The New York herald., 1863-01-04

mand in complying with the requests that arsA
constantly pouring In ON him to commu1icaas
to the public In the form Of lectures the sx-
periences of his last voyage. He carries round
with him on these occasions the Exquimaux
family that accompanied him here, whose lam,
guage he speaks perfectly, and whom he thus
renders an interesting feature Of his lectures.
We see by the Providence (R. L. papers that
in response to IN invitation from the In
habitants of that city, he II to speak
before them tomorrow evening, and that On
the afternoon Of Wednesday he is to ad
Of the same place, holiday being granted to
them for this laudable purpose. The subject
matter and manner Of Mr.. Halls lectures will,
no doubt, form q refreshing contrast to the
dreary exhibitions which, under similar title,
draw SO largely on the patience and good M
ture of our American audiences.
ENGLISH PREPARATIONS FOR A WAR WITH rHn
UNITED SrATEs-One of the Cincinnati papers
has statement from " q reliable gentleman"
just returned from Canada, to the effect that
arms, cannon and equipments for On army Of
two hundred thousand men have been sent
during the past summer from England to the
British provinces, and that the British govern
ment have in addition been quietly collecting
at Bermuda ell the materials for the construc-
ton of forty iron-clad gunboata, destined for
service on our lakes. Assuming that this story
is correct, the concentration of such large
quantity of warlike stores on our frontier i
rather an agreeable fact than otherwise.
Everything that is gathered together in that
line cannot fail to prove of great assistance to
us in the event Of q war breaking out between
Great Britain and the United States. At the
sound of the very first hostile gun we should
make such clean sweep of the Canadian terri
tory and arsenals that there would not be left
sufficient Of all this accumulation Of war mate
rial to fire even the customary salute on Queen
victoria's birthday.
A few facts will, however, serve to demon
strate the utter improbability Of our contempt
rary's statement. The whole regular army
of Great Britain does not amount to more than
one hundred and twenty-s thousand men, and
these are scattered over her dependencies In dh
ferent quarters of the globe. Not man Of tho
number can be spared to Canada beyond the
few regiments sent out there at the time OF tho
Trent difficulty. As to despatching volunteers
or militia for its defence, every one knows how
impracticable such step would be- The very
fear of France, which led to the enrolment
the volunteer force in Englatd, would prevent
the diversion Of any portion Of 1t for such .
purpose. To add to its numbers would bs en-
tirely out of the question, for It was with tho
utmost diAiculty the one hundred and nfty
thousand men composing It were drummed up.
even the Queen being obliged, to assume the
functions Of the recruiting sergeant to bring it
to Its present aggregate. The idea that Canada
could herself raise the army Of two hundred
thousand men for which these supplies are said
to have been sent out Is simply ridiculous. In
the first place that amount of persons liable 70
military duty is entirely out of proportion with
its population; and again, the probabilities are
hat in war with the United States II could
not raise anything like even that proportion.
There is more Of American and republican feel
ing in Canada than is generally supposed, and
if matters were pushed to extremities 1t would
undoubtedly manifest itself in q strong repug-
nance ON the part Uf many to take up arms
against us. In the presence Of such facts the
statement Of our contemporary does not disquist
us. 1t looks very much as II it had been fabri-
Gated for purpose.
GOVERNOR SEYMOUR AND THE POLICE Con-
MIssIoNERs.-By telegraphic despatch from
Albany we learn that the Commissioners of the
Metropolitan Police had not made their appear
ance before Governor Seymour yesterday at two
o'clock, as required, to answer the complaint
against them touching the arbitrary arrests and
imprisonment in violation Of the constitution of
the United States and the constitution and
laws Of the State of New York. Governor
Seymour postponed the hearing of the case till
six o'clock, in order to give them an opportu'
nifty of explaining their conduct.
If the Commissioners did not appear
yesterday, after being served with the
complaint, their absence must be construed
as an admission Of their guilt, or defiance
to the authority Of the Governor, or con-
tempt for his Office, which alone would be
cause sufficient for their removal. They are
condemned out OF their own mouths. The re-
solutions they passed in the Brinsmsds case
are conclusive Of their guilt, and nothing
remains but to deprive them of official exis.
tence. II they should make any violent resis-
tence they ought to be arrested and made 70
answer as rioters and disturbers OF the public