correspondents in most of
the hop-growing districts of Kent represent the growth of
the bine as nearly stationary during the past week. The
cold nights and chilly days have checked progress, and the
plantations are not generally more advanced than in the
middle of April. It is now seen,that there are a greater
number of dead hills than were at first anticipated ; and the
plants that have come up are platty, and what is called
nettle-headed ; that is, they exhibit too much leaf, and are
exceedingly uneven.—South Eastern Gazette.
THREE SUSPECTED CHILD MURDERS.—Yester-
day morning Mr. John Humphreys, the coroner for East
Middlesex, received instructions of three newly-born chil-
dren being found exposed under the I Mowing circum-
stances :—The first was a male infant, which had been
discovered by a labouring man lying on a vacant piece of
ground in Birdcage-walk, Bethual-green. The deceased,
which had been born alive, was fully developed, and was
tied up in a piece of an old towel.—A second child, recently
born, was found by police-constable 98 G, lying in King's-
, and the head was
square, Goswell-straet, St. Luke's. The deceased was
brown paper
eof
bruised—the skullarms also were severely bruised. Mr. Mather, the surgeon,
shockinglywrappe d
was called, and examined the body, which was that of a
full -grown male infant. The medical gentleman was of
opinion that death had been wilfully caused.—A third male
child was discovered in a pond in London-fields, Hackney,
by a labourer, yesterday morning at an early hour. Mr.
Wright, the surgeon to the Hackney Workhouse, made
an examination, and pronounced that the deceased had
been horn alive, and had died from pressure on the respi-
ratory organs.
SOMETHING LIKE A FALL.—The Mussoorie cor-
respondent of the Hurkartr, writing under date of 18th ult.,
narrates the following extraordinary accident :—" I regret
to have to chronicle a most sad acciient which occurred
here a day or two ago, or rather last Thursday night. A
young gentleman, a great favourite with us all, of the name
of Godfrey Thomas (son of Colonel Thomas, so well known
for tea planting in the Dhoou), while riding down to Raj-
pore by the Mackinnon-road, went over a frightful preci-
pice 200 feet deep, in the dark. His horse was found ab-
solutely dashed to pieces, and though much injured him-
self about :the head and face, fortunately no bones were
broken. I hear hopes are entertained of his recovery,
though really to look at the place where the occurrence took
place is enough to make one's blood run cold, and wonder
how on earth any man could have escaped immediate death.
This unfortueate accident will, I hope, prove a warning to
people fond of hard riding in these hills. A better horse-
men than Godfrey Thomas never put foot in stirrup.—
Hurkaru.

A SLIGUT MISTAKE.---The Greenock Advertiser
gives the following :—" Launches are of such frequent
occurrences now-a-days that much of the pomp and
circumstance, and, we may add, expense, has been pro-
perly done away with. Cannon no longer announce the
event, the important ceremony of naming is sometimes dis-
pensed with, and when it does take place the gliding vessel
is often christened, not with libations of ruby port, but a
villanous compound of red and black ink, which, as it
streams down the stern, has all the appearance of the more
generous liquid. A few days ago, at the launch of a vessel
in one of the local yards, the namer of the ship missed his
aim, and the bottle was left dangling to one of the shores,
with which the lanyard got entangled. Two of the work-
men instantly seized it, and retiring below the bottom of a
craft on the stocks, knocked the neck off, and look a hearty
swig of the contents, expecting a bonne bortehe. Their con-
sternation, and the inward pangs which followed their po-
tations may be imagined but can never be described."
THE CROPS IN THE EAST.--The weather in the
week ending Sunday was cold and unseasonable on the
eastern side of the country, and up to Friday there was an
entire absence of the soft spring showers which ordinarily
characterize the month of April. The strong planted
wheats are progressing favourably in Norfolk ; indeed, they
have probably profited by the drought, which has acted as
a set-off to the unusual quantity of rain which saturated
the earth for several months previously. On the stiff soils,
however, the state of the land, till rain to some extent
softened it on Friday and Saturday, checked vegetation,
especially in the case of the late-sown barleys. In the
fens and light chalky soils of Cambridgeshire the crops pre-
sent in many places but a meagre appearance, but on the
stronger lands they are looking well. The supply of grass
for sheep fe:ding has been reduced to a low ebb by the ab-
sence of rain, and some fine warm weather, with occasional
showers, is much needed. The deficiency has hitherto
been made up with mangold and artificial food, but of
course at a serious coat as regards the latter,

L A rL
E& T N E S.

MADRID, MAY 8.

The Madrid journals state, that the Spanish
sqadron has been assembled at Algesiras—not to
compel the execution of the treaty by the Moors,
but merely to protect the African possessions of
Spain.

NAPLES, Mar 4 (via Marseilles).

The rumours which were current here of the
proclamation of a republic at Palermo have proved
entirely false. They originated in an attempt at a
Garibaldian demonstration made in that city on
the 29th ult. The members of the United Demo-
cratic Association succeeded, however, in tranquil-
lising the people.

General Carini has taken the command of the
national guard at Palermo.
The Archbishop of San Andrea and three large
landed proprietors have been arrested.
A letter, addressed by the Director of Public
Worship to the Archbishop of Naples, has been
published, in which he reproaches the archbishop
with having forbidden public prayers for King
Vietor Emmanuel, and warns him that if he per-
sists in such a course he will be prosecuted accord-
ing to law.

ROME, MAY 4 (via Marseilles).

The Government has ordered Count Christen and
two other Frenchmen to quit Rome on account of
their having taken part in the insurrection in the