We have found the measures adopted by your Majesty's Government effectual and sufficient on points I. and II.

On point III. we have considered that a few promotions are required in completion of the reduced establishment from the 1st of January, 1862.

On point IV. we have stated the period of twelve years to be, upon the whole, about two years in excess of a fair period for lieutenantcolonels promoted prior to the 1st January, 1862.

We have also submitted for consideration, in connection with the retention of the twelve years' period for certain lieutenant-colonels promoted on or subsequent to the 1st January, 1862, an extension of the existing Indian regulation granting graduated rates of pension. for various periods of service.

On point V. we consider that the measure adopted by your Majesty's Government has not been effectual and sufficient, because of

I. The non-removal from the cadres of regiments of the officers transferred to the staff corps and the new line regiments, as indicated by the committee assembled by the Secretary of State, July 30, 1860, of which Lord Hotham was president.

II. The consequent withholding of promotion.

III. The disturbing effect of the brevet.

In the settlement of questions of a most complicated character, arising out of extensive and organic changes in a body of such magnitude as the old Indian army, accompanied with large but unavoidable reductions, we cannot venture to suppose that all objections can be removed, or all conflicting interests reconciled; but it appears to us perfectly practicable to remove all just ground for complaining of the infraction of any real and established right in connexion with the particular points referred to us for report.

Point III.-The filling up of only half the vacancies occasioned by the retirement of lieutenantcolonels, and retention of their names upon the regimental gradation lists.

Point IV. The rule fixing twelve years' service in the rank of regimental lieutenant-colonel for promotion to colonel with colonel's allowance.

POST OFFICE.

Comparative Statement of the Gross Revenue, Cost of Management, and Net Revenue of the Post Office, for each year from 1838 to 1865 inclusive; to be made in a manner similar to that adopted in Appendix F. of the Postmaster-General's Ninth Report, that is to say, calculated throughout in the mode in use when Penny Postage was established, excluding on the one hand the Cost of the Packet Service and of Stationery, and on the other hand the Produce of the Impressed Newspaper Stamp. (Mr. Moffatt.) 26th June, 1866. (404.)

(1) Namely, the gross receipts, after deducting the returns for "Refused Letters," &c.

(2) Including all payments out of the revenue in its progress to the exchequer, except advances to the Money Order Office. Of the sums under the head "Cost of Management," 10,3077. per annum is, up to 1855 inclusive, for pensions which have no relation to the service of the Post Office, and in the year 1856 the sum was not less than 29,310/.; but of this amount 19,0037. was expended in the purchase of part of the pension settled on the Duke of Schomberg and his heirs.

PARISH MINISTERS (SCOTLAND).

Return of the Number of Parish Ministers in each of the Royal Burghs of Scotland; the amount of the Stipend of each; and the Source from which it is derived, whether from Endowment, or Corporation Funds, or Seat Rents, or any other Sources. (Mr. Black.) 16th March, 1866. (117.)

In

IN Aberdeen burgh there were six ministers whose stipends amounted to 250l. to 3001. derived from mortified funds, seat rents, teinds, &c. In Annan, one minister, whose stipend was 20 chalders, half meal, half barley. The living was worth 2581. In Anstruther East and West, one minister, stipend 150l. Arbroath, one, stipend 19 chalders victual, half meat, half barley, and 15l. for communion. elements. In Ayr, two ministers, stipends, one 2651. and one 3371., partly from teinds, and partly from corporation funds, &c. In Banff, one, stipend 19 chalders. In Brechin, two ministers, one 2651., and one 2581., the greater part in grain. In Burntisland, one, stipend 2317., principally in money. In Campbeltown, one, whose stipend was 1491., derived from grain, money, and exchequer grant. In Edinburgh there were sixteen ministers, receiving 600l., except one 550l., derived from revenues of Leith harbour, seat rents, and other annuities. In Glasgow, ten ministers, receiving 4251. each, except one 500l. and one 4007., all derived from corporation funds. In St. Andrews three ministers, one receiving 3661., one 190l., and one 1441., derived from

(3) 1838 was the last complete year before the general reduction of postage.

(*) On the 5th December, 1839, the maximum inland postage for a single letter was reduced to 4d.

(5) On the 10th January, 1840, the postage on all inland letters weighing not more than oz. was reduced to a uniform charge of one penny.

(6) This includes a payment of 196,0867. for the conveyance of mails by railway in previous years. (7) This includes a payment of 192,975l. for the conveyance of mails by railway in previous years.

(*) The revenue and expenditure of the North American Provinces, amounting for the last complete year to 96,1647. and 71,1717. respectively, no longer appear in the accounts of this department, except that the accounts for 1853 include one quarter's revenue and expenditure for Canada.

(9) This includes a payment of 128,000l. for the conveyance of mails by railway in previous years.

grain, from the town council, and exchequer grants. Altogether there were 123 charges provided for, whose stipends were secured by teinds, seat rents, and grants.

RIVER PLATE.

Correspondence respecting Hostilities on the River Plate.

On the 2nd July, 1865, Earl Russell received information from Mr. Thornton as to the progress of the war, showing that the Paraguayan army was advancing. On the 3rd, he received a despatch from Mr. Lettsom, dated Montevideo, 18th May, informing him that the triple alliance of Brazil, the Argentine Republic, and the Oriental Republic of the Uruguay, was officially proclaimed, the Brazilian Government consenting to advance to the Argentine Republic 200,0007. A law was also passed authorizing the executive to raise an army of 25,000 men. On the 3rd August, Earl Russell received from Mr. Lettsom a translation of the

treaty of alliance against Paraguay, as fol

lows:

The Government of the Oriental Republic of the Uruguay, the Government of his Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, and the Government of the Argentine Republic:

The two last, finding themselves at war with the Government of Paraguay by its having been declared against them in fact by this Government, and the first in a state of hostility, and its internal security menaced by the said Government, which violated the republic, solemn treaties, and the international usages of civilized nations, and committed unjustifiable acts after having disturbed the relations with its neighbours by the most abusive and aggressive proceedings: Persuaded that the peace, security and well-being of their respective nations is impossible whilst the actual Government of Paraguay exists, and that it is an imperious necessity, called for by the greatest interest, to cause that Government to disappear, respecting the sovereignty, independance, and territorial integrity of the Republic of Paraguay: Have resolved with this object to celebrate a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive, and thereto have appointed to be their plenipotentiaries, to wit: His Excellency the

Provisional Governor of the Oriental Republic of the Uruguay, his Excellency Doctor Don Carlos de Castro, his Minister Secretary of State in the department of foreign affairs; his Excellency the Emperor of Brazil, his Excelcency Senhor Dr. F. Octaviano de Almeida Rosa, of his council, deputy to the General Legislative Assembly, and officer of the imperial order of the Rose; his Excellency the President of the Argentine Confederation, his Excellency Senor Dr. Don Rufino de Elizalde, his Minister and Secretary of State in the department of foreign affairs; who, after having exchanged their respective credentials, which were found to be in good and due form, did agree as follows:

Art. I. The Oriental Republic of the Uruguay, his Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, and the Argentine Republic unite in offensive and defensive alliance in the war provoked by the Government of Paraguay.

Art. II. The allies will concur with all the means they can dispose of by land or on the rivers, according as may be necessary.

Art. III. The operations of the war being to commence in the territory of the Argentine Republic, or on a part of Paraguayan territory bordering on the same, the command in chief and the direction of the allied armies remains entrusted to the President of the Argentine Republic, general-in-chief of its army, Brigadier-general Don Bartolomé Mitre. The maritime forces of the allies will be under the immediate command of Vice-admiral Viscount de Tamandaré, commander-in-chief of the squadron of his Majesty the Emperor of Brazil. The land forces of the Oriental Republic of the Uruguay, a division of the Argentine forces, and another of the Brazilian forces to be designated by their respective superior chiefs, will form an army under the immediate orders of the provisional governor of the Oriental Republic of the Uruguay, Brigadiergeneral Don Venancio Flores. The land forces of his Majesty the Emperor of Brazil will form an army under the immediate orders of their general-in-chief, Brigadier Manoel Luis Osorio. Although the high contracting parties are agreed not to change the field of the operations of war, nevertheless, in order to preserve the Sovereign rights of the three nations, they do agree from this time, on the principle of reci

procity for the command in chief, in the event of those operations having to pass over to the Oriental or Brazilian territory.

Art. IV. The internal military order and economy of the allied troops will depend solely on their respective chiefs. The pay, victuals, munitions of war, arms, clothing, equipment, and means of transport of the allied troops will be for account of the respective States.

Art. V. The high contracting parties will afford mutually all the assistance or elements which they may have, and which the others may require, in the form to be agreed upon.

Art. VI. The allies pledge themselves solemnly not to lay down their arms unless by common accord, nor until they shall have overthrown the present Government of Paraguay, and not to treat with the enemy separately, nor sign any treaty of peace, truce, armistice, or convention whatsoever for putting an end to or suspending the war, unless by a perfect agreement of all.

Art. VII. The war not being against the people of Paraguay, but against its Government, the allies may admit into a Paraguayan legion all the citizens of that nation who may choose to concur to overthrow the said Government, and will furnish them with all the elements they may require, in the form and under the conditions to be agreed upon.

Art. VIII. The allies oblige themselves to respect the independance, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Republic of Paraguay. Consequently, the Paraguayan people may choose their Government and give to themselves the institutions they please, not incorporating it nor asking for a protectorate under any one of the allies as a consequence of this

war.

Art. IX. The independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the Republic of Paraguay shall be guaranteed collectively in conformity with the foregoing Article by the high contracting parties during the period of five years.

Art. X. It is agreed between the high contracting parties that the exemptions, privileges, or concessions which they may obtain from the Government of Paraguay, shall be common to all gratuitously, if they be gratuitous, and with the same compensation if they be conditional.

Art. XI. The present Government of Para

guay being overthrown, the allies will proceed. to make the necessary arrangements with the authority constituted, to insure the free navigation of the rivers Parana and Paraguay, in such manner that the regulations or laws of that Republic shall not obstruct, hinder, nor burden the transit and direct navigation of the merchantmen and vessels-of-war of the allied States proceeding to their respective territory, or to territory not belonging to Paraguay, and they will take suitable guarantees for the effectiveness of those arrangements on the base that those regulations of fluvial police, whether they be for those two rivers or likewise for the river Uruguay, shall be made by common accord between the allies and such other bordering States as shall, within the term to be agreed upon by the said allies, accept the invitation made to them.

Art. XII. The allies reserve to themselves to concert the measures most suitable in order to guarantee peace with the Republic of Paraguay after the overthrow of the present Government.

Art. XIII. The allies will appoint in due season the plenipotentiaries required to celebrate the arrangements, conventions, or treaties that may have to be made with the Government that shall be established in Paraguay.

Art. XIV. The allies will exact from this Government payment of the expenses of the war which they have seen themselves obliged to accept, as well as reparation and indemnification for the damages and injuries caused to their public and private properties, and to the persons of their citizens, without express declaration of war, and for the damages and injuries committed subsequently in violation of the principles which govern the laws of war.

The Oriental Republic of the Uruguay will likewise exact an indemnification proportioned to the damage and injury caused to it by the Government of Paraguay through the war into which it is forced to enter to defend its security threatened by that Government.

Art. XV. In a special convention shall be determined the manner and form of liquidating and paying the debt proceeding from the aforesaid causes.

Art. XVI. In order to avoid the discussions and wars which questions of boundaries involve, it is established that the allies shall exact from

the Government of Paraguay that it celebrate definitive boundary treaties with their respective Governments upon the following basis:-The Argentine Republic shall be divided from the Republic of Paraguay by the rivers Parana and Paraguay, until meeting the boundaries of the empire of Brazil, these being on the right margin of the River Paraguay, the Bahia Negra. The empire of Brazil shall be divided. from the Republic of Paraguay on the side of the Parana by the first river below the Salto de las Siete Cahidas, which according to the recent map of Manchez, is the Igurey, and from the mouth of the Igurey, and in its course upwards until reaching its sources. On the side of the left bank of the Paraguay by the River Apa from its mouth to its sources. In the interior . from the summits of the mountain of Maracayu, the streams on the east belonging to Brazil, and those on the west to Paraguay, and drawing lines as straight as possible from the said mountain to the sources of the Apa and of the Igurey.

Art. XVII. The allies guarantee to each other reciprocally the faithful fulfilment of the agreements, arrangements, and treaties that are to be celebrated with the Government that shall be established in Paraguay, in virtue of what is agreed upon by the present treaty of alliance, which shall always remain in its full force and vigour to the effect that these stipulations be respected and executed by the Republic of Paraguay. In order to obtain this result they do agree that, in the case that one of the high contracting parties should be unable to obtain from the Government of Paraguay the fulfilment of what is agreed upon, or that this Government should attempt to annul the stipulations adjusted with the allies, the others shall employ actively their exertions to cause them to be respected. If these exertions should be useless, the allies will concur with all their means in order to make effective the execution of what is stipulated.

Art. XVIII. This treaty shall be kept secret until the principal object of the alliance shall be obtained.

Art. XIX. The stipulations of this treaty that do not require legislative authorization for their ratification, shall begin to take effect so soon as they be approved by the respective Governments, and the others from the exchange

of the ratifications, which shall take place within the term of forty days, counted from the date of the said treaty, or sooner, if it be possible, which shall be done in the city of Buenos Ayres.

In testimony whereof, the undersigned plenipotentiaries of his Excellency the Provisional Governor of the Oriental Republic of the Uruguay, of his Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, and of his Excellency the President of the Argentine Republic, in virtue of our full powers, do sign this treaty, and do cause to be put thereto our seals in the city of Buenos Ayres, the 1st of May, in the year of our Lord, 1865.

(Signed) C. DE CASTRO.

F. OCTAVIANO DE ALMEIDA ROSA.
RUFINO DE ELIZALDE.

From time to time Mr. Thornton gave particulars of the progress of the war. On the 1st September he related that General Flores, after the battle of the 17th August, lost no time in transporting the forces under his orders to the other side of the river to the Brazilian town of Uruguayana, and in summoning the Paraguayan commander, Colonel Estigarribia, to surrender. To this summons, however, Colonel Estigarribia answered as follows :

"Late last night I received your note of yesterday conveyed by the prisoner, Lieutenant José Zorrilla, who will also give your excellency this my answer.

"I have attentively perused said note in order to answer it as becomes a soldier of honour, to whom his Government intrusts a delicate post. I must, therefore, tell your excellency that as a Paraguayan, a soldier, and a defender of the cause and independence of my country and of my Government, which is determined at all cost to maintain the integrity and equilibrium of the River Plate republics, I neither can nor ought to accept your proposals.

"Even supposing, as you say, that I am lost, and can hope for no relief from the armies of Paraguay, honour and obedience impose on me the necessity to die rather than deliver up the arms entrusted to me by his Excelleney Marshal Lopez, president of the republic, in defence of the sacred rights of so noble a cause, to a foreign foe. The officers and men

of my command are of the same opinion, and resolved to die at their post sooner than accept a proposal which would dishonour and brand with eternal infamy the name of Paraguayan soldiers. Content with the modest position I occupy in my country, I covet neither honours nor distinctions to be acquired at the cost of my country's honour, and for the profit of a few unfortunate Paraguayans who have enlisted in the service of the enemy.

"I, and all my division, desire the moment to prove to your Excellency that the Paraguayan soldier neither asks the number of the enemy nor offers to treat with them, when he has to defend such noble and cherished rights." Eventually the town was compelled to surrender, the Paraguayan officers being allowed to retain their swords and to proceed whither they might choose, Paraguay excepted. On the 1st January, 1866, Earl Russell received from Mr. Packenham a copy of a note, dated Asuncion, October 4, 1865, by Senor Berges, minister for foreign affairs of the Republic of Paraguay, to the representatives of foreign powers, as follows:

"I have the honour of addressing your Excellency to inform you of the sentiments of consideration with which the Government of this republic views foreign subjects, and especially those of her Britannic Majesty, who, occupying themselves solely in their affairs and private interests, maintain themselves neutral in the war which the republic at this moment is sustaining against the triple alliance of an empire and two neighbouring republics.

"In such a colossal struggle as the present, in which operations are taking place to the north, east, and south of the republic, extending over extensive territories, and war being a conglomeration of evils, often unavoidable, my Government is not blind to the fact that citizens or foreign subjects residing at those points occupied by Paraguayan forces, are not free from the possibility of being injured in their properties, however well the Paraguayan troops may be disciplined.

"But if in the prosecution of the war any subject or subjects of her Britannic Majesty are injured, the Paraguayan Government, faithful to the principles which it has adopted in this just war, will be the first to deplore such acts, and will be disposed to listen to and