The Sun. — London, England, 1870-04-12 00:00:00

DISFItANCHISEMENT. The Telegraph understands that the boroughs of Bridgwater and Beverley will be simply disfranchised by the Attorney General's bill, and no attempt will be made to deal with the seats. For the present, then, the strength of the House of Commons will be re duced by four members. This, however, will not affect the position of parties in any way. The bribery battle at Bridgwater resulted in the victory of two Liberals and Beverley has always remained faithful to her love for Conservative gold. REPRESENTATION OF LABOUR. The organisation for returning working men to Parliament has undergone remodelling. Numerous members of Parliament and Mr. Stuart Mill have lent their aid to a movement which now presents a very formidable front. The Labour Representation League will bring forward working men at every vacancy, and compel the Liberal wire pullers to let in some artisans or suffer the return of Tories, THE BALLOT. The Ballot movement goes on with undiminished zeal, and, it might be added, with no great regard for the state of public business. The Scotsman understands that the letter to Mr. Gladstone, urginr that the Government should take up during thr present session the question of the ballot, has been signed by upwards of two hundred members of th House of Commons. Yet the Land Bill is nowhere; the Education Bill has not yet got in committee; the Tests Bill, which- is promised, has not yet been even read a first time, and the Licensing Bill is shelved. The Ballot is a good thing, but surely the vice of intemperance is of more pressing need. The latter is of continuously evil effect ; the Ballot will be needed only in the event of a general election, which does not seem likely at present. IRELAND. "Rory of the Hills" still communicates in gloomy epistles with unfortunate landlords in Ireland, but agrarian crime is said to be assuming less repulsive features. The correspondent• of the Times actually sees signs of moral improve ment, inspiring hope of an establishment of a satis factory state of things. The Peace Preservation Act has inaugurated a new era. The well-disposed are freed by it from the tyranny of a secret power, and the disturbers of the peace are overawed by it. The police are active in their search for arms, and some small seizures have been made. One " stranger of suspicious appearance" has been committed for trial. He had a six-barrelled revolver in his possession. AN OLD FRIEND. Mr. Darby Griffith, late member for Devizes, was one of the ambitious politicians to whom the election of 1868 proved fatal. Few persons ima • gined that the loss of an M.P., whose principal use was to be laughed at, could be regarded as a national calamity; and Devizes itself was so dissatisfied with Mr. Griffith that it rejected hini by an enormous majority. But the ex-member himself is of a different opinion. He thinks it needful to explain in the Morning Advertiser what a great triumph it was for Mr. Newdegate that when a motion was made to adjourn the House during the Convent Inquiry discussion, it was rejected by 110 to 76. "It is plain, therefore, that there are only 76 members of the House of Commons that can by any means be got together to oppose all inquiry whatever into the subject of that committee—that is to say, little more than one-tenth part of the represen tatives of the people of this country." Mr. Darby Griffith never appeared to less advantage than in this sentence. The fact is that no attempt was made to " get together" more than 76 members. Mr. Newdegate had promised not to bring on his motion after half-past twelve on that remark able morning, and yet ho did bring it on long after the stated time. The, qonsequenee was that many Roman Catholic members . 1d left the house in the belief that the motion for )43 appointment of the committee would not be /med. Mr. Griffith's confidence that "every Aember who could possibly be whipped up by the Roman Catholic clerical party was present," is a sheer delusion. RUMOURED CUSTOM-lIOUSE REDUCTIONS. The Customs' establishments throughout the king dom are still subjected to attacks regarding needless and extravagant expenditure. The Produce Markets Review mentions a report to the effect that large reductions are to bo made in this department. A simplification of col!ection, and a diminution in the ludicrous formalities required from the public, are also said to be on the eve of attainment. Much cost is incurred by the Custom House taking charge of the bonded warehouses, and also by the practice of recording, over an indefinite period of years, every minute delivery that takes place. It is suggested that Mr. Lowe may retain the machinery for collecting duties by simple means, if he will only charge duties at the ship's side, and take payment in bankers' bills at two or three months for, say, one half of the amount. "It is useless to inquire into the old sys tem, and to patch it up; a new and more simple plan must be devised, and the duty is not difficult. It is the old Government servants, who desire no reform, who stand in the way." COLLECTION OF TAXES IN ADVANCE. " Verax," in a letter to the Standard, gives a pa thetic account of the suffering entailed on a poor artist with a large family by Mr. Lowe's mode of collecting the Queen's taxes. For the last nine years the artist has been in a position to meet the taxes quarterly, but when this year a demand was made for an unusually large sum in one lump, the poor man's pocket was not equal to the occasion. A distress was therefore put into his house and much grief occasioned, until " Verax" paid the amount, and released the family from the presence of the myrmidons of the law. It was found then that these latter persons had taken rather a dirty advantage of the case. For one bill, under three headings, the • bailiff's made three different levies, of course obtaining thus three times the costs which were pro perly due. The " man in possession " was paid as much as he would be for three different "jobs," which scarcely seems a fair way of proceeding, even when it is only a poor artist who suffers by it. SIR JOHN PAXINGTON'S LAST. On the 132nd anniversary festival of the Royal Society of Musicians of Great Britain, Sir John Paking ton responded for the "Army and Navy." He etarted with a pun, which is said to have produced much laughter, whether from it excellence or because it came from Sir John, does not appear. He said he was puzzled to discover what connection there was between music and the three services. The only connection he could see between the musical profession and the army, was that in both a certain amount of organised dis cipline was required. As for the navy he supposed there was a semblance, because the navy was all ready for sail, and musicians were also ready for sale. This random shot by the late First Lord of the Admiralty was only condoned by the state ment that he had recently been engaged in fighting for the maintenance of the 'Worcester, Gloucester, and Hereford festivals. Prince Christian was also at the dinner, and afforded some pleasing information era to the funds of the institution. THE TREATMENT OF LUNATICS. 1 Santi Nistri and Rees Price may have conferred a benefit on succeeding, generations of lunatics by dying of broken ribs in Hanwell and Carmarthen Lunatic Asylums. The Commissioners in Lunacy ',lave made their reports on the two cases. No very startling result is attained, and no prosecu tion of attendants will ensue, but both reports are plain and explicit enough to render it tolerably cer tain that a great reform will be forced upon these institutions. In both cases, medical officers and at tendants have been examined on oath, and patients have also been questioned, though they have not been sworn. The evidence shelved that Santi Nistri, when he was admitted into Hanwell Asylum, was free from the fractured ribs and other injuries found on him alter his death. Consequently these injuries must have been inflicted within the walls of the asylum. In fact the Commissioners know the very ward in which they were inflicted, though doubt exists as to the time. Unfortunately the witnesses who could give the evidence required are the very persons who would be implicated by so doing. Rees Price appears to have been a man of violent and quarrelsome temper and dirty habits, and it is ascertained that his death resulted from stru g glea with an attendant named rl ug h es one Sunday morning during Divine Service. The Commissioners, therefore, think it imperative, that Hughes should be no longer retained in the ser vion of the Carmarthen Asylum, and that no ward shall at any time be left with only one attendant. usTopusn OP LUNACY, Sat Stn_willitgAtitgiNtAANlViNl44l THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 12, 1870. leaves little room to doubt, th a t i nsan it y i n E ng l an d is largely increasing, an inquiry into the causes of such a disastrous state of things, with a view to its diminution, is incumbent, not only on the public, but the State. In the Quarterly R ev i ew of Science Dr. Duncan writes that the cures of the insane in our fine asylums are not more numerous than they were from 1748 to 1814, when the treatment of the insane was a dis grace to humanity. He says that our social state is developing an increasing amount of insanity more than ever difficult to cure. In the Methco-Chirurgical Review for this month there is an article on the same subject. The writer states that in the course of ten years the number of recorded lunatics has increase l 45 per cent. He adds that in the same time, asylum accommodation has bee:: enlarged by two-thirds, while the pauper insane dis tributed in lodgings have advanced from 5,980 to 6,987. Beth these journals declare that the plan of largo asylums has proved a comparative failure, and is inimical to recovery. Both also declare in favour of the cottage-home sys tem. Dr. Tuke, writing in the Journal of Mental Science, arrives in the main at a similar conclusion. Neither of these writers holds out to us any hope that the growth of insanity is a temporary evil. Luxury is advancing with gigantic strides, and poverty, with its attendant miseries, grows in a like proportion. is their resolution not to engage in betting, by taking from their stewards the power of recognising it. This report was submitted to the Comit6 des Courses, who added to their code an article to the effect that when the conditions of a race include the obligation that the winner, or that all the horses, shall be sold to the highest bidder, every horse entered for the race, and not having been withdrawn, may be reclaimed before the race for the sum for which it has been entered for sale, with the addition of the value of the prize. Administrator, whose duty it is to look after the estates which have not well-defined legal owners. In his last report Mr. Andw. Jackson Rogers states that in 1869 he collected over $62.000, and plid into the City Treasury $2,500, which snows him (however useful) not to be a very profitable servant, as the office costs $12,000. For several years tie rents of New York tenements have been steadily increasing, risi'ig ten to twenty per cent. with each revolution of this earth round the sun. Last year, however, this was checked, and CA; year the tight is for a reductim. Annually comes the struggle, and infl ttion favoured the landlords, but contrac i ion is now pressing with extreme severity on the tenants, and it looks as if present prices cannot be maintained. A Mend of Senator Fenton has thought it worth while to publish a private letter from that genth man in tl;e Albany Express, con tra iicting the talk about his being brought forward as candidate for President. He entertains no such project, considering General GrAnt to be doing well, and that it would be therefore unwise to con template any change of leadership. WASHINGTON, March 22. Some satisfactory statistics have been given by the Freeman's Savings Bank here. Four years ago the deposits averaged less than $l,OOO daily ; but during the past year the average has been $14,000 each day. It has branches spread over the country, with its head-quarters here, and of its 26 cashiers half are coloured men, its principal branch being at New Orleans. The amount of money it controls is shown by the fact that during this month it had in its vaults $1,657,006, eight tim s the sum there deposited in March, 1866. The chief interest in these figures is in the practical illustration they afford of the rapid rise in intelligence, industry, and thrift of the freedmen. Miss Florence applied fOr the jewel-hilted swords that General Butler had transferred from the house of the late General Twiggs at New Orleans to Washington. As the lady has brought an action to recover possession, the Secretary of the Treasury, in whose Depart ment they are, declined to give them up, pending the legal decision. The pass ige of the Army Bill through the House has aroused the interest of the officers, who are now closely watching the result in the other Assembly. Numbers were gathered in the vicinity of the Senate Chamber to ascertain the result, believing it would be discussed last Mon day ; but it has been postponed. It is thought that the Senate will kill the bill, or materially alter it. The House Committee on Military Affairs has directed General Logan to report a bill it had agreed to, providing for the appointment of military and naval cadets. To prevent " colonizing " oath must be made that the person appointed has resided for the two years just passed in the district from which the appointment has been made, and the cadetwho vio'ates this provision will be iinmediateli dismissed. What to do with the cadets proved tc have been improperly appointed is the puzzle ; the Committee gene: ally consider that they should be dismissed, but the House appears to hold a different opinion. The person who has got off worst is one who had the least to do with these appointments. General Schoepff has been obliged to resign his examinership in the Patent Office, because his old friend Gen. Tyler applied to him to inquire about cadetships, and he turned the matter as a ell as the money over to the agent, keeping no portion of it for himself. The Military Committee recommended that he should be called upon to resign, and they advised the House to condemn in very sgreng terms the claim agents and others engaged in the purchase and eale. Also that the charge brought against Commander Upshur, of the Navy, of having bought a cadetship, be tied by a naval court ; and that the case against Assessor Andrews, of the Third Philadelphia District, be reported on. Whether Adel bert Ames was to be admitted to his seat in the Senate or not has been discussed during the week, at times acrimoniously. The Judiciary Committee reported adversely; but it is generally thought that General Ames will be sucees,ful in securing a seat. Congre4s has resolved to print 15,000 copies of the Special Committee's Report on the Decline of Anie rican Commerce. Senator Chandler treated the Chamber to a piece of his mind when the subject reached it, calling the report " a fraud," " a cheat," "a humbug," " absurd,"and the Committee," a tra velling concern." Alfred Pleasanton has been con firme 1 as Collector of Intern fl Revenue for the Thirty-second District and his cotnin . s-,ion has been signe I by the I'resi lent. General Pleasanton his thus suddenly been 1 ostel to Mr. Bai!ey's Revenue 'istrict in coeseqiiefice of the dismissal of the x Collec:or for ntfa'cation. Ihe Bailey fraud and flight have been the topic of cenver, ation, and Ali manner of rumours about removals are in eir. ,mlatitn concerning even the di-missal of other high ..t venue official-•. Gt neral Pleasauton left for Aew York on Tuesday night, where he AA ill continue his duties as Collector for the Fourth District till his suect s , or is appointed. He wants to s. art is new office with a fresh set of books and accounts, leaving the old ones t) be settled up to date. Mr. Parnell, the Third Deputy Commissioner of Internal Re venue, has been in New York assisting in the inves tigation, as well as the First Deputy Commissioner, who superintends the examination, and who has, I believe, now ascertained the ex ent of the defalca tion. Mr. Cooper, of Tennessee, the Democrat, who has been elected in success on to Senator Fowler for 1871, has been at the White Hou e discus ing the affairs of the State with the Pres:dent. He main tains that the stores of outrages there are exag gerated ; indeed, that many of them are without foundation. The President denied the report of having submitted to the Attorney-General the letter of Governor Senter asking that troops be sent to Tennessee to act under his command. If the Governor announces the State to be in insurrec tion, and his irability to suppress the revolt, and applies to the Executive for troops, the President will then cousider the matter. Mr. Lee, the wife of General Lee, has . sent in a claim to all the Mount Vernon relics ; and the Judiciary Commit tee, to which these mem ntoea of the father of his country were assigne 1, considers her claim good, as the direct descendant of the Custis family, and owner of the Arlington House. There is some plate and crockery and a quantity of letters, in cluding the correspondence between Washington and Lafayette. created a day or two since by the statement that the Rappel reporter at Creuzot seemed to know a great deal about the private associations forming there, and it was feared that the movements had their roots at Paris ; but the Rappel has made ample apologies, and no one has been arrested. The radical writers are making much fun out of the pretended exile of Prince Pierre, the irascible, and invent a new canard every day concerning his departure. My authority, which is good, enables me to say that he will depart for a tour mouths' tour in America early in June. Before that time he will go to Italy, to make a extensive visit among his old acquaintances, among the most intimate of whom are the rikvazz's, of diplomatic and romancing memory. Ulric de Fonvielle is sure to be elected Deputy from Red Republican Lyons, and the Noir family propose to consecrate the money that they received from the Prince Pierre to further Fouvielle's interests. The Rothschild robbery is the universal subject of gossip. For many years past a M. Tassius, a methodical business man of a certain age, as the French say, has had charge of the Exchange depart ment of the immense banking concern. Last week the Rothschilds had been delegated to buy 1,000 Russian Imperiales on account fur a foreign broker, and Tassius drew from the bank the 25,000 fr. necessary to pay for them. But the Imperiales did not arrive, and Tassius had no answer to give to the numerous demands for them except " I am waiting for them." Last Friday he announced that he would deliver them on Saturday, and on Satur day he disappeared. Suspicion was not excited for some time, but when at last it was justified, an investigation of the books showed not only a deficit of the 25,000 fr, but of 2,50),000fr. Rothschild was slow to acknowledge that his faithful ancient had failed him, and gave out that he would be pardoned if he came back. But he came not until Monday evening, when be delivered himself up to the police. Speculation at the Bourse, at the instigation of a Prussian named Beckers, and who cannot be found, was the cause of this enormous defalcation. Though Messrs. Rothschild at present claim only 50,0001 r. deficit, yet the real amount is nearly three mil lions. Nilsson, the pretty little Nilsson—who, by the way, has a temper of her own, and says a good many sharp thin g s about her rivals—is to have a grand benefit concert before her departure for England and America, in which she will appear as St. Cecilia, patroness oiharmony. The Comique has recently been reproducing " Fra Diavolo " in very brilliant style, and Auber has been two or three nights in succession to see it. Gustave Dore is making a brief visit to London—in the interest of his new book, for which Jerrold is doing the text. Dore's great picture of " Christ Descending from the Temple to take up the Cross" will appear in the May salon. It has been more favourably criticised by those who have seen it than were his previous paintings, The noted Caifeaux Group, which made so much talk among those who hypo critically professed to dislike nude art, is to be removed, I hear, from the front to an interior part of the Grand Opera. The Radicals here are about starting a Republican Review, to which some of the prominent American writers have been asked to contribute. The articles will be translated by com petent hands. Octave Feuillet's old drama, resus citated, " Dalila," is the theatrical event of the spring season, and is attracting great crowds to the Frangais. C.rnioli, one of the principal cha racters, is a role which bids fair to become as famous in French drama as any ever before created. The editors, who were " jugged" soon after the incipient riots of February, are just re appearing from the prison cells, into which they were temporarily thrust, and ate inditing s me very bitter articles. The favourite joke among the Americans—such as were unable to distinguish cruelty from fun on April-fool's Day—was the announcement of the a rival of the City of Boston, and numbers were misled by the statement. Jules Janiu and Emile 011ivier are said to be the candi dates most certain of obtaining the seats left vacant in the Academy by the deaths of Lamartiue and Saint-Beure. A large party is, however, opposed to the election of M. 011ivier, for political rather than literary reasons. The suicidal monomania has begun again ; it always does wi:h the s i ring, and on Wednesday there were four self-murders. Ihe Indian, Ceylon, Chinese, and Ja, anese mails from France will hereafter go by way of the Suez Canal. The first three repre.sentatio. , s at the Italian Opera by Patti after her return from Russia produced over 50,000 francs. An immense number of prefects and sub-prefects, from all the depart ments of France, have been spending a f.w days in Paris recent y, getting instructions as to their conduct during the approaching I le:)iscite. Minis ter Washburne, of the United Stated, has entirely recovered from his recent illness. Colonel Frank Moore, the Second Secretary of the Legation here, found in an old book-store the same day that Bur lingame died a little treatise on Art in China, for which Burlingame had, playfu ly, a few weeks before, offered him its weight in gold. The power ful and peculiar romance of George Sand, " Mal gretout,' recently comple ed in the " Revue des Deux Mondes," is making a great' sensation in literary circles. However 'cute the Yankee generally, still 'cuter Yankees can humbug them, whether settled on their here ditary New England farms, or creating new ones in the Western States. Barnum has done a little in that line with his " woolley horses," his " mermaids," and his well-handled "drapery ; " but nothing Barnum ever achieved approached the "Cardiff giant" humbug. Consi dering the magnitude as well as the weight of the material moved, and the free way in which it was transported about, the surprise is that the conspirators could have attained even to a momentary success, though we bow to the experience and deeper knowledge of human nature of Messrs. Newell and Hull. How it is that these gentlemen, though so well versed in mankind, did not perceive that if they kept all the plunder, one of the defrauded coad jutors would surely " peach," is surprising, but omitting from the calculation some palpable circumstance is always the way humbugs are found out. if Mr. H. B. Mortin, of Marshaltown, lowa, is to be believed, be " got up that giant" with George Hull, who, however, allying himselt with one Nowell, a farmer, divided between them the profits, leaving Mortin out in the cold. Mortin and Hull bought a gypsum quarry. On getting out the stone for the statue they carried it to Chicago, where it was chiselled by Mr. Saley, in a manner which a savam declared " only the Greek school of art was capable of doing, so perfect was the reproduction of the human form ;" while another critic placed on record this opinion, that Italy possessed nothing which embodied so perfectly " the intellectual and physical power of a rock-hurling Titan," It was nicely fixed in an iron-bound box, and buried on Newell's farm, because about there Hull knew to be "a great place for relics." Mortin's scheme was interrupted by the less imaginative, but more practical, Hull, who by intercepting the proceeds intercepted the development of the plot "like a great fool," as Mortin remarked, for be had sketched the plan "to have the mother of the giant dug up near the same spot," represented as having died in the coilof a huge serpent. She was to have been constructed out of iron, bone, and plaster of Paris, and Mortin anticipated that the fame of the son would have brought savans from all parts of the world to see the bigger old lady, his mother. Mortin's revela tion has laced some eminent antiquarians, savans, and au thorities on art in a "fix," for they have to reconcile their statements that "it was a real petrifaction;" that "it must have been more than two centuries in their earth;" " that it was stamped with the mark of ages," &c. It is a pity that the Mormon plate humbug was not as effectually exposed ; but, after all, it may be, that if Mortin had dug up the mother there are those who would have persisted in spite of any evidence in believing in that interesting family. in the Court of Oyer and Terminer for Wesehes ter County,Ne w York State, March 21, the trial of Isaac V. W. Buckout was ordered for the following day, notwith standing the strenuous opposition of his counsel, Mr. Larkin. One indictment charged himwith having murdered his wife, Louisa Buckout, and the other with the murder of Mr. Randall, at Sleepy Hollow, on Now Year's-day. Mr. Randall is an Englishman from London, we believe, with many friends in that metropolis, and his murder appears to have been most unprovoked, in fact an act of pure insanity ; for, as far as wo remember the circum stances, he was shot without cause while sitting in his parlour with his f trnily. The prisoner's counsel read an affidavit settirg forth that two important witnesses wore absent, Mrs. Mary Baldwin of New York, now in Europe, and Mrs Ann E. Birdsall of Brooklyn, somewhere in New Jersey. It is evident from what Mr. Larkin said that ha will urge the plea of insanity; indeed the appearance of the prisoner in Court led all who saw him to consider him insane. A thief on the 22d March stole Judge Barnard's hat off the Bench, in the Special Term of the Supreme Court, and escaped without being observed either by the Judge, the lawyers, or the spectators.. Judge Barnard once lost an overcoat in the name manner. A Philadelphia paper observes that those w .o want to keep their hats, if they ,attend a Washing on reception , carry them in their Lands. They are get' rig almost as bad on the other side as in the London Clubs I A PASTOR'S COMPLAINT. The Rev. M. Macfie, pastor of a Birmingham Con gregational Church, has resigned his ministry on the ground of ill-health. This he attributes to the restraint put upon him for two years by a revivalist party in the Congregation, who took him to task for not always preaching their favourite dogmas. The rev. gentle man seems to have a dogma of his own, which is that his gospel is larger than theirs, as declaring "the whole counsel of God." Preferring, he says, to be a Christian at large to being thus fettered, he has resigned. CHURCH AND STATE IN INDIA. The movement for a separation between Church and State, which has for some time been gathering force in Europe, appears to be making itselt felt on the other side of the globe. The Native Opinion, an Indian journal, has an article complaining that the ecclesiastical establishment of India is too exclusive in its character. The Church dignitaries live too much in lavender, and do not condescend to mix enough with the people round them, whereas. the missionaries of various sects are widely different in their views and conduct. Has any dignitary of the English Church in India, asks Native Opinion, with the exception of Bishops Cotton and Heber in the last generation, come up to the standard of Dr. Wilson or Dr. Duff, or the early mis sionaries of the Clapham sect Going still further, it is sceptical whether any dignitary of the so called Christian Church has extended his Chris tianity beyond the horizon of his own immediate concernment. The Church moves in an orbit of its own, and it is therefore little wonder that it should fail to secure native confidence, and that it should be regarded as somewhat of an anomaly. MURPHY AT WOOLWICH. --- Murphy's lecturing, with its accompanying plea santries, is becoming too much of a joke. It is stated that on Saturday evening " when the meeting broke up, the crowd o u t s id e th e h a ll num b ere d about 4;000 people, and Murphy was escorted home by 68 con stables on foot and six mounted on horseback, in command of Captain Baynes, District Superintendent, and Superintendent Griffin." This politeness is extended night after night, much to the delight of sensational persons in general, and the boys of the neighbourhood in par ticular. It may be inferred that the Government actually incurs extra expense by having to take such precautionary measures for the preservation of the peace. Meantime Murphy• will be a lucky man if he escapes personal injury. fie has summoned one man for throwing a stone through his windows, and got him a month's imprisonment. The lectures, or ". services " as they are called, are peculiar in some of their features. Sunday's service was in terrupted by swearing, coarse language, laughter,and cheering. Murphy stopped short in a commentary on the 12th chapter of Acts to say to one of the dis turbers, " If you don't be quiet, I shall be under the painful necessity of giving you a month, as I did the man yesterday." GOOD NEWS FROM ST. PANCRAS. At last there is a turn in the tide of affairs in the parish which has for the last twelve months di:gusted all England with its abominations. The inhabitants of St. Pancras have been at length roused to a sense of their position. A strong organi sation was recently formed to turn out the Board of Guardians, and elect respectable men in their places. This laudable project has succeeded. The new society has returned twelve out of the eighteen members who form the board, and thus the command of the proceedings will rest entirely with gentlemen in whom the public will have confidence. Most of the worthies who have built themselves up such a monu ment of fame have disappeared from the list. THE RULE OF THE ROAD AT SEA. Captain Gilmore, RN., writes to the Standard upon that much-vexed question, the rule of the road at, sea. Not, he says, that the collision between the Bombay and the Oneida bears upon the question, because it was by entirely ignoring and acting in opposition to all known rules that the Oneida brought the catastrophe about. The writer states his experience to be that keeping a good look out and adhering to the old rules will bring a vessel safely through her voyage, as far as immunity from collision is concerned. The rules are, he points out, porting when meeting end on ; if another vessel's broadside is presented to you, stopping the engines and putting the helm so as to go under her stern; if another ship is running down on your broadside, and collision seems inevi table, go ahead full speed and put the helm hard up was to render the shock as light as possible, as in this ease the other ship would only strike you with the round of its bow instead of giving you the stem. If a green light is visible, he adds, broad on your star board bow, pursue the even tenour of your way, and do not, by porting your helm, bring about a collision. POACHING AFFRAYS. It is a matter to be regretted that when keeper meets poacher, then almost invariably "comes the tug of war." Serious wounds ensue, and sometimes death, and then the sentence on the convicted poacher, instead of consisting of three months imprisonment, is that of penal servitude or the gallows. It may be urged that the keepers have in view the desirable object of the capture of the poachers, but with Luch unfortunate results before their eves, it is a question whether their legiti mate object should not be identification merely, which object could be carried out, it may be supposed, without the aid of bludgeons and fists. Rutterford would not have killed the keeper, if an attempt had not been made by the latter to come to close quarters with him. An affair is now reported from Perth in which several poachers were netting a river for salmon, when they were set upon by a little army of six watchers. A battle royal ensued, the unfortunate consequence of which was that one of the poachers was killed, and the watchers have been apprehen:led. The question of whether this battle was necessary is ono of much importance. A NEW SWINDLE. The police have discovered that the new telegram forms issued by the Post-office have been made the means of swindling. These forms may be obtained at a Post-office, and can be used for fraudulent pur poses, when in the hands of designing persons. A. man the other day called at a gentleman's house with one of these forms, which ho had carefully filled up with all the necessary writing. It pur ported to be a message to the effect that the lady of the house was to send her nephew the sum of 7s. Gd. She thereupon paid the shilling marked on the form as the charge for delivery, and gave the messenger 7s. Gd., only discovering the swindle when her husband return e d home. - TUBE lIEFORM IN FRANCE. _ _ Now that public attentio n is I;iiWclirected to the question whether the English Jockey- Club is compe tent,thaeddressisiebjdecbty the important m w an it i h festo t o an interfere betting, stewards of the French Jockey Club t o th e C om it t S . des Courses on Turf Reform of more than or di nary interest. The manifesto is divided into throe parts. The first points out the abuses of racing, and the objects of the founders of the French Club. Their first principle, it states, is to consider races not as occasions for gambling or pleasure, but as works of public utility, which afford the best, and in truth the only • effective means . of im proving our b ree d o f h orse S. Th e secon d part 're com mends the utility o f li m iti ng th e d ura ti on o f the racing season, and th e a pp o i n t men t o f ft period so as not to interfere with th e arrangemen t s ma d e b y th e societies in the departments. Part three is a resunti of the Wont biQUE4Absillt.b..Y.thil 9_114121 MINISTERIAL CRISIS IN FRANCE. M. Buffet, the French Finance Minister, and Count Daru, the holder of the portfcilio for Foreign Ailairs, have resigned. Their successors, according to good authority, will not be appointed until after the plebiscitum. M. Parieu and M. 011ivier will take charge of the Ministries for the time being. This grave event is the result of the Em peror's determination to submit a new Consti tution to the individual votes of the people —a resolve which has created the sternest discontent thoughout the country. The well-known Parisian correspondent of the Times stigmatises the plebiscitum scheme as ridiculous and dangerous, and quotes the saying of Oxensteirn, " Go, my son, and see how small is the wisdom by which the world is governed." " What is the use," asks this able Frenchman, "of a Constitution, a House, a responsible Ministry, and all those springs of Parliamentary Government, if the whole machinery can be laid aside whenever the Emperor thinks fit and proper to have a private con versation with the people on the question whether it is the right tine to keep, destroy, or amend the Constitution? " AMERICAN CORRESPONDENCE. (From the Anglo-American Times.) NEW YORK, March 23.. Water-street has not lost all the interest once attracted towards it by the " wickedest man." The Rev. Mr. 8001, of Williamsburgh, has founded a home for women at his sole charge in that street, and there are now in it thirteen inmates reclaimed from the purlieus of the neighbourhood, with Mrs. Had ley as matron, while the reverend gentleman can ducts the services, preaching there forcible sermons. Next door, however, Kit Burn has started a dog pit. The mission formerly was his home, and when he goes anywhere old association cart ies him back to the Home. His father, Mr. Keyburn, lives with him, and goes to church, and is a constant attendant at the new Mission House, while Kit carries on hisdis reputable proceedings next door. On Monday the funeral service was perforinedover the remains of the late Gulian C. Verplanck in Trinity Church, the address being delivered by the Rev. Dr. Dix, who spoke of the deceased as a link between the time of Washington and the present. On the same day two other well-known men were buried—the late W.W. Cornell and George Wakeman; Henry Ward Beecher giving a touching address to the frien3s who had gathered around the remains of the latter. Wakeman was long engaged as a wit er for the Ledger, the World, and the Galaxy, and in 1868 was cho.en stenographer of the State Senate. The mam moth caisson, upon which the tower on the Brook lyn side of the East River Bridge is to be built, is finished and launched. It is 168 feet long, 102 wide, and 24 deep, weighing about 2,500 tons, resembling in shape an open box. It is to be loaded when placed in position with timber and concrete, the inside forming an air-chamber accessible by shafts two feet in diameter, and will be gradually sunk to its final position. It was built at Green Point, in the yard of Messrs. Webb and Bell. The intelligence communicated by the Secretary of the Navy to the Pres dent, on the strength of our fleet in Cuban waters, is stirring up the Executive to rt L.force our Navy there. The Spanish Government have 89 vessels of war in the harbours and on the coast of the island, carrying 13,000 seamen and 600 guns; while the American fleet numbers 50 vessels with 8,000 seamen and 310 guns. The monitor Terror, Captain Ransom, is here from Boston, on her way to the West Indies via Hampton Roads ; and other ve , sels are under orders, so that Cuban affairs are still not without their threatening symptoms. The friends of Cuba are particularly active just now, and they have completed arrangements for a grand de moust ation ar Cooper Institute. Gen. M' Mahon is President of the Cuban Society, and Genera's Banks and Cassius Clay are hearty supporters of the cause. I am sorry to say that the Woodhull, and Co., woman bre k rage firm, has in a bad way dropped into a li tle t ()able. They deposited in the Fourth National Bank a certieeet cheque on the Gri en wich Bank for $1,366 55c., drawn by Perk and Tilfoed, grocers. Jhe cheque was originally drawn for $lO, the name of the person tea be paid not b:ie.g at first fided in, but it was suba:quently reade 1-a3, able to the ladies fur the amount specified. The Greenwich B-.nk certified the cheque. and iu due course it was returned by the Fourth National Bank ; but before making any payment the presi dent of the latter sent it for inspection to the former, where it was pronounced to be good, and the loss therefore falls on the Greenwich Bank. Nor was this all, for another cheque, also drawn by the grocers in favour of Woodhull, Clatlin, and Co., was presented to the New York County Bank, when, on suspicion being aroused before payment had been made, it transpired that it also had been altered from a small to a large amount. On apply ing to the ladies for information as to how these cheques came into their possession, they said a man who represented himself as coming from Park and Tilford had brought them, stating that the firm desired gold to the corresponding amount, which he received. Among the meetings here has been on to consider what ought to be done with the surplus of the Chinese Indemnity Fun 1, of which Professor W. T. Jones, who was lately our Consul at Amoy and Canton, gave a sketch. During the war of 1856-57 you may remember that the foreign settlement in Canton was captured and burnt to the ground ; and afterwards, Mr. Reed, our Minister, secured a sum to indemnify our citi zens of $700,000, promising that in case the loss in curred by Americans did not reach that amount the surplus would be returned. It was afterwards discovered that there remained $200,000, and this is the sum with which it is now proposed to deal: The late Mr. Burling time advised the fouedwion with it of a literary institute at Peking, for the benefit of both Chinese and Americans, considering $lOO,OOO to be ample to introduce a knowledge of scientific principles among the intelligent and industrious Chinese. The Committee recognised that the money belonged of right to the Chinese Government, and must first be offered to it; but, if declined, it should be appropriated as Mr. Bur lingatue directed. Much interest is takeu by our citizens in cutting a canal across the Isthmus of Darien, and among the lectures delivered on the subject was one by S. P. Dinsmore to the Geogra phical and Statistical Society. He enumerated the various routes, as well as that of Tehuantepec and of Nicaragua. Mr. Dinsmore condemned the Ni caragua line, as the lake is 110 feet higher than the Pacific, and would have to be connected by locks, and the line would be 194 miles long, and vastly expensive ; but it was the route favoured by the Em peror Napoleon. Mr. F. M. Kelley long ago proposed the San Blas line, only thirty miles wide, but there the drawback is that the mountains rise out of the sea, necessitating riot only three miles of rock cutting, but a tunnel of seven miles. Mr. Dinsmore inclined to the Darien Canal, while Mr. Squier held that the way by Lake Nicaragua was the only one practicable, the coat being es imated at $31,500,000. Senator Fenton presented a reso lution on the 18th inst. in favour of Tehuantepec, and that, if I am not mistaken, is the route recom mended by the American Society of Civil Engi neers. The nation is fully aroused to the neces sity of the work, and will carry it through. One of the most curious designs is the Girdle Railway, the line having been long ago defined by " An Act to Establish Bulk-head and Pier lines for the Port of • New York." It is intended to run with the curvature of the river outside the high-tide mark, at an elevation above that level of five feet, pro viding eight tracks for cars to move in both direc tions. Faction feeling in our city is broadly divid ing the Democrats, and there will be a riot, if affairs continue to wear their threatening aspect, within the sacred precincts of Tammany. Some Senators have made efforts to get a larger share of the appointtneuts, and the consequence appe irs to be a difference at-Albany between the Senate and the House. A breach is also talked of as arising between the President and the Senate at Washing ton about the ratification of the San Domiugo treaty; but these rumours, however confiden ly male, ge nerally turn out to be untrue or exaggerate 3. At a recent sitting of our Aldermen $125,000 were voted away ; one sum of $75,000 being awarded to the owner, whose name is not given, of 106, 108, and 110, entre-street, to house the officials of the Court, although they have alrear'y good quarters in the Tombs. Among the city employds is a Public OUR PARISIAN RESUME. PARIS, April 7. The plebiscite, the strike at Creuzot, and th 3 robbery which the Rothscbilds have suffered, are the week's sensations. None of these are small ones. The Napoleonic move towards an appeal to the popular vote has excited such a storm of discussion in the Corps Legislatif, that the whole and M. country than tryisexccoitueldd. have The beenCerp Corps expected,as shown a 011ivier, above all, has exhibited a power of logical reasoning which Las excited even the admiration of Ifs enemies. Great developments are promised us for the 10th of this month. Most of thepromi neAt journa's profess thorough sympathy with the plot iscite, and one of them—The Parlement —which is known to be Rouher's organ, published a huge editiou the other day, with a fiery heading, calling as h me s i: pse t c iher h r t aseo lk os s e teherstietinaaaw established, supporters.Fdj abaci: ri e q sah u nreo e cbdi nsey taAtt b :xi that I,oNcri ;ti t l os! shi S ovia l le f issehe ri , a e ,tim t sh t . e e si Gd n aei most rvs d or ty, of liberty persistence c a al o n iorknef d ee sli the yimomaat differs Empire's the plebiscite "'the Country's Safety." It will be Jules Favre,. in the Corps the other day, pre dictel that the plebiscite was leading the people towards a violent revolution. These are grave words uttered by a wise min ; but i, would seem for the time be . ng, as if all the very violent opposi tion to the Emperor's efforts to fully establish his dynasty •were useless, and France has not passed through such stormy times so smoothly for a great while. Teh.re is a deep and wide-spread feeling among the middle classes, that any kind of a revolution wati'd be disastrous to the true develop• ment of self Government, and this keeps down all wild attempts at overture.. 011ivier has to submit to a great deal a unwholesome sauce in the Corps Legislatif, and is oftener told that he is a scoundrel and hypocrite than is any other man in France, yet he keeps steadily on his way. The solution of the Creuzo; 'jots, which are much more serious than the French papers like to stat, is probably the saute as was that of the ir3.ubles at Rubin, giving the miners and workmen a cc, tain per cent. of the profits. The progress of the disturbance thus far his not reflected touch credit ei; her on the workmen or the Government. On M. Schnei.ler's head rests the weight of resolving the question, for a few words ia a liberal spirit from him wou'd soon do it. There have been some very lamentable quarrels at Creuzot, one or two of which have rivalled the English demonstrations at Sheffield ; but it is net probable that further serious troubles will occur. Considerable excitement was MONETARY REPORT S-YESTERDAY. The commencement of the fortnightly settlement has checked business in the Stock Exchange. In vtilway stocks the business doing has been only moderate, and the market ,for foreign bonds has been depressed. Consols have been quiet, at 93, 1 ,932 for money, and 93, 933 for the May account. Reduced and New Three per Cents, 913, 92k ; Exchequer Bills, par to ss. prem. India Five per Cents have been done at 112, 1131, and India Bonds at 20s. to 255. prem. In the market for English railway stocks business to a moderate extent has been concluded, but no change of importance has taken place in prices. Great 'Western has been firm and / better, but MetropOlitan has fallen and London and Brighton k. In Indian railway stocks the transactions have been restricted, but prices have been without change. Canadian shares have been fiat, and Great Western have receded Foreign shares have been dull. South Austrian and Lombardo-Venetian have receded The market for foreign bonds has been in an unsettled state. Large sales have been made of Egyptian, 1868, owing to the proposed introduction of the new loan, and a fall of per cent. has taken place in prices. Peruvian (1865) have fallen / ; Russian (1822), k ; Turkish Five per Cents, ; and Italian (1861), / per cent.; but Russian Nicolas Railway Bonds have risen I, and Spanish (1867 and 1869) to a similar extent. American securities have been flat. The Five-Twenty (1882 and 1885) Bonds have fallen #; ditto (1887), # ; Ten- Forty, i; and Illinois Central shares, 2. Bank shares have changed hands quietly. Imperial Ottoman have been lower. Telegraph shares have been dull, and the tendency has been unfavourable, although no important decline has taken place. Anglo-Mediterranean have fallen i; Great Northern and French Cables In the market for miscellaneous securities the transac tions have been restricted, at about previous quota tions. There have been no bullion operations at the Bank to-day. There has been a fair demand for money to-day in most quarters. The supply of capital has continued abundant, and three months' paper has been taken at 2/ per cent. The following are some of the official " making-up " prices of to-day, being the tenth day of the fortnightly account :—Railways : Metropolitan, 77i ; London and North Western, 125 ; Great Western, 68i ; Erie, 201; South Austrian and Lombardo-Venetian, 17f. Foreign bonds : Turkish Five per Cents., 46a ; Egyptian 1868, 80-1 ; Mexican, 142 ; Spanish, 28 ; Russian Scrip, 4 ; Turkish 1869, 60; and Italian 1861, 54k; Hooper's Telegraph Works, 1 dis ; Anglo-American Telegraph, 17i ; and Don Pedro, 311. New York advices notice the failure of Messrs. Jenkins, Vail, and Peabody; Haviland, Lindsay, and Co. ; and G. W. Prentice and Co. The first two firms were im porters of manufactured goods, and the last wholesale hatters. The liabilities of each house range from about £50.000 to £150.000. MARKETS-YESTERDAY. LONDON CORN EXCHANGE, MONDAY.—The supply of Eng lish wheat on sale at Mark Lano to-day has been only moderate, but the quality has been good, In both red and white produce sales have progressed slowly, at about late rates. With foreign wheat the market has been fairly supplied. The demand has been inactive, on former terms. Malt has been quiet, at late rates. Oats have been in very fair supply, and limited request, at last week's prices. Beans have been dull, and there has not been much inquiry for peas. Flour has commanded but little attention on former terms. METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARKET, MONDAY. —The cattle trade has been in a most depressed state to-day. The supply of beasts has been quite an average, and the general quality has been good. The inquiry for all kinds has ruled heavy, at 2d. per' 81bs. less money. With sheep the market has been well supplied. Sales have progressed slowly, and prices have given way 2d. to 4d. per 81b. Lambs have been quiet. Calves have sold slowly, and pigs have been dull. Beasts have changed hands at from 3s. to 4s. 10d. ; sheep, 3s. to ss. 6d. ; lambs, 7s. Gd. to Ss. ; calves, 3s. 10d. to ss. Bd.; and pigs 4s. 6d. to ss. Bd. per 81bs. to sink the offal. Total supplies— Beasts, 3,463 ; sheep and lambs, 28,880 ; calves, 138 ; and pigs, 105. Foreign—Beasts, 1,025 ; sheep and lambs, 6,860 ; calves, 139 ; and pigs, 5. METROPOLITAN MEAT MARKET, MONDAY.--The supply of meat has been moderate. The trade has been quiet, at our quotations :—Beef, from 3s. to 4s. 4d. ; mutton, 3s. to 4s. 4d. ; lamb, 6s. Bd. to 7s. 4d. ; veal, 4s. 4d. to 4s. &I. ; and pork, 3s. 6d. to ss. 4d. per 81bs., by the carcase. LONDON PRODUCE MARKET, MONDAY.—The markets have been very quiet. For tea the demand has been inactive, at about late rates. Sugar, both raw and refined, has been in limited 1 , - , iest, at previous quotations. Coffee has been dull, and pric( we been nominal. Cocoa and rice have sold slowly. LONDON METAL MAItIOET, MoNDAT.—Scotch pig-iron his been quiet, at 545. 6d. Tin has been firm, and quite as dear. Copper and other metals have sold slowly. LONDON OIL MARKET, MONDAY.—Linseed oil has been steady in value, at 325. 6d., spot. Rape has been firm. English brown, spot, 425. 6d. to 425. Pd. Palm oil is quoted at 40a. 6d. for five lagos. Other oils have been flat. LONDON TRADE REPORT, MONDAY.—TaIIow has been quiet. Y.C., spot, 455. per cwt. Town tallow, 425. 6d., nett, cash. LIVERPOOL COTTON MARKET, MONDAY.—The market has been quiet. Sal a, 10,000 bales. Imports, 15,200 bales. ALTERATIONS IN MAIL COMMUNICATIONS.—Infor matior. :Laving been received from the Danish Post-office that a line of steam vessels will run between Copenhagen, .Lceland, and the Faroe Islands, a circular is issued to the effect, tnat the English Post-office intends to avail itself of the advantages. Letters, papers, and books may be forwarded at prepaid prices to those places, via Denmark. The navigation of the Danube having been reopened, mails for Constantinople will no longer be for warded via Trieste, but by the more direct route via Rust Chuck and Varna. The mails will be made up at the General Post Office every Tuesday and Friday evening. THE ERIE RAILWAY WAR.—The great Erie Raiwa3r war is waxing hotter and hotter. Mr. Jay Gould, the redoubtable associate of Mr. Fisk, jun., has appeared before the Senate Railroad Committee of the New York State Legislature, and made an elaborate defence of himself and his colleagues. He declares the charges brought against the directors by Mr. Burt, the champion of the English shareholders, to be altogether groundless, and asserts that Mr. Burt really represents two Jewish houses only, and that the bulk of the shareholders are on his own side—a statement which Mr. Burt indignantly denied on the spot. Mr. Gould claims that the Erie Ring, as they are called, have raised the receipts, diminished the ex penses, and conducted themselves throughout in the most praiseworthy manner, an opinion which the American press does not endorse. ACTION AGAINST ARCHDEACON PHILLPOTTS.— The Western Morning News reports an action which has been tried in the Falmouth County Court against the Venerable Archdeacon Phillpotts for damages caused by the bite of a dog. The plaintiff is a widow, and the injury done was to her son, a lad sixteen years of age. Miss Sabilla Phillpotts, the Arch deacon's daughter, acknowledged the animal to be her's, and the plaint was amended accordingly. It appea re d that the dog was out with Miss Phillpotts when it bit the boy. The family had been very kind to him on learning the accident having given him his dinner daily, and taken him to the infirmary in their carriage. His Honour thought the plaintiff should be satis fied with what had been done, and gave judgment for the defendant. The representatives of the archdeacon's family expressed their readiness to give the plaintiff £5 to cover expenses, and stated' that the action had been fought as a matter of principle. LADVERTISENENT.J—Henceforth no one will doubt the valuable properties of Du Barry's health-restoring Revalenta Arabiea Invalids' and Infants' Food, since to the thousands of blessings it has already received from Invalids whos position had been deemed hopeless, we may now add that of his Holiness the Pope, whose health has been perfectly restored by it after thirty years of unsuccessful medical treatment. We quote from the "Gazette du Midi," July 25th:—" Rome, July 21, 1866 . The health of the Ho l y Father is excellent, especially since, abandoning all other reme dies, he has confined himself entirely to Du Barry's Revaleata Arabica Food, of which he consumes a plateful at every meal. It has produced a surprisingly beneficial effect on his health, and his Holiness cannot praise this excellent food too highly." We extract a few out of more than 68,000 cures:—Cure No. 58,216, of the Marchioness de Brehan, of seven years' liver complaint, wasting away, debility, nervousness, with a nervous palpitation, all over, bad digestion, constant sleeplessness, and the most in tolerable nervous agitation. Cure No. 1,771: Lord Stuart de Decies, Lord-Lieutenant of Waterford, of many years' dyspepsia, No. 49,832: " Fifty years' indescribable agony from dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency, spasms, sickness, and vomiting —Maria Joly." Cure No. 46,270: Mr. James Roberts, of Frimley, Surrey, of 30 years' diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derangement, and partial deafness. Im portant Caution—Beware of the many unsavoury and more than sloppy imitations to which, without authority, Baron Liebig's name is most audaciously attached. In tins, at is lid; 1 lb 2s 9d; 2 lb 4s 6d; Mb Ils.; I`.llb 225; 24 lbs 4 s.—Also Du BARRY's REVALENTA A RABIC& CHOCOLATE PoWDER is packed in tin canisters: for 14 cups at 2s, for 24 cups a, 3s 6d, for 48 cups at6s, for 2eB cups at 30s, for 576 cups at 55s —being about one penny per cup. The 30s and 555 tins are sent free of e trriage in England on receipt of Post Office Order. BAnny Du BARRY and Co., No. 77, Regent-street, London ; and all Grocers and Chemists. BIRTHS. LEIGHTON—On the Bth inst., at 52, Park-street, Grosvenor square, the Ron. Mrs. Leighton) of a daughter. VIGERS —On the Bth inst., at 27, Russell-square, Mrs. Robert Vigers, of a daughter. MARRIAGES. LAKE —OUSBLEI—On the 9th inst., at St. James's Church, Norland, Sir Atwell King Lake, Bart., to Frances, widow of the late Colonel Richard Ouseley. SUrION—BEHREN 13 - On the 7th inst., Charles M. Simon, Esq., of Springfield Bank, Bury, the eldest son of Hr. Sergeant Simon, ALP., to Adela Louise, eldest daughter of Louis Behrens, Esq., of West Hill, Bowden, Cheshire. DEATHS. BARCLAY - On the 9th inst., at Rokefield, Dorking, George B. Barclay, Esq., aged 86. FILDER —On the 9th inst., at The Pages, Bexhill-by-the - Sea, J. 111 Filder, Esq., aged 57. London: Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANDREWS, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TIE SUN Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County of Kiddlosex.—Tuosiay, April 12, 1870. 1) 1 thie pu th e a 8 th e . adapt, I J R And ac 184 a _ b 'ela to 1 Of ti va' e ffects, bOdy y !Tait; i;' a A e d U es t c h ! of fair t'eturer Do Sine ili em 1 3 08 , 43 "lee, p. L Dorne 1, 4 Ord, ()Stage, SF ACT: DU Ic o, hap. Priz e the Rol4 .I\i hDv able PO It Pt' T,Au j Mr A Bah 30s 6d 'l' he A pril M is nol origi n , (tempi 22,000 exact rooms