The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 14, 1861.

such an amount of taxation was never heard of

before, except when we were at war ; that the
foreign relations of Europe encourage the hope
that we are in no danger of war ; that the war with
China is over; that our relations of amity with
France are certainly strengthened by the treaty
and the abolition of the passport system ; and that

the civil and miscellaneous expenditure has reached

an amount which imperatively demands revision.

"We are convinced," they add, " that retrench- i
ment will prove the truest policy of the Go-
vernment as the only method of meeting the
financial exigences of the State, satisfying the
expectations of Parliament, conciliating the good
opinion of the commercial and monied interests,
allaying the dissatisfaction of the taxpayers, and
preventing the loud outcry which would inevitably
arise in case of another unfavourable harvest or any
check to the public prosperity."
The members who have commenced this move-
ment appeal—virtually, though not formally—to
the constituencies. They point Lord PALMERSTON
to the acceptableness of the retrenchment policy to
the electors of the country. Will not the electors
back their members ? We need not tell them that a
member's influence depends not on his ability
merely, nor even on his integrity, but on the
support he receives from without. We cannot
deny that this ought, to a great extent and in some
matters, to be so. It is, for instance, very much
a question for the tax-payers, whether they think
• what the Income-tax procures for the country is
of such value as to make them still content to pay
it. It is exacted solely to increase our naval and
military defences, and to cover an extravagant
Civil expenditure. With no war in reasonable
prospect, we may go on devoting a moderate sum
to maintaining and perfecting our navy, and our
' army equipments. We need be in no haste to spend,
when all things portend peace, so far as we are con-
cerned abroad, and when with our army of Volun-
teers, and our present naval and military strength,
, we might defy all Europe to touch us.

It has been confessed on all hands that the
income tax ought to be our reserve tax—a war tax
and nothing else. We hold that it has been one

long blunder to keep it on, in order to please Man-
chester by getting rid of customs duties. They
ought always to have been got rid of in a self-
remunerating way; it was vicious policy to lay on
a tax essentially unjust, merely to repeal taxes
which were not unequal, although they might
lessen a little the amount of some branches of trade.
The income tax is so bad, and felt to be so in its
incidence, that its tendency is to convert the whole
nation into a nation of smugglers, merely to get
themselves justice,not to procure, slyly and cheaply,
some rather dear luxury.
Our Chancellor of the Exchequer is, however,
one who needs the tuition of the electors. He is,
it is well known, very desirous of retrenchment.
He has strongly denounced our " enormous" ex-
penditure, and so far he will be ready to listen
to the members who press on him reduction of
expenditure. But though we believe no Minister
feels more than he does the iniquitous inequality
of the income tax, yet we fear he would prefer
just now to retain it. He has, probably, two
reasons. One, that he thinks nothing else will
bring the popular pressure to bear upon his
colleagues who spend the money which they re-
quire him to find, but the torture and rack of a
high income tax. Another reason is, that he is
personally in favour of liberating commerce, if he
could,' entirely from Customs duties. He was, in
fact, a Peelite ; he must now be regarded as a
Manchester man. Anything for trade, is his
motto ; Peace-at-any-price—abolition of Customs'
duties, if it required a 10 per cent. income tax—
anything whatever, if it will but facilitate the
operation of trade.
It is, therefore, for the electors with limited
incomes, under whatever schedule, to cheer "Mr.
GLADSTONE and Retrenchment," but to add a three
times three, and one more, for "Mr. GLADSTONE
and Retrenchment of the Income-tax." Even
Tory landlords, and the county members whom
those landlords return, using their tenants as
counters, cannot quarrel with their tenants for
asking liberation from a tax which burdens them
so painfully, and which the landlord himself
can only put up with by summoning all his
aristocratical philosophy to his aid. No tenant
need fear a notice to quit for signing a petition
against the Income-tax--which many a landlord
would sign also. The :tradesmen of towns would
sign it universally, and thus boroughs and counties
uniting might force it on the attention of the
House in a way which no Government could afford
to resist, We will not enter further into the sub-
ject just now. We only remind all men of small
incomes, that they are the persons to complain. No
one can blame them. When, the tax is subtracted
from their little incomes how differently do
they feel it to what a man does, who,
when he pays this year's tax on his
thousand pounds has still £9SS Os. Bd. left him.
When to this is added the precarious character of
most such incomes, the cruelty of the tax can hardly
be overrated, The class, however, to which we
appeal know this. Hitherto it has been some-
times cajoled, sometimes frightened into paying,
without much remonstrance ; more generally the
feeling has been one of hopelessness and despon-
dency. If we mistake not, however, the hour is
come when the income-tax, by a little judicious
effort, may be abolished for ever.

THE PRINCE OF WALES AT CAMBRIDGE.—The
Prince of Wales will enter the University of Cambridge as
an undergraduate on Friday next, the 18th inst. It is
expected that his Royal Highness will pass through the
town on his way to Madingley Hall, on Wednesday next,
when ho will be received by the mayor and corporation,
but no adkesscs will be presented. The prince will
become it member of Trinity College.
The Duke of Sutherland is confined at Trentham
by severe indisposition. His grace's symptoms are so
serious as to cause the greatest anxiety to his family.

The Marchioness of Bath and Lady Louisa
Th:Tnne are on a visit to the Earl and Countess of Devon
at Powderham Castle, near Exeter, where a select circle
has assembled.

The Earl of Sefton leaves town to-day to join the
circle about to assemble at Nuneham Park, Oxon.

The Countess of Sefton and Lady Cecilia Moly-
neux have arrived at their residence in Grosvenor-place,
from Croxteth•Park, Liverpool,
The Earl Granville leaves town today for Wil•
ton House, near Salisbury, on a visit to Lord and Lady
Herbert of Lea.

The Earl of Abingdon, who has been seriously
indisposed for some weeks past at hie residence in Gros-
venor-street, is now progressing favourably.
The Earl Cowper leaves town to-day to join the
circle about to assemble at Wilton House, near Salisbury.
Lord and Lady Herbert of Lea leave town to-day
for Wilton House, near Salisbury, where they intend to
receive a succession of visitors. His lordship is expected to
return to town on the 28th inst.

Lord and Lady Norreys leave town to day for
Wytham Abbey, near Reading. The noble lord and her
ladyship will go on Tuesday to Nuneham Park on a visit
to Frances Countess Waldegrave and Mr. Harcourt, M.P.
Count Jaucourt returned to Albert• gate House
on Saturday from visiting Lord and Lady Willoughby de
Eresby at Grimsthorpe, Lincolnshire.
Mr. and Lady Caroline Townley, who have
been staying in Paris for some weeks past, will shortly go
to Nice.

Lieutenant-Colonel and the Hon. Mrs. Loyd•
Lindsay have arrived at Maurigy's Hotel, from Ovorstone
Park, Northampton.
The Hon. George Waldgrn..ve hls arrived in town
from Scotland.

Colonel Taylor has arrived at Maurigy's Hotel
from Shorueliffe, near Folkestone.

THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA. - LIVERPOOL,
Friday night —The Armenian, Captain Wild, has arrived
with the mails from the West Coast of Africa, and 1,700

ounces of gold on freight. Among the passengers are Cap-
tain Eagle and crew of the Ecceife, abandoned at sea ;and
part of the crew of the ship Nottingham. burnt. Her ad-

vices are devoid of interest.

The advices from Sydney mention the suspension
of Mr. H. W. Johnson, contractor, with liabilities estimated

at £22,824, and assets at £22,481.
PRECAUTIONS FOR THE PREVENTION OF RAIL-
WAY ACCIDENTS DURING THE FROST.—We may state
upon authority that in consequence of the late accidents on
the London and North-Western and other lines, attri•
butable to the frigorific effects of the late intense and long-
continued frost, and which has developed influences on iron
work hitherto unexpected, the directors of the former line
have just issued instructions for an increase in the time of
the fast trains, so as to admit of their frequent stoppage for
the purpose of having all the wheel, couplings, driving
gear, and general machinery, examined by inspectors
specially qualified, and who, througLout the continuance
of the frost, will be stationed along the line for that pur-
pose. These steps have been taken with the approbation
of the Government inspector, and it .s probable that the
recent accidents, which constitute ex cause a new class of
casualty, will lead to a scientific inquiry into the whole
question of the thertuometrical construction and expansion
of iron work and signals employed upon railways, and
which it is surmised, in many instances, may have been the
cause of some of those unaccountab:e accidents so often
alleged to arise from official carelessness or inattention.
THE WESTMINSTER ABBEY SPECIAL:SERVICES.

—Yesterday evening the second of the new series of special
services was held in the nave of the Abbey, the attendance
being very much larger than it was on the previous Sunday
night. Prayers were intoned by the Rev. Precentor Haden,
and the choir was materially strengthened by several of the
choristers from the Chapel Royal. The sermon was
preached by the Rev. John Jennings, Canon Residentiary
of Westminster and rector of St. John's, who selected for
his text the 6th chapter of Hosea, verse 4—" 0 Ephraim,
what shall I do unto thee ? 0 Judah, what shall I do unto
thee ? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the
early dew it goeth away." The discourse was marked by
great simplicity throughout, and it was listened to with
close attention. The Rev. Daniel Moore, M.A., Incumbent
of Camden Church, Camberwell, and " Golden Lecturer,"
will be the preacher next Sunday evening, and on the fol-
lowing Sunday evening the sermon will be preached by the
Rev. James Moorhouse, 13. A., of St. John's College, Cam-
bridge, curate of Sheffield.
DESTRUCTION OF PART OF HUNGERFORD STEAM-
BOAT PIER.—The continuance of the thaw yesterday, in
conjunction with the unceasing drizzling rain of Saturday
night, added considerably to the tidal volume of the river,
and liberating large slabs of ice. These slabs, some of
which were at least twelve feet square, were carried with
great force against barges, floating piers, &c. On account
of their dangerous character, river vessels were glad to
fasten to anything in their way for safety. For this rea-
son, a coal barge, laden almost to the water's edge, was
made fast to the end of Hungerford steam-boat' pier, and
yesterday morning the ice-floes running on with the tide
struck the barge on the port side, capsizing her, and she
went to the bottom, snapping the chains of the pier dummy
and dragging it after. There the wreck lies, with " the
water up to the top of the money-taker's box, and " This
way for penny boats" is now only a depth line for the tide.
A steam-tug was sent for below bridge to assist in "skew-
ing" the ends of the sunken pier out of the way, but she
was too weak in power to be of any service. The piles and
framework of the new railway bridge have been severely
tested, but, as far as appearances indicate, the damages oc-
casioned must have been very trifling. The piles for the
new piers are well guarded by long floating beams of timber
of the strongest kind.
FATAL SICKNESS ON BOARD SIIIP.--PLY➢IOUTH,
Sunday Evening.—The brig Mignonette, Captain C. Sel-
bery, of and for London, 44 days from Surnam, put into
the Sound this evening. After her cargo of sugar was on
board fever and ague appeared among the crew, but, as
seven men sent ashore from'a Dutch merchant ship had
all died in the hospital, it was determined to go to sea, hop-
ing that change of air might give relief. Robert Smith,
of Whitby, able seaman, died in December ; Robt. Walker,
of Leith, died December 23, and Peter Anderson, a Swede,
this morning, and was buried at sea. All the crew were
severely afflicted except the master—lsaac Fisher, the car-
penter ; William Selbery, seaman ; and Harry Hunt, boy.
While they attended to the ship the sick were without help.
The following are at the Sailors' Home here :—Joseph
Aver, mate, dangerous; James Frike, steward; Frederick
Day, seaman ; Norveski, seaman ; and John Mew, boy.
Near Falmouth the brig obtained two men from the ship
John Howe, from Moulmein. The Mignonette belongs to
Messrs. Scrutton and Co.
DARING GAROTTE ROBBERY, WORCESTER,
Saturday.—An extraordinary robbery of the above descrip-
tion took place in this city, last night, the thieves succeed-
' ing in carrying off a booty of £220, and up to this evening
they have remained undiscovered. The victim is Mr.
Fleming, son of a hay and corn dealer, of this city, who
gives the following account of the transaction. He states
that he had been in the neighbourhood of Dudley to collect
accounts for his father, and returned to Worcester by a
train on the West Midland Railway, arriving here at 8.40
p.m. On leaving the Worcester station, which is in the
suburbs of the city, he had scarcely got out of the station
yard when he was set upon by three men, one of whom,
coming behind him unawares, threw his arm round his
neck, clasping him tightly, while he placed the other
hand over his mouth and nose, almost suffocating him.
One of his accomplices then ripped open Mr. Fleming's
coat and asked for a knife, which was handed to him by
the third man, and with which he cut off the left hand
trousers pocket of their victim, which contained a purse
with Bank of England notes, and gold and silver, making
up together a sum of £220 15s. Mr. Fleming was then
thrown violently to the ground, blood flowing from his
mouth and nostrils, and he states that had the men held
him much longer he should have been suffocated. He was
found lying on the ground by a boy who gave the alarm,
and a cab being obtained he was carried to the police-station,
and soon recovered. A sum of XI 9s. 2d. was found in the
road, but the remainder of the £220 15s. was carried off by
thieves. The spot where the outrage was committed was
within a stone's throw of the railway station and of houses.
Cabs and cabmen are always waiting at the station, and
about this time there were two trains about being despatched.
The police have made no capture, though it is said parties
are suspected,
MR. AND MRS. CHARLES KEAN.—These distin-
guished artistes will, appear at Drury-lane Theatre on the
28th of January. Many years have elapsed since Mr. Kean
trod the boards of Old Drury with his eminent father, and
it must be a great gratification to him to be enabled once
more to appear at this national theatre, with the celebrity
of which the name of Kean will ever be associated. The
lessee has acceded to all the terms demanded, which are
considerable, and he deserves every support from the pub-
lic for the additional expenditure he has thus gone to in
order to obtain the greatest available talent that can bo pro-
cured. The friends of the great tragedian are already
making up parties to secure places for the 24 nights which
will form the limited period of his engagement, and to give
Mr. and Mrs. Kean a thoroughly appreciative reception
and hearty English farewell, previous to their immediate
departure for America. The play in which Mr. and Mrs.
Charles Kean will open is now arranged to be " Hamlet,"
and we most cordially wish the lessee every success in his
bold effort to revive the legitimate drama within the hon-
oured walls of the theatre as illustrated by the greatest
names the histrionic profession can now boast.—Ens.
INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS,---A Telford
gold medal and a council premium of books for the session
of 1850 were awarded to Mr. James J. Berkeley, M. Inst.
C.E., for a paper entitled, "On Indian Railways, with a
description of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway." This
contribution to the proceedings of the institution was
written in India by the author, who is chief engineer to the
Great Indian Peninsula Railway Company, whose service
he entered in the year 1819, and whose entire scheme of
railways he has projected and constructed to their presentf
advanced state of progress. The projects comprise the two
celebrated railway inclines up the Syhadrees or Ghauts of
Western India, One of these—the Bhore Ghaut incline—
is rapidly drawing towards completion. It contains 25
tunnels through basaltic rock within the short space of 13
miles. Upwards of 32,000 men are employed upon it under
Messrs. Adamson and Clowser, the managers for the well-
known contractors, Messrs. Tredwell. To give some con-
ception of the magnitude of the works, we may mention
that in the month of November five tons of gunpowder per
diem were consumed, and that work to the amount of
£lO,OOO was executed in one month. The completion of
this incline is urgently demanded by the commerce and
population of India, and when finished will be the greatest
engineering work in India, and among the most stupen-
dous of any age or country. Mr. Berkeley, the engineer,
was a pupil of the late Mr. Robert Stephenson, M.P., and
enjoys the honourable distinction of a special mark of
favour from that great master of his profession.
GREAT FLOODS IN HOLLAND.—AMSTERDAM,
Jan 9.—The great enemy of Holland—water—has again
put forth its strength, and broken down the dams which
protected households and farms from its devastations. The
enormous masses of snow which have lately fallen have
swollen the rivers to a fearful extent, and the strums, im-
peded in their comae by the vast accumulations of ice
which have formed in different parts of the prin.
cipal rivers, have burst their artificial barriers, and in their
destructive career swept away houses, trees, and cattle. The
wretched inhabitants of the inundated districts, driven from
their homesnaked and foodless in this inclement season are in
a state of destitution scarcely conceivable by those whose
happy privilege it is "to live at home at ease." They never
had much, but what they had is irrevocably lost; and were it
not for public charity, they must die of cold and starva-
tion. The undrowned cattle have collected in the higher
localities, whence it is impossible to rescue them, so that
they remain within the narrow compass of a dam-top till.
stiffened with cold, they drop dead. The whole scene is
described as heartrending—beyond the power of words to
describe. Liberai subscliptioits are pouring in from all
parts of the country for the relief of the poor creatures
suffering from this great calamity, which, I am sorry to
aid, is extending in every direction.

LArlEzyT NEWS.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

NAPLES, JAN. 12,

Francis 11. has accepted the armistice.
Prince Carignan has arrived here, and has been
enthusiastically received by the people.

The Council of Lieutenancy have tendered their

resignation to Farini.
, The proclamation of the King has produced an
excellent effect.
The French fleet will leave Gaeta on the 19th
inst.

GAETA, JAN. 8, via Marseilles.
Since Saturday last the fire of the besiegers has
been terrible.

After the departure of the Calabrian deputation
another arrived from Naples to confer with the
King.

NAPLES, JAN. 12.

The new Councillors of Lieutenancy have been
well received in Sicily, and tranquillity is re-estab-
lished in the island.
Prince Carignan, on his arrival at Naples, was
saluted by the English fleet.

NAPLES, JAN. 8, via Marseilles.

A riotous assemblage has been dispersed, and
numbers of the rioters, including several Muratists,
have been arrested.

Nearly all the troops forming the garrison of
Naples have been sent into the provinces.
A formidable demonstration against La Farina
has taken place at Palermo. La Farina had ordered
the arrest of Crispi. The national guard opposed
the execution of the order, and compelled the
Lieutenancy Council to resign.

ROME, JAN. 8.
The Pope has depatched provisions to Gaeta.
The - reported revision of the concordat with
Austria has been denied.

The Sardinians have passed through the province
of Rieti, on their march against the insurgents in
the Abruzzi.

BERLIN, SATURDAY NIGHT.

AN extra edition of the official iStaats Anzeiger
contains a royal degree proclaiming an amnesty for
all such persons as have been found guilty of high
treason, treason against the country, offences
against his Majesty, crimes and offences constitut-
ing an abuse of the rights of citizens, and for those
persons who have been convicted according to civil
law for resisting the authorities of the state, or for
disturbing public order. Permission to return
freely is granted to those who, by taking to flight,
have evaded judicial inquiry and legal judgment,
and in the event of their being afterwards con-
demned, the Minister of Justice is to make pro-
posals for their pardon. The King himself will
decide in the cases of those who have been con-
demned by military tribunals, provided they
implore pardon.

PARIS, JAN. 13 (Morning).
The Moniteur contains a decree convoking the
Senate for the 22d of January.

BERNE, JAN. 12.

Austria and Bavaria have notified to the Federal
Council that they decline henceforth to co-operate
with Switzerland for the construction of the pro-
jected railway round the Bodensee. Austria gave
as a reason her resolution that the loss of Lom-
bardy rendered it necessary that the German traffic
should now qass through the Tyrol.

COPENHAGEN, JAN. 11.

The second edition of the Dagbladet publishes a
warlike article, in which it recommends to Govern-
ment the immediate formation of armaments, and
the removal of the ammunition and war materiel
from Rendsburg and Holstein. It concludes by
asserting that Denmark can only secure her natural
allies by a courageous attitude.

VIENNA, SUNDAY.

The Neueste Nachrichten publishes the following
news, which is received from a reliable source :
" The Porte has recalled Omar Pacha from exile,
and has appointed him commandcr•in-chief of the
army, which is to be concentrated on the Danube."

"Dr. MARK AND 1-Ifl LIZ MB NEN" AT
ST. J-AI2IIE,YS BALL.

St. James's Hall was devoted on Saturday evening to
an entertainment less familiar to metropolitan audiences
than to those of our great provincial cities of the north of
England. The concert, if we may so call it, consisted of a
selection of pieces vocal, choral, and instrumental—solos,
and harmonised compositions.
The entertainment was in two parts, and consisted of
orchestral pieces from. the works of Herold, Verdi, Jullien,
Bellini, Meyerbeer, and Dr. Mark ; and vocal and instru-
mental pieceaby De Beriot, Braham, Sainton, H. Rus-
sell, A. Lee, and others, concluding with " God Save the
Queen," which the" Little Men" executed with the greatest
zeal and the most manifest satisfaction. Mr. Frank Reid,
one of the elder boys, sang Braham's song, " The Anchor's
Weighed," with such real feeling and taste as to command
an encore. Four very little boys, namely, Corporal Bob
Smith, Corporal Arnold, Master Leigh, and Master. Kay,
none of them more than six years old, played solos on their
respective instruments—that is to say, the cornet, the pic-
colo flute, the violin, and the concertina—with much pre-
cision and effect. Corporal Bob Smith was especially
effective on the cornet; and it seemed almost wonderful
how so small a child could find wind • enough for that ex-
hausting instrument. Master Tendal, another child of
tender years, sang "Lulu" in an infantine voice, but with
surptising correctness of time and tune. There was an
orchestral performance of selection's from " Il Trovatore"
very well executed ;. a laughing chorus, excellently sung ;
a series of quadrilles; a violin solo, by Master John Beard;
a cornet solo by Master Sturge—a lad who, in all'probabi-
lity, will be one of the hest players on that instrument in
this country at no remote period ; a solo on the sax bass,
by Master H. Donovan—a youth who bids fair to be a first-
rate musician also in no long time, and, above all, a capital
version of "There's a Goed Time Coming, Boys"—with
new words by Dr. Mark—in which Corporal Bob Smith,
the infantile cornet soloist above referred to, tqok the solo
part, with his tiny treble voice, both in time and tune,
chorused by the great body of his joyous young companions.
There was something truly exhilarating in the music of
these " Little Men ;" a freshness, a charm of youthful
gleefulness difficult to define, mixed with a pleasing sur-
prise at the aptitude with which they have acquired much
that is laborious to " children of a larger growth." The
"Little men" under the tutorship of Dr Mark, who has
his residence and training school at Manchester, are about
forty in number: their instruments are viOlin, cornet-a-
piston, saxhorn, flute, piccolo, double bass, concertina, &c.
Dr. Mark, who himself presides at the pianoforte, has
spent fifteen years in developing the idea of making music
a branch of youthful and general education in this country.
To prove the practicability of his scheme, he selected forty
little boys, natives of England Ireland, and Scotland, and
organised them into an orchestra. These little fellows he
clothes, lodges, boards, and instructs in music at his own
cost. The experiment, judged by what we heard and saw
on Saturday, is eminently successful ; and we heartily wish
it good speed. The concerts of " Dr. Mark and his Little
Men" deserve to be among the successes of London during
their brief continuance. Periodical visits will, we are sure,
be profitable to the entrepreneur and:pleasing to the audi-
ences.

THE AMERICAN SLAVE CASE. The curse of
slavery extends far and near. It has come to trouble us
now in our colony of Canada. The people of England have
read with interest the proceedings of the Court of Queen's
Bench in Canada in reference to Anderson, the fugitive
slave, who is demanded under the Extradition Treaty by
the Government of the United States. We are informed
that a writ of habeas corps's will be applied for hero directly
for the liberation of Anderson, who is supposed to be en-
titled tolhe freedom accorded to every one—not convicted
of offences—throughout the territories of Great Dritnin.