The Sun. — London, England, 1869-02-02 00:00:00

ELECTION PETITIONS. DUBLIN.—The inquiry into the Dublin election petition still excites the greatest interest. The evidence on behalf of Sir A. Guinness has closed, and the court has taken every precaution that the affair shall be thoroughly sifted. The statements that have been made by the witnesses for the respondent entirely contradict the petitioner's evidence. Sir A. Guinness was examined, and disclaimed all knowledge of undue practices. He declared that he only paid the certified expenses. He gave instructions to Mr. Sutton, his agent, that he should transmit to subordinates an order that there should be no promising or bribery at this elec- tion in any way, and so far as his knowledge extended, those instructions were fully carried out. He added that he was not aware of any such transactions as those in Capel-street. Mr. Sutton was also examined, and declared that be had issued instructions to the various ward committees to the effect that no bribery was to be carried on, and he denied all knowledge of the house in Capel-street, and stated that no case of bribery or immo derate conduct came under his notice. Mr. Johnston was recalled and .mbjected to a severe ordeal. He stated that he was suffering from illness when lie was first exc.mined, and hardly knew what ansmer he was giving. He ad mitted that he opened the box in the morning after he was examined, and took some papers out, but put them back again. BRADFORD.—The trial of the petition against the return of Mr. Forster for Bradford has been resumed. The ev . - dence on behalf of the sitting member has been concluded, and Mr. Serjeant Ballantine has summed up the case and addressed the court in his defence. STRANGE STORY OF PIRACY AND MURDER. Captain Hamilton, of the whaler Sea Breeze, called last June at Crag Island, - one of the most distant points of the North Pacific, and took off a native of Barcelona, named Codina. • This Spaniard said that he was formerly one of the crew of an American vessel called the Cayalti, which sailed from Callao on the 18th January, with a crew of ten men. There were, in addition, forty-five Chinese coolies on board, and the sequel shews that the latter soon became acquainted with the circumstance that there were 30,000 dollars were in the cargo. Codina's narrative is thus told :—" On the second morning out of port, between four and five o'clock, being about day light, the steward having just turned out to prepare breakfast, the Chinese rose, seized and bound him to the foremast ; killed the second mate, who had charge of the deck, and threw his body overboard ; struck the man at the wheel with the cook's axe, severing his left arm from his body, and left him lying on deck in a helpless condition, hut not dead. The other two men comprising the watch, being aloft, escaped for the time being, but to share a worse fate. Tho captain and mate- being aroused by the noise on deck, and the cries of mortal agony of the poor man at the wheel, tore up the seats from the cabin table, and with them jumped through the cabin windows into the sea, no doubt thinking they might possibly reach the shore, which was about eighteen miles distant, and plainly visible; but the murderers lowered a boat, and with repeated blows, totally disregarding their supplications, killed them in the water in full view of Mr. Codina, who was alone in the cabin. On the return of the boat, they seized the remainder of the crew, took them into the waist, tied their hands behind their backs, lashed them to a hawser, made fast a kedge anchor of about 400 pounds, and threw them into the sea, six in number, the wounded man included. One of the crew, a coolie of Mr. Codina's, joined the pirates, and was not included in the massacre. He was the cause of the trouble, having seen and helped to place the money on board, and informed the Chinamen of its being there, and no doubt connived with them in regard to the piracy." Codina escaped massacre by telling where the treasure was. After the murder, the pirates fell into the difficulty of been unable to navigate the vessel, and had been at sea 118 days when they touched at Crag Island, where Codina got on shore, and refused to return. LAW AND POLICE. A RATLWAT CASE.— In the Court of Chancery, before the Lord Chancellor, an appeal was heard on Monday, in a suit between the Midland Counties Railway and Mr. Pell, the owner of some lands which the railway required. The compensation agreed on was £2,000, for which the railway gave a bond which they failed to pay ; whereupon Mr. Pell obtained an order from the Master of the Rolls to the effect that the lands should be sold at a specified time in default of payment. From this order the company appealed, but the Lord Chancellor dismissed the appeal with costs. A SHERIFF'S OFFICER IN TROUBLE.—In the Court or Queen's Bench the chare of extortion brought by Sir Fitzgerald against Moses Levy has been decided against the officer, Mr. Justice Blackburn saying he could not take any sum beyond his legal fees on any pretence what ever, and there was a contempt which must be punished by a fine of £1 O. AN INSUFFICIENT FINE.— On Monday the proprietors of a performing pony, father and son, appeared at the Lam beth Police-court in answer to two summonses issued at the instance of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The pony was in the habit of performing at the Crystal Palace and at the Lyceum Theatre ; and on its fore feet were two or three wounds, eine of which was very deep and penetrated into the bone. A veterinary surgeon who was called expressed his belief that the injuries were caused in order that the animal might the better carry out the various tricks which he had been - taught. The defendants were fined 20s. and as. npectively. A curious matrimonial case recently came before the Bombay High Court. A leprous husband prayed for tae restitution of conjugal rights, which his wife had denied him through fear of being affected with the disease, and thereby endangering her own life. The Nfoonsiff of Surat, before whom the case came first, threw out the plaint. The judge of the district reversed this decision, because it had been made on the extra judicial ground that it would be cruelty to compel the woman to live with her husband. The High Court, how ever, thought the Moonsiffs view of the case correct, ;ince where there is cruelty the court ought no to inter. fere, and the district judge's decree was reversed. This decision is of some importance in the Bombay Presidency, where one in every hundred of the population is a leper, and where the disease is said to be steadily on the increase. THE CHEW OF THE ST. ADES.—The question of the captivity in Somali laud of any survivors of the IreW of the St. Abbe has received a somewhat .ingular turn by the deposition before Captain Good ellow, First AsAistant Resident at Aden, of Hajee Othman ben Abdalla, a native of Brawn, near Magadoxa. trajee Othman was interpreter to Mr. Kinzlebach, who was sent to inquire into the fate of Baron von der Decken. On the death of Mr. Kinzlebach the hajee set out on his return to Aden; but whilst on the voyage from Zanzi bar he was driven to take refuge at Hushul, a port on the Somali coast. Here he met with a man who spoke no Arabic, but who was able to converse in the Somali tongue. The account be gave of himself was that he was banian, that some twelve or thirteen years ago he was wrecked on the Somali coast at Howeeyah. The Somalis attacked theparty and killed all but three of them, of whom he was one. The other two were in the interior. They were made to tend cattle, and bad neither changed their religion nor married into a Somali family. TILE 111AORIES IN REBELLION.—As the news of the atrocities lately committed in New Zealand has caused much unnecessary alarm, we would thaw the attention of our readers to the simple facts. The scene of the murders is at Poverty Bay, on the east coast. The total number of lives lost, as far as can be ascertained, is thirty six. The Maories who committed these outrages are but a mere handful of men, made prisoners in the last war, and sent to the Cbatham Islands, but who, by the negligence of their keepers, escaped from confine ment. That their career is being brought to a speedy ter mination is evident by the telegram received on Wednes day, and there is no doubt that the colonists, now fairly roused by the late deeds of bloodshed, will not throw down the sword till all Maori-rebeldom is for ever annhilated, without any chance of false philanthropy being listened to. The colonists will now work out their own protection.— Ncie Zealand Examiner. A SENSATIONAL STOny.—The Walsall police have, during the past day or two, been enga7ed in making in quiries ttmehing a charge of murder brought by one John Bona, a carter, of Horsley-fields, \Vol ver hampton, against James Kirk, a man living, in Bine-lane, 'Walsall. In the firzt instance, Bonell declared to the police and others, in the most posi tive terms, that about three years ago he saw Kirk take his son, a boy of about fourteen years of age, and very troublesome, owing to his dirty habits, and throw him down an old ail very deep pit shaft in the neighbour hood of Marsh-lane, Walsall. As Donal was much the w o r L ,e for liciner at the time, little or no credence was given to ha sory ; hut - inasmuch as the boy has be:m 'nom abi,nt the time Mat,d, F4erp,eant W. 0,7 ngain en Mendar, lila res:d,ne€ for pirpoec of asce.rtnin wheti.er iu his sober mou:ents be rtai,„red to his on:., story. vers:on of the matter was then found to lx that a hale before Christmas, three years ago, he sall Itiirk take the lad out of a shop where they were at work. and along the canal side towards the old pit shat before . named, and as he never saw the lad again he came to the conclusion that his father had thrown him either into the canal or dowu the pit shaft. The conclusion of the police is, that there is no ground for the charge of murder, butsUl: OHIO Will 6 - 11(1 slg_ ask r.! Where is the Bev 21 MISCELLANEOUS .YEIVS. THE OPENING OF PAILLIANENT. We some drzys since announced that " Society " was not to go mourning all the season for want of a head. Her Majesty has graciously intimated as her royal will that there should be several levees and drawing-rooms within the first few weeks of the spring. It is now "generally understood," says the Post, that her Majesty will open Parliament in person. Rumour has often spoken less pleasant tales than this; we hope he speaks truth. Nothinghas endangered the personal popularity of Queen Victoria so much as her long retirement from public life. Nothing will restore her " prestige "—if Mr. Carlyle will allow U 3 to use the term—so surely as her resumption of her place in scciety. AN ITEII OF NAVAL NEWS. The Post announces that "it is not improbable that Sir Alexander Milne, K.C.8., will be appointed to the command of the Mediterranean fleet on the expiry of Lord Clarence Paget's term otservice." WITHDRAWAL OP TROOPS FROM THE COLONIES. " Africanus " writes to the Te!egraph by way of eautio 'Leg the Government against their reported polity of withdrawing troops from the colonies. He says that in 1842 we left but one European regiment in Afghanistan, and down Came the fierce hill tribes upon us and destroyed our army and our military prestige of invicia in indis. In 1842 we left but one European regiment in Scindo, and but for the genius of a glorious general should have felt the keen edge of the Ameer's scimitar. In 1846, in con sequence of the same policy, we had to fight three pitched battles with the Sikhs on the Sutlej. In 1875 India was so drained of troops, who were wanted in the Crimea, that Nana Sahib was tempted to foment a mutiny which nearly cost us our empire in the East. In 1865 the negyoes of Jamaica were tempted to rebel because they had only one regiment to contend with instead of five, as in former times. In 1866 we had to fight with the Marabouts on the Gambia because we withdrew half our garrison. In 1868 the Maorics rose because of the departure of the Imperial sol diery. "Africanus" adds: "1 leave these facts to speak for themselves." Well, what do they say ? The three first cases have no bearing upon the present position. We do not propose to withdraw any troops from India, and we certainly do not intend .to take possession of Affghanistan a siyind time. The fourth case is unfairly stated. 'lnc wandrawai or troops which tempted. Diana Sahib to rebel took place after the Russian war was over, and in connection with perfectly unjustifiable wars in Persia and China. As regards Jamaica, it would be well if "Africanus " were a little more explicit,'and would state when were the "former times" of which he speaks. To the best of our belief they were far back, and therefore the negro rebellion should - have taken place- long before. The war on the Gambia was caused by the indiscre tion of our commanders, who would persist in attack rig and following an invisible enemy into a perilous and fatal position. As for the :11aories, we know the value of-British troops against them, and how they need to call General Cameron the " lame sea-gull," because he would never leave the coast for the bush. Moreover, what have all these instances to do with Canada ? Are there Afghans, Sikhs, African savages, or Maories there ? If not, where is the point of this letter by " Africanus F" THE VOLUNTEERS. An Elcho to the rescue of the Volunteers. He fears not even so doughty an antagonist as him of the Horse Guards. " Hippophylax "to wit. He says that this writer has entirely misunder stood the demand for an increased capitation grant. There is no thought of paying the men. All that is wanted is payment of the expenses necessary for the very existence of the force. The Govern ment has already admitted the justice of this claim in principle by granting a cer tain sum. But this sum is now found to be insufficient. Lord Bch° will not en t er i n t o an argument with " Hippophylax " respecting the value of the Volunteers. True, they h ave no comm i ssar i a t or other organisation, but in this respect they are no worse off than our other reserves—the militia and the yeomanry. As a civilian, he declares that the know ledge that on the threat of war we should have, in addition to the army and militia, at least 300,000 men trained to the use of arms, greatly acids to his sense of security. THE IRISH CHURCH. It is stated that the clergy of the Irish Church are "so thoroughly convinced that the game of that establishment is up," that some of their leaders are now directing their efforts to obtaining favourable terms of capitulation. Something like overtures on the point have already been made to the Premier; but those who may be presumed to know his inten tions say that he will be no party to a compromise. He will adhere to his famous declaration that the Irish Church as a State Establishment must cease to exist. The Chancellor of the Exchequer is com pletely with him in this policy. THE NEW BISHOP OF LONDON. Bishop Jackson has marl® his selection of special preachers for St. Paul's Sunday evening services. They are the Bishop of Rochester, who is a High Churchman, and the following clergymen ; who are more or less Low :—Dean Howson, Mr. Morse, of Nottingham, and Mr. Daniel Moore, of Padding t )n. A WORKING CIIIIIICIT. A very striking instance of what may be effected by the voluntary principle when it is efficiently car ried out was given - a day or two since at Canonbury. The church and congregation of Hare-court Chapel held their annual meeting, when the reports were read. During 1868 more than £4,300 was raised for religious and benevolent objects, another £l,OOO being raised by pew rents for the payment of the minister. Out of these funds five branch churches, three rooms for religious services, and several others for mission-rooms were supported. Besides these, there are maintained three day schools, five Sunday or ragged schools, and several evening scho o l s , a h om e for little boys, and a children's nursery. There are four penny banks w ith 1,465 depositors; five mothers' meet ings with 559 mem b ers ; coal clubs, temperance societies, Band of llope, &c. During the year 7 , 124 children's dinners had been given, and 400 families received a Christmas meal. The church which carries on all this work is not a large one, not seating m ere than 1,5C0 persons. Th ere are th r ee paid ministers, "ix lay evan ge li s t s , seven mon it ors for the schools, and 300 assistants among the congregation. The trea surer of the societies said they had no collectors for any of their societies. When they had collectors they were always in debt'; now he was always able to report a balance in hand. During the year more than £2,800 had come in without the aid of a single collector, a sufficient proof of what might be done by voluntary effort. THE RAGGED SCHOOLS. Criticism has been pretty freely exercised .of lae on the r agge d schools, and Lord Shaftesbury 'sinsti tutions, especially the Shoe-Black Brigade, have come in f or roug h handling. But their aim has always been admitted to be good. The noble earl writes to th e Ti mes paying " a tribute of praise" to those who h ave worked with him. Ile points out that all the machinery adopted by the Lord Chan cellor's 'Westminster Poor Relief Association has for twenty years been in use in connection with the ragged schools. " Mothers' meetings and house visitaticr s have been considered inseparable adjuncts t 3 the general system. Thrift and domestic economy have always been inculcated, and with such effect, even among the poorest, that in one year the collected deposits of an aggregate of 00 Ragged Schools amounted to no less than £2,000. The shoeblacks are an offshoot of the Ragged Schools; in the year of the cotton famine the boys of their own accord called a meeting and agreed to contribute Is. in the pound of their deposits in the bank. One boy alone brought les. as his share of the subscription. Others, moreover, have sent out their relatives in emigration at their own expense, rejoicing that they could do it without any external aid." Ers A kine PRACTICALN ele, a SwEenll3-7-Ln. clergyman The Rev and writer, has been preaching to 11 arblishioners at Exning, - , near Newmarket, a thoroughly sermon. Speaking of the typhoid fever which practical. which has for some time been raging in his parish, he (lid not talk the usual cant about a " visitation , " nor tell the people that they were bei ng punish cl the sin of Sabbath - breaking or for or not observing the saints' days. H e said that " the need of the parish is that of additional cottages for the poor. . . . The remedy for many ills lies with ourselves, and it is useless to attempt to eradicate disease from this fever-stricken pari • sh unless you set to work and provide at once further and better and ampler ne:ommodation for the labouring pcor. A crowded cottage fosters fever. No surer recipe for typhus exists than six or eight human beings occupying the same sleeping-room. As for schools, they are a mockery and a farce while parents, adult sons, and adult daughters are all huddled together in ono sleeping-room. . . . Possibly these remarks will be unwillingly listened to. Possibly they will be deerned intensely disagreeable. rut yeti must allow the cicrgynan—hardly an unmoved spectator of r. L•:.;; eccurs in his pc.r:sli—to form his own opinions and. to ventilate T tE RErr.Essrox OF cnnln. annual mectinc; of the Korth Staffords7dre Dischlrged Prisoners' Aid ;'"ocicty was held a day or two since, under the presidency of the Earl of frarrowby. his lordship said he did not think there was any thoroughly satisfactory answer to the question " What are we to do with our convicts ?' Crime must be punished, and yet by the punishment a gulf was placed between the Prisoner and a return to -honest emnloymmits THE SUN, LONDOS, TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 2, 1869 The work clone by the Staffordshire society in bridging over this gulf is very satisfactory. During the past four years 350 discharged prisoners have been recommended for employment, and only one of them has robbed his employer. Mr. Melly, M.P., said he thought that Government ought to assist such societies ; and the Earl of Lichfield remarked that the public were not sufficiently sensible of the urgency of the criminal question. There were now in this country 30,000 persons who had been in prison, and from 2,000 to 3,000 were yearly added to the number. It was clear that every effort should be made to reform prisoners, and the present system of returned convict surveillance was of no use. To be really effi cient the surveillance must be entrusted to a special police, who would act in conjunction with societies of this kind. A hope was expressed that Government would remove sonic of the obstacles in the way of establishing industrial schools, and that Pi:rliament would spare some time from party conflicts for the great social problems of the day. is growing all the harder, as Fenton has developed unexpectA strength. There are other candidates, but the struggle is between these two, and has al ready involved the New York Commercial Adver tiser in an action fa- libel, by Fenton, for an article extensively copied, headed, " United States Sena torship." The Times, the Sun, and the Post sup port Fenton, who is weak in the city, while his strength lies in therural districts. Notwithstanding the denunciation of Jay Gould, J. Fisk, jun., and all other Erie directors, the owners of railway pro perty seem in no degree to have lost confidence in these gentlemen ; that is, if there are shareholders in a position to exercise a vote. At a meeting of the stockholders of the Buffalo, Corry, and Pitts burgh Railroad, held at Mayville, Jan. 12, the fol lowing persons were elected directors :—Jay Gould, James Fisk, jun., Frederick A Lane, L. D. Rucker, J. C. B. Davis, Thomas Struthers, Wm. 11. Seward, Win. 11. Whiteside, John F. Phelps, Matthew P. Bemurs, Daniel Williams, Ames K. Warren, Geo. W. Gifford. Jay Gould was elected President ; Thomas Struthers, Vice-President; and M. P. Re mus, Secretary and Treasurer. Last Saturday, an unusual occurrence, DO mail was despatched from New York for England owing to the tempestuous westerly weather having detained several steamers which were due many days before. The Europe, however, sailed for llavre, the Alaska for Aspin wall with three lady missionaries for Peking and four reverend gentlemen. The weather has been changeable, and the record of mortality is unusu ally high, sickness generally prevailing. Had the horses of the United States a vote for the election of President it would have been unanimously given to General Grant. The General has issued an order to insure the better care of animals in the army. "Descriptive lists" of all horses and mules are to be kept. The President elect has acupted an invitation to Connecticut to inspect some important manufacturing establish ments. We had a large and enthusiastic meeting here to express sympathy with the Cretan revolu tion. William C. Bryant presided, and Henry Ward Beecher, Governor Woodford, and Dr. Bellowes spoke. We now know how Mr. Seward accomplished his share in the St. Thomas and St. John purchase. In January, 1865, he suggested it to General Raasloff and was snubbed, but in De cember, the King, while asserting that he had no wish to sell the island, asked Seward what he would give. Ile proposed $5,000,000, and with this answer General E,ias'off returned to Copenhagen, where it was submitted to the Danish Ministry. In May, 1867, Denmark consented, pressed by Seward, to sell St. Thomas and St. John for $10,000,000, but five months elapsed in haggling over the price, wh,m the difference was split and the treaty signed, October 24, 1867, the sum being $7,500,000. This trafficing between Seward on our behalf and the King's Ministers over ter ritory and the inhabitants bears a disagreeable re semblance to peddling, and the result goes far to confirm the impression. The earthquakes almost immediately after the conclusion of the bargain demonstrated the value of the property purchased, and reversed the position each had assumed. Den mark, no longer coy, now thrust the useless island on Seward, and it required all that wily states man's tact to escape General Raasloff's home thrusts to take the property and pay the bill. Six teen months have elapsed, the people of the islands have voted for annexation, but the treaty remains unratified and the money un paid- A fierce senatorial fight is raging at Albany, the excitement is at fever heat, and the friends of Morgan and the friends of Fenton are now having it out aluie, as Marshal 0. Roberts has been choked off, notwithstanding the Tribune's advocacy. Judge Noah Davis has declared for Morgan, and Mr. John A. Griswold seems inclined to follow suit. It seems almost impossible to choose between them so as to predict the result. Inikei, the battle sways to and fro to-day for one, to-morrow for the other. ANNUAL MESSAGES OFTfIE GOVERNORS OF ST.I TD'S. The Messages of the Governors of States to the Legislatures are now reaching us. Of Kansas, Governor Harvey, speaking on the 13th January, says the bonded debt of the State is $1,095,175. The State warrants outstanding December 1, were $290,254. The amount of taxes due, and now being paid, for the year 1868, to meet these warrants, is $234,450, and the unpaid taxes for the previous year are 156 7 385. The estimated exp e nses for the $ current year, exclusive of State institutions, are $157,502. Nearly $lOO,OOO will have to be raised to meet the expense of calling out a battalion of Militia, and the 19th Regiment to defend the bor der against the Indians. The Governor recom mends that two regiments of militia be organized, armed, and equipped, composed of men now living on the frontier, to meet raids, and also urges the Legislature to petition Congress to transfer the Indian Bureau to the War Department. Ile favours a recommendation to Congr(ss providing for equal su e ff g g a e t sex or colour. hen the L suffrage, eegoarrgdalesnizs of W edthere wer e e l ec t e d th e follow ingrisai officers : —C. 0. Leffed, President pro ton. ; J. C. Crowther, Secretary of the Senate ; M. S. Olney, Chi e f Cl er k o f the house.Alaius, Speaker ; H. C. From Missouri, on the same day, Governor M'Clurg announced that he will appoint none but loyal and strictly 'honest men to office, and that if his appointees should at any time give evidence be will exerci se t h e power veste d i n their removal. H e f avours an amend ment of the registration law, which will enable the Executive to remove registrars for proper cause, and t e militia law be altered so that h t e ate shall be under the sole t r t e e 3m militiam recommends of that the t State control of the Governor. He opposes any proposi tion looking to the enfranchisement of rebels in ex change for negro suffrage, and says the rebels ought not to be restored in the right of the ballot so long as the right of suffrage is denied to the negro. He recommends th it the Constitutional Amendment, striking the • word white from the Constitution, which was defeated last Nov., should be again sub mitted to the people at the next general election. He says the State institutions should be removed from the control of the people of Boone and Callo way counties, on account of the rebellious tenden cies of the people of those counties. On the same day the Hon. Oden Bowie was installed Governor of Maryland, and the Wisconsin Legislature orga nized ; A. M. Thomson was re-elected Speaker ; E. W. Young, Chief Clerk ; R. C. Kelly, Sergeant -at- Arms ; L. B. Hills, Chief Clerk of the Senate, and Col. W. 11. Hamilton, Sergeant-at-Arms. The Governor's address w as delivered on the 14th: Governor Bullock's valedictory is a long and able address. For years he has faithfully served Mas sachusetts as a public officer. His attention was principally directed to finance, the State charities, the railroads, and the Hoosac Tunnel. He alluded to the Cambridge Museum of Zoology, the inland fisheries, the cattle disease, and the improvement of Cape Cod Harbour. Five million of dollars have been added to the debt, but the wonder is that so much had been achieved by so small an outlay. As we elsewhere observe, Governor Bullock is about to pay a lengthened visit to Europe, accompanied by his family. Governor Marshall, in his message to the Min nesota Legislature, says the taxable property in the State has increased 15 per cent. during the year past. The seimol fund is over $20,000,000. General Kilpatrick is at war with Thaler, who is working t ,- ) aboli,h nr)st of the United St3tes missions to the Sonth and Central American Republics, making one do the work of soveral. Kilpatrick is himself the M inister to Chili, and Butler has declared that he will .crush Kil patrick, while that geotiernan asserts that to have been Boiler's object in introducing the bill. General Francis Walker has gone to Washington to take the place in the Revenue Department under the lion. David A. Wells, which Mr. Delmar recently vacated. General Walker was during last year connected with the editorial depart ment of the Springfield Republican. DuNvILLE and Co., Belfast, are the largest holders of Whisky in the world. Their Old Irish Whisky is re commended by the medical profession in preference to French - Brandy. Supplied in casks and cases for hone use or exports. Lion. Quotations on application to Messrs. Danville and Co., Belfast; or 4, Beaufort-hut/dins, Strand, Loud= W.9---[Ad Yert/Oetilcut.] AMERICAN LITERATURE. (From the Anglo-American Times.) English Photographs by an American—Tinsley, 13., Catherine-street, Strand, 1869 ; and American Photographs by the Misses Turnbull. Tinsley's Magazine has been enlivened by a aeries of excellent papers, wherEin an American sketches England and the English. We have not read them all, but what we have read shows we ought to read the rest, and as these papers have been gathered into a book just published the opportunity is afforded. The last number of Tinsley contains a more than usually interesting one which has caused no small astonishment to its readers. The idea here is that Americans outside the big towns live in little wooden houses, or in log huts, for an Englishman cannot divest himself of the notion that everything out of Europe is either colonial or uncivilized. When an American, then, instead of producing an English photograph, gives one of his own country, which shows accurately the style of dwellings, he causes surprise not only from the novelties introduced, but because the picture is quite unlike anything ex pected. But he does not stop here. The conve niences of the American are contrasted with the in conveniences of the English domicile, and the American succeeds so completely in turning the tables ou his would-be master in the art of civiliza tion that John Bull finds himself transformed into the pupil. However, the picture is reversed when the A merican describes the servants. " The worst London maid-of-all-work whoever trans formed a lodging-house into a purgatory shines like an angel by contrast with her Irish sister in New York." To illustrate this truth we extract a bit of " chaff" from the Baltimore Commercial of the, 2d inst. :—" A gentleman being asked by a clergyman why he did not attend the evening prayer meeting, said he could not leave the children. What ! have you no servants?' Yes,' he replied, we have two servants, who keep the house and board us, but we are allowed few privilegea.'" The origin of the word " helps" is, that in the Eastern States the farmers used to send their daughters to learn housekeeping with their neighbours, who being of the same social rank as their , epployers were called helps, not servants. The author thinks the Irish make the worst servants, the Germans are preferred, having more knowlelgeof dornesticduties, and being neater in appearance. English and Scotch servants are more scarce, commanding better places and higher wages. Discussing the Irish, he remarks that they never have the slightest attachment for the families with whom they live, but though this is the reverse of the opinion held in Ireland, it may perhaps be reconciled, for he acknowledges their extraordinary affection for their own country people, and love begins at home. " With a generosity to which one cannot do too ample justice, their first thoughts are for their poor relatives in Ireland. Regarded philosophically, they are very good pa triots, but regarded practically they are very bad servants." The writer holds that in England we have too much of a good thing, the custom being to employ too many servants. Perhaps what will cause the most surprise is the opinion of this can did, fair, and clever critic on the dishes of England and America. Better beef can now be obtained in the United States than in England, but the Ameri cans cannot cook it like the English, because they bake it. A. rump steak broiled, as served in the old London chop-houses, made the writer confess he had tasted meat for the first time in his life. Poul try in England is tasteless, requiring ham to give it a flavour. The American feels a pang of disappointment when British poultry recall his own delicious fowls and turkeys. Geese are the exception, but they re quire apple sance,..and apples are as scarce as rubies in England. In all the English bills of fare there are only a few points i❑ which the Americans may not justly claim a superiority. Beef, veal, poultry, lamb, game, are far better in America than in Eng land, but in fish the English have no equals, and in pork and mutton they are not to be surpassed. Either the Americans have no oysters, or the Eng lish have none ; for what the English call oysters are so different from the American shell fish that comparison is impossible. It is evident that the writer is carefully and accurately stating not only his opinions but those of his countrymen, which he seems to have been at some p sins to ascertain ; while he admits the influence of habit and training, concluding that the verdict of a jury of Englishmen who have visited America might be on the other side. He supposed American fruits were admitted, except plums, to ba more juicy and luscious than the English ; but a party of Englishmen who had twice visited the Union gravely asserted the con trary, and were surprised at his dissenting from them. In his opinion Deluionico's Restaurant in New York is to be ranked far above the best in Paris, the perfection of French cookery being there applied to a more abundant and diversified larder. He says Americans can get their own dishes in Lon don if they know where to go for them, but he sup poses they do not congregate in sufficient numbers in that city to support an American restaurant, al though there are a dozen English chop-houses in New York ; and he adds, "but certainly an Ameri can Bar, like that called the Cosmopolitan in Paris, would be very successful if well conducted." All we can say is that we most heartily wish Mr. Thorpe would establish one iu London ; for if any person could make it pay he is the man, as his name would be a tower of strength. Indeed we agree with the writer that " if a daring genius, in a moment of inspiration and in summer, would only introduce the mint-julep to the British public, all England would rise up, drink his health in his own decoction, and immortalize his memory." Let the proprietor of the Cosmopolitan Bar, in the Rue Scribe, ponder this. American Photographs were written some years ago by a young lady, or rather two young ladies, but one is now no more, the daughters of a physician who has attained to great eminence, who after being long absent has lately returned to London to be at once the fashion, numbering royalty among his nume rous patients. The interest of the book centres in the state of society it describes, for that state.by a sudden and overwhelming revolution has passed away for ever. It was previous to the great war that the Misses Turnbull traversed the Union, and we use the word traversed deliberately, for literally the young ladies saw almost all the important towns of that period. The style is lively, and at times graphic, carrying the readereasily and by such pleasant stages over the ground that the impression is half left in the mind of having been one of the party. This effect is more caused by skill in avoiding than skill in introducing certain portions of the detail which make up every-day travel. Whatever is quaint is seized on, and so told as never to bore. Thus the young ladies carry their readers on with them from city to city, from North to South, keeping interest alive by fresh incident -and narrative, dropping all the tedium, nothing re maining but what is bright and sparkling, novel and amusing. The period extends over some years, for it is not a flying visit that is recorded, but the observation of months at many halting places. Our readers may easily guess where one of the first visits in New York was paid. The English girls had little idea of the style of the place they were bound to, when the lady who was chaperon ing them said she was going to a "dry-goods store." No wonder they opened their eyes in astonishment when they entered A. T. Stewart's marble palace, and saw displayed around them the latest Paris fashions, which were but reaching England when they left. The refreshment ordered at Thompson's, consisted of " stews with crackers, soft shell crabs, squab owl, with Irish potatoes and fixings, cold slaw, and squash pie." The dishes proved nicer than the names. On entering a room for an evening party no one was announced, and the lively writer afterwards perceived that this was the custom. In paying a visit even to inti mate friends it was the fashion to shake hands cordially on meeting, while a stiff bow was the etiquette on parting. In the churches women occupy the tops of pews, and men are seated at the doors, so that on entering and looking down the aisles the effect is as if the congregation were com posed of men only. The pulpit in some chapels re sembled a platform, on which were placed a reading desk, sofa, table, and iced water. The hotels are described as being complete and abundantly sup plied. Judging from the bills of fare, they were cheaper than in England, and economy as well as the gregarian taste explains why so many prefer to reside in them rather than to keep house for them selves. Rapid sketches are given of the lovely Hudson River and the towns passed en route to Niagara, where the writer was fortunate in being present at the time of a thunderstorm, the awful grandeur of which is well described. Three chapters are devoted to a visit to Canada. A minute but in teresting account of Boston and its environs follows ; then a severe winter is sketched, and sleighing ; the manner of harvesting ice closes the first volume. The second opens with a few hours in Cuba, then comes New Orleans, where " the very ground was sticky with molasses, flakes of cotton adhering to it here and there." Negro sales are fully described; and a curious incident is given of a slave's attempt to escape. Carriage hire was expensive ; a pound being the fare to the opera and back. The writer thinks the water of the Mississippi thick because a shilling placcd in a tumbler of it was scarcely visi ble; but what would Miss Turnbull say to the In dus or Ganges, the Euphrates, and the Yang tse-Kiang? The route from New Orleans to Charleston, about 1,000 miles, was more re plete with discomfort, both of transit and of badly-furnished hotels, than that described in any other part of the book. A picture is drawn of the breaking up of the ice at St. Louis, Buffalo. Philadelphia, Richmond, and Norfolk are next pourtrayed. At Richmond au unusually se vere winter had set in, communication was inter rupted by heavy snow, and even fuel could not be procured. Statistics are given of sales of negroes, and the high prices realized. In - Virginia every person paid a tax of one dollar a year for his watch. There were taxes also upon pianofortes, plate, and jewellery. In New York it is said that paintings and furniture were also taxed. As a specimen of the humour which sparkles through these photographs we give the following :—" One of the Episcopal bishops of, Virginia, who is very fond of smoking, was one day visited by another bishop, who, entering his room, fot9d his brother bishop enjoying his pipe. The room was filled with sinok, and the visitor was e*ceeiingly enraged, and spoke against the habit in very strong terms. The bishop, who was smoking with great calm ness, asked his brother bishop if the evil in smoking did not arise from its abuse ?" " Certainly," he re plied," it was the abuse of the weed, and not its proper use." The smoking bishop imme diately replied, " Then, my brother, you are abusing it, and I am properly using it." A hasty visit is paid to the Great Dismal Swamp —dismal, and full of snakes, and creeping hurtful things, it is. After returning to New :York, and leave-takings from a numerous circle of friends, our travellers embarked for their native country, carrying with them pleasant rccollec:ions of the kindness and hospitality of the people of America. Such books are worth preserving for their simple and truthful details of a state of things which will soon be as strange to the Americans as to the English. Indeed, they might be reprinted in another de cade, and read with curiosity and astonishment in the places described. Alphonse Esquiros gives the following account of the marking of the boundary between Canada and the United States:—"Between Canada and the Northern States of America there lies (in 1844) an impenetrable region, where dark virgin forests, deep ravines, and dismal marches have long defied the efforts of the two Govern ments and all the appliances of geodetical science. On ac count of all these obsticles, the boundaries of the two coun tries had not been definitely fixed in these regions In 1843 Lord Canning wrote to the Astronomer-Royal to call his attention to the sulject, and Mr. Airy advised him to send to the spot some military engineers, to whom he (Sir. Airy) would previously give some useful instruc tions. In consequence of this advice, some officers of the above corps repaired to Greenwich, whence, after certain preliminary studies, they left for Canada. Two groups of observers, each party being furnished with a tele scope, a chronometer, and some other instruments, placed themselves at the two lateral extremities of the wild country which it was their business to divide. By means of calculations, dictated in a great measure by the movements of the celestial orbs, they traced out a boundary line in conformity with the nature of the treaties whiCh had been signed by England and the United States. The two parties being placed at a great distance from each other they had no means whatever of coming to any understanding as to the progress of the operations, The studies and calculations being termi nated, one of the two groups of engineers a Ivanced slowly through the forest, cutting out a path he a straight line on the direction previously arranged, which they followed in the credit, as it wets, of tho stars. How great was the astonishment and joy of these gallant geometricians when, having cut their way through forty-two miles of brushwood ant trees, they perceived from the summit of a bill the goal they had been aiming at ! Right in front of them, on another eminence not very far off, they caught sight of a gap cut in the douse and sombre curtain of the woods. This gap became more and more extensive, and soon disclosed to view the other body of engineers approaching from the opposite side of the district. The two lines thus met end to end ; the differ ence between them did not exceed 340 feet, and this very slight division was owing to an error of only one second in the difference of longitude. England and the Govern ment at Washington hastened to recognize as the boundary of the two States this line marked out by the authority of the heavens."—English Seamen and Divers. The Alaska Herald is a new journal of eight neatly printed pages, half in English and half in Russian. It is published on the Ist and 15th of every month. The removal. of the seat of Government from Sitka to the Island of Kardiak, which has a magnificent harbour, cap able of holding vessels of three thousand tons burden, is urged. The harbour, it is stated, is full of salmon, and if the fishermen have salt and casks they can fill a million barrels in one summer.—Silver City, Idaho, has a news paper called the Tidal Wave. Ladies are to he admitted to Cornell University, New York, next fall. Edward MTherson, Clerk of the House, Wash- Ington, D.C., is actively engaged upon the "Life and Times of Thaddeus Stevens," for early publication, and will be glad to receive copies of letters of the deceased on political topics from 1828 to 1868, and any personal inci dents illustrating any point in his career, or any feature of his character. Original letters or other doe iments, if sent to him, will be returned after use. We may expect to see the Times coming out with great posters to take its place as the " Most influential" journal in the world, beside the " biggest" and the , largest circulation." Some time ago it began to adver tise itself in a modest little advertisement at the top of the theatres. Yesterday a table of contents appeared at the head of its leading articles, so that people may learn what is on every page of the paper without hunting through it; an improvement which has taken this pon derous- paper a centur3 to arrive at. We dare say some of its readers went into fits when they saw it, but they may arrive at the conclusion before they die thatit is convenient; as the contract with the present proprietors of the Washington Globe expired with the present session, proposals were opened and referred to the Public Printer, at Washington, for classification, for printing and managing this Congres sional paper. The bids were three in number, nannly, from the Messrs. Rives, of 7'he Globe ; the Messrs. Apple ton, in New York, through an agent, ani Mr. Defrees, the Public Printer, in behalf of the Government. Tho for mer's bid was the highest, the Appleton's next, and the Government estimates were the lowest. It may be, how over, that the future publications will be conducted under officers of the Government. • General James L. Kierman, United States Con sul in China, has just lectured in Now York on "America and the East," devoting himself principally to China and Japan. After general remarks on the Chinese people, their territory, manners and customs, he alluded to the extraordinary confidence placed by the Chinese in Ameri can merchants, and advanced this as one reason that they selected an American, Mr. Burlingame, as their Ambas sador to Europe. In an article on New Zealand in the Observer last Sunday, remarkable for nothing else, there is at least this remarkable sentence which ought to make Mr. Moon's hair stand oa end " But where the aboriginal inhabitants refuse to adopt the mode of life and ideas of the new corner tho inevitable result invariably is, that they are either starved out and exterminated, or, as the only re maining alternative, aro roduced to hewers of wood and drawers of water for the superior race." The Round Table does not fully concur in the "ahnost enthusiastic" admiration of Andrew Johnson's lite rary attainments it has discovered in the Anglo-American Thnes •on receipt of the telegraphic summary. Wo hazarded the opinion Cult hist tst Message was well written judging from his former annual Messages, but on receipt of the Message itself, we asked if Andrew Johnson wrote it, who wrote the last? and if Andrew Johnson wrote the last, who wrote this? The Message of 1837 was an able and statesmanlike document, written with such force of argument, and such appropriate language as to mate rially strengthen a bad cause by producing a strong effect on the country." Our opinion was mainly formed on that Message, which we hold to be one of the ablest of State papers. From Triibner's last record we learn that Mr. George W. Childs, of Philadelphia, hearing that about were wanting to .complete the subscriptions to-Leigh Hunt's Memorial, immediately offered to contribute that amount ; but in the meantime further subscriptions having come in, the treasurer, after thanking Mr. Childs for hie generous offer, informed him of the fact.—Mr. J. Mather Jones, of Utica, New York, has just issued a "History of the Great Rebellion" in the Welsh language, by J. IV ' Jones and T. B. Morris. The work embodies a sketch of the history of America from the time of the northmen, in cluding the founding of the colonies which afterward s became the United States of America. The professors get $3OO per month in the CO" fornia University. Mr. Cyrus IV. Field visited his country place at Irvington, on the North River, on Wednesday, Jan. 6, In company with an engineer and architect, for the purpose of laying out improvements for the coming season. Th e ground was covered with frozen snow, and just as Mr . Field and Mr. Ignatz A. Pilaf., of the Central Park i beg° to descend a hill two or three hun.ired feet high, b olll gentlemen slipped and slid to the bottom with groat velo city, striking against a tree. Mr. Filet was able to re turn home in the car 3, but Mr. Field was more seriously jured. He was placed in a sleigh asd brought to the citY° At first it was feared that he had sustained internal in juries, but. on the 7th he was much better. The United States Supreme Cuurt, Jan. lit ordered the Suprem e C our t o f the D i strict of Coluini,in to restore Jos. 11. Bradley to his position as Attorney in t he Court. Judge Foster has resigned his seat in the Sit; premo Coz...rt of Ma ssac h use t ts , to which he was appo i n ter by Governor Bullock, and wherein he has sat two .9 0 ' 1.6.4 The salary is $5,000, while he can earn in private practice a far greater amount, which he requires to meet his ex penditure. This is the reason of his resignation, which the citizens consider to be a great luss to the st.tte. The President of the Universal Peace Union, Mr• Love, has been scattering through the States a petition addressed to Congress, which be desires everybody t ° sign, asking for gentle, kind treatment for the Indint l ' and alleging that as by wrong they have been provoked t° war, by kindness they ought to be subdued. The Sig" - tures be would obtain in the Far West among the ra? .3 whose hair they so often raise we apprehend will be bu t few. Could Mr. Love but scatter love and charity With his circulars among both races the case would be different; but it is useless talking to men in danger of being tortur°l to death about subduing their enemies by the univers al peace measures. endeavour to secure the passage of, , P Ptate law strictly prohibiting prize fights. We ho,o it thay be successful, and the example followed. John Minor Botts, whose death also we an non nc etl last week, was born in Dumfries, William County, Virgc nia, Sept. 16, 1802. His parents lost their lives in 1811 e' the burning of the theatre in Richmond. Tho sou is' i° sent to school, and at the age of eighteen was admitted t° the bar, but after practising law for six years, becimo n farmer in Henrico cou n ty, Vi rg i n i a . li e was a member °f the Virginia Legislature from 1833 to 1839, anl was 0 1 elected to Congress, where he remained till 1813. lie W % re-elect d to the Thirtieth C ongress, 1847 to 1849 , a nd Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs. Ile then re sumed the practice of law in Richmond, and retired RI political life. During the rebellion he remained faithful to the North, and in consequence suffered persecution fr ° , - the Southern authorities, and was imprisoned in Ei c if 4 : mond, and his farm devastated by the rebel army. P ", t i was a delegate to the Southern Loyalists' Convention he' in Philadelphia in 1866, and in 1867 was ono of the sure ; ties on the bail b on d o f J e ff erson Davis. On the day" ° his funeral the streets along the line of the procession t the cemetery. were th ronge d. L ong b efore the arri' 3i of the body the burial ground was completl filled with people of every con diti on, sex, age, It colour, who collected from all p ar t s,o f th e c i ty an d su' . rounding country to do homage to the dead Statesman* They gathered around the spot where his grave had boo : prepared, by the side of hi s son A rc hib a ld , who fel l Mexico, and over whose remains a stately column hatl I plla since been erected by his West Point class mates to 7... a their respect for his memory, an d w h ere , a l so, wa s bu rte the wife of Mr. John Min or B o tt s . Th o c hi e f mourne rs were :—Mr. Beverly B. Botts, Mr. and Mrs. L. L. Le wis ' Major and Mrs. B. W. Raxsey, Mr. and Mrs. D. S. Levis, Mr. John F. Lewis, Mr. a n d M rs . S . K . B otts, an d 31r. i M. Lawson. We regret to announce the death of Thon l:l6 M. Key, at Lebanon, Kentucky, on the 15th of JannarP He was well known as a lawyer and politician in Ci nati, and was General Al•Clellan's Judge-Advocate cla rit '; his entire service. Ho was long ill from pulmon 3rl disease. He was o ne o f th e d e l egates to the 1).?"'°g; cratic National Co nven ti on o f N ew Y or k i n t h e of his personal friend, George H. Pendleton, and urged tge Ohio delegation, when he saw that candidate's defeat tain, to nams Chase, and was ono of those most hitt er ly disappointed at the failure of this and the results. The remains of the Hon: Darwin A. Fin 3e) ' who died at A n t wer p, A ug . 25 , 1868 , arr i ve d in Nes 'York on Sunday, Jan. 10, on board the ship City of t r , York, which l e ft A n t werp a b out the 22d of Noven w- A Congressional committee has beau app o inted to tzt" charge of the funeral. • Soap berries are t o b e f oun d i n immense quo-tio ties throughout Alaska. Th ey grow on a b us h 51)4 . ) )0 the same in appearanc e as w h or tl e b err i es. they are re,l, of a juicy and quinine taste, and gefi er ', l o biennial. One q uar t t a k en an d place,l in a tub ' lO the size of a b us h e l, w h en s ti rre d , w il l complete ly fill tij tub with froth, an d th e more i t i s st i rre d w i t h t he rin i - t hand and ar m th e stiffer it becomes, until you eau it with a knife. It is eaten with horn or woo lon all the family sitting around the tubs. It is undeubted l „io acquired t as t e , b ut t h e commodity is much sought for. . 1 1 , 0 froth is of a b eau tif u l p i n k co l our. Green berries w ill 1 1)3 r nearly the same amount of froth, but they are of a wit ite o l r or and not so hi g hl y fl avoured. Foreigners stir it with sherry wines, and add sugar, in which case it is 3 , c1 : 0 J cious luxury. Large quantities aro dried, by Iseingl ).3 ; ei i in a tub with their leave; forming a cake, which is P l3( ' u on wicker tables, w ith lighted fires under and 'fjr overhead. When dried they will keep in a dry 1 9•13 `°, some years. The dried berries are black and look A piece two inches square, beaten in a water-po° l, fill it full of froth of a dark pink colour. a re The Abbe Lis z t h as arr i ved i n Munich. , informed that he intends to make a lengthened st a .' Weimar. [ ADVE RTISEMENT:I—HoIIoway's Oi n t me nt and P ills • Fear not!—Though surroun d ed by c i rcumstances disadv A ":o geous to health, th ese remedies, if properly applied, W ili t or short fevers, influenza, inflammation, diphtheria, and 5 11s o l:f other complaints always lurking about to seize on th e o o forlorn, and nnivary. Th e su p er i or it y o f Holloway's uoul-tbaS has been so fully and widely proved for subduing diseas e an d it is only necessary to ask the afflicted to give them a trial, if the instructions folded around thernbe followed no disl t °l ment will ever ensue, or da ngerous consequences res ult ' ff hoarseness and ulcerated sore throat th e o i n t men t show' eSt quently be rubbed on the neck and top of the chest, it will ar 1!9 the increasing inflammation, allay disquietude, and cure. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. 2 * finstralla and New Zealand, via Southa m pt on ..... Fe b. 2 Ditto, via Yireeillos Ditto, via PL.l.ama - ... ......... ..• Brazil. Buenos Ayres, and Monte Video Fe ). 3 . Ditto, by Frew% packet ..... . . Feb' b• 3 cape Verds, by Brazil p aote t ...... _ .... . Fe b 12. Cape of Good il u pe. A scens i on. and St. Belena— • Y e , 13. China, Penang, and Si nga p ore , v i a Southampton . • F"' 6 Gibraltar. via South ampton Feb h India. via Southampton -F6 .6 ...... .......... .... ...• •• - g. Ditto, via Marseil.es ... . • Malta, Egypt, &0... ... F e b F•D' :6 Ditto, Marseilles... Mauritius, Cape of Good Hope, and Natal, via Bouthann ton % .;i4 l4 Feb' 0 Ditto, Alareeilies . Newfoundland • • • •• • • • •.. • ..... • • • • _le. b 3. N'°''Portucml United States, , anada, California, &0., by Britia n ,eb 6 packet • ••••• Ditto, by Canadian packet .... Feb 3 Ditto, by L Lited States packet Ditto ditto (Baltimore) West Coast of Africa, Mad e i ra , an d T ener i ff e .. •• • •' -w -all 3 West Indies and Pa:litio (except Mexico and Baha- - j 3 mas) Falkland Islands Feb ....... ..• • • S' ... 1, „U Cuba and Mexico .... ••• .• • • . rep 11 . . • Bermuda, via Ilalifax..... Feb'.... ...- Bahamas, via New Yo r k _...- Births. ALLEN —On the 29th ult., at 5, Eliot-park, B laciche 3 o, o Mrs. Henry Allen, of a daughter. t 4 • -ec , HICK LEY—On the Ist i ns t., at Walton-on-Tb a. wife ofMaley, Esq., of a daughtr. o f P . NEALE On the 81st ult., at Reigate-hill, e the w" ° W. Neale, Esq.. of a son. Marriages. „ s inir DANGERFIELD —HAWKES —On the 28th ult., (It isljyL le i ton-park, Edward Dangerfield, Esq, late of Th%.01. 11° Gloucestershire, to Anne, daughter of the lute Hawkes, Esq., of Birmingham. YORKE—JONES—On the 28th ult., at Fairfield, Liv:srP:irt`ll John Yorke, Esq., of Watling-street, London , Maria. third daughter of Henry Jones, Esq./ °I vile, Huyton-park, near Liverpool. Deaths. Pf Pli CARY— On the 29th ult., Wm. H. Cary, Esq., 15t0 ° House, Woodford, Essex, aged 67. df DUNCOMBE—On the 29th u:t., at 8, Now-inn, 8 " -13 denly, Henry IL Buncombe. Esq., aged 9 2 . 13 0 / GUEST—On the 30th ,at Blackheath, the Tl e ' • r Guest, M.A., aged 81. cori ti Rustrrow—On the 30th inst., at Spring-gard ens ' cross, Mark Rushton, E sq ., age d 66. goo se ' PRILLPOTTS —On the 31st u lt., a t Hounclisconili acv Plymouth, Octavius Phillpotts, youngest sou Bishop of Exeter. P . ,...1•••••••••••••••••••• TOO London : Printed and P a bli e h e d by WILIJA """-- of of No. 112, Strand, Pri n t er , a t fitz Su:4 O ic 'b, : ttl e-1 Strand, in the Precinct of the Sr voy, in the Middleeez,..auceday, February 2, 18e2., THE WE. THEE. If the present weather continues many days longer we may expect to see the e - xlier trees in full leaf by the middle of February. Yesterday morning thether mometa in London was nearly at " temperate " by sunrise. Overhead the sky presented a grand sight of thin veils of cloud hurled across the face of dense cloud masses behind, which, in comparison with the terrific force of the lower strAum, seemed to be sta tionary. The denser masscs were here and there reft asunder, and through the fissures the pale blue sky could be seen, and now and then a glimpse of the wan and sickly sun. The trees in the parka are already exhibiting that green bius:i which betokens the advent of spring, and such shrubs as the lilacs are almost in leaf. The grass, also, is as long as though we were in the early days of April. On the Continent the cold seems to be intense both at Vienna and the South of Italy. • From the West of England there are tidings of great disasters. The sea has washed away a portion of the South Devon Railway at Dawlish, which nine years ago suffered a similar fate. A portion of the long viaduct between Marazion and Penzance, in Mount's Bay, is also destroyed. Plymouth and the other ports of Devon and Cornwall have been flooded by the highest tide known for thirty years. In somo cases there has been loss of life. VALENTLNES. As the windows of all " fancy " shops sufficiently attest, the day sacred to St. Valentine is approaching. Each time the day conies round the cry arises louder "Stand up and tell us what you're good for ? " Tho shops are full of the time-honoured lace paper, decorated in a variety of ways. What are they good for ? In these utilitarian days we don't suffer things to exist that cannot be proved to be good for some thing. And it is admitted that there is one thing very bad about this display in the shop window's. The fourteenth of February is no longer devoted to love missives merely. There are an immense number of painted pictures sold which seem to be designed to sAtisfy every kind of vulgar spite. And the attraction which others offer is their indecency— " gross, open. palpeblc." But if these are sup pressed, should the sending of the innocent but useless bits of cardboard and trimmings bi tolerated ? Some of our contemporaries say No, and are agitating for sensible presents to b 5 sent on Valentine's Day. But the Daily Nem declares it is impossible to estimate the socia! value of the custom. "It often tends to pro mote reconciliations of the most romantic kind; it frequently inaugurates relationships which are destined to furnish items of intelligence in the corners of the newspapers interesting to most men and women. The valentine ought to be favoured by heads of families. It gives no encouragement to Platonic compromises. It constantly has the parson in view, even when heathen accessories before the fact are indispensable to the allegory." FOREIGN NOTES• TURKEY IND GREECE. Greece is to be allowed eight days to decide whether the declaration of the Conference is to be accepted. Accord ing to the Pattie, the Powers have determined not to tolerate any lengthened silence on the part of the Athens Government, and if the answer does not arrive within this limit, silence in this instance will be held to imply a refusal. But the general belief is that the reply will come before the expiration of the time, and, according to some journals, it has already arrived. In case King George's Government accept the declaration. some Ministerial modifications will he indispensable. The measure for confiscating the property of the ex- Elector of Hesse has passed the Prussian Chambers. According to the Independance Bclge, the deposed sove- I reign did not find a single defender., Count Bismarck made a speech in which he said that a short time ago, ' owing to the Ministerial crisis in the Danubian Principa lities and other events, peace seemed in jeopardy. But it had since been discovered that this danger arose only from the calumnies and intrigues against the Prussian Government. Abroad speculations were founded—and unhappily not without reason—on the want of a complete union of German patriotism. The use that was to be made if of the Elector's property—espionage —was highly neces sary, albeit disagreeable. Count Bismarck was not care r fill in his choice of words. lie once employed the term " reptiles " in a sense which must be held to include both the ex-King of Hanover and the ex-Elector of Hesse. QUEEN ISABELLA. The ex-Queen of Spain paid a visit a day or two ago to the Tuileries. She went alone, and had a conversation of some length with the Vmperor Napoleon, during which he urged that her abdication in favour of her son, the Prince of the Astoria; was the last chance of regaining Spain to her family. With much difficulty the fallen sovereign was induced to give way. Her formal abdication is now given as an incontestable fact. It comes too late. Before Alcolea it might have been of some service ; but it is dif ficult to imagine that it can effect anything now. INDIA. The Earl of Mayo, now Viceroy and Governor-General of India met with a brilliant reception at Madras. The Anglo-Indians of the East Coast were resolved not to lose their ruler, as their brethren of Bombay did, on his first arrival. The local papers, indeed, worked themselves up to a wondrous pitch of enthusiasm. One of them announces that boughs and evergreens were largely used as decorations along the streets, " both to afford expression of welcome to Lord Mayo and to hide the filthy ditches." Another has this pretty story:— " Just as Lord Mayo passed the splendid statue of Sir Thomas Munro, a glorious rainbow shot across the sky, and formed a triumphal arch across the head of the Viceroy elect, which far outshone the paltry demonstrations of welcome which had taxed the ingenuity and tested the enthusiastic devotion of Madras and her municipality." Of much more practical import than this omen is the general belief in Bombay that Lord Mayo had telegraphed home to Mr. Gladstone, asking whether his appointment was agreeable to the new Ministry. The general impres sion was that an affirmative answer had been returned. The local and central Governments have taken warning • by the lesson of Orissa, and are acting with energy and promptitude at this famine crisis. But starvation does not fail to make way in spite of these efforts. The dis trict assailed by dearth grows wider and the distress more • intense ; and whilst human beings suffer greatly for the want of food, nothing of course can be done for the cattle, which die by thousands through want of fodder and water. In one district 30,000 have perished. • The Indian Government has taken the commendable resolution of keeping the journals well supplied with news, ' especially the publication of official documents. " The 1 Governor-General in Council is of opinion that this course will be of . service both to the Government and the public." Amongst the minor items of news is the removal of Lieut. Goold from the army. Ile is under going imprisonment for forgery. Meer Hadjee, condemned for the murder of Captain Douglas and other Europeans in 1837, has been banged at Delhi on the scene of his crime. The murders were barbarous ; but a capital sen tence carried out twelve years after the crime will appear to the natives more like revenge than retribution. THE CREW OF THE ST. ABBS. Some light has been thrown on the fate of the crew of the St. Abbs, some of whom are supposed to be captive in Somali land. A native of Zanzibar, on his way to Aden, was driven to take refuge at a port on the Somali coast. Here he met with a man who spoke no Arabic, but who was able to converse in the Somali tongue. This stranger said that some twelve or thirteen years ago he was wrecked on the Somali coast at Howeeyah. The Somalis attacked the party and killed all but three of them, of whom he was one. The other two were in the interior. They were made to tend cattle, and had neither changed their religion nor married into a Somali family. AUELICA. • The President, as was mentioned some time ago, has noiranated Savage, the late Fenian head-centre, to be the United States Consul at Leeds. The Times correspondent says the Senate has not, and pro bably will not, take any action upon it, although the Fenians are making a strong pressure for confirmation at Washington, this being considered a test case as to their effice-holding capabilities. (From the Anglo-American Times.) Nnw YORK, Jan. 16. Governor Hoffman, only 39 years of age, is the youngest man who hl3 ralel in the Empire St its, with the single exception of Governor Seward. Ex-Governor Fenton, whom he succzeded, is the rival of Senator Morgan for the seat in the United States Senate about to become vacant on the expi ration of that Senator's term. A. H. Iran assists Morgan, and W. IL Kelsey, Fenton ; and the fight M N~ 1 t 1;-; Rt r o 1 0 vv