The Sun.
London, England, 1865-06-05 00:00:00

A FRENCH DEMOCRAT,

Theodore Bac, the well-known advocate, died on Tues-
day, after a short illness, in his 56th year. He was a native
of Limoges, where he was born in 1809, and was first forced
into notice by his defence of Madame Lafarge, for poison-
ing her husband, in 1840. The trial excited the most in-
tense interest in France ; indeed, almost to the exclusion
of every other topic. It greatly divided as well as inte-
rested the public ; many believed in her innocence, in de-
spite of all proof to the contrary, others as violently con-
demned her, and two or three duels took place between
her partisans and her adversaries. M. Bac defended her
throughout with the ardour of an enthusiastic admirer
rather than with the calmness of a legal adviser. He
profited by the sudden celebrity he acquired on that
occasion to become a political leader; but he did not seem.
to have any fixed notions, and hesitated long before
choosing his parry. He at last flung himself into the
ultra-democratic ranks, and by the influence ho held
over the working classes of Limoges contributed
greatly to the spread of the doctrines professed by
Pierre Leroux. For some short time after the pro-
clamation of the Republic he was the leading popular
orator of Limoges; but he lost ground when it was found
that lie was not implicated in the proceedings taken against
some of his friends for disturbances that occurred there.
He was, however, named one of the representatives to the
Constituent Assembly by the electors of the Haute Vienne.
He voted invariably with the Extreme Left. He would
have the country governed only by the Assembly or Con-
vention, without any such institution as the Presidency of
the Republic. " Power cannot be divided," he used to say,
'‘ it is either in the President or in the Assembly, as it was
in the King and the two Chambers, and in the struggle
which mast ensue between them ono of the two must give
way. It is either the President or the Assembly who will
govern ; one will annihilate the other." The Constitu-
tution of 1848 was not liberal enough for Theodore Bac.
He voted against it, as also against the order of the day
declaring that General Cavaignac in putting down the June
insurrection had deserved well of his country. Tho will of
the country as manifested by the election of Prince Louis
to the Presidency did not obtain his approbation,
and he persisted in his opposition after the election of the
10th of December. He took part in the attempts at re-
sistance to the coup dYtat in Paris; and while his friends
of the Haute-Vienne were waiting for his summons calling
them to arms, his name was put in the list of. the represen-
tatives, who "as a measure of public security," were ex-
polled from France. His friend the Prince do la Moskowa
interfered, and he was saved from the rigorous measures
employed against the others, because, with all his radical-
ism, the Government did not think he was a very formi-
dable opponent. He did not again take an active part in
public strife, and indeed was soon forgotten as 'a politician.
lie resumed the practice of his profession at the Paris bar ;
but his reputation as an advocate fell far short of the ex-
pectations which his sudden celebrity in the Lafarge trial
had inspired.

It is not very often that the outer world gets a
peep behind the veil which usually shrouds the joys
and sorrows of royalty, and whenever any such
insight is obtained it always excites a degree of in-
terest proportionate to its rarity. Kings and Queens,
Emperors and Princes, are we know made of the
same stuff as the humbler men and women around
them, and, consequently, whatever their dignity
they are liable to the same griefs and affected by
the same feelings. But the stately etiquette of a
court generally precludes any open confession of
care or sorrow, and very often it is incumbent on
the weary monarch to conceal his greatest burden.
When, however, as in the caso of our own
QUEEN, a Royal grief is one with which all
can openly sympathise the sympathy is freely and
and promptly expressed, and the sense that no
grandeur of position or plenitude of power can
serve to avert the inherent troubles of mortality, or
serve to quicken the public feeling. An unusual
degree of interest has been felt in this country re-
specting the sorrows of another crowned head who
has lately suffered a heavy bereavement. The loss
of a son just as he is reaching manhood, and is able
to fulfil his father's hopes, is a grief with which every
parent can sympathise, and the death of the young
heir of All the Russias excited additional regret from
the fact of his fate having been linked to the beau-
tiful young sister of our own Princes of WALES.
When the fair young bridesmaid formed part of
the glad procession that escorted the Danish
KING'S daughter through our streets none foresaw
the grandeur and the grief before her, but it is
satisfactory to know that she was permitted to cheer
the last hours of her betrothed, and that she has
received a substantial token of the affection with
which she is regarded by his family. The Emperor
ALEXANDER has bestowed upon her the Order of
St. Anne, with a yearly dotation of 40,000 roubles,
as a proof, no doubt, of his sense of her kind atten-
tion to his son, and of the regard with which he
cherishes one so dear to him. We must hope that
the future has yet some brighter days in store for
one so beautiful and so beloved, who is yet but in
the springtime of life.

A curious case has just come under the notice of
the Rochdale Guardians which forcibly illustrates
the necessity that exists for immediately doing
something to ameliorate the condition of our work-
houses in respect to the nurses. Whole hosts of
arguments may be exhausted, and the subject again
and again renewed, without so much impression
being made as by one circumstance that actually
comes under notice. The master of the Wardle-
north Workhouse was placed in a very awkward
position in consequence of the panic that prevailed
among the nurses through the spread of fever. In
the fever wards the nurses deserted their posts,
thus causing an immense amount of con-
fusion and distress. After great difficulty,
Mr. HOLDEN, the master, contrived to en-
list the services of some out-door recipients of
relief, and thus the emergency was temporarily met.
It must appear evident upon reflection, however,
that this is not a state of things that should be
allowed to continue, for it is against the interests of
the community at large, and does not at all come
up' to our notions of the requirements of paupers in
their hours of need. The money that would be re-
quired to carry out the provisions of those who seek
to provide unions and workhouses with efficient
nurses, trained for their tasks, and not likely to ne-
glect them, would be no extravagance, and the most
niggardly of political economists would not be-
grudge it, because it is always a waste when disease
is suffered to spread its ravages, and when
no check is put upon its devastating course.
This year has been indeed most prolific in furnish-
ing cases which point a moral in respect to the
treatment of our sick paupers ; and although no in-
dividual instance of hardship is here recorded, the
general principle is faulty in the extreme. Surely
the common sense of the country will come to the
rescue, and urge upon our Government and Legis-
lature the importance of a change being made for
the better in this vital matter. Those who can
once realise to themselves the wretched condition of
the sick poor when suffering from neglect, will need
no other plea to be urged in support of a claim which
reason enforces, justice sanctions, and the best and
kindest feelings of humanity induce them to further
and forward.

LONDON, MONDAY, JUNE 5, 1865.

The arrival of the Asia brings us intelligence up
to May 25. The news from Texas is still stormy,
for KIRBY SMITH refuses to surrender ; and meet-
ings have been held in Lousiana, at which Governor
ALLEN of that State, and some other leaders, ex-
horted the people of the Trans-Mississippi Depart-
ment to continue the struggle, assuring them that
the cause of independence was not hopeless.
Whether any practical response will be made to
these appeals is as yet uncertain, but the Federals
have thought it advisable to send the head of the
Shenandoah to the rescue, and accordingly General
SHERIDAN has been appointed to the command of
all the Federal forces west of the Mississippi. It
is said that he has been instructed to demand
the immediate surrender of KIRBY SMITH and
his troops, and that if the demand be not
complied with ho will carry fire and sword
throughout the province after his fashion to the
east. The Northern rulers are determined that
there shall be no doubt of their supremacy, and
wherever there is any manifestation of opposition
or reluctance extreme measures are to be at once
resorted to. President JOHNSON has issued a pro-
clamation declaring all ports in the United States,
with the exception of Galveston, Brownsville, and a
few others in Texas, to be open to foreign commerce
from the Ist of July, and he adds that the Federal
Government will no longer allow to persons attempt-
ing to traffic with any portion of the States in
violation of the laws thereof any of the rights
or privileges of belligerents, but that all such offen-
ders shall be seized and treated as pirates. This
is somewhat arbitrary conduct. It is too soon to
issue such an order after so prolonged a struggle,
and the violent repression of contraband trade is not
likely to conciliate the people. Meanwhile, the trial
which occupies so much of public attention is pro-
ceeding in a somewhat unsatisfactory manner. Two
important witnesses have been, it is saicf, examined,
but their testimony has been withheld. The case
for the prosecution is closed without any substantial
evidence being made _
public which could affect the
Southern leaders. The cipher messages intercepted
between Canada and Richmond make no allusion to
the Lassa,ssination of Mr. LINCOLN. The letter
a,idressed to DAVIS, offering to rid the
South of some of her deadliest enemies,
produced in court,
has been but this
would be valueless, unless some particulars were
it possible to style LnicoLN
given, even supposing
and SEWARD " the deadliest enemies of the South,"
while JouNsoN, STANTON, and BUTLER are living.
It DAvis's trial is to be bond fide, let it be held by
a civil tribunal, not before a military commission,
who can have no pretext whatever for jurisdiction
over political offenders. The United States Go-
vernment will do well to remember that they have
given all prudent and moderate men good reason to
doubt their justice, and that, in England at least,
the proceedings of the trial of the Southern Fresi-

Mr. SAMUEL GURNEY, as the Chairman of the
Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountains Association,
has written a letter which comes very appropriate
at the present season. In pleading the cause of this
excellent association he is rendering a good service
to the community which they should not be slow to
acknowledge or appreciate. Mr. GURNEY states
that last 'year, owing to the support which the
society met with, an amount was raised which
enabled it to erect several new fountains, and also
to keep them fully supplied with water, and in good
repair, besides looking after many " private struc-
tures" that were dry and dilapidated in consequence
of the necessary care not being bestowed upon them.
However, by this time, through the extensive tasks
undertaken, these funds have all been exhausted,
and the annual subscriptions do not, with their
small amount, nearly suffice to meet the necessary
demands and requirements of the society. Under
these circumstances, then, there is nothing left for
the committee but to apply to those who are able to
assist them in their wise endeavours, and to enable
them to meet the demands of those who are con-
stantly applying to them for more of those public
free supplies of water for man and beast in the
crowded and dusty thoroughfares of the metro-
polis." Mr. GURNEY truly states his case when he
affirms that the operations of the society are of great
magnitude, and extended over a very large area.
Those who are ignorant of the facts of the case had
better peruse this letter, in which they will meet
with most comprehensive informAtion respecting

dent will be watched with a very close scrutiny. the good done by this Society, and must surely
Fair play is the great desideratum, and while there ( istin late:at a right standard the value of the services
is so much mystery and concealment, the dissa- t hue rendered. " Ninety drinking fountains, five
tisf action excited by Mr. JOHNSON'S proclamation will c attle troughs, and a number of dog troughs have
notbe speeclilyallayed. Two hundredwitnesseswill, it b een erected, and several more are in the course of
is said, be called for the defence of the prisoners on e, rect ion." No fewer than three hundred thousand
the conspiracy, and their advocate, Mr. REVERDY PeOp!ie drink daily at the fountains, which suffi-
JOHNSON, intends denying the jurisdiction of the, cient ly proves of how much service they are. Mr.
Court. This is the same gentleman who was so GUR NEY very properly states that by this means
rudely treated by the President of the Court, who they are relieved from the horrors of thirst, and
also induced to avoid the gin-palaces and public-
denounced him as belonging to the " humbug
chivalry of the South." Certainly no one can houses, which in the absence of these fountains would
trouble themselves to apply such a term to the be: in possession of a monopoly for thirsty folk in the
North under any qualifications or conditions. st reets of London. Anotherboon thus conferred upon
As a sign of the result of the Northern triumph, tb ,c exhausted wayfarer is that they partake freely of
_ the welcome beverage thus afforded to them, and
we observe that the Tribune, one of the most re
spectable of Northern journals, declares that only
thus the penniless mendicant, and those whose des-
two culprits deserve death for their share in the
titution renders every farthing a thing of conse-
'pence, are enable to slake their thirst in peace and
rebellion, and those two are Slavery and State
Rights. The first of these Englishmen will re- comfort. Medical men concur in offering their
joice to see perish, but if the last is to be destz oyed, testimony in favour of this society, and thus they
what becomes of the boasted Union ? It is, or
who contribute to the association will have the satis-
was, a Union of Free States, and if these are faction of knowing that they are promoting sanitary
objects as well as fulfilling benevolent intentions•
to be abandoned, what is the distinction between
In many of the most crowded parishes of London
the Great Republic of the West and the Old World
Monarchies ? The very foundation of American the poor suffer considerably from the want of a
awake too
independence is gone, and the people will proper supply of water, and they have also no very
late to the conviction that, in destroying the inde- convenient means of storing away any very large
have sacrificed quantity of this necessary of life. In all respects,
then, it may fairly be said that these drinking foun-
pendence of their countrymen, they
those very principles of their national liberty which
their forefathers so strongly asserted. tains are admirable things, and it is earnestly to be
trusted that this urgent appeal of the Chairman will
meet with the support it desires and deserves.
Those who have the means ought not to be
wanting in the will, and if some few show
themselves false to the interests of society it is
to be trusted. that the many will join in support-
ing and encouraging so admirable and excel-
lent an association ; one that is connected with the
best feelings of humanity, and whose claims cannot
be gainsaid and set at nought with impunity.

Crystal Palace•

The fourth grand Italian concert was given on
Saturday, when the following singers from her
Majesty's Theatre appeared :—Mdlle. Ilma de
Murska, Mdlle. Moya, Mdlle. Rosalie Goldhamer,
Mdlle. Grossi, M. Joulain, Herr Wollrath, Signors
Foli and Scalese. Mdlle. de Murska, who, no
doubt, was the especial attraction of the concert,
was nevertheless received with marked coldness by
the audience, who evidently, not having heard be-
fore, were determined to be influenced by nothing
they had received through hearing or reading.
Mdlle. de Murska, on her side, perceiving how
things stood, coolly shrugged her shoulders,
smiled sarcastically, and doubtless said to herself,
" Misbelievers that you are, you shall applaud."
She has made up her mind to take the
best revenge in her power, and so sang
the cavatina from "La Sonnambula," " Come
per me sereno," with such wonderful brilliancy
that the hearers applauded furiously at the end, and
not satisfied with such a demonstration, when she
appeared to sing a second time, received her with
thunders of applause. Mdlle. de Murska's second
piece was not Proch's Air and Variations, for which
she was set down in the programme, but a valse,
op. 201, by the same composer, which the Hunga-
rian prima donna—nightingale, let us call her—
warbled with such thrilling and exquisite voice as
fairly to bewitch and bewilder the audience, who
cheered her to the echo, and recalled her tumultu-
ously. The success of Mdile. de Murska was im-
mense, and she may rest assured she will never
again be received coldly at the Crystal Palace under
any circumstances. Mdlle. de Murska, in addition
to her two solos, sang the soprana part in the
quartet, " E sherzo od e follia," from the " Ballo in
Maschera," with Mdlle. Grossi, Signors Foli
and Scalese (where was the tenor, the princi-
pal part ?), which was encored. The name of
Goldhamer is new to us, and, if we remember
rightly, was not included in Mr. Mapleson's pros-
pectus. Unknown as Mdlle. Goldhamer is, or may
be, she is, however, worthy to be known. She has
a charming soprano voice, and sings with undeniable
dramatic feeling, as was abundantly exemplified in
the air from " Robert le Diable," " Robert toi que
j'aime," which she sang with great effect. Herr
Wollrath, a basso profundo, somewhat in the man-
ner of Formes, showed a splendid voice and a good
style of singing in the great air from the " Zau-
berflote," "In diesen Heil'gen Ilallen." Signor
Foli, a baritone in the florid school of Tamburini,
gave indications of a well-trained and well-toned
voice in the great air, " Sorgete," from " Maomette
Secondo, and in the duet, " Bella immago" of
Arsace and Assur, from " Semiramide," sung with
Mdlle. Grossi, Signor Foli, we understand, is
shortly to make his debut as Assur in " Semiramide,"
with piddle. Titiens and Mdlle. Grossi. We shall
then be better enabled to judge of his pretensions
as a first-class florid baritone.

Herr Alfred Jaell, the well-known pianist, was
the solo instrumentalist. He played Liszt's
" March from Tannhauser," and his own fantasia
on " Home, sweet home," and was loudly applauded
in both.

The band, under the direction of Mr. Augustus
Manna, played the overture to " Fidelio," admirably
we suppose, but the details were lost in the wilder-
ness of the centre transept. Mr. Manns is supreme
in conducting symphonies and the larger orchestral
pieces. We think, nevertheless, he might learn
something from experienced conductors of vocal
music. The accompaniments of the band in some
of the songs was any thing but perfect. We may
presume that Mdlle. de Murska had no rehearsal of
her pieces, for more than once she was very nearly
put out by the scramble of the accompanyists. By
the way, why does not Signor Arditi conduct his
own singers at the Crystal Palace ?
The concert was brought to a termination by
Gounod's chorus, " Trumpet blow," from the
" Reine de Saba," sung by the Crystal Palace choir.
Upwards of ten thousand were present.

API 13 gyric on Milton from a Roman
Catholic Judge•

The Right lion. Mr. Justice Keogh has delivered a lec-
ture on Milton's Prose, at the Museum of Irish Industry,
before the Lord Chancellor, Chief Justice Monahan, Mr.
Justice O'Hagan, the Attorney-General, and a numerous
and fashionable audience. The Times reminds the public
that Mr. Justice Keogh was formerly member for the
borough of Athlone, Solicitor-General under Lord Aber-
deen, and afterwards Attorney-General. And the Times
adds :

The following extracts from the lecture will be read
with more interest from the fact that the learned and elo-
quent Judge is a Catholic, and that other Catholic Judges
wero among his audience. In the introduction he said :
" Could words of mine prevail to induce you to devote
some small portion of your leisure hours, stolen though it
may be from the pleasant paths of sensational or periodical
literature, to which those great productions of John Mil-
ton, in which the stanchest friend of freedom and of truth
that over lived has made the most successful war against
tyranny and falsehood—in which he has proclaimed, in
tones not unworthy of the Apostle of the Gentiles, that
education really free is the only genuine source of political
and individual liberty, the only true safeguard of States
and bulwark of their renown—in which he has for over
" justified the ways of God to man" by asserting the right
of all men to exercise unreztrained their intellectual facul-
ties upon all the gifts of God, to determine for themselves
what is truth and what is falsehood, to circulate their
thoughts from one to another, from laud to land, from
tribe to tribe, from nation to nation, free as "the winds
that from four quarters blow"—to raise their thoughts and
to pour forth their words above the level of vulgar super-
stition—unrestricted by any illiberal or illiterate licenser
—then you will find that he has risen, as mortal man
never did before, to the height of greatest argument,
and proclaimed, in language, which is affecting the fate of
millions, even at this hour on the banks of the Mississippi,
and in the remote forests of the far West, that He who
has made of " one blood all nations of men to dwell on all
the face of the earth," willeth not that man shall any
longer hold in bondage as a property the bodies or the
souls of men, but that all alike shall have, unobstructed
by any ordinance, a free book, a free press, a free con-
science. If any words of mine shall tempt you to approach
these considerations, to ponder upon them as they are to
be found in the tractates of Milton, in a tranquil, in a
large and comprehensive spirit, and when you have done
so to make their fit application not only at home but
abroad, :not only abroad but at home, then we shall not
Jim met pin. iu thi§ assembly .' "

rHE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVE.Niriti, JUNE 5, 18&

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.

NEW YORK, MAY 26, 6 a.m.

The Grand Jury of the District of Columbia have
found a true bill of indictment for treason against
Jefferson Davis. He will be tried as soon as the
witnesses for the prosecution are procured.
Governor Letcher, James A. Seddon, and Judge
Campbell have been arrested, and confined on board
a gunboat.

It is reported that Lee will also be immediately
arrested.

THE PRINCIPALITIES.
BELGRADE, JUNE 4 (Evening).
The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the
Servian insurrection of 1815 was commenced last
night by the illumination of Belgrade. To-day a
grand religious service was performed, and after-
wards Prince Michael made a speech, which was
received with great enthusiasm.
The Prince then reviewed the national troops and
distributed some decorations. Public festivities
will continue the whole day, and this evening a
brilliant display of fireworks will take place.
To-morrow a grand banquet will be given at the
Palace of the Prince, preceded by equestrian races.
Perfect order prevails.

ITALY.
TURIN, JUNE 5.

A meeting was held yesterday in this city, pre-
sided over by the Senator Sporza. A resolution
was passed condemning all negotiations between
Italy and Rome, which were not on the bases of the
cessation of the temporal power of the Pope. It was
also resolved that Italy belongs to the Italians, and
that all Italian towns should be invited to pass a
similar resolution. The meeting appointed a com-
mittee to constitute a permanent electoral assembly,
and to send to Garibaldi a commemorative medal
to be struck for the purpose.

House and in the Chamber of Deputies for and
against the treaty, it had been his intention not to
offer any remarks upon the question, but as objec-
tions had been made to the measure, he considered
himself bound to say a few words. The speaker
then proceeded to combat the various dissentient
views, and to enumerate the advantages of the
treaty. The complaints that had been raised would,
he thought, surprise nobody, for similar occurrences
had been found in all countries where progress was
made by customs' legislation and liberation of com-
merce. The same experience had been made in
England, when Sir Robert Peel brought in the bill
for the repeal of the corn-laws A simiar manifesta-
tion had taken place in France when that country
concluded a commercial treaty with England,
and also in Germany, upon occasion of the customs'
treaty ; yet the increasing value of landed pro-
perty, the growth of commerce and manufactures,
dated from those periods. Count Rechberg did
not think that, in case this treaty were rejected,
Austria would be able to obtain more favourable
terms from Prussia, and directed attention in this
respect to the debates upon the subject to the Prus-
sian Chamber. In fact, he entertained the thorough
conviction that it would be impossible to carry
through a treaty, even approximately, so advanta-
geous as the present. Alluding to smuggling, he
stated that of his own knowledge there had been
merchants in Frankfort, at the time when France
kept up her high foreign duties, who undertook to
deliver goods, for every customer who purchased of
them, at any given address in Paris, or any other
French town, duty free, in return for the mere
payment of smuggling fees, although it was well
known upon how excellent a system the French
customs' arrangements were organised. Assurance
companies were then also in existence, which
insured all goods smuggled into France.
If the treaty were not accepted, Austria
would be placed in a condition of commer-
cial isolation. He believed, however, that no
' country was powerful and great enough to bear the
lamentable consequences of isolation in the long
run. Ruin, not only of trade and manufactures,
but also the agriculture and finance, would be the
necessary result. He could, therefore, only beg the
house from the bottom of his heart to take these
arguments into consideration and accept the treaty."
At the conclusion of the debate the treaty passed
the third reading almost unanimously, four members
11 only voting against its adoption.

The half-yearly report of the Panama, New Zea-
land, and Australian Royal Mail Company shows a
total to the credit of profit and loss account of
£17,655, and the directors recommend a dividend
at the rate of 5 per cent., free of income tax, on the
old, and on the amount called up on the new shares.
The report of the directors of the Ebbw Vale
Company shows a gross profit of £142,216, from
which, after payment of expenses and interest to
vendors, the directors recommend the payment of
a dividend amounting to 8s per share,
free of income tax less the interim dividend
already paid), being at the rate of fully 10f per cent.
per annum ; also that the whole of the preliminary
expenses, amounting to £9,614, be written off ; that
£24,000 be placed to a reserve fund, £3,194
be held in reserve as a rail guarantee fund, and that
the balance, £18,369, be carried forward.
THE " QUEEN" ON PRINCE NAPOLEON'S DISGRACE.
—Even before the Emperor's reprimand had made
its appearance, it was said the Empress-Regent was full of
resentment and indignation both at the nature of the
Prince's speech, at its total omission of any mention of
herself and the Imperial heir, as well as at the time chosen
for delivering it, viz., during the Emperor's absence.
Whether these feelings and influences were brought to
bear upon the Emperor's course of action or not, it is im-
possible for any but those initiated in the drawing-room
gossip of the Tuileries to pronounce upon. But almost
every one regrets tho eclat of this bouille de famille, and is
inclined to look upon the measure as hasty and injudicious.
There has never existed any cordiality, it is well-known,
between the dwellers of the Palais Royal and of the
Tuileries. The prince himself the Empress has always
had a great aversion to, and the relations between herself
and his princely wife have ever been marked with a degree
of coolness, arising however, quite as much from distaste
on Princess Clotilde's part to join the Court circle, as on
any particular feeling on the side of the Empress Eugenie.
Perhaps the highly-born Princess of Savoy looked down
with a somewhat haughty air on the free and easy manners
of the parvenu circle which surrounded her Imperial cousin,
while the pretty and elegant Eugenie may naturally have
resented such conduct. Appearances were, however, kept
up until this luckless speech at Ajaccio made a total breach,
which in all probability will turn the cousin and dema-
gogue into an open enemy !
ARCHBISHOP MANNING'S arrival in Rome is most
anxiously looked for, says the Tablet, which adds :—" The
feeling of satisfaction at his appointment in France, and
among all Continental Catholics, is as great as that of the
great mojority of Englishmen. Even the Italie approves
the choice, and cannot find an exception to take to the
Pope's line of action in 'this case, which I need not say is a
very rare occurrence for that most Revolutionary journal.

- -
POPE PIUS IX.—French papers point out that
Pio Nono, when he shall have entered the twentieth
year of his pontificate, on the 17th inst., will be only the
ninth of a line of 259 Popes who have attained so long an
occupation of the Papal Chair. In a recent letter from
Rome, in the Tablet, we read that his Holiness had recently
visited St. Peter's, with the whole of the Sacred College
and noble Anticamera, and prayed before the altar erected
for the ceremony, receiving the usual offering of the life
and picture of the Beata, as well as a portion of the relics
and a bouquet of flowers. His Holiness was looking re-
markably well, and seems to me far stronger and younger
looking than he has been for the last three years. His
departure for Castelgandolfo has been put off till after
Pentecost.

JEFFERSON DAVIS.—Mr. Davis himself, to the
best of our knowledge, never uttered the word
" secession" before the election of Mr. Lincoln, nor was he
at all foremost among those who counselled extreme mea-
sures before that event was certain. •He retained his seat
in the United States Senate until his State withdrew from
the Union, and then, as in duty bound, resigned in a fare-
well speech of great dignity and moderation. He. was
not a member of the Provisional Congress which formed
the first Confederate Constitution. Ho was by no means
the only candidate spoken of in connection with the Presi-
dency, popular rumour generally assigning to him the post
of commander-in-chief of the armies, on account of his mi-
litary reputation achieved in Mexico, and his distinction
earned as Secretary at War in Mr. Pierce's Cabinet. The
news of his election found him on his plantation in Missis-
sippi, temporarily retired from public life. A year later it
was confirmed by the unanimous popular vote of all the
States then composing the Confederacy. As President
there is not a single stretch of power, not one arbitrary
measure, not one cruel deed, to be laid to his charge. Per-
haps no ruler ever adhered, in times of danger and war,
so scrupulously to the least minutia) of constitutional forms
as he did, and in this he displayed an inflexible virtue
which, under the circumstances, many have considered a
fault. He strictly-confined himself to the execution of the
law, but this function he always tempered with mercy and
forbearance. Andrew Johnson and Parson Brownlow were
in his power ; he let them escape, and this is perhaps the
bitterest personal grievance the former has against him.
He had no need of State prisons ; nor was a political cri-
minal ever tried for his life under his administration. He
never interfered with the liberty of the press, which often
degenerated into licence directed against himself. He
never authorised an act of retaliation amounting to the
shedding of blood, though the provocation given by the
North sanctioned, nay rendered imperative, such a course
in most men's opinions. When his armies invaded Northern
territory, so exemplary was their discipline that the Penn-
sylvanians had no more serious complaint to make than
the trampling of their crops by the movements of troops.
Jefferson Davis's public life as President of the Confede-
rate States is before the world. Friends and foes have
judged it, and the judgment of both has been a tribute
to his high moral worth, his Christian humanity, his
moderation as a statesman, his dignified modesty as a man.

THE CASE OF Da. PRITCHARD.—In giving an
account of the serving of the indictment on Dr.
Pritchard, the Glasgow Daily Mail says :—" The trial, it is
stated, must conclude on July 10, or, according to the pro-
visions of the law, the prisoner goes free. The term of 60
days, during which 'he ran his letters,' expired, it would
appear, yesterday ; and the Crown can only claim an addi-
tional 40 days during which to detain him. These 40 days
expire on July 10; and the trial being fixed to begin on the
3d of the same month loaves thus but a week to the con-
clusion of the period of detention. The Crown authorities
are, of course, aware of this, and should the defence evince
a determination to drag out the proceedings the Court will
sit all night as well as all day in order to finish it " The
Morning Journal says :—" It is said that the number of
witnesses for the defence is only 12, but we would think
that it should or will yet be larger. We believe, however,
that amongst them are one or two eminent toxicologists.
The prisoner will remain confined in the North Prison,
Duke-street, till within a day or two of the trial. We un-
derstand that the representatives of the newspapers, not
only of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee, but also of Lon-
don and the other towns in the north of England, will be
in great force at the trial. The groat difficulty will be how
they will all be accommodated, for the Justiciary Court at
A4lll/711411 is mall and incQuvenient."