The Sun. — London, England, 1870-03-24 00:00:00

AMERICAN CORRESPONDENCE. (From the Anglo-American Times.) NEW YORK, March 5. You are aware that we have a regular legislature of the Irish in sea-ion here, with its Senate and its party wings. There has always been strong par tisan feeling between the two, which is called forth when any important business has to be transacted. A naisuuderstandiog had arisen between O'Neill and the majority of the Senate, and at a stormy ineet.ng Mr. P. T. Meehan, editor of the Irish ;tine. rican, took a prominent part on the side of the Senate, of which he was president. Among the supporters of O'Neill (who awai•ed the result of the deliberation in an adjoining room) was J. Keenan, the secretary, who ma le himself obnoxi ous to the Senate by Ifs advocacy, and a resolu tion was passed dismissing him from his post. Shortly afterwards the meeting broke up, ha. ing increased instead of allaying the animos ty, ar.d Meehan with a few friends had got to the corner cf Broadway when Keenan came up, and, drawing a rivoiver, shot him in the neck. Mr. Meehan fell ; and was carried to the house of one of the gentlemen who was with him. The assassin, who has not long resided in America, endeavoured to escape, but the cry of " Murder !" being raised he was captured, and awaits the result in prison. Mr. Meehan continues in a very critical state, suf fering great pain, though some of his friends are sanguine that he will recover, and the Feuisn brethren are greatly excited by the circumstance. Mr. Meehan has a wife and family in Hudson City. He took a leading part in the late troubles in Ire land, and was always a staunch and able adherent of the Fenian cause. A raid has lately been gotten up against the vicious and sensational weeklies, which do so much to corrupt our youth. In a Roman Catholic Church an appeal was made by the priest to his congregation to give him their assurance that they would carefully exclude such papers ft out Their households, and frown down this the most pernicious literature of the period. In response, • his congregation, amounting to 2,000 persons, rose from their seats, to signify their approval of what was said. Efforts are being made by the high Churchmen for the e-ection of a grand cathedral here. Those who have la ely re turned from your side feel bow far behind the Mother Church we are in architectime and they point even to what the Roman Catholics have ach.eved on the Fifth Avenue. A proposition was shortly a s o sent by the trustees of the common schools in the Seventh Ward to the Board of Edu cation to provide them with the necessary faci lities for studying the Irish language and literature. The effort on the part of the G. rmans to have their language t eight, is rational, though dangerous to our progre s. We must assimilate the foreigners who seek a home in our land, but we must let all foreigners know that they shall not come here to maintain or asset a separate nationality, but to become American citizens, in language, tone of thought and aspiration, and that Awericarr s will not submit to be taxed for the instruction of children in a language which will tend to defeat the object they have closest at heart. Of course the stiles- of foreign languages as a point of scholarship is a very different matter, but these people seek, and in the case of the Germans jujus iously, to preserve a nationality which must conflict with American citizeustrip. Mr. Henry Bergh has been acting with great vigour against offenders who cruelly treat animals. The Grand Jury of King's county have presented their report. Instructed by the Judge, they visited the Raymond-street Gaol, and found it to justify the severe reprehension he deli vered. The t xcessive death rate of the children in Brooklyn is ascribed to the milk. Around the city is a cordon of pest-houses, where the poison is produced which unsuspecting mothers administer to their pale and dying infants. In proof, the Grand Jury annex to their report a letter from Mr. Bergh to the foreman, setting forth the horrors of a Brook lyn cow stable, and the jury urgently draw atten tion to this invasion of households by a poison as dangerous in its character as it is inhuman in its origin, The letter also at the same time gave a very forcible description of a cow stable at the, corner of First and North Fifth street, wherein from 200 to 300 cows were crowded iu en atmo sphere too dreadful to breathe. Some lay dead outside ; others were emaciated to a degree ; while a few were bloated on the unwholesome distillery slush whereon they are fed ; the suffering of the poor brutes beings() apparent as to melt any bu t their mere leas owners' hearts. Mr. Bergh attended on Monday at Justice Riley's Court-room to prosecute the proprietors. Two flues of $5O each had been inflicted for cruelty to animals, and for the infringe ment of the milk laws. Mr. Bergh spoke very severely against the difficulties thrown in his way in his prosecution of this case. He had been treated more like a criminal than a servant of thepeople ; and every ruling was against him, even when directly in opposition to the law. Judge Riley naturally got excited and said he was talking for the news papers. In reviewing the testimony, Mr. Hughes, in answer to Mr. Bergh, attacked the Act and the " diabolical Legislature which passed it ; and as: erted that the citizens did not support the Society. A strange term that to use in connection - with the passage of a measure to shield defenceless animals from (let me use it) diabolical cruelty. Mr. Bergh is engaged in a noble cause, and however little his work may now be appreciated, one day it will be manifest to all. I thought that James Fisk, jun., had, if anything, a more impenetrable hide than General Butler ; but this may be doubted, as Horace Greeley and the Tribune seem to have roused him into fury, and he openly threatens Mr. Greeley with violence. His grievance is not bad in its way, being no less than that it is probable he may be shut out of respectable houses. If' he is admitted into such houses lie must bring the taint of his notorious Opera; the sooner the doors are closed against him the better, and Mr. Greeley is not the man to be deterred from doing what he thinks to be right by any threat of a cowhiding from Fisk. That worthy well knows that he could not take a surer method of having the thickness of his skull tested than by raising his hand against Mr. Greeley, and he is much too 'cute to try the experiment Tuat Fisk has been admitted into good society is evident from the gold panic investigation report, as in it he is represented as entertaining the President, hospitality for which General Grant has paid dearly. No instance could be better calculated to warn off decent folk, for the only connection the President - had with the conspiracy was the unfortunate inters views Fisk and Gould managed to secure, and which it would have been difficult for the President to have avoided, as the steamers and railroad cars in which he travelled were under the managen:ent of these persons ; though sooner than permit such cons tact our President should have remained for the rest of his term in the executive mansion ; but Grant will riot be again thus caught. Still such officials as the collector of this city ace pts a seat at sup s er table ; and if tnen in his official pos . . tion, and the snpror er of the ma.iialeci execu tive do so, and if ladies receive him we ought not to be surprised at proceedings so damaging to the interests and credit of this city, for they can be perpetrated with absolute impunity. It is said that 400 men left New York last Saturday, to join another Cuban expedition to start from the United States, but this the c.l. S. Marshal denies. There was a prize fight on Wednesday at Mystic Island, in Long Island Sound, wherein Collier was de feated by Edwards who fail to come up to time, in deed for a considerable period he remained insensible. A bill is to be passed to put a final stop to these disgraceful encounters, otherwise our country will be male their theatre, as pugilists are not toles rated elsewhere. The Chamber of Commerce on Thursday received from the Committee, in whose charge it is, a report about the Alabama claims,twhich it ordered to be submitted to a Spe -cial Committee. Capiain John Codman ad dressed the Chamber in able advocacy of free trade in ships. He laid most stress on the fact that American masters were driven out of the service of their country, American laws forcing them to the alteina . ive either to give the country upor their pro - fession. There are more A mer i can capta i ns i n t h e foreign trade soiling under the British flag than tinder their own. Suspicion attaches to the death of hornas s. Flynn, brother of Alderman Flynn, whose body was found in the river on Thursday. Ile was bookkeeper t f Mr. Herbert Beech, 60, Barclay- s r et, and left for his home, where was his eewly-married w fe, in g , od. spirits the previous evrning. A hitch has arise:, about the iccep'ion of. the Hoe. Wiliam 11. Seward, which would have placed the Alderman who waited on that gentleman in a very awkward poAtion but for the good manners and diplomatic skill of Mr. Seward himself. The Mayor returned the re solution tendering the reception, calling the at tentou of the aldermen to a section of the City Charter requiring a three-fourths' majority to vote any outlay on processions or entertainments. Mr. Seward instantly wrote to the Committee of the Common Council, stating that when he accepted the tender of the city hospitalities he had ins'sted on their being free from extravagance or ost -nta tion, under which he,id the proposed dinner at the Astor House came. He therefore begged to decl ne the highly valued compliment, and to r,c his previous assent to the pullic reception iu the City Hall. This not very creditable arrangement of our municipal authorities was due to the active exer tions of a body of Democrats, who called on the Mayor, and in strong terms pointed out to him that their party owed nothing to Mr. Seward, and d d not feel like paying anything, and that their constituents would naturally and very properly object; but the Common Council has decided pub licly to welcome ex-Secretary Seward next Mon day. Quesada has arrived from Cuba, and the Junta talk of a public reception for him. Ile goes immediately to IVashingion to plead with the Government the cause of Cuba, and another power ful pressure will be brought to bear on the Execu tive, which has hitherto blocked the way. Secretary Fish has pressed an inquiry on the Spanish Minister into the execution of American citizens in Cuba ; and although the intelligence is contradictory, inclining to the impression that the insurrection is waning, still the interest in it in America is main tained, and may any day be kindled into a blaze. Judge Blatchford had the case before him of the owners of the American ship Sonora against the younger Laird, alleged to be part proprietor of the Confederate cruizer Alabama, which burnt the Sonora. The question had reference to the Juris diction of the Court, which his Honour does not doubt, though he considers it ought to be formally pleaded. A curious will case is before the Supreme Court. Dr. Abrahams died, leaving no wife or children, bequeathing to his brother the interest of $50,000 for life, and of $30,000 to his &ster, with $128,000 of gifts to various religious and charitable institutions. The whole property turns out to be only $102,000, and the Court has to settle how this amount is to be apportioned, and it appears probable that the lawyers will settle that question by appropriating the whole ; the usual result of such appeals. WASHINGTON, March 4. The British ironclad Monarch co Ainues to be the attraction, but she is now on the eve of her depar ture for England. A special train of Senators and members left yesterday to visit her. On Tuesday morning all who chose were invited to inspect her. Admiral Porter is deeply itnpresse 1 with her strength as a war ship. He unres rvedly asserts that there is not a vessel in our Navy which could hope to cope with her, and if she caught our mo nitors at sea she could run over them with ease; but the fight would be more equally balanced in any harbour attack. Altogether he regards her as a grand piece of naval architecture, the finest h e has seen. The Sen tte sill continues its lively de b des. The most important measures having been disposed of, the appointment to the vacancies in the Supreme Court have been considered in secret session, the struggle becoming exciting over Mr. Bradley. Mr. Conkling took strong ground in Bradley's favour, hitting out right and left till he worked the Southern Senators into a paroxysm of fury. Naturally they desire to indicate ',he I erson to be selected for the Southern Dis.rict, while they are opposed by the Democrats, who take a pleasure in doing all they can to thwart them. Incidentally Attorney-General Hoar's rej .ction was brought up, when it was soon made clear that it was not because he resided in Massachusetts, but because of his personal discourtesy to some Senators that he had been rejected. This being interpreted into plain language means that Mr. Hoar curtly declined to put unfit persons into the offices at his disposal at the dictation of certain Senators. In a debate in the House on the recent massacre of the Piegan Indians, General Sheridan was dealt with without gloves. Mr. Voorhees, Mr. Eldridge, Mr. Paine, and others, censured an inhuman proceeding, worse than the English in blowing the Sepoys from their guns. Mr. Stevenson manfully took the General's side, contending that war must be made vigorously, that in fighting Indians they must be fought to be killed, and it was mere squeamishness to make such a fuss over savages, who themselves cared for neither age nor sex, whose women and children were demons of torture dancing around the burn ing stake, and killing white women and children ; Sheridan was right, the blow should be struck so as to hurt, and the most vigorous policy in the end would prove not only the best, but the most merci ful. Mr. Mungen would fight the savages who killed white women and .children to the last, but he objected to jump at a little Indian, sick with the small-pox and kill the small wretch. "For fear of the small-pox ?" asked Mr. Stevenson. "No, sir," said Mr. Mungen angrily; I have had it." Mr.Muna , gen is the Representative who lately squarely pro posed repudiation of the national debt. He also was amongthose accused of selling cadetships, but on in vestigation it appeared that his appointment had been disposed of by a friend, and the best of the joke is that it went to a Republican boy, though the do nor is a regular Copperhead, the acute Represen tative being also unaware that his friend was pocketing a few hundreds of dollars at the ex pense of his character. Verily, if Mr. Mungen's reputation for honesty remains untarni-hed, it is at the expense of his sharpness. Mr. J. S. Golloday, of Kentucky, and John T. Deweese have resigned, following Mr. Whittemore's example, and thereby 'escaping expulsion, Mr. Deweese is well off, and how a few hundreds of dollars coul f have tempted him to plexe himself in such a position is difficult to guess. It was but a small proportion of the sum he expended in el 'ctioneering purposes in his district. He appeared before the Military t 'ommittee on Mon day, and would have melted a heart less stern than that of General Logan by the deluge of tears he shed. That purger, however, of Congressional cor ruption remained unmoved; so the weeping De weese retires, with a sad and costly experience, to return no wore ; but not so ex-Congre•lswan Whit temore, who had returned to South Carolina bear ing with him numerous marks of sympathy from his admiring constituency, with the as-urance that he would be re-elected to Congress. Mr. Butler of Tennessee fights hard against expulsion, stirring up the Military Committee, and throwing all manner of impediments into the course of the inquiry. Among others he insisted on General Schofield being exAmined, who being telegraphed for, has left St. Louis for Washington. Butler asserts that the General solicited him to make the appointment. Mr. Chaves, delegate from New Mexico, has also been charged with selling a cadetship for $l,OOO. It appears, however, that he gave the nomination to a Mr. Mc Carthy, who requested it for his nephew, but, instead, sold it. Mr. Covo le is likewise accused of having disposed of a cadetship for $l,OOO in 1862, and a committee is to pro c eed to Philadelphia to take evidence. Senator Morton has arrived from Indianapolis, where he ma le a great speech at th e State Republican: Convention. Several have left for New Hampshire to take the stump in the coming election ; among them Mr. Dawes. The Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee set a trap, into which some Democrats blindly fell. He got Mr. Spink, of Dacotah, whom the Tribune calls the Congressional " joker," Mr. Mungen being the Congressional "butt," to offer the following resolu tion :—" That the interests of the country demand a tariff for revenue upon foreign imports, and such equal taxation under the internal revenue laws as will afford incidental protection to domestic manufac tures; and as will, without impairing the revenue, im pose the least burden upon, and best promote and en courage, the great industrial interests of, the coun try." Nearly every Democrat, as Mr. Schenck ex.% petted, voted in the negative, when he had the pleasure of informing them that it was part of the Democratic pia,. form of 1868 against which they had been recording their votes. Two gentlemen, Messrs. Major and Head, after a long residence in Utah, gave strong evidence, when examined by the House Territorial Committee, against General Cullom's Polygamy Bill. They c)nsider that the Territory ought to be admitted into the Union as a State.; but the Committee does not agree with them, though it advocates very careful legislation gradually to destroy that institution. An interest big case is before the U. S. Supreme Court, as it affects the pre-emption of land, and is the very point in di-pate about the most beautiful part of the Yo Semite Valley, although this case hai referen e to the Ruscol Ranche, a large Spanish grant in Cali fornia, and not the Valley. A quarter section was ,ettle 1 on by Mr. Whitney as a pre-emptor, but the Attorney-General held,on reference,that a pre-emp tor was a tenant-at-will,whereonWhiteny was ousted by the Land Office, and brought forward the case. Lite postage between Belgium and this country via England is to be reduced from the 15th lust. to ten cents per half ounce, prepayment optional ; THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 24, 1870. books and newspapers, and samples unchanged. Captain C. F. Hall is here, as enthusiastic as ever about the North Pole. No ice appears to chill that explorer, who seems to think that the only use of money is to discover upon what sort of axis the world revolves. Ile wants a small screw vessel of 150 tons, and a topsail schooner even smaller ; but failing them, he wants a Government vessel to carry him to Hartstene Bay, lat. 78 deg., 17 sec.. N., whence he hopes to - accomplish his aspiration to stand on the northern extremity of the axis of the earth. He is to d diver a lecture on his Arc is travels at the request of th 3 President and all leading residents of Washington, who, in makieg it, pa d him a high and well-des , rued compliment. The publica,sion of the Public Debt Statement has caused surprise, it being confidently anticipated there would be no diminuti , n, but rather an in crease, as large paymen:s had to be made ewly in the month. The public were satisfiA a 3 well as as ()Dished at the r,sult, and it all tends with the more favourable export returns, with the diminished shipment of specie, with the accumulation of gold, and the disposition in many places evinced of re suming coin payment, to bring us back to a specie basis, and the index of this is the steady and con tinuous fall in gold. Secretary Boutwell holds purchased bonds to the amount of 100,000,000. We had a gay time last Saturday with Mrs.Belknap's closing reception and Mrs. Bryan's soirée dansaWe, at Highland Place, the President and Miss Nellie Grant being among the guests. This party was as remarkable for its innovations on established customs as for the brilliancy of the entertainment, the louse containing a suite of rooms, giving ample space for dancing ; but Mrs. Bryan named the hours from six to ten o'clock, and gave no wines nor anything exhilarating in the shape of drinks. That night, too, General Butler was serenaded by his friends. Most of them were darkies, and perhaps as the shades of night had fallen Butler could not see them, for, after Peering to spy out the crowd, he b ought his speech to an abrupt end, and retired with the guffaw of the reporters in his ear. Since his furious assault on " newspaper men" in the House, the correspondents are handling him with out gloves. In his speech he thanked Go I that he was superior to the newspapers, but in the Globe he has turned what he did say, into " he was superior to the slanders of the newspapers." THE GREAT GOLD CONSPIRACY. The New York Tribune very properly objects to let its light remain hidden under a bushel; in deed from the language it used when the World revived that ridiculous and untruthful story of Mr. Greeley's being hidden under a table during the New York riots, it seems to have a mortal ob jection to any concealment at all. The report of the Gold Panic Investigating Committee was com municated to that journal in time for publication on the Ist March, but this was with the proviso that the news should not be published until authorized. " Second-rate journals," says the l ribune, " strug gl ng for a position, may find it needful or ad vantageous to resort to such disreputable prac tices as the violation of confidence in a case like this ; the Tribune does not." We can, however, assure the Tribune that great as it undoubtedly is, it could much less afford to do a most disreput able act than to be late in the publication of any news ; and that, if in the habit of infringing such confidence it would very soon descend into the rank of second-rate journals. The gold conspiracy report reads like a highly-wrought sensational novel. That story of villainy, of audacity, of conspiracy, has few parallels in history, assuming a magnitude so gigantic as to secure for it a page in the reords cf America. The prime mover was Jay Gould • the " bad man of the play" James Fisk ; th e half-foolish, half-vicious, and wholly unprincipled instrument was the " old fool" Corbin. Many other incidental characters were thrown in, such as the maniac Speyers, Belden the scapegoat, and Butterfield, whose position in the conspiracy has never been satisfactorily explained. Men of all grades were in volved, and the whole trade of the country was for the time paralysed. The conspiracy began with an attempt on Gould's part to secure a successor to Mr. Van Dyck, who resigned the Assistant Trea suryship of New York last June. This brought in Corbin, who first suggested Robert B. Catherwood; but attention was soon directed to General Butter field, and he was finally appointed. 'the story pro ceeds, as is well known, with Gould's efforts to extract from the President some explanation of his financial views, but all they could get from him was that he thought there was a certain amount of fictitiousness about the prosperity of the country, and that the bubble might as well be tapped in one way as another, which conveying the impression that he was a contractionist, acted on the clique like a wet blanket. Early next morning Gould was atthe telegraph office (this interviewwas at Boston), where he found an associate sending a message to New York to sell out his stock. .No man can achieve anything national in America without as suming the role of patriot, and with the aid of Mr. James M'Henry, who held his own views regarding the prosperity of the country, a theory was pro pounded which suited the purpose of the conspi rators. Mr. M•Henry was interested in the Atlanti c and Great Western and the grain carrying trade, and his views of the national good naturally took the direction of prosperity to the Western farmer. Gold, Le maintained, should be at 145 if the fall crops were to be moved to advantage and a foreign market secured. Working on Mr. M'Henry's data, Gould endeavoured to impress these opinions upon Gen. Grant, using Corbin for this purpose, and the President of the Atlantic and Great Western R.R. to influence the press. The latter important object was to be achieved through the New York Times, and as the appearance of one of these conspirator s in the office of that journal would have been fatal to their success, Mr. M'Henry was asked to present the article drawn up from his figures to his friend Mr. Bigelow, then the chief editor of the Times. Under the impression that the article was the direct expression of the President's mind, it was dou ble leaded for a leading article ; but doubts were aroused on reading it, when it was submitted to the financial editor. Mr. Norval suspected, particu larly from the last paragraph, a sinister purpose to "bull" gold ; so the objectionable paragraph was stricken out, and the type unleaded, and then it ap peared as an ordinary article. The Committee observe that, when comparing the manuscript with the article, it will be seen how cunning was the fraud that had been attempted. It seems, however, that the views, which we well recollect as being gene rally circulated, were not without their influence on the President; for he wrote, on the Ist Septem ber, to Secretary Boutwell, then in Massachusetts, that he did not think gold should be sold down while the crops were moving, as it might embarraas the West. This had the effect of curtailing the sales Mr. Boutwell would otherwise have made, and on the 3d and 4th Sept. gold commenced to rise rapidly, touching 1371 on the 6th. The sense of the coantiy was against the conspirators, and Gould found it impossible to hold his associates together, for it was evident to all, in the face of good crops and increasing confidence in Europe, that the i ise was artificial, and the precious metal began to flow in from every quarter. Gould found himself compelled to maintain his posi tion, while, as he says, the other fellows deserted him as rats do a sinking ship. He left no stone un turned to strengthen his position, placing Gene ral Butterfield under obligations by a private loan, buying and carrying for his profit $1,500,000 gold, besides securing the control of the Tenth Na tional Bank. For Corbin he bought and carried another $1,500,000; but notwithstanding all his efforts, his position began to grow desperate, when he again invited Fisk to join. Here we cannot do better than give the actual words of the report : "Fisk replied that the skies did not look bright, that the tendency of gold was downward, that everybody was opposed to an upward movement, and that it they should buy much the Treasury would sell. It would appear that nothing but the scent of corruption could sharpen the appetite of Fisk for the game which his leader was pursuing. His own testimony on this point exhibits his singular depravity, and the kind of influ ence which could move him to act in opposition to his own judgment. Ho was told thatOorbin had enlisted the interest of persons high in authority. That the Presi dent, Mrs. Grant, General Porter, and General Butterfield were corruptly interested in the movement, and that the Secretary had been forbidden to sell gold, Though these declarations were evidently false, as the evidence abund antly shows, yet the compounded villainy presented by Gould and Corbin was too tempting a bait for Fisk to re sist. He joined the ruoveLtent at once, and brought to its aid all the force of his magnetic and infectious enthusiasm. The malign influence which Catelino wielded over the reckless and abaudoued youth of Rome finds a fitting parallel in the power u hieh Fisk carried into Wall-street when, followed by the Thugs of Erie and the debauchees of the Opera House, be swept into the Gold Room and defied both the street and the Treasury. Indeed, the whole gold movement is not an unworthy copy of that great con spiracy to lay Rome in ashes and deluge the streets in blood for the purse of enriching those who were to apply the torch and wield the dagger. With the great revenues of the Erie Railroad Company at their command, and having converted the Tenth National Bank into a manufactory of certified checks, to be used as cash at their pleasure, they terrified all opponents by the gigantic power of their combination, and amazed and dazzled the dissolute gamblers of Wall-street by declaring that they bad in league with them the chief officers of the National Government." The account for the "pool" they styled the National Gold Account, their settled object all along being to convey the impression throughout the city that they were backed by Government officers. Gradu ally they pushed the price, up till on Wednesday, the 22d Sept., gold was firm at 40f premium, with from fifty to sixty millions of dollarsof calls, in the hands of the clique. Its situation then had become very precarious, and every rumour caused alarm. It was stated that Secretary Boutwell had been in vited by a party short of gold to dine at the Union League Club on his way through New York, when a great pressure would be brought to bear to in crease the sales of gold, and to break up the clique. Corbin was closely watched, and influenced by Gould the celebrated letter to the President had been forwarded by a special messenger; Mr. Chapin being despatched post haste to Washington, Penn sylvania, to place it in the President's hands. Ile car ried also a note to G en. Porter, the secretary, and reached the house when the gentlemen were playing a game of croquet. General Porter was informed that a person awaited him in the parlour, where, on finishing the game, he proceeded, while the Pre sident sat down in the porch. When Porter entered the note was delivered, which said "The bearer has a letter for the President. Please afford him an oppor tunity of delivering it.—A. R. Corbin." He called to the President, who then came in, and was handed the letter by the messenger, and he walked out read ing it. Shortly after the President returned, when the messenger a• ose and said, " Any reply ?" and on the President's saying "No answer," Chapin entered les buggy and drove away. Then Porter asked who the wan was. The President replied, " I don't know ; why ?" and appeared quite astonished on learning that he was from New York, supposing that he had come from the Post-office,as a messenger usually carried up his despatch( s, the Postmaster himself or one of his clerks delivering them. Tha letter was destroyed at the time as a document of no importance, and Porter tore his up, as was his habit with such notes, after reading it. Had the President preserved his letter as of value it would have been entrusted to General Porter, who would have filed it. Though wholly valueless in its contents it proved the means of bringing the conspiracy to a climax, and bursting the bubble, for the messenger, intending only to convey to his em ployers the information that he had completed his business, went to the telegraph office and for warded the words, " All right." This they took to mean that their bolt had been truly shot, but instead its effect was the reverse, for the fact of thus de spatching a messenger who had to ride 28 miles from Pittsburg, the station nearest to Washington in the State of Pennsylvania, together pith the rumours afloat that Corbin had become a great " bull" in gold, excited in the President the suspicion that he was influenced by a selfish, pecuniary gain, and he sug gested to Mrs. Grant to say in the letter she was writing to Mrs. Corbin that he hoped, if the case were so, that her husband would at once disengage himself from such speculations, as General Grant was much distressA at such rumours. That letter reached New York on Wednesday evening, the 22d September, and its contents were d'selosed to Gould by Corbin late the same night. A graphic picture is given of the two conspirators at midnight bending over the pee cil marks of the letter • the one know ing that his duplicity was now fully revealed, and both sensible of the extremity of the peril. Corbin had the advantage, for h, had m.cured a plan. He hoped t to save his credit with the President, and at the same time to reap a profit from his operations. Re presenting the imprudence of allowing the Presi dent to believe he was engaged in s 4 _ , eculation, he intimated that he had written to General Grant, denying all personal interest, direct or indirect, iu the movement; and it was only necessary, before de spatching the letter, to make it true, which could be done by Gould paying him the accrued profit on his $1,500,000, amounting to over $lOO,OOO. The position of the arch-conspirator, in the face of this dilemma, was trying. He knew that Corbin had been deceiving him all along ; he saw through his object to back out with a large gain, while maintain i g his religious character, and pretending the pu rest motives to his brother-in-law, yet Gould dare not incur Corbin's hos ility, so he asked for delay till the morning, urging secresy, and s'atine• that if the contents of that letter bec ame k nown he was a ru•ned man. Next morning Gould offered Corbin $lOO,OOO on account if he would remain in the pool, which Corbin refused; so in the evening Gould pro cured from Fisk a cheque for $lOO,OOO to pay Cor bin, but he retained it, though Fisk, who knew little of this transaction, t stifled that .Gould had given it to Corbin that night. It was then that Gould and Fisk, foreseeing the impending smash, s e t them selves to escape the consequences. Gould sold gold largely in secret, while Fisk and others kept up the appearance of buying to raise the premium. Belden was the tool, who, bringing into the " street" a crowd of fresh brokers, was to purchase recklessly on the credit of Fisk and Sadth, and Gould, Martin, and Co., as his principals and backers; and one of the brokers employed was Mr. Speyers. Under cover of the reckless purchases thus directed, Goul I was selling vast sums, and forcing those short of gold to settle by all manner of devices and chicanery. The climax now rapidly approached, the gold c'earing having risen from its average of $70,000,000 a day to $240,000,000 while the clique held calls for $100,000,000, though there were but $15,000,000 of the metal in New York outside the sub-Treasury. All the gold owed was tothem, and no gold in compa rison was procurable, so they were masters of the situation, with a full list of all who were short, in cluding 250 promineutNew York firms. This was on the Thursday, and when the c ons pi r ators met that night it was debated whether the list should not be published in the morning papers, showing the sums owed, and informing their victims that if they did not settle before three o'clock next day at 145, a hgher rate would be demanded. Counsel was asked if any legal difficulty existed, and the conspirators were advised that under the New York statutes that course would constitute a conspiracy, which, with the fear of the rising popular fury, deterred them. Then came the eventful Friday, of the events of which our readers have received the fullest infor mation. The tide of success, which the confederates had up to this point carried with them, seemed to flow more strongly than ever that morning; but before noon two thunderbolts had gathered over their heads to annihilate the whole scheme. The one was wielded by a Scotch banker, named James Brown, whose legitimate business was threatened with ruin unless he met the conspirators with their own weapons. Backed by several leading bankers and merchants, he threw himself vigorously into the scale of the " bears," and sold down gold so as to turn the fall tide when the celebrated bid was made for five millions at 160, 161, 162. Once turned, the collapse was like the vanish of a phantom army ; indeed, " phantom" was the word used by Fisk when asked why he feared Treasury sales when they held calls for six times as much gold as there was in New York outside. the sub- Treasury. " Our phantom gold," he answered, " cannot stand the weight of the real stuff." And it was when the legitimate bankers, in negotiation with their correspondents in Europe, threw them selves into the maie that the real weakness of the conspirators transpired. The other thunderbolt was in the hand of Mr. Boutwell. The fluctuations in gold had been too rapid even for the telegraph, and it is recorded that the wires, in many instances, were burnt off by the efforts of the operators to keep up with the news. The fire of telegrams into Washington was enough to drive the Secretary de ranged, and he felt that a crisis had arisen which made it the duty of the Government to interfere, even though the contest werebetween speculators,for they were ea , rying ruin over the country. At 11 a.m. he called at the Executive Mansion, when the President expressed his opinion that $5,000,000 should be sold. Mr. Boutwell inclined to $3,000,000, but while returning to his office he determined to advet tise the sale of $1,000,000, and a message to that effect was ins' alive , despatched through all the rival lines. General Butterfield received the first at 12.5, and the committee cannot Lind that there was any irrregularity regarding the deseat_;h. It was a few minutcs before noon that the bankers broke the bubble in th..! Gold Room, and about ten minutes after the news came that the Treasury would sell, the effect being like a massive charge of cavalry on a broken and discomfited brig'ide, going clear over it, leaving nothie gbut wreck and ruin behind, The whole thing vanished, an dmen looked in amazement at each other, believing that the city had been tuned into a Bedlam, the craze and scare being simply universal. Still Gould imagined that Corbin might be of use, and he and his wife were despatched to Washing ton, where he attempted to talk with the President, when he was cut short with the remark that the subject was closed up, and be returned from his vain mission, the Treasury announcements showing the conspirators that he had totally failed. Indeed, to use Fisk's words, " matters took such a turn that it was no use. It was, each man, drag out his own corpse." The report then enters on a wholly new phase ; men had to meet the consequences of their action, and how the wily individuals involved accomplished this is the next subject discussed. Their first move was to obtain from the Courts injunctions and judi cial orders, placing a receiver in the Gold Clearing house, and restraining its officers from making settlements, except on the Courts order, as well as the Gold Exchange from enforcing its rules and compelling settlements among its mcmlers. The simple principle adopted was to enforce, as far as possible, all contracts in their favour, and to repu diate all against them. The Committee believe the Gold Exchan g e Bank to be a source of evil, and re commend the House as follows : "Resolved, —That the Committee on Ways and Means be instructed to report a bill levying such a tax on the transactions of the Gold Exchange and the Gold Exchange Clearing house as in their judgment the interest of the country shall require. "Resolved,—That the Committee on Judiciary be in structed to inquire into the expediency of reporting a bill to define and punish conspiracy against the credit of the United States and the business bf the people. " Resolved,—That the Committee on Banking and Cur rency be instructed to inquire whether any further legis lation is necessary to prevent the improper use of certified checks by the National banks, and that they have leave to report by bill or otherwise." The effects of the conspiracy on the country are told. The ineffectual attempts to compromise the President are disposed of in a few strong sentences, and the case of General Butterfield is discussed very much to that officer's disadvantage. The Com mil tee do not find that he joined as a coadjutor of Gould ; but they do find that he speculated deeply on his own behalf ; and while acknowledging that his official duties were transacted with vigour and intelligence, they censure without reserve the part he took as a Treasury officer in the gold gambling. Mr. Cox delivered the minority Report, which does not mainly differ, except in the attempt to fix upon the President's family the discredit of having participated in the speculation. It mainly draws attention to the efforts used by the minority to have the witnesses examined who could have cleared away the discrepancies, and have shown unmistakeably if they were innocent; but the minority were baulked in every effort to bring the President before the Committee, or Mrs. Corbin, or Mrs. Grant. If, argue the minority, they were all so free from any of this contamination, why not take the most effectual measures to prove it, so that we, the opponents of the Executive, would be com pelled to accept the evidence as conclusive, which would fully exonerate the President's family before the world. A letter from the President to Mr. Bout well, written in New York when Grant was on the eve of proceeding to Washington, Pennsylvania, is quoted Against him. The Secretary is warned that, on passing through New York, he will be beset by the operators in gold; but that his advice was, not to pay the slightest attention to any ; this was the course he had adopted, but Mr. Boutwell might have better means of judging after he had come in contact with them, advice tantamount to recom mending that the plan not to sell gold be preserved. Indeed the words used by Grant were.—" I think, from the lights before me, I would move on, without change, until the present struggle is over." It was to this Washington in Pennsylvania that Corbin despatched his celebrated letter. Corbin's testimony when questioned about the much-talked of " Sis" letter was evasive and unsatisfactory. The minority report is skilfully drawn up to show that the President's family were not wholly clear, but every effort to get a shadow of a case against the President, or even the others, has failed. On the con trary, his action in at once recommending on the eventful Friday the immediate sale of an amount nearly double as large as that suggested by Mr. Boutwell is conclusive, had there even been cause for suspicion, for he thereby pricked the bubble. The minority report strikes us as being Written in bad taste, not to elucidate the truth, but to stigmatize a great name merely to advance party purposes.—Anglo-Amerzcan 'limes. AMERICAN CONSULS AS LAWYERS.—It does not seem to be generally understood that the laws of the United States permit Consular officers to do business as attorneys at law and conveyancers, while they do not per mit such as receive stated salaries to engage in commercial pursuits. Americans or foreigners, having documents, powers of attorney, and the like, to be drawn, or who de sire legal advice, have only to apply to American Consuls. Many of them are lawyers, and they are generally supplied with the requisite facilities for doing law business. This right to supplement inadequate salaries is but just and pro per, while it promotes the convenience of foreigners desir ing to do business with America. The salaries of Ameri can Consuls are in almost every instance inadequate to a prdper support,. especially in the great capitals of Europe. In a recent Report made by the Inspector of Consulates, thd salary of the Consul-General at Paris is stated at $5,000, out of which he has to pay clerk hire and other expenses, and he has left but $0,350 per annum. It is very evident that if the law had not generously al lowed Consuls at leading places to reserve for themselves their professional and notarial fees not one of them could sustain himself. Newspapers and individuals who have Censured the Government for allowing its leading Consuls salaries entirely inadequate to their support, should in jus tice note its liberality in according the privilege referred to, which is one accorded by no other Government. How valuable this permission is may be gathered from the statements of ex-Consuls. A late Consul at Paris openly stated his legal and notarial fees to have been $12,000 per annum; another stated to one of his confreres that his were more than that, and could by activity have been extended to twice that sum. Would it not be much better if Congress would allow-such salaries to American Con suls as are allowed to the Consuls of other great nations, and not compel its representatives to eke out their pay by engaging in outside pursuits, which must necessarily occupy their time and attention to the detriment of the public business and interests? Texas has been admitted into the Union under the same restrictions as Virginia and Mississippi, the vote being 131 to 45. This completes the work of reconstruc tion so far as bringing back into the Union the States which strayed therefrom is concerned ; and with the rati fication of the Fifteenth Amendment finishes up the work, to accomplish which the Republican party was formed lti years ago. lts success is a splendid instance of what free discussion can achieve in a free and intelligent community. No task could have appeared more hopeless than that em bodied in its platform ; and none could have offered less in the way of a material gain, in power, or in that sort of gratitude which the world cares to obtain. The people for which it laboured were slaves—not the slaves of con quest, but a race from time immemorial degraded among men, upon whom it was even asserted that Nature had plainly branded "slave." Socially the African was avoided even by those who upheld the Republican platform ; still so power ful was truth, so overwhel m i ng its infl uenc e, that within that short period, and, through a conflict invo lvin g hun dreds of millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives, the task has been performed, s lavery abolished, the status of the blacks raised to that of the whites in the e y e of the law ; and as if to give this fact the broad stamp of take the very ' truth, a -negro is returned to represent er of the leading States of the rebellion,andjeffsDavis, the lon ton the Senate sue chair which was last occupied by Pre sident of the Confederacy. Last Wednesday a special funeral service w as ------- - held in the American chapel in honour of Mr. Burlingame, Orations were delivered by Mr. Washburne and Mr. Alex. Bullock, the Governor of Massachusetts, and resolutions were passed expressing the sympathy of the American residents in Paris with the family of the deceased. The morning train for New Orleans on the Missis sippi Central whilepassing Buckner's Trestle, which crosses a ravine at a height of 40 feet, got off the track,'and, crush ing the trestle, wrecked the baggage, mail, Express, and three passenger cars. The engine appears to have crossed all right, but some of the timbers being rotten a rail slipped out of place, which switched off the cars when going at a great speed, and they crushed the trestle and plunged into the ravine. The baggage, mail, and Express freight was scattered on the hill side; two passenger cars were smashed, but the end of the second seems to lave blocked the way, and prevented the third from falling over. Twenty-one were killed on the spot, and a still larger ou.nber seriously injured, and much indignation is ex pressed at this sacrifice to the demon of carelessness. The Ohio Legislature has rejected the female suffrage amendment. In Minnesota the Senate by 19 to 12 concurred in the House Bill to submit the amendment to the men and women of the State, on the point of ad mission of women to the ballot, and oviding separate boxes fin male voters. MONETARY REPORTS.-YESTERDAY. A fair amount of animation has been noticed in the Stock Exchange to-day. In the market for railway stocks realisations have slightly weakened prices, but foreign bonds have tended upwards in value. Consols have been firm at a further advance of * per cent. For money the quotation has been 93k, to 95k, and for the April account, 93} to 93g. Reduced and New Three per Cents., 91 to 91i ex div. Indian Five per Cents have been done at 112} to 113 ; and Indian Bonds, 20s. to 255. prem. ; Exchequer Bills par to 4s. prem. In the market for English railway stocks the business doing has been only moderate, and the fluctuations, though by no means important, have been mostly un favourable. Great Western has risen f, but Caledonian, South Eastern, and Midland have fallen f, and London and Brighton and London and North-Western *. Indian stocks have been very quiet, and there has been very little inquiry for Canadian shares. Foreign shares have been dull. Great Luxembourg have fallen f Foreign bonds have been in request. There has been a, continuance of purchases, at further advanced quotations. Argentine (1868), Brazilian (1865), Mexican, New Granada, Spanish, and Turkish (1869), have advanced per cent. American securities have been quiet. The Five-Twenty and (1882) bonds have fallen I ; ditto, (1885), it; Ten-Forty, i; Virginia bonds, 21; Atlantic bonds, i; Erie shares, i; and Illinois Central, British mining shares have changed hands slowly. Van have fallen Colonial and foreign mines have been flat. Bank shares have been in limited request at previous quotations. The market for telegraph shares has been quiet, and prices have been without important change. Hooper's Telegraph Works have been firmer at 2 to dis. Telegraph Construction and Maintenance have been lower at 37 to 37k. Very few changes have taken place in the prices of miscellaneous securities, the demand for which has been inactive. The money market has continued very firm. The de mand for accommodation has been active, and the rate for negotiating three months' paper has been firm, at 3 per cent. No bullion operations have been reported at the Bank to-day. A telegram, dated Sydney, Feb. 28th, states that the Aberdeen clipper Patriarch arrived out in 67 days from England. This is the fastest passage on record. The report of the Don Pedro Mining Company (Limited) to be presented on the 30th instant shows that the gold raised during the year has amounted to 201,581 octavas, or 23,242 ounces troy, and has realised the sum of £87,999. The cost for the same period has been £33,542, the profit on the year's operations being £55,428. The dividends declared for the quarters ending March, June, and September have absorbed £38,921, leaving, with the amount brought forward from 1868, an available balance of £17,710. This sum the directors propose to deal with as follows :-21,549 to the payment of a dividend of 4s. per share free of income tax, making, with the dividends already paid, a return of 4s. per share, or 100 per cent on the capital of the company, £l,OOO to the reserve fund, making the balance at the credit of that account £B,OOO ; the sum of £1,161 being caned forward to the current year. The liquidators of the Imperial Land Company of Mar seines have issued a report, shewing that the claims against the company, subject to reductions, stand at £1,251,389, while the assets are estimated at £1,391,075, including a claim against the Credit Foncier of England, the successor and assignee of the Credit Foncier and Mobilier of England, of £1,026,000. The liquidators re mark that they do not despair of making the shareholders a considerable return of the moneys paid. At Mark-lane to-day wheat was quiet, on former terms. The report of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation presented at Hong Kong on the 3rd of Feb ruary, shewed that there was an available total of 356,280 dollars. A dividend at the rate of six per cent. was de clared absorbing 210,000 dollars; 100,000 dollars were placed to the reserve fund, and 46,280 dollars to profit and loss account. The traffic returhs of the Midland Railway for the week ending March 20 present a total of £67,626, being an increase of £5,750 over that of the corresponding week of 1869. • MARKETS -YESTERDAY. LONDON CORN EXCHANGE, WEDNESDAY.—Fresh up to Mark Lane this morning. The receipts of wheat from Essex and Kent have been very moderate. Although not active, the trade influenced by the cooler weather,has been slightly firmer at Mon day's quotations. With f ore i gn w h eat the market has been fairly supplied. The transactions have been in retail, at about late prices. Moderate supplies of barley have been on the stands. The demand has been firm, and prices have been well supported. Malt has been steady on former terms. Oats, the show of which has been limited, have been in fair request, at full currencies. Beans and peas have been quite as dear. Flour has been dull. Arrivals of grain —British : wheat, 40 ; barley, 420 ; malt, 920 qrs. Foreign : barley, I'7oo ; oats, 3,490 prs. ; and flour, 300 sacks. LONDON TRADE REPORT, WEDNESDAY.—TaIIow quiet at 465. for Y C on the spot ; 455. 6d. June ; and 465. 6d. last three months. Oils steady. LONDON PRODUCE MARKET, WEDNESDAY.--The colonial markets generally have remained steady. Sugars have been in good request, and good refining qualities have tended upwards in value. Tea has remained quiet and unchanged. Coffee firm for all descriptions, with a fair business passing. Rice for arrival in demand. METROPOLITAN MEAT MARKET, WEDNESDAY.—The sup plies of meat have been only moderate. The trade has been quiet as follows :—Beef from 3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. ; mutton, 3s. to 4s. 6d. ; lamb, 6s. Bd. to 7s. 4d. ; veal, 4s. Bd. to ss. ; and pork, 3s. 6d. to ss. 4d. per 81b. by the carcase. BOROUGH HOP MARKET, WEDNESDAY.—In the hop mar ket no important feature has been noticed. Sales have pro gressed slowly. Fine home-grown produce, from its scarcity, has maintained full prices, but the value of other qualities has had a drooping tendency. Mid and East Kents, £7 to £l2 12s. ; Wealds, £6 to XS ; Sussex, £5 12s. to £6 12s. ; Bavarians, £6 6s. to £9 ; French, £5 to £6 10s. ; Americans, £4 ss. to £6 ; and Yearlings, £llos. to £3 155. per cwt. LIVERPOOL COTTON MARKET, WEDNESDAY.—The market is quiet. Sales, 11,000 bales, of which 2,000 were on speculation. Import, 14,275 bales. GLASGOW IRON MARKET, WEDNESDAY.—Steady market. 545. 6d. cash sellers ; 545. 9d. month sellers. Buyers ld. less. Moderate business. BERLIN, Melton 22.—Rye—March, 441 ; April-day , . 14 3 i; .Rape oil—March, 13.22 ; April-May, 13.22. Spirits—Marc" , '1 4' April-May, 15.07. ST. PETERSBURG, MARCH 22.—Y.C. Hemp—June, 38i. September, 56, holders ; ANTWERP, MARCH 22.-551 to 56 sellers. Rye, soft, 74. T.nAr.—Market quiet, American COTTON MARKET, l'' -- • tendency* sorts easier. Downward American qualities firm ; other so for arrival. so o l i d l a s t p 4 o i t, to 2 s Bl ;; spot, August, 511 ...... Banca tin, 71f. Rye, October, AMSTERDAM, 3LiaCII z 4 .- 187 g. HAMBURG, MABoll z. autumn, 26f. 2,000 bag_ os, pert Thetis,sold, 23,0011TM281ara-; but prices caibo at 61 to 7f ; 2, 50 ° ''''"“ with held. ALEXANDRIA , 31Aucl.1 22.—Market firm, with a limited bud- F a ir 12i busi ness. , ; good fair, 12} ; fully good fair, 13, all ;10.—Rape free on board. .„„,„artsityia..l -11 enceforth no one will doubt the valuable re-" of Du Barry's health -restoring properties Infants' • Revalenta Arabica Invalids' and . Food, since to the thousands of blessings been may n p e r fneocwt yardettohraetdo by y his t afterll o Holiness n thirtye s s t h y e es P r o s p o s i , , h as already received from Invalids whoa position had been hopeless, is , cal treatment. We quote from the G az ette du Midi," July 25th:—"Rome, July 21, 1866. --The health of the Holy Father is excellent, especially since, abandoning all other reme dies, he has confined himself entirely to Du Barry's Revalenta unsuccessfulwd eheomsee dh healthp e 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, wastin g 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 Vd ; 2 lb 4s 6d; 5 lb 11s; 12 lb 2 2 5; 24 lbs 4 s.—Also D u BARRy's REVALENTA A BASICA. CHOCOLATE Pownsn is packed in tin canisters: for 12 cups at 2s, for 24 cups ,s at 3s 6d, for 48 cups at 6s, for 288 cups at 30s, for 57 6 cups re up a sat sent —being about one penny per cup. The 30s and 556 and free of carriage in England on receipt of Post Office Order. Regent-stree t BARRY Du BARRY and Co., No. 77, L ondon; all Grocers and Chemists. BIRTHS. DEVERELL -On the 23d inst., at Dorking, the wife of J. C. Deverell, Eq., of a son. NELSON—On the 22d inst., at Laudford, Salisbury, the wife of Captain H. Nelson, R.N., of a daughter. MARRIAGES. EYKTN—HICKS — On the 22d inst., at Harrow-on-the-Hill, William Augustus, youngest son of the lata Jas. Eykyn, Esq., of Ackleton, Salop, to Eliza, only daugh;er of the late Charles Hicks, Esq., of Sudbury Villa, Middlesex. FISHER—MoTE — On the 19th inst., at Lewisham, Frederick - , only son of Frederick Fisher, Esq., of St. German's-ter race, Blackheath, to Ellen, third daughter of James Mote, Esq., of E thaw House, Lee-green. DEAT'HS. PRIMROSE—On the 23d inst:, at 139, Piccadilly, the Lady Louisa Printrov. SADLER - O❑ tho 21st inst., at Bexley heath, Mr. Thomas Jarvis Sadler, aged 52. London: Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANDREWS, of No, 112, Strand, Printer, at Tax SUN Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Proirixot of the Savoy, in the COM* of MiCtinex.sl Thur.itsy, March_24, Mo.