The Sun. — London, England, 1869-02-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 12, 1E69. THE CONVE.NT CASE. :The prospect of the cross-examination of Mrs. Starr, one of the defendants, gave a fresh impetus on Thursday to the excitement which the Hull convent case has aroused at Westminster. The Solicitor-General is an adept at this operation, which, while good fun to the spectators, is often death to the witness. " Silver-tongued" Coleridge, as the second law officer of the Crown is not inaptly styled, plies the scalping-knife of cross-examination with a ruth less hand. Possessed in an eminent degree of the suavitcr in modo, he deals no puny blow to the fabric of an oppo nent's case when he takes their witnesses in hand. With out any approach to the Old Bailey manner—which may be effective, but is certainly unpleasant—the Solicitor- General has a marvellous faculty for compelling the occupant of the witness-box to gi•,-e those little details of evidence which the other side would much prefer being concealed. Those, however, who were fortu nate enough to get into court yesterday were not imme diatelypermitted the treat of hearing the cross-examination of Mrs. Starr, for she had still much to say about the alleged ill-conduct of the plaintiff through the medium of her examination-in -chief. Referring to the episode of the torn veil, Mrs. Starr said : Four or five days after I discovered the veil worn by Miss Samln was torn, I gave her another one, which I thought would please her better, and I gave the torn one to another sister, who repaired it and wore it daily for nearly three years after. I gave her anew one, fearing she would utter' destroy the one she was wearing. The Lord Chief Justice : Did you say anything to her about the tearing ? Defendant : No, I thought it useless. When stockings were given to her they were in good repair, but I noticed when they came from the wash that they were torn in many places. They could not have been so torn in the wash, or when they were worn. They were principally torn in the legs. Once or twice, on giving her clean stockings, I asked her for the soiled ones. They were not torn, and had no tears in them when they came back from the wash. I once gave her a fine toilet towel without any hole in it, but she sent it to the wash in so torn a con dition that it could not be used again. Her tunic was given to her in good repair, and of the same quality as 1 wore myself, but when it came from the wash it could scarcely be repaired. The Lord Chief Justice : Did this happen every week ? Defendant: For several weeks. They were not expli• cable by age or wear. Mine scarcely wanted any repairs. In March 1863 my attention was called to plaintiff's finger. She had a piece of rag or paper around hez thimble finger. I asked her whyshe woke it, and she said she wore it because her thimble was too large. I said she had better have a smaller one, and I gave her a bagful from which to choose. She said that one she had would do. I gave her one to wear. She afterwards raid hex finger was sore. I looked and found the finger was not sore. I did not select a brass thimble for the purpose of hurting her. She had a chilblain on the top of the first finger. I did not tell her then to wash the candle grease off her finger. It was prior or subsequent to it, I don't know which. In 18G4 or 1865 I had found in hex room and other parts of the house pieces of tallow. The Lord Chief Justice : Do you mean pieces of candle? Defendant : Pieces of tallow she had taken from the candles. The Lord Chief Justice : What sized pieces ? Defendant : Very small. I saw the floor had been soiled by grease being trodden on, and on finding tallow in her cell and in the community-room, where she had been sitting, I questioned her about it, and sl:e told me she had taken it for her chilblains. I told her she should not have taken it, but have applied to me for a remedy, and I would have given her one. They might take it, but what I found fault with was, her allowing it to fall about, and be trodden on the floors. The witness, referring to the statement made by the plain. tiff about the thimble, said Miss Saurin was very rude about the matter. I required her to take one that would fit her, and she said, " How can you persecute a poor creature so?" That was before she said her finger was The Lord Chief Justice : What sort of thimble was she wearing? Defendant : Steel. The Lord Chief Justice : What was the one she was required to take ? Defendant : Brass. They were all brass, I think. The Lord Chief Justice : At all events it was a brass one she was compelled to wear? Defendant : Yes. They may be either silver, steel, brass, or ivory. Her silver thimble was taken from her in the previous June because it had been given to her by an externe, Mrs. Grimston. I don't know it of my own knowledge. The Lord Chief Justice : She is one of the great supporters of the institution. Defendant : Yes ; she is one of our great benefactors. She should have had leave of the local superior. The Lord Chief Justice : Did you first ascertain whether she had done so? Defendant : No. The Lord Chief Justice : But should you not have done so before taking it from her ? Defendant : It is not necessary. The Lord Chief Justice : I understood you took it from her because it was given to her by an extern. Defendant : Yes; and because I did not wish her to retain it. The Lord Chief Justice : Why did you not wish her to retain it? Defendant : Because I saw in her such a spirit of appro priation. The Lord Chief Justice : If a thimble is given to a sister ror her own use, must she not keep it, but give it over for the general community ? Defendant: 'When a sister receives a present she must give it up to the superioress. She cannot retain it without the superioress's leave. The Lord Chief Justice : Did you take away presents from the other sisters under similar circumstances 9 Defendant : Yes ; it is the constant practice with me, and it is done in oth er convents as an exercise ' of poverty. She had shown a bad temper the previous day. Whilst she was kneeling down and acknowledging her fault, she made an indirect charge against me. She spoke incoherently, but it was in a tone of complaint. I cannot give her words. She said in substance that the sisters turned their backs upon her at recreation. She spoke about the bread. She said it was either bad or mouldy. She also spoke of per mention and tyranny. Mrs. Kerr and Mrs. Melligan were present. She said she knew she could get into another convent if she chose, but that she would not go. She was very excited. I was not conscious of having persecuted her. All I had done was to correct her, and try to make her good. I told the sisters that the accusa tion of faults was not intended to give an opportunity to the imperfect to give vent to their bitter feelings ; that I had allowed Sister Mary Scholastica to speak as she had done without interruption that they might know her and judge for themselves. I addressed Miss Sanrin and said, "I excused you yesterday because I saw you were in a passion, but to-day you coolly and deli berately give pent to your bitter feelings, and accuse me of tyranny and persecution. You have just now said you could get into a convent if you liked, but that you would not go." I said, "Do go," and spoke to the effect that we should be all very thankful if she did so. In further examination the defendant said : About the end of May, 1865, plaintiff asked for a staylace, and in four days afterwards she asked for another. I took her into my private room. Mrs. Kennedy, the mother assistant, was present. I told plaintiff to take off her upper clothing after she had taken off her habit. I think I put my hand ui on her petticoat, and said " Take this off," and she did so. As she took her clothes off, I put out my hand, and she gave them to me. She had three small bags round her neck. In two of them she had scapulas and some bonnet ribbons, and in the third bag she had some devotional object. I took the bags off her myself. She immediately said, " Don't take my scapulas ;" and I replaced them on her neck. She then took off her pocket. The tunic was not disturbed by me or Mrs. Kennedy. She made a movement to open her tunic, and I said " Don't do that ; you must not." Oa taking off her pocket, I laid it on the table. She appeared anxious to get it back again, and said she wanted her pocketha,ndkerchief. I gave it to her. I then exa mined her pocket —a very large one. I found a collection of small things, as on a previous occasion. Amongst other things were two roughly-made tablets. She had from time to time applied for writing materials, and I had given her them. She had not asked leave to keep such tablets. Some further evidence having been given, the case was again adjourned. Txn RIVAL CHRISTY MINSTRELS. —The long pending disp u t e b etween the rival troupes of Christy's Minstrels has ben the subject of an action in the Bail Court. The plaintiffs are the C. C. C., or Col6nred Comedian Christy Minstrels, and they accuse the Original Christy Minstrels, who perform in St. James's Hall, of pub lishing libels upon them. Th ey a ll , i t seems, belonged to the same troupeoriginally,but af terperforming together for some years a'separation took place. The libel complained of by the C. C. C. Minstrels was the warning on the playbills that the Original Christy Minstrels never performed out of London, and that consequently all others were impostors. A verdict was agreed to for the plaintiffs—damages, 40s. ; the defendants promising to withdraw the advertisement complained of, and to state iu any other notices that their Qbiection4 did not apply to the C. C. C. Minstrels. AMERICAN LITERATURE. (From the Anglo-American Tinv.v. , [SECOND NOTICE. j Illy Adcenlures Afloat in the Sumter and Alabama. By Admiral Raphael Semmes. The name under which the Alabama sailed from Liverpool is explained as being the 290th vessel built by the Lairds. She was of 900 tons burden, 230 feet in length, 32 in width, 20 in depth, drawing when ready for a cruise 15 feet of water. She was rigged as a bark with long lower masts, which en abled her to carry large fore and aft sails. Her scantling was light compared to vessels of her class in the United States Navy, being more designed as a scourge on commerce than for battle. Her engines were of 300-horse power, and all in all she was a perfect steamer and sailing ship at the same time, though not as swift as supposed. Her propeller could be raised in 13 minutes, and lowered with equal facility. Her armament was eight guns, six 32-pounders in broadside, 100-pounder rifled Blakely on the forecastle, and a smooth 8-inch bore gun abaft the mainmast. Her crew was 120 men ,with 21 officers. The cost of the ship complete was two hutidred and fifty thousand dollars. The escape from Liverpool is described, and the arming and commissioning at Terceira, from which island No. 290 issued as the Confederate man-of-war Alabama, and commenced a career replete with disasters, but without a single good—alike the destroyer of property and harmony, marking her track with ships on fire, and leasing behind her a heritage of discord. We do not intend, at least here, to discuss the arguments of Admiral Semmes to show that his career was legal and abundantly covered by precedent even from the history of the United States. We desire the record of his cruise to stand alone, himself telling the mo tives and sentiments which moved him to action in the despotic position he assumed. The book abounds with proof how he regarded his enemy. He held that the America warring against his section was only Puritan, and he replied by a arabid hatred of the Pu ritan element. " With all the Puritan's pretension to learning, and amid all the appliances of civilization by which he has surrounded himself, he is still the same old Plymouth-Rock man that his ancestor was three centuries ago. He is the same gloomy, saturnine fanatic ; he has the same impatience of other men's opinions, and is the same vindictive tyrant that he was when he expelled Roger Wil liams from his dominions. The cockatrice's egg has hatched a savage in short, that refuses to be civilized." This we extract at random to show the feelings with which this judge went forth to admi nister international law on the high seas. We had other grounds for asserting that Admiral Semmes was a sea-lawyer than the long-winded historical retrospects and legal arguments with which he opens his book. Indeed he claimed for himself a monopoly of law, at least in the Alabama, and to show his impatience of any one in his company even pretending to such a knowledge, we may quote his own words :—" Whenever I found 1 had a sea lawyer among the crew, I got rid of him as soon as possible—giving him a chance to desert. I re served the quids and quos and pros and cons exclu sively for myself." He had established a Confe derate Court of Admiralty on board for the trial of doubtful questions ; but he does not tell how it was constituted. It is clear, as he drove every " sea-lawyer" out of the ship, that no one remained but himself ; and although he enters the decrees against the Lafayette and the Lauretta as if those of a regular tout t, they could hare been but his own /*pee dixit. The questions arising were often sufficient to puzzle an able advocate trained to sifting such evidence. But these questions appear to have given very little trouble to the gallant sea lawyer, who almost invariably cut them short with the sword and torch. Cargoes of coal for the Peninsular and Oriental Company —for the Messageries Inape riale--and in other cases where there could be little doubt in the mind of any rational man that the freight belonged to a peaceful company of neutrals unconnected with America, were mercilessly de stroyed, and in cases where he hit any house or in divAaal in his list as hostile to the Confederacy or distasteful to himself the sea-lawyer always found the capture a goo 1 1 raze. For instance, in the case of the Wales, " cousigned to and probably owned b./ the obnoxious hou-e of the Barings in Boson, whose ship, the Neapolitan, I had burnt in the Straits of Gibraltar. This British house had ren dered itself exceedingly active during the war in the Federal interest, importing large quantities of arms, and otherwise aiding the enemy ; and I took a special pleasure therefore in applying the torch to its property." Again the Ariel, which he captured when on the lo sk out for the treasuresteamer I from Aspinwall to New York. Unfortunately for the Alabama she was outward bound, and there fore had passengers, but not gold. For three days he kept her, in the hopes of capturing some craft of lesser valve into which to turn the 500 passen gers, and burn the Ariel, which he the more ear nestly desired, "as she belonged to Mr. Vanderbilt of New York, an old steamboat captain, who had amassed a large fortune in trade, and was a bitter enemy to the South." Here, then, he was simply re strained from destroying the vessel by the fact that with it he must destroy a number of passengers, and it was only when compelled to proceed for the des tination to which he was then bound that he allowed the vessel to depart on a ransom bond, Capt. Jones pledging his word that it would be regarded by Vanderbilt as a debt of honour. " The bond," adds Semmes, " is for sale cheap to any one desir ing to redeem Mr. Vanderbilt's honour." The au thor furnishes many instances of the motive upon which this judge of every one's property on the high seas worked. Yet there is no better proof of this than in the tone of the book. Let any man wholly free from bias read it, and answer the question whether its writer was a proper person fairly and impartially to decide questions on Federal property. He was always receiving batches of papers and letter-bag,s from captures. The former he distributed to theship, the latter he kept for his own reading, and some curious secrets ,rsa h bv e ah a g ;l eges he was let into thereby, unconnected —at least in a material way—with busi ness. sea A c P a b p n t a t n g (Olualdro reassure invoices the andfa fair billson es passionate fr()na l a o r z - n l g e t t theer vari ous raormi of that lading, their but seo r h e e ts desir e sare safe a t f o e as they have all been consigned to the deep. These letters and papers, coming from the North, had a Northern way of putting the questions concerning the war, which seemed to fire the soul of the equit able Semmes with patriotic indignation and brighten to a fiercer fl ame hi s ever-lighted torch. He never seems to tire of abusing and expressing his contempt for the Yankee arguments and the "Yankee hash," but, ve r y i nnocently, he winces an d ki cks viciously against what he desires people to believe ho re garded with profound contempt. The Northern the fs. an papers had anoth er effect besides spurrin g partial judge i n t o t h e destruction ofNorthern trader. When he got on the track of the American junk fleet, as the young officers called the ships bearing the grain to Europe of the 'Western States, his posts came in with great regularity, for he had only to lie still, allow the ships to come down and deliver them, and be destroyed. He thanks the editors of the New Yorkllerald for valuable informa tion regarding the enemy's gunboats, which enabled him to take the better care of the Alabama, adding, " The Americans effected many reforms in the art of war during our late struggle. Perhaps this was the only war in which the newspapers ever ex plained beforehand all the movements of armies and fleets to the enemy." Nor this only ; for the New Yor's: papers gave him information about the Ala bama, where she was going, and where she was ex pected to go, and he was glad to find that while the cruiser was drawing in to the Empire City itself, they were persuaded that it was on the coast of Brazil. The accounts given of the captures he made could scarcely have added to the affection he already burg his Northern brethren, who he so heartily and continuously abnes for abusing him, while all his moralizing is iu a strain of wonder at the Yankee hatred of the South, as illustrated by their plunder ings and burnings there, totally forgetting that his miseion was to apply the torch to everything be longing to the North which he could lay his hands upon. According to this legal authority the regu lar Government of the United States had no right to burn anything, and, in doing so, displayed their cupidity and malignity, but he, as the servant of the pretended Government at Richmond, had the right to burn and plunder, not only Federal pro perty, but that of neutrals, which in any way might be used to strengthen and to comfort the North. It is ludicrous to observe the tone of this gentleman, indeed some of his moralizing is worth noting. The prize Parker Cooke on fire, lighting up the mountains of St. Domingo then in sight, induces the following : " Sixty years before, the negro had cut the throat of the white man, ravished his wife and daughters, and burned his dwelling in this island. The white man in another country was now inciting the negro to the perpetration of the same crime against another white man whom he called brother. The white man who was thus inciting the negro was the Puritan of New England, whose burning ship was lighting up the shores of St. Domingo !" There may be something remarkable in the connection, in the chain of evidence, and in the eventud pun'shment, to have induced these reflections which seem to have so highly gratified the legal subtlety of a Semmes' mind. But we cannot see it; in truth, un less we had heard it from so great a legal authority we would have applied to this the pithy Persian word, signifying nothing, L'osh ! Nor could we have found any other word more aptly to express our meaning for what follows :—" That Puritan, only a generation before, had entered into a solemn league and covenant to restore to the Southern man his fugitive slave if he should escape into his territory. This was the way in which he was keep ing Lis plighted faith ! Does any one wonder that the Alabama burned New England ships?" It is gra tifying to see that the interpretation of law laid down by such a master, and the precedents thus established, have not been lost to the world ; but were these reflec tions extracted from the " Alabama Confederate States Admiralty Court" decision on the prize Parker Cooke? Again he visited this island, and again he moralized, for the scene of negro triumph and negro cruelty seems to have had a strange power of fasci nation over the mind of the Alabama's captain. "The old city of S. Domingo, how many associa tions does it not call up ! It was a large and flourishing city a hundred years before that pesti ferous little craft the Mayflower brought out the cockatrice's egg that hatched out the Puritan." His descriptions of the Yankee captains captured are in the same strain. " The captain of the Wales, though a Northern man, bad very few of the ear marks of the Yankee skipper about him. He was devoid of the raw-boned angularity which charac terises most of them, and spoke very good English through his mouth instead of his nose. His pro nunciation and grammar were both good—quite an unusual circumstance among his class." Yet quali fied judges, and British too, have lately pronounced a strong opinion that English is spoken in America in far greater purity than in Great Britain--the exception being the people who speak good Eng lish taking the English in a mass, and the excep tion being those who speak bad English in America taking the Americans in a mass. He gives an account of a consul he captured in the Union Jack, on his way to Foochow. The Rev. Franklin Wright was " an ex-New England parson, editor of a re ligious paper, in a New England village. He had Puritan written all over his lugubrious countenance, and looked so solemn that one wondered how he came to exchange the clergyman's garb for the garb of Belial. But so it was. Franklin was going out to India (sic) in quest of the dollars. We de prived him of his consular seal and commission, though we did not molest his private papers, and of sundry very pretty consular flags that had been carefully prepared for him by Mr. Seward (fits), at the State Department at Washington. I am pained to see by that little bill of Mr. Seward (i)re) against the depredations of the Alabama, before referred to, that the Rev. F. Wright put his dam ages down at $10,015.. I had no idea that the New England parson carried so much plunder about with him." The legal acumen of Semmes does not prevent his falling into many conspicuous little blunders. In the instance we have given, Foo chow appears to be in India, and a few pages before he makes the strength of the U.S. gunboat Hatte ras, he Lad just sunk, officers and crew all told, to be 108 ; yet, almost immediately after, he says he lauded 130 of the men of the Hatteras at Kings • stows, Jamaica. But we must hurry on, fur, as it is, we have dwelt sa long on these details that we cannot give an idea of Semmes' account of the Alabama without a Third Notice. Next to the v i the tn g incident,l\betweenartin which h excites most int e r, s t i s action which c l ose d the career of the Codederate n a d n d t h c e oa g l u i n u cr b o o a n t i t / h L e it r te o ) : ci s ; , c t ‘ h r f e a t i e sc r eol l m. leaving Semmes ran into the Gulf of Mexico to strike a blow at Banks' expedition, then organizing to in seGtetsneproallithiceiand,esNeNrhiboeshaads ' n ' o a prominent a s sort of military talent, having risen to the surface among other scum, amid the bubbling and boilin g .of the Yankee cau ld ron. Banks had mounted a stud-horse on Boston-common on militia review days before the war, and had himself lithographed stul-horse, cocked hat, feathers and all ; and these were credentials not to be despised." The Confe derate hoped to effect a night surprise, setting fire to the large fleet of transports, and getting off un harmed. It was on his way to Galveston,while ' keep ing a look out as an interlude for the California trea sure ship, that he captured the Ariel, his 1 be ep ant, as he truly calls her, not knowing what to do with the ponderous brute. When he sighted his port he found five Federal war ships shelling it, which was the first intimation he had that Magruder ha I re captured it, and that Banks had therefore changed the direction of the invasion. When the Federal fleet observed him, one of the steamers immediately got under way, and it was then he conceived the notion of drawing her from her consorts under the supposition that the Alabama was a merchantman, when he might capture her if he had reason to be lieve he was superior in force, or run if the strength lay on the Federal side. The Hatteras followed him for 20 miles, when night fell; and suddenly the Alabama, with her steam up and all cleared for ac tion, turned. The Hatteras ran close up and hailed, and the answer was " Her Britannic Majesty's ship Vixen." The Hatteras said she would send a boat on board, which was immediatelydropped, and it was not till then the announcement was made that the strange vessel was the Alabama which reached the United States gunboat almost simultaneously with a broadside. The action lasted only thirteen minutes, and in a few more the Hatteras sank. She was an old tub, totally unfitted to cope with a new vessel of war, like the Alabama, even had her battery been equal. Her engines were not protected beneath the water line, like those of the vessel built by Laird, and the eight-inch shells crashed through them, quickly disabling the Hatteras, and rendering her unma nageable. However Captain Burke fought Ler to the last, leaving barely time to get out with his crew, before she went down. The weight of the metal and the quality of the armament were much superior in the Alabama, though there was little difference in the tonnage or in the strength of the crews. This was Semmes' great feat, and we do not desire to detract from its merit ; for though the result could not be doubtful where two such vessels were handled by brave seamen, yet neither knew against what odds he might be matched, and both gallantly took their chance. Nor can a sailor, as we shall hereafter have occasion to say of Semmes him self when it comes to his turn to sink, do more than fight his ship till she goes down under him. We may, however, just now allude to the strange retri bution which overtook this man. He had the pain of seeing his own vessel destroyed by an adver sary fairly matched against himself, her career ending in a way similar to that which, through his agency, had overtaken the Hatteras, while even tually the very torch he had so ruthlessly used iu burning merchantmen he was himself compelled to apply to the last squadron of his Government and thJ last ships he ever commanded. THE LICENSING SYSTEM.--Tbe Birmingham borough magistrates, at a sitting on Tuesday morning, adopted an important memorial, praying the Government to introduce a bill speedily into the llouse of Commons, taking away from the Excise the function of ]icencing beer-houses, and vesting the power in the magistrates of the boroughs and counties. 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 home use or exports. lion. Quotations on application to Messrs. Danville and Co., Belfast; or 4, Beaufort-buiMings, Strand, London W.CI,--[Ad Tortionient.] METROPI P—Thursday. The week has been rife with rumours of Ministerial differences. These rumours are not unfounded. The old story is being re-told. There is a feud between the Whigs and the Radicals, and it is quite within the range of possi bility that the Liberal party may be broken up. Lord Russell's proposals with regard to the Irish Church, which were contained in his third letter, but which to ordinary readers seemed entirely out of date, have proved by no means so. The Whig party generally are for accepting these proposals, or something like them, and it will be remembered that they were long ago advocated by Earl Grey. The Radical party are, of course, for entire disendowment, and strongly adverse to the levelling-up policy. This difference of opinion has broken out in the Cabinet, and it is by no means certain which party will prevail. It seems strange that there should be any doubt on the matter, inasmuch as Mr. Gladstone has pledged himself against any appropria tion of the Irish Church revenues to the Roman Catholic Church ; inasmuch, too, as the country deliberately pronounced against that policy at the general election ; inasmuch, moreover, as when Mr. Gladstone formed his Cabinet it was understood that on many subjects there would be latitude of opinion allowed, but on the subject of the Irish Church agree ment was essential. It is stated to-day, in well-informed circles, that the measure for dealing with the Irish Church will not be brought in during the first fortnight of the session, but that it will be laid on the table on a day famous in the annals of legislation—the clay on which Lord Russell brought in his successful Reform Bill of 1832, and (Liberals will say absit omen) the day on which he brought forward his unsuc cessful Reform Bill of 1860—the first of March. Of course, a measure of such importance, and one with which Mr. Gladstone has so completely identified his name, will be intreduced by the Premier himself. This announcement, which is made on what I believe to be good authority, would seem to imply that the differences spoken of above had been surmounted. That is not neces sarily the case. It does not follow that the bill which Mr. Gladstone brings in will be the bill to pass. It is by no means improbable that Lord Russell will move an amendment when the measure reaches the Upper House, embodying the proposals of his letter, and that the Conservatives and Whigs will agree to support it. In that case it is intimated Mr. Gladstone might be found submitting to the inevitable. There is nothing in his past history which seems to warrant such a supposition. At present the situation is not a little critical. The report of Lord Clarendon's illness, started in the Echo, was quite unfounded. Not only has the Foreign Secretary not been unable to attend to the business of his department, but he has been peculiarly active in conduct ing it during the last two or three weeks. I may state that he has been the foremost in counselling the Greek Government to accept the protocol of the Paris Conference. It was only with the greatest difficulty that this concession could, be obtained, and to our Foreign Minister Europe owes it that she is not witnessing now the beginning of a great war. It would be too much to say that the danger of war has been altogether surmounted. There are many symptoms, especially the large importation of French arms into Civita Vecchia, which seems to show that France, at all events, considers the conflict only postponed. But Lord Clarendon will say with Canning, who, when some member declared that war must come sooner or later, replied, " Then, sir, let it be later." All doubt respecting the leadership of the Conservative party in the Upper House is now apparently set at rest by the seemingly official announcement that the duty will be entrusted to Lord Cairns. This is a position of which he may well feel proud. Fifteen years ago he was only Mr. Cairns, member for Belfast, a barrister in good practice, though not a Q.C., and not known as a debater. In 1856 he took silk; in 1858 he became Solicitor-General ; in 1866 A ttorney -General ; in 1867 Lord Justice; in 1868 Lord Chancellor ; and now, in 1869, this undistinguished barrister of fifteen years ago is put over the heads of mar quises and dukes, takes precedence of the noblest and oldest blood in the kingdom, and, risen from the people, leads the most aristocratic assembly in the world. This speaks much, not only for his abilities, but for the paucity of ability among the great ruling families. No single incident of recent times marks so strongly the decaying power of the peerage as the fact that the great Conservative party is led by a gentleman of the Press in the Lower House and by a gentleman of the long robe in the Upper. Among the unfounded rumours of the present week is the report that the Government did not intend to carry out the project of purchasing the telegraphs. There has, I am assured, been no hesitation about the purchase, but there has been some consideration as to whether the terms mentioned last year were not too high. The bill passed last year simply enabled Government to purchase on terms not exceeding twenty years' profits ; but this clearly leaves the Government open to purchase for eighteen years' profits, if it can. I believe that at the present time certain Government officials are now in various atices of the telegraph companies, learning the way to work the wires, so that the Government may not be left stranded when the transfer is made. The death of Mr. Charles Bell, the member for the City, was announced before the event by one of the London evening papers, and that announcement was tele graphed to all the country papers. About noon on Tuesday a message was sent from a well-known adver tising and newspaper agency in the City to all the London evening journals to the effect that Mr. Bell was dead and that Baron Rothschild would come forward to take his seat. At two o'clock, just as they were going to press, a second message was received requesting that the first might not be used, and that request was com plied with by all the editors except. that of the Echo. The morning journals of the next day stated that though hopelessly ill, the hon. member was still living. As a matter of fact, he died at Richmond during the night. This makes the fourth death which has taken place since the elections, both sides having suffered equally—Wareham and Renfrewshire by the death of Mr. Calcraft and Capt. Speirs, South Derbyshire and London by the death of Sir Thom Gresley and Mr. Bell. The latter two bad not been in Parliament before. The Liberals lost a seat at Wareham by the death of Mr. Calcraft, but will gain a far more important seat in London by the death of Mr. Bell. He was the minority member, and although the Conservatives have met to discuss if they should con test the constituency, no one believes that they would have the smallest chance in a single-handed contest ; and as nothing is sai3 in to-day's papers with respect to their in tentions, it may be assumed that th ey win not attempt t o fight. Mr. B e ll wa s member o f a firm which had three partners in the House of Commons. He is to be succeeded by a commercial magnate who has an equal number of relatives in the same assembly. Baron Rothschild has been selected because it is supposed that the seat is due to him. There is no great amount of enthusiasm in his behalf, for he is no speaker, a n d a rare attendant at the d e b a t es , or even in the division lobby. A certain section, consisting chiefly of the London tradesmen, would have preferred Sir Benjamin Phillips, who as Lord Mayor of London won their hearts. But the men on 'Change think that he would not have been "big " enough, and prefer an inefficient Rothschild to an efficient Phillips. Mr. Glyn and Mr. Hart Dyke will have plenty to do on the first night of the session. There will be no fewer than nine writs to move for ; four of these—Bradford, Drogheda, Wexford, and Radnor —were filled by Liberals ; fi ve — Bewdley, Norwich, Dublin, Westbury, and London —by Conservatives. Probably we shall hear something also about Nottingham, where Colonel Wright some time ago announced his retirement. It is not the fault of the Conservative party that other seats have not fallen vacant. Ten Liberals have been unsuccessfully petitioned against. Clearly, Mr. Spofforth has found himself all at sea witt this new-fangled petition apparatus which his clever chief devised. Like household suffrage, it has hurt its inventor rather badly. The birth of a "Duke of Orleans" has caused no little excitement in Anglo-French circles. It is another guarantee for the continuance of the Bourbon line, for the supply of claimants to the French throne whenever it becomes vacant. Among our own upper circles the event has cau se d great satisfaction. The English Royal Family and English statesmen may recognise the ruling French dynasty, but the English noblesse do not. A very well-known English Parisian who has been over here for a few days told me that our aristocracy almost invariably keep away from the Tuileries when in Paris. The men who used to be friends with Napoleon when he was an exile will not pay court to him now that he is an emperor. They are rejoiced at the " accident " which has placed in the English Embassy an unmarried ambassador, and thereby interposed a serious obstacle to the pre sentation of English ladies at the French Court. The Emperor, I am assured, feels this cold ness not a little, the more so as he knows that English nobles would crowd to Paris if " Henri Cinq " were to be master of the Tuileries. As it is, the number of English residents in the French capital has long been steadily diminishing. A new protest of Ritualists against the St. Alban's judgment has been published. It is subscribed by very few persoas of importance, and the fifty dissentients at the great meeting in the Freemasons' Tavern appear to have diminished just one-half. Even the other moiety do not say taey will disobey the judgment ; they simply pro test against it. At the church of one of the signitaries, St. Michael's, Shoreditch, it is said that the Sarum use will be introduced after 'Easter. If this be true, Mr. Nihill would do well to read the preface to the Prayer-book " Concerning the Service of the Church," where it is said, "And whereas hereto- fore there hath been great diversity in saying and singing in churches within this realm, some following Salisbury use, some Hereford use, and some the use of Bangor, some of York, some of Lincoln: now from henceforth all the whole realm shall have but one use." One of the clergy who refused at first to comply with the judgment, the Rev. R. T. West, of St. Mary Magdalene, Paddington, has, in consequence of a friendly conference with his new diocesan (whose command he was willing to obey, though unwilling to obey the State), followed the example of the majority, and at the eight o'clock celebration yesterday (Ash Wednesday) the altar candles were for the first time unlighted. The new bishop seems anxious to shew as much consideration as he can for the Ritualists. In his old diocese they were rani nantes in gurgite vasto; in his new, he finds them so numerous that they cannot be put down. His first public act will be performed to-morrow, when he will consecrate a church near the Commercial -road. No little scandal has been caused in metropolitan Dissenting circles during the last few days by the dis appearance of a Nonconformist preacher from the north of London. The person in question was a pupil of Mr. Spurgeon, had a very comfortable livelihood of £7OO a year from his chapel, and was blessed with a wife and four children. But these various good things did not content him : he must needs run off with another man's wife, and, to make the matter worse, the wronged husband is his own brother. Of literary news I have a little to-day. Mr. Josiah Gilbert, the editor of Murray's Guide to the Tyrol, and the joint author with Mr. Churchill of the book on the Dolomite Mountains, is engaged in writing a Life of Titian, with criticisms on his works. The book will be beautifully illustrated, and published by Longmans. Messrs. Parker are about to publish a concordance to Keble, by two ladies, which will be a remarkable work, inasmuch as one of the editresses is blind, but has nevertheless —( r • hat account— a most perfect knowledge of Keble's poetry, having learnt it by heart. Messrs. Parker have issued Sir John Coleridge's Life of Keble, whose intended appearance I mentioned in a former letter. The " Hymns for the Sick and Suffer ing," which have had a considerable sale, are by Miss Priscilla Maurice, sister of Professor Maurice and of Mrs. Hare, widow of Archdeacon Hare. The editor of Mr. Ciabbe Robinson's diary is Dr. Sadler, a Unitarian minister, of Hampstead. Mr. Robinson himself was a Unitarian. Mr. Edmund Yates has since his bankruptcy resigned the editorship of Tinsleys' 111agazine. This gentle man found his first attempt at playwriting by no means satisfactory, having, as he stated in court, cleared only about £l5 by his "Tame Cats," a fact which will not greatly vex the soul of Mr. Swinburne. Mr. Stigand, the author of the noticeable paper in Belgravia on " Byron," is a contributor to the current number of the Edinburgh Review, havinsr- believe, written the article on "Spain under Charles 11." Everybody is talking about Professor Beesly's article in the For/m*97/11y, which is not only unusually brilliant, but has a special interest in it, because under the characters of two French statesmen of the last century, he has dealt with two most eminent English statesmen of our own day. I should add that Mr. Beesly is not only a Radical of the extremest kind, but a Comtist, and has therefore no sympathy, nor indeed patience, with a mind like Mr. Gladstone's, which is so powerfully influenced by religious motives. The article in the Quarterly on Ritualism is attributed to Canon Robertson, of Canterbury, the author of "Sketches of Church History during the First Six Centuries." Captain Byng Hall, who was said to be the editor of The Queen's Messenger, the new weekly spoken of in a former letter, has publicly denied it. It was a connection of which he could scarcely feel proud. Artists are now deciding upon the pictures which they will send to the Royal Academy. Mr. Frith has several in hand, among then a modern subject called "Hopes and Fears," a scene from "Don Quixote,"and another study of Caroline times (though very different from his famous picture of 1867), Nell Gwynne selling oranges. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ward will exhibit. The first will have the Introduction at Court of Grinling Gibbons, the wonderful woodcarver whom Sir Christopher Wren brought from the Netherlands, in order to do the stall work at St. Paul's. Mr. Ward's other picture will be "Luther First Studying the Bible." Mrs. Ward's subject is "An Incident in the Life of the First Pre- tender." Mr. Pettie has selected a very notable subject, "The Fall of Wolsey." Mr. Calderon has two pictures— one has for title the first line of Marlowe's well-known song, " Come live with me and be my love," and represents two figures in fifteenth - century costume. The other represents an incident in French history—the widow of the Duke of Guise persuading Clement to murder Henrylll. Mr. Armitage bas a scriptural subject, and a picture of Hero and Leander. AT;. Leslie has two pictures—one; single female figure reclining in an arbour ; the other founded on the old song, " It's best to be off with the old love before you're on with the new "—a girl standing with her recreant lover's portrait in her drooping hand, while her mother is reading the letter in which the rupture of the tie is announced. Mr. Marks has a large picture, " The Minstrel's Gallery," a major-domo of the Middle Ages shewing a number of minstrels to the gallery whence they are to enliven a festival which is being carried on below. Mr. Mason, whose "Evening Hymn "was thegem of last year's Academy, and won for him the large number of forty votes at the late ballot for two associates, has two pictures, one a rustic party taking refuge under a tree during a hail-storm, and the other an evening on a moor, with the bright light of the sunset reflected on a stream. Mr. Watts has on hand several pictures, among which are " Diana and Edymion ;" a single figure, larger than life, of Hyperion sitting on the clouds just ere the sun breaks forth upon the night ; " Una and the Red Cross Knight," the first riding on her lowly ass, and the knight on his war steed ; also, a portrait of a lady. Mr. Watts will probably send these, and perhaps more, to the Royal Academy Exhibition. 211LS'CELLANEOUS NEWS. SEEING Tnotron A DraLSTONE. The - re is none of our contemporaries which will compare with the Morning Advertiser in seeing through a millstone. It devotes a leadert o the Lord Mayor's banquet at Dublin, and enters into an elaborate argument to prove that because Lord Spencer proposed the health of Cardinal Cullen in eulogistic language, Mr. Gladstone has determined to "level up," and Mr. Gladstone's 'Ministry will therefore be " swept away from the political earth." Unfortunately for this argument, it was not the Lord-Lieutenant, as at first reported, but the Lord Mayor, who proposed the health of the Car dinal. The effusive manner in which " that eminent prince of the Catholic Church" was spoken of did appear strange so long as it was supposed that Lord Spencer was the speaker ; but a special telegram to the Times states that the speech in question has been attributed to the Viceroy in error, and that it was really made by the first magistrate of Dublin. THE GOVERN3IENT TELEGRAPHS BILL. Readers of the Edinburgh Review are aware that a severe attack appears in the current number of that quarterly upon the arrangements of the late Government for the purchase of the telegraph s . Thi s article has been criticised in the Times, and now the reviewer replies in the same journal to his critic. The reviewer says that he does not wish to upset the scheme for the purchase of th e t e l egraphs. On the contrary, he desires the Government to become the owner of them. But he does censure what he deems the extravagance of the late Ministry f or th e terms which they proposed to give. He does not say that twenty years' purchase of past p ro fit s i s too high a price, but he thinks that twenty y ears ' too high. He of estimated future profits is e points out that whereas in 1805 Mr. Scudamore estimated the cost at £2,500,000, in 1868, when u n d er examination, he said that the price would not exceedB,ooo,ooo. The reviever b eliev es that it will, and he would have Parliament thoroughly consider the terms before sanctioning them. The reviewer fails to see that if Mr. Scudamore's estimate of the purchase has increased threefold in three years,this is a clear indication that the profits are increasing very rapidly from year to year, and that therefore it is not fair to estimate the value of the telegraphs by their profits only of past years, for a great portion of which time they were unremunerative. As to the rise which has taken place in the market value of the shares, that is only the natural result of the Prospect of immediately realising future profits. _ AN OCEAN PENNY POST. The idea of an ocean penny post has been regarded like most other such reforms, as a " dream." But from what Mr: Reverdy Johnson said at Glasgow the other day, that the American Government had instructed him to press a cheap international postage on our own Government, the dream is.not unlikely to turn out prophetic. The subject is being taken up, too, in the chambers of commerce throughout the king dom, and on 'Wednesday the directors of the Man chester Chamber passed a resolution in favour of a Penny post between this country and America. The discussion of the question is making some progress, therefore. LOCAL TAXATION. The poor and highway rates are unequally dis tributed, not only as regards persons, but also as regards places. Mr. Lippincott, of Over Court, Bristol, writes : " I reside in a parish in which the cost of maintaining some eight miles of turnpike roads (thoroughfares of the surrounding neighbour hood) has just been thrown upon the rates. Au adjoining parish is free from this charge, but is still more unfortunate than its neighbour, in that, though strictly rural, it is attached to a town union, and in consequence subject to very heavy establishment and usual poor eliames,_ to. such.,2wel. zt_ent. that itcratea nAve been InOrd than doubled within the last few years. A third] parish, adjoining these two and in a still worse plight than either, has to pay both the extra expenses of extensive turnpike roads and the increased rates of a town union ; while a fourth parish, near at hand, happily for itself, has no dusty roads within its borders, and does not write 4 .72 us in urbe' as its poor-rate motto." Mr. Lippincott goes on to chew what a needless multiplication there is of collectors. Fa?li tithing has its property-tax collector, whose duty it is to receive the property-tax returns for his par ticular district a thing impracticable in many instances, seeing that portions of several tithings are frequently included in a single farm, which is let at one rent. In every petty tithing two collectors are appointed to gather the land and assessed taxes. The fact is, Parliament has invaded the old system of purely local taxation, but has not made a complete conquest of it. Consequently, we are now standing between the old and the new systems, without the advantages of eith er . M r . Lippincott adds : "As remedial measures for this state of things, let county be substituted for parochial and union rating—a corollary to which, by the way, would naturally be abolition of the law of settlement ; and, that the rates may be yet more equally distributed, let them be raised on the principle adopted in the assessment to property tax ; let paid Government officers be ap pointed to collect over enlarged districts the prope r ty, land, an d assessed taxesi'in place of the present paro-' chial and tithing collectors ; and in order that the occupiers of land may be duly represented in the administration of the county finances, let a certain number of their body be elected to take their place at county financial boards. These changes, what ever others may follow, would seem to be but a needful supplement to what has already been done." BURDENS ON LAND. Professor Thorold Rogers, in writing to the Morning Star respecting the burdens on land, observes, it is a good sign that the farmers wish to have some knowledge of the facts relative to the incidence of local taxation. The interest of the farmer is the same as that of any other manufacturer or producer. If a tax is levied on his profits while the landlord's estate is free, the farmer is just as much wronged and should be just as much aggrieved as a trader or a professional man would be. The landowner is singularly favoured in this country. In nearly every other a land-tax forms a notable branch of the revenue. In France the receipts on this head amount to a tenth of the whole income, in Belgium to an eighth, in Austria to a third. In this country the land tax is ludicrously small, and is more than compensated by the shilling duty on corn. The landowner on succeeding to his estate is liable to no probate duty, and pays a succession duty much lighter than that exacted from the inheritance of personal property. He is indirectly liable to certain local rates, but if poor rates were abolished wages would rise, and the highway tolls preserve the roads, by which the landowner chiefly benefits. Pro fessor Rogers avers that he has never been able to discover any peculiar burdens on land, while he has found a host of unfair exemptions and privileges con ferred on landowners; and after denouncing the country squires as the advocates of a selfish social faction, he expresses a hope that we shall soon see a thorough change in this branch of our legislation EMIGRATION. A conference was held at the Mansion House on Wednesday on the subject of emigration, with espe cial reference to the chronic distress at the East-end of London, and the condition of the unempl o y e d workmen at Woolwich. The Lord Mayor presided, and in opening the proceedings said that all the palliatives which had been made to deal with pauperism at the East-end of London had failed, and some large scheme of emigration must be adopted. He thought that efforts should be made not only to stem pauperism but to put a stop to it. He had met with an instance of the costliness of the ordinary modes of relief, for one family had cost the Jewish guardians no less than £4OO. The Lord Mayor concluded by saying that motives of economy should indu c e p eo pl e t o a id i n sc h emes of emigration rather than let the unemployed continue burdensome to the parishes which they inhabited. Two resolutions were passed at the meeting, one pledging the gentlemen present to the opinion that emigration was a satisfactory method of relieving distress, and the other deciding that a subscription should be entered into with a view of extending the operations of the East-end Emigra tion and Relief Fund. Mr. Torrens, M.P., said it would be wise to send the empty mouths to the wasted food in Australia. A discussion took place as to the merits of pauper emigration, and some gentleman observed that if failure occurred it would be because of the error in the poor-law administra tion, by which all men were ticketed as paupers on reaching the land to which they might be sent. SALDANIIA BAY AND MALMESBITIta. A "Saldanier " writes to the editor of the Times on the difficulties "of dealing with criminals, and declares that there is not much chance of improve ment while we have an army of 100,000 culprits, and 2,000 of the most desperate criminals are let loose in London every twelve months. The overcrowded state of the poor in London has long been a subject of the greatest anxiety, and to relieve this pressure on' society must be the object of earnest attention. He then describes the district of Malmesburg," which lies on the seaboard of South Africa, and points out the advantages that may accrue from the transmission of criminals and the emigration of paupers to that place. The land is within twenty days' steaming from the shores of England, want is unheard of there, and yet the place is comparatively unknown. The members of . the Society for the Prevention of P a up erism and Crime wely be assured that all emigrants to Saldanha Bay will be well satisfied. USURY. Money-lenders seem to have resolved themselves into one of the evils of the clay. Seeing the result of our system of trading, as shewn forth in the panic of 1866, and remembering the temptation to which young men with expectations are exposed, one is puzzled to know which is the worst, the present prac tices or the old usury laws. Proposals come from all quarters for the suppression of extortion. It is for gotten, however, that already, as far as the law is concerned, this is done. An application to Chancery would, in the case of over 5 per cent. being charged, be immediately followed by relief. The evil is, that men would rather pay than be exposed. For them there is no law, and so the extortioner prospers. THE METROPOLITAN CHARITIES. Mr. Hicks has done good service to the public and to the suffering poor by endeavouring to throw some light on the complicated machinery of our London charities. He has prepared a synopsis of the reports of our principal metropolitan charities, which must have cost him an immense amount of time and labour. Mr. Hicks has given us a list of the names, addresses, and objects of no less than 363 charities, institutions, and asylums, ranging from those which provide for the care of crippled infants to the associations which provide for the widows of professional men, or assist the ta s k of self-education by the loan of diagrams and maps. Many of the charities here referred to are probably unknown by nam bey ond their own immediat e c i rc l e, but each has its special object of usefulness. The great matter of regret, as Mr. Hicks observes, is the want of all organisation, and consequent loss of power. The prevailing absence of uniformity, as well as the defective manner in which some of the balance sheets are prepared, prevents the information contained in the several reports from possessing their full value. Under a different system they might, as Mr. Hicks points out, become valuable centres for information from various points of view. Mr. Hicks does not profess to give a complete repre sentation of the metropolitan charities, but his synopsis is, no doubt, sufficiently accurate for any ordinary inquirer. He divides it into seven classes, under the heads of infancy, childhood, manhood, old age, professional, afflicted, and general assistance ; giving, in all cases where a report has been furnished, a summary of their receipts and their expenses. The sum total of all the balance-sheets thus dealt with presents the immense aggregate of 4040,807, and yet the last tables of pauperism shew us that in the last week of January the total pauperism of the metropolis was 154,067. Mr. Hicks points out that the names of some of our charities, such as those for the Homeless and Destitute, speak for themselves of the inefficiency of the poor law. At present, he says, the public, instead of supplementing the rehef of the poor law, is, and has been for years past, doing the work of the poor law itself. The synopsis before us, occupying as it does two-and-a-half pages of the Times, seems to confirm.the assertion. 66 HEARTLESS PARASITES." People who take houses for any length of time are always anxious to know if they are " clean." Nothing can be more trying than to be assailed in the first night after the bustle of removal by those nameless minute insects which are the abomination of every clean housewife. A Mr. Trevenan, of Wareham, Dorsetshire, unaccustomed to the inconveniences of "half the houses in London," found it trying indeed. He removed from Wareham to the metropolis, and took a house at Brixton. But it was absolutely uninhabitable. He could not rest by day or sleep by night; so he gave up the house in despair. He was put to great expense in removing, and thought the owner of the house ought to pay him for sending him into an uninhabitable house. But the owner obj ceted. He did not put the parasites there. Mr. Trevenan was, however, determined to get the money if he could, and brought an action in the Common Pleas to compel his landlord to "hand over." The action was tried on Wednesday. The jury were sympa thetic with the plaintiff, and would have given damages to any amount. But the judge thought the case had better be "settled," not being at all sure that any damages were due. The lawyers, therefore, made it u between themselves. Henceforth it m us t belait_d_japgiutre not 1 11 11 4.)14 1 1_4' tzllickh ITALY. ROUMANIA. •QTY The Danubian Principalities are a reY t° tillS pol!tical agitation. The turbulent p arty,P at tided which is Bratiano, the late Minister , holds dec t i ' ed 11 : 1 ponderance in the Legislature, and th new Cabi ae • experienced a severe check at its hands. Tlie re of c e4' ment of a General was mad e th e subject of a votixGs to sure on which the Ministry has been d e feated t he 42. As the reappointment wasperfectly With—„ v eAr ! province of the Governm en t, th e vote o f censure gieCrea somewhat unconstitutional. Prince Charles v-I)'Pet" to disso lve electionthe Chamber rather than dismiss lli s A gen e ral will therefore take place. Foreign Mail Packet LW. MAILS DUE. r eb. ll* 21 Australia and New Zealand, via Sonthamptol•'... ye, Ditto, via I r useilles •—•• • 00000000 Ditto, via Pt. ama ........ ......... ' . Brazil, Buenos Ayres, and Monte Video .......... yeb• Ditto, by French packet .......... . ............. s A t. Cape Verds, by Brazil paotet ....... • . .... fib' Cape of Good Hypo . Ascension. and St. Helena... 1,1 China, Penang, and Singapore, via South ampto n ' . fcb 1 ' ; Gibraltar, via Southampton .......... .F e D• 0. India, via Southamp ton „ ..... • rep' 1 3. iAtto, via Marseilles ...................... ••r▪ ep . 6 Malta, Egypt, cto. ......... ....... .............. r t • Or Ditto, Marseilles ........................... Mauritius, Cape of Good Hope, and Natal. v . Sc uthami ton .................................. feb• i• t o Ditto, Itarseiltes ....................... Newfoundland .. y. ....... • • .;:or - United States, Canada, Portugal ... _ _ .... ... , California, tiro., by 13fir0",eD 11 packet Ditto, by Canadian packet .. .• •** 00 00 ••_ _ u D . Ditto, by I ',Red states packet .............. • 1/ Ditto ditto (Baltimore) ....... • • ...... Ve - • West Coast of Africa. Madeira, and Tenerifre • • West Indies and Pacific (except Mexico and Bab a , F° /. mas) ......................................... gar t. Falkland Islands • .................... ..31.01% Cuba and Mexico ..... • • • '• • •: jeep: Bermuda, via Halifax, :yCD! B%haaaas, 1, via New York ggLrsc"i tor i ly [ADVERTISEMENT.]—Avoid Medicines: they s'," e ` s ith-r - 0 ,0? 00 , chronic complaints: but Du Barry's delicious. ' es the % l ed; fl Revalenta Arabica Food, which yields three tnn the r re to uO t j ment of the best meat, saves 50 times its cost In e orire s i s i etiOve and invariably restores perfect digestion, s trenf feen S ret i lungs, healthy liver, pure blood, refreshing s „ fs eble,, s to 46 , regularity, and energy to the most disordered or e b " ee itU,T 1 6 ", e, extract a few out of 68,000 cures; " The Pope's julY st°,ll by Du Barry's Food. Cure No. 68,413. "Ife ree ' eois"''ad t 'ets —The health of the Holy Father is excellent, e ‘ y nis elf e ete - e , abandoning all other remedies, he has confined eel+ p ep , w hich e` m glY , s ce' to Du Barry's Revalenta Arabi= Food. of „viols — this ',- , ere a plateful at every meal. It haa produced a sure tidal effect on his health, and his Holiness cannot y! Ta w . 4 lent food too highly." From the " Gazette du 1 11 , ''°n yearrk(ooll No. 58,216, of the Marchioness do Brehan, of s e w ith s ' e ss,,„Y complaint, wasting away, debility, nervousneT s plese4i; palpitation all over, bad digestion, constant I, ' i c- 00 the most intolerable nervous agitation.." Cure 4 pia ft, so p ij i Stuart de Decies, Lord Lieutenant of Waterfora,buis aglijeV n . dyspepsia. No. 49,832: " Fifty years' indescriba,.,,n, dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma, cough, constiPs;f4.--C ye !."4 spasms, sickness, and vomiting. j°lY Su 46,270: Mr. James Roberts, of Frimley, diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver 01 7 0 of tb partial deafness. important Caution.—BeW: o unsavoury and more than sloppy imitation s ., a iousli., lo .,• 1 ," 0 0; authority, Baron Liobig ' s name is most au" 5 lbs. In tins, at is. lid.; 1 lb. 2s. vd.; 2 lbs. 4s. 6d. A o el fC tl p s 225. ; v 4 lbs, 40s, —Also DU BARRY'S REVALENT,t;Ips itt?;76 LATE POWDER is packed in tin canisters; for it 305 ., fo c i 659 , 0 0 cups at 35. 6d., for 48 cups at 65., for 288 cups t Thes 30g. , V p05. ° 1,0; at 55s.—being about one penny per cup. e ipt 'Ott are sent free of carriage in England on rl egs ta-Sts Order.— BAßßY DU BARRY and Co., No. 77, don; and all Grocers and Chemists. Births. ni b r idg e ; ASTELL— On the 9th inst ., at Woodbury 111 1,11, C 3— f park, shire, r i u r kg e N, Li thetc l h e wife of ohn Harvey de I ' 4l SUTTO n wi t f h e e o l f ot G h r i a n h s a t m ., at E . 7 H , G . lmouacneLtresr-trragov: iii?;ici: ifi f° of a son. . til° SCOTT—On the 7th inst ,at 223, Brompton-roa j, of Clement W. Scott, of a son. „l• l ' ' 9th at Q BARToN_coms_on ig th a e rria i g n e si , Barton, fourth son of Charles o.lartona,.eg-enssZ11011; hams. to Geraldine de Conroy, second (mug” of Rev. Dr. C. Collis. ManH—livam—On tho 10th inst., Oscar Hirsch , . 1 1 5(1 ) : 03, Hamburg, to Emma, eldest daughter of Lawreoce '- Esq., of 9, Leinster-torrace, Hyde-Park' rA C6 Deaths. 50 -ter CUTILLIER—On the llth inst., at 3, Invertle Austin Cavillier, Esq., aged 56. och 11 , f ° DASIIIVOOD—On the 9th inst., the ReV. ur"...-11. P 96 vicar of Stow Bardolph, aged 68 of S t " . .„ , KENRICK—On the 10th inst., Wm. Nenrick, D"' Clare, Walmer, Kent, aged 56. t. 0 KENEVETT—On the 10th lust at Baling, Al r ' . S t'l V elre tir aged 71. ' Soli - , REDHEAD—On the 10th inst., at Chester o° llse ior tDv Norwood Park, Laurence Redhead, Esq , county of Surrey, aged 89. f ''' . Printed and Published by London • t, viLLLIA S A ' No f of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Tan Stai o °ll4 ,,iatl " Strand, -in the Precinct of the Savoy, in $11(1 j AlicicUenoz,..Friclay, February 12, )80P. FOREIGN OTESi THE EASTERN' DIFEIOULTV King Georke has at last succeeded in findin.i‘ who is willing to accept the declaration of the Conferell:e and who is able to form a Cabinet to support hho• ;1 1, Zaimis Ministry is complete, a n d Count WalewskLieto Athens on Monday, " taking with him the reP I Y t v Greek government, which is satisfactory in FverY reap How the popular demonstrations against accep',„ he 0 • declaration have been d ea lt w ith, an d what will be t t. sequence of the acceptance, remain to be seen. tri_es worthy information states th a t th e new Cabinet lule hatched for the sole purpose of getting over this diffic ult !' it has not the confidence of the people, and cannot otitli" this crisis. MORE ABYSSINIAN PRISONERS. ai° Though we are not likely to hear of another A b Y sa expedition, it appears that the romantic enterprise of In year did not complete its work. It will be remeraberef that two members of the Armenian-Gregorian elergY er to Jerusalem set out previously t o th e ex pedition in ord obtain the release of the p r i so n ers by peaceful re gyp. Religion, however, succeeded n o b e tter than diPl°lll,fe,,f Not only did the two worthy ecclesiastics fail in mission, but they arc still i n Aby ss inia, and wi t; worse, cannot get out. The mantle of Theodore has wit; upon the new sovereign in respect of retain b captives. The imprisoned clergy have wr i r t I letter to their brethren assu r i n g them O a° o lle are in the power of the mona rc h, an d cannot g et They thought the Abyssinians were Ch rist` but they have been bitterly deceived. There is 11° r io in Abyssinia, only the name. Even the Abounas `" tni - 0 the bishop of the one Abyssini an di oc ese, and i S e ": 4111 from the Coptic clergy of Alexandria, is not treated respect. Why the new sovereign will not let the tit Armenians go is not quite c l ear , b u t the doleful lei seems to hint that having thus got a good stock of ci igif on hand, he is disposed to keep it in readiness, the trouble of sending to Alexandria. SPAIN. O re The accounts of anarchy in the Spanish Pr° l—ce pr to no better. Some districts are infested with r ow t h s o t such an extent that it is unsafe to stir from home iv"th:t an escort. The correspondent of the Telegraph states foleo a friend of his had the whole of his crop of olives o f 5 off the trees. In the province of Toledo, one gentlet ° , ll ; obliged to fortifyhis house, and from behind his b3P l:lltir doors and windows he and his servants kept up 13 " ei c ye, warfare with the peasants for more than te n till at last he came to Madrid, leaving his count r Y,::; s ll to take care of itself. These reports may be too lt i e boe interpreted. It is natural that the Revolution slion, of the effect of disturbing social order, but the to affairs was bad enough before September last. I t in the south that any change for the worse apPea rl ' uc til The Independance Beige says the Directory 10° ' - under a cloud, if not altogether abandoned. . d 0 , 5 1 The third series of Protestant services at twi ne again very largely attended ; hundreds bad to be '; the away. The Daily News correspondent earl • th s trol greatest decorum prevailed. He noticed wail we rfts men with tears running down their cheeks at th e P° " preaching of Don Ruet. isl Italy is not usually looked to for examples in ec43' sol o provement, but it a pp ears th a t th ere is somettileesigstO learned even there. Italy, like England', 00 0 from an unequal distribution of labour. ' ll Ol 4 ;lads the population is too crowded, il l der labour only is required to render a wilderneeerof flowingly fruitful. A Sardinian Colonisation et tbe has been formed at Genoa. Its object is to eol_ : .. °mP. all but desert, though fertile, island of Sardi u ' . ot . company has a capital of £40,000, and proposes t l o st work on the following system :—lt has bought t o tract of land in Sardinia. Every five years :.,11 of 500 emigrants is to be established ot. tain portions of the island. The Col o bound to give their labour for five / .. 7 1 Aor return for their food, lodging, clothing, and a d 'actie * of threepence. On the expiration - of his terra of e - tt or the emigrant will become the owner of a enit al , nn o c° o_, t e js with about two and-a-half acres of good lan' t he P r and receive the sum of £2O for th e defrayal of po st expenses of cultivati on . Th e com p an y calcula tee Lbleg very large profit—i n f ac t, th a t it s ca pital will be u t ; coo' in five years. Sh ou ld thi s b e so , it w ill be for us o °ll Bider whether Canada does not stand in the sam e to England as Sardinia does to Italy. The Princess Marguerite, wif e o f ' King vial tllB son, fainted at a ball a f ew d a y s ago, and ";;,, tio lj ' then announced that she was in an interesting 11° As it was feared that Prince Humbert would c tOf children, this isnews of some importance. Th e I'l- however, is very delicate. The Fire li The y r ton us value reade r leave i thirty SEA off IsTaticn The 0791 E SUB Virilliai the Se( street,_ om„, Pr es J:reasu Doi solicits "Pond at wal ome, °Met bard la ue , .1)11 a : ■ ~" ~. for d ORI( Very Old ( Shi spar: Sai botth 0} Tf It oo and an Dan