The Sun. — London, England, 1869-03-17 00:00:00

Pan OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS, The Times is dissatisfied with the debate on the Ballot, and, as usual, strenuously opposes its introduction. It complains that with bribery diminishing, with the means of repressing it further brousdit to light, with undue influence renounced, we are asked to make a change now which was not before thought necessary. If we free our selves from the disturbing influences of accidents, the conclusion should apparently be to persevere, in the con fident hope of continued improvement, rather than to fall back upon a system confessedly founded upon a lower - view of public life. The time has doubtless come whet all attempts to play fast and loose with the exercise of the franchise should be frankly abandoned. If we maintain open voting as the proper form of dis charging a public function, we must be thorough in our resolution to purge its exerelse of all the blots which can be removed from it by legislation. The Election Petitions Act was an honest attempt last session; and if the timidity of some judges has in any degree diminished its efficiency, it • has served to bring to light many faults capable of amendment. Mr. Leathern dwel, on Tuesday night upon the hi:Asp Letween three and four o'clock remarked upon by the judge at Norwich, and both he and Mr. Hardcastle urged that the Ballot would put a stop to this form of corruption. But it is as easy to provide that the state of the poll should be kept secret until its close without the Ballot as with it, if members are really self-denying enough to acquiesce in ignorance of the course of the election until all is over. The inquiries again have proved how possible it is to corrupt a con stituency by the lavish waste of money on services all but nominal ; but they have shewn, also, how easy it is to cut off one by one these methods of indirect bribery. Once more it has been demonstrated that nothing is more powerful in stimulating passion and riot than the practice of nomination ; but it has also been demonstrated that nothing is more unnecessary than this umneaning form. If the House of Commons be sincerely resolved to purge elections they can do so, and they will find that the judges who have already threatened to be more strict next time will be encouraged by their approval ; but the danger is—and it- is well it should be stated and faced— that a short-sighted Opposition will refuse to approve any of these obvious amendments in our election procedure, and thus compel the adoption of that mode of secret voting which we should view as a lapse and a declension. The Daily Nelos holds that there is no doubt of the success of the Ballot in the present Parliament. The country will never go through another political Saturnalia like that which disgraced the summer of last year. The committee appointed on Tuesday night must, of course, sit, inquire, and report ; but the Government will do well to condone their mistake in referring the question, by expediting its business, and seeing that no more delays are interposed between the policy on which the country has resolved, and its embodiment in legislation. The argument on Tuesday night was all on one side. If the House wanted " confirmation strong as Holy Writ," both of the evil to be remedied and of the certainty of the cure, both were before it. Mr. Tor rens's remarkable account of his personal experience in two successive elections at Adelaide—the one before the Ballot a scene of violence and bloodshed, the one after it as quiet and orderly as a vote of the House itself—was a real contribution to the discussion. It was impossible to listen to that debate without feeling the certainty that the battle of freedom and purity of election is virtually won. Mr. Leathern said, amid loud manifestations of approval from the Liberal benches, that the time had come e hen no Liberal Government could keep their seats on the Treasury bench for two consecutive sessions which did not make the Ballot a Government question. Tile statement I is entirely true, whether the present Government receive it as inrormation or hear it as a warning. The Telegraph dec'ares that Mr. Leatharn took up too much time in replying to the objections that have been • urged against the Ballot. State the facts brought out by recent election inquiries, and all merely theoretical objec tions will seem trivial. In particular, Mr. Leatham erred by giving a long awl elaborate reply to the arguments of Mr. Mill—who, on this point, as the public well knows, differs from the advanced Liberals whom be leads. We have the authority of the Liturgy for saying that "we are miserable sinners ;" yet the philosopher insists that we must give our votes at the dictate of the purest, the loftiest, motives by which men were ever swayed. Voting should be a religious ceremony. A man should " plump for Smith " DA solemnly as he should take deacon's orders. He should disdain the power, the threats, the bribes, the evictions of the rich ; he should bear as meekly as a martyr the fisticuffs of the poor: That is Mr. Mill's teaching ; and when the Millennium shall come no doubt the great thinker's teaching will be realised. But, alas ! we are meanwhile poor " miserable sinners." We must cell our tea and our joints ; we must earn our weekly wage ; we cannot afford to pay more rent ; we are loth to lose our farms ; we shrink from the displeasure of our fellow-workers in the mill ; and to exercise the electoral privilege of a Briton amid a shower of atones, is repugnant to our feelings. Yes, being " miserable sinners," we must have the Ballot; and, despite tiie fact that sir. 1_4 , 11a ham's speech and motion were superfluous, we can p Lrth n 13 . m .0 considei a:,:on of the point and force with which be stz.te 1 a great The Herald, in discussing the pawnbrok 7 eg . a a that lending money on such moveables as tied their we v to the pawn-shop is not an cccup.,tion everybociy would like, but still most peuple cut of the Cabinet u draw a broad distinction between it and " crib cn;eking,' pocket.picking, and other pursuits of the sem,: order. W. are quite sure that any other set of shopkeepers would resent ouch an indignity, and thatthe whole tribe of retail tradesmen would be up in arms, if they found the re. Reformed Parliament speaking of them in the same breatl with the worst of City Arabs. But if Lord Eimberley'r bill had passed without amendment, every pawnbrole , would have been a marked man. The abodes of receiver• of stolen goods are, or ought to be, as well known to the police as any place devoted to more reputable purposes. But these adepts in crime do not take things in pledge, retaining them as pawnbrokers are hound to do, fox twelve months at least. Neither do they give duplicates, keep books, and make entries of names, dates, and °the particulars, only to be obtained by direct inquiry of the customer. Both thief and receiver know their business a great deal too well for this. Their maxim is, no entry made, no receipt given, no questions asked, and no goods returned. The produce of each day's crime is sold out and out, for anything between one-fourth and one-tenth of its value, and then the rogues part, the one to renew his depredations, and the other to get rid of his pur• chase in some speedy and secret fashion. These pests of society the bill does not touch, unless, indeed, they have been previously convicted and imprisoned Careful calculations, based upon accurate returns. she w that no fewer than 28,334,880 pledges ar annually deposited with pawnbrokers in the metro politan area, giving an annual average of 67,464 fox every one of the 420 pawnbroking establishments, am) nearly nine per head for every man, Woman, and child i• a population of over three millions. To justify the pro vieious of Lord Kimberley's bill there should have bee• some large and manifest proportion between the above enormous total of transactions, and crimes connected with them. But such a justification is altogether wanting. Out of the 28,334,000 pledges there were given up under orders from judges or rnag'strates an average of 1 in 12,000 the whole of London, while one pawnbroker, with thre. , large shops, reports that in seven years he took 1,3::4,01' pledges, only 53 of which, va ue £;.818 ~ he had to give up, thus hewing an average of lin 23,170 in number, and something under 15s. in value. Returns obtained from thl large towns aria from the country g !ncrally do not greatly cl:ff.lr from those relating to London. The ,'tar thinks that the return obtained by Mr. Torrens, and issued on Saturday, shews that there is still time to cheek the operation of Mr. Hardy's bill if the House of Commons are inclined to do so, and the questior ought not to bi hung up a day longer than can be helped. It appears, however, that Cie first Thursday after the recess is the earliest ► pportuni y Mr. Goschen can have of unfolding his policy to the House. In the meantime the bill will be printed and circulated, and as it totally extie guishes some nine boards of guardians, it is just possible that it may meet with considerable opposition. Under the present arrangement* of London for the purposes of the Act, the smaller parishes are as fully represented in the Central' Asylums Board as the larger, and the larger have no 'more representation than the smaller. This is one anomaly which will be corrected by the bill which Mr. Goschen will introduce. He adds another measure of relief which will apply to the whole area of London. H e fixes a certain sum in the pound, calculated on the assessment of each parish, above which all expenses .incurred for buildings shall be borne Ly the common fund levied on t h e whole metropolitan area. Those parishes Iv hich have already spent a capital sum of 2s. Gd. in the pound on the a.ssessinent will at once come upon the com mon fund, wink. others will do so_ as soon as their expen diture has re::cheil that limit. Such 'are we believe, the main item s of a schem e which I I be warimy eauva4set., but whieli commends itself at the first blush as reason• ably abetted ‘.ll t o sort , lout reversing Mr. ILativ'e The ilcrabi dec7iires that the p!!licy- of the pr-sent Government prcs,..l.:+ a forcible ii , utration of Tir. I . .aeh's warniug confiscation is ci.iitiigion s ." It if! .nupossible, ou r. tieet.on, not to discern a moral relatior between severed ii , nres,soni e introd uce d b y inernifers of M the uustry, other.. by the ith!re emineuf :tinting its . stip o porters, all of whi c h t e nd t o an Invas'on f the rights of Toperty, are charact er i se d by a danger'ons ]arty of princip.:.: regard to corporate and indi v iolual interests hitherto held sacred even by Liberal legislat-r.4. No on e can f a i l to discern a close con twetion between the measure intr!!!inced l,j the Soiicitor-Genera art! the Church Spoliation Bill of the Prime Minister; and a still more intimate connect i on between the arguinent,s by which they are defended. Take the two measures to!,;ether—supply the omissions of the one by the provisim,s of the other—combine the principles of both, and the result is a clear and complete precedent for the total confiscation of all property bemoging to the Established Church, whether intended for the maintenance of her worship or the education of her clerzy. IMPERIAL PARLIAHENT 110 USE OF LORDS-LAST EVENING. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. Their lordships sat for a short time this eve Ling. The Common Law Courts Bill passed through committee after an amendment bad been inserted, on the motion of Lord Wesbury, to the effect that the patronage should b,3 left in the hands of the Judges of the Court, and not in those of the Lords-Lieutenant. Their lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—Last EVENING. The SPEAKER. took the chair at 4 o clock. NEW MEMBERS. Sir Harcourt Johnstone took the oath and his seat for Scarborough, and Mr. Devereaux for Wexford. PETITION FROM DUBLIN. The Lord Mayor of DUBLIN presented a petition from the Corporation of Dublin, praying for perfect religious equality with all her Majesty's subjects in Ireland, for an alauest;, to political offenders in prison for political offences, now suffering punishment for the consclidation of the Irish railways and for a reduction of the tariff for goods and passengers. THE IRISH CHURCH. Ur. GLA DSTONE, in reply to Mr MELLoR, said he did not think it was a fact that Archbishop Brawhall was in= strumeutal in purchai!ng tithes from lay impropriators in Irelaud amounting to 230,000, neither did he think that there was positive proof that the purchase money was raised by public subscription ; by the clauses of the bill the tithes would not be retained. EXTRADITION. Mr. OTWAY, in reply to Mr. Tvrrens, said it was the intention of the Government to introduce a bill with re spect to extradition. BANDA PRIZE MONEY. Mr. G. DUFF, in reply to Col. No...tb, said the money had all been paid, and the papers relative to it he thought had lost their interest, however, he would have great plersure in affording ho hon. member every information on the subject possible. COMMUNICATION WITH AMERICA. The Marquis of HARTINGTON said he had not thought it necessary to make any provision on the suppo sition that the contract now under consideration,would not be carridd out, as the contract with the North Gor man T.103 - (1 . 3 would provide fur a weekly despatch of letters to America. PATRIOTIC FUND, • Mr. CARDWELL, in reply to Mr. Locke King, said the last audit of the Patriotic Fund took place in 1867, but the accounts were all ready down to the present period fur examination. HAMMERSMITH BRIDGE. Viscount BURY asked whether the Secretary for the Hothe Department had taken any steps with a view of as certaining the condition of Hammersmith Bridge. Mr. BRUCE said he had had an exatu.nation as to the condition of the bridge, and the repo, t hu had received was to tha effect that although the bridge in, the Hist instance was not a very strong erection, yet it appeared to be as strong as it ever had been, and therefore ho had not thought it proper to prohibit its use on the occasion of the great boat race to-morrow. Notices would be affixed and police constables posted to confine the pedestrians entirely to the footway, and thus the;carriage way would be left open for vehicles. There doubtless wou:d be a very largo attendance of the public, but he believed that, with the re gulations th,t were to be carried out, the bridge would be quite able to bear all those who inigta go upon it to- raorruw KIIANSI PRIZE MONEY. Mr. DUFF, in answer to Mr. Chamber, said that nearly the whole of this money had been paid, and that a second distribution would be very trifling. It included all tho treasure captured by the troops under Sir llugh Rose. THE BALLOT. Mr. LEA.TIIAIki then rcs3 to call the attention of the house to the expediency of taking votes by ballot at Par liameutary elections. He said the necessby for the ballot was now more apparent than ever, and o thought that no set of gentlemen would sit on the Government benches for the next twelvemonths that did not adopt the ballot as a Government question. The ballot was neither an experiment nor innovation, and it had been adopted by all free nations, the exception bAng that it was still objected to by Russia, Turkey, and England, and the time had now come that it b: came actually urg nt that the ballot should be adopted in this country. He should be met, doubtless, with the objection that the ballot was un-English, but he had turned up a case in which in times gone by a member hail) Jett returned by the ballot. The right hon. gentleman then read the ex tract iu question, and contended that he could not under stand t e great objection that was mad to the ballot. That corruption existed was unfortunately too true, and they wore continually trying, up stairs, to wash their hands clean, yet that they never succeeded in cluing, and never would as long as they set their faces against the adopt - on of the ballot. In one of the committees that had sat, one of the witnesses, a most important one, said that in places where the ballot was ad pted elections had come as quiet as funerals. (Laughter.) The hon. gentle man concluded by moving, "That it be an instruction to the select committee appointed to inquire into thc pre seLt mode of conducting elections, to take into considera tion the various methods of taking votes by I.tt:lot, which are at present in use in portions of the Briti:ll e.topire, and in cy her countries, together with any modttleation thereof which might be suggested, and to report upon the most efficient and convenient system of balloting." After criticisms from Sir 11. Bulwer, Mr. Scourfield, Mr. C. Weguelin, Lord F. Cavendish, Mr. Chadwick, Sir F. CressleY, and Mr. Gladstom-, the motion was withdrawn. Leave was given to Mr. GotenEN to introduce a bill to amend the Metropolitan Poor 1867. On the motion of Mr. Secretary BRUCE, the Committee on Parliamentary and Municipal Elections was nominated. The Party Pi ocessions Bill, which stood for second read ing, was briefly discussed, and adjoirned until Wednes day (to-day), on division, by 113 to 70 votes. The house then adjourned. LuNDON GAZLUTE-LAST EVENING WAR-OFFICE, PALL IIALL, MARCH 16. Royal Regiment of Horse Guards—General the Right Eon. Hugh Lord Stratbnairn to be Colonel. Ist Regiment of Diagoous—Major-Genoral Charles Ain .. slie to he Colonel. 60th Regitneet of Foot--:Tield Marshal his Royal High ness George William Frederick Charles, Duke of Cam bridge, K.G., G.C.8., K.P., G.C.M.G., to be Colonel-in- Chief. 3d Dragoon Guards—Cornet Arthur Coat 4, has been per mitted to retire from the service. • Ist Dragoons—Cornet Shireburn %Veld has been permitted to retire from the service. Bth Hussars—Captain Thomas Bowen, from the 6th Foot, to be Captain. 18th Hussars—Lieutenant Henry Howard to be Captain, Cornet Edward Nolan to be Lieutenant, Quartermaster- Sergeant Geore Rumsey to be Cornet. 20th Hussars —Ensign William Irwin, from the 104th Foot, to be Cornet. Royal Regiment of Artillery—Lieuteuant-Cllonel Wm. Hatch to be Colonel ; Captain George Brown to be Lieu tenant-Colonel; Second Captain William Cumberland to be Captai n ; Lieutenant Ross Lewis to be Second Captain ;. Lieutenant John Alexander to be Second Captain. Royal En g in eers—Lieut-Colonel Henry Freeling, Super numerary List, to be Lieut.-Colonel; Captain John Wilson to be Lieut.-Colonel; Captain Joshua Smith to be Lieut.-Colonel, Second Captain Walter Campbell to be Captain ; Lieut. George Collings -to •be Second Cap tain ; Lieut. Richard Buckle to be Seconded on appoint ment as Assistant Surveyor-General at Hong Kong. The undermentioned Lieutenants omployed in the Public Works Department in India to be placed on the Seconded List: George Robert Walker, William Robert Purellas. Grenadier Guards—Lieut. Henry Legh to be Adjutant. 6th Foot—Captain Frederick Helyar to be Captain ; Lieut. James Fitzgerald to be Captain : Ensign itietutrd Mere dith to be Lieutenant; Ensign Andrew Macpherson to be Ensign. 7th Foot—Lieut. Geoffry Barton to be Adjutant. 9th Foot—Assistant-Surgeon Isaac lloysted to be Assis tant-Surgeon. 11th Foot—Major Thomas Peebles to be Lieutenant- Colonel, Captain Richard Maunsell to be Major, Lieu tenant John Trotter to be Captain, Ensign Charles Man sergh to be Lieutenant, Ensign Thomas Lewis to be Lieutenant, Charles Frederick Morgan to be Ensign, Lieutenant Edward Bask erv ill e to be Instructor of Musketry. 14th Foot—Lieutenant Herbert Woodland to be Adjutant 17th Foot— Ensign Lawrence Hussey to be Lieutenant, Henry Morris to be Ensign, William Clarke to be Ensign. 20th Foot—Lieutentint Charles Webster to bo Captain, Ensign Robert Woolley to be Lieutenant, Charles Ilinde Lieutenant, 27th F oo t —E n s to be Ensign, i ß gn obe r rt D hili e p nu s i t s ai t u o fo b r e ti E i E nsign. `27th be Ensign Bromley to be Ensign. 34th Foot—Lieut.. Edward Vanrenen to be Lieutenant, Thurlow Dowling to be Ensign. 41st Foot—Ensign Foster Wade to be Ensign. 42d Foot—Ensign Nicholas Brophy to be Lieutenant ; Andrew Stevenson to be Ensign, Ensign Edward Edward Thornton to be Lieutenant; 49th Foot Lieut. Edwin Fenu to be Captain ; Ensign Dickson to be Ensign. Welter Can- Gilb-rt Bidduiph to be Lieutenant ; 52.1 Poet—Lieut. William Blakeney to be Captain ; En signel:ffe to be Ensign. 4' 54th Foot - Ensign Harris Drown to Le Lieutenant; James Wedderburn to be Ensi n. 59th Foot—Ensign Foot—Ensign Gerald Paterson to be Lieutenant; Shirley Apthorp to be Ensign. _ _ Alexander Morison to he Ensign. 75th Foot -Lieutenant Donald Mucqueen to be Instructor of Musketry. 831 Fo,,t —Ensign James Bell to be Ensign ; Ensign Chas. Hind° to be Ensign. 94th Font =Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick R. Mein to be Li. , u•enant-Colonel. Ist Neat India Regiment—Lieutenant Joseph Smith to be Adjuu.nt. ADMIRALTY, MARCII 12. The undermentioned officers have this day been pro moted to the rank of Engineer in. her Majesty's Fleet, with seniority of 6th March, 1869:—Mr. John William Owen, and Mr. Thomas Hunter. John Ellis Knight, Esq., has been promoted to the rank of Staff Commander in her Majl.stes Fleet. THE SUN, LONDON, WE DNEgDA"it EVENiNG, MARCH 17, 1869. MISCELLANEOUS NEWS. TUE 'UNIVERSITY TESTS BILL• The House of Commons had a good laugh on Mon day night at an exceedingly amusing incident. Mr. Bercsford-Hope moved, and Mr. Bentinck seconded, the adjournment of the debate on the University Tests Abolition Bill, and when beaten on a division, they assumed that they had the right to speak, but were put to silence by the Speaker, who informed them that they had " exhausted their powers in that debate." The hon. gentlemen did not see it. They felt that they were by no means exhausted, but on the contrary, were like new bottles ready to burst. Mr. Newdegate, having already spoken, met with no better success. Amid loud laughter one after another was snubbed by the Speaker, and the House did not seem at all to regret the loss of Mr. Newdegate's funereal tones, or Mr. Hope's Batavian grace. The great event of the evening, however, was . Sir Roundell Palmer's speech. Formerly ho op posed legislation in the direction of the Solicitor- General's bill. It was not known for certain if he would still do so, and great curiosity was felt on both sides of the House as to what course he would take with respect to that measure. The Opposition cheered him loudly as he rose, hoping that he would be on their side. They must have felt not a little mortified as he went on and spewed that some such measure as the present was the necessary result of the legislation which he formerly opposed, but which Lord Stanley and Lord Derby approved. The end of it was that the bill passed a second reading with out a division, and thus for the first time the principle that the universities belong to the nation and not to the Church was affirmed nem . con. There will be a fight over details in committee, especially over Sir R. Palmer's proposal that lay professors shall undertake to teach nothing contrary to the Church of England, which proposal Sir John Cole ridge declares nothing shall induce him to accept. For once the Liberals stuck together on Monday. night—or, to speak more technically, yesterday morn ing—in their opposition to the adjournment of the debate on Sir John Coleridge's bill. With the tellers and Speaker, there were 331 members in the House when the division was taken. In the majority (251) there were 242 Liberals and 9 Conservatives, but no Liberals votedwith the minority. The Conservatives who went into the lobby against their party were Viscount Barrington, Lord Elcho, Mr. Orr-Ewing, Mr. Russell Gurney, Mr. W. Johnston (Belfast), Lord George Lennox, Mr. Meyrick, Mr. Clare Sewell Read, and Mr. Waterhouse. The most prominent Conservatives who wished the debate to be adjourned were Mr. Cave, Mr. Ward Hunt, Mr. Mowbray, and Mr. Walpole. Mr. Gathorne Hardy left the House when a division was called for. Nearly all the members of the Government supported Sir John Coleridge, and Mr. Miall voted for the first time ha favour of a question specially interesting to the Nonconformist body. The tellers for the Ayes were Mr. Beresford Hope and Mr. Bentinck, and for the Noes Sir John Coleridge and Mr. Bouverie. said, But lam a Protestant,' upon winen ne became deadly. white, and. said, Oh ! what a revelation I have made.' He tried to make her promise she would not reveal what ho had communicated to her under the impression that she was a Roman Catholic." Such is the story; its accuracy may he estimated by the fact that Dr. Pusey was educated at Oxford, and has passed his whole life there since he was a lad. The tale is very like one that Mr. Newland used to tell of the same divine. One day a clergyman and an old lady were travelling together in the same train, and the lady, after a little while, began to speak of Dr. Pusey and his doings, to the great edification of her companion. Among other high crimes, she attributed to him the sin of " sacrificing a lamb every Friday." The clergyman suggested that she might have been mistaken, but she indignantly asserted that her authority was un questionable. Whereupon the clergyman replied, " But, my dear Madam, I am Dr. Pusey, and I never killed a lamb in my life, and should not know how to do it." AMERICAN AkEIIRS. (Prom the Anglo-American Times.) NEW Yortx, Feb. 27. The telegram announcing the arrival of the City of Paris at Queenstown, forty-five minutes ahead of the Russia, has caused the transfer of some money in this city ; for although the papers gene rally state that there was no such thing as a race contemplated by either vessel, it being against the stringent orders of both the Inman and Cunard Companies, the people persist in believing that they cannot help racing under such circumstances. One New York paper boldly asserted that ocean racing was a thing to be encouraged, but this is the re verse of the general opinion. The Cushing Ship Canal across the Ilthmus of Darien is likely to be the axle of a very fine " ring." A lobby has left for Washington, and Peter Cooper expects the job, though acre is a strong opposition. Peter Cooper's Company, however, is powerfully backed, though there is a rumour that the Pacific Company favours the others. The Fenians are still hard at work, they have had a great meeting at Baltimore, which John O'Neill addressed. A naval expedition is being organized by them, and the following advertise ment appeared in the New York Sun :—" To EAR NEST IRISH NATIONALISTS. —All Irishmen of action, desirous of taking part in the Irish Naval Expedi tionary Corps, now organizing, are requested to communicate at once with Wm. J. O'Connell, Secretary, 323, West 21st St., City. Men of nau• tical experience are particularly called on." They propose to make a descent on the coast of Aus tralia, and it is said that the list is nearly complete. There was a great meeting at the Cooper Institute some days ago, but perhaps the news of the re lease of Warren and Costello, who are to be wel comed on arrival with a grand reception, may have 'a deterring influence. The officers of the Army of the Potomac held a meeting in Fourteenth-street, General Butterfield presiding. Among the distin guished officers on the platform were Major-Gene rals G. B. M'Clellan, French, Heintzelneann, Plea santon, Wright, Davies, Casey, Hooker, Hancock, Slocum, Franklin, Humphrey, Ingalls, Torbert, Webb, and Gibbon. Gen. M'Clellan acted as tem porary chairman. A grand reunion is to take place during the summer, and five generals were selected to make the arrangements. Washington's Birth day was dull, foggy, and wet ; in fact, the day was, on the whole, a failure. The fireworks, notwith standing the $20,000 voted for them, did not come off, nor was there a military procession. The na tional colours, however, were hoisted on the public buildings and the shipping, while many of the mer chants gave their employes a holiday. The anniver sary furnished the liveliest time to the burglars and thieves, who, knowing it was a legal holiday, strove to drive as active a business as they could in the deserted offices and stores. Bonds amounting to $40,000 belonging to Messrs. Jay Cooke and Co:, were stolen from the Star Insurance Company, 96, Broadway, last August. Some of theta are alleged to have been found on Edwin R. Lee, who was arrested, and, after an examination, committed for trial. The United States Circuit Court has sen tenced the counterfeitors John L. Keeze, to four years Penitentiary, CharleS Harper, Albany Peni tentiary, 6 years; Literio Moletta, ditto, 4 years ; Stephen Morabeto, ditto, 3 yrs ; James Carr, 3 years, King's Coanty Penitentiary ; Joseph Bar nabo, 3 months, ditto; George Myers, fined $250 and committed till paid ; and James M'Laughlin, alias John H. Fuller, and Harrison Shaw, alias John Latnartine, for making false charges against Internal Revenue Collector Bailey, were sentenced to five years each, in the Albany Penitentiary. President Johnson has pardoned John 11. E-tgap, sentenced for obtaining bounty money and back pay, on bogus papers. It might be supposed that Andy was recruiting an array of rascals for after operations, so extraordinary are some of his pardons. The Erie Railway people continue to circulate all kinds of favourable reports regarding the annexa tion of Western lines to their road. Their new board of brokers, having elected the following ofii cers, have commenced operations :-- President, Jas. Baker ; Ist Vice-President, C. C. Parks ; 2d Vice- President, E. R. Tremain ; Treasurer, Charles Unger; Secretary, C. M. Delmar ; Assistant Secre tary, John R. Lansing ; Chairman of Arbitration Committee, George I'. Clark. We cannot yet make out for certain whether the rents in this city will I rise on May-day or fall ; but the weight of testi- Imony goes to prove that they will remain about the same. The people complain that in the upper part there are but two sorts of, houses—a brown stone front, at a rent of from 5.',30n0 £5OO a year (I give your money as your readers will understand it best), or apartments in tenement houses, and those who know the expense of the one and the misery of the other are not surprised that so many families live iu hotels. On your side American ladies are supposed to prefer hotel life, because it saves them trouble, and that they are gregarious, with no taste for homes. This is one of your English mistakes, for, as a rule, we are as homely a people as any in the world ; but circumstances often compel a surrender of inclination to necessity. It requires considerable means to support a house in this city, for servants are as costly as the dwellings, and their insolence is often unbounded. An Irish girl, fresh from the bogs, is a happy illustration of the proverb of put ting a beggai on horseback, and a delicate, refined American lady has often to do work which would make the hair, chignon and all, stand on end of your more portly dames. What surprises me is that any of them, except with very large fortunes, could be prevailed on to undertake the management of a household, when fine hotels are open to them at less cost and trouble, and that many American families live in these houses is the best proof of the value they attach to homes, A case came up in the United States Circuit Court last Tuesday against Chas.A.Dana, accusing him when Assistant Secretary of War, of casting the plaintiff Gazaway Lamar into a loathsome gaol filled with vermin, taking him from his home in Savannah to Washington for this pur pose. Dana pleads in defence the Act of Indemnity. Wars for monopoly have been raging ; the great railway war between the Philadelphia Railroad, the Erie and New York Central is for Western traffic and the - overland route to San Francisco. That has been the big war which has long been waged, but is now culminating on the completion of the Grand Trunk Line to the Pacific. Governor Haight, of California, has been asked to Chicago to celebrate the opening of the Pacific road on the 4th July with the Governors of the other States. Besides this fight, one has raged between the Express Companies. Cases are constantly being brought forward in our courts; the other day one was up before Judge Cardozo to prevent a consolidation scheme, an in junction being asked for, and the appointment of receiver. In one of the suits Judge Ingraham ruled on Wednesday that the Executive Committee were not authorized to change the business of the cor poration, or to terminate the existence of the Association, and that the injunction, so far as it restrains the directors and executive Com mittee from enforcing a compliance with the terms of consolidation on the part of those unwilling to be members of the new company, should be continued up till the final decision of the case. Mr. Fisk, jun., is making a raid against the conductors of the Erie, many suspected of stealing having been discharged, while others who objected to his manner of finding them out, and denounced been him, have asked toresign. The Society of Free masons has brought on its head the wrath of this dragon, and those professing the craft are to be discharged as not good enough for such A holy em ploy as his. The Oddfellows, by the way, are to celebrate, at the Steinway-hall, the fiftieth anniver sary of their establishment in America. The Express Companies are also to suffer from theformi , !able Fisk, as the Erie is to do its own express work hereafter. A great Republican meeting is to take place in Union-square next week, to impress on the Senate the advisability of repealing the Tenure-of-Office Bill, On Thursday there was a consultation ; Horace Greeley was not there, nor was Hugh !Last ings, Raymond, nor Bryant, though the last three are known to sytnpathise with the object. There has been a discussion in our Legislature at Albany about pressing the repeal ; also relative to llorace Greeley's appointment as Minister to England. Mr. Mattoon brought forward a resolution, which THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. The House of Commons will be considerably shorn of its numbers when it comes to divide on the Irish Church Bill. There are at the present time no fewer than eleven seats vacant, viz., one each at Norwich, Dublin, Sligo, Cashel, and Dumfriesshire, and two each for Bridgwater, Beverley, and Here ford, none of which will be filled up before the divi sion. Five of the vacant seats were filled by Conser vatives and six by Liberals. THE HOUSE OF LORDS. If " one black sheep infects the flock," one white one certainly communicates a virtuous influence to his fellows. It is many years since the Lords sheaved themselves so .set upon business as they are at the present time. Lord Salisbury has aroused them into action, and within a month from the assembling of Parliament they have passed through committee a measure of such first-class importance as the Habitual Criminals Bill. They sat till nearly ten o'clock to accomplish this. They are now about to make arrangements with the Commons for doing still more work, and a committee of both Houses has been appointed with this object in view. Lord Russell, however, is not satisfied, and means to try his hand at life -peerages. THE TRADES UNION COMMISSION. We have very unwelcome news on the Trades Union Commission. Instead of a unanimous report, on which legislation could be taken without doubt, we are told—and who expected other—of divisions and subdivisions. Those who had hoped that Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Harrison would be found to agree on such a subject must certainly have been very sanguine indeed. The Manchester Guardian- says that one report, signed by seven- members, recom mends various changes in the combination laws, and suggests recourse to arbitration. A sacond report, to which the names of Lord Lichfield, Mr. T. Hughes, and Mr. F. Harrison are attached, proposes the repeal of the combination laws; while a third report, signed only by Mr. Hughes and Mr—Harrison goes still further. "At present, however, we arc unable to state the details of the changes—' sweeping changes,' as a correspondent describes them—which the member for Frome and Mr. Harrison desire to see established in the relations between labour and capital." THE PRESTON COTTON TRADE. Another disastrous strike seems imminent. The masers of Preston have determined to reduce the w:lges of their workmen; the operatives will not 1. born- for less than they are at present getting. There was a great meetiffg of operatic held at Preston on Monday night, and the utmost determi nation was manifested to resist the proposed reduc tion in wages. A strike was not exactly resolved upon, but only because it is judged wise to allow the masters (as a local journal puts it) a place, for repen tance. That they will repent does not seem to be believed, and it is improbable under present circum stances that the men will give in. THE CONSERVATIVES OF STALYBRIDGE. On Saturday a large political gathering took place at Stalybridge t o ce l e b rate the return of~Mr. Mr. James Sidebottom to Parliament as the first representative of the borough. Mr. R. Bates presided, and declared that they were met to do honour to -S double victory in the return of Mr. Side bottom, and in his triumph over a vexatious petition. Mr. Sidebottom, M.P., returned his cordial thanks to the meeting, and rejoiced at the success which the Conservative cause had met with in that borough. He did not touch upon the leading questions of politics, but declared that he should never consider party interests where the good of the country was concerned. As a proof of this he referred to the recent vote he had given against what would be called his own party. CHANCERY DELAYS. --- Another complaint has been made on the almost hopeless subject of Chancery delays and expenses, The victim• states that it has taken Min two years and a half, and has cost him £3OO, to get out of Chancery £BOO paid in by a defaulting trustee. In the suit in which the payment was made the accounts were waived, and the trustee order e d t o pay all costs, yet the plaintiff's solicitor tells him that he has got very easily out of Chancery. He has alsc registered some freehold building land, under th e Land Transfer Act of 1862 ; and now finds that should a dispute arise the question may be carried to the higher Courts of Chancery. The proceedinb of the registry should, in the opinion of this gentleman. be much simplified, and he hopes that Lord Romilly, as chairman of the Land Transfer Commission, will effect the same good work in England a s he hat done in Ireland, and establish a land court altogether separate from the Court of Chancery. IRISH BENEFICES. Mr. Petrie writes to the Standard respecting the 109 Irish benefices, which, according to the census returns of 1861, have a Church population of less than forty. The writer states that he has made stria inquiry, and finds that either the census returns must be untrustworthy, or the Irish branch of the United Church has made great progress. He gives the names of all the benefices in question, with the Church popu lation according to the census, and according to his own inquiries on the Ist of January last. The second column shews a very decided augmentation of the numbers, the great change being in Ballymas coulon, which has in the census only 31, and in the last return 225. The Church population of the greater portion, however, is still far below 100, in some instances numbering less than 20. The figures do not include the Protestant Dissenters, who, for want of their own local ministers, usually attend the parish church. The revenues of the benefices are often very small , and the rectors act as curates in neighbouring parishes of more importance. The inquiri es are no t comp l e t e, an d a f urt h er li s t w ill b e issued in a few days. THE REV. JAMES KELLY AGAIN. The notorious Mr. Kelly, of St. George's, Liver pool, has come forward again, -end in a long letter falls foul of Mr. Gladstone, because, being the patron of a small living in Liverpool, worth only £lOO a year, he will not transfer his patronage to the Crown, and thereby make it i'3oo. Tie then goes on to denounce Mr. Gladstone as " a second Pilate:" consigning Christ to the tender mercies of the wicked Jews—the Irish Church taking the place of the victim, and the Rationalists, R.omanists, and Radicals of the persecutors. A TALE FOIL THE MARINES. A correspondent of the .RGcl says that twenty years ago a lady he knows was residing in Austria, in a house belonging to some nuns. She paid the rent regularly to a Jesuit priest, who, supposing her to be a Roman Catholic, dilated on the great w or k that was going on at Oxford,! and said that some of the Jesuits had got into the university, and that the leading man there was a Jesuit. The lady asked his name, and was told it was Pusey, and that her informant and the doctor were educated together at the same college in Rome. " Some days after the Jesuit asked her where she went to mass. as he_ had never observed her. She OBITUARY, A well-known politician has died within • the last icw days, Sir William Clay, Bart. Ile was formeily a merchant and shipowner. In 1832 he entered Parliament as men.ber for the newly-formed borough of the Tower Hamlets, having for his colleague Dr. Lushington. In 1835 the same two members were returned, the Conservative candidate polling only about one-sigh of Sir William's votes. In 1837 there was no contest ; in 1841 Sir William was first of five candidates. In 1847 Mr. George Thompson polled 6;268 votes, Sir William Clay 3,839, and General Fox 2,622. In 1852 Mr. Thompson lost his seat. Sir William was at the head of the poll, with Mr. Butler only ten votes behind him, an d Mr. Ayrton and Mr. Newton a long way in the rear. In 1857 Mr. Ayrton astonished everybody by coming to the head of the poll, with Mr. Butler for second, and Sir William Clay found himself out of Parliament for the first time in fifteen years. He did not sit again. During his Parliamentary career he was one of the foremost holders of ad vanced Radical views. He advocated exten sion of the suffrage, the Ballot, triennial Par liaments, and the abolition of church rates. He was the author of the Small Tenements Rating Act, which led to so much discussion during the debates on Mr. Disraeli's Reform Bill. He was Secretary to the Board of Control from 1889 to 1841, and went out of office with Lord Melbourne. He published a book on joint-stock banking, and other works on kindred subjects. He was born in 1791, created a baronet in 1841. He is succeeded by his eldest son, William Dickason, who was born in 1828, and was married in 1855 to the daughter cf Mr. Leo Schust:.!r. Sir Charles Christopher Parker,who has just died at 77 years of age, is the grandson of Sir Peter Parker, Admiral of the Fleet, the first baronet. lie saw a good deal of service in the Mediterranean, and was lieutenant of the Malta at the siege of Tarragona. He has been on the reserved list since 1863. In 1835 he succeed his brother in the baronetcy, and was the fifth baronet. He leaves no issue, and the baronetcy of Parker of Bassingbourn, Essex, there fore, becomes extinct, havinv been in existence 8 7 years. Sir Joseph 011iffe, whose death has just occurred, was well known to English 11 sidents in Paris. .Ile was the son of Mr. Joseph 011iffe, of Cork, and was born in 1808. He was a Fellow of the loyal College of Physicians, physician to the English Embassy at Paris, and an officer of the Legion of Honour. He was knighted in 1853. He married the daughter of the late Alderman Cubitt. He died at Brighton. whither he had cone for chan , c of air. 111 TURN OF SIR JOIIN LAVRENCP.. The late Viceroy of India after a most successful reign returned to the old country on Monday night. His rule has gone a long way to establish in peace our dominion in India. Quietness has hardly yet been secured on all hands ; but if his policy be persisted in by his successors, we shall soon have no more news of rising natives, massacres, and threatened revolts. At the Charing-cross Station, on Monday night, he was met by Sir It Montgomery, Sir A. Phayre, Colonel Becher, C,8., Mr. George Campbell, and other gentlemen among his friends and acquaintances, who were anxious to welcome the late Viceroy of India on his return to his native country. Sir John came in her Majesty's steamer Caradoc to Brindisi, and thence over Mont Cenis and by Paris to England. THE REPRESSION OF CRI3IINALS. The humanitarian view of the criminal qu s'aon is still taken by a small minority of our public writers, by Mr. James Greenwood amongst the rest. On the day after he wrote protesting against the theory of thieves co-operating together, and of pawnbrokers quickly disposing of stolen property, the letters of "N. A. W." appeared in the Ti2;:es. These conclusively chewed that the thieves do, for some purposes at least; co-operate together. They act to protect and hide one another, and have houses in which they regularly meet. There arc regular leaving shops which take in, and very quickly—too speedily the police say for detection under the present system—stow away, the goods. Mr. Greenwood appears to be still unconvinced however. The latest thing which has frightened him is the proposal for a brand on criminals. He brings before our eyes the old picture, albeit not from life, of the would-reform-if-he - could criininr.l being hunted down by the brutal officer,. not tieing able to obtain work, and being driven back to live the life he wished so much to shun. The criminal has Mr. Green wood's full sympathy. his extermination is a thing to be guarded against. The policeman, on the other hand, is an evil, and Mr. Greenwood has one con solation left, that the suppression of crime would lead to the disbanding of the odious officers of the law. We should have no objection to the times becoming so quiet that the policeman might, " w ith due regard to all vested interests" be sent about his ' business. But while Mr. Greenwood would rejoice at the absence of the man in blue, we should more exult if the slouching rascal who had been wont to liceonconnection other with this subj ec t t h e complaints con peoples money h a d di sappeared. In cerning the Irish police may be noticed. We are about to model our system Somewhat on the Irish plan, and we should be, careful that we copy only that which is good. The Dublin correspondent of the . Standard, referring to the increase of un detected• crime, says: " The strictly military organisation of the force disables its mem bers from discharging the most 'important duties of a police; they cannot lay aside the habits all the and bearing of the parade, alter their personal People as if they were of tahpepmea2raanndceb, comixme with thing s to all men," as the Londen detective or the French mouchard does with such effect when ferreting out information or hunting down a criminal." The Tipperary magistrates e have taken the matter into consideration, and have unanimously resolved that the attention of the Government should be called to the matter, the opinion of the meeting being th a t a special corps of detectives should be added to the force, and that encouragement should be given to those members of the general body who should distinguish them selves in, or chew special aptitude for, the tracking of criminals and discovering the plans of the insti gators of crime. MURDERERS ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. We must commend to Mr. Gilpin, M.P. for North ampton, a p Dwerful argument in favour of the aboli tion of capital punishment, which he will hardly fail to use when next he brings the subject before Parlia.- meat. The American papers report a meeting held under permission of the warders in Thomaston State Prison. The meeting was made up of con victed persons, and all the .officers were under sentence of death. The question discussed was capital punishment. The following resolution on the subject was passed :—" That we appeal to the humane Christian citizens and legislators of the State in behalf of soc i e t y it se lf—society which i s brutalised and made a bre e d er o f c riminals by its infliction of punishments which are vindictive—not to go back a quarter of a c en t ury , an d re-establish this relic of barbarism, the ga ll ows — no t to go back to incurring the ever-impendi ng danger of shedding the blood of innocent -men—t o s t a t u t es which statistics spew have a tende ncy t o increase crime and make the members of soc i ety l ess secure in their persons and property. W e as k this because it is not so much Harris we would save from ignominy as the State." This is not extracted from the pages of Punch, .but . is, so far as we know, a true story. The extreme unselfishness of these men is remark• able—" it is not so much Harris we would save from ignominy as the State." ItOWNER's QtrEST LAW. - - A book detailing some of the more remarkable incidents conne c t e d w ith c oroners' inquests would make very pleas an t rea di ng if one could get over the grimness of the humour. A singular story of a jury comes from the West Riding of Yorkshire. They were called to inquire into the death of a man named Never. It appeared that he was riding on the' shafts of a waggon, and driving it on the high v,-ay, the wheels of the cart came in contact with some large stones on the road, and the man was jcead from his teat and fell under the wheels, and was killed. It appears that the stones were placed on the roar by a man named Taylor, under the direction of the road surveyors, to prevent the road from being worn out. The jury, in the first instance, found that the man's death " had been caused as stated," , and recommen d e d th e surveyors to mercy. The coroner said that he could not accept such a recommendation, but the jury must find whether the deceased came by his death through not using due caution, or whether through the conduct of the sur veyors. The foreman of the jury proposed to decide this point at once, but the coroner told him he must consult his colleagues, and the jury, having retired again, brought in a verdict of accidental death, caused by the carelessness of the deceased. Then a juror took upon limsclf to state that they did not want to get- the man Taylor into trouble, or they would else have brought iu manslaughter. - *4— was sent back to him. No one knows who the Minister is to be, and I suppose you will, as soon as I. do. WAsmxGroN, Feb. 2G. Washington is gay, as every one is here to get .what they can from the old or from the new Ad ministration. Mrs. Colfax gave her last reception on the 24th, and that it was the last rather tended to damp the pleasure the guests world 'otherwise have experience 1. Mr. Colfax gives a dinner to day, which will also be a grand affair. Senator and Mrs. Harlan entertained 200 persons on Wednes day. The Mayor is arranging a welcome for the expected visit of a delegation from the New York Councils, who desire to insi ect the public buildings with a view to improve those of that city. The inaugural ball has been arranged. There is to be a grand procession. Part will form in the First Ward, the military on Penn=ylvania Avenue, and other divisions where convenient, and the whole will march to the corner of Seventeenth and First streets, Grant's headquarters, where they will take him up and proceed by the Avenue to the Capitol. The procs , ssion will return with the President after he is sworn in, along the Avenue, disbanding where convenient, and all the troops arc ordered to take part. Attorney-General Evarts has replied to the Senate's resolution of the 17th February, calling for a list of persons convicted of violating the reve nue laws and counterfeiting, aud as well as the names of the persons pardoned by the President: The Attorney-General has cleverly evaded this by point ing out that it is impossible for him to understand from the terms of the resolution, what was the actual information the Senate wanted. He has also furnished a long despatch in answer to the inquiry why he had ordered the postponement in the Courts of the trial of the New York whisky frauds. The letter is very long, and is accompanied by a voluminous correspondence, explaining the reasons which induced him to act in the few cases where the proceedings were suspended, but in no case had he directed the discontinuance of such proceed ings. The Congress Yale Club has dined with the Attorney-General. District Attorney Courtney bad a❑ interview with the President last Monday to urge the trial of Judge Fullerton, as well as a second trial for M‘Henry, and another Judge to be ordered to the Circuit Court of New York. Colonel Parker, the Indian officer on General Grant's staff, is to be made Commissioner of Indian Affairs if he resigns his commission. General Breckinridge has arrived here, and bad a reception in the rooms of Mr. Beck, which was largely attended by his admirers. Re ports on frauds continue to pour into the House ; there never were such people for " crying stinking fish." In one breath, we assert that there was not such good fish since the world began, its quality be ing unequalled elsewhere on the globe ; in the next breath, we proclaim that there never was such a set of rascals, that we cannot touch anything without stealing ; indeed to read our newspapers foreigners would suppose that the most quiet and law-abiding of all people were the most dishonest, cut-throat rogues, who spent their whole time in shooting on sight, or in the Divorce Court, or in swindling the Government, or swindling each other ; in forming " rings" and organizing gigantic speculations. We wash too much of our dirty linen in public. Mr. Hurlburd has finished his report on the Alaska bribery and corruption matter, and Judge Law rence has finished his on the frauds by which the State of New York was carried for Seymour and Hoffmann ; but as I suppose you will have some thing to say on that subject, I need not discuss it. Grant is meeting the fate of all successful heroes ; his pbiz grins from every wall and his colossal sta tues are about to take dignified and commanding positions i❑ squares, parks, and streets. Some of his principal friends propose to erect an equestrian statue of him on the southern portico of the Trea sury Department. A model of the statue has been received by General Spinner, executed by a Boston artist. A life size statue would cost $35,000, heroic $50,000, and colossal $75,000, the material being cannon captured by Grant, on a granite pedestal. The remains of Henry Wirz have been given to Mr. Lewis Schack by order of the President. He has the distinction of being the only man executed after:the close of the war for his part in the rebel lion, and even then, as he was very ill at the tine, there was but little life taken from him. Con sidering that it was he who was in command of the prison at Andersonville, where Federal prisoners perished in thousands, many of them of sheer starvation and neglect, his fate is not surprising, though I think that our great nation ought in this matter to have had a record wholly pure, unsullied even by the taint of so small a re venge as that. His body was removed by an under taker from the Arsenal grounds, where it had been buried. No further action, however, is to be taken this session according to the decree of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the removal of political disabilities. Mr. Buck, who ran against Mr. Arnell for Congress in Tennessee, contests his election ; both are Republicans. Among the brevet appoint ments in the army transmitted by the President to the Senate are John T. Sprague, Thomas Wilson, Milton Coggswell, Richard N. Batchelder, Allen Rutherford, and Robert Avery to be Brigadier- Generals. Also the last-named to be Major- General for gallant and meritorious conduct. In a case involving $lOO,OOO, the Richmond and New York Railway Company against the National Bank of the metropolis, the former was nonsuited. It had been on trial for two weeks in the District Supreme Court. The Committee of Conference have agreed to report on the Diplomatic Appropriation Bill, though retaining, at General Butler's special re quest, the mission to Chili, so as not to interfere with General Kirkpatrick, although it was to inter fere with hiin, that the amendment was introduced. Hereafter, instead of Ministers resident, accredited as heretofore, Commissioners may be sent to the Governments of Honduras, San Salvador, Nica ragua, and Costa Rica in Central America, and to the Governments of Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, and Uruguay in South America,' at a salary not exceed ing poo per year. M'Garrahan's claims to the New-Idria. Quicksilver Mines is reported by the Committee of the Senate, as decided by the Su preme Court, to be worthless, being based on the assumption that mining lands of immense value may be so given away by Congress as to unsettle all the mining titles on the Pacific Coast. A minority of the Committee differ, however, and the tight is likely to be protracted. There Lab long been a squabble over Mr. Corcoran's claim, who is a leading Democratic banker of this city. The in- ' vestigation has gone on from day to day. ' Some property of that gentleman had been used by the army for hospital purposes, and the question was whether so rank a " sesech" should get anything out of the Federal Treasury, and this was opposed by men who accused him of openly stating at his ' dinner table that he would give $lOO,OOO to have Mr. Lincoln put out of the way. Brewer heard him, and Senator Bayard, set this price on Lincoln's head. He was then the butler of the Russian Ambassador, Baron Stoeckl, and a question arose as to whether he could be brought up as a witness, having respect to the privileges of an Embassy. An old story then came up how a British ambassador at Berlin said at his dinner table he would give a reward to any one who brotight him Franklin's papers. On this the butler behind his chair broke into Franklin's room, forced his desk, and ab stracted the papers to earn the reward. Ido not see the connection between the stories. Mr. Dawes wrote the following letter to Mr. Blaine, which settled the question of the Speakership if there had been any doubt :—" House of Representatives, Feb. 24, 1869. The Hon. J. G. Blaine.—My dear Sir, - Having determined not to be longer a candidate for Speaker I deem it due to the friendly relations which have all along existed between us that I should communicate this deter mination to you at the ealliest moment.-1 am truly yours, 11. L. DAWES." The Consttturonnel of the evening of March 5 says that the address of President Grant shows a straight forward, firm, and enlightened spirit. LUXURIANT AND BEAUTIFUL HAIR.—MRS. S. A. ALLEN'S WORLD'S Hint RESTORER OR DRESSING never fails to quickly restore Grey or Faded Hair to its youthful colour and beauty, and with the first application a beautiful gloss and de lightful fragrance is given to the Hair. It stops the Hair from falling off. It prevents baldness. It promotes luxuriant growth ; it causes the Hair to grow thick and strong: It removes all dandruff. It contains neither oil nor dye. In large Bottles - Price Six Shillings. • Sold by most Chemists and Perfumers. Depot 266, High Holborn • SPUI?GEON AND THE TABERNACLE. TO THE EDITOR OF THE ANGLO-AMERICAN TIMES. DEAR Sra,—You asked me to tell you what I thought of Mr. Spurgeon and the Tabernacle, which I visited on a recent Sunday for the first time. I was among those who had no ticket, and had to take my place on the steps, and there to await, in the crowd, the opening of the doors, past which a stream of the privileged continued to pour inside. When the doors were opened the rush was like that to the pit of a theatre, where the applicants for places were twice the number of the places to be filled. It was a struggle, a surging of the dense mass to and fro, and in the throng I was borne up the steps into a gallery. When I looked up, having secured n l 7 place, I was surprised at the sigh t which greeted me, notwithstanding my expectation. The hall is an oval, with two galleries circling it all round, tier steeply rising on tier, so as to present a solid mass of faces, all turned inwards, looking towards a platform, the passage to which passed through the central gallery at the extreme opposite to me, where railed round was a large carpeted space on which sat many gentlemen, and before them, facing the audience, stood Mr. Spurgeon, in a plain suit of black. This platform led by two winding stairs, one on each side, to a lower railed space, where numbers sat, but the prominent place was occupied by a table, over which a white cloth was spread. When I looked, I felt that indescribable feeling with which the presence of a multitude inspires an individual when first and unexpectedly introduced. It was a sea of white faces, row rising over row, even the steps leading to the seats being occupied, leaving no breach in the round lines. Beneath the people sit, still preserving the circular formation, So that every face was directed on the central figure. The hall is light and graceful ; the thin pillars supporting arches, and the centre of the building rising into a dome. Though well lighted, I could not distinctly see Mr. Spargeon, the atmosphere growing vitiated, gathering into a blue haze through the great distance. Every window seemed to be carefully shut, as if the fresh air of heaven was an enemy to the dwellers in the taber nacle. I doubted whether the voice of any mau could fill the building and reach each ear through a sustained service, but I was quickly undeceived, for after a prayer, every word sounding clearly over the building, Mr. Spur geon read a psalm, which the people sang verse by verse after the reading. It is but in few churches' unless the hearer has the hymn before him or knows it by heart, that the words of the reader are distinctly conveyed. Not. only were the words given so as to be understood, but emphasized with, a beauty that gave . all the pathos and the fire of the poetry'. Years before I bad heard Mr. Spurgeon at Exeter Hall, and his voice was familiar, unchanged, and precisely as I remembered it. It did not therefore surprise, me when I found that full melodious tone searching through every nook of the tabernacle, hu t what did surprise me was the singing that followed . I expected the shout of a multitude—the hoarse murmur of innumerable voices, but instead, a simple intonation, so one and distinct thatl do not remember to have heard anotier congregation sing a psalm wi tij such clearness that the w or d s th e y u tt ere d ?nig ht be known in the street. I cannot tell w hether the congregation in general joined, but if so, 1 yin s disappointed in the effect. Perhaps it was because : could not duly app rec i a t e th e d ep th of ,the sound, for I m us t con f ess th at I was in thete . same way disapp o i n t e d i n t h e great f est i va l s at the Crystal Palace. Mr. Spurgeon, and a gentleman who advanced to the rails, directed the singing' but there were oth er l ea d ers scattere d t h roug h the congregation. M r . S purgeon ' s power appea rs t° , me chiefly to lie i n hi s ap ti tu d e f or ill ustra tion; . J: think in this h e i s th e greatest master a li ve . 11 7 . must have a rich and v i v id i mag i na ti on; a gre at court mand of languag e as we ll, a l ways us i ng th e plahles t Anglo-Saxon words, and pronouncing them W it h distinctness in his w ell-t one d, me ll ow vo ice, wil l : . seems to add to their appropriateness. S'l rn times he descended too low in order to make 1 11 P meaning plain, conside r i ng th e di gn ity o f the sob : ject, and then hi s ill us t ra ti ons b or d ere d on 0 1 ~ a rity, and came c'ose to the profane. There was nothing striking in the address he gave ; it was 03 a subject so well worn, as to leave but little new to he said, and I had therefore no opportunity of hearing any burst of eloquence, though in closing the addres s he gave us a specimen of his powers of a cting e ; which are of no mean o r de r . " L es t I h av e nliss d, e my mark, one illustration a n d I have do n e," he sai d, his object being to sho w th a t t rue f a ith must pr o, duce works. " A ship is drifti n g, she nears the sho re ' and must be inevitably wrec k e d. A pilot, boweve° r , at reaches her, and h e t e ll s th e cap tai n an d crew that he can save them if th e y w ill pu t i mp licit faith iii him. To this they readily assent;" when he tar one e round, and out rang th e preac h er ' s vo i c e like the roar of the pilot i n a ga l e o f w i n d to t h e man at wheel, "Down with your h e l m ! not a mov e; d° ...11 with your helm," th un d ere d th e p il ot. ‘C Still 11°._b,sci my , 4 I thought," said th e pil o t, " yo u desir ed to be saved, a n d expresse d your f a i th in Y P 35/. . e; . O " Yes:pilot ;'' and M r . Sp urgeon f o ld e d his arm s and changed his voice, his whole attitude be ing that of a t ar ; " we h ave f u ll f a i t h i n yoo l I ? a we are not g o i ng t o wor k . " " A way a loft " 13 ,, reef topsails" again p ea l e d th roug h the churc! ot. "not a move." " How is this, captain?" asks the fe l et , " You all profess fai t h, yet w ill d o no thing. If g have belief in me, sure ly y ou w ill s h ow it, an you do not you must inevit a bly b e l os t." " Oh' y es, , 0d pilot, we have faith in y ou , b u t we a re not 0 0 ; to work." " What so r t of f a ith," Mr. Spu r g e asked, "is this ?—a mimic mockery of faith I" '„ though the illustration wa s f au lty, f o r Mr. SPu r geon's handling of the ship was far from perfect' , ho acting was decidedly good, and it st r uck met ul . sj must often use his platform as a stage. It is w iic a opinion a great advantage to s t an d untramm ei b ' tit by gown or pulpit on the open boards, he' must be an orator who attempts this. _ sill% Spurgeon moves restlessly about, freely ? aiog the space open to him, A preacher sta nds there tamely, to read a wr itt en sermon , would oo a' eg only find his positi on t ry i ng, b ut to t h e c ongr taia tion he would ap pear as if the spar kli ng for the had given place to a stagnant pool. I so, I " . .Y., re ii American papers, that M r . Sp u rgeon is cep s for returning to his glass of wine, after nine in_ 0 , 5 , trial, finding that, under the total abstinen% ' l l 3 O tem, he could not sustain the tremendous eff s e t Work requires. Nor does it surprise me, y.bl ithe saw the single phase of that work presented evening service in the Tabernacle lasting t u „ o kea an hour and a half, during which every word e r ou clO, in a tone to rcach thousands piled on thou s came from M.r. Spurgeon. LADVERTISEME T.l —Holloway' s . Oi n t me nt.---- 11 ,,00)" ties of ulcerations, bad legs, sores, woun d s , and eru`thiegt can be cured by the diligent use of this cooling, sc}: s hio o and healing unguent. The old and often failing „were of strapping the edges of ulcers together with P, " t reat" has entirely given way before the more reasolasb, ia „,,, the ment by Holloway's Ointment, which builds 1 1 1 , ' f " an als.; bottom of the wound with sound and health,' g i r o & 0 ` tions ; these gradually grow till they reach ti.b.tAi be, the surface, then zontract, harden, and intniew a . ,b . pre' come covered with a new and wholesome skin• in fialn: per . application of this Ointment diminishes the alit?' illation, causes the unhealthy discharge first to g row a ct then in . to cease. The Pills should be taken so as unison with the Ointment. Brts. . of PAGET—On the 16th ins i t., h the Lady Alfred Page t ' daughter. tOV i t STuAnT-0.2 the 12th inst. at Oaklands. u°°--5 of - county Tyrone, Ireland, the Viscountess S tuart, daughter. Marriages. iP0. 131 BAX —NESIIAM —On the 13th inst., at Habert on, . o ' 0 0111 Bonham Ward B ax , C omman der R.N., to Bl°lls'o,lo°- youngest survivi ng d aug ht e r of the late L ieu. ' N 4 sham. St• r°ll- EmuAlips— HOWARD - On the 11th inst., at -- BW incbs.r ci d e4 ; eras, Henry, son of the late Sall Rebel E-q., of Wednesbury, to Mary, daughter of J. Etq., of Cliff Huse, New Mistley, Essex. Deaths. late °1 HOL MER —On the 15th inst., George HOIMeT, Philpot 1 ne, city, aged 75. reet , "'' ErcHAßDs—On the 16th inst., at 38, Wimp Admiral Sir Peter Richards, K.C.B. , aged 82. of 0° WATSON n the 15th inst., Mr. Ed w ard Wa tson ' Coal Exchange, aged 50. • --- London : Printed and Pahliahed by WILLIAM No , of No. 112, Strand, Pri n t er , at I'a. SUN AIe 00 2 " Strand, in the Precinct of she Savo' in Middiesex.—Wednesday, March 17, 1d69. 1 4 ( IN This c Sold 1: the Agon 8, Obsery ban's LL M U 14, RI einVAN , hold or able wee Forma fr RU! Mr. Pi Vocal RI congregi Fannin - Open fi Private t T.B.- MA] LI (the firs LUTHE seen C Admittai rooms, 6 A It v ROOlll9 11 and CO. an attra Dance 3/ THE for devil ORIGIN A S Very FI, muPPI Sparklii lery, Sampl bottles E P• ' Consign celebrate Bordean Whiskic also be 1 number of other: SC3IE (-1R a sortmeT Halo, II &c., in shire Si TENN. W.C., I Mr.'] MINEI of Lyell tate th GEOL( guineas PRA( MINEE 149, St; The Fire Re , The /no Bonus f 4 value al render leave is thirty (11 SEA) off Naticns, The 11 .£879 lee SUBS William the Seer street, Qualil Governc NTAI R Under tb Whereby Girls of the king, The oh lisp clue and lann wise pro suitable The Cc entirely i Ornee. ►III: Pres ic Treasur DON. solicited expendi at Walt, Ba ORI -v Mi For t destitute and of prosper( One stitutiot Incre endowe assistan Subs( Institut its peen The 1 Secretaa Pati Office Bank, lane ; rfEALTI DIJ a saves 111 Perfect refreshi most d effectua Slimptic rangem nervouE catarrhi rheuma ralgia, heartbu nausea Sts, brc the pit the mos for invc IMPO: and mo city, Ili - Hone Du Bai and In} bas alr been de ness thi by it of We qua 18,413) Holy Fi other r 'rlarry's plateful i)enefiei pr%ise t - Cure rears' 1 ness, in digestic ervous Cure Stuart ford : food.—! Waterfc Cure from dy flatulen of Lynx Cure nervom vela fax Cure years di The b., 4s. anister ftrry s tin eanf zips at about c free of also at Grazed lieW Offic Office