The Sun. — London, England, 1865-08-18 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. THIS DAY.—Morning, 11h. 59m.—Afternoon, h. in. TO-Moßitow.-Morning, 12h. 30m.—Afternoon, 12h. 58in. 110 USE S . —Messrs. TOPLIS and ROBERTS have numerous furnished and unfurnished TOWN, L'uourban, aad Country REsIDENCES to LET or SELL. Pdriculars forwarded for three stamps, upon stating . exact requirements .nd retAl. Offices, 2, condua-stree,Regent street, and South Ke n nsington, facing the Museum.t SOUTH KEN SIN GTON, HYDE-PARK, Queen's, and Rutland Gates, Queen' s- g ate and Peters ham Terraces, Queen's -gate, Cornwall, and Pi in ces Gardens, Elvaston-place, Cromwell-road, Onslow and Thurloe Squares, Bolt ns. dac. Me..sra TOPL IS and ROBERTS have RE 'l ] ENCES to SELL and LET in these and surroundi and ng localities. Offices, 2, Conduit-street, Regent-street, South Kensington, facing the Museum. NEW THEATRE-ROYNL , ADELPHI.— Sole Proprietor arid Manager, Mr. B. Webster. THIS EVENING, T HROUG II FIRE AND WATER. Messrs J L. Toole, It. Phillips,liiilington, Ash:ey ; Mrs. A. ide.lon (Miss NN'oo lga r`„ end Miss H. timins. At: er which, at 9, SOLON SIIINCrLE. g J t o o h n n , E. a ens ; supported by :kl,ssrs. It. Stephtnson, Ashley. Ebu rue ; rs. IL Lewis, &c. To conclude with A PAS DE FASCINATION. 31159 Furtado, and Mr. J. Commence at 7. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. Sole Lessee and Manager, Mr. Geo. Vining. THIS EVENING, a new Farce, by Mr. David Fisher, entitled HEART-STRINGS AND FIDDLE-STRINGS. Atter which, ARRAII NA VOGUE : Messrs. Dion Bouci cault, J. Brougham, H. Vandechoff, D. Fisher, D. Murray; Mrs. Boucicautt and Miss 31. Oliver. To conclude with AN AMPLE APOLOGY. Commence at 7. THE LAST EDITION OF , 4 THE SUN," Containing the Latest SPOUTING IN I:ELLIGENCr., Dan be had Every Evening of U. a. GLEN (E, NEWS AGENT, No. 4, Connaught-terraer. Hyde-park. THE LATEST EDITION of " THE SUN " supplied, as soon as published every Evening by W. AL EXANDER (late BROOKS), Newspaper Agent, 21, Old Cavendish-street, Oxford-street. THE LAST EDITION of " THE SUN " supplied as soon as Published. containing all the LA.PEST NEWS and SPORTING INTELLIGENCE, by J. W. HARRIS, Nei% spaper Agent, 4, Blackfriars-road, London, S. THE LATEST EDITION of "THE SUN." J. HOLMES begs to inform lei' friends, and the pubic generally, that of assoon h e supplies u t b he l LATEST o 10 E m " p '' ; re aV- road, N.W. as she TEETH AND PAINLESS DENTISTRY.-- Messrs. LEWIN and SIMEON MOSELY and SONS, 80, Berners-street, Oxford-street, and 448, Strand, opposite Charing-cross Railway Station. Established 1830. Ai tificial Teeth made with their patented advantages are fitted with out the least Inconvenience, however tender the mouth, sup porting and strengthening loose and sensitive teeth until they become useful in mastication. Their resemblance to nature is perfect and undetectab,e, and they are guaranteed for all purposes of mastication and articulation. Operations of every kind being unnecessary, the most nervous patient can be supplied wi hout fear 01 pain or inconvenience. Con sultation iree. Teeth from ss. Sets, 1,7, 10, and 25 utneas, warranted. For the cffica?y, utility, and success of this system, vide " Lancet." Daily attendance at 15, Whitefriargate, Hull ; 10, Norfolk street, Sheffield; 4, East-para,-e, Leeds ; and 14, St. Nicholas street, SJarbro'. *** no connection with any one of the same name. attrg Alr i jAl l- "d - IVA . "I , It rHE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVEMNG, AUGUST 18, 1865. LONDON, FRIDAY, AUGUST 18, 1865. The return of the Great Eastern has at length set finally at rest the various conjectures and anxieties to which the mysterious stoppr ge of tele graphic communication had given rise. The news of the breakage of the cable can hardly be said to have occasioned any disappointment, since it had become palpably evident that some failure had oc curred, but the particulars which the Great Eastern has now conveyed to us are calculated to encourage rather than to depress the hopes of ultimate success. The feasibility of laying a submarine cable across the Atlantic may now be considered to be fully established, the very difficulties and hindrances which have been encountered showing that the obstacles are by no means insurmountable. The great ship was actually within six hundred miles of her destination; that is to say, having accomplished in safety two-thirds of her momentous voyage. The experience of the trip has been highly satisfactory in several important particulars. In the first place, there can be no doubt that the Great Eastern is admirably qualified for the office of laying the cable from her size and consequent steadiness. In a sea which washed over the Terrible scarcely any motion was perceptible on board the Great Eastern, her greatest roll being only 71 degrees to her greatest pitching, 1 to 11 degrees. The unanimous opinion of those engaged in the expedition is that, having to this steadiness of the great ship and the better control obtained over her by the use of both the paddles and the screw, it is possible to lay an At lantic Cable in any weather. This is very encour aging, and the general approval of the Cable itself and of the paying-out machinery is not less so. The story of the catastrophe is very simple ; and although the expedition has resulted in comparative failure, it does not the less reflect honour on those who had the management of it. Every one remem bers that the very day after the Great Eastern was lost sight of came a stoppage of the communications, which was subsequently explained as having re sulted from the perforation of the gutta, percha by a piece of wire cut off in the splicing. A day and a half was lost in recovering the necessary length and cuttings and the part affected. For four days and a half there was no further diffi culty ; but another defect in the insulation, again occasioned by a piece of intruding wire, arrested the progress of the vessel once more. It was again rectified, though it is worthy of notice as evidencing the extreme diffi culty of hauling in the cable from such a depth, that it took nineteen hours to recover the part affected, though it was only two miles and a quarter from the ship. Four days passed, and, as we have have said, the vessel had only a third of her journey to accomplish when the last disaster occurred. The hauling in of the cable was begun again, and two miles of the cable were recovered, which, however, was no more than the distance from the ship to the bottom. Unfortunately, the cable in coming in chafed on the hawse-hole of the ship, and broke about ten yards in board of the wheel at the bow. It seems the more to be regretted, as the damage was inside the ship, that the loss of the cable could not have been prevented, but the original flaw was still at the bottom of the Atlantic. The managers of the expedition, however, were not going to be daunted even by the loss of the cable, and accordingly they made repeated efforts to recover it. The cable w as hooked on the 3d, the accident havinghoacucluedrreidn on the 2d, and 2 , 200 yards of rope were when a swivel gave way and 2,800 yards of rop e were lost. A second attempt produced the same result, but both efforts proved the possibility of re covering the cable, since on the first occasion it was lifted 1,200 yards, and on the second 1,000. Two more attempts were made by the persevering engi neers, but in vain, and the stock of rope becoming exhausted they were obliged, unwillingly, to aban don further efforts, and to return for a larger and stronger supply of tackle. Those engaged in the affair declare their belief that if the Great Eastern is supplied with sufficiently strong tackle and hauling in machinery for depths of 4,000 or 5,000 yards, there is little doubt of the possibility of recovering the lost end of the cable, and completing the line al ready two-thirds laid. We have now to consider what precautions it may be desirable to take to guard against future misadventure. In the first place, we should strongly recommend the careful inspection of all cable now on board the Great Eastern. It should be over hauled scrutinisingly foot by foot, that any defects or injuries may be detected before it is paid out. The p:evious flawa .7erc, evidently in the cable ssheu it was laid, and the first piece of wire was said to have been forced into the gutty percha by the weight of the coil as it lay in the tank. Again, in hauling in the rope, it would surely be possible to provide nippers outside the ship, so that in case of another breakage the cable may not be lost. It was a great pity that some such precaution was not taken on the previous occasion, since the choping of the rope must, one would think, have been perceptible on board, and the pro bability of its snapping must have occurred to them. The Great Eastern should have been provided with better tackle with a view to possible contingencies, and, in fact, the whole of the disaster is traceable to what may be termed unnecessary causes. The failure at any rate was not owing to wind or weather or to any inherent obstacle in the nature of the task. In any case, we strongly recommend the careful overhauling of the remainder of the line ; and as the experience of this voyage has shown those con cerned what are likely to be the risks and require ments of the expedition, they will be able to provide against them before starting. The company has shown no signs of discouragement, and the public generally will learn with great satisfaction that their confidence in the ultimate success of the At lantic Cable is warranted rather than contradicted by the story of the recent expedition. A letter has been addressed to the Commissioners of Customs by ARTHUR HELPS, for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of the Order in Council for the prevention of importing " diseased cattle." In this he informs the Commissioners that it is deemed advisable to suspend the authority previously con veyed concerning the relaxation of the regulations of admitting and examining foreign cattle. Mr. HELPS desires that the necessary orders be given to the various persons in authority to insure the " rigid enforcement of the provisions against the admission of diseased cattle contained in the above-men tioned Order in Council." These precautions are wise and necessary, but there is doubtless much to guard against at home and abroad. Mr. PARNELL has written a letter on this subject, in which he states some curious facts that will interest many. It appears from his communications that he attended a case in 1863, which had all the appearance and symptoms of the present disease, and the case was fatal in a few days. Another case occurred last year, which was also fatal ; and a third case is also mentioned as falling in last September, in which the cow lived six days. In each of these cases "the symptoms were the same. These particulars may show—" Whether the disease in question has been brought from Russia in the first onset, or whether it is infectious or contagious, also whether it is possible for it to generate in England." The writer of this letter declares that the animals referred to had never been within a hundred miles of any docks where foreign cattle are unloaded, and, indeed, not near any foreign cattle at all. In conclusion, he gives it as his opinion that the bovine tribe " has specific diseases" of its own, as well as other tribes, and that peculiar in fluences induce them to appear. When it is con sidered that this summer has been very hot and op pressive for cattle, and particularly unfortunate for cows in London sheds, it may be questioned whe ther such a disease as this cattle plague may not be generated in this country as well as in foreign lands. These remarks are worthy of attentive considera tion, and it must be admitted, at any rate, that peo ple have not done their ',utmost to prevent such a calamity occurring by due care and the exercise of proper caution. It is to be feared that many of those who have the charge of animals do not per form their duties in an efficient manner. What with their desire to make money and their unwilling,ness to exert themselves, they go on from bad to worse, and the consequences of their neglect entail many serious evils upon the community at large. If there be no decided disease in the foreign cattle at the time they are bought, the manner in which they are treated is sufficient to occasion all kinds of complaints before they arc brought to the markets for human food. It is not too much to expect that after all the astounding revelations that have been made we may witness a better course adopted in future. It would be well if inspectors could often visit many places, besides merely examining the cattle brought over from foreign tracts ; but as there is now ample opportunity afforded for inquiry and investigation, it will be very hard if much valuable information is not derived. So far the calamity at present, causing such anxiety, may prove of eventual service and ultimate benefit ; but in order to realise as much good as possible from the evil, it will be necessary for persons to make the affair a common cause, and not allow prejudices or ignorant assump tion to prevail. It is very evident that much of a faulty character exists in the management of our cattle, and the sooner those entrusted with their management will learn their duties more effectually the better. Another important thing to be observed is that people have a tendency to hush up awkward affairs, and in their anxiety to conceal any disease that has occurred they prevent the proper steps being taken in time, by which preventive measures can stem the tide, and check the fatal spread of infec- If there was more knowledge about con cerning the sanitary laws, and health and disease were not quite secondary in many minds to individual advantage and commercial gains, much more might be done. Meetings are constantly tak ing place over the country, in order to consider the best means of preventing the spread of the evil. At Bristol Sir W. MILES made some very pertinent observations, which are most deserving of considera tion. With respect to the order in Council, he said that it gave no power until the disease was at our doors, and that it would be better to pass a re solution to the effect that it was necessary to pre vent the spread of the evil, and another resolution that the Mayor should have the power to appoint an inspector to examine, put by, and slaughter every beast that he considered infected. The truth conveyed in this passage cannot be too fully recognised. " There must be no flinching about it, all private ends must give give way to the public advantage." Nothing will Serve to extricate us from the confusion into which we are now plunged, and avert the serious losses and dangers which threaten, but unanimous efforts being made, and it is very conducive to these ends that the resolutions previously referred to have been adopted, and they have been forwarded to the Secretary of State for the ll3me Department. It is to be trusted that Sir Sir G. GREY will pay heed to them, and take the necessary steps to give them force. It stands to reason that the most speedy measures in the matter will be the most effectual, and indeed it i s only surprising that this suggestion of Sir W. MILES should not have occurred to any one in authority before now. Partial measures can never suffice when the evil has extended so far, and it is high time that all should be done that can be done. Doubtless had half the care and thought been given to the subject that are now lavished upon it some time since, long before this we should be quite free from the disease. Dr. BL'DD, of Clapton, stated an important fact, that cannot be too much considered cr acted upon, which waz that all i.:.fecto.J. ar.i.naalz should be Main and buried at once siz feet deep, as tion. the infected animals are the source of the poison, and cannot be put away too soon or too effectually to prevent evil consequences. The Cattle Plague and the Turkish Bath. The following extracts from the supplement to Sir John Fife's Manual of the Turkish Bath, en titled " The Bath in the Farm," will be read with particular interest now during the distressing pre valence of the murrain popularly known as the Cattle Plague : " Tho bath commends itself to every farmer on six several grounds : " 1. Cure of sickness in cattle, sheep, and pigs. " 2. Saving of mortality in young stock. " 3. Fortifying the horses engaged in ploughing and draught. "4. Increasing flesh and milk. " 5. Increasing the productiveness of stock. "6. Collateral advantages :—Drying harness, clothes, saving damaged grain and seeds, saving of sickness to farm servants, and also to the farmer himself and his family." " Cows—lf only for the cure of one disease—distemper —this subject demands the attention of every stock owner in the country. " Lord Kinnaird's experiments on distemper in cattle are so conclusive that I shall quote a report from the Scottish Farmer,' Sept. 1862 : " Lord Kinnaird's Bath at Millhill, designed for t treatment of cattle, is largely made use of by the people i the neighbourhood. The curative properties of the bat have already been demonstrated in a marked manner in the case of several calves suffering from scour, &c.; but still more wonderful is the influence it has had upon two or three feeding stots affected with pleuro-pneumonia. Out of three patients, two that we saw have every appearance of progressing towards perfect health. They eat well, walk about with seeming comfort and ease, the cough has lost its nasty metallic sound, the dis charge from the nose is stopped, they are no more hide bound, and their coat has no longer the staring aspect of disease. The third patient, a larger animal than the other two, is not yet so far recovered, but the beast is a great deal better than it was. The heat required to produce a favourable impression in cases of pleuro needs to be very great —up to 200 to 212 degrees—boiling point, in fact. At a loss temperature the curative effect was not very visible. In other diseases, less dangerous, but, if neglected, hardly less fatal, the bath has been found a perfect cure. It can be erected and carried on at a comparatively trifling cost—one that, wo think, would repay largo stock owners to expend.' " Dysentery among dairy stock, so injurious to their milking, yields readily to heat. On the fourth day after the beginning of an attack I have frequently had cows back to their full milk. " Heat in the skin and loss of appetite are got over the day they appear. _ _ " Hardness in the udder, and stoppage of the teat, are thought little of here. These diseases require careful shampooing. "I have never had a fully developed case of 'black quarter' since the bath has been built. Before that I lost several fine calves by this disorder. "In swelling of the head in calves we have found it most effectual." The Late Mr. Parkes. The remains of the late Mr. Joseph Parkes, of whom a brief notice appeared in our impression of Saturday last, were yesterday, at 12 o'clock, interred in the cemetery at Kensal-green. The funeral was of quite a private character, and was attended only by two mourning coaches, containing the immediate relatives and friends of the deceased gentleman. The Rev. Mr. Ham read the burial service, and the coffin was then placed in one of the catacombs of the cemetery, where it is to rest for the present. The illness of which Mr. Parkes died was congestion of the lungs, from which he had been suffering for about a fortnight previous to its fatal termination last Friday evening. He was in his 70th year, and for more than half his long and useful life he had devoted himself to politics with a zeal which ad mitted of no flagging, but which was always tem pered by a sound judgment. Ir. early manhood, while practising as a solicitor in Birmingham, he be came a member of the Birmingham Political Union, whose action in the fierce struggle for Iteformhe felt it to be his duty at times rather to restrain than to stimulate. While as eager as any man could be in his advocacy of Liberal principles, he never suffered himself to be betrayed into taking any rash step with a view to promote them. This mixture of earnestness and sagacity soon recommended him to the notice of the great leaders of the Liberal party, and when, immediately after the passing of the Reform Bill, he settled in London feelings of the warmest personal regard were added to those arising out of mere political relationship. Mr. Parkes was the confidential friend and adviser of Lord Mel bourne. To the late Lord Durham he was attached by the ties of a close intimacy. With Lord Brougham he was, up to the day of his death, on terms of fre quent and unreserved communication. Indeed, there was scarcely a man of eminence on the Libe ral side of politics during the last 35 years, of whose friendship he could not boast and whose esteem he did not secure. It would be strange if it were other wise, for he brought to the common cause a single ness of purpose, a frankness of manner, a knowledge and ability which could scarcely fail to win regard. But it was not only by the members of his own party that he was held in high estimation. His good sense and wise moderation caused him to be respected equally by those to whom in politics he had always been unflinchingly opposed. He could count the late Lord Lyndhurst, the strenuous opponent of Reform, as well as Lord Brougham, its early advo cate, among the number of his friends. The posi tion which Mr. Parkes achieved for himself in the ranks of the Libe ra l p ar t y was ma i n l y t h e resu l t o f his disinterestedness and the unselfishness of his devotion to the principles which he espoused. While others shared among them the honour and rewards consequent upon success, he was content to remain unknown to the general public, satisfied with the con sciousness that he had done everything in his power to contribute to the victory. He, however, reaped a rich reward in the trust and respect by which he was on all sides surrounded. In his own profession Mr. Parkes had at one time a very lucrative practice as a Parliamentary agent, but, owing chiefly to the death of his only son, and the impaired state of his own health, he gave it up in 1847, and accepted the office of Taxing Master in Chancery, which he held up to the time of his death. In the comparative leisure which he now enjoyed he devoted himself to those literary pursuits in which he had always taken delight, and which he at no period of his life completely neglected. In his well-chosen library in Wimpole-street the hours not demanded by the duties of his office or the claims of his party were cheerfully passed in adding to the information which he had already acquired. There he had for the last seven or eight years been engaged in writing a " Life of Sir Philip Francis," a work for which he had been furnished with ample materials by the Francis family, but which unhappily he did not live to complete. In this work he would have sought to exhibit Sir Francis to the world in the light of a precursor of the great Reform movement, while in the famous controversy as to the authorship of the " Letters of Junius" he would be found on the side of Lord Brougham, Lord Campbell, Lord Stanhope, and Lord Macaulay, his conviction being that proofs could be adduced from the papers placed in his hands which would settle the question beyond all dispute in favour of Sir Philip Francis. In private life Mr. Parkes was distinguished for the unusual warmth and kindliness of his disposi tion. To young men starting in the world and seek ing to make their way in his own, or indeed in any, profession, he was ever ready, not only to speak words Of encouragement and advice, but to lend assistance in a more substantial form. It is not to be wondered, then, that possessing as he did so many rare qualities both of head and heart, his death should be so deeply and so generally regretted. Mr. Parkes has left a widow and a daughter, Miss Jessie Parkes, whose name is already favourably known to the public as a writer on social subjects.—Times. THE LATE KING OF DENIIARK.--The Countess Danner, morganatically married to the late King Frederic VII. of Denmark, has just causd a monument to be erected near the Chateau of Jacgerspruss, destined to perpetuate the memory of that Sovereign. It is a marble bust placed on a granite column above five metres high; on the base is lic, following inscription :—"My force is in the affec tion of nay people. Oct. 6,1848.—N0v. 15, 1861" LATEST INTELLIGENCE. (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.) LITERATURE. Her Majesty's Mails; being a History of the Post- Office. By William Lewina. One vol., pp. 839. Second edition. Sampson Low, Son, and Mar ston. A single twelvemonth has sufficed to bring Mr. Lewins' History of the Post-Office to its second edition. It is an honour to which the work, even in its original form, was eminently well entitled. Revised, corrected, and enlarged as the book has been, however, by its painstaking and ingenious author, prior to its appearance in the shape of this elegant re-issue, it is especially welcome to us as an authoritative republication. A considerable portion of the work appears to have been entirely re-written. Its accuracy as a record of the rise, development, and general re-organisation of the whole of the now gigantic and complex Postal System of the United Kingdom and its world-wide dependencies, has, above all things, been cared for by the author or compiler with the most scrupulous, and even, it might be said, the most conscientious attention. Inscribed to Lord Brougham—embellished by way of most ap propriate frontispiece with a photographic likeness of Sir Rowland Hill—beautifully got-up even in the tooling and gilding of its bevilled binding of imitation - scarlet-morocco—exquisitely printed and elaborately indexed : the work is entitled to take its place now among the recognised authorities as to the growth of our national institutions upon the bookshelves of every lettered Englishman. "The History of the Post-office" has been defined even in the Encyclopxdia Britannica as a history of national and international benefactions." And that history within a history has been here related by Mr. Lewins with all the minuteness, but with none of the dull ness, of a Parliamentary blue-boOk. The record, as it will be found to have been thus penned by him, has about it much of the interest of that most mar vellous of all kinds of romance, the romance of reality. For, in simplest truth, is not that romance of reality of all romances the most marvellous ? Let an answer to this be given by a merely passing reference to a very few among the actual achieve ments of modern science ! The Steam Engine—that fiery dragon of the fairy-tales chained to our cars of commerce and pleasure ! The Railway Ticket—better than the Persian Carpet of the Arabian story-teller ! Photography—that magic mirror reflecting land scapes, battle-fields, street-views, the " human face divine," and reflecting them permanently ! The Electric Telegraph—enabling us, when hundreds of miles apart from one another, to talk together, under the depths of the sea, across kingdoms, across con tinents, through the thrill of an acid, through the core of a wire, through the click of a needle ! Spectrum Analysis, again —that most marvellous agency (born of the combination of some among the subtler laws of optics and chemistry) whereby we are enabled through the filmy streak of a star-beam, scanned through the disc of a microscope, to recognise the geological formation of a fixed-star—the existence say of iron in the material substance of an orb so remote from this earth of ours as to be visible to us merely as a flickering dot in infinitude ! Socially, no less than scientifically, the changes wrought amongst us of late years, within the first half of this present century, justify us, quite as unmistakably, in defining the romance of reality as in very truth the most marvellous of all romances. And no distincter evidence of this need anywhere be looked for than the one here found ready to hand, by way of instant illustration, in these pages of Mr. Lewins. They are pages that go far towards filling up those "gaps in the literature of social history" of which their au thor appears to have been conscious-- as not unworthy of being filled up--before adventuring upon their composition. Until the appearance of the first edi tion of his work last year, nothing whatever had been attempted towards the recording of the history of the Post-office, beyond the contri bution of a paper upon the subject by Mr. Edward Edwards to the eighth edition of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," lof another paper by Mr. Matthew Davenport llill to "Fraser's Maga zine," and of yet another, jointly written, we believe, by Mr. Charles Dickens and Mr. H. W. Wills, in the very first number of " Household Words." In April of last year came from the press the "His tory of the Post Office," by Mr. William Lewins, of the Post-office. Another year has now brought us this second edition of the work—revised, cor rected, enlarged, and partly rewritten, as already remarked. Errors of fact have been carefully weeded out, or eliminated. Omissions have been made good. Additions, here and there of considerable value and importance, have been very judiciously and very adroitly interpolated. The history, as a history, is now as good as one could well wish it to be. Mr. Lewins himself modestly affects to regard it as merely precursory to some more elaborate and lengthy compilation. But to our fancy it is as full and comprehensive as the most insatiable glutton of facts, dates, statistics, could rationally desire. It begins with the very beginning and carries the record of the sys tem that has thus grown up—at first little by little, but latterly, one might far rather say, much by much—to the actual state of things as they are now in the great establishment at St. Martin's-le- Grand. Passing over the first letter upon record —conscientiously referred to, as such, by our author in the very first number of the opening chapter of Ilia History—passing over, that is to say, David's letter to Joab sent by the hands of Uriah the Hittite—beginning simply with our own beginning, somewhere about the fifteenth cen tury, we come, even at the commencement of the eighteenth, to the riding four miles an hour of the postboys, just as they were afterwards described by Cowper. It is curious, by tho way, to remark how very notably Bath had to do with the develop ment of the postal system generally. To one famous inhabitant of Bath, once its mayor, for many years its postmaster--Ralph Allen, of Prior , Park, the friend of Pope, the uncle by marriage of Warburton, the Squire Allworthy of Fielding— to Ralph Allen, first and foremost among all our post-office-reformers, we are indebted for the notion of cross-posts throughout the United Kingdom! To another celebrity of Bath, a celebrity of a very different kind—John Palmer, first of all, brewer and afterwards theatrical manager at Bath and Bristol—to Mr. Palmer we are next indebted for the setting on foot (and wheels) of the whole of the once renowned, but long since dead and gone, system of Mail-Coaches, in those delightful old four-horse coaching days before ever railways or electric telegraphs had been dreamt of ! Then came the transition period —the days of Sir Francis Freeling, the days of Colonel Maberly—the removal of the Central Post office from Lombard-street to St. Martin's-le- , Grand, where Sir R. Smirke's noble Grecian-lonic , edifice was first opened for the transaction of busi ness on the 25th of September, 1829—till we come finally, and to crown all, to the epoch marked by the advent of Rowland Hill and , his scheme of the Penny Postage. Sir Row- , land Hill, we should say, and his bene ficent system of the Penny Postage—a system long , since adopted by and in actual operation in not only England, but far and wide among all the nations of , Christendom. So beneficent has been the change accomplished by this great Social Reformer. and , Practical Philanthropist, that his name is beloved and honoured in the homes—not alone of these islands, or even of continental Europe, but wherever civilisation has spread in both hemispheres. A Benefactor of his fellow-men, like Sir Rowland ; Hill—a system like that which he has successfully I established, the system now perpetually circulating, as one may may say, all over the globe, like its very life-blood, the system of the Post-office as it is now in active and ceaseless operation—all this, we say, deserved an Historian, and in William Lewins, of the General Post-office, that desired and , fitting Historian has been discovered, happily for all those who are in any way interested in the career of Sir Rowland Hill, and in the establishment by Sir Rowland of the system of the Penny Postage. ISLE OF WlGHT.—There was quite a bread famine in some parts of the island last Sunday and Mon day, in consequence of the influx of visitors conveyed by the railway between Ryde and shanklin. AMERICA. The royal mail steam-ship Scotia, from New York, on the morning of the 9th inst., arrived at 5 a.m. to-day (18th inst.) with 182 passengers. She landed 102 sacks of mails and 50 passengers, and proceeded immediately for Liverpool. All well. NEW YORK, AUG. 8. President Johnson is better. The Executive mansion, however, is considered an unhealthy summer abode, and Secretary Harlan, of the Inte rior Department, has directed the selection of a tem porary residence for the President and his family in some more salubrious position adjoining the capital. Provisional Governor Hamilton, of Texas, has issued a proclamation, instructing the people in the measures necessary for the restoration of the State to the Union, but has not yet ordered the conven tional revision of the State Constitution. New Orleans despatches of the sth report serious ravages upon the growing cotton. in Wharton county, Texas, by the army worm. COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. Gold, 1441. Exchange, 109 to f. Sixes 1881, Coupons, 1061; Five-Twenties, Cou pons, 1051 ; New York Central Railway, 97i ; Erie, 85i ; Illinois Central, 1251. Cotton, 46c. ; dull. Breadstuffs improved. Provisions unsettled. Coffee quiet, and unchanged. Sugars dull. AUG. 9, 7 a.m. The President attended a Cabinet meeting yes terday. The elections in Tennessee and Kentucky have passed off quietly. The Scotia brings no specie. Sir Narcisse Belleau has been appointed to the Canadian Premiership. The Cuba arrived this morning. AUSTRIA• VIENNA, At•G. 18. The official Wiener Zeitung of to-day reprints an article of the General Correspondenz, in which it is stated that the understanding arrived at between Herr von Bismarck and Count Blame at Gastein will very soon receive the Imperial sanction. " All collision between the Powers has been avoided by this understanding, in which the mutual reclama tions and the Federal rights have been vindicated, and the union between the German Powers has been insured." SPAIN. MADRID, AUG. 17. It is stated that the Queen will shortly visit Navarre and the Basque provinces. Her Majesty will return to Madrid towards the end of September. FRANCE. PARIS, AUG. 18. The Emperor and Empress arrived yesterday evening at Strasbourg, and met with an enthusiastic reception. The Prince Imperial returned yesterday evening to Fontainebleau. FRANCE, BOURSE, Aug. 17.—Two o'clock.—The advance obtained yesterday is being disputed by speculators to-day, and the struggle gives a little animation to the market. Three° have been done at 68fr. 15c., and Cr&lit Mobiliers at 805 fr. North of Spain have realised 241 fr. 25c. 3,750 more North of Spain are being discounted to-day, together with 1,750 Credit Mobiliers. The situation of the Bank of France of nearly two millions on the encaisse me'tallique, which now amounts to 488,070,183 fr. 57c. The portefertille on the other hand, has dimi nished nearly fourteen millions. Three o'clock.— The " bears" have had the advantage of the day, Stock and Shares close below yesterday's prices. The last quotations are as follows : 41 per Cents 97 25 Do. end month — 3 per Cents. 6B Do. end month 6B 10 Credit Mobilier Do. end month Bank Shares 3610 Credit Fonder 1270 Italian Loan — Do. end month 65 15 BAIL' Ditto Threes — Mexican Loan 47 25 Do. Bonds — Russian .„.. Austrian Spanish Threes Home Debt — Deferred Roman — 'AYR. Orleans Northern Lyons and Mediterranean Southern Western Eastern Sardinian . Austrian Lombard North of Spain Saragossa Ditto to Barcelona Cash. Acct. ... 855 ... 1072 50 ... 862 50 ... 567 50 - - ... 526 25 - - ... 270 - - - ... 405 - - - 490 - - - ... 237 50 - - ... 322 50 Roman 155 - - - ... 222 50 BANK OF FRANCE. PARIS, Aua. 17. The following is the return of the Bank of France for the week ending to-day, together with the cor responding figures of the previous account : DEBTOR. Aug. 17. fr. c. Capital of the Bank 182,500,000 Profits in addition to capital (Art. 8, Law, June 9, 1857) 7,044,776 02 7,044,776 02 Reserve of the Bank Aug. 10. fr. 182,500,000 - 22,105,750 14 22,105,750 14 and its branches Reserve in landed pro perty 4,000,000 Notes in circulation ... 877,849,725 Banknotes to order and receipts payable at sight Treasury account cur rent creditor Current accounts, Paris 170,862,745 15 170,182,122 31 Do. branch banks Dividends payable 2,027,283 75 2,267,865 75 Discounts and sundry interests Rediscounted the last six months Surplus of receipts not distributed Sundries 4,000,000 - 897,359,925 - 7,873,722 48 8,387,270 77 1,427,623 17 1,427,623 17 - - 10,938,37 1 76 11,156 099 23 Total CREDITOR. Aug. 17. Aug. 10. Cash in hand and in fr. c. fr. c. Branch banks Commercial bills over due Commercial bills dis counted, not yet due 293,592,627 12 310,930,386 18 Do. branch banks 312,323, 070 308,820,460 -4 Advances on deposit of bullion Do. branch banks 12,341, 700 12,324,654 Do. on French Public Securities 14,589,200 14,711,100 Do. by branch banks 10,625,700 10,425,000 Do. on railway shares and debentures D. branch banks 21655,780 '21,518,380 Do. on Credit Fender Bonds Do. branches 542,950 540,750 Do. to the State (Con vention, June 10, 1857) 60,000,0 00 60,000,000 Government Stock re serve 12,980,750 14 12,980,750 14 Do. disposable Rentes Immobalisees (Law, June 2, 1857) 100,000,00 0 100,000,000 Hotel and furniture of the Bank and landed Property branches Expenses of manage - ment 677,938 75 676,083 65 Sundries Total 1,468,501,226 11 1,488,031,121 57 Certified by the Senator Govornor of the Bank of France. (Signed) ROTJLAND. FIRE AT KENSALL-GREEN CEMETERY (THIS DAY). —At an early hour this morning, the vault No. 16 in this burying-place was found to be on fire. It contained 10 coffins, and before the fire was subdued nearly the whole of them were consumed. A fireman descended into the vault while the fire vs in progress in a similar dress to that now exhibiting at the Polytechnic, and was supplied with air by the steam engine.. THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH, Mr. Varley, the electrician of the Atlantic Tele graph Company, who went with the expedition in order to prepare for his directors a report of what took place, describes the events of the voyage in the following telegram : " From C. Varley, Great Eastern, off Crookhaven, to G. Saward, London. " Partial loss of insulation when 74 miles of cable paid out; depth, 500 fathoms; recovered 10i miles of cable ; cut out fault, and started again next after noon. Detention, 38 hours. " July 29. Total loss of insulation when 708 miles paid out ; picked up 24 miles, cut out fault, and sailed same day ; depth, 2,000 fathoms; deten tion, 18 hours : insulation of submerged cable more than doubled ; conductivity considerably in creased. " August 2. Partial loss of insulation when 1,212 miles paid out ; recovered two miles, depth 1,950 fathoms ; fault still overboard, when cable fouled hawser pipe and broke in consequence of damage sustained in clearing it therefrom. " August 3to 11. Moored two buoys ; grappled four times for cable, and hooked it three times. On each occasion after lifting it several hundred fathoms from the bottom tackle broke close to bow of vessel; and the grappling rope being lost obliged to return. " All entertain hopes that the lost end of the 1,200 miles can be recovered, and the line success fully completed to Newfoundland." Now that we are in possession of the principal facts connected with the failure of the Atlantic telegraph expedition, it is easy to point out the mistakes which have been made in the manage ment of the undertaking. It is not in con sequence of any unlooked-for resistance from the forces of nature that the Great Eastern has failed for the moment in accomplishing her task ; she has not been driven home by storms ; and although, in laying the cable on the bed of the Atlantic, it might have been subjected to influences of whose effects we were ignorant, experience has shown that its electrical qualities are greatly improved instead of being injured when it reaches the bottom of the sea. The cable has been lost for the present because precautions which might have been taken were neglected. A little fragment of wire, probably no longer than the nib of a steel pen, has defeated the Atlantic expedition, and brought the Great Eastern home. When we heard the explanation of the " hitch" which took place a few days after the ships sailed, many people qualified to judge the matter refused to believe that a piece of wire could have been driven into the cable in the way described. Nevertheless we now hear that the second alarm was caused by a repetition of the same accident. On that occasion the cable was cut, passed from the stern of the Great Eastern to her bow, hauled in, and set to rights successfully. The time spent on this work was less than 19 hours, after which the voyage went on for a time more prospe rously than ever. Then, for a third time, defective insulation was observed. The same symptoms which were noticed on the two former occasions made themselves manifest once more. Again, therefore, arrangements were made for recovering the cable, but this time it parted after two miles had been hauled in and the end vanished into the sea. Now the process of " picking up" is necessarily attended with danger from which the contrary process of pay ing out is exempt. An extra strain on the cable as it leaves the ship over the stern can be neutralised by relieving the breaks, and allowing it to run out freely. This, however, cannot be done in picking up, and the strain during this operation must inevit ably be greater than in the other case. The cable is wound in slowly, foot by foot, and when it is brought from a great depth, the friction in the water is im mense.' The mere weight of 2,000 fathoms is not great when the whole length is submerged—not a fifth of its breaking strain, but the friction in the water adds to this weight indefinitely. To diminish the friction as far as possible the picking up machinery is made to run very slowly. The cable is wound in at the rate, Ray of 500 yards in an hour, but as the ship rises on a wave it will be easy to see that the strain may be increased in such a way as to en danger its safety. It will be for the engineers to consider whether this difficulty cannot be guarded against for the future, as the cable parted while being picked up, and might do so again. It is espe cially noticeable, moreover, that it parted on board ten yards from the wheel at the bows. Surely it might be possible to provide tackle which should come into play if the cable endeavoured to escape overboard after it had once been recovered. If it breaks under water or just at the bows, such an ac cident may perhaps be unavoidable ; but once on board, it ought to be safe. As to the cause of the fracture in the case before us there is a conflict of testimony between Mr. Canning and Mr. Varley. Mr. Canning says it broke because it had been chafed against the stern of the ship. This is very unintelligible, because two miles had been recovered before it broke, and therefore the part supposed to be chafed must have been two miles from the ship when the cable was passed round to the bows, and, if injured at the stern at all, must have been injured during the process of paying out, when it could not have touched the stern of the ship, but must have passed direct from the stern wheel into the sea. Mr. Varley, on the other hand, says that it was injured by foulingthehawse-pipe as it came up. The hawse pipe is that iron-bound hole in the bow of the ship through which the anchor chains pass, and it is just possible that the ship may have forged ahead over the cable as it slowly rose to the surface so as to justify this explanation. If this is so here is another lesson of experience to be made use of, let us hope, next time. It is curious to find that the last fault of in sulation was not observed till the ship had left it six miles behind. The Great Eastern did not steam more than six knots an hour while pay ing out, and as the miles spoken of are of course nautical miles, equal to knots, it fol lows that for a whole hour the electricians on board were ignorant of the electric state of the cable. Considering that no verbal messages were allowed through it, because they would interfere with the continuity of the tests, and the constant vigilance of the electric staff, this discovery is suffi ciently remarkable. In each case the faults passed some distance astern before they were observed, and one of the morals to be drawn from the events of this unfortunate voyage certainly is that the cable tests should be applied in such constant succession that it would be impossible for a fault to pass 500 yards from the ship without being observed. It is impossible to say what subtle causes may not inter- , fere with the insulation of an electric wire whilst it is being immersed in the sea. After our present experience with the morsels of wire which have done so much mischief, anything seems possible— and one is led to feel vaguely that, in spite of the utmost care, accidents may happen which it is im possible to foresee. As it is clear, therefore, that with every chance in favour of a cable-laying expe dition it may still be necessary to pick up, it be comes of immense importance that the electric state should be watched closely, so that no fault may escape far, rendering it necessary to pick up from a great depth. The attempts at grappling for the cable, which we described as rather desperate, have, as we supposed, detained the ships in the Atlantic during this long delay, when their absence has given rise to so much speculation and so failed, many but ab surd conjectures. Those attemp ts have the engineers draw great com fort from their belief that on three occasions they laid hold of the cable, and only failed in bringing it to the surface through the fracture of the grapnel-rope. The rope used was probably that which has been described as the buoy rope ;" it was made of iron wire, and the Great Eastern had about five miles of it on board. Its breaking strain could have been very little below that of the cable itself—a reflection which is rather discouraging, because it seems to imply that the re sistance offered by the cable, as it nears the surface, becomes so great that either it or the grappling rope must give way. It will be easy to make a steel wire rope to use with the grapnel, which will bear twice the strain that can be put on it by the resist ance of the electric cable. There will be danger, however, where such a rope comes to be used of breaking the cable under water. •The Great Eastern will be back in the Medway on Saturday or Sunday. I L ill t (IJ putt The Prince and Princess of Wales• Their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales ate expected to leave Germany for Aber geldie, N. 8., on the day after the uncovering of the Prince Consort's statue on the 26th inst. at Coburg. In all probability the prince and princess will reach Abergeldie about the 6th proximo. It is under stood that their royal highnesses will this autumn visit the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland at Dun robin Castle, Sutherlandshire, and will stay there before returning south. The Marquis of Northampton is staying at Castle Ashby, Northamptonshire. The noble marquis is enjoying rather better health. The Earl of Dalhousie is entertaining a select party at Invermark for grouse shooting. The Earl and Countess of Winehilsea and Lady Constance Finch-Hatton have left the St. George's Hotel. The Right Hon. Sir George Grey, Bart., has left his seat Falloden, Northumberand, on a tour of visits in Scotland. Craniology. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sin,—l have taken some interest in this subject for some years past, as you are aware, and, there fore, I was glad to read the letter of the experienced practical phrenologist, Dr. Donovan, which was contained in The Sun, on the 14th inst., respecting Dr. Pritchard. I believe that, as in the case of Palmer, poisoners generally have much secretive ness. Dr. Donovan's statement shows that, as I have before suggested, criminals should be examined, phrenologically, only by properly qualified persons, and pro bono publico, which course was advised by many medical men nearly 30 years ago. I have now before me the sketch of Catherine Welsh, hanged at Newgate, in the month of April, 1828, for child-murder. She was much affected when she visited the spot where the child was murdered, and at other times. This conduct seemed inconsistent, but the fact was that she possessed large philopro genitiveness, and she had been tempted to commit the act partly on account of the threats of her para mour. In cases of apparent inconsistency of cha racter phrenology is an invaluable index. Yours obediently, Bloomsbury-street, W. C. , CH R. COOKE. Aug. 16, 1865. IRELAND. DUBLIN, Aug. 17. The Registrar-General, Mr. W. Donnelly, has issued a return, showing in statute acres the extent of land under flax cultivation in Ireland in the years 1864 and 1865, the number given for each county. In Ulster in 1864 there were 278,143 acres under flax, and in 1865, 233,289—decrease, 44,854 ; in Leinster, in 1864, 7,388 acres, and in 1865, 5,862 acres—decrease, 1,526 acres ; in Munster, in 1864, 7,580 acres, and in 1865, 4,980 acres—decrease, 2,600 acres; and in Connaught, in 1864, 8,582 acres, and in 1865, 7,421 acres—decrease, 1,161 acres. The total number of acres- in 1864 was 301,693, and in 1865, 251,552—decrease on the whole, 50,141 acres. The quantity grown in 1865 is still, however, by a very large figure, greater than that of 1863, which is greater by about 60,000 acres than any of the previous 10 or 12 years. The reaction this year in consequence of the termination of the civil war in America, and unsuccessful at tempts at cultivation in some places,will account for the diminution. The circumstances attending the melancholy death of the late Mr. Herbert Francis Hoare, J.P., were made the subject of an inquiry yesterday. Dr. Kirwan, coroner, held an inquest on the body, at the late residence of the deceased, 15, Kildare-street. The deceased gentleman was a magistrate for the county of Wexford, where he had extensive landed property, and served as a grand juror. In the earlier part of his career he had held an office in the Admiralty Department, but he had latterly retired into private life, and resided principally in Dublin and its vicinity—sometimes, however, visiting his country residence of Pole-a-Hore, near the town of Wexford. He had been many years married, and leaves a widow and several children. He is stated to have been a man of considerable intellectual ability, and took much interest in the study of Irish anti quities, on which subject he had written several essays for scientific and literary periodicals. One of his chief motives for residing in Dublin was that he might have access to the public libraries of this city, of most of which he was a pretty regular visi tor. His nervous system, however, was weak, and he suffered severely at times from neuralgia of the head and face, which frequently kept him awake for several nights together. It appeared from the evi dence of Dr. Ellis, who had been professionally at tending the deceased for about three weeks previous to his death, that he had suffered greatly from men tal depression, partly attributable to the state of his affairs, but principally caused by the immoderate use of chlorodyne. He had frequently been kept awake at night from neuralgia in the head, and was ad vispre. d E b a llisy h f a r d ien f d r e to qu t e a n k t e l y c h w l a o r r n o d e d y n h e m t o induce t sleep per sisting in the use of chlorodyne, and that conti nuance in its use must be destructive to his health, if not to his reason. Deceased, it was stated, was in the habit of taking as much as an ounce of the drug within 24 hours—a quantity equivalent to 20 ordinary doses, and which would be sufficient to kill any one who had not previously by degrees habituated himself to it. On Tuesday morning, while the deceased was alone in the breakfast-room, the report of a pistol was heard, and on Miss Hoare and the servant going to the room to ascertain what had occurred they found that the doors leading into the apartment had been locked on the inside. On being forced open the deceased was found lying on the floor quite dead. The roof of his skull had been blown off by a pistol, and fragments of bone, brains, and blood were scattered upon the floor. Death must have been instantaneous. From the evidence of Mr. Wynne, the land agent of the deceased, it appeared that the condition of his affairs had for some time weighed heavily on his mind ; that he had complained that his brain was on fire, and was apprehensive that his reason would go. The jury, after a short deliberation, found that the deceased had committed suicide while in a state of temporary insanity. TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTI ON.—A corres pondent sends us the follow in g intere sting narrative, with the assurance that its accuracy may be relied on : At the time that the notorious Tippoo Sahib fell at the siege of s er ingapatam, in 1799, there was in one of the English regiments engaged on the occasion a native of Bury St. Edmunds, who was supposed by his comrades to have been killed. His immediate relatives could gain no intelligence of him, further than that he was put down as among the missing, and that he was generally supposed to be dead. It appears, however, that he was mainly in strumental in saving the life of one of the ladies attached to the court of Tippo Sahib, and that she, in gratitude to her preserver, induced him to fly with her into the interior of the country, where her father consented to the marriage of the gallant soldier with his daughter, on condition that he embraced the religion of the country. Our hero, it it appears, thought he could not do better than embrace the new religion together with the young heiress, and it is said "they lived and loved together through many happy years." But death first cut down the father and after wards the daughter, leaving the once poor soldier enriched with the wealth of India. His relations in the meantime had frequently applied at the War Office, but always re ceived the same answer—that he was missing, and sup posed to be dead. At length the time came when he was called upon to depart this world, and, having no heirs direct or indirect, he made a will in favour of his eldest sister and her heirs male. This has recently been brought to light through a firm in London advertising for the next of kin of the missing soldier, and it appears the heir has turned up in a person who has been travelling in the counties of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire for some years as a book hawker. It is said that it will be necessary for the claimant to proceed to India to substantiate his right to the property, and that an eminent firm has undertaken to furnish him with the means, upon condition that they receive one-fourth of the proceeds of the estates in ques tion, the value of which is reported to be enormous, the property having laid in abeyance for a long period. Fur ther particulars of this interesting case will probably be shortly published, but for certain reasons the name of the claimant is at present withhell—Norfoß News. Pe: • El 1 3e1 1 Dut 121 Pre