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

SPISIT TECB PS WO ZOITRITALL In a leader on the Capitalruni !fitment debate, the Times asks—ls there, then, any valid rea son for asserting that the substitution of inaprisonmeot and hard labour for death as the punishment of muzde - r vtould more effectually deter men from that crime? Ndthing that has been brought forward by the abolitior acts leads us to believe so, and the direct testimony of thoeie best acquainted with the criminal classes negative such a supposition. It is gene rally admitted that the most reckless and violent have a thorough fear of the gallows, which secondary punish ments do not inspire. It will, perhaps, be answered, " Why not, then, hang for eves ything? 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 efficiently 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 crimes 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 in7question, 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 bear 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 execution. 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 instance: 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 ha:, 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, for 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 Irish 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. whey 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 albs v 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 al 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 meeting of Monday to 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 " statem en t." Th e position is one of ordinary progressive business; Mr. Disraeli has no new facts to ) communicate, and Mr. Gl a d s t one 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 majority 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 e Alagdala is described to be. The odds are hea v y , and yt_onene_eir l c not fear to encounter them under such a leader as Sir Robert Napier. Whatever may he the issue of this cam paien, it is impossible that Sir Robert Napier can emerge from it without having achieved a reputation second to that of no other living' English 7eneral. Let us agree at leaet in this, bef.re the last scene in the drama begins to be played. tint Sir Reliert Napier has, np to this ti ITIO, perferne s 1 his work n e st ably, wisely, and brilliantly. 11, has more than justified the choice of him by the Government, 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 him to do, He has not made a "clash" with a flying column against Theodore. He who chased Tantia 'Pollee through all Central India, and baffled th a t w ily c hi e f i n ea ch of hi s d o d ges and doul;lings, might have taken even that perilous counsel and achieved success. Ent Sir Robert Napier preferred to risk nothing. His 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. LIVINGSTONE: A letter has been received in Edinburgh from Livingstone, by a friend of the celebrated traveller. The following are extracts :—" Country of the Chipeta, Nov. 10, 1866.—1 t has been quite impossible to send a letter coastwise ever since we left the Rovuma. 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 Blades, 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 should burn 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 snake 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 pas:ty, and several times we have been detained by rumours of the enemy in front. January 1867.—1 mention several causes of delay. Imust 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 Tains, too, are more copious than I ever saw then 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 firstrate 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 marches through dripping forests, cold hungry nights, ana fatiguing days overcame their virtue, and they made off with ' Steady's' load—all his clothes, our plates, dishes,i much of our powder, and two guns, and it was impossible to trace them after the first drenching shower, which fell 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 fo7 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 g'od 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 LIVINGSTONF." 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 or Tuesday. The charges consisted chiefly of driving cattle through the streets during the prohibited hours, and were most'y of a trivial character. In one case 130 sheep were driven about 50 yards down one of the streets adjoining the "Metrooolitan 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 lie 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. Rickaby, 24 years of age, of independent means, was brought before l‘lr. Burcham charged with intermarrying with Robert Mills, Charles Reeves, and Humphrey Pur cell Blackmorc, 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 certiti ( ate 7 o' ti e n a-riage of the prisoner with Charles Reel es, of Cardiff, t 8 76, tahte Carlisle,2nl of June, 1863, and on the 22nd .lan nary Robert Mills, and lastly with his client, Mr. Humphrey Purcell Blackmer°, physician, Salisbury, on the Ist 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 Monday, 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, ane 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 Zees not appear to have been traced. The prisoners were found guilty, and sentenced each to five years' penal servitude. ATTEMPTING TO DROWN A BOT.—At the Worship. Etre 't Polce.court, James Hussey, a boatman, wx. charged with throwing a little boy named Charles Dingley into the Duckett's Canal with intent to drown him. A shoemaker 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 tor, 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 notional union instead of the division which has hitherto ex i s t e d , one union having its headquarters at Bricrly Hill and the other at Gateshead. The union was attempted in 1866, when the "six months' strike " of the northern ironworkers oc curre4l. 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. ME 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 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 he 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 an 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 any 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 whi c h 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 framersof the Constitution saw no necessity for clothing the 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 (Mat. 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 au Act becomes a law, can pronounce that law to be un constitutional, and set it aside till the Supreme Court, that is Judg,es 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. But 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, whi c h i s 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 be wholly 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 f)r delaying the reference of the matter to the Supreme Court, bat for assert ing his intention of so referring it." ANDREW JOIINSON 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 an 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 ) petted 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 BOMBA had he had the heart to die sword in hand in the struggle to enslave a king dom.—enlists oiar 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 hands every element of success when he commenced, and he has madly thrown them one by one away. lie has done this, too, in the mere wantonness of mischief, fighting every one, and throwing mud on all with whom he came in contact. Ile could not even work with the senior counsel he selected, and although this may be Judge BLACK'S fault, it is not a little strange that so many who associated themselves with ANDREW JOHNSON 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-American limes. 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, whqn 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 tion. 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 man to protect their native land. —Racing limes and Amateur Dramatic Chronicle. 11ERR BANDMAIVN ON SHAKSPERE. Herr Bandmann, 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 Slaakspere's genius was sent from heaven to earth, its destination was Germany, bat the wind blowing westwardly it rested in England. For himself, he cared little where Shakspere was born ; be belonged to the world, and his plays were acted and appreciated in every civilised nation." Considering that llerr Bandmann was speaking in 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 Moliere 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 Fran ce. 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 Per contra, i ma gine an Italian be a Spaniard ; or, 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 o t one of the cases suppose d ; but, granting them 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 enou g h 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. Iv e 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 i te willing to hear a gentleman from Germany hi n t that we are too dull a people to have fathered s uch a ge nius as Shakspere's, which could only have ar i se n among the pure Teutonic race. It is true that llerr Bandmann, feeling his way with unne cessary cau tion, considering that he was only ad dressing a set of English varlets, stated at first that h i s c ountrymen only c laimed Shakspere " quite as muc h as the British nation ;" but he immediately proceeded to quote from some anonymous writer that higkly transcendental bit asserting the innate impossibility 9f Shakspere being anything but a German. Had a parallel speech been made in any but England, the speaker could hardly country have escaped the charge of impertinence, unless by accepting that of stupidity. But doubtless Herr Bandmann was well aware of what he was about, and the event showed he did not miscalculate. We have been German ridden for generations, and seem rather to like it. Let any one from the " Vater who wishes to show his skill mount land" boldly, and a pply whip and spur at discretion. He shall fi n d us very quiet jades indeed. MINING NEWS. Tim GOLD AND SILVER PRODUCTION OF THE PACIFIC COAST.—The 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 .09 ••• 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'i3a - gles 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 $1,504,020 RECAPITULATION. 986,750 ... 1,504,020 $650,534 92 Gold Coinage Silver Coinage $18,720,000 00 6.50,534 92 Total 2,490,770 619,370,534 92 Localities from whence ceived : the gold bullion was re California $5,700,871 12 Parted from Idaho .. 1,144,483 01 Silvar Oregon ....... . . 319,620 90 Fine Bars 10,980,791 94 Montana 309,843 32 Foreign Coin 153,453 31 Nevada ......... 49,030 47 For. Bullion 4 7,358 42 Arizona - Total Gold 518,923,152 17 Localities from whence the silver bullion was re ceived : Nevada 5203,618 87 Foreign Coin ... $27,597 31 Arizona 8,425 74 Foreign Bullion 21,951 76 Idaha . - Parted fin Gold 69,999 56 Total 5i1ver...V.3,117 94 Bars Silver Bars, Stamped 520,531 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. 'rhe 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 various legal grounds, the strongest feature not be ing required in determining the ease in their favour —namely,-that the New York mortgage was exe cuted by the otfr.ers 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 111ARKE7 (From Belding, 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 be 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 Fork 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 so far reduced, that needy borrowers feel it necessary to employ the early hours of tho day to secure the funds with which to meet their current obligations. The lowest 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 wo 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 prevailing 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, aud, 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 F pare 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. Tho 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 been a protection by way of covering for the roots and preserving them from frosts ; while in Cali fornia the crops aro 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 change 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 we have ten or more vessels now loading, or under engagement, with au 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 113 went to Great Britain. COMMERCIAL EPITOME. (Front the Financial Chronicle.) NEW YORK, April 3, 1868. Trade continues dull. All articles which are not, to some ex t en t, in favour with speculative operators, have a very limited movement. Hides have been quiet, the closing sale being at 21c., gold, for prime dry Buenos Ayres. Leather and skins have been doing rather better in some grades, but are quiet. In Naval Stores we 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 commo n 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 oil has latterly been more active. Fish are in better supply, and -- weak. Tallow ba,s been firm, the home demand absorbing the entire supply. Hay bas ma terially declined. 'lops are rather steady. Metals have been very dull for all descriptions. East India goods have been dull, except some early transaz lions in Manila Hemp at 10-ic per lb, gold, closing quiet. Petroleum shows a large decline in crude, closing active at 11c in bulk, and 16c. in barrels ; refined, 26e for S. W., in bond. Building materials are not so firm, and bricks have declined to $8 to'slo for common per Id. 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 4-}1; 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. For 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 large 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 SD:AMlTlES—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 k to I per cent. during the day, except in Seven-Thirties, which are kept down by th e Treasury retaining its bid fer Seven-Thirties at 105/. 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 109 k. The following were the closing quotations, April 3d, for the various Public Funds of the United States in New York : Sixes, 1868, regis tere d l3Bl to 1384 Sixes, 1868, coupon .. Sixes, 1881, coupon Five-twenties, 1862, coupo n Five-twenties, 1864, coupo n Five-twenties, 1865, coupon Five-twenties, 1865, coupon, new Five-twenties, 1867, coupon Ten-forties, coupon 100; to 1004 Seven-thirties, 2d series Seven-thirties, 3d series Oregon War Loan, Sixes, 1881 MIMIC WAR. Out-of-door theatricals.—lnnumerable bands of music, endless banners and triumphant arches.— Gallant attack and heroic defence of a real fortress by the combined forces—regular and irregular, effective and non-effective, professional and amateur.—Desperate encounter, terrific combat, fearful onslaught, the whole forming one 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 loo,—a 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 arrived on previous days, and with the regular professionals specially engaged 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 s o e n banne r an i d u m on p hfestooned a b r y e h c e h s e . e ri n o g n v e oi o c f e s ' th a e s 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-do gs , 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 a ppearance 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 selves purposely for the grotesque, the drilled and the undrilled, the genteel and the shabby, the dwarf and the giant 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 walls, 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 mena ced, —the mighty arsenal of England is in dange r. But no ! Huzza, huzza! Our blue-jackets to our aid ! Our gallant sailors to the rescue ! Borne along by a fortuitous tide, their gun-boats steam up a creek, unbeknown to the enemy (as Mrs. Ganip would sty if she 11 ad witnessed the movement), to hurl destruction from their well-worked guns upon the hostile flank. Now ! now's your time, ye gallant patriots,— " England expects every mall 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 o advantageous COUPONS PAYABLE. The Albany and Susquehanna Railroad Company giv e notice in another column that the interest due on A pril 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 U. K. Jesup and Co., 12, Pine-street, who will also pay tho Jacksonsvillo 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 the April coupons of the Jersey City bonds. Duncan, Sherman, and Co. will pay the ccupons on tho land bonds of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad Com pany. 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 Mortage Bonds of the 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, New York ; and on the Bonds of the New York and New Hawn Railroad Company, at the National Bank of the Republic. MARKETS BY CABLE TO NEW YORK. St. Loui , , April 3.—T bacco—The offerings are large ; lugs and common leaf tare a little lower ; better grades are firm. Cotton firm at 251 !. Flour—Superfine, $7 to 8 25; extra, $8 60 to 9 25 ; double exti a, $9 50 to 10 75 ; wheat easier, at $2 63 to 2 50 for red and white fal. Corn dull at 85 to Oats heavy at 75 to 77c. Barley declining; Prime spring, $2 63. Rye declining ; sales at $2 50 to $2 GO. Louisville, April 3.—Tobacco active, sales 336 hlids. lugs to manufacturing- leaf $5 25c to $3l 5Gc ; cotton, 251 to 24e. ; superfine flour, $8 50e to $8 75c ; fancy, $l2 50c to $l3; wheat, $2 45c to $2 50e; oats, 73c to 75c ; corn 83c to 85e; lard, 16c to 16-ic ; bacon—clear sides, 151-c 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, 16ic, Bulk shoulders, lle ; clear sides, 14ic. Lard, 16ic to 171 c. Corn, 98e ; oats, 78c. Now Orleans, April 3.—Cotton excited and unsettled ; sales 5,000 bales, middling at 30 to 301 c. Receipts, 1,940 bales ; exports, 2,931 bales ; sales of the week, 34,700 bales ; receipts, 11,950 bales. Exports—foreign, 16,130 bales; coastwise, 430 bales ; stock on hand, 69,261 bales. Sugar and molasses very dull ; prices irregular and unsettled. Flour firmer ; superfine $lO, extra $ll. Corn in request, quoted at $1.05 to $1.071. Oats in good demand at 80c. Hay dull and drooping ; Ohio river, $18.50. Moss pork firmer at $27 to $27.25. Bacon active; shoulders 121 e, clear sides 171 c. Lard quiet and steady; tierces, 17±c. Gold 139. Sterling exchange ; bank 151 to 152 ; com mercial 150 to 151 ; New 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 pla❑ts which pro mise to yield us a plentiful harvest. In all parts of the West and South the winter crops are represented as look i❑g remarkably healthy ; and similar accounts roach us from England and the grain countries of Europe. Besides, as a natural consequence of the late high prices of broad 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, and here is a reasonable prospect that the spring planting will tfar as well as that of the fall. A considerable amount of Northern capital is going 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 ou their bonds, those professing to be well informed express no doubt. BA LLET. Paris academies exalted dancing into a find art, and pro 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 classical and the sensual. Elucation has extended to sculptors, painters, and lat terly dauseuses, a certain license to use the beauty and powerful influences of the human form for the expression, by pantomimic action, of emotions that stir the aspirations and passions of the soul. Is it quite fair to attribute the attraction merely to pretty ankles? When Imllet was still quite novel hero, an im partial spectator, whmrobserved 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 their critical censors could not—discriminate the difference be tween ladylike self-possession and the brazen-faced assur^ :moo of the demi-monde. A true dansouse appeals to the same sense of the beau tiful as painters and sculptors; and although ballet has not yet quite clearly worbd out its definition, has not risen to the rank of the find arts, is not estimated with its stereotyped branches, yet ballet pure, poetry, painting, and sculpture are of the suns family, and alike appeal to these tastes which education, travel, and general study of the fine arts have refined. The initiation of the applause and demonstration of the audience very evidently showed that they recognised the ease and ladylike self-possession of that Italian girl before them, her quiet dignity and elegance. They caught the meaning of that pantomime, which was so exquisite, deli cate, and expressive. It could not be mere facial or phy sical beauty or toilet tricks that pleased the on-lookers — for the beauty of her face had faded—her physical beauty was eclipsed by her ligurantes. She was rather worn-look ing ; yet one saw that all eyes were attracted to and centred upon that light, gracile figure, as it bent like a water-lily dipped by the wiud in acknowledgment of the warm approval that her womanly art, soft feminine grace, and gentleness had elicited. Mademoiselle S—had a distinct characteristic talent. Wile was younger, more fiery, champed the bit like a race horse before the start, was ambitious, possessed mere of the light comedy of ballet; flowed, with life, vigour, and impromptu; and had that sparkling vivacity native to a Parisieune and Champagne wines ; but Signora was more spirituelle. The French woman was agile, lithe, athletic, daring, &Acne ! but the Italian interpreted her music with a lightness, a delicate minuteness, very pleasing to behold, regular, regular as the terza rinta of Italy's great poet. Fier statue postures that faded in an instant after expres sion, the eye of sensibility quickly caught at the moment. These and other impressions, a warm poetical imagination received at the time, while under the heart-glow of musi cal spell, which it is difficult to retain, recall, define, or (:)- press, when that influence is removed and the emotions have cooled. East Indian and Turkish dancing girls appeal directly to tho grosser passions ; but the daughters of Italy rarely lend their youth and beauty to such degradation. Yet it must be confessed that one branch of the ballet, in Paris, has of late degenerated. The shameless abandon and sensual arts of the s econ d- c l ass b a ll e t are c ertainly not very conducive to good morals. Eve, fresh from the hands of her Creator, was the Incarnation of Perfect Innocence, no doubt, and the Perfection of Physical Beauty; but after her intrigue with Satan, her most unfortunate and ever- - . lamentable discovery of Shame, womankind, and humanity , through her sex's unconquerable curiosity, obtained most pernicious knowledge of evil and good, that bits rendered clothing of some kind a necessary institution ever since. Marble may sometimes, but flesh never cent do without any drapery.— Wilkes' Spirit of the Times. The Albion says:--" The new club-house of the Union League Club, corner of Madison Avenue and T wenty-sixth-street, was thrown open for the inspectio n of members of the press on the 2d inst. The building was erected for club purposes by Mr. Leonard W. Jerome , and the Union League Club have completed and fitted it for their use at an expense of $50,000. The appointmen ts are all of the most elegant description, and the new club house will compare favourably with any similar edifice on either side the Atlantic, not even excepting the fable d Carlton, London." Births. HEATHCOTE —On the 20th inst., at Stamford, Mrs. Gilber t V. Heatheote, of a son. STANLEY—On the 21st inst., at 20, Lowndes-square, the Lady Constance Stanley, of a daughter. SMYTH—On the 19th inst., at Dorrington, Wilts, the Wi fe of Colonel Henry Smith, C. 8., of a son. Marriages. FEAST —BRIDGER— 011 the 16th inst., at St. Saviour'g South Hampstead, Walter W. Feast to Rosa, sewn daughter of the late Mr. Wm. Bridger, of Edmonton . STO CHLEY —BAXTER —On the 18th inst., at St. James' s Church, Gravesend, Mr. James T. Stockley, of BronVi ton, S.W., to Ellen, only daughter of R. Baxter, En., ° Gravesend. Deaths. BOOTH—On the 20th inst., in London, Lieut.-Gen. O r ," / ' Booth, Colonel of the 15th Regiment of Foot, aged 7 , • EAGLETON— On the 16th inst., at Bolton, Rutland, Job Eagle.on, Esq., aged 80. 11ARSHALL—On the 18th inst., at Gidlow, Wigan, JOllll Stewart Marshall, Esq., aged . 36. NlGoux On the 19th inst., at Marseilles. Colonel Th° • M'Goun, Controller of Military Finance, Madras Presi dency, aged 61. NORMAN—On the 19th inst., at Tottenham, Miss Norgial/' aged 69. REEVE—On the 17th inst., at Richmond, Surrey. Sir Th° ° ' Newby Reeve, aged 75. London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANDO W 4 of No. 112, Strand, Printor, at Tait SUN Office, No 1 ' o f Strand, In the Precinct of the Ss voy, in the OollaW Middlesex. —Wednesday, April 22, 1868. Ii Prize So the 1 Oh half, not 1 to b( is it Mr. Mis RA. Mis Mr. Hall P. ( TI havi by for t Solo Iflitr or n hoot Utty 84% all for i But tion tra il ju g . ....:...' 1',.. Ili u ou for Clef sov r©„ sty, an( 9e b.e di 11(