The Express. — London, England, 1866-12-26 00:00:00

IP ~. THE Ex?: crediting modem minutiae ia about to receive a wholesome part of London, and whose ; appointment to • country parish had, on this ground, been sneeses:`, fully opposed by the Poor-law Wooed. Secondly, I they peremptorily closed their doors to all wit neasea, save those sent by themselves or from Whitehall. This was their revenge for being forced into the path of common duty ; and if it can be proved that they, or their officers, have now been again refusing admission illegally, it is to be earnestly hoped that no false tenderness, no timid craving for popularity, will interfere,with the form of retribution it is the prescribed duty of the Poor-law Board officials to enforce. To con tinue repayment out of the common fund to any parish which neglects the conditions under which alone it can be claimed, is to offer a premium for a recur rence to the old brutality, cruelty, and neg lect. Passing to a more welcome theme, we are happy to inform our readers that the stringent comments and sharp criticism of last winter continue to bear fruit. A careful inspection made night by night of the West-end streets which were formerly fullest of the homeless has brought w onderfully few cases of real helpless destitution to our notice. In only one instance did our interrogatories receive the old stereotyped answer, "Sir, the workhouse is full, and they won't let us in ;" though in several, igno rance, real or professed, of the abetter provided there was given as the cause of the speaker's lying in the street. If every one accosted by a be ,, . , ar at night would take the trouble to listen to his or her plea for alms, and on fi nding it to be " hungry and homeless" would prescribe the nearest workhouse as the remedy, and if the police had injunctions to clear such places as Covent-garden, taking the lingerers t) the workhouse or the station-house, according to their class, the merciful provisions of the Houseless Poor Act would be even more effec tually carried out, and comfortable well-to-do London might go to rest with a well-founded con viction that it is no longer possible that any half starved wretch is perishing at its doors. The parish of St. Marylebone continues to afford a singular illustration of what may be accomplished by giving a fancied opp onent fair play. The num bers of casuals applying for relief have actually decreased one half since last year. This, too, in the face of comfortable wards, in which tires a xe kept up all night, and a dietary liberal beyond the average agreed upon at the guardians' meeting at St. Martin's Hall. " You're manufacturing on 'em, you're manufac turing on 'em," was the mournful ejaculation of a Clerkenwell guardian on inspecting the casual ar rangements of St. Marylebone a few mouths back ; and this was repeated, like Dominie Sampson's " Prodigious !" but with increased and increasing pathos, as item after item of care-taking was dis played. Yet in spite of all, the casuals decrease. Tho Marylebone guardians were among the loudest in their indignant protests against the fancied in justice of the Homeless Poor Act, and the mon strous fillip it would give to vagrancy ; yet the Marylebone guardians, having determined to carry out the law—" just to show them what it will bring us to," said one speaker at the time—can now be qu oted as successful examples of the benefits to be gained. The reason is simplicity itself. Task-work is enforced with wholesome vigour, and considerable discrimination is exercised in the treatment of the wor thless idle scamp, the casual ward habit , and the man or woman compelled by misfortune to claim its shelter. It is a mistake to suppose that there is any difficulty in this. Given intelligent and willing administration, and the causal ward may be soon made unpopular to vagabonds and impostors, even while it is more than ordinarily merciful to the unfortunate. lint as encouragement to workhouses which do their duty, no less than as a wholesome warning to those still sneakingly stubborn and recalcitrant, unflinch ing punishment must be awarded where open eva sion of the law is proved. For this reason we commend the Clerkenwell case to the attention of the Poor-law Board, claiming that the charge should be as publicly dealt with as it has been publicly brought. If false, the guardians should be exculpated ; if true, the ratepayers should know it by being called upon to pay for what would other wise have been provided for out of the common And. check. Acosta's' to the TlesgrePh all whoa.. sog uain*lwith popular feeling, whether at Paris or Berlin, must own that the state of feeling existing in these capitals is but too likely to end in hostilities, and it can only regret the probability that ere long the supreme direction of Prus sian policy may pus into the hands of a less able and sagacious statesman than he who was bold enough a few days ago to ask a German parliament what they would expect to gain by a struggle with France, even if crowned with success. LORD DUFFERIN AND IRISH EMIGRATION. Lord Dulferin, in a second letter to the Times, ad' dresses himself to the question how far the relations of land lord and tenant have been the cause of the greatemimstion which has taken place from Ireland during the last twenty years, coming to the conclusion that the emigration has not been confined to the occupiers of land, nor even con sisted mainly of them, as must have been theme if " the landlords have been the ca use of the emigra" and if the emigrants were wanderer; driven forth homeless by wholesale evictions. Small holdings, he says, have largely increased of late years ; and it is only the poorest class of ootticra who have given up tbe". land and sought a more favourable lot elsewhere. As to Ulster, where tenant- right prevails,the emigration f rom that provinee act's allyexceeds the emigration from two of the other provinces, and is only slightly exceeded by the average of the three. An illustration of the mode in which his lordship oonducta the argument will be found in the following postscript to bis letter :—" This may not be an inconvenient opportu nity to corzect another erroneous impression which very generally prevails respecting the enormous areas of arable land which the landlords of Ireland are supposed to be converting into pasture,—exterminating men in order to make Ireland one large cattle farm, ea it is often put, — the real fact being that there were 422,822 more acres I under cereal and green crops in 1863 than there were in 1847. It is true during theme last three years a change is taking place in the opposite direction, and he t r ecent rise in the price of all stock w 1 probably still farher encou rage its propagation ; but such a cireumstance is hardly a subject for lamentation." MISCD.LASEOCR TOPICS. The Daily News returns to the subject of the cholera, iti causes, and the most efficient precautions to be adopted against its return. • The coincidence of the epidemic area with the east-end water supply is noted and the moral drawn that it is suicidal for us to allow the main- L tenance of a monopoly which virtually con demns us to ran the risk of imbibing a deadly poison. The directors of wiiter companies are only human in their desire to realise large protlti, but the Daily News entirely agrees with the La sect, that the companies " would have no just ground of complaint if they were offered the alterna tive either of going to sources removed from contamina tion, or of an immediate declaration of free trade in water." The Star condemns the attempt of the Ulster presby- Wiens to obtain an increase in the maim &Rum, and is certain that a parliamentary discussion of the question will result in the abolition of an unjust and perilous pri vilege. The Star also protests against the way in which the Tim a " dallies with certain contingencies in which we should take up arms. The less," it gigs, "we hear or think of the ' long series of precedents' by which, a ccording to the Times, oar line of conduct in any future outbreak of the Eastern question is traced, the better for our peace, the better for our prosperity, the better for our honour, and the better for the civilisation of the world." The Standard is informed that at last " the people who call themselves the Jamaica Committee have taken a step towards their amateur prosecution of ex-Covernor Eyre, and have served a writ upon that gentleman, citing him to appear and meet certain charges in a court of justice. We infer from this that they have their organi sation of attack prepared, their 10,0001. subscribed—at any rate nominally—their witnesses catalogued, and their private transports chartered for the conveyance of negro evidence wholesale from Jamaica to England. May we also presume that the ' six hundred others' who are advertised as lengthening out the committee list, al though their names have never appeared, will be at length forthcoming, because some persons may feel alittle curiosity, not to say doubt, about the matter. However, anything is better in an affair of this kind, than indefinite delay. Even now the form of the indictment is not settled, and we believe it has been with considerable difficulty that upright and distinguished members of the bar have yielded to legal custom and accepted retainers in so scandalous a cause." The Post, apropos of the deficiency of judges, says it is a question deserving the serious attention of the legislature and the public, whether, in case of ally alteration, it would not be as well to try the experiment of a superior court iu one of the large towns of the most populous and manufac turing part of the country, such as .Manchester, to serve as a chapel-of-ease to Westminster-hall. Three judges from Westminster might be draughted down there, and their places +supplied by fresh creations. Eta Court. OSBORNE, Mc. 25. The Queen distributed Christmas gifts rester day afternoon to the labourers on the Osborne Estate and their wives, who assembled at four o'clock. Soon after four, the Queen, accompanied by Prince and Princess Christian, Princess Louise, Prince Arthur, Prince Leopold, Princess Destriee, and Prince Henry of Prussia, entered the servants' hall, where the gifts were laid out. Her Majesty then, assisted by the Royal Family, distri buted the presents. The ladies and gentlemen in waiting were in at. tendance. The Rev. George Prothero, rector of Whippinghani Mrs. Prothero, and their family, had the honour of being invited, and alio the Rev. R. Duckworth. The Queen, Prince and Princess Christian, Princess I Louise, and Prince Arthur, attended service at Whipping. ham Church this morning, where the Rev. G. Prothero and the Rev. R. Duckworth officiated, and administered the Sacrament of the Holy Communion. 1 I'rince Leopold and Princess Beatrice also attended I Divine Service at Whippingham to-day. The Marquis of Exeter has somewhat improved in health during the last ten days. Several of the members of his lordship's family remain at Burghley House. The Earl and Countess of Durham are enter taining a large party at Lambton Castle, Durham, during the Christmas. The Earl Howe is suffering from a severe attack ' • • of gout at Gopsall Hall, Leicestershire. Lady Victoria Larnbton gave birth to a son on Monday, and both mother and infant are progressing favourably. The price of admission to the Paris Exhibition in the Champ de Mars has long been discussed. Sugges tions have been 'offered that one day in the week should be set aside on which sfr. should be charged, others that on Sundays only 25c. should be paid. The Imperial Com. mission has just put an end to all uncertainty on the sub ject by announcing that the price will be rigorously ifr. each, without any exception. The Messrs. Galignani have just been presented by the British governfnent, through the Embassy at Pars, with a splendid epergne in solid silver for the centre of a dinner-table,with an inscription engraved on an escutcheon in the lower part of the pedestal, declaring that it has been given in acknowledgment of the benevolent spirit with which these gentlemen have, during so many years, assisted and encouraged various objects of British charity abroad, and especially of their liberal conduct in lately building an hospital for British subjects in the French capital. This beautiful work of art was accompanied by a letter from the English Ambassador, Earl Cowley, couched in flattering terms. CHRISTMAS MORNING IN EXETER CATHEDRAL. —Yesterday an interesting scene was witnessed at Exeter, where the custom is continued of welcoming Christmas with " hymns and spiritual songs." During Christmas-eve the parish choirs perambulated the city singing anthems with instrumental accompaniments, and the ceremony was protracted through the night. At a quarter past 7 o'clock yesterday morning there was a large assemblage of persons in the nave of the cathedral. There was also a muster of the choir, and the Old Hundredth Psalm was sung in the gallery to a full o rgan. The scene was strikingly pictu resque, and the more so as daylight began to stream through the windows. As the last verse of the Psalm pealed forth the crowd began to move, and the spacious edifice was soon left to the more devout few who remained to service in the Lady ChapeL ' ,S, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER, '26, 1866 DENCM. ►TEST nrr BARON ItICASOLI ON " A FREE CHURCH IN A FREE STATE." The Italia contains a letter from Baron Ricasoli in reply to the bishops domiciled in Rome who ap plied to him for permission to return to their dioceses on the 15th, the very day on which the late circular of the Italian minister, removing th d e e xclusion from all the exiled bishops who desire to return, was issued. In this reply Baron Rica soli gives the bishops to understand what his meaning of " a free church in a free state " is. After referring to the United States of America, whore, as evidenced by the late Roman catholic synod held in Baltimore, the Roman catholic church enjoys perfect liberty, he says :—" By the side of the Roman catholic church rises up the protestant Temple, the Moslem mosque, the Chinese pagoda ; by the side of the catholic clergy the consistory of Geneva and the congregation of the methodists administer their affairs. This state of things does not beget either confusion or irritation. Why 1 Because no religion asks from the state special protection or privilege ; each lives and developes itself under the egis of th e g eneral law, and the law, equally respected by all, guarantees equal liberty to all. The intention of the Italian govern ment is to show that it has faith in liberty, and that it means to apply it to the utmost extent that is compatible with the interests of public order. It therefore invites the bisho p s to return to their sees, front which they have been exiled, precisely on the ground of public order. It imposes no con dition on their return but this, which attaches to every citizen who desires to live peaceably, namely, to discharge his duty and to obey the law. The state engages that they shall not be disturbed, but then they must not ask for any privileges if they will not submit to any restrictions. The principle of every free state — t hat the law shall be equal for all—admits of no distinction of this sort." Then, alluding to the d ifferent circumstances under which the church was established in America and in Europe on the downfall di the Roman empire, the baron proceeds to say : But whilst the nations emerging from the chaos of the the middle ages were readjusting themselves and entering the road of progress indicated by God, the church claimed to communicate the immobility of the dogma of which it is the guardian to everything sith which it had relation ; it saw with disquietude the development of mind, the multiplication of social forces, and declared itself the enemy of all liberty by denying them t precious and incontestable of all—the liberty of con science. Hence originated the conflict between the eccle siastical and civil power, because the first represented en slavement and immobility , the second liberty and pro gress. How can this conflict be brought to an which end? Liberty alone can bring us to that happy situation you see existing in America. Give to Casar that which is Ca:sar's, and to God that which is God's, and peace between church and state will not be disturbed again. (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.) RUSSIA. ST. PETERSBURG, DEc. 25, EVENING. The following medical bulletin has been pub lished here to-day :—" Prince Gortchakolf s health, which was lately such as to afford serious ground for alarm, is now muc h more satisfactory, and all danger has passed away." THE ATLANTIC YACHT RACE COWES, Dec. 26. The Fleetwing arrived at 2 a.m., and the Vesta at 3.30 a.m. to-day. Great excitement prevails here in consequence of this race and all the yachts arriving so closely together. The three vessels are lying off the Royal Yacht Squa dron Club House, by the members of which club the yachtmen have been most cordially received, especially those belong ing to the Henrietta. Hundreds of boats with visitors arc sailing round the yachts. The winning yacht, the Henrietta, with Mr. Bennett, jun., the owner, on board, is commanded by Captain Samuels, formerly of the clipper ship Dreadnought. With the exception of the Dreadnought the Henrietta made the q uickest passage on record. She had no accident and did not lose a rope, and made the entire pvssape from New York to Cowes on one tack ; the greatest run in one day was 280 miles, her least 113, and that was on the 19th irst. when she laid-to in a heavy storm. The Henrietta averaged throughout the passage 218 miles a day. On the 12th inst., the day of starting, the Henrietta passed the Vesta at 6 p.m., and was compelled to shift her course, to shake the Vesta off. Heavy squalls, snow and sleet. The 13th, squally. The 14th, moderate breeze. The 15th, cloudy, heavy with hail and snow, and squally. The IGth, heavy northerly winds. The 17th, north-easterly winds, with heavy squalls. The 18th and 19th, heavy cross seas. The 20th, strong westerly winds. The 21st, steady swells. The 22nd, southerly wind; cloudy. The 23rd, smooth seas. The 24th, weather threatening; squally. The 25th, brisk south-westerly winds. The Henrietta parted company with the other . 1 yachts 24 hours after starting and saw nothing of them afterwards till their arrival at Cowes. The same with the Vesta and Fleetwing. The Fleetwing, when eight days out, en countered a heavy southerly gale. The sea boarded her at 9 p.m., and carried away her jib boom, and washed six men overboard, including two quartermasters, all of whom were lost. This caused a deficiency of hands on board, and to that and her loss of canvass is attributed her losing the race. The Fleetwing was com \manded by Captain Thomas, of the packet ship New York. The Fleetwing is a beautiful specimen of marine architecture. FOREIGN-OFFICE D E C. 22.—The Queen has been pleased to approve of ' M. 0. von Ernsthausen as consul at Calcutta for his Majesty the King of Prussia.-o=ette. A KING IN HIS OLD AGE. —When a young lion reaches the age of two years be is able to strangle or pull I down a horse or an ox ; and so he oontinues to grow and increase iu strength till he reaches his eighth year, and his talons, teeth, and mind are perfect, a n d he grows no more. For twenty years after ho arrives at maturity his fangs and talons show no signs of decay ; but after that he gradually becomes feeble , his teeth fail him, and he grows "cubbish." He is no longer a match for the tre mendous buffalo ; he is overmatched even by the peaceful ox, so he prowls around the cattle krawls, and snatches a 1 lamb or a kid just as he did when he set out with his parents, nearly 30 years before. A woman or a child at night shares the same fate. His strength and sight now decline more and more, till the mighty lion grows lean and mangy, and crawls about from place to place, , eating any offal b e can pick up, and despising not even so ! small an animal as the field-mouse ;so he starves and dies, or is fallen on and slaughtered by a few cowardly 1 I kn ocke d or discovered unable to move beneath a tree, and . I on the head by some wandering hunter.—South African paper. NEW POTATOES Yoe CHEISTMAS.—In Melton market on Saturday, and again on Monday, Mr. Muckell,a greengrocer, astonished his customers by offering " new potatoes, C hristina,." The novelty was so great that some of the beet tubers sold for over Id. a piece. The potatoes had been grown in the open ground, and the crop was planted in August instead of in the spring, the remarkably moist and mild season bringing the produce to (per fection. PARIS. COUNT BISMARCK ON GERMAN AFFAIRS, The Berlin ireutz Zeitunq publishes some et. tracts from private letters written by Count Bismarck wr.) 1 from 1886 to 1864, having reference to his German poli c y, p A ßlit . Tummy istmenea,, , and proving his oonvicitions on Federal affairs to have to re long ago settled. In the first letter, dated Sept. IG, 185 t, The Council of State yesterday heard the report of the Sections of War and Marine on the subject I:abrußsundlef,crethnece Wurted.o ': in No to do n 7b li t " O w n: * a beis meetiag i s l of the reorganisation of the army. Mamba .atme ma far ea appearances go, but behind our bae,: il e i m i - trio. will remain as friendly as ever to the Danes," sak e Bandon, Minister of War, and his Intendant - General were present. that th e settlement of the question depends upon wheti he The government press endeavours to make out the Danes can rely upon the &affiance of one or ammo that the return of the government candidate in the non-German Powers. On April 2, 1858, the count,ahn 'pealdng of the position of Prussia in the Zollverain o Pm de Calais is a triumph, and a proof that the `doomed from the very outset," and saying e, country is not opposed to the augmentation of the she must give notice to dissolve it on the fast es. army. It would be waste of time to show how portunity, says, " Should the Prussian Chanshi r , this argument proves too much. The organisation interfere in the affairs of the Zonverein, you may be pas of the ballot-boa is such that it must, in all but , that the pride and ridiculous hauteur of the minor gown, very exceptional cases, return government candi- ' manta will not allow their own chambers to remain babied dates. The fact which the official press sinks is '. hamlthcY will all I'M tu cut as 5•0 a figure es th . crd • Prussians." Haring remarked that Prussia should ov a , that on no former election for the same district s 1 vont to establish a Zoilverein parliament, on the renew" the governmtnt candidate obtain so fel, or the of the leapt* in 1865, the writer says :—" The • eot i governments will not like the idea. Yet if we wet opposition candidate so many votes. And, more over, as I have already stated, M. Sens, the newly- ' bold and true to ourselves we might accomplish meek elected deputy, was fain to say, in answer to the Your Mean of using the Florian Chambers as a mesa a t I supporting our aspiration s to supremacy mainly ceilidh a ddress of the oppositi on candidate, that he was with my own ; the chambers and the press might h ems prepared to vote for "great changes" in the go the most powerful allies of our foreign policy." e / ~hk v ennnent project. the Zollverein and the Bond," the Count aili s , The French papers for the last week have re- .. en d PrussiPrussiPrussia'sraid= in either, to b e ee l, the most stratums i co rded some frightful mu rder almost every day, jetted to searc hing and in many instances the murderers were in re- , our chambers ; the Ring and his minister, spectable positions in society, persons above want, \if at all up to their work, can only profit by it." Wittig f a ro p m St. Fe s te ua rsb A nrg on Aw:tsghnsit,h22,ellBsB., on the tonneau and moved to crime by the vilest and moat sordid passions. In Paris a young man thinking it wrong Bism arc k say . , .. if Austria be . ure talan lof 107; Cart for his father to marry a second time at the age of Venice, she will know how to provoke an attack fn. 69 took upon himself to condemn his parent to France. Indeed, I am told that she has mutual 6 death for the offence, and executed the sentence bold and irritating attitude in Italy since the j e , with his own hand. In the country, near Rosen, terview in the Bohemian Spa. Since Garitobta expedition it had been the policy of the van a schoolmaster of good character attempted to frovernhment to let matters lo as becomothsoey cannily in 114 violate a niece who was under his protection, and to the people escape discovery murdered her and her aunt. poison himself would deem it necessary to intYerfsse, Rs These cases, and others equally atrocious, have help in reestablish i ng something like t h e former debit been already referred to. Another, which I now things. But they ba i liffbe disappointed in counting spa read of for the first time. has just been disposed of Nspoleon--a proba which seems to have been ww, by the assize court of the Indre and Loire. Some prehended by them since the Toplitz interview. years ago a chemist and druggist named Pineau set 8° theYandlaaaa to eaanre tr tZeir the en ° d P r a gai n st wiy bi te m. fth. up a shop in the market-place of the little town of either case the restless and impassioned fidgetiness & le Levroux. Shortly af terwards his sister married the Austria, policy i m perils the continuance of a brother of a grocer's wife, named Darnault, who In the same letter is the following :—" Speaking ei lived opposite. An intimacy arose between the Bonapartist', I recollect that the press—national uses Lion papers, Magdeburger Zeitung, Oggretteriadte Zeitaisi, two families, which resulted in Pineau attempting and others of the same bias—have opened a systematical to alienate the affections of Madame Darnault from gn her husband. Being rep ulsed, he took a pistol and most mwt rt I mal i cio usha vs Cam een fa.voursable. a ga i n st tto my pea " Rand MIL at French ides of exchanging the left side of the Rhine fee and shot her de ad in the market-place, 10 o'clock in the morning. He was de- certain territories in the interior of Germany. I est fended by M. Nogent Saint Laurent, the represented as leaguing with Prance spinet Falba pay 1,000 Friederichs d'or to anyone who can prove that deputy who last year took a prominent part land, acting like a second Count Berries, tic. I entail to in opposing M. Jules Favre's motion for the inch a Russo -F re nch proposal has been so much mbrixqbt abolition of capital punishment. Now, he had nothing to say to the j ury on behalf of his to my cognisance. While I was in Germany the onl y wines I gave to the government was to rely upon oar own uncut client—who, being a well-educated man, had forces in the event o f a war. Those stupid scribble:sof the deliberately committed the blackest of crimes—but German press have no inkling that in attacking me they as that it was not expedient to send murderers to the nullifying the more commendable portion of their own et scaffold. The eloquence of the advocate succeeded dcavours. The source of these attacks, lam told, is the in obtaining extenuating circumstances, and the Cobo . tirg Austrian 1 t who has personal ciao adulterous and murderous chemist, instead of agai nst being guillotined, was sentenced to hard labour for prince mo s s Austrian reactionary leanings , " such as the Duke of hieinengen, for instance, the K rcut: Zeittniu, em life. I would gladly range myself on the side of doubt, would have protected my reputation, as the SIM the abolitionists of the punishment of death. But dacity of those calumnies must be patent to emotes the coincidence of verdicts with extenuating cir- among my political friends." In a letter dated Stolpmiinde, September 18,1861, seas cumstances with a terrible group of murders pro remarks on the uselessness of opposing the scheme of a yokes hesitation. A judge of the Tribunal of First Instance of German republic, seeing that all parties will hare nothing to do with it, are followed by a passage bearing on the Rheims, M. Luzier-Lamothe, being out shooting position and rights of the minor German sovereigns on Nov. 2, was 80 awkward or 80 unlucky as to " Among our political friends there are many pedantic wound three people, including one of his brother people who want Prussia to protect the principle of legiti. judges, while aiming at a woodcock. In conse- mosey as strenuously in the case of foreign countries SI in quence of his judicial rank he was tried by the ilieeriteiwmea.c l is tu a t t fi h e is tio pri n n ou cip a le th o s f t day moatnasric and n ii c c i i: uusse one,r va ti vs so Imperial Court of Paris, the First President De- long g as it not recognised and honestlypteicted upon* the vienne, presiding, for the offence of " wounding sovereigns of eves y country in the world. If carried through by imprudence." Being found guilty, he was son - by Prussia alone, it is neither more nor less than Quixotic, tenced to a fine of 100 fr. The shocking accident on the branch of the and only tends to disable the King and his governmsnt from ful fi lling the more natural task set th em by fed, Lyons Railway from Dijon to Besancon was caused of sec ur i ng Un P lesa the co.nstrvattivoengsparti';mrentoiuthince° aced by the unpardonable neg lect of an employe wh suffered a goods train to g o on from the Frainois principle, we shall have to go the length of appla udin g the hallucinations of the petty potentates who, supposins station, and come into collision with a passenger they are powers, avail themselves of the pedestal of ar other was shunted. Two of the passengers injured train, which ought to have come up while the own might to play at kings. And yet all this ',ladle ii unauthorised by the history of the past, is quite new, de historical, and equally opposed to the teachings of God u have died, so that the number of deaths is now 14. writer then insist AL Ronan has in the press a new edition of the Won the e e need eights of f alTheiceohemehtm"tion The oerman raillery " Life of Jesus," in wh ich the author answers M. forces, and of a number, of common institution, Veuillot's attack upon him, and develops his own as a protection against the losses which mud theories with much less circumlocution than here- otherwise arise from unnational configurations of tho tof ore . frontiers of the various German States. He god on to say :—" I confess my inability to eomprebesi why we should be scared by the idea of a Repreeentaties Assembly being either attached to the Federal Diet e cr eated for Zollverein purposes. An institution lefA mutely obtaining in every German state, w hi c h tbe de servatives themselves woul d not like to dispense with in Prussia, ought not to be regarded as revolutionary by so In the field of national am it y niodenste concessions wall bring a valuable return. We might create F. conserves" common parliament and be thanked for it even by the libe" A rals. t Berlin on October 2, ISGI, the count writes free Berlin to St. Petersburg that the King had ordered hist. amplify the sketch he (Bism arck) gave him at Hades, ethl• ing, " I long to be back in m y house on the English OW, with the calm look out upon the ice of the Neva" Or Is an other letter, dated Berlin, May IS , lt,4—the last al series from which these extracts are published—Or to the diplomatic conference which preceded time Dasin war, Count Bismarck s a y s, " As to my own view of es situation, I think it useful to let louse at the code rence all dogs eager to bark. The Danes ou rhla be troma to some noise. Pardon t he sporting comparison. The tel cry of the whole pack will ca use fnreigners to look up . ec the subjection of the Duchies to Denmark as :imply' possible, and induce them to take into considerate", grammes which it would be inconvenient for the Prune government to be the first to moot. With refterence Is those programmes 1 inclu de the If olsteiners, he choir pions of Augustenburg, and all who are enthusiastic fa separate Schleswig-Holstein nationality in the categor foreigners. The duchies have been a little too beg lo° toured to play the part of spoilt children in tha Gent family, and find it the most natural thing in the wr • to demand that Prussia should sacrihee herself to their! tercets without presuming to ask fur a rew„rd." Further ou the count piously remarcs : " lloweeeri human wits are incotupetent to fathom these thigg' From the gratitude I owe to God fir the assist tnoe het' so far rendered me springs the coandenee tint the ' knows how to turn our errors to our advatttege. I Tel this more and more daily and become humbler in beat (nos ors ovn; col W.,) A LETTER FROM THACKERAY. The following letter has just appeared in a Phila delphia paper : " Neufchatel, Switzerland, July 21, 18!S3. My dear Iteed,—Though I am raow in paying the tailor, I always pay And as with ther slow in paying the tailor, I always pay him, And as with tailon so with men ; I pay my debts to my friends, only at rather a long day. Thank you for writing to nie so kindly, you who have so much to do. I have only begun to work ten days since, and now, in consequence, have a little leisure. Before, since my return from the West, it was flying from London to Paris, and rife nersa--dinners right and left—parties every night. If I had been in Philadelphia, I could scarcely have been more feasted. Oh, you un happy Reed ! I see you (after that little supper with M'Micbael) on Sunday, at your own table, when we had that good Sherry Madeira, turning aside from the wine cup with your tale face ! That cup has gone down this well so often that I wonder the cup isn't broken and the well is as well as it is. Three weeks of London were more than enough for me, and I feel as if I had had enough of it and pleasure. Then I remained a month with my parents ; then I brought my girls on a little pleasuring tour. We spent ten days in 'laden, when I set intrepidly to work again ; and have been five days in Switzerland now—not bent on going up mountains, but on taking things easily. How beautiful it is. How great and affable, too, the landscape is. It is delightful to be in the midst of such scenes ; the ideas get generous reflections from them. I don't mean to say my thoughts grow mountainous and enormous like the Alpine chain yonder ; but, in fine, it is good to be In the presence of this noble nature. It is keeping good company, keeping away mean thoughts. I see in the papers no ad agent accounts of fine parties in London. Bon Dieu w I I sit possible any one ever wanted to go to fine London parties, and are there people now sweating in Mayfair routs' The European continent swarms with your people. They are not at all as polished as Chesterfield. I wish some of them spoke French a little better. I saw five of them at supper et Basle the other night, with their knives down their throat.. It was awful. My daughter saw it, and I was obliged to say, ' 3ly dear, your great-great-grandmother, one of the finest ladies of the old school I ever saw, always applied cold steel to her victuals. It's no crime to eat with a knife,' which is all vary well, but I wish , five of 'cm at a time wouldn't. Will you, please, beg MMichael, when Miss Glyn, the English tragic actress, ! comes to read Shakespeare in your city, to call on ; F her— do the act of kindness to her, and help her with I D • 21 FOREIGN - OFFICE, EI • • r wow his valuable editorial aid' I wish we were going to have . pleased to approve of H. Louis van der another night soon, and that I was going this very evening de Celle for his Majesty the Kiiig of to set you up with a headache against to-nionow morning. Ga:ette. Cr e tTIVEST EO By Jove, how kind you all were to me ! How I like your , THE CHRISTMAS TRAFFIC ON TIIE • on the ( people, and want to see 'em again. You are more tender. RAIT,WAY. --We understand that the traih: hearted, romantic, sentimental than we are. I keep on Western Railway during the latter lee the Pe c e s ;z telling this to our fine people here and have so has been unprecedented, and Las sin Gat e the belaboured your d. the paper was turned and powers of the company to the utmost. 0 sa!le____ T f e „.l the sketch revealed. At the top is written, " Pardon this there could have been but few, if any, short or w ier,a, rubbiehing picture ; but I didn't see , and can't afford or thirty thousand passengers throw:h the .8n tern:,o to write page 3 over again." J—country with prune in tion. With the exception of some very few ! private, that I sometimes think I go too far. I keep inn the day, the platforms and reiteslituent rooms. _The Queen has t , back some of the truth ; but the great point to try ana crowded with persons who had arrived or were wet ding into the ears of the great, stupid, virtue-proud leave by the trains which were constantlY le e ° English public is tbat there are folks as good as they in out of the station. The ordinary number of trunee? America. That's where Mr*. Stowe's boik has done berm, extra engine power, was anything buKsutlicie,reet. by inflaming up with an idea of our own superior virtue this extraordinary emergency, and it , th o _ 10 7_ in freeing our blacks, whereas you keep yours. Com. necessary to more than double the number '17"" parisons are always odorous, Mrs. Malaprop says. lam siome instances it was found necessary to le , l'a te , about a new story, but don't know as yet if it will be any as three trains for the conveyance of posenger. good. It seems to me lam too old foe story-telling ; but booked themselves for one ordinary tr This I want money, and shall get 20,000 dots. for this, of which TAE with the train which leaves Switelon station' in.v.) I'll keep 15. I wish this rubbish [the sketch] were The passengers booked by this one tilled thre. away ; I might put written rubbish in its stead. Not that ns and we were informed that when the P! I have anything to say, but that I always remember you Wa' deepatched from Paddington there W. ef and yours, and honest Mac, and Wharton, and Lewis, available rimier left in the station with ine r • amid kind fellows who have been kind to m, and I hope the next train. Of course many of trains wen will be kind to me again. Good-bye, my dear Reed, and the weather, a heavy fog, was ex ceedingloy b e lieve me. ever sincerely yours, but up t • the present we have beard of n emu "W. I.E. THACKERAT." ever.—Strindon Adrertistr. 1 1 1 \ I \ l 11 1 • OUR CONTEMPORARIES. (THLS DAY.) FORTIGN AFFAIRS. Reviewing the two late speeches by Comm Bisinar , k, and explaining the position and argument,, which they assume and employ, the Times has no hesita tion in filling up one blank in them by expressing the conviction that the upshot of all the late German movements would be to close against France the frontier of the Rhine, and thereby greatly to diminish the chances of general European complications. With regard, however, to the flagrant bad faith with which the Prussian statesman puts off the appeal which he had promised to France should be made to the North Schleswigers, until their vote for Prussia may by fair or foul means be secured, the Emperor Na poleon would be fully justified as regarding it as a crimes Galli any time he might feel inclined to try an issue between the Chassepot and the needle gun. But while we have hardly any terms sufficiently strong to de nounce the pretexts of the " vague wording" and the " latitude " on which the Prussian Minister almost cyni cally grounds his arguments, we cannot lose sight of the fact that in this matter, no less than in that of the treaty of Nikolsburg itself, Count Bismarck acted under the pres sure of a force which he had no power to withstand. Schleswig-Holstein is the only point on which German obstinacy is proof even against all the sense and worth of the greatest of living Germans. To the Timfd, the Republican party in America appear to be endeavouring to attain their ends by means which are deati active of the scheme of government designed by the authors of the Federation. The government of the United States at this hour is net, the Timca says, a repre sentative government ; Congress is not a deliberative b doy. Congress is engrirsing power to itself on all sides, and yet it is not Congress that is supreme, but a power behind Congress—secret, irresponsible, almost unknown. The decrees of this self-elected council, matured in private, are launched upon the legislature, which accepts them without discussion, and the destinies of the nation are committed to the keeping of a few unseen men, who direct the machine of legislation. The only hope of arresting this transformation of the American government lies in s recoil of national opinion such as has landed the Republi can party in its present triumphant position. It would be absurd, observes the Doily News, to com pare the actual financial resources of France and Italy, but the budgets of the two countries may be fairly contrasted without disadvantage to the younger State. M. Fould's financial statement, a purely conjectural and imaginative manifesto, elaborately incomprehensible and studiously vague, is a brilliant romance of expectations, a dream of possibilities, a mirage of unemployed credits and super abundant revenues, which vanish at the approach. Italian ministers of finance have yet to learn the art of grouping figures so SSW make a deficit look more splendid than a surplus. The Daily News then praises the Italian finance minister for his frankness, and lauds the schemes by which it is understood he will seek to liberate the country from seine of the heavy debt which weighs upon it, cowing to the conclusion that he is justified in anticipating a happy and not very distant end of financial deficits. The Daily Nears instances a recent interposition of the Archbishop of Paris in one case, and of a vicar and care in another, as a fact which encourages the hope that the practice of the Roman catholic clergy of France in sc. OHN BROGDEN'S VALUATION of GOLD. 21 carats tins, is 18 carats..S.33 si 9 carats .. 6 11 10 worth ..64 4 11} 17 cants.. 30 2 8 carats .. 834 per 0111103. 16 carats.. 21 67 1 7 carats .. 1 9 22 carats.. 416 15 carats.. 21 3 1 6 carats .. 94 22 carats (British 14 carats.. 29 61 5 carats 17 8 standard) 217 101 Urania.. S 6 0 4 Carats .. U 2 21 carats.. 114 4 12 carats.. 22 4 S carats .. 10 7L 10 carats .$lO9l 11 Pints •113 11 2 cams .. 7 1 llante.. S 1 3 Io Carats, . 115 44 1 carat, Lorskos , N.U. .. S 6 Illabard ac tory, 18. Hearisi4ootroet, CostaSgarties ENSON'S WA TCHE S. 68 and 60, Ludgate-u_ lb, Old Bond -greet. ____-_ _ BROWN and POISON'S CORN FLOUR for CLULDRRYS DIET. To obtain extra profit by the sale other kinds are sometimes awed instead of BROWN and TOLSON'S. Sohn Brown," "John ?Moon," Is signed by the maker s on lath Zhe elPreOli• TA CORRESPONVENTS. Advertis em ents Intended for " The Express," London Evening Asper, must be at the Office, 10, Bouverle-street, by Tau o'clock on the day of publication. - MI"BY LANE. Ardle lessee and manager. Mr. F. B. Chatterton. THIS livisnin, A DAY ASTRA TII WEDDING —To erns (ludo with the YiuMmulroe, Nt`MBEK NIP . M esdames L y dln Thompson, Hudspeth, Bodenham, Seymour, Cardonnl, and H Vsndenhoft ; Messrs. Tom Matthews, Busby. Clifton, Master Yercy !Warne. Bolen% Lturi, Cormack, Savi ll e, Morris, MAUI.. Bolan, and Marlon.- -To commence at 7. AYMARKET. TRTS EVENING, A MERE CHILD Messrs. Howe, Gordon, te, etc. : Mesdames Chippendale, Fltrwlllimn, Laws. Powell, dtc.—A LESSON FOB, LIFE. Mr. Sothern --JENNY 11.hll AT LAST. Miss !suck.—And the &tura. Mdlle. Sophia. rantcsars. TEM worm, BARNABY straw. moms. S. adhsera, 7. Villiers, 7.G. Mom & Mr. G. Honer /Una A ugusta Thom 90a and Katherina Rodgers, Mrs. 11. Ytnlng, and Mrs. C. Hors inan.--And TUE INVISIBLE PRINCE. nits avintriri, THE TWO POLTS. Mr. Widdleomb And BAUCHI Er NOIR. Means, Pechter, Emery, Evans, Morelnd, Fitzpatrick. Dalton, Reynolds, Lomaa, Andrews, Anderson, ; Mrs. L Murray, and Misses Remade, Grattan, and C. laq:tarot. THIq Emtnio, NEIGHBOURS —Atter which will be produced • Grand ISuricbque. GUY PAWICII3.—And BOOTS AT THE SWAN. HOLBORN. Tnts Irtnnta, MY TURN NEXT. Mr. Belmore: Mimes no Foote and Cann:.—And FLYING Messrx C. Hel aiindeis,- mets, Blake, Yollaire, dc. ; Mesdames F. Josephs, C. Bade You* Adds; Lennox, Raymond, de. —— - BRITANNIA. THIS ET =SING, THE PRINCESS Or THE PEARL ISLAND: OR, THE THREE KINGDOMS OF PEARL, GOLD, AND SILVER. Mrs lane .— Mew" Loui., Fredericks, Newham. thr Martinettee, & Male. Steplian.—And THE SKELETON LEEW. HIGH MATES AT LONDON BRIDGE. TIM DAT —Moroing, Oh. etn Afternoon, sh. Vie. T O -MOZZOW—Marning, Mt. 51m Afternoon, tau 1411‘ LONDON, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 26. THE charge just brought against the autho rities of the Clerkenwell casual ward affords a fair opportunity for inquiry into the work ing of the Houseless Poor Act in that too notorious parish. The guardians having reso lutely closed their doors to independent witnesses, it becomes the bounden duty of the Poor-law Board to take the matter up, and to satisfy the public that the common fund is not being im properly applied. A circumstantial statement is authoritatively made, that destitute wanderers were often refused shelter a few nights since, on the ground of their applying " too late." If tins be true Clerkenwell has no more claim to be reimbursed, for the sums expended in casual relief, than for any other item of parochial outlay. The law is, fortu nately, very clear on this point, nor is precedent wanting fur the withdrawal of the necessary certifi cate from parishes neglecting to observe it. When Mr. Arthur Kinnaird and a representative of this journal discovered that the lodging-house used for casuals by the Lambeth authorities was so dis gracefully overcrowded as to have lost its register, the publicity given to the fact was followed by prompt action from Whitehall. The then metro politan inspector at once cancelled his certificate, and Lambeth had, it is to be presumed, to bear the coat of its own casual relief. The essence of the Houseless Pour Act is, that London generally shall bear the charge of the destitute wanderers found here; and that such parishes as choose to avail themselves of its provisions shall be reim bursed out of a fund raised equally from all. Its results have been to clear our streets of the wretched creatures who formerly swarmed there throughout the bitter winter nights, and to relieve us of a stigma which refuges, public subscriptions, and private benevolence had failed to grapple with. In spite of laws which were imperative, and official representations which were sufficiently explicit, the temptation to throw the burden of relieving tramps and mendicants upon neighbouring parishes was too strong to be resisted by the parochial mind ; and refusals to admit were the rule at nearly every workhouse in London. The enormous stride taken, when it was decided to remove this temptation by making admittance the claim for reimbursement can only be realised by those who have made the subject their study, and who remember the condition of our thoroughfares when the Houseless Poor Act was first passed, and before its provisions were understood. But though in some parishes—notably that of St. Marylebone—it is beginning to be understood that providing food and shelter, while rigidly enforcing a task of work in exchange, is the true way of deal ing with the hard, sad problem of vagrancy, the dispositionof other boards of guardians is unaltered, and there is little doubt that but for the roused humanity of the general public and the watchfulness' of the press, the Ilouseless Poor Act would be as quietly ignored as "the consolidated orders," or any other of the regulations which the costly establish ment at Whitehall has neglected, or been unable to enforce. The Clee.tenwell authorities are, it most be re membered, celebrities in their way. They were the most obstinate in their defiance of the law, the most audacious in their practical expressions of contempt for it, and the most tardy in yielding to the calls of , lecency and humanity. It is but natural, therefore, now that they are formally charged with partial resumption of the evil habits they persisted in so long, that the public should demand an authoritative answer from its officers as to whether the alleged offence has been com mitted. Our readers will remember that refusals to admit at this workhouse became so notorious as to be several times the subject of comment in Parliament; that the accommodation provided was so shame fully inadequate that naked men and boys were packed together night after night like the negroes in the hold of a slave-ship ; and that the callous answer to all remonstrances was, that the guardians were unable to hire a suit able building for casual wards. Elected for life, and profoundly indifferent to the opi Mon both of the general public and their own constituents, the rate payers, these worthies doggedly held out in de fiance of repeated exposure. At length, after having made themselves notorious throughout Great Britain, they succumbed, prepared wards, and, having obtained the Poor-law Board's certifi cate, professed an intention to obey the law. In pursuance of this resolution they took two steps which have some significance now. First, they ap_ pointed to their casual wards a man who had been degraded from parochial employment in another s . ' .. . ' f t,l' H 1 ; i i : I , 1 i I 1 . , , 9 I i 1 \ , I I \ i ~ 1 i 1 \ 1 t 1 1 q \ \ , • I , . • • , • THE (nom Occasionall • trave ls v slo who walked Exhibition of of fifteen y:: lady may die s he has see' daily oontem the observa t hirds of a news and from yir 4 j sar rf° " which you p Gatignami lai news, and th contemPe • • in your col t idings for y • b e that so.. fl av our, or, long journe • Messrs. Sp tractors oft , taken to rep hibition sex hfugby Ju v ery decid • pies, nor Ns' They will barricade of hesoech the to read what refreshment " Voyage help to avoid. If Junction," . it, is to be to be presid. tuition of will lose th There is no deavour admirable railway s departing of their co refreshmen Missis" w station, . This redou returned account 0 which aro their ow Missis : t was MO potatoes shall I bo Sour to variety of salad th that Of a show of f sound s every • apply to . counter, Proceedi " eatable found in a oomp• French . explain tion of t was a b Mugby ' proceed fresh, c whitest middle. ham, tie of the w a neat • hold it, e sangwic J unctio • " Fren b • tion, n: able thi a Let us a year w Our ne' Englan • kitche si dishes ; • that w mr the m the ti whenc= as ifs game, The j sit the pl. raa, excello ata firms tM only w toa biscuit At an =tie drink, arras lea' porta . se. been th e the E open, ✓ank Seein tbt venie Along from group tiro hotel s 4 Sad . VillitO gig, I expen Is have dike rests -VW this • Dania large r of II effect safe* lunge stets& Arab me fah C ' ik af.a. more 107 al' Fren. imps' a re. mo b s black vacs a the du* our h tie for a have tagssi e l Ther • ass . dark' ag Genoa wine he aro: wela look' their.* noti . Kowa, a g thi or t gi Tim ice be_ . 11 ° seri the loe In Tali" por pro, who eon bag W I eom4 are E • tie ap 'sutra ca It zfrg str tve6.: and Bo w ado"- tersis R ci: roams • waitisg_ to in; en ta o so f; the .it rewe f trail's' me 1 Co. rers vhs n. Tbiswss v. ,tion at 6 pM.: 0 1 0 .not fea skit t 0 e j • rat Isile sb a • ••: in favon, a b 'videos