The Sun. — London, England, 1869-02-26 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. The Times, after remarking that rating and ratepayers have been the theme of the House of Commons during this week, says that Mr. Goschen's bill to remedy the incon• veniences attending on the extinction of the famous compound householder is rather complex in its machinery. Mr. Bright confessed that it looked a little puzzling. Mr. Locke excused himself from hastily discussing it on the first evening, as it was bad to understand. Mr. Goldney thought its end might have been attained by a direct enactment. It would be premature to express a very decided opinion on the proposals of the Government before their bill is made public, but at present we incline to approve Mr. Goldney's judgment, that the Govern ment might attain their end by a direct instead of a round about manner. Their bill proposes to relieve weekly tenants of the risk and burden of paying rates, by giving them a right to recover from the landlords the sums they may pay. Why not enact that the landlords shall pay directly all rates imposed on houses let in weekly tenancies? If the Small Tenements Act is to be restored in principle, why not restore it in form? It may be answered that this would amount to a revival of the com pound householder ; but is there any adequate reason why he should not be revived and suffered to live in that decent obscurity which was his portion before he achieved a sudden notoriety two years since ? It was necessary that he should be sacrificed then. Some little dressing, some fringe of circumstance, was essential to the adop tion of household suffrage by the Conservative party, and the practical wisdom of men was manifested by the degrees of promptitude with which they saw that the compound householder must be the victim of the occa sion. But the sacrifice has been completed, household suffrage has been adopted, and there remains no necessity for denying the compound householder a fresh lease of existence. To use a different metaphor, the edifice has been finished and the ugly scaffolding may be removed. The late Government practically acknowledged their in difference to this supposed security in their Scotch and Irish Reform Bills. The present Administration might therefore take courage to attempt a holder stroke than Mr. Coschen's Rating Bill contemplates ; they might restore ,the compound householder to life and have done with him for ever. The Standard declares that the repeal of the ratepaying clauses of the Reform Act was one of the chief planks in • the Liberal electoral platform. Nobody was surprised therefore when the Queen's Speech promised a measure for " the relief of some classes of occupiers from hardships in respect of rating," and the President of the Poor-law Board gave notice of a motion for leave to introduce a bill " amending the law with respect to rates assessed upon occupiers for short terms." The speech in which Mr. • Goschen introduced and explained his bill will, on the contrary, create some surprise. Friends and foes of the Government will alike be astonished at the singularly conciliatory language of the right honourable gentle man, and the care he has taken to divest his measure of any political character. Whether the bill will prove an acceptable one is a matter upon which we cannot yet venture to form an opinion. Not only must we have the clauses before us, but we must have the opinions of the local authorities charged with their execu• tion, before we can venture to say whether the proposal of the Government is an acceptable one or not. But we may say at once that Mr. Goschen has so framed his measure that we may accept his own account of it as not to interfere in the slightest degree with the principle of the personal payment of rates as established in the Reform Act ; and that, in the moderation of his description of the grievance to be removed, the careful avoidance of all appeal to party passion, and the repudiation of any desire to revive the controversies of 1867, he made out the best case possible for a fair and generous consideration of the measure on the part of the Opposition. If there is some thing of a contrast between the promise of the hustings and the performance in Parliament, it should be noted only in favour of the Minister who has set himself not to gratify a clap-trap cry, but to remove a real grievance. The Star says that the Government have solved the compounding question in a manner most creditable to their good taste and perspicacity, and Mr. Goschen has ex pounded their plan in a very lucid speech. With a deli cacy beyond all praise Ministers have desired to save the feelings of the Opposition leaders. Mr. Bright, in his first speech as a Minister of the Crown, said that everyone knew Mr. Disraeli and his colleagues never meant to occasion the hardships which the abolition of com pounding had caused ; and though it is equally true that those hardships were foretold at the time by Gladstone, there can be no objection to burying the past in silence, if by that means the sore place in our rating system may be the more i easily and effectually healed. Mr. Goschen's party eloquence has a very rasping side to it, as many examples have proved ; but his speech on this question of weekly tenants has established that there is no Minister to whom a task of delicate conciliation could more safely be en trusted. if Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Hardy had been put under chloroform they could not have been more effec tually spared the pain of Thursday night's operation, Yet, as the first step to the a`irogation of the absurd ratepaying law of the 1867 Reform Bill, it was per• fectly successful. Of the 700,000 householders in this country who pay less than £lO a year rent, the majority are weekly tenants ; and in Parliamentary boroughs these for the most part were compelled for the first time by the Reform Bill to pay their poor rates palpably, and in a lump sum. Mr. Bright mentioned that in Birmingham 36,000 became liable for rates who had never paid a rate before. It would hardly have been possible to convince these people that they were not suf fering a grievous wrong, even if there had not been any absolute injustice in the operation of the law. But beyond this there was actual injustice in the infliction. Not only did the landlords who had hitherto paid the rates decline to lower the rents now the rates were paid by the tenants, but the tenants were liable at any moment to have to pay on a week's occupancy the rate for a quarter• is half-year, or perhaps a year in advance. The Daily News pronounces in favour of the Govern. went bill for Scottish education, and says that such a scheme in Scotland is an amending, and not, as it would be in England, a creating measure. For two centuries and three-quarters Scotland has possessed a system of popular instruction to which the nation owes, in no small degree. the wealth which it has won from a bleak clime and a rugged soil, and the tribute which its emigrants have levied from every foreign country in which they have settled. A statute of 1696 compelled the landowners of every parish, or in their de fault the presbytery, to establish a school-house, and to provide a salary for the teacher, to be defrayed at the expense, half of the landlords, and half of the tenants. Subsequent legislation has modified the details of these arrangements, but in essential points the system has sub sisted until the present time. But while it has been stationary, society has advanced. It never had any appli cation to the towns, in which the peculiarities of modern civilisation have accumulated population. It is unsuitable, therefore, to the " age of great cities." What is needful now is that this system shall be applied to the present dis tribution and necessities of the population. This work of local discrimination cannot be performed, once for all, by any general statute. It cannot be discharged from London. It must be performed by an authority which will be at once of a national and of a representative character. For this purpose a Central Board of Education is to be created, which is to consi s t o f t wo mem b ers represen ti ng th e coun ties and the landed proprietors, two members representing the Scotch burghs, two members representing the univer sities and the higher education of Scotland, a representa tive of the schoolmasters ; an d t wo members, including a paid chairman, nominat e d by th e Crown. This central board is to decide on the number of schools which may be requisite in particular parishes and b urg h s , an d t o en f orce the erection and maintenance of new schools where the supply is insufficient. The Herald thinks that there is very little reason for Mr. Bright's complaint the other night at the meeting of the Associated Chambers of Commerce, that he, havinr " perforce" taken office there is no one left to say things "a little different from anything that was said." We are pleased to know that Mr. Bright's talent for singularity remains pretty much the same in spite o 2 his elevation to office. We have every confidence in his continued ability and inclination to say things that no one else would say ; and we are convinced that his colleagues would readily absolve him from any charge of having deserted his old vocation. The only point of novel interest in Mr. Bright's speech to the Asso ciated Chambers is the insinuation, a second time repeated, that if they require him to act up to the doc trines which he has been accustomed to agitate out of office, they must bring an external pressure to b ear u p on the Government. Mr. Bright declares that " lie req uires the support of public opinion." He is content to be a Minister in a Liberal Administration, but he will move only when pushed from behind towards what he holds to be the true Liberal measures. This is certainly saying something different from what other men say—other men who are Ministers, and who are responsible both for their words and their acts. The Post thinks it a good sign when a Government is willing to take up difficult questions. Local taxation is a subject which a weak Government would gladly have evaded. But the fact is that Sir M. Lopes, completely at home in his subject, was enabled to present a really strong case. Anomaly, inequality, and injustice in raising and expending local taxation he readily proved to exist. Facts carefully selected beforehand, to exhibit the system in all its absurdity, were laid by him before the House, and there could he no question as to the urgency and importance of the subject. Sir M. Lopes stated that no less than twenty millions sterling of local ta.tatioa ate raised from an area of ninety-three millions of income —or, as Mr. Goschen reckons it, a hundred ; that is, from real property consisting of houses and lands. The growth of this taxation too is astonishing. But itsincid ence i s th e most remarktible part of it ; and well might Sir M. Lopes ask, " Was it not a glaring • inThstice that one description of property, reclzoning on:y one-seventh of the income of the coun t r y, should be taxed at The rate of 2s. Gd. in the pound, while all other descriptions paid nothing whatever? " The illustration of two men with an equa l capital to start with, investing it, one iu consols and the other in land, though overdrawn, is very convinci ng . The former might live in a lodging in a t own and pay nothing towards the expenses defrayed from local taxation; while the - other would be compelled to p a y t owar d s the maintenance of the poor and of the police. The argument that the land had always supported the poor from the days of Elizabeth, and that, therefore, it should continue to do so,. was shewn by Sir M. Lopes to be untenabl e ; an d it is satisfactory to find that the Government 4,4}LaiiYo • to _the inV9,lt. 91_ tila THE CHARGE OF CORRUPTION AGAINST ADMIRALTY OFFICIALS. r. T. Gambier, one of the chief clerks in the Store keeper-General's Department, Somerset House, and William Rumble, one of the inspectors of machinery afloat, were brought up on remand, at Bow-street, on Thursday, before Sir Thomas Henry, on the charge of conspiracy to defraud. Gambier had been out on bail since Saturday. The evidence given on the former occasion was read over by Mr. Burnaby, the chief clerk. Upon Mr. Maxwell's evidence being read over, Mr. Maxwell said he wished to make some observations in correction of what he had previously stated. It was not a correction of his own evidence, but of an observation made by the learned counsel, or rather of an impression it might convey. Mr. Bristowe had stated that, actuated by a laudable motive, "he had given information to the authorities." Now the fact was that he went to the Admiralty to seek informa tion, not to give it. Being told by Rumble that his get ting the contract was dependent on the payment of £25 or £3O to him, he wished to ascertain whether that was the case or not. Upon being informed that it was not so, and that a fraud was hieing practised upon him, he then Promised to assist the Government in the matter. Sir Thomas Henry said that it was not regular for a witness to make any reply to the opening speech of counsel. Still he could, perhaps, have allowed it, but that it appeared to be quite unnecessary. Nothing was said of which Mr. Maxwell ought to complain. Mr. Philip Longhorn, clerk to Mr. Nadan, wine merohant, 7, St. Benet's-place, Gracechurch-street, City, said he received the bank note No. 50,259 for his master on the 2nd February, from the prisoner Rumble, in pay, ment of an account for wines and spirits. Witness sent it to Barclay and Co.'s bank to get it changed. Mr. Joseph Boys, assistant to Messrs. Holditch and Co., linen warehousemen, Fleet-street, deposed that he received the Bank of England note now produced, No. 24,974, dated May 9, 1867, about eight days ago, from the prisoner Rumble, in payment for some small purchase, and gave him change for it. Witness gave it to one of the cashiers, who is a son of Mr. Holditch. Mr. Henry Houghton, clerk in the Storekeeper-Gene. ral's Department, Somerset House, produced the book in which was entered the acceptance of a contract for elm timber on the 22d of January last, addressed to Mr. Nicholas M. Maxwell ; also a book in which the names of the parties tendering on that date for the contract were entered. The prisoners were then remanded. The same bail as Defore was taken for Gambier. THE CONVENT CASE. For a score of days has the jury sat out the trial of Saurin v. Starr. Yesterday the excitement in court, we arc told, was intense, and Mr. Solicitor-General was lis• tened to with great interest. He commencedhis speech our Wednesday night. Apologising for the mean and con:: temptible trifles which had been brought before the court,. he pointed out that as far as the plaintiff was concerned these were necessary to her case. The issue to her was by. no means a question of trifle. "Still," said he, "the: time had not been wasted, for, however trivial. and contemptible the details might appear, the issue to Miss Saurin is one of social life or death. It is, an issue whether she shall be permitted to continue in the life to which she had devoted herself, and to which she is inti- 1 mately wedded and passionately attached, and to which she desires to consecrate whatever may be vouchsafed to her of health, and life, and strength, or whether she shall be flung back upon the world which she believed she bad left for ever, and for which she is now utterly unfitted, with a stain upon her character which no lapse of time, can ever efface, and exposed to the contempt and dislike of every well-regulated and religious member of the Roman Catholic communion, after having been outraged—if her story he true—with every ingenious accompaniment of cruelty and oppression." There was another reason, Sir iohn Coleridge went on to say, why her story was edify ing : first, as shewing that it is at least possible to try a convent case, and to lay bare the interior of the convent without revealing the faintest possible trace of what is commonly called " scandal ;" and next, that it strips off any veil of sanctity with which the devout and heated imagination has been found to clothe the so-called "religious life." To feed the hungry and to clothe the naked, to teach the ignorant and attend the sick and dying, to pray night and day to Almighty God, to live simply by rule, and to use the world as not abusing it—these are things, happily, which Catholics and Protestants alike think right and good, and are bound by the teaching of their religions to practise. But to do this it is not necessary to enter into a convent, and those who do enter into a convent may find from this case that they do but encounter temptations of a baser and a meaner nature. Dragged into " the light of common day," judged of by common understanding, this life loses all its romantic character, and turns nut to be a very poor and ordinary affair indeed. Little sins created by silly rules, foolishly enforced, childish penances for childish faults, boots worn round the neck-, and dusters worn upon the head, pins and needles watch , d for as carefully as a miser counts up his silver or his gold, all simplicity of character is destroyed by per r Anal and petty self-consciousness and self-watchfulness, all independence of mind crushed out under abject humiliation (which is a very different thing indeed from true humility)—this is what, as it appears to us, convent life has come down to in the 19th century--at all events, as administered in the Convent of our Lady of Mercy at In the powerful manner for which the Solicitor-General 15 notedhe went over the evidence, relating again the facts and commenting upon them favour of his client. He argued that she had been very harshly treated, and that in respect of the letters which were withheld from the plaintiff, Mr. Starr had told falsehoods. He adverted at length on the cr ue lti es w hi c h M r s. Starr had committed, the unkindness when Miss Saurin was in, the refusal to supply sufficient clothing, the affair of the thimble, &c. Was it not (he asked) unkind,unfeeling, and illegal to take her and strip her as she was stripped ? He would not be content, either, t o accep t nom i na l d amages . "I submit ▪ that nominal damages will not be a sufficient compensation for Miss Sau r i n . Th e d efendant ' s case necessar il y i s that Miss Saurin was unfit' for the state of life to which she had devoted herself, that she had no vocation for it, and tha7 from her conduct they were compelled for the benefit of the community to put her out of the convent. But how d o you account that every document and every incident in• her conduct sh ews t h at, so far as she was concerne d , s h e did not agree with them, that she disliked or was unfit for a conventual life. For two and a half years she was a novice, during which time her temper was tried, penance,. were inflicted, and a number of things were done that test her fitness to go on with the life she had undertaken. LTp to 1851 no one doubted she was fitted for the life she had undertaken. "The whole of the defence." he continued, "is want of vocation, but there was no force in that part of the defence, for there was no want of vocation discovered until 1860 or 1861 ; and that is very remarkable, because, if she gave trouble after that time, then she gave none before ; and why did they not discover it before? The necessary foun dation of the defence, when we come fairly to look at the case, ml at fail altogether." Referring to the bishop's letter, he pointed out how very serious the charges would seem to be though the language was ambiguous. " I don't suppose Miss Saurin is perfect. I am not one who believes that she is that wonder. The world never saw a perfect per son, for I believe that she and women generally, like men, have faults. I don't contend such nonsense as that she has no faults, and when the defendants were asked to explain them, I appeal to you whether the explanations given were not the most childish. Mrs. Starr, in th e l anguage she had used in these depol sitions, was creating a f a l se i mpression in the bishop's 11 mind with reference to Miss Saurin, and what right tohasgive an si Starr described the incidentwnigthte r r e e t sp ai e n c tt( itanttt the watch as a deposit o f an extern, and a on the part of Miss Saurin, by wishing defraud the congregation, but can y ou b elieve otherwise than that Mrs. Starr has told a tremendous lie about the watch ? " The Solicitor-General concluded his powerful address to the jury at a quarter to two o' c l oc k yesterday afternoon, when the court rose. Sir Dominic Corrigan has issued his address to the electors of the city of Dublin. The Conservative candidate has not yet been announced. ROBBERY WITII VIOLENCE, AND " THE CAT,".. At the Assizes at Newcastle, on Wednesday, three men, Ralph Charlton, 34, Thomas Charlton, 24, and William Fatkin, °l, all mincr3, having been found guilty the previous day of as3aulEng and robbing Charlton Foster of a sum of £l5 lOs., the moneys of the River Tyne Commis. sionera, were sentenced by Sir W. Brett as follows : Ralph Charlton to seven years' penal servitude, and the other two to five years of the same punishment, and each to receive eighteen lashes in addition. DE ATI! OF MR. G. 17. BERGENROTIT. -- The death of Mr. G. H. Bergenroth took place in Madrid on Saturday, the 13th inst., from typhus fever. Mr. Bergen. roth was well known to scholars as editor of some of the volumes of " Calendars and Memorials of Early English History," published under the direction of the Master of the Rolls. He was for several years engaged in the search and and c s o p ll a e in c r e n of r es e ry e d lettersand in the Statearchivespapers nf s i ni between aue as. England 3i Mr Bergenroth was a German by birth. He was btiliais the pa4§4hatutnt mat= atSuthau G gi - THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 26, 1169. TIIK PAPAL STATES. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) ROME, FEB. 19. Rome is full of notabilities. Longfellow is spending his winter here, and Gounod, the composer of "Faust," has arrived, and intends, it is said, to settle here, and conse crate his talent to the cultivation of sacred music. He has been received with especial kindness by the Pope. The Marquis of Bute, with Mgr. Capel, left Rome for Civita Vecchia on Monday, where they embarked on board a yacht for the East, and intend returning to Rome for the Holy Week. The celebrated Abbess of Mintk, the victim of Russian cruelty, who sought a refuge in Rome in the time of Gregory XVI., died a few days since in her convent of exiled Polish Basilican nuns on the Esquiline, of which she bad been for many years superioress. The Pope sent her his benediction on her death-bed. The name of Makrina Mieroslawski was once intimately associated with that of the Czar Nicholas, from the reproof administered to him apropos of the affair of his visit to Rome in 1844. A very large quantity of warlike stores, including 60,000 cartouches, have been disembarked at Civita Vecchia for the use of the French garrison. There does not appear to be any intention whatever of a change of policy on the part of France—at least before the March elections— as the clerical influence in the departments goes too thoroughly hand in hand with the national feeling to admit of the Emperor's ignoring it. The Archbishops of Rouen and of Rheims have each remitted about £3,200 to Rome this week, and immense sums are arriving from all the departments and great religious centres in France, and I may add Germany, where a complete revival of devotion to the Holy See is taking the form of public sub scriptions to an immense value for the coming 11th of April, the anniversary of the day when Pius IX. celebrated his first mass in the poor schools of Tata Giovanni, of which he was then a great benefactor, The French Ambassador, M. De Banneville, delivered his letters of credit to the Pope on Tuesday, and after wards received the Roman and foreign aristocracy in the Palazzo Colonna. Nothing could be more brilliant than the reception. Few noble names in Europe were with out a representative, and the uniforms, official costumes, and magnificent jewels of the guests, rendered the scene a most imposing one. The great affluence of guests is regarded by the friends of the Temporal Power as an important demonstration in its favour, as the Marquis de Banneville has lost no occasion of publishing his sentiments, and of declaring his resolution of resigning his post, if the Foreign Office at Paris sent him instructions in an adverse sense. Madame de Banneville wore a magnificent gold-coloured train over white, and a coiffure, also of the Pontifical colours—a very strong measure in Rome for a French ambassadress. Archbishop Manning preached on Wednesday at San Marcello in aid of the Opera Apostolica, a pious society, presided over by the Princess Orsini, for the purpose of furnishing poor foreign missions with plate and vestments. The Pope continues perfectly well. A horrible accident occurred yesterday at the Villa Borghese. A landau, containing Mrs. Firnim and her two daughters, and driven, it is supposed, by a coachman the worse for liquor, was seen advancing at full speed along the principal alley, drawn by two runaway horses. A French nobleman, well known for his courage and coolness, the Comte de Christen, happened to be on the spot, and threw himself before the horses in hopes of stopping them. Before he was able, however, to reach the reins a square stone in the road caused the overturn of the carriage, and the ladies were precipitated with the greatest violence to the ground. Mrs. Firnim was taken up senseless, having received several dreadful contusions on the head and body, and her life is despaired of. Her elder daughter is also in a dan gerous condition from her bruises, which were also on the head. The younger lady was more slightly injured, and it is hoped the accident may, for her at least, be devoid of serious consequences. Athenceum. Mr. Dilke, who has been more successful than his father in finding a seat, is, I believe, but 24 years of age. Yet the narrative of his tour round the world, which he made by way of supplementing his Cambridge education, shews such powers of observation, such originality of thought, such vigour of expression, that it is clear he- must be a man of no ordinary powers. Those who know him prophesy that he will rise to be a Cabinet Minister. He holds very advanced views, and is one of the most able additions made of late to the young Radical party. The Temperance party are very active this year, and with good reason. Never was there so much attention called to their question as there is now; never were we so near im portant legislation on this most important subject. Sir Wil frid Lawson's Permissive Bill has been already read a first time, and is down for a second reading early in May. In the interval the most strenuous efforts will be made to get up memorials and petitions in its favour. Temperance is now also under the consideration of the Convocation of the Southern Province, and I have before me a copy of the report which will be presented to the committee, obtained by Archdeacon Sandford. As this document has not yet been formally adopted, I will say only that it is a most exhaustive and able report, based on an enormous quantity of evidence. This morning there has been a gathering of Welsh Temperance men at the Freemasons"favern. The Government has determined to reward Mr. Moncrieff handsomely for his invention (the first notice of which appeared in this correspondence). He is to be repaid the cost of his models and experiments, to receive £l,OOO a year for the time he has spent in perfect ing his invention, and is to continue to receive that sum so long as he is employed by the Government ; he is also to receive a lump sum of £15,000, whereof £lO,OOO is to be paid at once, and £5,000 when be ceases to be employed by the Government. This is the reward of eleven years of perseverance ; only why did not General Peel, why did not Earl De Grey, why did not the Marquis of Hartington discover the value of the inven tion before? By so doing they might have saved us hundreds of thousands for our now superfluous fortifica tions. Mr. Fitzherbert, the Colonial Treasurer of New Zealand, leaves here for that country this week. He has been in England for some weeks vainly endeavouring to persuade our Government to guarantee the interest on a loan which the New Zealand Government proposes to raise. The truth is, New Zealand prospects are anything but bright now, and the only too great probability of another Maori war renders the colonial financiers very uneasy. But the policy of guaranteeing colonial debts is one that the party now in office has almost always refused to sanction. In this case there are special reasons for refusal, inasmuch as the dispute with the Maories was brought about originally by the lust for land. Mr. Fitzherbert therefore departs re infects. Meanwhile Colonel Maude, of the Free Labour Society, Mr. Thomas Briggs, who has long taken great interest in emigration, and other gentle men, have suggested to Mr. Fitzherbert that a certain portion of land lying on the frontier of the district in which the quarrel has been raging shall be granted free to emigrants who will undertake to settle there, and to bear arms in their own defence against the Maories. In fact, they will be a kind of human breakwater against the waves of aboriginal hostility. To this end emigrants who had formerly served in the army would be preferred, and grants would be made from 64 up to 664 acres, in proportion to the rank of the colonist, and his supposed ability to direct or assist military operations. The scheme was laid before Mr. Fitzherbert this morning, and he will take it back with him for consideration. I may add that another well-known colonial politician, Sir George Cartier, is over here now, negotiating for the annexation of the Hudson's Bay territory to the dominion of Canada. No fewer than 500 - additional members were added to the Junior Carlton Club on Tuesday. This raises the total number to 2,000, quite sufficient even for the splendid new building in Pall Mall and St. James's-square. There are still a large number of candidates waiting for admis sion. The City Carlton, started last year, is full. It would seem, therefore, as if Conservatism were anything but dead, notwithstanding its severe treatment in Novem ber. The new Marlborough Club is to be opened next week. In art, literature, and the drama, the most important event is the amalgamation of the two opera-houses, an arrangement which excites much unfavourable comment. Mr. Millais, who has been alarmingly ill, is said to-day to be out of danger. Mr. Holman Hunt is still at Florence, and in a few days he will receive a proof of the engraving, "Isabella and the Pot of Basil" for his last corrections. M. Dore is painting a picture of Rossini on his deathbed. Mr. Henry Gales has painted a picture of the late Cabinet deciding upon the Abyssinian expedition, each member of it having sat for his portrait. Mr. Jeaffreson, the author of the "Book about Lawyers" and other well-known books, is engaged upon an historical work which will pro bably be out before the long vacation. MISCEL LANE° US NEWS. PQLITICAL 3fEETINGS. Political banquets do not as a rule take place during the session, but just after a general election there are certain consolation banquets to be held. As the duties of those to be consoled do not require them at Westminster the gatherings may as well be held during the session as before or after it. Liberal Cambridgeshire has just been entertaining Mr. Young, who, bringing down Mr. Brand to defeat the Conser vative, saw himself thrown out by his own protégé. To shew him that though the electors had not chosen him yet they respected him, a testimonial was presented to the unfortunate candidate, and he had the plea sure of hearing everybody sayi ng pl easan t thi ngs about him for some two hours. Mr. Brand was very sorry that he had been successful, and declared that if he had thought it possible he would not have come down to disturb the representation. The Welsh Liberals residing in London have been rejoicing over the return of twenty-three Liberals by Wales. They got together more than a score of " M.P.'s," and the list of those present included twenty-two gentlemen called Williams, fourteen of the name of Davis, and fourteen Jones's. Mr. linatchbull-Hugessen, who presided, pointed out that the Liberals of Wales had to contend against large territorial influence, and the weight of old family associations and traditions. But, like other portions of the country, they were determined that injustice should be done away with, and that all the subjects of her Majesty should be placed on a footing of perfect equality. They had, therefore, overcome the old prejudices, and contributed largely to the Liberal majority. The Marquis of liartington, in his address at the Radnor elections, has strongly protested against the boasting of the Conservatives, that Lord Stanley settled the Alabama claims. These claims are as far from settlement now as ever. In his allusion to the Irish Church, the noble marq u i s h as con fi ne d hi mse lf to the general Question. ana liilOWn amongst the Orange ana nigh Protestant party in Ireland as Popish Stanley." Again, whet. Lord Derby (then Mr. Stanley) proposed his Tithes Bill the same flag was unfurled—but with no result. Other Ministries came into power, but the measures they proposed were by no means so advantageous to the clergy. " All the clergy gained on this occasion was a delay of some seven years, and a loss of 10 per cent. for ever of their incomes." These cases ought. the Dean thinks, to be sufficient warning. METROPOLITAN GOSSlP.—Thursday. Surely never did Session open more tamely than this. Yet it is expected to be the stormiest for many a year past ; and remembering those of the last three years that is saying a good deal. By common consen t th ere is to be no preliminary skirmishing, but the strength of both armies will be reserved for the great battle close at hand. This rigid rule of self-rest ra i n t w hi c h t h e Conservative leaders have laid down was amusingly illustrated a few nights ago. Sir John Hay, a Lord of the Admiralty in the last Administration, got up proprio motu to ask whether Sir Sidney Waterlow meant to vacate his seat, on the ground that he had a Government contract. Sir John did not content himself with asking a question, he tendered advice, which, coming from a political opponent, the London alderman was not at all likely to accept. Hon. members were beginning to get excited, and there was every appearance of a division, when Mr. Ward Hunt rose, and snubbing his colleague so effectually that Sir John left the House in a pet, agreed to the proposal from the Ministerial side of the House that a committee should he appointed to inquire into the matter. Sir John, in his eager partizln4lip, had forgotten the old proverb about sauce being equally appropriate for the goose and the gander, that if he succeeded in ejecting the Liberal member for Dumfriesshire, he would also eject the Conservative member for Manchester, who is in exactly the same position, and that while the Liberals would probably retain the first seat on a fresh election, the Conservatives would certainly lose the second. So Mr. Hunt interposed to good purpose, and up to the time I write the Conservative managers have done their work so well that they have not taken a single division, have not once given visible prcof of their arithmetical inferiority. It would be absurd to trouble you with long speculations as to the measure which is to be introduced on Monday. A few hours now will shew whether the Government has mastered or bungled the most difficult question pre sented to Parliament within the lifetime of most of us. If the hints given by journals supposed to enjoy a certain amount of inspiration be worth anything, the measure will be "a very simple one," in which case it can scarcely be very thorough. On the other hand, the numerous meetings of the Cabinet, and the long sittings, extending, it is said, to seven hours, would certainly imply that some thing more than abstract principles are under discussion, that it is details of a very numerous and complex kind which are under consideration. Mr. Bright seems to feel the collar a good deal. His speech at Fishmongers' Hall about the bishops was indis creet, to say the least; his speech last evening at the dinner of the Associated Chambers of Commerce, shewed also how restless he is in harness. During Tuesday's debate on local taxation he kept his mouth with a bridle, even though the country squires were before him; and, being apparently better informed than Mr. Goschen as to the intentions of the Premier, he did not attempt to answer the arguments which came from the Opposition bench. But all the time that he was musing the fire burned. He could not restrain himself for more than 24 hours. The Westminster Palace Hotel gave him an opportunity for kicking over the tract, which had been denied him at Westminster Palace, and he proceeeded to deliver himself of all the reasons against granting the country gentlemen's request which he had kept in pato on the previous night. Considering that his chief had granted this request, and pledged his Government to effecting the required changes, this was scarcely fair to Mr. Gladstone. If Mr. Bright thinks it necessary to prove that he still retains his independence by criticising outside the House the mea sures which by bis silence he sanctions inside, he will find himself attempting to perform a feat long considered dan gerous, if not impossible—sitting between two stools. So Scotland is to set us an example in bankruptcy as well as in banking. Scotch banking bas long been the model system, and after many years of scandalous failure on this side of the Tweed, we Southrons are about to learn from the Scots how to wind up bankrupt estates. The revelations which Sir Robert Collier made at the Chamber of Commerce dinner were, though out of regard to the n b is n ri o e t f, g e o m in i g n e t n o tl w y a s s a t t e isf t a im ct e or i y n . Trebspeepertesdeunet toGovernment Parliament, over that conspicuous failure of a very clever but most unsuccessful man, Lord Westbury's Bankruptcy Bill of 1861, but will reform the system altogether. M.P.s and frequenters of the lobbies of St. Stephens will miss the face of a gentleman very well known to many of them—Mr. John Curling, who died a few days ago. He was the son of a Surrey country gentleman, who had taken a prominent part in local politics, and his son was no less keen a general politician. He belonged to the now almost extinct race of old Whigs, believed devoutly in Lord Russell, and dreaded, not to say bated, Mr. Gladstone. He was known to a large number of M.P.'s, a d m ei b gn it e io d n to w as tal t k o p w a i s t s h tb hi a m t d a o s or, an an e d qu b a e l. and even th e stern janitors at the door of the House s e g v r e e r a a t l ma H de is attempts to go through the preliminary ordeal of election, , offering himself t o D artmouth, Tavistock, and Devizes ; but in vain. By profession be was a solicitor, and was employed chiefly in parliamentary work. He drew up several bills, amongst them some eccentric measures intro duced by the Marquis Townshend. Between the Mar quis and Mr. Curling there was a bond of sympathy in their love of animals. Mr. Curling was one of the pro moters of the refuge for dogs, and he never stirred out without carrying a supply of biscuits for distressed dogs and cats. He was a remarkably handsome man, and dressed in the fashion of the beaux of thirty years ago—a fashion which some of the young swells in the War Office are attempting to revive. There is one new member of the present House whereof great things are expected. It is Mr. Charles Wentworth Dilke, 14.1.1', for Chelsea, and on of the proprietor of the ECONOMY. Four years ago Mr. Childers, then a Junior Lord of the Admiralty, said he hoped " the House of Commons would resist the attempt to retain sinecures at Greenwich, and that the offices of governor and lieutenant-governor would not be maintained." Mr. Childers is now First Lord of the Admiralty, and has claimed and obtained for himself supreme control over the Board. He is also a great economist ? and has cut down the number of clerks and ju n i or officers in a manner that is said to have alarmed even Mr. Glarbitone. Nevertheless he has just appointed a gallant admiral visitor and governor at Greenwich with a salary of £1,200 a year. The said visitor and governor has been deprived of all duties by a recent Act of Parliament. We might have expected that under these circumstances the post itself would have been abolished by the most economical Minister who ever presided over the British navy. THE IRISH CHURCH. The Cabinet has kept its secret about the Irish Church question so very well that any attempt to put down rumour as authentic has been frustrated at the outset. But the Advertiser seems to be very uneasy as to Mr. Gladstone's intentions. Every little expression used by a member of the Cabinet is taken as a dark hint that the Ministry is going to commit this or that political injustice. If the Chancellor of the Exchequer talks of Parliament as the trustee of the Irish Church funds, he means that the Government propose to level up, and no end of inferences are drawn from phrases which have long enough been so familiar as to be the best means of expression. Our contemporary has now contrived to alarm itself by the rumour that Mr. Gladstone intends to postpone his scheme of disendowment till next year. Cannot the Advertiser wait till Monday ? It is not very long. And notwithstanding that the Premier does not hold altogether withthe Advertiser's theology, notwithstanding that he has praised "Etta Homo," and writes in Good words, notwithstanding that he has not praised the licensed vi ;Wailers, he is hardly such a very bad man that he will break all his promises and pledges, which, according to the Advertiser, he is about to do. The Irish Times in its London corr es p on d ence, s t a t es absolutely that dis endowment is included in the Irish Church Bill, and is so explicit as to say that the draft bill consists of from DO to 100 clauses. The Very Rev. Dean of Waterford writes to the Morning Post, calling attention to the recent cases of the "No-surrender " cry which has been raised by the Irish clergy. Wh en the national educational system was founded, the same cry was raised, and those who proposed compromises were looked upon as traitors then, as now. "Al] they gained by th e principle of 'No surrender' on this occasion was the establishment 'of the present system of education by the Earl of Derby, at that tie r W.. Sscret atz j or j r Aj a rka. uncinr—thsi_Mica: IRISH RAILWAYS. The Irish members are not at all likely to forget Ireland ; the Hibernian right hand will not forget its cunning. A very vigorous attempt will be made by Irish members of both Houses to compel the Govern ment to buy the Irish railways. A meeting has just been held, convened by special circular, at which 30 or 40 members of the Lower House were present, and also the Marquis of Clanricarde, the Earl of Lucan, the Earl of Bessborough, Lord Lismore, and other Irish peers. It was assumed at the meet ing that the Government had decided against the purchase, and that it was even hesitating to assist certain Irish lines with further loans. It has, in fact, been lately stated that while Mr. Gladstone and some members of the Cabinet were in favour of the pur chese, a majority of the Ministers were against it. NOTES ON IRELAND. The old time of mob rule in Ireland does not seem to have passed away altogether. At the hearing of the Sligo election petition, which has been conducted (in consequence of the excitement prevailing at Sligo) at Carrick-on-Shannon, a witness was ordered to produce some documents. They were at Sligo, and he objected to put himself under the power of a Sligo mob. The judge, however, insisted, and the witness went. From what afterwards took place it seems that telegrams were sent off to Sligo, calling the roughs together. 11 hen the witness got to the town this mob assaulted the police by whom he was being protected, and stones were freely thrown, one of them striking the offend ing man in the head. The man who threw the stone was arrested, and the matter w as brought under the notice of Mr. Justice Keogh, who has declared his intention of probing the matter to the bottom, and finding out at whose instigation the mob assembled. What with the bribery which has been proved, and has resulted in the unseating of Major Knox, and the intimidation from mobbing which hal been shewn to exist, the House of Commons will probably feel itself bound to consider whether a new writ shall issue for Sligo. There seems to be some uncertainty as to whether a new writ will be issued for Dublin ; but at any rate an attempt will be made to obtain the consent of the House. As corruption was shewn to have existed only amonzst the freemen. these form .1 comparatively small proportion or the voters; ana as both Liberals and Conservatives believe that they have a chance of success, it is not unlikely that the motion for a new election will be passed. It was by Sir Arthur Guinness, the Conservative candidate, that bribery was committed, so that the Conservatives of the city do not believe in any very deep-seated cor ruption; and the organ of the Liberal party argues thatthe electoral corruption in Dublin was exclusively confined to a class, and did not pervade, or even in the slightest degree taint, the general body of electors, It is therefore thought that it would be an injustice to make the many suffer for the sins of the few. VAGIt ANCY. A correspondent of the Times remonstrates strongly !nth those who encourage vagrancy by giving money in the public streets. His morning walk from Regent's Park to Lincoln's-inn occupied an hour, and in this space of time he encountered nineteen beggars, only one of whom he believed to be really in want, the rest being all professional mendicants. Between Gordon-square and Southampton-row, he met nine children, most of them carrying brooms, while in his return he is certain to meet a similar number of vagrants of a different class. It needs, in the opinion of this writer, but little reflection to know that a penny given to a child of 5 or G years old cannot benefit it, while if it be older it most likely gambles it away. Most of us, he believes, give far too little to those who are really in want— the needy, the sick, desitute or ignorant children, decrepit, aged, or miserable folk ; but reckless alms giving is money miserably wasted. Unfortunately, to reach any of the classes he mentions requires what most of us are more reluctant to give than money—time and personal exertion—while the professional vagrant stands ready with his or her pitiful tale. BURGLARY. Mr. Mill, in a letter to the Times, remarks on the subject of burglars, and thinks that it is idle to blame the police for want of vigilance when it is the defective state of the law tl:At is at fault. He con siders that the " criminal lispitalists," whether dis honest pawnbrokers, or receivers of stolen goods, should be subjected to more stringent regulations. The law as it at present stands does not afford the means for detecting these traffickers, and a change for the better is loudly called for. Another class of offenders is that which harbours the criminals, and receives rents necessarily the proceeds of plunder. EMIGRATION. "An Ex-Guardian " writes to the Times on the difficulties of emigration in connection with the Luton Union. In common with the whole county of Bedford, this union is suffering from a superabun dance of agricultural labour, and many labourers are anxious to emigrate. The guardians are willing to assist them, but the Poor-law Board require the emigration agents to enter into a contract for the conveyance of the emigrants. This contract contains nothing but what is reasonable ; yet the local agents for Queensland, the colony selected, decline to enter into it, and the plan for emigration has come to a standstill in consequence. If the colonists desire to import labourers at all, they should p rov id e f or th e voyage of the emigrants in a suitable style. THE CHURCH ASSOCIATION. The Church Association has just held a large meet ing, at which there was a good deal of satisfaction expressed with reference to the recent Ritual judg ment. It was stated that the guarantee fund exceeded £52,000, and that an action was now pending " to test the legality of the doctrines held by the sacerdotalists," the Bishop of Bath and Wells being prepared to sign the letters of request to the Court of Arches, against Mr. Bennett, as soon as they are ready. The secretary of the association complained that Mr. Mackonochie and his friends had by " many evasive delays " greatly increased the costs of the association in the recent suit against him, those costs having been originally £6,000. The association had bestowed great labour and expense on the Ecclesiastical Courts Bill, just introduced by Lord Shaftesbury, and they also sup ported the Vestments Bill and the Uniformity of Worship Bill, introduced last session. According to the Standards summary, it was announced that the association intended to take steps to test the legality of eucharistic vestments ; but we find no mention of this in the Standard's report. Mr. Campbell Colquhoun, the chairman, said he had received a letter from Dr. Pusey, complaining that be had been called disloyal to the English Church. Ur. Colquhoun contended that this was a true charge, inasmuch as Dr. Pus e y w i s h e d t o b r ing about a reconciliation with Rome ; whereas, according to Mr. Colquhoun's theory, the English Church has no locus standi except in so far as it protests against Rome. Since these two gentlemen differ so widely as to the basis and raison d'etre of the English Church, a con troversy between them would be void of result. FATHER IGNATIUS. Father Ignatius is, to say the least, a funny man. Although au ultra-High Churchman, he, being only deacon'sin orders, celebrates the Holy Communion, andinvites a woman to preach. He seems, too, to be fond of litigation. For some years past there has been- a feud between him and Mr. Drury, of Claydon, who with him founded the Norwich monastery. The matter was referred to the arbitration of two London cl e r g y men , w h o certainly were not _disposed to be unfriendly to Mr. Lyne — Mr. tuart, of Munster-square, and Mr. Hill, of St. Edmund's, Lombard-street, in which church Mr. Lyne has for several months lectured with the rector's consent. They have now communicated to the public th a t M r . Lyne has formally revoked his submission to their arbitration, and that therefore their office as arbitrators is at an end. At th e same time they state that the charge of collusion . brought against Mr. Drury and Mr. Jackaman, solicitor of Ipswich, has no foundation, and that both gentlemez acted with perfect honour and good faith throughout the matter. Mr. Stuart adds that the failure of the arbitration is " certainly through no fault of Mr. Drury's." It will not require a very lively imagina tion to Mess at the real cause of the failure. I ADVERTISEMENT.]-11olloway's Pills.—There pills are more efficacious in strengthening a debilitated constitution than any other medicine in the world. Persons of a nervous habit of body, and all who aro suffering from weak digestive organs, or whose health has become de ranged by bilious affections, di so rdered stomach, or liver complaints, should lose no time giving those admirable pills a fair ' trial. Coughs, colds, asthmas, cr shortness of breath, are also within the range of the sanative powers of this very remarkable medicine. The cures effected by these pills are not superficial or temporary, but complete and permanent. They are as mild as they are efficacious, and may be given with confidence to delicate females and young children. THE MANUFACTURE OF WATCHES AND CLOCKS.-- A most interesting and instructive little work, describing briefly but with great clearness, the rise and progress of watch and clock makin • , has just been published by Mr J. W. Benson, of 25, Old Bond-street, 99, Westbourne-grove, and the City Steam Factory, 58 and 60, Ludgate-hill. The book, which is profusely illustrated, gives a full description of the various kinds of watches and clocks, with their prices, and no one should make a purchase without visiting the above establishments or consulting this truly valuable work. By its aid persons residing in any part of the United Kingdom, India, or the Colonies, are enabled to select for themselves the watch best adapted for their use, and have it sent to them with perfect safety. Mr. Benson, who holds the appoint ment to the Prince of Wales, sends this pamphlet to any address on receipt of two postage stamps, and we cannot too strongly lONZUWIPUtI it the 119tice ig the ikttauctiog Purchatier • 711 E AMERICAN PRESS ON THE ALA BAMA CLAIMS CONVENTION. (From the Anglo -American Times.) The following are samples of the spirit of the New York weekly press on the Alabama Claims Convention. The Nation of Feb. 4 says :—" There appears to be little doubt that the Clarendon-John son Convention will be rejected by the Senate, on the ground, taken it is said by General Grant, that the injuries sustained from Fngland during the war are of such a nature that they cannot be adequately atoned for by compensation in money for the loss of a certain-number of ships; that the sympathy ex tended by England to the South prolonged the war for at least a year,' and that she is, therefore, directly responsible for all lives lost and money expended during this time.' Fhe opponents of the Convention do not propose any present substitute for it, and do not contemplate a resort to war. Their plan is to leave the controversy open interrorenz, either until England has been reduced to a more contrite mood, or until she is engaged in war with some other nation and can be subjected to exact retaliation. It does not seem likely, however, that any peaceful settlement of the question can ever be effected on the basis indicated in General Grant's objection. If an apology is what is wanted, no apology Eugland is likely to put on paper will be any better compensation for the losses of a year of war than payment of the Alabama da mages ; nor is she likely to pay all the money ex pended during a year of war,' unless it can be shown that the prolongation of the war for this period was the result simply of English sympathy ; nor is she likely to pay smart money for having sympathized with the wrong party in a contest to which she was a stranger. These are conditions to which nations have sometimes submitted at the close of a bloody and disastrous conflict, as the price of their existence, but they are not conditions of which diplomatists talk before a shot has been fired. So that, though it may be the wisest thing to reject the Clarendon-Johnson convention and keep the controversy open, it is hardly wise to present to the public as the only proper basis of negotiation one which no lawyer or attesman familiar with foreign affairs believes to be in the least likely to be finally adopted. If everybody who exercised an unfavourable moral influence on the South during the war ought to pay a portion of the total ex penses of every kind of putting down the rebellion, France ought to be mulcted heavily also, and all persons who voted the Democratic ticket in 1864 ought to pay double taxes." The Round Table alludes to the popular estimate of the damage done at one thousand million dollars, and con siders that it would be a fine thing for the nation if it could get one-fifth. It explains the eight articles, but before discussing them, it asks " the candid reader to bear in mind two things : First, that the treaty, such as it is, must be re garded as in a great measure the product of Mr. Seward's diplomacy. Few will accuse him of par tiality for England, nor will many concede that he is likely to have been outwitted by Lord Claren don. Several of the points were devised by Mr. Seward, and their adoption was insisted on by him. He has acquiesced fcr his part in all of them. It does not seem quite reasonable then to assume in advance, as some of our journals have done, that the treaty is necessarily a triumph for England and a humiliation for the United States. Second, that the treaty is in itself a concession of the point of international law which has been at issuebetween the two countries. Au evening paper, whose incapacity is notorious to bring to bear on any subject where England is concerned the clearness and impartiality of judgment that commonly distinguish it on others, said (Jan. 23), ' nor does the treaty secure to our claimants a fair hearing. In fact, their right to recover depends upon a question of international law on which the treaty is silent.' This is surely temper, ignorance, or both. The assent to the commission is in itself a recognition of the law. England flatly refused in the first instance to make these claims the subject of either conference or arbi tration. Her retreat from that position is plainly a triumph for the United States ; the more decisive since it is distinctly understood, and has been over and over again declared by English publicists, that the purpose of the Administrations that have suc ceeded Lord Palmerston's has been, and is in join ing this treaty, to recognize the principles contended for by the United States and hitherto by Great Britain denied." It goes on, after criticizing each article, to say— " Keeping all these things in view, together with the fact that the Commission is to be held not in London but in Washington, it seems hard for the dispassionate mind to understand how it is that we are, according to the authorities we have referred to, a plundered and betrayed people,' or iu what respect we have not got, on the whole, rather the best of the bargain. We are ready to go as far as any in vindication of the honour of our country. If there are points in this treaty whose operation would injuriously affect that honour, and whi c h we thus far fail to see, we are ready to be instructed and will gladly revise our judgment. But looking at the matter with the eyes of average common sense we do not believe there are such points ; and if there are not, this wretched spirit of buncombe, this pitiful catering for the prejudiced appetites of the most ignorant and unthinking of our popula tion, deserves to be sharply rebuked. The time has gone by for it in this country, even if the re volutionary changes in England itself did not render such spirit an anachronism. The people of England desire at this moment of all things on earth, next to their own complete enfranchisement, the friendship of the people of the United States. If this treaty is not satisfactory to us, we have only to be patient and the people of England will insist upon a treaty that is so. There is not the least danger but that we shall get substantial justice in the matter, without menaces and without war. Less than this the American people will not take, and more they do not desire. Meanwhile it is to be re gretted that their certain victory should be tarnished in advance by pointless and ridiculous bluster, which is as little called for by its ostensible occasion as it is rendered either wise or generous by the pro spects of future relations between the two countries." The Spirit (if the Times has a series of very strong articles against the Convention, which derived much of their importance from the fact that the editor is a personal friend of the President Elect. The Spirit considers Great Britain " responsible not only for the ships the Alabama burned, but for the commerce Anglo-Rebel pirates drove from the ocean. Responsible not only for the value of the vessels plundered and destroyed ; but for the thou sand millions of dollars we lost by English perfidy. Responsible not for even these alone, but for a policy that inspired the rebellion with hope, and disheartened the Union with fear, and prolonged our war till England had reaped a harvest of gold from a field fertilized with American blood. North or South, we owe her no gratitude ; to the North, England was a bully who profited by our troubles ; to the South, she was like the witches to Macbeth, luring it on to misery, by promises she never meant to keep. Who can doubt who knew the spirit of the Southern people, who read the messages of Jefferson Davis to the Confe derate Congress, that England encouraged the re bellion solely to profit by the misfortunes of our whole country ? And now she comes, like a bank rupt, and offers to pay a penny in the pound, and even embarrass this offer with conditions that make it possible that we may never even get the penny ! Grant's opinion,'we think, kills the Alabama treaty. The Senate which refused to confirm Andrew John son's civil appointments, that Grant might be left free to reform the service, will scarcely saddle the next Administration with the foreign policy of this. But there is more to be done than to wait. The Fortieth Congress should not expire without plac ing itself upon the record as the enemy of their treacherous bargain which even now every effort is being made to compel it to confirm. The House of Representatives has no part to act concerning this treaty ; the formal responsibility rests with the Senate. But the House owes it to itself, as its members are the immediate representatives of the people, to sustain General Grant in his earnest pro test, and to condemn the unrighteous treaty from beginning to end. Congress should declare that .r.••.•, "".""' our claims against England are not to be satisfied by the payment of the value of a few burned ships. It should denounce the suggestion that any just claim of the United States shall be referred to a foreign umpire. It should reject the idea of a joint commission, which is but another name for a joint betrayal. And above all, as the strongest , plainest, most direct protest it can utter, it should demand the recall of Reverdy Johnson." After his recall " will follow the other duty—not less la' portant—that of asserting, in the right way, an d at the right time, these claims against England, which should have bee❑ permitted to become s question to be debated and decided. The u n ited States should assume the debt; they should estab' lish a Home Commission to ascertain and pay Ara' rican losses ; then we ►night turn to Great Britain and demand reparation for all the injuries she hos inflicted. Were it refused, then, at least, we would be free to act in the future. IVe repeat, that while we hold this debt uncompromised, undiminished hi the decisions of foreign umpires, America is master of the situation. England is iu our power, an d o it would be folly to surrender the advantage. Of course, the Irish papers sing to pretty much the same tune, but the tone of the daily papers is on the whole moderate and sensible, though the Tri" butte takes strong ground for rejection, assuming a position which if the nati'in took would instantly be construed by England to mean war. Of the three leading New York dailies the Time s considers the Convention eminently favourable to the United States :—" Every material point mad e by the Department of State has been conceded substantially in the form in which it was sub' mated." The TVorld thinks that by its tol es England recognizes her liability for the A/abanza claims. The Tribune, however, writes strongly iegaiust the Convention. On the 3d inst. it land an article running over three columns, in which it asserts that the remonstrance of Mr. Upton pre sented to the Senate by Mr. Sumner against the Clarendon-Johnsou treaty was based on the clea r understanding of the meaning of the protoco l ' After entering at length into the history o f i n ter' national neutrality, maintaining the loyalty o f the United States towards other countries, and illa s " trating it by the rebellion in Canada in 1838, th e 'tribune shows the danger of the precedent est° . blished by England to England, of which her Go' verument and merchants are not insensible, shown by their constant and profound anxiety t ° settle the Alabama precedent. The article coil' eludes with these words :-- " Upon the grave questions of international neutrality involved in the dispute, the Treaty is silent. It proposes to settle our claims by the decision of an umpire chose n by lot ; but such a decision decides no principle, and wou ld h leave America with her strict views, and England wi t " her looser code, without any mutual agreement for the avoidance of the future difficulties which are certaill . t° arise, unless the United St a t e s, th oroug hl y sa ti s fied wi th the reparation offered by E ng l an d, cordially unites W it " her in revising the neutral code on a fair basis of equalitP It is idle to suppose that America will continuto to po c i : tise for the benefit of England the s t r i c t pr i nc i p l e s wh ie ; England rejects, or that some of h er c iti zens will / 41 ; when the occasion arrives, to remember the precedent Se by England iu her treatment of us, unless these precedepts ate for ever disposed of by their frank repudiation °II the part of the English Government, and a satisfactg reparation for the damage which they caused to AJne lv can merchmits." From the tone of the English press the CO ° : cessions made are, at least at present, consi dered; the utmost to which England would asse ° in preference to war. Judging the nation s , ; opinion from its spirit the assertion is tha t England has been systematically bullied by t he Republic for half a century; that th e t one assunie, by American statesmen when con t ras t e d w ith ths es " assumed by English statesmen exchanging despatc h t so proves this as to leave it an historical fact ; t h° ,, England never was i n a difficulty or at war in whit; the active sympathy of the United States was 13° with her enemy ; that she fomented the rebellion .„ Canada and the rising in Ireland. Although this proves the difficulty we last week noticed of age similating in any degree whatever the Americas national view of the position and the English natio nal view, it shows also, we regret to add, how lit he is the love between th e c o u n t r i es ; an d we fear t he result of Mr. Re ver dy J o h nson ' s peace e ff o rts wil l be to intensify th e di s lik e on b oth s i des. It is satisfactory, however, to see two papers rising j e 7 / such importance a s the .Nation and the R°llBA -7able arguing the question on its merits only, a /3 c ; we venture to say, mor e f ree f rom pass ion 3 1 1 prejudice than almost any paper in England. be any one read the v eh emen t art i c l e l ast wee k in !be ~, Saturday R ev i ew, w hi c h , we are con fid ent, b u t falrl expresses the ge n er a l t one , an d it will be seen how wide is the split, if General G'-' 3 "a adheres to his ascribed opinion. With his h arl , 4 he writes 4‘ L e t us h ave P eace ;" with his mouth. Pe makes a declaration which, if carried into pract! c ; would lead to a horrible war, the result of which ° impossible to predict. There are, however, teniP:t rate and just men in tens of thousands through ° o America whose influence is not the less bec ause they wake less noise, and in the end the decisl e . a will fall into their hands. We fear that Grant % Yl e carry with him into office a difficulty for which u is but little prepared. WRECK ON THE GOOD WIN SANDS• NORTH DEAL, Feb. About noon yesterday, while the wind was Ora ing from S.W. by W., the Gull Light Ship fire signals of distress for a large ship on the Goodwi'3" and the 'V an Kook lifeboat, of the National 1) 1° 0 boat Institution, stationed at this place, vi 3s , once launched, and proceeded to the Sands, "' ll l s the ship Ingrie, of Amsterdam. bound Savannah in ballast, was found stran o b near to the Trinity Beacon, on the e part of the Goodwin Sands. Three Ingg e o were alongside, and their crews had received eb 3r ;f of the vessel from the master, but as there was °re j al appearance of her becoming a wreck the eaP t .'" de , asked that the lifeboat might be kept along' to The master, two mates, and six of the crew ere taken into the lifeboat, and as the wind and ti s o were against her returni n g t o her station she ' er e obliged to run to Ra m sgat e , wher e the men safely landed about 9 o'clock in the evening. , :tat- THE Cnors OF 1868.—The Agricultural D e r the meat at Washington has prepared a table, showi,u& l . o 9o average yield per acre, during 1868, of the princip al m/. of the country, and the average price per bushel 0 1 ? t he 1, 1869. According to this table, in Pennsylvanti'cie, yield per acre was as follows : —Wheat, 12.8 bushels; els ; 13.2 bushels ; barley, 21.4 bushels ; oats 27.8 bus eta' corn, 35 bushels ; buckwheat, 16.5 bushels ; whit e P lA'' , toes, 88 bushels; sweet potatoes, 90 bushels; 01)a1869, .. 1.35 tons. The average prices per bushel on Jan. 004 were :—Wheat, $1 89 ; rye, $1 32; barley, $ 164; 93 64 cts.; corn, $1; buckwheat, $1 09 ; white potato e ,1 1 0 cts., sweet potatoes, $1 66, and hay, $l6 per ton-, u or' several crops of Pennsylvania therefore yield the ' l ° 7 41,i ing money value per acre : Wheat, $25 34 ; ry e $ t 91; barley, $35 09 ; oats, $l7 70 ; corn, $35 • buckvill 99 ; white potatoes, $Bl 84; sweet ' otatoes, $ l49 tL hay, $2l 60. Due regard must be paid to the facs are some of these crops, such as barley and sweet potatoe ;lot only produced within very narrow limits, an 4i c a%T er therefore be taken as a fair specimen of their 5 15 the entire State. Births. " 11 10 GRENFELL —On the 24th inst., at 15, St. Janiee's". Mrs. Henry Grenl, t of a . HARE—On the 24th fel ins ,at 24, ughter Norfolk-stroet, Park lape, the wife of Sir Thomas' d Hare, Bart, of a son. PIM—On the 15th inst., at 11, Belsize-squaro the Captain Bedford Pim, R.N., of a son. je of Marriages. oio noD t4 NEILSON—ALEXANDER -On the 23d inst., at St. , J.‘ -- v viet Danes, Thomas W. Neilson, of 239, Strand, to 1 : f youngest daughter of R. B. D. Alexander, Esq , 19 merset House. Thomas—Ruck—On the 25th inst at Stockwell, Deft:iiiii Morgan Thomas, of the Inner Temple, to Alice , s , e tr oett daughter of Cornelius Ruck, of King Willi 3nv° city, and Brixton. . . , CALVERT-0 n the 25th ins Death s t., at 48, Gloucester-- r e See° John Culvert, Esq., aged 62. a ri OA Pci. CLARK- On the 23d inst., at Sevenoaks, John -- aged 80. sev en W el ° ' DE LA 'PARK -On the 23d inst., at Knole, Sev- George John, Earl De La Warr, aged 78. Glift ePs KELLY—On the 23d inst., at Langford-Ro use ' Captain Kelly, R.N., aged 70. ---,--- . 7 , 2 - SO V . , g London : Printed and Publi s h e d by WILLIAM "-. I) E,To ' - o f of No. 112, Strand, Pri n t er , a t faH Sett Offlo' cio oti - Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the Aliddleses,--Friday, February 26, 1469. This Pito Soli tto g( Obsei bates L 14,] ADVA: boa 01 able we Forms If Mr. vocal $ congre l Pearan, Seri() a Open private (the fir LUTIL F,een Pan. 4 extra r —____ AR itoomq and c c an atti Dance. TH for d ey °RIM: A' Very F Old Cr Ship Sparkl lery, Sam] bottles uonsig relebra tordea Whisk also be numbe of othe ROD OR NE 149, 8 ,_ T" Th e Fire R, Th e Tr , Bonus Value render leave i‘ thirty Under t Whereb Girls of the ki n , The lish edu and lan wise -pi Suitable The ( entirely Office, Tit Pros Treasu DolS solicits expend at `Val offle li R ti olc , 1 %61 gine • 1)1j ~ E• ~,~ i