The Sun. — London, England, 1868-04-22 00:00:00

SPIRIT 0 - 1' TUE PITS LIO atolll NALL In a leader on the CapitalPuntshment deb; a te, the Ti mes asks—ls there, then, any valid reason for a esertilig, that the substitution of imprisonment and hard labour f or death as the punishment of murder would mo re effectually deter men from that crime? Nothing th at has been brought forward by the abolitionists leads us • to believe so, and the direct testimony of those best acquainted with the criminal classes negative such a supposition. It is geie. rally admitted that the most reckless and violet it have a thorough fear of the willows, which secondary punish ments do not inspire. It will, perhaps, be answered, " Why not, then, hang for everything? If death be the best deterrent, and society have the right to inflict it, why not bring the coiner and forger to the gallows, as of old ?" The answer is short. Murder is a crime so pre eminently hurtful to society that it is advisable to dis tinguish it by a punishment above every other, and by one which may be held up before the eyes even of a man who is undergoing the most extreme sentence for a minor offence. Secondly, the crime of murder, in contradistinction to ordinary crimes of larceny or fraud, is generally the offspring of that kind of savage disposition which only the fear of death will effieiently control. If the opinions of those conversant with prisoners are to be taken, there does exist a salutary fear of the death penalty among the worst class of the population. A man will rob a house or waylay a traveller, but, in the very heat of the act, or at the very height of his fury, he will know how to hold his hand and avoid the actual killing of a human being. It is said, and we doubt not with perfect truth, that the ,reason why the proportion of murders to minor grimes is so small— why the deed so often stops short of the capital offence, even at the risk of leaving a witness of the scene—is, that there is among the criminal class the very strongest fear of actually causing death. They know that the pursuit will be far more keen if a murder be in'question, and that, if caught and convicted, a very different doom awaits them. If this be the effect of the law, it is certainly a most important advantage to society, and one that should not be thrown away in deference either to sentimental humanity or to vague theories of abstract juries. The Daily News has an elaborate article to answer the views set forth by Mr. Mill in the Capital Punishment debate. Mr. Mill thinks that where the sad contingency of the innocence of a prisoner convicted of murder on plausible evidence is more than infinitesimal, the sen tence of death should be commuted. A recommendation to this effect should be made by the judge, not solely where the proof of guilt is open to the smallest suspicion, but wherever (to use his own words) there remains any thing unexplained and mysterious in the case, raising a desire for more light, or making it likely that further in formation may at some time be obtained. As murders are seldom committed in the open day, or in the presence of witnesses, there are few crimes of that character which would not come under this category. The as sassin would be able to speculate more hopefully, and with more reason than ever, on the chances of escape from the extreme penalty. It is probable, too, that public ideas of evidence would receive a shock if it were once authoritatively proclaimed that the testi mony which is insufficient for one purpose is sufficient for another ; that it may be too weak to justify loss of life, and strong enough to justify loss of all that makes life valuable. The benefit of the doubt which the English law mercifully extends towards the accused is in his case to take the form, not of liberation, but of penal servitude for life. Practically this would be intolerable. Mr. Mill's plea for capital punishment fails of its purpose. The reluctance deliberately to inflict death, which is at the root of the movement which he combats, does not spring from any superstitious regard for human life apart from the purposes of living, but from a desire to give these defeated purposes a new chance of partial fulfilment. Be this as it may, there is little room for doubt that the feeling which refuses to tolerate public executions will soon prohibit any execu tions at all. What the eye cannot endure the mind will not long hear with. In abandoning publicity a great part of the arguments for capital punishment are surren dered. It is said by some that penal servitude is as severe as CIPC ecut ion. The Herald answers this by the case at Man chester. For what, it asks, did their friends and sympa thisers petition—for pardon? No, but for penal servitude, lifelong and hopeless —if penal servitude be ever hopeless—for any punishment, however ignominious and severe, short of the scaffold. And Mr. Gregory mentioned numerous instances in which, as was well known, the most unscrupulous scoundrels have avowed that, but for the dread of the gallows, they would have " knifed " a victim instead of simply garotting or stunning him. This confession has been made over and over again, and we must bear in mind that not a few murderers belong to the order of men who reflect before they act, and hesitate long, because, although careless of disgrace, care less of liberty—chances they would risk with com parative alacrity for the stake of a great prize or a great revenge— they cannot face all at once the horrid thought of the hangman. But, apart from this main question, the public will rejoice to know that the evil which by the vast majority of persons has long been deemed the chief reproach of the law inflicting capital punishments is being rapidly legislated out of existence. It was against the hardening influence, the demoralising revelry, the loath some episodes of public executions that they protested— against the gin-drenched rabble, the night of uproar and debauch— the ghastly reflex of the convict on the scaffold, to be seen in the countenances of so many standing below him and staring up with hideous curiosity at his face. The murderer will, for the future, die in comparative secrecy, with no opportunity for bravado—no exposure of his last physical agonies to the boastful populace. The provisions made for securing his execution, tor announcing the moment at which it takes place, for identifying him, living and dead, and for giving to the outside world a record of his agony, have already been more than once explained ; and the reform is one, we believe, which has been projected in the interest of popular morals and manners without detriment to justice. The Star lays down that there were flaws in Mr. Mill's ratiocination on capital punishment. In the first place, every perpetrator of aggravated murder is hardly within ' the category of utterly incorrigible and hopeless villains. Secondly, the description of absolutely hopeless wickedness would apply with much more truth to many habitual per petrators of smaller crimes who would not be executed. Thirdly, Mr. Mill altogether leaves out of view the religious element of this question. A member of Parlia ment who discusses the propriety of execution without en tertaining the idea of the future life, does not place himself sufficiently en rapport with his countrymen to bring them into harmony with his views. The Post remarks that the Trish have now put in a new claim for justice. They want a "Balmoral." They say that it would tend to supply the link between the people and the monarchy, the absence of which they so keenly feel. They have, they complain, had no opportunity of exhibiting the loyalty which has been lying dormant in their hearts. They intimate, rather sarcastically, that Ireland is really worth a little attention of this sympathetic description. They declare plainly that it is vain for her Majesty to expect love from those whom she never con descends to visit ; but it is evident that they are more than content with the representation of the Crown which is now visible to them. They claim royal con sideration, and affirm that it would find its reward in the gratitude and devotion of a peaceful and law-abiding community. They willingly allow that past neglect has become traditional and habitual, not studied and inten tional ; but it has, they add, operated very injuriously. In short, the pleasure which they are experiencing has come none too soon, and it remains to be seen whether their satisfaction may be established, as they wish it should be, so as to secure for Ireland a better future. Such is the burden of a.) interpretation of public opinion which certainly is entitled to be considered in the spirit which its expression manifests. There is an opening that may not again present itself, and that could not again be made, after a long interval, even by the same potent in fluence, without exciting suspicion calculated to neutralise its purpose. The Telegraph has a word to say in answer to the Times diatribe against the leader of the Opposition. At the termination of the Easter recess the business is resumed exactly where it was broken off. Mr. Gladstone, it will be remembered, had carried his motion to go into com mittee, and had submitted his first resolution, when Par liament adjourned. On its reassembling, therefore, the discussion would be resumed precisely at the point where it was suspended and whatever occasion ulterior incidents may afford for explanations or statements on the part of the Cabinet, assuredly there was nothing in the meeti ng o f M on d a y t o call for any formal statement from Mr. Disraeli. Nor was there anything to demand the special attendance of Mr. Gladstone, whose absence has been so severely cen sured as a neglect of parliamentary duty in the leader of the Opposition. The situation is so simple as to want neither explanation nor " statement." The position is one of ordinary progressive business ; Mr. Disraeli has no new facts to communicate, and Mr. Gladstone had no explanation to ask. The first resolution follows the great division and majority as naturally as Monday comes after Sunday, and it will , we believe, be carried by a ma j or i ty as great as that which affirmed the goodwill and just inten tions of the English people towards Ireland. The Standard points out the heavy task that it will be co Sir Robert Napier to take such a place as Magdala is described to be. The odds are heavy, and yet one need not fear to encounter them under su c h a leader as Sir Robert Napier. Whatever may be the issue of this cam paign, it is impossible that Sir Robert Napier can emerge from it without having achieved a reputation second to that of no other English general. Let us agree at least in this, I,f,,r e the last scene in the drama begins to I 1,1,15,2,1, that Sir Robert Napier has, up to this time, performed his work most ably, wisely, and br;lliantlY• II has Ore than justified the choice of him by the 4 :nvermnent, and amply confirmed the large hopes entertained of him by his friends. He has not, indeed, conducted the campaign as certain impatient newspaper critics advised hint to do. Ire has not made a "clash" with a flying column against Theodore. He who chased 'l'antia Topee through all Central India, and baffled that wily chief in each of his dodges and d o ublings, might have taken even that perilous counsel and achieved success. But Sir Robert Napier preferred to risk nothing. Isis chief glory is that he has made the Abyssinian campaign as uneventful as a march from London to Portsea Common. He has marched 300 miles into the interior of Africa, and con tinued to report, from the first day to the last. " all well." LETTER FROM DR. LIYINGSTON.E. A letter has been received in Edinburgh from Livingstone, fly a friend of the celebrated traveller. The following are Axtracts :—" Country of the Chipeta, Nov. 10, 1866.—1 t has been quite impossible to send a letter coastwise ever since we left the Rovurna. The Arab slavetraders take to their heels as soon as they hear that the English are on the road. I am a perfect bugbear to them. Eight parties thus skedaddled, and last of all my Johanna men, frightened out of their wits by stories told them by a member of a ninth party who had been plundered of his slaves, walked off and left me to face the terrible Mazitu with nine Nassick boys. The fear which the English name has struck into the souls of the slavetraders has thus been an incon venience. I could not go round the north end of the lake for fear that my Johanna men, at sight of danger, would do there what they actually did at the southern end, and the owners of two dhows now on the lake kept them out of sight, lest I shouldburn them as slavers, and I could not cross in the middle. Rounding the southern end, we got up Kirk's range, and among Manganja not yet made slave-sellers. This was a great treat, for, like all who have not been contaminated by that blight, they were very kind, and, having been worried enough by unwilling Sepoys and cowardly Johanna men, I followed my bent by easy marches among friendly, gene rous people, to whom I tried to impart some new ideas in return for their hospitality. The country is elevated, and the climate cool. One of the wonders told of us in successive villages was that we slept without fires. The boys having blankets did not need fire, while the inha bitants, being scantily clad, have their huts plastered inside and out, and even the roofs, to make themselves comfortable. Our progress since has been slow from other and less disagreeable causes. Some parts have been denuded of food by marauding Mazitu or Zulus ; we have been fain to avoid these, and gone zigzag. Once we nearly walked into the hands of a party, and several times we have been detained by rumours of the enemy in front. January 1867.—1 mention several causes of delay. I must add, the rainy season is more potent than all, except hunger. In passing through the Babisa country we found that food was not to be had. The Babisa are great slave traders, and have, in consequence, little industry. This seems to be the chief cause of their having no food to spare. The rains, too, are more copious than I ever saw them anywhere in Africa ; but we shall get on in time. February I.—l am in Bemba, or Lobemba, and at the chief man's place, which has three stockades around it, and a deep dry ditch round the inner one. He seems a fine fellow, and gave us a cow to slaughter on our arrival yesterday. We are going to hold a Christmas feast off it to-morrow, as I promised the boys a blow-out when we came to a place of plenty. We have had precious hard lines ; and I would not complain if it had not been gnaw ing hunger for many a day, and our bones sticking through as if they would burst the skin. When we were in a part where game abounded I filled the pot with a &strata rifle given me by Captain Fraser ; but elsewhere we had but very short rations of a species of millet called macre,' which passes the stomach almost unchanged. The sorest grief of all was the loss of the medicine-box which your friend at Apothecaries' Hall so kindly fitted up. All other things I divided among the bundles, so that if one or two were lost we should not be rendered destitute of such articles ; but this I gave to a steady boy, and trusted him. He exchanged for a march with two volunteers, who behaved remarkably well, till at last hungry marchea through dripping forests, cold hungry nights, and fatiguing days overcame their virtue, and they made off with ' Steady's' load—all his clothes, our plates, dishes, much of our powder, and two guns, and it was impossible to trace them after the first drenching shower, which feU immediately after they left us. The forests are so dense and leafy that one cannot see fifty yards on any:side. This loss, with all our medicine, fell on my heart like a sentence of death by fever, as was the case with poor Bishop Mackenzie ; but I shall try native remedies, trusting Him who has led me hitherto to help me still. We have been mostly on elevated land, between 3,000 and 5,000 feet above the sea. I think we are now on the water-shed for. which I was to seek. We are now 4,500 feet above the sea level, and will begin to descend when we go. This may be put down as 10deg. 10min. south lat., and long. 31deg. 50min. 2sec, We found a party of black half-caste Arab slaves here, and one promises to take letters to Zanzibar, but they give me only half a day to write. I shall send what I can, and hope they will be as good as their word. We have not had a single difficulty with the people, but we have been very slow. Eight miles a day is a good march for us, loaded as the boys are; and we have often been obliged to go zigzag, as I mentioned. Blessings on you all. Love to Mrs. From yours ever affectionately, " DAVID LIVINGSTONE." LAW AND POLICE. THE NEW STREET ACT. —No fewer than seventy eight summonses against the New Street Act were set down for hearing at the Clerkenwell Police-court on Tuesday. The charges consisted chiefly of driving cattle through the streets during the prohibited hours, and were mostly of a trivial character. In one case 130 sheep were driven about 50 yards down one of the streets adjoining the Metropolitan Cattle Market ; and it was proved for the defence, that while the lairs would only hold 15,000, there were 22,000 sheep in the market. The magistrate inflicted a fine of one shilling in one case, and Sir Richard Mayne, who said he did not want to be hard upon the drovers, withdrew the other summonses. A WOMAN WITH FOUR HUSBANDS.—At the Southwark Police-court a tall, handsome, and fashionably-dressed lady, who was described on the charge-sheet as Mrs. llickaby, 24 years of age, of independent means, was brought before Mr. Burcham charged with intermarrying with Robert Mills, Charles Reeves, and Humphrey Pur cell Blackmore, her first husband being then and now living. The prisoner was attired in travelling costume, and had with her two valuable dogs, a pair of cana ries, and a large quantity of luggage. The solicitor who appeared for the prosecution said that he was instructed by Dr. Blackmore, a physician, living at Salisbury, who had married the accused at Perth, on the Ist October last. On the previous day the doctor traced the accused from Exeter to London, and on her arrival at Waterloo a constable was in waiting to take her into custody. A witness produced copies of certifi c ate e a:-riage of the prisoner with Charles Reel es, of Cardiff, on the 2nd of June, 1863, and on the 22nd January, 186 G, at Carlisle, with Robert Mills, and lastly with his client, Mr. Humphrey Purcell Blackmore, physician, Salisbury, on the let of October last, at Perth. During all the marriages her first husband was living. The prisoner said that the first marriage was void, as Reeves's real name was Rutter when he married her, and he had taken advantage of her. The accused was remanded till M on day, bail in two sureties for £lOO each being taken for her appearance. EXTENSIVE ROBBERY OF TOBACCO.-At the Middlesex Sessions, two men were indicted for stealing thirteen bales of tobacco, of the value of £385, and the case afforded a remarkable illustration of the vast amount of property daily committed to the custody of vanmen and carmen. The prisoners were employed to carry sixty-six bales of tobacco from the docks to the railway station, and managed by the way to pass thirteen of the bales to two confede rates, who carried them off in a cart. The stolen property goes not appear to have been traced. The prisoners were found guilty, and sentenced each to five years' penal servitude. ATTEMPTING TO DROWN A Boy.—At the Worship. strew ro'ice.court, James Hussey, a boatman, war_ charged with throwing a little boy named Charles Dingley into the Duckett's Canal with intent to drown him. A s'ioemaker named Hogg said that he was on the canal bank, and saw four little boys there. The prisoner came up and pushed one of them in. Witness asked the accused what he had done it for, when he replied, " Because he has been throwing stones." The boy in question being toe ill to attend, the case was adjourned. CONVICTION OF MURDER. —At the Dumfries Circuit Court, the Lord Justice Clerk presiding, Robert Smith, who some time ago violated and murdered a young girl in a wood, in Dumfriesshire, and afterwards with a pistol attempted to shoot a woman who was the chief witness against him, has been sentenced to be hanged on the 12th May. NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF IRONWORKERS. -- A national conference of ironworkers, represented by delegates from all the iron districts in the North of England, Staffordshire, Wales, and Scotland, has com menced at Stockton-on-Tees. There was a large atten dance of delegates. The chief point for discussion was whether it was advisable to continue the strike in Staf fordshire which has lately occurred against a reduction of 12 per cent. in wages, and if the decision be in the affir mative to devise means for the support of the men on strike. The meeting had also to consider whether there should not be one national union instead of the division which has hitherto existed, one union having its headquarters at Brierly Hill and the other at Gateshead. The union was attempted in 18CG, when the "six months' strike " of the northern ironworkers oc curred. The Brierly Hill men, however, on that occa sion, refused to combine. Since the strike in Staffordshire they seem to have evinced a different disposition, and chiefly, we believe, through the influence of Mr. Kane, the president of the northern ironworkers, this conference, having for its objects such important results, has been brought about. Amalgamation was decided upon, and it was also agreed to make arrangements to defeat the re duction of wages in Staffordshire. The question as to whether the strike should be maintained was adiourned. THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 22, 1868. THE STATE TRIAL. The only telegrams referring to the trial received during the week are dated Washington, April 11 and 15, giving the evidence of General THOMAS, who deposed that President JOHNSON never ordered him to employ force to obtain possession of the War-office ; and of General SHERMAN, who said that when the PRESIDENT offered him the Secre taryship for War Mr. JOHNSON claimed the right, under the Tenure-of-Office Act, to make an ad interim appointment, and expressed a wish to get a case before the Supreme Court. While we write another has come to hand, dated Washington, 16th - _ April, by which we learn that the counsel for the defence produced evidence to show that the PRE SIDENT tried to get a writ of quo warranto to test STANTON'S right to hold the office of Secretary for War. We are not aware of any marked change except a national weariness of the trial. The in terest, at first so strong that Senators who had the disposal of tickets were beset by applicants, is now so slight that they find no one to take the yellow placards, and coloured gentlemen grace the galleries of the Senate 1141. The speech of the occasion will be that of Mr. WILSON, when he sums up at the close of the trial ; and it is on it the case for the Managers will have mainly to rest. The opening address of General BUTLER was ably and carefully prepared, occupying three hours in de livery. He maintained that the Constitution gives the PRESIDENT no direct power of removal. It is clear that no Constitutional Government can grant to a ruler the unchecked authority of dismissing Ministers. Mr. BUTLER justly contends that such a power would be more than kingly ; that is, where a king is controlled by a Constitution. No one for a moment contends that a British Sovereign can, in the face of a four-fifths majority of the Legislature, dismiss a Minister ; yet if Mr. JOHNSON'S claim be allowed be has this right, even while the Parliament is in session. Suppose that Mr. JOHNSON had this power, and really entertained the project attributed to him by the extreme Republican wing, that is of crushing Congress and establishing himself as Dictator, the first Minister to be dismissed would be the Secre- tary for War, and au army officer substituted, whose main idea was implicit obedience to orders—and that was exactly the course taken by Mr. JOHNSON. His next step would be to control the Treasury, so that the drafts of the officer acting as War Secre- tary would be honoured, and that also he took. He would then appoint a Commander to assume control of the Military Division, with his head quarters at Washington, and he would make such a disposition of the troops that when the emer gency came he would command the position, and this likewise is attributed to him. Any Minister alarmed at these preparations, who showed a dispo sition to resist, would be dismissed and military officers thrust into their places. If the Senate were powerless, and this course was in accordance with law, then we say that ANDREW JOHNSON had but to carry the army with him to be as great a despot as auy in the world. We maintain that the Con. stitution does not permit this ; and neither in spirit nor in word does it contemplate a President exert- ing any such authority. Yet it is this for which Mr. JOHNSON contends; and it is against this that Congress strives. Those who allege such a design to be entertained by ANDREW JOHNSON may malign him, yet it must be acknowledged that his conduct as well as his declarations have been suspicious. It cannot be asserted that the nation, or even Congress, is easily alarmed, for if there is one danger more than another overshadow ing the Republic it is a foolhardy confidence. The question arises, when Congress legislates to defeat such an apparent intention, what is a President to do who is convinced that an Act of the Legislature violates the Constitution ? The Constitution gives him a great power in the Veto ; and as his Message pointing out the defects and illegality of the mea sure is published, the nation can express an opinion and in some degree control Congress. With more than this power the framers of the Constitution saw no necessity for clothing Vie Chief Magistrate. To give him a greater power would be to put into his hands the means of becoming a despot; and it was against that these framers of the Constitution most desired to guard. A Legislature usurps in a peddling way, but an indi vidual by a coup d' Oat. A Legislature steals your purse, but an individual seizes your person and ap propriates your all. A Legislature works through a century, an individual in a year. It was then against the latter and not the form3r danger that provision was made. If a President, after an Act becomes a law, can pronounce that law to be un constitutional, and set it aside till the Supreme Court, that is Judges appointed by himself and his predecessors, decide whether it be unconstitutional, then he has a power far in excess of his veto, and one nowhere laid down in the Constitution. It is urged that Congress might pass over the PRESIDENT'S veto, a measure which, if executed by the PRESI DENT, might bring him to the gallows. There is not a soldier who enters the army, there is not a sailor who embarks in the fleet, who is not liable to the same contingency ; nor is there a civil servant of the United States who may not find himself amenable to fine and imprisonment for carrying into effect an Act passed by Congress and sanctioned by the PRESIDENT. This may be a defect in the Constitution, but men take the offices voluntarily, and they hold them at their discretion ; they can resign if they dread consequences, and re signation is as open to the PRESIDENT as to any other official. In the face of an Act that appear, to a President to be unconstitutional, he must exercise his judgment, knowing that if Congress be hostile he is liable to be impeached for infringing the law. There was no necessity for removing Mr. STANTON; he might be personally obnoxious to the PRESI DENT, but no one contends that the officer who ad ministered during the war, the post then of the greatest importance to the country, was unfitted to administer the duties of that office in time of peace. It was not the necessity, but the innate " cussed ness," as Americans call it, of Mr. JOHNSON, which led to the dilemma. It is contended that Congress should have waited for Mr. JOHNSON to bring the question before the Supreme Court, and Impeached him only if he attempted to bar the way against the decision by the proper authority. Bat this would be a direct surrender of the principle contended for, that no Executive officer has the right when an Act has become law to set it aside, or to infringe it. If the PRESIDENT can do this, why not a Secretary, or any of the hundreds of thousands of the public employes? Supposing this course to have been adopted, and the PRESIDENT to have obtained a decision from the Supreme Court. If favourable he would then have successfully defied Congress and the law it had passed over his veto. But what if the decision were unfavourable ? Could Congress then proceed to the Impeachment of the PRESI DENT ? In our opinion, certainly not ; for he would then have merely acted on a legal opinion, which on appeal has been pronounced erroneous, when he reverses his course in conformity with the law he can no longer defy. The crime must lie in the in tent with which the law was broken ; and that point is the one which properly comes before the Senate as an Impeachment Court, and is indepen dent of the constitutionality of the law, which is another question to be decided only by the Supreme Court. The Pall Mall Gazette appears to suppose that the PRESIDENT is justified if the Act be uncon stitutional, and this is the opinion generally enter tained in England. Yet it appears to us bewholly erroneous. If that were the question, most certainly the Supreme Court, and not the Senate, is the proper tribunal to decide it. "'they impeached him," these are the words of the Pall Mall, "not hr delaying the referencP of the matter to the Supreme Court, but for assert ing his intention of so referring it." ANDREW JOHNSON was impeached, as we have no doubt the writer knows, for infringing the law of the United States with a criminal intent—the infringement being the dismissal of the Secretary of War in defi ance of the Senate, then in Session, and the appoint ment of an officer ad interim of his own selection ; the intent being to obtain au undue control over the Army for an ulterior object. It certainly is provoking to see a newspaper like the Pall Mall Gazette make a statement that might be ex pected in the columns of the Standard, where it would carry no weight, as being merely an extreme party view, but which in a journal professing to treat every question on its own merits without party bias is calculated to mislead. We can sympathize with an individual in trouble, but not with a multitude. The man who fights the herd—let him be a brigand holding a pass against a company, or a BO3IBA had he had the heart to die sword in hand in the struggle to enslave a king dom—enlists cictr feelings, and those who do not take the trouble to understand the quarrel drift to the side of ANDREW JOHNSON, whom they regard as a bold partisan leader, unable to withstand a strong tide of persecution. But in truth ANDREW JOHN SON possessed in his bands every element of success when he commenced, and he has madly thrown them one by one away. He has done this, too, in the mere wantonness of mischief, fighting every one, and throwing mud on all with whom he came in contact. He could not even work with the senior counsel he selected, and although this arty b:3 Judge I3LAcK's fault, it is not a little strange that so many who associated themselves with ANDREW JOIINSON should sepa rate from him in a blaze of scandal. The Pall Mall may rely on the fact that it would have been au easy task for any man of ordinary ability whose nature was not strongly spiced with an innate " ugliness " to have got on with a Congress quite as anxious as he could have been to reconstruct the Southern States, and give the nation the repose it sought after its exhausting war. But, unfortunately for them, the mind of ANDREW JOHNSON was one that fed upon opposi tion. Hot water was the element in which he de lighted, and where he disported himself most joyously when all who came near were scalded. What he has cost the country it is impossible to estimate ; what he may cost it it is impossible to predict. But one lesson he has taught it with which the journal, written by gentlemen for gentlemen, will perhaps sympathize, and that is, that the train ing of a gentleman is a more necessary qualification for high office than it had been inclined till now to admit.—Anglo-Anterican 7 imes. ground. Indeed, the rural villages of Cosham and Wymering were long retained and made the scenes of most desperate encounters, to the infinite delight of their inhabitants who vociferously applauded all the furious firing, all the ferocious charging, and loudly encored each act of personal intrepidity. But yield they must at last. It is England's for tune—the decree of a supreme authority, and the mighty battle is at an end. Major-Generals Renny and Sir A. Horsford were highly successful as commanders of the divisions of the rebel forces; and ably portrayed the conflicting emotions of innate love of country and disappoint ment at the loss of victory. Major-Generals Hamilton and Carey were equally effective as leaders of the victorious patriots. To further par ticularise the chief actors in this glorious perform ance would be invidious, when all so efficiently performed their several parts ; but yet we cannot pass over in silence the astounding pantomime of the officers of the staff. The way they galloped about—now here, now there, without any apparent object, now waving, now pointing their drawn swords as they rushed onwards in furious race imparted such charming animation to the scene as to render them worthy of exceptional commenda- We have done our best to give a faithful picture of last Monday's brilliant performance—Easter's grand review ; and we trust it may be repeated, and repeated with ever-increasing numbers and with ever-approaching progress towards perfec tion. It is the duty of all our youth to acquire a thorough training, and it is worthy of attention of the wealthy to found institutions to assist the needy to procure the necessary outfit. All principals of scholastic establishments should be bound to drill their students, and then, should the necessity occur, Englishmen may rise as one mm to protect their native land.—pacing times and Amateur Dramatic Chronicle. HERR BANDMANN ON SHAKSPERE. Herr Bandmanu, the German actor at the Lyceum Theatre, on the occasion of the late Theatrical Fund Dinner, was the happy means of varying the speeches of the evening with the expression of an opinion which, whether wrong or right, is at least something that one can talk about, and not simply an affair of gewgaw and spangles. To this gentleman was assigned the task cf re sponding to the toast of "The Drama," and of course he did not go very far before he came to the inevitable Shakspere. What he said with respect to our first of poets must be given in his own words, as we find them reported in the morning papers ; for it would be a pity to run any risk of either heightening or diminishing so noteworthy a decla ration. "It was a fact," said Herr Bandmann, " that Shakspere was much more acted in Germany than Schiller or Goethe. The Germans, in fact, claimed Shakspere quite as much as did the British nation, and one of the German lyric poets asserted that by right Shakspere belonged to Germany alone, because, when Shakspere's genius was sent from heaven to earth, its destination was Germany, but the wind blowing westwardly it rested in England. For' himself, be cared little where Shakspere was born ; he belonged to the world, and his plays were, acted and appreciated. in every civilised nation." Considering that Herr Bandmann was speaking i n England to an audience of Englishmen, it must have required some audacity to assure his hearers that after all the credit of having produced Shakspere belongs not to England, but to Ger mrny. Conceive a parallel case happening in any other country. Fancy an Englishman getting up in Paris, and telling a company of Frenchmen--and that without apology, or even ex planation—that Aloliere really belonged to Eng land, and was not, properly speaking, a Frenchman at all. Fancy a Frenchman - assuring a German audience that they have no claim to Goethe, who, in a metaphysical sense, could have been produced by no country but France. Fancy a Spaniard pooh poohing before a meeting of Florentines the idea of Italy having any title to the glory of Dante, and declaring that, in the nature of things, he could only be a Spaniard ; or, per contra, imagine an Italian telling a number of Spaniards that Cervantes be longed wholly and absolutely to the literature of Italy. No doubt it is difficult to conceive any oue of the cases supposed ; but, granting them to happen, we may be very sure that the assumption would in each instance be repudiated with a vehe mence not unallied to indignation. We do not find that Herr Bandmann's remarks were received with so much as an ejaculatory " Oh !" such as mem bers of Parliament occasionally throw at one an other. The Lyceum "star," however, probably knew well enough that in such matters we English are the most good-natured people in the world. We are always ready to let any one get up, and depreciate us to any extent he likes. We have taken no end of snubbing from all sorts of quarters, and it was therefore, perhaps, not assuming very much to suppose that we should be qu it e willing to hear a gentleman from Germany hint that we are too dull a people to have fathered such a genius as Shakspere's, which could only have arisen among the pure Teutonic race. It is true that Herr Bandmann, feeling his way with unne cessary caution, considering that he was only ad dressing a set of English varlets, stated at first that his countrymen only claimed Shakspere " quite as much as the British nation ;" but he immediately proceeded to quote from some anonymous writer that higkly transcendental bit asserting the innate impossibility of Shakspere being anything but a German. Had a parallel speech been made in any country but England, the speaker could hardly have escaped the charge of impertinence, unless by ac cepting that of stupidity. But doubtless Herr Bandmann was well aware of what he was about, a nd the event showed he did not miscalculate. We have been German ridden for generations, and seem ra ther to like it. Let any one from th e " Vater land" who wishes to show his skill mount boldly, and apply whip and spur at discretion. He shall find us very quiet jades indeed. MINING NEWS. THE GOLD AND SILVER PRODUCTION OF THE PACIFIC COAST.—Tho following is a statement of deposits and coinage at the branch Mint of the United States, San Francisco, California, during the year ending Dec 31, 1867 : Gold Deposits •.• ••• Silver Deposits and Purchases Value. ... $18,923,152 17 ••• 613,117 94 Total Deposits COINAGE EXECUTED.-GOLD. No. of Pieces. Value. 920,750 ... $18,415,000 00 9,000 ... 90,000 00 27,000 ... 135,000 00 28,000 ... 70,000 00 ... $19,536,27011 Denomination. Double Eagles ... Eeagles ... ... Half Eagles ... Quarter Eagles ... Total ... ... 986,750 ... $18,720,000 00 SILVER. VALUE. $1,196,000 ... $598,000 00 48,000 ... 12,000 00 140,000 ... 14,000 00, 120,000 ... 6,000 00 20 ... 20,534 92 Half Dollars Quarter Dollars.. Dimes ... Half Dimes Fine Bars Total ... $650,534 92 $1,504,020 ... RECAPITULATION. 986,750 ... $18,720,000 00 1,504,020 ... 650,534 92 Gold Coinago ... Silver Coinage ... Total 2,490,770 ... $19,370,534 92 Localities from whence the gold bullion was re• ceived California 55,700,871 12 Parted from Idaho Oregon 319,620 90 Fine Bars 10,980,791 94 Montana Nevada 49,030 47 For. Bullion.. 47,358 42 Arizona. - Total Gold 518,923,152 17 Localities from whence the silver bullion was re-, ceived : Nevada $205,618 87 Forei g n Coin ... $27,597 31 Arizona 8,425 74 I Forei g n Bullion 21;951 76 Idaho .. - Parted fm Gold 69,999 56' Total 5i1ver...5613,117 94 Bars Silver Bars, Stamped 520,534 92 Total Gold and Silver Fine bars, Total ... AUSTIN, NEVADA, Feb. 20th, 1868. A case of considerable importance to the bank ing interest was tried recently in our District Court. The agent of the Keystone Company of New York, when engaged in building a large mill here, had his drafts on the treasurer cashed by Paxton, Thornburgh, and Co., to the extent of $lOO,OOO. Finally, however, some of the drafts were dishonoured, and the bankers were out $12,000 in gold, without seeing any way of speedily getting back the amount. In the meantime the agents gave a company note for the debt, and entered into an obligation that no lien of mortgage should be put on the mill prejudicial to the interests of the payees. Shortly afterwards, however, a mortgage on the entire property for $300,000, executed in favour of a party in New York, was sent forward to be put on record in Lan der County. To protect themselves, Paxton, Thorn burgh and Co. brought suit, and sold the mill under attachment, and the action in court was to determine the rights of the eastern mortgagee as against them. The decision was in favour of the bankers on vat ions legal grounds, the strongest feature not be ing required in determining the case in their favour —namely, that the New York mortgage was exe cuted by the officers of the company before autho rity for the purpose was given by the trustees, and when given it was not male retrospective so as to homologate their action. The case was well calcu lated to bring out the ability of counsel, and Mr. John Gerber of San Francisco, who, by several years residence, has made a brilliant name for himself here as an able and honest lawyer, con ducted the case for Paxton and Co. in a most effec tive manner. It is worthy of note that the original debt now amounts with interest to about $32,000 in currency. AMERICAN MARKEI S. (From Beldiny, Keith, and Co.'s Circular.) Our mail advices are from New York, April 4 :—The excitement of the Drew and Vanderbilt Railway warfare has somewhat subsided, but is far from being settled. The Impeachment is progressing as rapidly as could be expected, but what will bo the result or when the close, none can definitely predict. The money market is. In a very unsettled state, caused in part, if not wholly, by the operations in connection with these railway ope rations. So stringent has it become that interest for cur rency is demanded in gold at 7 per cent. on call, and in most cases with additional commissions; against best col laterals, in such a state it is no wonder to find it reported, as the New York Journal of Commerce puts it.—" At present there is but little doing in commercial paper, and only first class signatures are taken even at high rates of discount. The supply of currency at this centre is 50 far reduced, that needy borrowers feel it necessary to employ the early hours of the day to secure the funds with which to meet their current obligations. The lo west rates of interest for call loans on the best securities is 7per cent.; in most cases this rate is paid in gold. Under such a state we cannot expect much life in trade,and our report are that,with here and there an exception, the general markets are dull.. The excite ment and material rise in cotton affords a notable exception to the pitevailing dulness. There is also rather more vitality to the market for some other raw materials, the result of the final adoption of the new bill relieving cer tain manufacturers from internal taxes. The bill yesterday received the Executive sanction, and is to take effect on the Ist of May. A heavy burthen is thus lifted from the shoulders of manufactures, and we may reasonably look for a speedy recuperation of drooping industries. What effect this measure is likely to have on prices it is rather difficult to foretell, though, as many goods have been selling close down to the cost of production, and, in some instances, even below, it is hardly probable that there will be any wholesale line, as some seem to anticipate. It has been urged that Government cannot spare the taxes thus to be remitted, but that remains to be seen. We are under the impression that Government will at least lose nothing by the change. The fountains of revenue, which have been largely dried up by excessive burthens, will be very apt to flow again, thus benefiting capital, labour, and the Trea sury alike. We have not yet received an official copy of the new bid, but we have in a previous issue given a gene ral outline of it. The rates on tobacco and whisky are unchanged, though more stringent provisions have been made for the collection of the tax on the last mentioned commodity. The bill imposes a small tax of two mills on the dollar on sales of manufactures in lieu of the five per cent. tax now abolished ; but this tax is but 1-20th part as heavy as that removed, and will scarcely be felt either by the manufacturer or consumer of domestic pro ducts. The crop prospects aro reported very good, the severe season having boon a protection by way of covering for the roots and preserving them from frosts ; while in Cali fornia the crops are quite advanced and reported very pro mising indeed, and it is expected the amount for exports will exceed that of the past year by very much, if not double. The following slows the business done in exports from there since last harvest, and when we consider that 20 years ago it was almost unknown, and that for a long time the price of flour was at times a dollar more per lb., we have a chftngo without precedent :—Since the incoming of the harvest in July we have exported, in flour and wheat combined, upwards of four million centals, or the equiva lent of seven million bushels of wheat, of the value of $10,000,000 in gold. In addition to this wo have ten or more vessels now loading, or under engagement, with an estimated stock of wheat remaining in the interior of 600,000 sacks. Of the . above shipments we have sent to the United Kingdom 2,250,000 ceutals, valued at $7,000,000. The above exports were sent forward in 135 ships, of which 115 went to Great Britain. COMMERCIAL EPITOME. (Front the Financial Chronicle.) NEW Yonx, April 3, 1868. Trade continues dull. All articles which are not, to some extent, in favour with speculative operators, have a very limited movement. Hides have been quiet, the closing sale being at 21c., gold, for primo dry Buenos Ayres. Leather and skins have been doing rather bettor in some grades, but are quiet. In Naval Stores wo have noticed more firmness in spirits of turpentine, but the close is firm at 67c. Rosins have been quite active —some 15,000 bbls. changing hands at $3 25c to $3 38c for common to good strained ; but the close is dull. Other naval stores remain quiet. In oils crude whale sold pretty freely early in the week, but closes quiet ; and linseed o il h as l atterly been more act i ve. Fi s h are in better supply, and weak. Tallow has been firm, the home demand absorbing the entire supply. Hay has ma terially declined. Hops are rather steady. Metals have been very dull for all descriptions. East India goods have been dull, except some early transaz.- tions in Manila Hemp at - 1010 per ib, gold, closing quiet. Petroleum shows a l arge decline in cru d e, c l os i ng active at 11c in bulk, and 16c. in barrels ; refined, 26c for S. W., in bond. Building materials are not so firm, and bricks have declined to $8 to $lO for common per M. Wool is quiet, and, except for pulled, prices are rather weak. Freights have not been active; but, with limited room on the berth and increasing offerings, rates have slightly improved—the Liverpool steamers getting id for cotton and 7d for grain. A few grain charters to Cork for orders have been done at 6s 3d to Gs 4iti ; very little going to the Continent. In Provisions, the continued stringency in the money market still operates against an active trade in hog pro ducts, and at the moment the amount of business doing is small, and prices unsettled, though with one or two ex ceptions the range of figures has been considerably ad vanced within the past three days. Fur domestic use there is a fair amount of stock wanted, and we notice a growing desire on the part of shippers to purchase when ever goods can be obtained at rates which will save com missions. The receipts have lately been pretty liberal, but the supply of desirable goods is not considered largo. for the season, and holders appear confident. Beef has been in large demand for shipment to Great Britain, and India Mess is firmer. Butter has been dull. Cheese slightly declined, leading to more business for export. UNITED STATES SECURlTlES—Governments have sym pathised closely with the pressure in the money market. There has been a steady flow of securities upon the mar ket, in excess of the regular investment demand ; and, but for the purchases of Seven-Thirties by the Treasury, the market must have yielded materially. The purchases of the Government have averaged probably $1,000,000 per day ; and this absorption of the surplus supply has kept the market steady. To-day there has been active demand from the dealers, in anticipation of a better market after the completion of the quarterly statements of the banks, and prices have advanced to per cent. during the day, except in Seven-Thirties, which are kept down by the Treasury retaining its bid for Seven-Thirties at 1052. Bonds of the issues held abroad have ruled weak, in con sequence of the downward tendency in gold. Sixty-Twos at one moment touched 109, but quickly reacted and close at 1091. The following were the closing quotations, April 3d, for the variuus Public Funds of the United States in New York:— Sixes, 1868, registered l3Bl to 1381 Sixes, 1868, coupon ... l3B/ to 1381 Sixes, 1881, coupon lll to 111/ Five-twenties, 1862, coupon , lo9t to 1091 Five-twenties, 1864, coupon Five-twenties, 1865, coupon .. lOB/ to 108} Five-twenties, 1865, coupon, new Five-twenties, 1867, coupon _ Ten-forties, coupon lOOl to 100/ Seven-thirties, 2d series Seven-thirties, 3d series Oregon War Loan, Sixes, 1881 MIMIC WAR. Out-of-door theatricals.--Innumerable bands of music, endless banners and triumphant arches.— Gallant attack and heroic defence of a real fortress by the combined forces—regular and irregular e ffective and non-eff ec ti v e, professional and amateur.---Desperate encounter, terrific combat, fearful onslaught, the whole forming ono of the most successful and marvellous spectacles on re cord. The above, as witnessed by enraptured thousands, will (with additional novelties and attractions) be repeated every Easter Monday till further notice. The managers and directors seize this opportunity to assure their patrons that they will spare neither exertion nor expense to render every display more and more worthy of public approbation and support ; and, in conclusion, refer the said patrons and public generally to the subjoined impartial criticism. When. Ducrow commanded at Astley's with a horsey voice—consequent of great equestrian exer tion, and Gomersal strode its boards, as representa tive of Napoleon 1., unrivalled in his style of snuff taking from his waistcoat pocket, after the fashion of his great prototype, we believed that the theatrical display of mimic war had reached the acme of success. There and then a regiment, attired in blue, full twenty strong, fled across the stage pursued by a regiment clothed in red, equally numerous. There and then a squadron of cavalry, composed of at least a dozen horses—all cream coloured or piebald came plunging across the boards in full retreat, their riders all helmeted, back-plated and breast-plated, and shortly after wards horses (so similar that one took them for the same) came rushing after in hot pursuit, whose riders were helmeted alone. There and then one real and solitary cannon was shoved upon the his trionic platform, and blazed away at the histrionic wing with such unerring precision that its blue ethereal sky bore many a warry mark of the de structive effects *of powder, even in those days, and the connoisseurs of Lambeth-Cut declared it was an able representation of the battle of Water sublime delineation of real war. Thank heaven! We have outlived all these restricted notions of human perfection,—we have lived to see that mimic war can clear the bounds of painted scenes and rage upon the open fields,—we have witnessed real forts attacked upon our native soil, our peace- ful villages filled with hostile and contending multitudes, —in a word, we were amidst the en raptured spectators of the military display round Portsmouth on Monday last. On the all-eventful day, the railway authorities from an early hour were fully awake to their duties, and forty-eight trains were despatched from Lon don to the scene of action, in the short period of two hours and a half,—forty-eight trains crammed with thousands and tens of thousands of ama teur actors to join with their comrades, who had pro f ess i ona ls speciallyand with the regular engaged arrived on previous days, for the occasion. The population of Portsmouth were up and ready to receive them—at least all of any importance, and welcome ! welcome! ! was everywhere repeated by cheering voices, as on banner and on festooned arches. One of these of the triumphal order was at least sixty feet high, and surmounted by the models of two thorough-bred British lions ; for these animals are by no means fabulous as is gene rally supposed, but reared by lady-dogs, especially retained as wet nurses, on account of the amiable weakness of their royal mothers, who prefer de vouring their offspring rather than they should grow up in the protection of barred security, and to a daily dietary weighed out to a scruple. But haste ! haste ! The famous march past has com menced. The London Scottish and the London Rifle Brigade, so perfect in drill, so thoroughly soldier-like in appearance, are preceded and fol lowed by corps of less distinguished attainments. In fact, as usual, there are actors of every merit and of personal appearance too. Some, whose shaggy locks had been all the better for a three penny shearing ; some, who would have looked all the sprucer in wigs ; some, who had hair enough on their faces to make a lady's muff, tippet, and cuffs ; some, who had not the show of a bristle and prospectless of getting any since bear's-grease has grown out of fashion—for that article when in vogue was capable, as is well-known, of produc ing a luxuriant crop of human hair upon paving stones. Nevertheless, the beardless marched proudly by the side of their bearded comrades, as though conscious of their own merits, or as though they bore in mind the lines of our immortal bard— " How many cowards whose hearts are all as false As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars." — Some regiments appeared to have organized them for the dwarf and the giant selves purposely gro tesque, the drilled and the undrilled, the genteel and the shabby, the promiscuously mixed, as though it were a patriotic duty to render contrast as startling as possible. Yet, after all, it was a fine and glorious show- - a noble and gallant spec tacle ;—and if Volunteers are still open to improve ment, it is but the lot of all human institutions. But now to the fight ! The hostile forces ap proach the rampart w alls, and skirmishers meet skirmishers in the open plain. The enemy gain ground, their cavalry charge, their artillery thun der, our patriots are out-numbered, the lines of Portsmouth are seriously menaced, —the mighty arsenal of England is in danger. But no ! Huzza, huzza! Our blue-jackets to our aid! Our g allan t sailors to the rescue ! Bor ne along by a fortuitous tide, their gun-bats steam up a creek, unbeknown.to the enemy (as Mrs. Gamp would say if sh 6 11 ad witnessed the movement), to hurl destruction from their well-worked guns upon the hostile flank. Now ! now's your tiae, ye gallant patriots,---. " England expects every man will do his little utmost." " Charge, Chester, charge ! On Stan ley, on !" "Up Volunteers, and at them !" Nobly, most nobly did they respond unto the call, and backward rolls the dismal tide of war. Yet they had to do with no despicable troops, no foreign legion, but with rebels for the occasion, and slowly these retired from their false position, disputing every inch of advantageous COUPONS PAYABLE. pang. The Albany and Susquehanna Railroad Company give notice in another column that the interest due on April Ist on the Second Mortgage Bonds, is payable on demand, at the office of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, 7, Nassau-street, N.Y. The Chicago and Alton Railroad Coupons of Income Bonds, due April Ist, will be paid by M. K. Jesup and Co., 12, Pine-street, who will also pay the Jacksonsville and Chicago Railroad Coupons of First Mortgage Bonds. The April coupons of the Cleveland and Toledo Rail road Company will be paid by the Farmers' Loan and. Trust Company on presentation. The Fourth National Bank of this city, and the Second National Bank of Jersey City, will pay tho April coupons of tho Jersey City bonds. Duncan, Sherman, and Co. will pay the coupons on the land bonds of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Com- The coupons on the Second Mortgage Bonds of the Toledo, Peoria, and Warsaw Railroad Company, Western Division, will be paid at the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company ; on the 7 per cent. Land Mortago Bonds of t'ae Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, at the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company; on the Bonds of the Union and Logansport Railroad Company, at the St. Nicholas National Bank ; on the 7 per cent. Equipment Bonds of the Chicago and North Western Railroad Company, at 57, Broadway, Now York ; and on the Bonds of the New York and New Haven Railroad Company, at the National Bank of the*Ropublic. • MARKETS BY CABLE TO NEW YORK. St. Loui.;, April 3.—T, bacco —The offerings are large ; lugs and common leaffare a little lower ; better grades are firm. Cotton flan at 25k. Flour—Superfine, $7 to 8 25; extra, $8 60 to 9 25; double extra, $9 50 to 10 75; wheat easier, at $2 60 to 2 50 for red and white fag. Corn dull at 85 to 95.2. Oats heavy at 75 to 77c. Barley declining; prime spring, $2 63. Ry© declining; sales at $2 50 to $2 60. Louisville, April 3.—Tobacco active, sales 336 hhds.: lugs to manufacturing leaf $5 25c to $34 500 ; cotton, 251, to 251 e. ; superfine flour, $8 50c to $8 75c ; fancy, $l2 50c to $l3; wheat, $2 45c to $2 50c; oats, 73c to 756 ; corn 83c to 85e; lard, 16c to 16-1-c ; bacon—clear sides, loic packed. Memphis, April 3.—Cotton excited and none offered ; receipts, 800 bales ; stock on hand, 5,700 bales. Flour dull ; superfine, $B. Pork, $26 ; bacon —clear sides, 16,1 0 9 Bulk shoulders, 11c ; clear sides, 144 c. Lard, 161 c to 171 c. Corn, 98c ; oats, 78c. New Orleans, April 3.—Cotton excited and unsettled ; sales 5,000 bales, middling at 30 to 301 c. Receipts, 1,9 4 9 bales ; exports, 2,934 bales; sales of the week, 34,700 bales; receipts, 11,950 bales. Exports—foreign, 16,130 bales; coastwise, 430 bales ; stock on hand, 69,264 bales. Sugar and molasses very dull ; prices irregular and unsettled. Flour firmer ; superfine $lO, exti a $ll. Corn in request, quoted at $1.05 to $1.07. Oats in good demand at 800. flay dull and drooping ; Ohio river, $18.50. Mess pork firma at $27 to $27.25. Bacon active; shoulders 12 0 , clear sides 174 c. Lard quiet and steady; tierces, 17ye• Gold 139.. Sterling exchange ; bank 151 to 152 ; com mercial 150 to 151; Now York sight, per cent. prem. PROSPECT OF THE BREADSTUFFS TRADE. From all parts of the country we have encouraging ac counts of the grain crops. The seasons have been favour able to a second year of abundance. The very austerity of winter, though productive of much privation and suffer ing, has Sheltered and nourished the plants which pro mise to yield us a plentiful harvest. In all parts of the West and South the winter crops are represented as look ing remarkably healthy ; and similar aceounts reach us from England and the grain countries of Europe. Besides, as a natural consequence of the late high prices of bread stuffs, the farmers have generally placed an enlarged area , under grain; and the ample profits derived from the last crop have enabled them to manure and otherwise till their lands to the best advantage. Thus far, also, the spring has been remarkably propitious to field operations, an d here is a reasonable prospect that the spring planting wil l tfar as well as that of the fall. A considerable amount of Northern capital is go i ng into the Bonds of the Southern States, in the belief that they offer at the present prices a large margin for profit in the advance that will almost immediately follow reconstruc tion. in the integrity of those States to honestly pay interest on their bonds, those professing to be Weil informed express no doubt. BALLET. Paris academies exalted dancing into a fine art, and pre cured recognition for ballet from the capitals of Europe and to these may now be added the ones of the Western Hemisphere also. Some of the premieres artistes chosen to interpret ballet to the New World were performers of considerable talent , refinement, and ladylike demeanour. There appears to be two classes of ballet —the classica l and the sensual. Education has extended to sculptors, painters, and lat terly dauseuses, a certain license to use the beauty an d powerful influences of the human form for the expressio n, by pantomimic action, of emotions that stir the aspiratio he and passions of the soul. Is it quite fair to attribute the attraction merely to pre" ankles? When ballet was still quite novel here, an lea" partial spectator, who observed the house, as well as the performance, could not but see that this was not quite cor rect. The audience could then—although some of the ir critical censors could not—discriminate the difference be tween ladylike self-possession and the brazen-faced ass tlr, anco of the demi-monde. A true danseuse appeals to the same sense of the been" tiful as painters and sculptors; and although ballet hi ° uot yet quite clearly worked out its definition, has nc 3 risen to the rank of the flue arts, is not estimated with it S stereotyped branches, yet ballet pure, poetry, painting, 0334 sculpture are of the same family, and alike appeal to these aesthetic tastes which education, travel, and general stud/ of the fine arts have refined. The initiation of the applause and demonstration of t he audience very evidently showed that they recognised t he ease and ladylike self-possession of that Italian girl before them, her quiet dignity and elegance. They canght t he meaning of that pantomime, which was so exquisite, deli cate, and expressive. It could not be mere facial or phi" sical beauty or toilet tricks that pleased the on-looker s "" for the beauty of her face had faded—her physical beauty was eclipsed by her figurantes. She was rather worn-loolca ing ; yet .one saw that all eyes were attracted to en centred upon that light, gracile figure, as it bent like water-lily dipped by the wind in acknowledgment of 06 warm approval that her womanly art, soft feminine grace, and gentleness had elicited. Mademoiselle S— had a distinct characteristic taleilt" Mlle was younger, more fiery, cha m p e d th e bit like r nce , horse before the start, was ambitious, possessed m ore e; the light comedy of ballet; flowed, with life, vigour, en' impromptu ; and had that sp ar kli ng v i vac ity na tiva tn . . e Parisienne and Champagne win e s ; b u t Si g nora was ranj spirituelle. The French woman was agile, lithe, athletic; daring, defiant ! but the Italian interpreted her music W it , / a lightness, a delicate minuteness, very pleasing to bell ni t : regular, regular as the terza rims of Italy's great P ne g Fier statue postures that faded in an instant after expr e ' t : sion, the eye of sensibility quickly caught at the moo' s % These and other impressions, a warm poetical iraagiae t ' ° „. received at the time, while under the heart-glow of 0 0 7: cal spell, which it is difficult to retain, recall, define, 00 1 press, when that influence is removed and the 011106°0 have cooled. East Indian and Turkish dancing girls appeal directly to the grosser passions ; but the daughters of Italy rareq lend their youth and beauty to such degradation. Y et g , must be confessed that one branch of the ballet, in P. a has of late degenerated. The shameless abandon e ll , sensual arts of the second-class ballet are certainly not verojf conducive to good morals. Eve, fresh from the ban her Creator, was the I ncarna ti on o f P e rfect InnoceneetL i , doubt, and the Perfecti on o f Phy s i ca l Beauty ; but o f tier intrigue with Satan, her most unfortunate and eoe lamentable discovery of Shame, womankind, and humen""; through her sex's unconquerable curiosity, obtained a 9 , most pernicious knowledge of evil and good, that ' o p rendered clothing of some kind a necessary institen 0 ever since. Marble may sometimes, but flesh never ee do without any drapery.— Wilkes' Spirit of the Times. The Albion says :—" The new club-house of /P c ; Union League Club, corner of Madison Avant' , " !fa T wenty-sixth-street, was thrown open for the inspec;:g of members of the press on the 2d inst. The beil`' 6 - 0 was erected for club purposes by Mr. Leonard irec°,l - the Union League Club have completed and a te- i for their use at an expense of $50,000. The appointeleilir are all of the most elegant description, and the Devi e r 0 house will compare favourably with any similar edifi ce either side the Atlantic, not oven excepting the IL'" )) Carlton, London." Births. (AV° HEATRCOTE —On the 20th inst., at Stamford, Mrs. G ibe V. Heathcote, of a son. re tV STANLEY—On the 21st inst., at 20, Lowndes-gl ll9 ' Lady Constance Stanley, of a daughter. W ife SMYTH—On the 19th inst., at Dorrington, Wilts, t ha - of Colonel Henry Smith, C. 8., of a son. Marriages. FEAST —BRIDGER—On the 16th inst., at St. P 3 ', 1 0 0- South Hampstead, Walter W. Feast to Ross , 7„ e a. daughter of the late Mr. Wm. Bridger, of Edrnonw STO C KLEY —BAXTER —On the 18th inst., at St. J 3c° o 3 e p: Church, Gravesend, Mr. James T. Stockley, of 1, 5r . , ° , " of ton, S.W., to Ellen, only daughter of R. Baxter, Ds Gravesend. Deaths. j4''l . Boozu—On the 20th inst., in London, Lieut.-Ge n ,l 71. Booth, Colonel of the 15th Regimout of Foot , age' jobo EAGLETON —On the 16th inst., at Balton, Rutland: Eagle:on, Esq., aged 80. no 1 01313 MARSHALL—On the 18th inst., at Gidlow, NV , g -- ' Stewart Marshall, Esq., aged 36. , v t i o• NPOrouN—On the 19th inst., at Marseilles, Colonel D.091' M‘Gouu, Controller of Military Finance, Madras deney, aged 61. isi fi lit'P' NORMAN—On the 19th inst., at Tottenham, Mis s --° ' aged 69. i rtior REEVE—On the 17th inst., at Richmond, Surrey , S ir Newby Reeve, aged 75. _.—/%4 London : Printed and Published by WI'LLIA.I I No pt of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Tian SUN 01d° 64 , 0 00 Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the w- Bliddlosex.7•Weduesdity, April 22, 1868. K' This Prize Obse hart's ] IVI lvt qr" EI T , 11 3.1.1 3 ,; atahl,„ 1 1:1 C 1 ,op en be rnait 114 01 . 1 p ,, a nd al Sold the Ag Cfi Tl;e ConrA atrninv, Aseen s The Nv j Wit Vaan at one three* No a and B, "Th Th, not be "Th 'ng Pei "Th to h o is it iii It_ TRIU R NE .ight bail ee , LIVT, Adr °f Rol An ~ T his 1 );V: for the solo c ar i d S trail( V -r Unt aiy du a citlar( ttom4. PR all d e „ f or 0 ; tt nap t r ansf, 111 -', 11 S a Poedi vs. cd stamp, a ll 01, hour ; for 6( Clion; IF atirlBj ,5 01(1 Ma Li " , ;ur feet]y s q .. SEela,;ol lid ) Wows 64 . ; tIU G S th uo rti, 441: Otta e ,