The Sun. — London, England, 1870-02-01 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS It has been announced, says the Times, in the usual phrases that Lord Cairns has issued cards for a grand banquet to the most eminent Conservative peers on Mon Clay next, and the question has been asked whether this deans that the Opposition in the Lords will be led by the katne chief this year as last, or whether Lord Cairns 4inner is a final act preceding the transfer of his officeinto otlftr hands, The first question suggests the truth. The ex-Lord Chancellor will continue during the ensuing session to occupy the post of honour opposite to Lord Granville,and it will he his duty to give expression to the united opinior of Lis" uartY, so far as it may have a united opinion. After canvassing 4.1 19 c laims of every conceivable candidate, bas come to b e j:,nfessed that Lord Cairns remains tin best of all possible chiefs: Ills leadership may not be per feet, but who satisfies all den.. rids? But why not Lori' Derby ? it may be asked; and why not ..r.ord Derby ? be repeated. Lord Derby carries weight enC‘ligh to face the dissidents below the gangway, and to meet on nd 1111 equal terms the opponents across the House. The Peer , who would have sat behind him were prepared, witl w:iatever misgivings, to accept him, at least on probation, as a leader. Lord Derby, however wJuld rather not lead the Conservative Opposition: in the Lords. The cares and duties of a great lanCowner are said to sit heavily upon him. But why seek for at explanation of a reluctance easily intelligible? The cDurse of the Lord Stanley of the last few years frirnishe. the solution of the difficulty. Lord Derby prefers the freedom of mere association with a party to the responsi bility of leading it, and contrives, without deceiving girl one, to be at once Liberal and Conservative. The nation cannot regret that Lord Cairns should reassume the leadership of the Opposition in the Lords. The fact that ' he does so proves that the Conservatives, as a whole, ap prove his decision at a critical moment last year, and Libe rats cannot remember what he did without satisfaction It is improbable that ho will be exposed to any such trial in the coming session, and, indeed, there is special ground for believing that on the Land Question the knowledge h( brings to the debate will facilitate legislation. He comes from Ulster, where the claim of the cultivator is recog nised by a custom having the force of law. He knows the moral grounds which have given such validity to the far mer's lien on the land he cultivates, and he would be acting in strict consistency with his training if he advo cated the recognition by law of the custom of his provinc, and the legislative application of the principles involved in it to the whole of Ireland. The Standard thinks it is impossible for us longer to disregard the assertions made on all sides, that the army is to be again considerably reduced. Doubtless many o: the current rumours are incorrect, and the exact method of reduction to be employed may still not be thoroughly settled ; but that the Government has resolved upon diminishing to a very considerable extent every branch of the service seems to be acknowledged, not only by the military papers, but by those journals which profess to have the confidence of the present Administration. Why is the army to be reduced? Ic there any strong feeling in the country that we arc overridden with troops, that the power of the Crown is growing too strong ? Has any cry been raised that the forces we possess are more than required for the dignity and welfare of the nation ? Has any complaint been heard, or any desire ex' rased, in this matter? No. Ic this a time to practise such economy, when no one is calling out that the expenditure is excessive, when the drain on the army for troops to keep Ireland in order is so large as it is, and has not by any means reached its highest point ? If the lawlessness in Ireland requires so many troops now, what will it need when the crash comes next session,and the tenants learn that the wild visions of becom ing masters of the land they rent—visions fostered by the speeches of more than one strong Government supporter— are baseless fabrics ? Are our relations with America so thoroughly well established that we can leave Canada entirely to herself ? Have our reserve forces been so satisfactorily organised, and so strengthened and trained, that we can by them supply the place of discarded regular. forces? Where, in short, are the grounds to justify this so-called economy? On all sides the warning signal is hoisted that bids us be prepared. Burnt into all our brains in letters of fire arc the examples that teach the evils of neglecting such warnings. And this is the time chosen to reduce the army by the men who boast of being the Government chosen by the people. The Daily Xeres considers that Colonel Beresford, the Conservative candidate for Southwark, being a military man, is presumably a good tactician. If he be so, he must look with some gratification and hope at the present posi tion of electioneering matters in the Borough. Sir Sydney Waterlow and Mr. Odger, like the allied forces of Au stria and France at the siege of Angers, are firing directly into each other's mouths. Colonel Beresford looks on, in the hope that when each force has sufficiently weakened the other, he may step in and carry off the prize. Other things being equal, it is certainly an advantage when a man who is fit to represent a particular constitu ency, indirectly represents something more than this. Mr. Mill represented Westminster, but he represented also the interests of literary culture and philosophic thought. Sir Roundell Palmer and Mr. Russell Gurney represent Richmond and Southampton, but they represent also the profession of which they aro among the most re spected members. In the same way, if Mr. Odger is in himself fit to represent Southwark, his claim upon general support is rather increased than diminished by the fact that he would represent also the ideas and feel ings of the working classes. Allowing only a subordinate influence to class questions, the rule for each constituency is to choose the best man who will permit himself to be chosen, whatever his rank and profession. As between Sir Sydney Waterlow and Mr. Odger, it is, as we have said, for the electors of Southwark, and for them alone, .1,0 de cide this nice question of relative merit. The Telegraph thinks the account given of the Barnsley miners is singularly unflattering. Although they earn wages which a Somerset labourer would think princely, n correspondent tells us that they are ignorant, brutal, sensual, and idle. Many families earn £6 or £7 a week; al a large family cart live on £2; and too often the difference between these two sums is spent in wild debauchery. To all their reckless and extravagant self-indulgence is joined appalling ignorance. Many of the miners can neither read nor write. Since their scholastic deficiencies have never hindered them from earning good wages, and since an over seer never asks a man whether he can spell, but only whether he can hew, they do not see what is the advantage of education to their children ; and as their children can earn good wages in the pit, the fathers grudge every hour given to school. So whenever a child has reached the age at which he may legally be employed, down the shaft he goes, to spend eight hours a day in the mine and the darkness. The boy is then destined to be a pitman for life. His schooling is at an end; he claims the right to idle during the hours of the "off shift ;" he learns to swear, to gamble, and to drink. The great majority of the miners use their abundant wages and leisure only to idle, game, drink, and gluttonise. Their evil propensities are intensified by the isolation of pit life. A pit village is nothing but a pit village. Built by the proprietors of the colliery for the men, it affords accommodation to no other kind of labourers. So the miner works, lives, eats, drinks, smokes, plays, and fights only with miners ; he speaks of nothing, knows of nothing, cares about nothi ng , b eyon d th e m i ne. Such are the main features of the pit districts; and the picture is certainly the reverse of cheering. Looking at the Barnsley riots, the brutality of the miner's life, and the dense cloud of ignorance which hangs over that com munity, we hear the question, What has the State been doing, and where has the Church of England been, when the people thus " perish for lack of knowledge?" The Pall Mall Gazetk believes that the answer of Lord Granville to the " Emigrants and Colonists' Aid Corpora ton," declini ng t o comm it G overnment to the support of any scheme of emigration at the public expense, expresses the opinion of thinking men in general, except a few of that class who are proverbially wedded to a single idea. Now, let anyone imagine the results which would have ensued if Government had done at the outset what zealous emigratienists are urging it to do now, on:an i nca l cu l a bl y s li g h ter occas i on. Suppose it had pledged the public revenue to carry off the whole 'surplus population of Ireland. All self-reliance, all pri -vate contribution, all the zealous efforts of friends on the other side of the Atlantic, would, of course, have been utte r ly prevented by anticipation. What' is true on a great scale in matters such as this is certainly true on a small scale also, and Government aid for the purpose of occasional local emigration must inevitably tend to dry up the source both of charity in givers and exertion in recipients. But we:must take another occasion for returning to this division of our subject, as likewise to the most important consideration of all—the value of emigration, in the present state of affairs, not as a measure of local relief, but to promote the increase of general wealth. The Post quotes Sir Roundell Palmer's remark, that public opinion has scarcely been sufficiently educated upon the question of married women's property. It has thus far been formed upon the utterly false theory that because some husbands neglect their duty and abuse their right it is necessary to alter the whole law of married life. There could not be a more preposterous mistake. If there are exceptional cases in which the stronger vessel abuses his legal rights, they aro balanced by eases in which the weaker vessel abuses the influence she derives from the beauty of her person or the vigour of her temper. The married life of England which lies between these extremes is a very happy one. Cases of injustice are the excei,tion3, and if we are to legislate at all upon this subject we must legis late for these cases especially, and without disturbing the ties of the mass of the married population. There is no doubt that, at present, when a husband neglects his duty to his wife and children the law gives him a power he ought not to possess. The question comes to this—that when the husband fails in his duty to his wife she ought to have a more easy and summary mode of obtaining protection as to her earn ings or her property than she has at present. To that extent Sir Roundell Palmer professes his willingness to go ; but there, at least for the present, he stops. This is, the true basis on whi c h th e question should be laced. We have not to revolutionise a system of matrimonial law which has been tried and has been found wanting. We have only to legislate for some exceptional cases in which the abuse of the power which law and nature gites 4_04 AuabliaAal 1 1 9_tie_94-PlPTidal. aga .a U. S. HOMESTEAD LAND. (From the Anglo-American Times.) Among the essays on the system of land tenure in various countries, which have lately been published by the Cobden Club to diffuse intelligence and to form public opinion on the subject of land tenure in Ireland, is one by an American barrister, Mr. C. , M. Fisher, collating and comparing the land laws of the various States. Land will be found to in crease in value in direct proportion with popula tion, a law which holds equally in a new as in au old country. For instance, in America there is land as valuable as any in England, though in the Union there may be three acres and more of arable land still unoccupied for every two inclosed. In the great centres of population, where families are as closely congregated as in Europe, land in America assumes equal value, though the primeval forest may still be un disturbed twenty miles from the spot. With a simple, clear title to start with, and a good system of registration, complications may perhaps be avoided, but at any rate titles can never be mixed up in the parchment confusion which has been the fate of English soil. Fundamentally the land laws throughout the Union are the same, every facility being given fora quick and easy purchase and sale, the transfer being a simple assignment conveying a right as absolute as if the article were a carriage or a trinket. The parental farm usually goes to the eldest son, the others seeking their fortune West, )r i❑ the great cities, receiving from the brother who takes the homestead the value of their share. Ile fauns, therefore, are not as a general rule cut up, and one element of complication is thus avoided. Although this subject as regards' the United States is one of deep interest in Europe, as the domain dealt with is among the finest in the world, and is now open for the settlement of Europeans, yet it is of little use in relation to the question of land tenure in Ireland; which indeed is one that must be worked out on its own merits. As Mr. Fisher says, he great fascination to the tenant farmer and agri cultural labourer of Europe is to become a landed proprietor, a destiny so far beyond his hopes that he fails to re disc the advantages America offers. Touching the Irish question, Mr. Fisher says : " Of the emigrant settlers, those from Ireland, in many instances, make good and thrifty farmers, and acquire considerable property ; and though a large proportion of the Irish are always to be found among the labouring population, their qualifica ions for making good settlers are not so rare as 'night be generally supposed by an eye-witness of the agricultural performances of many small Irish tenant farmers in their native land. I could point to many instances in the State of Vermont, and in others, where a comparatively ignorant and penni less Irish emigrant had almost immediately after arrival arranged for the purchase, on time, of a lot of land ; then worked as a labourer until he had got together a few dollars to purchase imple ments, seed, and a little food—the latter in the shape of a barrel of flour, some salt, pork, tea, &c., forming sufficient for one season—and who had, without any other aid, managed to struggle on until a succession of harvests found him a rich man in comparison with his former condition." For the most part the men who really cultivate in distant localities, working the soil they take into a produc tive farm, are the small tenant farmers and emi grants from the rural districts of European coun tries. They go West and settle on the land, while Americans go West and speculate on it. The reason is that the highest ambition of the former class is to own the acres on which they live. With them social rank and prestige is associated with such possession. From it the noble not only de rives his revenue, his title, but his importance. With it goes all it supports ; on it ancestors were born, and were buried; and for it a reverence has been implanted in the mind which the emigrant carries with him to the new country, where, though shaken, it is never wholly removed. But " dirt," as Americans ve►y often call old mother earth, the chief cleanser and purifier of everything, is massed in too great quantities in the land of their birth to excite veneration. When unknown rivers flow in every direction and through fertile valleye,containing millions of acres, no one knows where ; when the nvitation is from all sides, " Come and help your self," when farms are sold, as any other property, without endless deeds and parchment?, and 'the transfer is constantly in al:3; when the roll of po pulation has been westward, imparting a migratory character to the inhabitants, veneration cannot have a place, for it is a root of long and deep growth in an undisturbed locality. 'The American buys and sells land as be would railway shares, and prefers dealing in town lots, in which, if his judgment is good, his profit will be greatest ; while the Eu ropean agricultural emigrant thinks only of be coming the possessor of a farm, giving himself and his family a local habitation and a name. The English exodus—the full volume of which will flow this summer—must rapidly increase farm building in the United States. In the year 1850 there were 293,000,000 acres of farm lands in the United States; of which 113,000,000 were improved, half that amount being thoroughly cultivated. Ten years later there were 407,000,000 acres of farm lands, of which 160,000,000 were improved. The estimate for last year was 500,000,000 acres ; about 200,000,000 being improved, and half that quan tity cultivated. The acreage in crops has not yet been taken in the Union, but the produce has been carefully calculated. The year 1839 yielded 84,823,272 bushels of wheat, or 4.76 to each per son ; 1849, 100,485,944, or 4.33 per head. In 1868 the estimate was 230,000,000, and last year 245,000,000, or over six bushels to each inhabitant. Of these six, one bushel was exported ; another has gone in seed ; and the rest is consumed. Wheat is more readily exported than corn meal, of which but one per cent. goes abroad. It does not pay the western farmer to export Indian corn, and in the Phrenolo gical Journal for January wheat farming is asserted to be the curse of the soil in the North, as was tobacco culture in the South, deteriorating theland, diminish ing production, and yearly despoiling new ground. Indian corn is grown in this disposition to wheat : iu 1868, 906,527,000 bushels of the former to 230,000,000 of the latter. The effect of the war is shown in the decrease of certain staples ; for in stance, tobacco fell from 434,209,4011b5. in 1860 to 320,000,0001b5. in 1868 ; sugar from 230,982 hogsheads in 1860 to 84,256 in 1868 ; cotton from 5,387,052 bales in 1860 to 2,450,000 in 1868. The production of sugar was almost destroyed in 1863, the produce of the following year being only 6,658 hogsheads ; but so rapidly has it recovered that as large a yield as ever may soon be anticipated. It is of interest to glance at the acreage estimated to be in cultivation and the crops they produce : 1860. 1868. Indian Corn (bushels) 838,792,740 ... 906,527,000 Wheat „ 173,104,924 ... 230,000,000 Rye „ ... 21,101,380 ... 22,500,000 Oats „ 172,643,185 255,000,000 Barley „ ... 15,825,898 23,000,000 Buckwheat ... 17,571,818 ... 20,000,060 Potatoes „ ... 111,148,867 106,000,000 Hay (tons) ... ... 19,083,896 ... 26,000,000 Tobacco (lbs.) ... 434,209,461 ... 320,000,000 Cotton (bales) ... 5,387,052 ... 2,450,000 Sugar (Wads.) 230,982 84,256 Nor is it of less interest to note the live stock kept, which, it is to be regretted, has not maintained its due ratio of increase with the population, a result attributable to the war :- 1860. 6,249,174 1,151,118 ... Horses ... M ules Jan., 1869. 6,332,793 921,662 Cattle 25,116,019 21,433,109 Sheep 22,471,275 37,724,279 Swine ... 33,512,867 27,316,476 On the other hand, it is gratifying to note the en terprise now in course of development in the South, as well as the rapid and unprecedented rise of such States as Kansas, Nebraska, and Minnesota. The cotton plantations, generally small, are giving good returns. In North Carolina 400 acres have been _ _............_---- PlantPd with various kinds of grapes. An orchard of I ,soolluchcFse d'Angouleme pear trees, another orchard of 250,000 of peach trees, while whole farms are being laid out in small fruits, pea-nuts, castor beans, and other special crops. EAVIMTISEMENT. I —Holloway's Ointment and Pills.— Mora aggravating sores stand ready to pounce upon the aged, when , an accident weakens any part, or over fatigue and expo sure to wet or cold have irritated the nerves, rendered exqui sitely sensitive by the disturbed condition cf the veins. This ointmerat is most potent in curing all cases of ulceration, abs cesses. and had legs, after every other means have failed, and the oulerings from them are utterly unendurable. Soon after the application of the ointment, coolness and comfort are ob tai.aed' in the affected parts, the patient finds himself more at ease, send daily becomes more hopeful, as, with departing pains, a viseJle growth of granulations comas forth. THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, - FEBRUARY 1, 1870. THE ST. PANCRAS INQuittY. The inquiry at St. Pancras still continuer, and on Mon day Mr. Bere, Q.C., who is conducting the inquiry, said he had received instructions to continue it. Dr. Ellis was now charged with immoral conduct with one of the nurses, and he in his turn charged the guardians with so frightening the woman to compel her to make these charges that she attempted to commit suicide, and also that they endeavoured to prevent her from giving a true state ment when before the magistrates. The Inspector ob served that as these charges were serious he should require strict legal proof, and advised the guardians to obtain professional assistance.—Dr. Edmonds said that as he was now implicated, he should refuse to conduct the case for the Guardians in these subsequent charges.— Evidence of overcrowding was given, it being sworn that patients laid on the floor and in baths.—A Mr. Grose declared that he saw the body of his sister, Lavinia Brett, twenty-four hours after her death. It had been dissected. but was still warm. Of course this statement caused a cross-examination ; but the witness adhered to his story, and added that it was in the month of October whenit took place. THE TAMWORTII, PENRYN, AND SOUTH• AMPTON ELECTION PETITIONS. Lord Chief Justice Bovill in the Common Pleas on Monday, read the judgment of himself and Mr. Justice Brett in these cases. Application had been made in each for a review of the taxation of the costs of the successful parties. His lordship said that no doubt it was the intention of the Legislature that the taxation should be liberal in favour of the successful party. There had been allowed for fees to the leading counsel, 100 guineas, and the junior counsel 75 guineas each, these sums being much less than those which had been paid. It would be wrong to lay down a general rule that the allowance should in all cases be uniform, but there was no objection to the master saying that in all ordinary average cases such sums should be allowed. The Southampton case, however, seemed to stand upon a somewhat different footing to the others, the proceedings being so very voluminous, and the Master ought therefore to reconsider his decision upon the principle which had been laid down. The Master had acted upon the principle that only one consultation should be allowed, but the court thought that in some cases it might be reasonable to allow for more than one The taxation should also be reviewed as to allowance for preliminary expenses. The result would be that all the rules would be absolute to review the taxation upon on. point or other. Mr. Justice Willes, in his judgment, which was read, said that he saw no ground for reviewing the taxation, except as to allow for consultation. AMERICAN AFFAIRS. (From the Anglo-American Times.) NEW YORK, Jan. 15 The Manhattan Club bids fair to be a useful in stitution to us correspondents, for the public are more interested in a row than iu the Governor's meseage, and if one man slaps another on the face, and a woman is found to be at the bottom, we correspondents have a lively time of it. Before I hint at another affair, I must tell you how Mr. Bateman's has been settled. Ile made a trip to Washington in all the pomp and c:rcuinstance of a stage manager, and returned shortly after to New York. On learning that the Club had decided on expelling him, with his characteristic promptitude and decision he sent in his resignation, and he is no longer a member of that institution. It is asserted that two or three gentlemen have within the year been expelled, and this is procuring for the Club an unenviable reputation. Mr. S. L. M. Barlow applied an epithet to Mr. Parker when playing cards, for which he afterwards apologized, but Mr. Parker declined to accept his apology, and the Bateman-Cranston affair having been dropped, this comes opportunely to keep up the excitement. There is a horrid plot out on the part of the Board of health against the confectioners, from whom candy has been bought and analysed, with the view to ascertain what quantity of poison it contains. Robert Wainwright, an Englishman, singularly enough imitated his wife in dying suddenly in bed, at No. 18, Thames-street. His wife died on the 4th inst., as is supposed, from disease of the heart, and he died on the Bth from, as is said, the same cause. The scandal of the week has been the pro ceedings of a crazy clergyman. The Rev. Horace Cooke, pastor of the Methodist Church, Seventh street, disappeared some days ago with a young lady, a daughter of a Mr. Johnson, only budding into womanhood. It appears evident that Mr. Cooke is not in a sound state of mind, his brain having, perhaps, been injured by the use of opiates. He told his wife he was about to elope, and that she would be surprised at his choice. Ile carried away only $2OO with him, but that appears not to be due to his recklessness or improvidence, for he took every Gellt 030 hbriallT had. Pai.....a.avxl La. Ru. employe in a dry-goods establishment, but having a taste for elocution and a soul above carpets, he took to the stage, whence he soared to the pulpit. He was earnest and eloquent, and for years conducted religious services first near, and afterwards in, this city. When the scandal became known, the ll'or/d took it up in the sensational style, raking up all the circumstances of Cooke's career, richly garnished from the stores of a fervid ima gination. The writer evidently thought with the public that Cooke's destination was Europe, and that he was little likely to appear or to reply in New York. lie was shown to be a hypocrite, to have seduced others, to be the betrayer of innocence wherever the opportunity offered. He was the frequenter of low resorts of vice, and he hadalready met this girl at an assignation house. He was the correspointmt of panel-thieves who mercilessly blackmailed him. His life, in short, was two-fold ; a villain of the deepest dye on the one side, to whoa) every crime was familiar, and a saint, a fervent preacher, and a saver of souls on the other. Judge of the writer or somebody else's consternation at finding himself suddenly confronted by the crazy parson,pistol in hand ! Cooke's conduct since his re turn shows him to be labouring under intense excitement, and if he had not his pistol to shoot somebody it was no fault of his. Ile got hold of an editor, Mr. Croly, but a friend of the rev. gentle man had already abstracted his pistol, and his state, which I can only call delirium tremens, hail so weakened him that he had not the strength to inflict any personal injury, so be shook Mr. Croly, who escaped from his hands and gave him over to the police. He was brought before Justice Cox, at the Tombs on Thursday, but as Mr. Croly did not appear, Mr. Cooke was discharged, and walked away with some friends, the court being densely crowded. Ile was interviewed, as was his wife, the girl, her father, his mother; in fact the houses of the relatives had to be protected against the enterprising reporter. Mr. Cooke denies that, he seduced Miss Johnson, the girl being as pure after the escapade as before. he wrote, ear nestly asserting this, while declining to say a word in exculpation of himself. To establish this, and a sort of delirious wish to tear up an editor of the iVorld as lie would a copy of the paper, are the leading symptoms of his case, and as lie is at large, I hope, for the sake of the fraternity, that nothing dreadful will happen to the World. The poor girl was restored to her parents, having taken an early lesson in the deceitfulness of man. The annual meeting of the Tribune proprietors was held on Tuesday, $50,000 being divided. The estates of the two deceased proprietors were credited—that of the late S. T. Clarke with $22,850, and that of the late A. D. Ilichardon, with $B,lOO. Horace Greeley's salary, as editor, has been raised to $lO,OOO per annum, little enough, considering the extraordinary talent and the arduous services given by that gentleman. Nor is he the only of talent who has had a rise during the week, for his friend the Rev. Henry Ward _Beecher has had his stipend set at $20,000 per annum. You see that Mr. Beecher has the whip hand of his congrega tion, after the annual auction, for when they have paid high premiums for their seats, a threat to leave them sitting there is of course sufficient. Apropos of Richardson, INlTarland is to be tried before JudAe Ingraham, at the March term of Oyer and Terminer, and he will be defended by John Graham. We have bad a lively weather re port from Professor Thatcher, who tells the public to prepare for earthquakes, and to hear news of great storms in Europe. The temperature is mild beyond precedent, but the season throughout has been marked by extraordinary vicissitudes, and the late thaw is but one of these. The " Street" has been inundated with sensational telegrams from Paris. News of riot and bloodshed in every form has been spread, but speculators cannot impart animation to their operations, for no one believes the private telegrams. Mr. James Lenox, who lives in Fifth Avenue, has given tyro acres between Seventy-second and Seventy ninth Streets, with $300,000 towards the build ings to be erected for the Lenox Library, which he asks the Legislature to incorporate by Act. He has a valuable collection of books and paintings, and these he gives to commence what he hopes will one day rival the best libraries of Europe. The munificence of Mr. James Lenox has only been ex celled by Mr. George Peabody, and can scarcely be said to be equalled by Mr. Cornell, for he is spend ing $1,000,000 on an hospital. Mr. Peabody's ex ample in doing the work during his life, and not leaving it to be done by others after his death, has probably stimulated Mr. Lenox; but his collection with which he endows the library to be called after his name is one of great value, and obtained only after much travel and research. WASHINGTON, Jan. 14. The National Intelligencer is dead, and an effort is being made by the Democrats to establish a paper here in the interests of the party. Some canvassing has been done among the Democratic Congressmen, with what success I know not. A weekly news paper, the New Era, will soon be out, under the edi torship of the Rev. J. Sella Martin, aided by Frederick Douglass in the interests of the coloured citizens. The Nipsic and the Guard are to form the Darien expedition, and are to sail from Philadelphia on the 20th. The natives of the Isthmus are said to be hostile to foreigners, and the surveyors will need the protection of these steamers. There was an enthusiastic meeting of 3,000 persons on the sub ject of the Great Industrial Exhibition last Satur day, and speeches were made by Colonel Forney and by General Howard. Our Consul at Revel has informed the State Department, in reply to appli cation for space in the Exposition Building at St. Petersburg, that it is for Russian products and manufactures only. Judge Withe, who was ap pointed for the Michigan District, has declined, as he prefers being a State Judge, and Judge Emmons of Detroit has been named in his stead. The Hon. William Strong of Pennsylvania is to succeed Jus tice Grier, whose retirement dates from the Ist of February. Some trepidation was caused in the Adams Express Company's office by the mis laying of a package of U.S. Bonds for over $20,000. It had been forwarded from Bos ton, and had been received at the Washington office, but not transmitted to the Treasury, its destination, when it mysteriously disappeared. In alarm the banks were notified and a circular issued. The package had, however, dropped into a niche which it exactly fitted, and was not discovered till an attempt was made to open a drawer. Mrs. Grant's reception on Tuesday was well attended, several ladies aiding her. Mrs. Boutwell, Mrs. Cox, Mrs. Fish, Mrs. Creswell helped, as did Mrs. Borie. The President attended after the Cabinet meeting. The weather has been very cold early in the week, a great change halving taken place from the previous unusual mildness of the season, while another change to rain has taken place. Col lector Casey has left for New Orleans, having set tled his political differences with his Congressional delegation. Supervisors Bayley of Oregon, Dwyer of Ohio, and Cowan of California, are here on business ; so also are Admiral Godon of the Brook lyn Navy-yard, Surgeon-General Samuel Beck of New York, and James Watson Webb ; but the ;. most interesting of the arrivals is that of E. Lopez, son of the Dictator of Paraguay. Ile desires diplo matic intercourse to be renewed with Paraguay, I but simultaneously with his arrival has come the news that his father has been driven out of Para guay, and his Government has ceased to exist. Bishop Simpson is staying with Senator Harlan. Two gentlemen, from Philadelphia, have been urging the President to appoint Benjamin H. Brewster in place of Judge Hoar, but the Presi dent feels disinclined even to withdraw Mr. Hoar's nomination for the seat on the Supreme Bench, leaving the Senate to take action in the matter, and he made a very cool reply to the intimation that if Mr. Brewster was appointed Pennsylvania would support his re-election to the Presidency. General Banks has returned and taken his place in Congress. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the House awaited his arrival an I sat immediately afterwards, when Cuba was discussed, on which the General's opinions had evidently not changed from those he held before his departure. He is much gratified, however, at the tone he everywhere ob served in Europe regarding American affairs, and the favourable impression this has made on the chair man of the Foreign Affairs Committee will have a beneficial effect. Indeed he openly states that all existing differences could be settled at once, mean ine-, I presume, that there is nothing to bar an im ine'diate adjustment even of the Alabama claims. Among the applications to Congress is one from J. Ross Browne for $12,000 of Celestial service. Evi dently he rates liviugin the Peking paradise at a high figure, for he stopped there little, but for that little wants much. However be is not in harmony either with the Executive or the Legislature,w hich isagainst his chance of success. Mr. Greeley has been here to consult with the Postmaster-General on matters of such importance as to have drawn together the principal postmasters. Some twelve changes are recommended, of which one is a large reduction of the rates on newspapers mailed by the publishers in bulk. A registration system is advised, an agent for dead-letters in all post-offices, the use of enve lopes stamped with the writer's name, fees for money-orders to be reduced to five cents for all below $lO, the pay of letter-carriers to be re adjusted, authors' manuscripts to go at the same rate as book manuscripts. Petitions con tinue to pour in to Congress against the franking , privilege, and 131311 y members do not relish the as pect this subject is assuming. The old bill to estab lish an American transatlantic mail line has been reported to the Senate divested of what was consi dered - objectionable, the Government not being liable for the bonds of the company, while it retains the ocean postage in trust for payment of the com pany's bonds. The steamers are to be built of iron, double in form, and to be finished ia a year. A bill has been introduced by Mr. Wells, of Mis souri, for the transport, at the rate of printed matter, of MSS. and correspondence to news papers and periodicals. Last Wednesday there was a State dinner at the White House ; next Wed nesday there will be another. The last was chiefly to the Cabinet; the next will be to Senators, Represen - tatives, and Supreme Court Judges ; and a third on the following Wednesday will be given to the Dip lomatic Corps. Senator Chandler left last IVed nesday on learning that his father had died at New Bedford, New Haven, aged 95. From Nova Scotia a delegation has been discussing the duty on bituminous coal with the Ways and Means Com mittee. Our colonial neighbours argued that if closer relations are desired to result in annexation, the United States should show a more friendly spirit in legislation. The ground taken by the Blue Noses is the reverse of the argument generally advanced, that if the United States desire this annexation they must exclude the products of the British Possessions, and starve the colony into their views. Pennsyl vania and Nlaryland are in the field in opposition. The Ways and Means Committee, two against six, have refused to abolish the duty ; there were three against five in rejecting fifty cents per ton, and $1 per ton was lost by a tie vote. Governor Camp bell, of Wyoming, arrived here yesterday. Henry Wetter has been appointed Secretary of New Mexico. Mr D. A. Wells has answered the charge of misrepresenting the wool clipfor 1869 and the weight of the fleece per sheep. His statements were copied from the Bulletin of the Woollen Man ufacturers' As sociation. Speaker Blaine has given a reception, which was largely attended, though we have had weather wet enough for the last day or two to damp all festivities. The non-receipt of telegraphic news from the West was attributed to a severe storm, but it has been hinted that the storm was with the operators, who still keep on strike. l'Ains, Jan. 27, 1870. For the past few days the American element in Paris has been in a great state of excitement as re gards the presentation at the 'fuileries and the first Court Ball. The urbanity of Minister Washburne and his courteous secretaries has been fairly put to the test, many of our fellow countrywomen being possessed with an idea that the only care of a foreign minister is to see that his fair constituents are well introduced into Court circles. As an in stance of this, I can state from positive evidence that ono wtirtiky drune rtypres6ed herself shocked that Mr. NV ashhurne did not go duwn in person to the Grand Hotel after same lady who had no one to escort her to the Tuileries Ball. The number of invitations were specia'ly limited by order, and all the Ambassadors and Alin'sters were equally the objects of obloquy to their disap pointed countrymen and women. I am informed that the Austrian Ambassador demanded 1,800 in vitations, and perhaps secured 160; the Russian and Italian in the same proportion. As for our own Representative I can only express the opinion, from the appearance at the Tuileries last night, that he has earned golden opinions, for the Ameri cans ruled the roast. At 8 the presentation com menced, and the following ladies and gentlemen from across the water had the opportunity of returning the graceful salute of their Imperial Majesties, after the best fashion of our approved model at home :—Mrs. Moore, wife of Assistant Secre tary of Legation, Paris; Mr. Washburne, son of the Minister ; Mrs. N. P. Banks, Miss Banks, Massachusetts • Miss Ella Badzer, California; General John Meredith Read, U. S. Consul-Gen., Paris ; Gen. A. L. Clietlain, U. S. Consul-General, Brussels, and Mrs. Chetlain ; Mrs. Hutchins, Miss Stell, Mr. Nicholas Fish, Miss Fish, Miss Jerome, Mr. Charles B. Hoffman, Mrs. Hoffman, Colonel Harrim Ritchie, Mrs. Ritchie, Mr. L. H. Stebbins, Mrs. Stebbins, Mr. Edward Harriman, Mrs. Harri man, Mr. Delpret, Mrs. Delpret, Mrs. Potter, Mr. Dundas Lippincott, and Mrs. Lippincott, New York, in Paris ; Mr. C. M. Barclay, Mr. G. W. Fishbach, Mr. and Mrs. Dexter, Phila delphia—twenty-nine in all ; more than any of our Ministers have ventured to present at one time before. After the presentation all united in the ball-room, where our fair representatives enjoyed more than their share in the mazy dance. Among the Americans invited to the ball were Mr. and Mrs. Paine, Mrs. and Miss Parsons, Mr. May, Mr, Mrs, and Miss Curtis, Mr. and Mrs. William Bowles, Chevalier Wychaft, Dr. Evans, Mrs.Eckel, Major Dundas, Mrs. Lippincott, &c. Mrs. Donn ing also gave a fine ball last evening, crowded with the beauty and grace of American society, to which large additions were made at an early hour this morning from the guests of the Tuileries. Some steps have been taken towards the proper celebra tion of the 22d of February, of which you shall have further notice. The sudden decease yester day of a young American lady from malignant scarlet fever has to a certain extent cast a gloom over American circles. BEN. HA MET. LECTURE OF IIIE, SECRETARY U. S. TREASURY. Secretary Boutwell delivered an interesting lec ture on the 10th January, in Lincoln's Hall, Wash ington. After discussing the history of the Union he proceeded thus to speak on the National Debt : " - A nation cannot act fully and freely before the world, she is not independent in the largest .and best sense, unless she is comparatively free of debt, with capacity to raise revenues much in excess of ordinary demands, and a credit unstained by any act of dishonour, and relieved of every apprehen sion even in the minds of the most timid. This statement suggests the only remaining difficulty in our country's path. As the men of the Revolu tionary War did not hesitate to assume their share of the burden of the war debt, so I trust that you, who have made so great sacrifices for the Union will courageously imitate their example. At the close of the Revolutionary War the interest -bearing debt of the country was about $75,000,000. The popu lation was less than 3,000,000, but accepting that number as the nearest approximation to the truth, the debt averaged $25 to each person. 'the , pre sent interest-bearing debt of the United States can be put at about $2,100,000,000, and it is , not unreasonable to estimate the present popu lation of the country at 42,000,000. The debt, therefore, averages 50 dollars for each person. It is safe to assume also that the property of the country in proportion to its population, esti mAted at its gold value, is more than three liens as are ,t, as it was in 1780 or 1790 even. If we as sume the value of property in 1790 to have been equal to $3OO for each inhabitant, it would be pro per to estimate the aggregate property of the coun try at the present moment to be at least $l,OOO for each inhabitant, or an aggregate of $900,000,000 at the former period against $42,000,000,000 at the present time. But whether these estimates of the aggregate property of the country at the two diffe rent periods be , correct or not, it cannot well be denied that the present average is more than three times . the average in 1790. The result is that at the former period the debt was eight and three tenths per cent., while at the present time it is only five per cent. of the property of the country. This estimate is at best but an approximation to the truth ; yet relatively it is an under esti mate, rather than an over estimate of the pre sent resources. I cannot doubt that it was as difficult for Mr. Jefferson's Administration and for the people of. the country to reduce the debt during his term at the rate, of $3,500,000 per annum, as it is for us to reduce the debt at the rate of $100,000,000 per annum. From 1801 to 1802 the country was subjected to all the taxa tion which those iu power dared to impose, for the reduction of the debt was a leading feature of Mr. Jefferson's policy. Our condition at the present time is peculiar. The revenue is large, and after the payment of ordinaty expenses, pensions, and interest, we have a surplus of $100,000,000 annu ally for the redaction of the principal of the debt. The Treasury is free from embarrassment, and we have no occasion to borrow a dollar for any pur pose whatever. Provision can be easily made for the payment of the Ten-Forty • Bonds, amounting to $194,000,000, in 1874, when they will be re deemable, or they may be postponed for thirty years more, as the public interest may require. The amount of $283,000,000 due in 1881 can be p tid at maturity. For the present we are at ease in finan cial affairs. The proposition for a new loan. has one purpose, and one only—the reduction of. the in terest account—and if this cannot be accomplished, we have no occasion to intrude upon the markets of the world. Our power to plaze a new loan at a reduced rate of the, inter, st is, in my opinion, wholly dependent upon the magnitude of our surplus revenue. Nothing but the menace of I, aytnent will induce the holders of Six per Cent. Bonds to sur render them and accept a bond bearing a lower rate of interest. If you reduce the revenue so that it is barely adequate to meet the necessary expenses and the accruing interest, the holders of Five- Twenty Bonds will resolutely resist every effort to induce them to accept a lower rate of interest. Our net interest account, excluding Pacific Rail way Bonds, is $125,000,000. The Government has already bought $90,000,000 of its own bonds, the interest on which is paid to the Treasurer, leaving our actual interest at about $120,000,000. The reduction of the interest account $18,000,000 a year will enable us, if we choose to make this the basis of a sinking fund, to pay the principal of the interest bearing debt in thirty-five years, if we re duce our revenue to the necessary expenses of the Government and the amount needed to pay the interest at the present rate. That is to say, a saving of $18,000,000 annually in the amount of interest will in thirty-five years, with the accumu lated interest, be equal to the bonded debt of the United States. Ought there then, in the presence of such a possible advantage, to be any doubt as to the wisdom of maintaining our revenue at a higher' rate for one or two, or even three years, if ',Rees, sary ? With a large revenue for three years the result is surely accomplished in one way or other. If the public accept the new bond at a lower rate, the question is se ttl e d i n f avour o f t h e G overnment; if they decline the opportunity the revenues will liquidate the principal of the debt, and the interest will disappear proportionately. In either case the country succeeds. If, however, vie at once reduce the revenues till they are sufficient for ordinaty expenses, pensions, and interest on the public debt, and the public creditors shall consequently refuse to receive a new bond at a lower rate of interest, what will be the condition of the country thirty five years hence ? It will have paid $4,200,000,000 of interest upon the 'publie debt, and the entire principal will then be unpaid. Again, I say it is not sufficient for a nation that it is politically in dependent of foreign or hostile Powers. It is not sufficient that the people are all citizens, that they are free and equal, or even that political power is in their hands. To all these mu-t be added na tional financial independence. This America has not. This she cannot have until she diminishes per ceptibly her public debt, and renders its payment certain within a generation. I dare not cite examples, but the nations are many that are crippled in their policy and retarded in the development of their industries by the magnitude of their debts. Their example should be a warning to us. The public debt is the only serious result of the war of any considerable magnitude now remaining; but it is a result so serious as to denim(' some pr. sent sacrifices for the future public good. They are sacrifices, however, which will not interfere with the general prosperity of the country ; nor is the exigency so exacting as to leave us without the opor tuuity of relieving from time to time those interests that are most heavily burdened. On the one hand, by courage and the manful acceptance temporarily of a burden, considerable no doubt, but not insup portable, we secure the permanent prosperity and financial independence of the country. On the other hand. if we shrink from the task and the duty, may I not say, of mastering thcs difficulties at once, we increase the aggregate burden of taxa tion, and leave to another generation the comple tion of a work which should have been exclusively our own." "NEW TRACKS 1N NOR 7 17 AMERICA.' No. 11. (From the Anglo. American Times.) It is difficult to decide whether the country or the old inhabitants of Arizona and New Mexico are the most interesting. Both 'lerriteries are discussed as a whole for convenience, and Dr. Bell gives the inhabitants as follows :-1. The Americans about 13,000 ; 2, the Mexicans, 75,000 ; 3, the Pueblo Indians, 16,000; 4, th e Wild Indians, 23,000. The Pueblo, or town Indians, are the most remarkable and important tribe to be found in any part of the United States or Canada ; in fact, the only native race whose presence on the soil is not a curse to the country. The Indian of the Plain Dr. Bell soon found to be cruel, dastardly, and degrading; but in the Rio Grande Valley he encountered another race as different as light from darkness. The first he met was west of the Pecos, dressed in buckskin and tightly fitting breeches, a girdle around the waist, and moccassins on the feet. Their heads were bare; hair, falling to the eyebrows, cut square, the rest gathered into a queue bound with red cord, a band passing over the hair in front. They were short in stature, thickly built, with quiet, intelligent faces, and large sorrowful eyes ; he never saw a Pueblo Indian even smile. Each pushed before him a wicker work basket on wheels, filled with grapes, and the travellers bad to pay $lO for some 601bs. to 80113 s. They are only to be found south of the 36th parallel; and there is no proof but vague tradition to show that they came from the North or spread northward of the Rio Grande Valley. They were early converted to Christianity by the Spanish missionaries. The villages of the Rio Grande differ little from the Mexican, the houses being larger and loftier, of one storey, fiat roofs, each house containing several families, watch towers rising over the roofs at the corners of the villages. In the centre of the chief house is a good sized room, partly exca vated, the estufa, where the sacred fire was always surfing. Now it is a council chamber, though Eac in h some places the sacred fire still burns. Pueblo has a separate governme nt , the Governor being elected from the Sages for life, and presides' aver the Council. Next to him is a war captain, with a lieutenant, who arrange all campaigns. The decal major regulates Church matters, and the old men make the laws, and elect officers, except the Governor, who is chosen by universal suffrage. They have five dialects, and the people of villages have to resort to Spanish, as a medium for communica tion. The fortifications are striking in the isolated pueblos. L ag una, on the summit of a li mestone cliff, has great natural advantages. Th ere are neither windows nor doors On the outer wall of the first story ; the second rises a little back from the first, leaving a ledge to pass around. From this ledge ladders descend, and they are drawn up when required. Acorea has three storeys built on a simi lar plan, but the most interesting is Zuni, having six terraces, one over the other, with ladders leading to each. There is a tradition of a great flood. Spanish influence not being so strong at Zuni, the old traditions are kept up, the belief being in the One Great Spirit, and in Montezuma, His Son , who is again to appear from the East, then to unite all nations under His banner. Albinos are common ; plurality of wives is not allowed, and the women are virtuous. The author gives many interesting particulars of those tribes of the Pueblo Indians. The first American to visit them was Major Emory in 1846. When the Pietas dis covered the party to be Americans and not Apaches they were delighted, and the Americans and the Pueblos at once fraternized. The Government has helped them with arms and implements, and it is hoped that not only will the extermination of these interesting people be prevented, but that the tribes will be restored, the children being numerous. Dr. Bell says that the Papagos are physically the finest men he ever saw. Of five he met at a ranche not one was under 6 feet 2 inches. Following this chapter is another on the Wild Tribes, the Navajos and Apaches, fortunately few in number. The Mogollon occupy lofty table lands, in which the head waters of the Itio Gila rise, and from these unex plored fastnesses they make raids on their more civilized neighbours. Northern Sonora has for the last century been the favourite field, and as the power of Spain declined, these treacherous savages harried the country into a desert. Although few of the Apaches are killed in fight they are fast dying out. The two tribes which form the lowest tyi eof humanity are to be met with between the Rio Verde and the Rio Colorado, the IValapais, and the Tamps, though comparatively harmless. Th 3 ralleys of the Colorado extending from the end of the Black Canon almost to the head of the Gulf, are inhabited by tribes occupying an intermedi ate position between the Pueblo and the wild Apache, the Mojaves once numbering 10,000. Dr. Bell considers that the town-building Indians vere the skirmish line of the Aztec race, coming from the southern provinces of Mexico through Sinoloa and Senora towards the Great Canon of the Colorado. Captain Fernando Alarcon, pas ing up the Colorado in 1540, was at first unable to com municate with-the inhabitants ; but higher up be reached a people who understood the language of the Mexican he had brought with him, and told him of a similar people who dwelt to the east in stone houses, wore long white robes, and came yearly to buy maize. The Apaches, who probably then were agriculturists, were driven into the mountains, being treated by the Aztecs as barbarian hordes. The town-builders reached the Pueblo Creek, the Aztec mountain's, and the San Francisco peaks, when they were stopped by the impassable barrier of the canons of the Colorado and Chiquito rivers. Diverging they turned eastward until they reached the Rio Grande Valley, down which they worked, thus coming, as their traditions state, from the north. This is'an interesting speculation, and tray be as Dr. Bell thinks. There are those who maintain the reverse, peopling New Mexico from Asia by way of the Aleutian Islands, and ascribing the do minion in Mexico to t heir settlements on the Rio Grande, the Gila, and the other valleys of thee Territories. About two years ago an interesting article appearedin the Edinburgh Review on the Ar cemology of North America, and the writer evidently considered the Astecs to be Asiatic in origin, what ever the way they reached the country. The Spaniards in 1680, after a long contest, held undisputed sway, andeas usual used the people as slaves, of which, both tradition and the prisons remain to attest the fact. At last the Pueblos rose and swept the Spaniards completely from the land. The inhabitants of Santa Fe escaping, founded El Paso, the most northern point retained by the whites. .After seven years hard fighting some of the tribes were re subjugated, but Zuni and other places were never reconquered. There appears to be little doubt that the country has changed for the worse; the rainfall being less, forests diminished, spots once productive now barren, flowing springs now dry. But this change is -advanced as the cause of the depopula tion, whereas the depopulation is the reason of the change. The Spaniards destroyed the beauty of the couu try, as well as its peace and civilization. They cut down forests in New Mexico as in Old Mexico, aye, as in Spain, thereby diminishing the rainfall, and took no pains, by irrigation and cultivation, to re trieve the folly and barbarism of their act. Before the Spaniards set foot on the plateau of Mexico, it blossomed as a garden, now it is arid and bare as the country around Madrid. It is true that much of the soil, both of New Mexico and Arizona, has lately been covered with lava, but this is not suffi cient to account for the change which has been wrought. Having followed the author in his sketch of the inhabitants, we propose in our next num ber as briefly to accompany him in his sketch of the country. SWEATING THE GOLD COIN. At the Central Criminal Court, on Monday, a case was heard of more than usual interest, as shewing the pro cess by which the sovereign is impaired and diminished by professional "sweaters." _ _ James Clifford, labourer, and Ellen Clifford, his daughter, aged twelve years, were indicted, the former with felo niously impairing, diminishing, and lightening certain sovereigns and half-sovereigns, the latter with ut tering the same. The Mint authorities prosecuted, and the prisoners were undefended. Inspector Brennan in the employ of the Mint proved the discovery of the prisoner's avocation by watching the girl go to various shops in Clerkenwell and change gold coin. She was closely questioned by the officers, and said she received the money from her father, who was a collector in the city. The officers proceeded to the house where the prisoners lived, entered the first-floor back room, and found the man Clifford, sitting at a bench, with his hand on a box. He was instantly seized, and one of the inspectors took from his coat pocket two sovereigns and a pistol, loaded with ball and capped. The sovereigns, from their glossy appearance, had evidently been tampered with. A battery used for the purpose of " sweating " the coin was found, and some chemical solutions. A life-preserver and a dagger were also found. The prisoner remarked, "I suppose you chaps expected to find me coining." Evidence was given of the child having passed sovereigns at a number of different shops, and it was proved by Mr. Roberts, chemist at her Majesty's Mint, that the battery found in the prisoner's possession would extract gold from a sovereign or would decompose it. He had himself charged the battery, and using a solution of cianide of potassium, had obtained 3-10ths of a grain of gold in an hour. One of the sovereigns produced he found to be 11 grains deficient, another 121 grains, another 13 grains, and one as much as 15 grains less than its proper weight. The male prisoner made a clever defence, in which he said he had been an artilleryman, and the reason why ho had a loaded pistol was because he used it to experimentise the charge in measure and weight with a torpedo. He accounted for the presence of arms in his house by saying that he had brought them from foreign countries. He contended that the prosecution had failed to prove that he had diminished the coin, or that he knew they were light, or that his daughter did. He also said that the fact of his having a pension would deter him from committing such an offence. The jury found the male prisoner guilty, and he was sentenced to two years' hard labour. The girl was dis ;harged. LAW AND POLICE. INSPECTION OF MEDICAL REPORTS ON RAILWAY ACCI DENTS PrzommTED.—The Court of Common Pleas gave judgment on Monday on an application made on behalf of a plaintiff in an action against the Brighton and South Coast Railway Company, to inspect the report by the medical officer of the company on the accident at New Cross, in which plaintiff had been injured. The Chief Jus tice referred to the rule that all documents prepared with a view to litigation were privileged, but pointed out that where fraud was alleged this rule must always be adhered to. But this case came within the general rule, the report having been prepared with reference to im pending litigation. It was not necessary that the-litiga tion should be commenced, or that communication should be between the parties and their legal advisers, if they related to litigation which there was reason to ex pect. The other judges concurred, and the rule was re fused. IMPORTANT QUESTION UNDER TILE MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT.—On Monday, in the Bail Court, Mr. Justice Hannen heard an application for a writ against the justices of Cardiff, who had ordered payment of wages to a carpenter. He had been engaged for a three years' voyage, and had worked for three months, but he had not signed articles. The captain admitted the dismissal: and the only question for the Court of Queen's Bench to con sider was whether a carpenter, who had not signed articles, came within the 188th section of the Merchant Shipping Act, which gave justices the power to enforce the payment of seamen's wages. Mr. Justice Hannen said although no articles had been signed the fact that the carpenter had acted upon the agree ment was sufficient evidence to his mind that the justices had jurisdiction over the carpenter as a seaman, and he therefore discharged the rule. AN L'iItEPRESSIBLE NEWSPAPEIL WRITER.- Within the past month an article was published in the Boston Times which had a most unparalleled history. The writer, who is a steady go-to meeting citizen, it seems, had his mind filled with his subject before going to bed, and determined to submit it to paper at the first opportunity. His bed-room adjoins his parlour, in which he customarily writes ; and, some time early in the following morning our friend awoke while sitting at his escritoire, wondering why the room was so dark. His first thought was that his wife had taken away the light to inspect the children's dormitory, and he sat until his patience gave out waiting for her return. But she did not come, and he went to the parlour door and inquired in tones somewhat different from those which distinguished his courtship, what was the cause of delay. The voice in reply came from the bed room, and thither he went to find his wife in bed, who asked him in wonderment what had caused him to get up at that untimely hour. He had risen in his sleep, partially robed himself, and had written the article while in a som nambulic state. We regret that we did not preserve the cod) , of the article so written ; but from our recollection of its chirography, it was a fair specimen of our friend's rather peculiar but exceedingly plain handwriting. He assures us that ho had not made a single correction mark on it ; aryl also that there were two interlincations on the m muscript, carated and interpolated with as much pre cision as if the article had been written by him in day light and with his eyes open.--13J,,t0n ,Times, Jan. 9. A LIIIP ON FIRE IN BRISTOI:JI.kRBOUR.—Be tween eight and nine o'clock on Saturday morning a fire was discovered to have broken out in de hold i f the barque Pellicano, a large Portuguese vessel, only about six months old, and lying on the Butt; in Bristol Harbour. She had recently discharged a cargo of wheat for Messrs. Wait and James, and bad then gone into dock for a few repatim, 'cavil* the dock only on Friday. It is stated that the accidental up setting of an oil lamp in the hold of the vessel originated the conflagration. All the city engines and firemen promptly attended, but they did net produce much elect. The flames quickly spread into , the cabins, and about midday such dense volumes of firojand smoke rose from the forepart of the vessel Slat it•was the general impression she must burn out. About six o'clock, however, the flames were got under. Of itho forepart of the vessel, only the hull waisaved. ThAdamage will be very considerable AGES AND NATIVITIES OF CONGRESSMEN: Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, Vice-President of the United Stat es , i s ex officio President of the Se nate. George C. Gorham, of California, is Secre tary, having been chosen in 1868 to succeed John W. Forney, of Pennsylvania, who had held the office seven years. • John R. French, of North Carolina, is Sergeant -at-Arms. Henry Anthony, of Rhode Island, was at the last session elected President pro teinpore of the Senate, to serve in the absence of the Vice-President. Of the 66 Senators 46 are lawyers, 3 (Brownlow, Harlan, and Upton) clergyinen, and 17 engaged in ordinary mercantile or financial pursuits. Seven Senators (Abbott, Ferry, Schurz, Spencer, Sprague, Thayer, and Warner) reached the rank of General in the Army during the late war, while Messrs. Kellogss Osborn, and Ross served in less exalted capacities. The oldest Senator is Simon Cameron, of Pennsylvania, born March 8, 1799. The youngest is Thomas W. Osborn, of Florida, born March 9, 1839. Be tween the ages of 60 and 70 are Messrs. Bucking ham, of Connecticut; Day, of Kentucky; Silbert, of Florida ; Hamlin, of Maine ; Ho war d, o f Michi gan ; and Vickers, of Maryland. Between 50 and 60 are Anthony of Rhode Island, Drake of Missouri, Benton of New York, Grimes of lowa, Hamilton of Marylaud, Howe of Wisconsin, M'Greerx„of Kentucky, J. S. Morrill of Vermont, Lot M Aror rill of Maine, Nye of Nevada, Pomeroy of Kansas, frart of Indiana, R amsay of Minnesota, Sumner and Wilson of Massachusetts, Thurman of Ohio, Tipton of Nebraska, Trumbull and Yates of Illi nois, and Wiley of West Virginia. Between forty and fifty are Abbott and Pool of North Carolina, Boreman of West Virginia, Brownlow and Fowler of Tennessee, Bay and Saulsbury of Delaware, Carpenter of Wisconsin, Casserly and Cole of California, Conkling of New York, Corbett and Williams of Oregon, Cragin and Patterson of New Hampshire, Edmunds of Vermont, Ferry of Con necticut, Harlan of lowa, Harris of Louisiana, Mor ton of Indiana, Norton of Minnesota, Rice of Arkan sas, Robertson and Sawyer of South Carolina, Ross of Kansas, Schurz of Missouri, Scott of Pennsyl vania, Sherman of Ohio, Stewart of Nevada, Stock ton of New Jersey, Th ayer o f Nebraska, and War ner of Alabama. The Senators who have not yet reached the age of forty are Kellogg of Louisiana, Osborn of Florida, Spencer of Alabama, Sprague, of Rhode Island, and McDonald of Arkansas. Messrs. Cole, Conklin, Fenton, Gilbsrt, Har ris, Nye, Rice, Spencer, Stewart, and Williams were born in New York ; Messrs. Drake, Fow ler, Norton, Ross, Sherman, Tipton, and Warner in Ohio; Carpenter Cragin, Edmunds, Howard, Kellogg, and Justin S. Morrill in Vermont ; Abbott, Chandler, Grimes, Patterson, and Wilson in New Hampshire ; Boreman, Cameron, M'Donald, Ram sey, and Scott in Pennsylvania ; Corbett, Pomeroy, Sawyer, Sumner, and Thayer in Massachus e tt s ; Hamlin, Howe, Lot M. Morrill, and Platt in Maine; Buckingham, Ferry, and Trumbull in Connecticut; Brownlow, Thurman, and Willey in Virgi n ia; Cattell, Osbo rn , and Stockton in New Jersey ; Anthony and Sprague iu Rhode Island • Bayard and Saul s b ury i n D e l aware ; Davis, M'Creery, and Yates in Kentucky ; Hamilton and Vickers in Maryland; Harlan in Illinois; Morton in Indiana ; Pool in North Carolina ; Robertson in South Carolina ; Schurz in Germany ; and Casserly in Ireland ; Vice-President Colfax is forty-six, and was born in New York. Mr. Boreman has been Governor of West Virginia, Mr. Brownlow of T ennessee, Mr. Bucking ham of Connecticut, Mr. Fenton of New York, Mr. Grimes of lowa, Messrs. Hamlin and L. M. Morrill have both been Governors of Maine, Mr. Morton of Indi ana, M r. Nye of Nevada, Mr. Ram sey of Minn eso t a, Mr. Yates of Illinois, and both Messrs. Anthony and Sprague of Rhode Island. The grandfather and father, and also the uncle of Mr. Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware, have been Senators of the United States. Mr. Cameron of Pennsylvania was formerly Secretary of War, and Mr. Harlan of lowa Secretary of the Interior. Mr. Hamlin of Maine was Vice-President of the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Legislature of Georgia has elected Joshua Hill and Homer V. M. Miller Senators from that State, and Messrs. J. P. Lewis and J. W. Johnston have been chosen from Virginia. The question of the admission of these gentlemen is to be decided by the present Senate. Texas and Mississippi have yet to elect. When they do so the Senate will be full. [A.DVERTISEMENT.J—Henceforth no one will doubt the valuable properties of Du Barry's health-restoring Revalenta Arabic's. Invalids' and Infants' Food, since to the thousands of blessings it has already received from Invalids whose 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 Holy Father is excellent, especially since, abandoning all other reme dies, be I , as confined himself entirely to Du Barry's Revalenta Arabic& 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 ofmore than 68,000 cures :—Cure No. 58,216, of the Marchioress 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 do Decies, Loid-Lieutenant of Waterford, of many years' dyspepsic, 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, 0.7 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 I s d; 11b 2s 9d; 2lb 45 6d; 51b Ils ; 121 b 22s : 24 lbs s•—Also lin BARBy's RUNALEN TA • LULU CHOCOLATE POWDER is packed in tin canisters: for It cups at 2s, for 24 cups at 3s 6d, for 48 CUM at 6a, for 2,38 cups at 30s, for 576 cups at 55s — being abo:+t one penny per cnn. The 30s and 55s tins are sent free of carriage in England on receipt of Post Office Order.— AnkY Do BARR7' and Co., No. 77, Regent-street, London; and Grocers and Chemists. BIRTHS. PALL/sEn—On the 31st ult., at 59, Baker-street, the wife of J. M. Palliser, Esq., of a daughter. WINDENMANN On tho 31st ult., Mrs. Windenmann; of Tulso-bill, of a son. MARRIAGES. DUNRAVEN— LAMBERT—On the 27th ult., at the Catholic Church, Warwick-street, the E ar l of Dunravon to Anne, daughter of the late Henry Lambert, Esq., of earnagh, formerly M.P. for Wexford county. mum:AY —ROBERTSON —On the 29th ult., at Paris, John, eldest son of Sir John Murray, Bart., of Philiphaugh, to Mary E. F. (Myra), the only daughter of C. Robertson, Esq., of St. Leonard's-on-Sea, Sussex. DEATHS. BORRELL —On the 30th ult., at Highbury, Mr. Maximilian J. Borrell, aged 69. JONES—O n the 29th ult., Alfred Jones, Esq., of 7, Queen street, Cheapside, B.C. London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANDREWS, of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office, No. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the County of Itiddlesex.-. Tuesday, February 1, 1870. AE. o;erve the . attn T.T, WhIF The eelebri rt.,' Medal. 4 a3 kgents in ' 8, IVI UTUJ at 14, RI7SSE DVANCES 'old or Leas( 'e weekly, P trra free of ITISTABI The rolat fessional M. weekly payi bined with establishtne This est& nised by he and it is n Lady Laur Caroline Rt All infor ten or persc Subscript Treasurer, .FRE D JEW receive AP and DUNI: Null; for The aye Manual alp A When the public teased. Applicat other parti IRE Offices- The In' Fire Revel The mode: 1 3onusf or value as render . till leave is gr thirty day THE 1 of I Upyrard this llospi The do enable thb numerous helpless b Banker, street; at Waterl4 xr ATI Ric Cruder the • Whereby a Girls of the kingda The obje ish educai and. laumb wise prov: suitable si The Con entirely et afacs. ItoY ruNDT GR E This E establish, hes. Banker Strnet, M Soo., I.! L°Nl Bt; provenii, CON'I Messrs. nionl e Roars, Liverpol rtHE Pres 4 Treasur EON, experidi at W alt Ba G] Nation 9 The from vc llospita S Xessrs. lan e ; ai Qual Govern a E ALT road. Office Cu from atul ,f L: Oti WITT TOUE year 2 h., cu li parr tin c ip. f •Ht; a •o